“I wish that could surprise me, but it doesn’t,” I said as casually as I could. “And Luke saysI’mthe whiner.”
Undertaker laughed, and the sound was so surprising I stiffened to stop myself from wincing. I’d handled men like him before, but I also needed to keep my wits about me. The last time I’d dealt with someone this dangerous, I’d ended up needing to be stitched up by Charon, a freelance doctor who worked for the Society just outside of Texas.
“Is he here?” I asked.
Undertaker cocked his head, mouth twisting into a mean smirk as he nodded. “Yeah. Cleaning out the shithouses. King’s orders.” I raised my eyebrows, and Undertaker continued, “You don’t start fights with your brothers unless you like cleaning up another man’s shit.”
“Lovely,” I drawled, before I waved over his shoulder in the direction of the clubhouse. “I’ve got his bike. Can I go in and see him?”
He shrugged and shifted out of my way, and I stepped in past him. The smell of weed permeated the clubhouse and I wrinkled my nose in disgust. I never understood drugs and the need to smoke grass, but then again, I needed to be alert at all times, and marijuana took that from me. When you were an assassin, you always had someone gunning to put you six feet under.
“Through the back and past the stairs. It’s the last door on the left.” Undertaker strode down the short hallway and into the barroom, and I turned to assess the situation in the clubhouse. There weren’t as many Kings as I’d thought, but I also suspected some of them were in their rooms, too. The men who lazed around were either drinking, conversing, or playing pool. A few glanced up at me, but none of them seemed to care enough to approach.
Undertaker sidled onto a bar stool next to a bigger man with wide shoulders and short brown hair cut close to his head, and I racked my brain for his name.
Lee. He was Undertaker’s lover and submissive. I liked him, but he was one of the very few.
Undertaker whispered something in his ear, and I saw the shiver that ran through Lee’s body from where I stood near the stairs. I smirked and left to head down the hallway. I didn’t make it the entire way before one of the doors opened and King stepped out, his boy toy right behind him. They both stopped at the sight of me, and I forced myself to a halt. This was the first time I was meeting the club president, but I’d done extra research on him, right down to his childhood and family members.
He narrowed his eyes on me and I sent him a sweet smile.
“You must be the King I’ve been hearing about.” I held out my hand, then thought better and dropped it again. Playing different characters meant understanding a role’s personality, but who I acted as right now was me in every way—minus everyone knowing I was a Society assassin. I had a trade as a hairstylist and hated everyone I met, unless they gave me a reason not to. Being around the Kings made no difference.
“TheKing?” King’s lover—former ATF agent Dallas Mickelson—laughed. “That’ll go straight to his head. He’s just King.”
King grunted. “What are you doing here?”
I raised my chin and waved a hand down the hallway. “I’m here to see Luke. His bike is ready and one of your men pointed me in this direction.”
“Who?”
Undertaker hadn’t introduced himself, so I shrugged. “I’m not sure of his name. Dark hair, gothlike, wears all leather and big black boots.”
King nodded and glanced at Dallas. “Go to the barroom, sweetness. I’ll be there soon.”
Dallas’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as he slid past King and me and headed in the direction I’d come from. I shot King another smile, but he stepped in closer, his arms crossed. He was a lot taller than me and had bulk I’d never managed to put on myself. In any other situation I might have pulled out my knife and put it in his gut for his intimidation act, but I kept myself calm and steady as he leaned in closer.
“Who are you, Quain?”
I raised my eyebrows. “I’m a hairstylist who has a salon beside Luke’s.”
He chuckled low in his throat. “You’re more than that.”
“I’m not sure I know what you mean.” My fingers twitched toward the knife in my boot. All I’d need to do is bend down to get it….
“I think you do. I don’t think you’re who you say you are. You’ve been hanging around Barber’s shop a little too much.” He stepped even closer and his breath tickled my cheek. I didn’t back away, rather straightened to get a little more height.
“Are you threatening me, Mr. King?”
“No.” He gave me a chilly smile. “I don’t threaten. I gut people without warning.”
Me too.I bit down on my tongue so I wouldn’t say the words.
He shifted back until he was out of my personal space and dropped his arms. “I’m watching you. Barber might be blind to your act, but I’m not. You fuck with one of my boys, the Kings will fuck you up.”
“Howlovely.” I smoothed my hands over my black turtleneck. “If we’re done, I’d like to see Luke now.” I didn’t wait for his answer. Striding past him, I headed to the last door on the left and knocked.
There was a grunt through the door, and then Luke’s voice echoed through the thick wood. “You motherfuckers can wait. I’m cleaning up vomit here. You want to take a piss, go upstairs or outside. Blame Dash, he saw some blood from the injury on Tank’s arm and lost his guts.”
