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“Tomcat’s also gotten skittish since he was shot last year. Some other things happened to make him rethink his life. Now, he’s going to therapy and trying to be a better dad. With him in his head so much, he seems softer than usual. That’s not useful when he’s got to stand behind Ruin and look like a man capable of running roughshod over the Halvorson family.”
“Is standing behind Ruin all you’ll do?” she asks, hiding her face against my chest and talking herself into being okay with what happens once we leave this room.
“The older Halvorson, Urick, had a heart attack or some shit. They’re wheeling his ass to this meeting, so I can’t imagine they’ll want violence breaking out. Most likely, Peter Halvorson will kiss Ruin’s ass and see if we’ll protect them if those assholes come back.”
“Why do they need protecting? They have money. Can’t they hire muscle like the Rogers family does?”
“Maybe they got skittish when their last muscle turned on them. I don’t know. They hired convicts and ex-military for their ranch workers. These weren’t men with many options. The Halvorson family didn’t do that out of the kindness of their rich, black hearts. They wanted men they could control. Except men like that react poorly to weakness. Urick is dying. Peter is full of hot air. Erik used the workers as his lackeys, leading to one of them dying. I think if the old man was still in his prime, none of this would have happened. He was an asshole, but he knew how to wrangle rough men. He was like a father figure, strict yet loving.”
Scratching at my beard, I sigh. “That’s what people say, anyway. I don’t know. Urick always seemed like a dick to me, but I didn’t know him. Ruin doesn’t usually bring me to meetings. If he wants to scare someone, he’ll take Nomad. But the big man is hobbled, so I’m up next.”
Xenia lifts her head and tries to understand the life I lead. “This isn’t what you usually do for the club.”
“No, I’m the spy. I sneak around the Valley, keeping tabs on people. That’s why I was the first guy to save Yagger at the burger joint when those fucks jumped him. Maybe that makes me scarier to the Halvorson family. I held my own against those fuckers until the rest of the club showed up. And I’m known to sneak around Halvorson territory. So, yeah, I probably seem like a beast kept on a leash by Ruin.”
Xenia sits up in bed and frowns at my words. I grin at her protective nature. I can almost imagine her putting her foot down with Ruin. She’s got fire in her belly over certain things. That’s why she stood up to her sister.
However, Xenia won’t pull that move with Ruin yet. Xenia hasn’t figured out how things work in the club. My woman’s loyal yet pragmatic. She figures she might mess things up by speaking out, so she’ll wait and watch. In that way, we’re not so different.
As I get ready to ride, Xenia can’t stop fussing over my injured leg. She really doesn’t want me to go. A few times she takes hold of my shirt and won’t let go. I stare into her eyes and wait for her to work through her fears. She eventually smiles and releases me. Each time, she lets go a little quicker.
“I’ll look up the menu at that burger restaurant Yagger likes,” Xenia tells me as she holds onto my shirt one last time before I’m forced to go.
Wrapping her in my arms, I’m suffering from the same kind of clingy she’s been working through all morning. I don’t want to leave her side.
“I’ll want a nap after the meeting,” I tell her as I step back.
Breathing faster, Xenia nods. She wants to go with me or make me stay. Her struggle is written across her beautiful face. However, she doesn’t get emotional or make me feel guilty for going.
I’ll be back soon. A quiet evening awaits us if I can just get my ass on my hog and deal with this meeting.
Walla Walla waits until I’m situated on my motorcycle. My other one got busted up when I went off the embankment. Soon, it’ll be as good as new. I tell myself I’ll rebound in the same way.
Driving to the meeting in a car would be easier, but Ruin knows how people react to the sound of our motorcycles. When we’re together, the roar can be deafening.
Walla Walla takes the lead. My calf is pissed to be put through this test. Throughout the ride, I keep promising myself I’ll be back with Xenia soon. She’ll dope me up, fill my belly with a good meal, likely get me off, and then cuddle with me while I nap. That thought steadies me on the ride to the Valley Gorge Business Center.
Ruin has an office up on the third floor of this office building, but the Halvorson men are waiting for us in the first-floor meeting room.
Entering behind Walla Walla, I remember all the party girls who claimed he was too pretty to be scary. They clearly hadn’t seen him go berserk before. Walla Walla is like a goofy Nomad. They’re both intimidating in a small space like this room once we all file inside.
Ruin stands with his arms crossed. I think he’s trying to spark a staring contest with a clearly unwilling Peter Halvorson.
Armor lingers close behind our president, quietly hostile. I don’t know what my face is doing, but Walla Walla zeroes in on the old man in the wheelchair.
“Should he be here?” Walla Walla asks, winning a frown from Ruin. “He looks really frail.”
Chuckling behind my hand at my club brother’s fake concern, I know he’s just rubbing salt in the wound of the Halvorson family’s current situation.
Peter stands next to his father’s wheelchair. On the other side is a Halvorson asshole I recognize from around town. I can’t remember his name, but he’s worked as Urick’s top muscle for much of my life.
“Are we all here?” Peter asks.
Ruin immediately replies, “No.”
The door opens soon after to reveal the sheriff. Just behind him enters a suited member of the Rogers family’s security team and a nervous bookworm-type who works as Todd’s personal assistant.
“Now, we’re all here,” Ruin announces before focusing on Peter. “Tracking your work trucks was a dead end. Rogers’s people tracked down the spot to find your surviving workers had ditched the scene and gone north.”
