“Thought she was working with Simone to sell that land.”
Bigfoot shook his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s how you lose the girl for good. You’re still letting Simone destroy every potential good thing to come into your life without even realizing that not everyone is like her. Grunt filled me in onyour past, so I get that you spent a lot of years thinking that girl had something to do with the bullshit your ex-wife pulled. You know better, yet the first mention of their names in conjunction and you run with a worst-case scenario. I don’t get it. Cass is a cool chick. Sammy really likes her and they have a lot in common with the Army shit. We all enjoy the fuck out of her food, too. Why in the hell didn’t you go and ask her about it in person?”
“I-” Fuck. He was right. It never occurred to me go straight to the source and ask her what the fuck was going on. I rolled right back into bad habits where I didn’t have access to ask questions first and get the answers straight from her. She was always out of reach to me before.
You’re going to keep your distance from her for a while because we don’t need you to screw the pooch with her again,” Bigfoot ordered.
“We need to have this conversation in your office,” I told him as I stood and placed Tay on her feet. I was well aware that the club girls had their ears open and listened to everything that was said. Some of the brothers trusted them. Others, like Prez, simply forgot they were there. It was as if the girls were nothing more than furniture or background noise at best. I was always conscious of them being a potential plant by our enemies or just loose-lipped with the wrong people.
Once we got to the office, I explained how we needed to dig deeper into Simone and whoever the hell they were trying to sell the land to, especially since it had become clear in the last few hours that there was a potential buyer for the land and they wanted to pay well above market value for land that was all but worthless. That could only mean one thing - they wanted it for the location and our club’s property was the only thing that made the location valuable to anyone.
“I had our realtor put in a counter offer with a higher bid. I’m willing to overpay for the land, since we got yours free and clearwhen you joined. Besides, I don’t like the idea that someone’s that interested in land next to where our families live.”
I nodded. “I’ll check back in with Dime.”
“No need. I wanted you on that run to New York before because you’re my Sgt. at Arms and I needed your opinion on the assholes we’re selling to there. Grunt is just as good, but it ain’t his job. I’m sending you to Phoenix for a few days to get eyes on another situation there. You won’t be able to pass this one off. I’m sending Grunt to babysit your ass while you’re gone. No calls to Cassidy Billups. Get there, do what you’re told, and then get home.”
“I need to set her straight about what she saw out there,” I argued.
“I think Cass’s eyes work perfectly fine. Too bad you showed her exactly what you thought of her. Now, get your head in the fucking game. Once you’re back, we’ll figure out what to do about the fact that you have no fucking clue what to do with women.” Bigfoot turned to stomp off as his wife snickered in the background. “Holy fucking hell, isn’t he the one the women are always drooling over? It should be easy.”
“If it makes you feel any better, you’re the one I’m always drooling over,” Sammy teased.
“You’re damn right I am.” He threw her over his shoulder, slapped her ass, and took off for his office.
I envied the asshole even as I hated him in the moment. If I had to go away to Phoenix, I couldn’t do it without explaining things to Cass. Not that my explanation would make things better. It would make me seem like I still hadn’t learned my fucking lesson. I hated Simone for the way she fucked with my head for so long that it was still my first inclination to go there. I hated myself for being unable to snap the fuck out of that mentality when it counted.
16.MUTUALS
CASSIDY
“My boy,Daniels, is coming to visit.” Finch’s announcement surprised exactly no one. He had the longest military career of all of us and had built a lot of bonds with people over the years. Daniels was someone we had all met before and who Collette and I both had crushed on.
“Ohh!” Amberlee gushed. “Not Sgt. Major Daddy himself.” Her joke fell flat with Finch as he outwardly shivered at the moniker we’d given his friend. The man had retired as a Master Sergeant, not a Sergeant Major, but it annoyed Finch that we gave his sexy buddy a promotion. The “daddy” part was just because he was so much older than most of us. At thirty-eight, Greg Daniels still had it going on.
“He’s only a year older than me,” Finch reminded us. He was miffed that Greg gave off daddy vibes to us. It was just because he had that authoritative bearing that came with the senior NCO rank he’d held before getting out of the Army. Finch was thirty-seven, the oldest of our foursome, and he had only made it to Staff Sergeant before he retired. I think it stung our friend that he hadn’t made it as far in his career as Greg had.
“Is he still sexier than Thor?” Collette asked.
“No. The minute he retired he turned into a troll who will make you gag on sight,” Finch joked.
“Aww, do I detect a hint of jealousy?” We all turned to see Greg Daniels in the doorway of our operation looking just as sexy as the last time we’d seen him. Two of us swooned, Amberlee giggled, and Finch groaned.
“If it isn’t Sgt. Major Daddy in the flesh,” Amberlee announced. The man blushed and looked away before his eyes tracked back to mine.
“So this is the place, huh?” he asked before glancing around at the restaurant’s dining space. It still only held one table and four mismatched chairs. That was something we would have to remedy sooner than later. If we had anyone come to do samples or talk contracts, we needed a proper space to meet them that wouldn’t scare away their business.
“It is. We’re only using the kitchen for now,” I admitted since it looked like we needed to worry about someone breaking in to give us charity donations and not steal stuff.
“It takes time. I’m not judging.” His warm, brown eyes met mine and I knew he meant it without having to ask. It was one of the reasons we all liked when Daniels - Greg - came around. He was a genuinely nice person even if he did have an authoritarian vibe from time-to-time thanks to his stint as a drill sergeant. “Do you want to take me to the house first?”
Again, his question was directed toward me. I supposed, since technically I was the owner, it made sense. But he was here on Finch’s invitation and I wondered how my friend would feel about being left out of the conversation from the very beginning.
“I’m sure we would all be more comfortable there while you and Finch catch up.” He grinned as if he knew what I was doing, but when I turned to Finch, he wore the same smug look that said he also knew I was happier than a clam to be in Greg’ssights, even if I did feel bad for monopolizing a little of his time during his visit.
“Wouldn’t want anyone to be uncomfortable,” Finch teased as he walked out the door and the rest of us followed.
“What did I say?” I asked the girls. Neither of them gave me an answer but Amberlee reached over and swiped her finger over my chin.
