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I nodded. Diesel was a fair leader, and I had no doubt he’d listen to me before he made up his mind. “All right.”
“You know, Rocky, you’re not getting any younger, brother.”
I laughed. “Are you callin’ me old? Because I look a damn sight younger than you.”
His lips tugged into a crooked grin. “No, all I’m saying is that you’re next.”
“Oh, great,” I groaned, pretending to be horrified. “Now that the prez is all hitched up, it’s the VP’s turn, is it?”
Diesel smirked. “Need someone to put you in your place when I’m not there, don’t we?”
“Just like Ellie does for you, eh?”
“Yeah.” A dumb smile crossed his face, and I was almost jealous. “Little pixie of a girl, but she damn right knocked me on my ass when I wasn’t expecting her. I was as cynical and unwilling to settle down as you, until I saw her.” He shook his head and smiled as if he could see his and Ellie’s story playing out in his mind.
“Yeah, but there’s one difference between us, brother. I already have a bad marriage under my belt and no interest in getting myself involved in another. Been there, done that and have years of alimony to show for it.”
Diesel rolled his eyes. “Meredith got remarried years ago.”
“True, but there was still years of alimony I had to pay until she met that fucker.” Her current husband wasn’t a bad guy, hell, he stood by her after her cancer diagnosis…but he was still a fucker. “You don’t forget that shit easily.”
“We’ll see,” Diesel said confidently. “Everyone thinks that until they get smacked in the face with the one person they can’t live without.”
I sighed and pushed my plate away, crossing my arms over the table. “All jokes aside, I get it, Prez. You’re all giddy in love and getting laid every day and night. You want that for everybody, but that’s not my path, brother. I can get laid every night easily, and with a new chick each time.”
“Easy isn’t always best.” Diesel smirked. “Pussy that loves you back is ten thousand times better.”
“I’m happily single,” I said firmly. “Thanks for the roses and rainbows and fluffy bunnies, but I’ll skip on that shit. I’ll stay single for a good, long while.”
Annoyingly, he just shrugged and looked like he didn’t believe me. “We’ll see.”
“Fucker.” I grinned and leaned back in my seat again, wondering if the perky waitress would be back to refill my coffee again soon. “We will see.”
Chapter 3
Rocky
“Another round of shots, Tess, my boy is a college graduate!” Nolan had gone out to a celebratory dinner with Meredith and her new husband, but I’d declined the invitation that I was pretty damn sure was only issued out of obligation.
It was nice to be able to chill out in the clubhouse with my brothers without worrying about any threats to the MC or our families. We sat back enjoying cold booze, a joint or two, and the club whores prancing around in itty-bitty shorts thanks to the heatwave pounding the Vegas metro area. Not that I spent a lot of time with my cock inside the club whores these days. It was what they were there for, but over the past few months, it had lost its appeal.
Maybe it was the hope in their eyes that this was the day they’d become someone’s old lady. Or maybe it was the lack of a chase. Maybe Diesel was on to something about ‘easy’ not quite hitting the spot… Either way, my cock was bored.
“You wanted to talk?” Diesel asked as he took the seat across from me at the small round table.
I shook myself out of my thoughts and I met his gaze head-on, because I wanted him to know this wasn’t one of my bullshit ideas meant to lighten tension or just for a laugh. “I do.” I’d given some serious thought to this, and I knew he respected me enough to hear me out.
He nodded as Slate, the MC’s tech captain, dropped into the seat beside him, blowing a floppy black curl out of his eyes. Beside him our treasurer, Rebel, took the other chair.
“I’m listening.” Diesel took a long swig of his beer and set the bottle down right in front of him.
“Since the Carters are no longer a problem,” I started, “we’re left with something very valuable, and it would be a fucking shame if we didn’t cash in on it.”
“The encrypted files,” Slate guessed right away, his blue-gray eyes interested, as they always were when tech was involved.
“So what are our options?” Diesel asked.
“Well,” I said, “it’s filled with private information that very rich and very powerful people wouldn’t want to be made public. Anyone up for some good old-fashioned blackmail?”
