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Margarita couldn’t hide the satisfied smirk on her lips at getting Tink in trouble with the club.
“Should I call the emergency hearing off?” Burn’s devasted appearance at having his hopes raised by the lawyer Tink had sent him to, only to have the hope dashed by the drama Haven and Margarita had created, sickened him.
“Don’t be hasty,” Shade advised. “Doom, try to hook up with your woman tonight. It won’t be a good sign if she’s dodging you two days in a row. If you do bring up the encounter with Haven, see how she reacts. You’re good at reading people, or you wouldn’t have claimed her. If you sense something is off, you can give Burn the time to get another lawyer and give Wizard a heads-up to watch for trouble.”
Doom nodded in agreement. Fuck, he didn’t believe Tink had planned this elaborate scheme to get back at them because Haven had humiliated her at work. Still, she hadn’t bothered texting him, yet she had no problem texting Burn or Wizard today after ghosting him.
“I’m gonna wait for Tink outside the restaurant. She gets off at eleven. She won’t be expecting me. It shouldn’t take me long to figure out her mindset. I’ll text both of them when I see how the wind’s blowing. Will that do?”
“I guess it will have to.”
Wizard kicked the busted chair out of his way as he walked to the door. “Margarita, you can clean this shit up before you clean out your room.”
Doom stayed where he was as Wizard and the others returned to the front room.
Margarita reached out to touch his arm placatingly. “I was just trying to watch out for you and the brothers.”
Doom jerked his arm away in disgust. “Don’t ever touch me again. From now on, you’re dead to me. If you need something, you can ask Puck, and he can relay the info to me.”
“Doom, don’t be this way. We’ve been friends for years. I’ve proved my loyalty to this club for years, and you’re automatically picking her over me? Do you even know how deeply this cuts me?”
“The cut goes both ways.” Doom let Margarita’s entreaty slide off his shoulders. “I’ve always remained impartial where the women were concerned. For you to say I haven’t and not to ask to talk privately to me before coming out with your grievances in front of the brothers is like a smack in the face. Tink has done nothing to earn my distrust, while you tried to cause friction between the brothers and me to save yourself. When I give a person my trust, it’s theirs to lose. You lost mine. Deal with it like you should have dealt with your jealousy over Tink before you lose the other brothers. They aren’t any better at giving second chances than I am.”
Turning, Doom saw Shade and Moon had remained behind to listen.
“Damn, Shade, I need to meet this woman.” Moon might have been talking to Shade, but his eyes were focused on him. Doom could see the competitive glint; Moon made sure of it. “What restaurant she work at? Shade and I were planning on going out to eat.”
The motherfucker was the most competitive bastard he knew when it came to women. Moon took it as a national duty to fuck as many women as he could before he settled down and got married, swearing he planned to be faithful once he met the right one. The problem was he hadn’t met the woman yet, and his second mission was to make all the brothers miserable until he did.
Doom barged forward, grabbing Moon by his shirt, both men barreling backward until the bar stopped them.
“You go anywhere near my woman, you’ll be sucking your food through a straw,” he threatened.
Unrepentant, Moon grinned at him. “Brother… I’m just joki—”
“Deacon? Is that you? Are you passing through Ohio, or come for a visit…?”
Shade’s voice had both their heads turning to see who he was talking to.
Shade came around the counter to where Andy was coming out the back part of the club. Releasing Moon, Doom watched as Shade went to where Andy had stopped when he’d heard his name called.
“Shade?” Andy’s sorrow-filled face broke as Shade reached him.
“Brother, Lucky and I were just saying the other day we wished we hadn’t lost contact.” Shade, who had extended his hand toward Andy, found himself catching the man as his legs seemed to give out. Shade’s expression grew concerned. “Deacon, what’s wrong?”
“They…”
Doom could hear the anguish in Andy’s voice.
“The coroner’s office wants me to cremate Lizzie instead of burying her. She’s afraid of fire. I can’t cremate her. I don’t have the money to bury her…”
As Shade helped Andy to a chair, Doom strode over, curious as to how the brother knew Andy. Once Shade had Andy seated, he pulled another chair closer.
