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I lean back in my chair and bring the conversation back to the new baby girl. “What did Hammer have to say when he found out he was having another little girl?” I ask, genuinely interested.
“Oh, he’s happy about it, too. He lit up like a fucking Christmas tree.” Shiloh makes fun. “I’ve actually been rolling the name Naomi around in my mind, but I have to find a way to discuss it with Hammer. I don’t know how he’s going to like it.” She shrugs, and I scrunch up my face as I pop another fry in my mouth.
“Girl, please, there’s no reason for you to be scared about it. Hammer loves you and this baby. I’m sure he’ll love whatever name you choose.” I nod, and Shiloh looks down as if she’s still unsure.
“Really, I don’t want to take any part of this away from him. I truly love that name.”
“He’s going to love it,” I say, again, so matter of factly.
Just as we continue talking, the restaurant doors open up, and a man in dark jeans and a dark shirt walks in. His eyes are searching, and instantly I know the man isn’t here for the food.
He goes straight to the bar where Agony is and introduces himself. Shiloh and I are close enough that I can hear what he’s saying.
“Hey, I’m Otis. I need to speak to someone regarding one of your members,” he says, getting straight to the point.
“Yeah?” Agony says, and I see Breaker come up beside him. “Which member would that be?”
“Armor. The dude is in way over his fuckin’ head,” Otis says, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up.
Is he in trouble? Is that why this man is here? I start to breathe fast, and Shiloh puts a hand on my arm to keep me seated.
“What the hell do you mean by that?” Agony asks.
“He’s digging into some shit that’s going to get him fucked up. I don’t know what you got to do to get him to stand down, but you need to,” Otis says.
I can’t contain myself anymore. I turn in my chair and stare at the men behind the bar, which was the wrong thing to do. Breaker finally notices me there.
“Stop talking. Come with me,” he says to the man, and instantly the only link I have to knowing what’s going on is ushered behind closed doors.
“Everything is okay. This could be about something else from before. We don’t know,” Shiloh says, and I give her a wobbly smile. I feel like I’m going out of my mind with worry.
All of these questions are running around in my mind, and no one is answering them. I pull my phone out of my purse and look down to see if Armor has called, but there are no notifications. I say a silent prayer that he’s alright and wait on pins and needles for someone to come out and say something to me.
A few minutes feel like an hour, but suddenly the doors to the back open up, and everyone walks back out. Breaker, Otis, and a few other patched members all walk with purpose out of the restaurant, leaving only Agony, Archer, and Fury in the bar.
No one tells me anything, and I look over to Agony for some inclination as to what’s going on.
“Breathe, baby cakes. It’s handled,” he says and goes back to tending the bar.
I’m not sure whether that’s supposed to soothe me or not, but it definitely doesn’t. If something has to be handled, that means something is going on right now.
Armor may be in trouble. This could be the one in a hundred that Shiloh was talking about earlier.
I drop back against my seat and put a hand up to my face. I can’t take this. I need to know that he’s all right.
All I have now is a promise that his brothers are going to be there for him. I just hope it’s enough.
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Armor
Chains comes in to relieve me from being the bartender for the night, and I promise Jada I’ll be careful when I go out, but what I don’t let Jada see is that I got a pretty intense text message from Otis after the ones she saw. Otis essentially accused me of hiding some shit from him, and he’s right . . . but I’m not here to take him down. He’s a sort of broker with everyone, but I know Otis has more than just his hands in this shit. He deals with drugs, prostitutes, and the like. Whatever he can do to make money, he’s going to do.
I met up with Otis before I was supposed to go meet up with this new player he told me about. Otis had photos of me with my cut on from the Satan’s Raiders MC, so I had no choice but to be honest with him. I thought he was going to throw me to the wolves, but he asked me about what I was trying to do. So, I told him what I was doing, getting kids out of these fuckers’ hands. He told me he was looking for a way out of this business, but the man I’m supposed to meet up with tonight has something over his head. I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure in time, I’m going to find out. I ended up making a deal with Otis. He keeps my cover, and I’ll help him get out. We can kill two birds with one stone.
After I met up with Otis, he eventually texted over the address to the building where I was supposed to meet this guy at. When I read the address, it seemed really familiar. I couldn’t place it at first, but now that I’m pulling into the parking garage of the building, an overwhelming sense of déjà vu comes over me.
This building is owned by my father. It’s actually his LLC’s corporate office. “Fuck,” I mutter under my breath as I get out of the vehicle and head for the elevators. I take the elevator up to the lobby and then glance down at my text message. It says to go to the eighth floor, so I do that. Only, I know what the eighth floor of this building is. It’s where the head honchos are, including my father’s office. I’m instructed to wait in the seating area until someone comes to fetch me, so I sit back in a part of the waiting area that can’t be seen by the offices and wait until someone comes up.
