by Nina Levine
He watched me like a lion watched its prey. “I figure you and I are gonna work on that together.”
My brows pulled together. “How the fuck do you figure that?”
He placed his phone in his palm and played me a recording of two people discussing the fire at our restaurant, Trilogy. In particular, they were discussing the fact they were responsible for the fire and what they had hoped to achieve by setting it – Storm getting rid of Ricky Grecian. When the recording finished, he eyed me and shared, “That was Julio and his right hand man.”
I stood in silence while I processed what he’d just shared with me. “How did you get that recording?”
“Does that matter?”
“As far as I’m concerned, it does. You’re indicating your desire for me to work with you to take Julio down – I’m hardly gonna get into bed with someone unless I know their information is right.” I’d never trusted Bourne, and I struggled to trust him now.
He scowled and threw his phone on the table. “Jesus Christ, Cole, you’re just how your father described you - a fucking pussy who refuses to take an opportunity when it presents itself.”
My body tensed as anger heated me. “See, that’s where my father went wrong in life. He didn’t pay enough attention to the details. The devil’s in the fuckin’ details, Bourne. Call me whatever the fuck you want, but I’m not taking your word for anything. You give me what I need and we’ll go from there.”
Shaking his head at me, he muttered, “Fuck.” He then settled against his desk and folded his arms across his chest. “I planted a guy in Julio’s crew and he’s been feeding me the information I need. If you want to talk to him to verify that, I’ll line up a meet. He can give you whatever information you want on Julio.”
“Line it up for today. I’m heading home tomorrow.”
He raised his brows. “You rode all this way, gave up almost a week of your time, just to talk to me and this guy? You couldn’t do it over the phone or send someone else?”
“Never can be too sure, Bourne. I needed to see you myself.”
He pushed off the desk. “I’ll let you know what time.”
As I watched him walk out of the office, I knew this was his signal that we were done until later. Suited me. The less time in his presence, the better.
* * *
“Hey, baby,” Harlow greeted me when I rang her a little while after seeing Bourne. Even though she sounded happy to hear from me, I could discern the act she was putting on for me.
“On a scale of one to ten, how bad do you feel? One being like death,” I said as I fidgeted with the diner menu in front of me. We’d left the clubhouse in search of food and found what we needed about half an hour away in a tiny diner off the highway. J and Nash were ordering our food while I rang Harlow.
I heard her sigh through the phone. “Honestly, I’d say I’m at a five today. My throat isn’t as bad as it was yesterday; I can at least swallow without feeling like I have a packet of razors going down.”
So, she’s probably a three or a four.
“Has Mum checked on you today?”
“It’s only ten in the morning, Scott. She worked late last night so I wouldn’t expect her until this afternoon.”
“What about Madison?”
“She rang me and I told her I was doing okay. And before you ask, I’ve taken the morning off work and if I feel better this afternoon, I’ll go in and help Mum then.”
“We’re leaving Adelaide tomorrow and we’ll be as fast as we can.”
“Please don’t rush back just for me.”
“I’ll have what I need by tomorrow, sweetheart. By the way, how are Lisa and Michelle?”
“Michelle is much better and Lisa is getting there. I went over and checked on them this morning. How are you feeling?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Like shit, but that’s to be expected. Nothing a good night’s sleep next to you won’t fix in a few days.” I eyed Nash heading my way with breakfast. “You good if I go? Nash just ordered food.”
“Yes, go eat. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Tonight, baby,” I said, and ended the call as Nash placed breakfast on the table.
“Harlow good?” he asked as he slid into the seat across from me.
“No, she’s still sick, but trying to tell me she’s okay.”
I pulled up the contacts on my phone and dialled a number.
Shoving bacon in my mouth, I waited for him to answer. He took his time to answer, finally picking up on about the sixth ring. “Scott, what’s up, man?”
“I’ve got one of the prospects watching Harlow, but I need you to head over to my house and keep an eye on her instead. She’s not well and I’m concerned she might pass out or some shit. You good to do that?”
“Sure. Gimme five and then I’m on my way.”
“Thanks.”
“No worries. Anything to help the club.”
“Oh, and Rogue, don’t let her try and tell you she’s okay. I don’t want your attention on anything other than Harlow today.”
“You got it, man. My day is dedicated to her.”
As I placed my phone on the table, it buzzed with a text.
Bourne: Meet is scheduled for one this afternoon. At the clubhouse.
Me: See you then.
“I don’t know whether to trust that asshole or not,” I muttered after I sent my text. As I met Nash’s gaze, I added, “I’m trying to figure out his angle here.”
“He obviously wants us to help him take down Julio, but I don’t see how having us along for the ride will really help him,” Nash said.
“That’s what I’m getting stuck on, too.”
“Let’s check out Julio’s crew as best we can before we meet Bourne’s guy this afternoon, and then go from there. If we don’t trust him, we walk away.”
He was right, and I couldn’t help but think that any man who’d been aligned with my father was not a man I could trust.
* * *
I walked into the Adelaide clubhouse with trepidation that afternoon. The beady-eyed guy Bourne had with him only raised my levels of concern. Short, almost bald and sweaty as if he had shit to hide, Alex was your typical drug dealing scum.
After Bourne completed the introductions, I said, “I would have thought Julio would have measures in place to weed out traitors. How have you managed to go undetected?”
“I made myself indispensible to him from before he even took me on. Bourne and I planned it way in advance. We were smart about that shit, man, and Julio never suspected a thing. Even when he dug into my background, he couldn’t find anything because Bourne and I had covered it and replaced it with what Julio would accept.” His eyes betrayed nothing when I’d expected them to show me he was lying. I’d met enough lying assholes in my life to know the signs and this guy showed none of them.
“So what’s your role in Julio’s organisation?” J asked. The tense set of his shoulders revealed his hesitation to believe Alex, too.
“I take care of a lot of the shipments and pretty much do anything else he asks me to do. I’ve brought in a lot of contacts for him; that’s how I worked my way up fairly quickly.”
“You gave him those contacts?” I looked at Bourne in surprise. “Would have thought you’d wanna keep them for yourself.”
Bourne tapped his head. “Being smart’s what got me to where I am today, brother. You’ve gotta be willing to make sacrifices in order to give your enemy a little of what he needs, so that in the long run, he gives you what you need. And even better if he doesn’t know it’s you giving it to him.”
Nash stepped forward, his eyes narrowed on Bourne. “So let me get this straight – through Alex, you’ve been feeding Julio contacts and learning everything about his business. How do you see that playing out? And how the fuck do we figure into that? And why would we even want to?”
Bourne met Nash’s gaze and held it. “I can’t make a move on his territory while he’s still alive. He’s got too much ov
er people that he’s bought their loyalty. I also can’t kill him because the retaliation will come hard and fast from his people. However, someone else can kill him and while his people scramble to figure out who, I can cause some serious issues for them. The interruption to their business and the uncertainty of it would give me enough scope to make my move.” He turned his gaze to me. “That’s where you come in.”
“You want us to deal with him for you? So you can get what you want?” I said.
“You’d be doing yourself a favour, too, Cole. You don’t want to live in a State run by Julio. He’ll cause you no end of trouble.”
“Tell me about that. What trouble could he possibly cause us?” I didn’t let on that I already knew what kind of trouble Julio could cause us. I wanted to see how much Bourne would be willing to share.
“I’d think the Trilogy fire was a good example of the shit he gets up to. He also likes to play with his enemies by causing problems between them and their business associates, so for example your wholesalers, that kind of thing. Julio finds ways to make sure everyone needs him, and if he can’t do that, he finds ways to make sure you don’t fuck with him. He blackmailed me when he got proof of something I did five years ago. Trust me, if you’ve got skeletons in your closet, he’ll find them and use them.”
“Say we come on board, what’s the plan?” Nash asked.
“Julio has met a woman and from what Alex can figure, she’s his weakness. He’s planning a weekend away with her soon. We think that’s our best time to attack because each time he’s taken her away, he only takes a few men with him.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. A headache had settled in. “Leave all this with us. We’ll take it back to the club and let you know what we decide.”
Bourne’s jaw clenched. “Don’t take too long, brother. This needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. Before Julio makes any more ground in Queensland.”
I scowled. “We’ll take as fuckin’ long as we take, Bourne. I need to be sure this serves us and not just you.”
My hands clenched by my side as I walked out of the meeting; the desire to tell him what I thought of him sat heavy in my gut, but I kept my mouth shut. I had to be smart about how I handled him. And I had to remember that even though he’d shared information with us, that didn’t mean we had or would ever have an alliance with him. Bourne was not the kind of man to form a working relationship with. He’d save your back one day only to turn around and stab you in it the next.
8
Harlow
I eyed the bike behind me as I drove to the clubhouse.
Rogue.
I’d almost choked on a cough when he’d knocked on my door this morning and announced that Scott had sent him to watch over me for the entire day. And the way he’d dropped his gaze to my chest as he’d uttered the words ‘watch over you’ had almost made me gag.
There’d been no way I was staying at home after he’d arrived there, so I’d made him stay outside while I got dressed, and then I’d decided to head to the clubhouse. I had cake to drop off for the guys before I went to work.
Wilder sat in the clubhouse bar when I arrived, and jerked his chin when he saw me. “You got a minute, Harlow?” he asked as he downed the remainder of his beer.
“Sure,” I said before sliding into the chair across from him. I was grateful to be in the company of another club member, and ignored the scowl Rogue gave me.
Wilder hit me with a smile, and I couldn’t help but take in how good-looking he was. His dark hair sat slightly messed against his tanned skin while just enough scruff on his face defined his jaw and guaranteed to turn the eye of every woman he walked past. But it was his piercing green eyes that always got me; he used those eyes to convince women to do anything he wanted, and I was no different. He had this way of making you feel good when you said yes to his request, and I’d seen numerous girls fall for his charm.
“How are you feeling? Better?”
“A little better. Why? What are you going to ask me for today?” I gave him a smile to let him know I was okay with him asking me for something.
His smile morphed into a grin. “You know me so well, Harlow.” Leaning forward, he continued, “Trilogy reopens in a few days and I desperately need staff. I was doing okay until this morning when a handful of staff quit to go and work at another restaurant. The asshole tried to poach more of our staff but thank fuck they didn’t all leave. I’m gonna need to borrow some of the Indigo team for Trilogy, so do you think you’ll be well enough to fill in until I train new people?”
And there were those eyes, begging me to say yes.
I nodded. “Of course. Whatever you need, I’m yours.”
“Wilder!” A yell cut through the air and we both turned to see where it was coming from.
Gunnar, the newly patched member, stood in the doorway of the bar, staring at Wilder, waiting for his response.
Wilder pushed back his chair and stood. “What?”
“There’s a bitch outside looking for a fight. Griff’s not around; you wanna take this one or do you want me to deal with her?”
“Fuck,” Wilder muttered, “I’ll do it.” He began stalking out and I quickly followed him. I didn’t like to involve myself in club business, but if it was a woman, he might be thankful for my presence.
Rogue sneered at me as I walked past him. “This ain’t got nothing to do with you, bitch.”
I sent him a glare as I continued on my way. “Screw you, asshole.”
“Fuck, I got no clue what Cole sees in you, apart from your tits and ass.” He followed close behind and I did my best to ignore him. I had him pegged for the kind of man who loved to get a woman all worked up and then toy with them, and I refused to give him the satisfaction of that.
I stepped outside and recognised the dark haired woman from the other day – the one who’d been arguing with Scott when I’d bought him cake.
Her angry eyes came to me and then shifted to Wilder who stood in front of me. “So, I need that money back I gave you the other day. Turns out my brother got his drugs from someone else and they’re still threatening him over non-payment.”
Wilder squared his shoulders. “I don’t know anything about any money you gave us.” Gone was any trace of the fun and easy-going Wilder, and in his place was a man I wouldn’t want to have problems with. His tone made it clear he wasn’t interested in discussing this any further.
She crossed her arms over chest and rested most of her weight on one leg as if she was settling in until she got what she came for. “I gave the dude with the lips the cash. Go ask him for it.”
The dude with the lips?
“Babe, he’s not here and won’t be back for a few days at least, so I suggest you come back then and speak to him yourself.”
Scott does have good lips; I would agree with her there. Kissable lips.
“No, I suggest you call him and get it for me. Dealing with asshole drug dealers is not the way I wanna spend my time ‘til your dude gets back.”
I had to give her credit for her perseverance.
Wilder’s back muscles shifted under his fitted t-shirt as he shoved his fingers through his hair. She was clearly irritating him, but he held his cool. “I’ve got a shitload of things to get through today and hassling Scott for your cash isn’t one of them, but I can see you’re not planning on moving that ass of yours until I do.” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and stabbed at it.
I stepped next to him while he waited for Scott to answer. His annoyance was painted on his face and I watched as he directed his frustrated gaze at the woman. When Scott didn’t take the call, he left a message and hung up. “Not much more I can do until he calls me back. Give me your number and I’ll let you know when that happens.”
She stared at him for a few more moments and I thought she wasn’t going to let this go, but then she snapped at him. “Fucking hell! You’re not the only one who has shit to do. I’ve got a million things to do today, one of them being to
pay those assholes off before they hurt my brother, and in amongst all this shit, I’ve gotta deal with the fact I don’t have a car to get me where I’ve gotta go.” As she exhaled a long, shitty breath, she rummaged around in her bag.
“I could help,” I blurted. When Wilder’s head snapped around to face me, I almost wished I hadn’t opened my mouth; the glare he directed at me was pure annoyance mixed with a little anger.
“No, you can’t, Harlow. Scott will fuckin’ kill me if I involve you in this.” He threw a don’t-argue-with-me look my way, and I did my best to ignore it.
“Look, you don’t have time to wait around for Scott so I could do that.” I turned my attention to the woman. “And I have a car so I could drive you where you have to go. I just need to be at work in a few hours.”
She stared at me like I had two heads. “You serious?”
“Yep.” Besides, I really didn’t want to be on my own today while Rogue tailed me. I looked back at Wilder to find him shaking his head at me. “That’s sorted, Wilder. I’ll call Scott and leave a message for him to get in touch with me instead of you. That frees you up to do whatever you need to do.” I flashed him a smile trying to win him over.
In the end, he muttered to himself and then said, “I’m not dumb, Harlow. I know you totally smoothed me over with that charm of yours. Next time I see you, I’m gonna need cake if we’re gonna continue this type of relationship.”
I frowned. “What type of relationship?”
A smile tugged at his lips. “This thing we’ve got going where I let you get away with shit that I shouldn’t. And don’t try and tell me I don’t, ‘cause I know I do.”
“I’ll totally bring you cake next time.” I grinned at him. “And thank you for making me forget for a little bit just how sick I feel.”
“Can we get a move on?” The woman interrupted our conversation, reminding me I had places to go.
“Where do you need me to take you?”
“Woolloongabba.”
