by Jade Kuzma
“I don’t know. I guess it’s the tattoos and the bike.”
“I’m just a man, Mia. I don’t go around punching people out. Unless I’m being paid to…”
I chuckled at him. Roman gave me a cold stare before his face softened with a sigh.
It was early in the morning but the place was crowded. I should’ve expected that there were places like Amy’s where all of the townsfolk went to.
“Give it a try,” Roman said.
“What?”
He pushed a donut toward me. The warm cup of coffee was enough but the smell of the pastry in front of me made me forget about the conversation I just had with Arthur and the hangover lingering in my head.
I picked at the donut between my fingers and took a bite. Roman watched me intently, his lips hidden behind his cup of coffee.
“Not bad,” I said with a shrug.
“Not impressed, huh?”
“I come from a family where desserts are our specialty. If there’s one thing I know, it’s sugar. The chef who works for my father…”
I cut myself off when I realized I was getting into personal details.
Don’t bore him with those.
I’d only just met Roman less than 12 hours ago. I wasn’t about to tell him anything he didn’t need to know.
“The chef who works for your father…” Roman said. “What about him?”
“Her. She’s a chef who’s been with the family for as long as I can remember. She makes these little cake bites that are just perfect.”
I couldn’t tell what Roman was thinking but I figured I would humor him anyway. A little conversation over an early breakfast wouldn’t hurt.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“I suppose you’re asking for your own curiosity and not because you actually care…”
“Oh, I care. Burke is paying me to make sure you’re safe.”
“Right. The money.”
Roman was so nonchalant with his honesty that I couldn’t hold it against him.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “It’s just a little hangover. I’ll get over it. A little coffee and a little sugar will clear my head.”
I picked at the donut in front of me and tried to recall everything that happened the night before. The crowded scene at Amy’s seemed distant as the memories started to return to me.
“Finn’s wasn’t a good idea,” Roman said.
“I think I remember you telling me that before.”
“It doesn’t hurt to tell you again. Clubs from all over town meet at Finn’s.”
“And why is that exactly? Don’t these clubs have their own places where they can cause their own trouble?”
“MCs don’t start trouble in their own clubhouses. They go to Finn’s because they know they have more freedom to do what they want with less consequences.”
“Just like how you punched that guy out.”
Roman rested his hand on the table. His knuckles were freshly-bruised with a bit of redness on them.
“Sorry,” I said. “I… I was just curious about what would happen if I did get into any trouble.”
“Just because I can beat someone up doesn’t mean I go looking for fights.”
“I know that now…”
I was never one to judge a book by its cover. A quick glance at Roman told me that he probably got into more fistfights than a regular man would have. And he probably won most of them, too. In this case, it was nice to know that my expectations of him were right.
“Even at a place like Finn’s though,” I said. “Just getting into fights like that and knocking a guy out… Aren’t there any cops in this town?”
“The cops in Ivory are honest. They know how to keep the people in line.”
“I can’t imagine they have much success with the clubs.”
“MCs around here get a little rowdy but it never gets extreme. The cops will step in when they need to.”
“I guess that’s why Ivory is such a good place to do business…”
Another bite of my breakfast and another sip of coffee wasn’t enough to make me forget about what I was doing in Ivory. I looked at Roman and could see that he was thinking about something. So much happened just last night but I didn’t want to talk about any of it. Not with a man I barely knew.
I figured I would stop him before he started.
“You’re in an MC,” I said as I glanced at the stitching on his leather vest. “West Devils.”
“I was in an MC. The West Devils aren’t around anymore.”
“But I’m reading it right on your chest. Am I reading it wrong?”
“No, you’re reading it right. But there are no more West Devils.”
“I…”
I stopped when I realized that I was probably digging in more than he wanted me to.
The truth was Roman was handsome. His stare alone was distracting enough. But there was something else so intriguing about him. I didn’t know anything about him but I wanted to know more. Maybe it was just because I found him so attractive. Whatever the case was, I felt comfortable just sitting there, having breakfast with a man who looked like he could kill me with his bare hands.
“…I don’t suppose you’ll ever tell me what the deal is with the West Devils,” I said.
“Maybe. We just haven’t gotten to that point.”
“Well, I’ll only be in town for three more days,” I sighed. “It doesn’t seem like you’re ever going to give me an honest answer.”
“Speaking of which, how is your fiancé?”
He narrowed his eyes at me.
Damn.
It was so hard to read Roman but that didn’t stop me from trying. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to know more about me or Arthur’s business or if he was just trying to stop there from being an uncomfortable silence between us. There was no point in giving him the small details.
“There were a bunch of missed calls and texts on my phone,” I said. “He was trying to get to me all night. I guess I must’ve passed out by then.”
“You had a lot to drink.”
“I’m in a new town and I’m trying to celebrate. Sometimes a girl just wants to have fun.”
“Away from her fiancé.”
Roman raised an eyebrow. Now I knew he was curious about the details. Considering he didn’t have as much to drink as I did, I couldn’t count on him forgetting about last night.
“Listen,” I said. “I know I might’ve mentioned that Arthur isn’t the greatest man in the world.”
“Last night it sounded like you didn’t want to marry him. Is that still the case?”
Roman was staring at me so intently that I almost wanted to tell him the truth. I took a sip of coffee to clear my throat then coughed to make sure that I was clear with him.
“Marrying Arthur is the ideal situation for me,” I said. “It’s the right decision.”
“And does Arthur care about you sleeping with other people?”
Shit.
The memory of what I did last night with Roman came back to me. I might not have remembered what I said but I remembered the way I felt. I wanted Roman. It didn’t matter if it was just some drunken horniness to satisfy my sexual cravings. It happened.
“Do you regret what happened?” he asked.
Dammit.
Roman was pushing me so hard. A subtle smirk told me he knew what he was doing.
I swallowed to clear my throat again. I looked away, trying to search for a response I knew didn’t exist.
I loved it. Dammit, I loved it. Going down on him and swallowing every drop…
But there was no chance in hell I was going to admit it.
He leaned in closer to me across the table, whispering to make sure that nobody else in the bakery could hear.
“Tell me, Mia… What would you do if I told you I wanted to fuck you?”
He gave me an unblinking, blue-eyed stare. It was so intense that my damn stomach started to turn in knots. My legs shifted in my seat as I looked
down at the table.
“Well, I—”
“It doesn’t matter.”
He cut me off suddenly.
“Your fiancé hired me for a reason. He hired me to protect you. And that’s all I’m planning on doing. I’m a man of my word. Last night—”
“Do you think it was a mistake?”
He clenched his jaw and looked away from me.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said again. “I was paid to do one thing. Protect you.”
“My father has been in the business long enough,” I said. “I’ve been around it my entire life. It’s always about the money.”
“Good. Then you’ll appreciate not making my job any harder than it has to be. Stay away from Finn’s. If you want a drink, I can take you to a quieter place where you can drink to your heart’s content without drawing any attention to yourself.”
“And where’s the fun in that?”
“The fun in that is not getting hit on by fat slobs like the man you ran into last night. The fun in that is not getting me into fistfights with the locals. I have to deal with these motherfuckers when you’re gone.”
“I don’t know… That was kinda fun seeing you knock a guy out with one punch.”
I bit my lips to hide my grin but failed miserably. Seeing Roman’s hardened face just made me burst into an uncontrollable giggle.
“Relax,” I said. “I promise I’ll try not to get you into any more trouble. You’ll get your money.”
“Thanks.”
“And speaking of not getting into trouble, Arthur wants to have lunch with me a little later.”
“I can give you a ride.”
“It’s not for a little bit. Maybe I can enjoy the atmosphere at Amy’s a little bit longer.”
Roman and I sipped on our coffee while the customers continued to line up in the bakery. The smell of freshly-brewed coffee and sugary-sweet pastries filled my nostrils and made me forget about anything that might have been troubling me.
I wasn’t eager to have lunch with Arthur. I intended on enjoying myself away from him for as long as I could.
Chapter 7
ROMAN
After dropping Mia off, I didn’t wanna admit to myself that I was disappointed that she wasn’t around. I barely knew the girl but damn if I didn’t wanna bend her over. I chalked it up to the fact that I hadn’t hooked up since I got out. The money was an even better reminder that I couldn’t let whatever fucking emotions I had get in the way of the business.
I had the rest of the day to myself but I was interrupted when I got a call from Sebastian telling me to meet up with him. There weren’t many people in Old Town. It was the part of Ivory everybody had abandoned. It was the perfect setting to meet up with Seabass.
It was the middle of the afternoon when I got to the diner where Sebastian was waiting for me. He was in the middle of a sandwich.
“You’re alive,” he said, his mouth half-full.
“I’m alive,” I sighed.
I just now realized how fucking exhausting the night with Mia was.
“What the fuck happened to you?” he said as he smacked his lips. “You look like you went back to jail for the night.”
“It almost feels like it…”
“So you had to babysit someone. Was it so bad?”
“She’s not just someone. She’s the daughter of a fucking Mafioso. And she just turned 21 not too recently. You know how 21-year-olds are with their alcohol.”
“She drank a little bit. A few nights ago, you were a bouncer at a bar. Is this any different?”
I raised my hand up and showed him the bruises on my knuckles. His eyes widened in surprise as he swallowed down another bite of his sandwich.
“You didn’t…”
“Of course not! It was someone else.”
“Oh, I see. Someone started shit with her.”
“No… She started it. She wanted to see if I was capable.”
“You’re kidding.”
“She pointed at the guy and told me to prove that I was the one who should be protecting her or some shit…”
Seabass’s mouth was agape for a second before he suddenly burst into laughter. I rolled my eyes while I waited for him to stop giggling like a bitch.
“I’m sorry, man,” he said. “You know how these girls are. They’re daughters of powerful men. They’re used to ordering people around. Hey. At least you’re not shoveling horse shit…”
“Shoveling horse shit isn’t fun but it’s good, honest labor. Getting into fights to prove myself is some meathead shit…”
“You’re a regular knight in shining armor.”
The bastard couldn’t stop grinning at me.
“Whatever,” I said. “I just can’t wait for my next payment tonight.”
“You and me both. This is the easiest work I’ve ever done.”
Seabass kept stuffing his mouth like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. He was in such a good mood that it was almost annoying.
“What about you?” I said. “What’s Burke like?”
“What you see is what you get. He had a meeting with a few bigwigs.”
“You recognize any of them?”
“They look familiar. I’m not too much on who’s running what these days in Ivory.”
“But you were at Burke’s meeting. What was that all about?”
Seabass washed down another bite of his sandwich with his drink and cleared his throat.
“Burke’s looking to carve into the drug trade,” he said.
“Drug trade? There’s no drug trade in Ivory. There hasn’t been for years.”
“There was. It wasn’t for a long time but it was there. It all happened when you were locked up. The Chinese Triads were moving weight through Ivory. They got more than a few MCs involved.”
“Are you serious?”
“It was serious,” he said with a nod. “Feds showed up to try to take ‘em down.”
“You’re shittin’ me.”
“I don’t know the details. I know the Reapers were involved. Wasn’t exactly a big secret. But the Triads are done in Ivory. Same with the feds. It looks like Burke is taking an opportunity to capitalize.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
I looked out the window of the diner and listened to Sebastian eat his lunch. It took me a few seconds to realize that he was trying to get at something.
“Wait,” I said as I turned back to Sebastian. “You’re not thinking about getting in on this, are you?”
“What?” he exclaimed. “Fuck no! We’ve got no club, Rock. You think you and me could get involved with this shit by ourselves?”
“Right…”
“Why the fuck would you even think something like that?”
“I guess I just know you too well.”
“Yeah,” he said with a laugh. “Maybe you do.”
I looked back out the window. In the parking lot, I saw someone getting out of his car. He was an older man who wasn’t moving very fast. I wouldn’t have thought much of him but his checkered suit was so noticeable that I couldn’t help but stare.
“Is that…”
I narrowed my eyes to make sure I saw what I was looking at. Then I turned to Sebastian and saw the half-smirk on his lips.
“It’s him,” I said. “What the fuck is he doing here?”
“He’s an old friend,” Seabass replied. “I thought you’d wanna say hello.”
I wasn’t sure what to think. Next thing I know, the old man is in the diner and walking up right next to our table.
“Hello, Rock,” the old man said to me. “It’s good to see you.”
His yellow-toothed smile made me laugh. His hair was white. His skin was wrinkled and melting off of his face. His belly stuck out. Despite his age, that still didn’t stop him from acting like he was 40 years younger in that gaudy suit of his.
“Murph,” I said. “It’s been a long time.”
“Scoot over,” he said. “Lemme sit down already.”
&
nbsp; Seabass moved over just enough to let the old man have a seat.
I’d known Tom Murphy ever since I was young. The man was a Devil before I was even born. He was part of the reason I became a Devil in the first place. As I stared at him, all of the memories of being in the club washed over me.
“Cain over here told me you were back in town,” Murph said. “Why didn’t you stop to say hello?”
“I’ve been busy,” I said. “I just got in town yesterday. Frankly, I’m surprised you’re still alive.”
“Ha!” Sebastian burst into laughter.
Murphy glared at him before sighing and turning his attention back to me.
“It’s good that you’re back,” Murph said. “Cain here says you’re interested.”
“I’m interested?” I said, raising an eyebrow at Sebastian.
“Interested in bringing back the MC.”
I shifted my eyes between the two of them. For a second, I thought they were joking. But neither one of the motherfuckers was laughing. It took me a moment before it finally dawned on me.
“That’s what this is all about,” I said. “This isn’t about Burke or Mia. You brought me back to Ivory so we could restart the MC.”
“No,” Sebastian said. “I brought you to Ivory because it was an opportunity. That’s Burke’s money in your pocket, not anybody else’s.”
“Then what the fuck are you talking about, Murph? Why the hell do you think I’d wanna bring back the MC? After all the shit we went through?”
“Because this is an opportunity,” Murph said.
He held his hand up and rubbed his fingers together.
For as long as I’d known Murph, the old man was always about the money. Everything was about making a profit. He couldn’t look at something without trying to figure out how to turn it into cash. Now that I was back in town, I had no doubt he would try to convince me he’d come up with some sorta scheme.
I knew Murph too well.
Go ahead. Tell me you found a way to make a shit ton of money.
“I found a way to make a shit ton of money,” he said.
“Of course,” I said, rolling my eyes.
I didn’t wanna listen but I figured that since I was here, I might as well humor him.
“What is it?” I said.
The old man leaned forward across the table and whispered.
