Maverick lets out a low laugh. “He’s not wrong,” he says, then adds, more quietly, “It’s usually worse.”
I glance up at him, studying his face. “You only met Phillip once, right? At my wedding?”
“That was enough.”
There’s something in his tone that makes me pause.
“Also…” he adds, trailing off.
“Also what?” I push, leaning forward slightly. Our eyes meet—same dark shade, same intensity—and for a moment, I’m struck by how much of myself I see reflected back at me. It’s a strange kind of comfort, being with someone who doesn’t require explanation.
He hesitates.
That alone is enough to set me on edge.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I ask quietly.
Maverick exhales, running a hand over the back of his neck. “It’s club business. I shouldn’t say anything.”
“Who am I going to tell?” I snap, frustration creeping in. “You think I’m calling the police?”
“The police would be one problem,” he says. “Bennett would be another.”
I hold his gaze. “I won’t say anything.”
He studies me for a long moment, weighing that against everything he knows about me—about how I operate, how I talk.
Finally, he relents.
“Phillip owes the club money,” he says. “A lotof money.”
My stomach drops.
“Themotorcycle club?”
“Yeah.” He shifts in his seat, clearly uncomfortable now. “And you didn’t hear that from me. If Butch finds out I said anything?—”
“I won’t say anything,” I cut in, leaning closer. “But why? Why does he owe them money?”
Maverick shakes his head. “Don’t know. Just know Butch wants it back. Bad.”
“How bad?”
He lets out a humorless breath. “Bad enough that he keeps saying it’s time to teach him a lesson.”
The words settle into me, heavy and sharp.
“A lesson,” I repeat quietly. “That doesn’t sound like something you walk away from.”
Maverick shrugs, but there’s tension in it now. “Means he’s in deep.”
I sit back slowly, trying to piece it together. “Why would Phillip even be involved with the club?”
“The club is involved with a lot of people you wouldn’t expect,” Maverick says, taking another bite. “I don’t know all the details. I’m still low man on the totem pole. They don’t tell me much.”
“And you don’t want to know,” I say.
He gives me a pointed look. “Exactly. The more you know, the more dangerous it gets.”
