Page 20 of Cole

Maddox watched her with a blank expression. The look went on so long, Maddox’s hands were curled into tight fists by the time Sally chuckled.

She looked down at the bike.

“You’re leaking,” she remarked.

“I’m aware,” Maddox growled back.

Sally threw her hands up, like she was backing down from a fight. This was their dynamic. Sally pushed at Maddox’s buttons and then backed down before he broke his control.

“Ok, fine. Don’t get worked up, big boy,” she said, and made to step away, just as Maddox’s hand snapped out and grabbed her wrist.

Sally froze. At this point, I was pretty sure they’d forgotten that I was there.

Maddox grabbed the clean bandanna from his back pocket and pressed it into her hand.

“You’ve got grease on you,” he muttered and stepped back, releasing her.

She looked down at the hand she’d leaned on the counter. A long streak of black oil licked up the underside of her hand. She balled the bandanna into her fist, turned, and walked away.

I watched Maddox’s eyes following her out of the shop.

“You are going to get yourself murdered,” I warned him lowly.

“I know,” Maddox said heavily, his eyes still on the door that Sally had left through.

I didn’t have anything comforting to say to him. I had no fucking clue about relationships, or love, or any of that shit, but still, I felt like I should say something. But the moment passed quickly when Gage strolled back in.

“Did Sally leave already?”

“Hmm,” Maddox grunted, busying himself with the bike he was working on.

Denny and Rico’s bikes could be heard just down the road. If they’d arrived, then that meant it was time to get going. I nodded at Maddox, who stood, threw down his tools, and headed over to his bike. Minutes later, he took off, and the deal we’d been waiting for was underway.

“I think hanging here is harder than being at the deal,” Gage muttered before heading through the shop toward the back of The Clutch and the kitchen there, where Finn had graduated to raiding the commercial fridge.

Yeah, it was harder, infinitely so. If I had my way, I’d be at every deal and every drop, putting myself in harm’s way, instead of my men, but it sent the wrong message. The MC was only as powerful as their leader. It was bullshit posturing that I was sick and tired of.

The rest of the day passed slowly and meaninglessly. I tried to occupy myself by sorting through the mounds of papers in my office, but every minute that went by without an update made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Things always seemed fine, until a second later, they weren’t. In the Harbor Hounds, things didn’t just go bad, they went really bad.

When the call finally came, I was relieved to see Maddox’s name lighting up my phone screen.

“Everything going to plan?” I asked.

“Mostly.” It was Denny’s voice on the other end of the line, which made me uneasy. Why was he calling from Maddox’s phone?

“What do you mean mostly? Where is Maddox?” I asked.

“The seller is asking for more than we agreed. Maddox is still negotiating with him.”

“Tell him that we won’t budge. We are sticking to the number that we already agreed on. Tell him we will walk.”

“I don’t know, boss, he seems pretty set on a higher price,” Denny added.

“Tell him Cole Bailey doesn’t renegotiate after the fact. He can take the agreed-upon price, or we will walk.”

I hung up the call.

Another call came through just five minutes later, and this time Maddox’s voice was on the other end.