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I sighed. “Ma, Maddie and I are just friends. Nothing more.”
“Bullshit, baby brother.” Charlie laughed and shook his head. “You fucked it up already, didn’t you?”
“Nothin’ to fuck up,” I growled into my beer. “Just friends, I said.”
“Boys, language.”
“Sorry, Ma.”
Ma took her seat at one end of the table and flashed a sympathetic smile. “Love is complicated, Jameson. Just look at your brother and Savannah.”
I let out a bitter laugh and shook my head. “If possible, things with Maddie are even more complicated than their love story, Ma. With my job and her connection to the Ashby family, it’s beyond complicated.”
“Those are just details. You can figure a way around that if you want to.”
“They’re more than details, Ma. They’re the facts. It’s hard enough figuring out how to be a part of this family while juggling my job. I can’t have the same issues in my love life. I won’t.”
What I couldn’t say was that on top of all that, Maddie didn’t trust me, not the way she should. And that cut like a knife.
“Don’t be stupid, son.” Dad walked in, his heavy-booted footsteps muffled by our conversation, and took his seat at the table, talking while filling his plate.
“How do you think I got this beautiful woman to fall for a grumpy assed biker? Life is fucking complicated, and it won’t get less complicated just because you make the safe choice. The easy choice.”
“It’s not the easy choice.” Being without Maddie was no goddamn choice at all because her silence spoke volumes.
“Good. Be safe at work and be happy at home. That’s the only way.”
“Safe is relative, of course,” Ma added with a worried smile. “If Maddie makes you happy, you’ll find a way to make it work.”
“Can we eat now, please?” I didn’t want to spend the entire meal talking about how badly I’d fucked things up with Maddie. I’d fix it if she’d give me the time of day. That was a big damn if, but still, my dad’s words stayed with me throughout dinner and the whole drive home.
Safe at work, happy at home.
Happy at home was Maddie waiting for me with that beautiful smile and smartass comment on her lips, maybe even a beer in her hand. That was happy, and I wanted it. Badly.
When I got home and saw Jasper waiting at my door, Maddie was back on my mind. “What’s wrong? Is Maddie all right?”
Jasper held up a hand, his lips curled into a tight grin. “Maddie’s fine. She’s at home with Ava Rose.”
My shoulders relaxed. “Then why are you here?”
“I figured we should talk.”
“About what?” We had no business now or in the future. “If you’re here for details on Bonnie’s murder, I don’t have anything for you.”
“I’m not here for Bonnie. Not explicitly anyway.”
Jasper was a smooth motherfucker, probably the type who never actually issued a direct order, so nothing could ever be tied back to him. “I have a proposition.”
“Not interested.”
He flashed a grin. “Hear me out. We’re always looking for good cops who are willing to help us stay ahead of the law. The pay is good, much better than your government salary, and all you have to do is give us a heads up when needed.”
Was that how it happened? How good cops turned crooked? A small request, issued so simply, made to seem so fucking easy.
“I already have money.”
Jasper nodded. “No such thing as too much money, Ellison.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Look, this arrangement could benefit us both, Ellison. It’s got to be hard to be a cop around here when your brother is President of the biggest MC on the West Coast.” It wasn’t a question but he had my attention. “I can help you move up the ranks if that’s what you want. You don’t need money, fine, but contrary to what the cops in town think, the Ashbys aren’t the only ones who operate in the gray areas of the law.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that a few good arrests, being at the right place at the right time, could really help a guy with your background make detective. Maybe even Sergeant.”
My instinct was to turn him down, to tell him to shove his offer up his ass and to go fuck himself. But a small part of me considered the truth of his words.
Moving up the ranks would be hard if every fucking person in the precinct doubted my loyalty. But working for the Ashby family didn’t sit right with me, either. They likely killed a mother and an undercover agent, and they needed to pay for that.
“Well?” Jasper stood there, impatience radiating off his shoulders, his gaze expectant.
Then again, there’s no honor among thieves. Is there? Too many thoughts swirled in my mind and the offer was too enticing to turn down right away. “I’ll think about it.”
