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He eyes me, clearly not wanting to tell me the reason. “Just business.”
“Piper has business with the Mafia?” I query. “Well, now I’m worried, Anton.” I spot Bear across the room with a pool cue in his hand, staring intently at the coloured balls on the table, working out his next shot. I whistle, and he looks up. “Bear, come on over here.”
“Really, Ace,” snaps Anton, “it’s not a big deal.”
Bear joins us and looks between us, waiting for an explanation. “Anton here has business with Piper,” I say, and his stance changes. His shoulders lift slightly and his grip on the pool cue tightens.
“Oh yeah, what sort of business?”
I shrug. “He doesn’t want to tell me.”
“It’s really not a big deal,” repeats Anton.
“You said that already,” I point out, and he narrows his eyes at me.
Bear whistles, and Hulk looks over. “Seriously, stop doing that. Is she here or not?” growls Anton.
Hulk wanders over. “S’up?”
“Piper has business with the Mafia,” explains Bear.
Hulk’s stare turns murderous. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
“Jesus Christ,” yells Anton. “Someone around here get me the girl.”
“You know she’s part of my club, Anton,” I say, “meaning you can’t have business with her that we don’t know about.”
Relief floods Anton’s face when Piper rushes towards us, Mae hot on her heels. “What’s going on?”
“Tell me what business you have with the mafia?” Bear demands to know.
“It’s not business,” she huffs. “Who said it was business?”
We all look to Anton, who shifts uncomfortably. “Can you call off your pit bulls,” he asks her, like she’s the one in charge.
She reaches past us all and takes Anton by the hand. “Come on.” She sighs, pulling him to follow her. We all stare, open-mouthed. Bear growls and goes to follow, but a firm voice stops him in his tracks.
“Don’t take another step unless you want to be sleeping on that uncomfortable couch for the next month.” We all turn to Queenie, who looks pissed. “That girl is handling her own shit, and she doesn’t need you boys to wade in there.”
“What the hell does that mean?” asks Hulk, infuriated that he’s being stopped by Queenie.
“That means, boy, you should have claimed my girl when you had the chance. I told you that you’d regret it. Now, you get to sit back and watch her love story play out with a Mafia boss, and I know that’s gotta hurt.”
“You mean they’re—” begins Bear.
“Hell yeah, and ain’t none of you boys gonna intervene or you’ll have me to deal with.”
I catch the smirk on Mae’s face as she saunters past us towards the exit. “Are you meeting a cop, just to top our day off?” asks Bear. I know he’s kidding, but I still feel my chest tighten at the thought of Mae with someone else, cop or otherwise.
“I’m going to work. I’ve had so long off that I bet the office is a mess.”
“You want a lift?” I ask, since one of the guys would usually take her.
“No, I’m all good.” She leaves the clubhouse without looking back. It’s how she’s been with me for days now, cold and blunt, and I hate it.
“These women are taking over.” Hulk sighs. “Maybe we should make the clubhouse a woman-free zone?”
“Then you pair would be banned, cos the fear in your eyes when Queenie came out here, screamed pussy.” I laugh.
