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“How long ago did this happen?”
“Three nights ago.”
Levi pinches the bridge of his nose. Three days too late. “Do you know what they planned to do with the woman?”
Benny snorts. “Pretty sure their VP was sweet on her. She’s probably his bitch now.”
Rage courses through Levi’s veins. If any of them laid a hand on his sweet Olina…
Examining the owner, Levi waves a hand at Benny’s battered face. “Did they do this to you?”
Benny folds his hands in front of him on the desk, trying to come off stoic. “No.”
Interesting. “Then who did, and why wasn’t a police report filled out about a biker gang abducting a dancer?” A case like that definitely would have floated across Levi’s desk if Benny had filed one.
Benny picks his words carefully. “The three-hundred thousand in the safe wasn’t exactly mine.”
Levi paces the small office. He doesn’t need Benny to tell him more. The strip club is a way to launder money for the Bianchi mob—his own organization beat the shit out of him.
“I’ve been scrambling, trying to make up the money. It’s fucking hard when I had to hire new girls who don’t know what the hell they’re doing, and I have no one to show them the ropes. I have a week.”
Benny is as good as dead. He’ll be lucky if he pulls in a third of what he owes the mob. Too bad. Levi was looking forward to roughing up the bastard for creeping on his girl. But the mob will do a number on Benny, which will far surpass anything that Levi is capable of. Besides, he’s pressed to find Olina.
Levi leaves, heading back to the FBI Field Office on East Street. He has an MC to track down.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
OPAL
Aweek has passed since I’ve arrived at headquarters. My uneasiness with the club’s dynamics lessens each passing day.
The bikers who I once found scary are a bunch of goofballs. They joke and tease constantly. Yes, they’re big, but none of them have given me a reason to think they would hurt me. If anything, they may be a tad overprotective, like a big brother is with a little sister. It truly is a brotherhood where everyone has each other’s backs. Within the club, the men are compassionate. It’s the guys outside of the club who get their harder sides.
Red seems sweet, though private. She keeps to herself, as Gauge said she would. Ebony wasn’t lying when she said she would help me navigate club life. She knows the club dynamics inside and out, from the men’s ranking, to what their positions entail and the club rules they enforce. Ebony asks what brought me to the MC, but respects my wishes when I choose not to share.
It really is a family. They have welcomed me with open arms. All except for one.
Candy is a different story altogether. She glares at me whenever our paths cross. Her snide comments about how I think I’m too good to be a club bunny bother me because they’re completely untrue. I don’t think I’m better than anybody. Several times I’ve wanted to tell her to kick rocks, but I don’t want to make our relationship worse.
Ebony says Candy is jealous because I have a real shot at becoming Gauge’s old lady. But since he hasn’t claimed me publicly, it gives Candy fuel to put me down. Red agreed, saying Candy wanted to make me miserable, hoping I would leave the club, allowing her to pursue Gauge again.
When I asked why Candy wasn’t going after Atlas if she was so eager to land a high-ranked member, the girls sniggered. Apparently, she had—they all had, to no avail. Atlas doesn’t fraternize with the bunnies—something about not wanting to engage inincestwhen he looks at the entire club as his family. It made me wonder if Gauge followed the same rule. Then again, I didn’t want to know.
Things with Gauge have beenintense. He rarely leaves me alone unless it’s in the care of one of the other crew members. It seemed a bit possessive, but they do not leave MC women unattended outside of headquarters unless it’s an emergency. They have a male escort at all times. According to the bunnies, the few times one of them has left unattended for whatever reason, they got a swift reality check why they needed protection.
When I questioned Gauge, he was blunt. “Your story isn’t much different from the bunnies. They came to us for protection or to get back on their feet, and that’s what we help them with. Until you tell me more about your past, I’m reluctant to let you go anywhere without one of my brothers or me. I don’t know who this guy is or what he’s done to you. Without all the facts, you’re a high-risk case needing max protection at all times.”
Perhaps he was that honest because I haven’t given him additional details about my history even when asked. It’s not exactly a door I can open without a crap-ton of emotion blowing back on me. Gauge reassures me I can take the time I need to open up, but I’ll have to put up with the club policy on protection detail until then.
Gauge called Atlas to discuss my working for the club. As frightening as Atlas can be, he seems softer with me, not as gruff when talking. Maybe because I’m in a relationship with his best friend, he’s being kind. I appreciate it. When Atlas asked if I had skills beyond waitressing, I was honest.
“I’m a pretty talented baker.”
Atlas gasped on the other end of the line. Gauge looked at me with hearts in his eyes.
“Do you know how to maketurrón?”
“Fuck your Spanish desserts, Atlas. What really matters is if she can make peach cobbler.”
