Page 6 of Devil's Plaything

I nod. “You’re right. Family comes first.”

“Damn right it does. Now, if you tell Nitro I asked this, I will kill you. How good was the Widow Maker?”

Laughing, I reply, “A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.”

She gives me a look. “Good thing you aren’t a lady.”

“That’s true.”

A lady wouldn’t even think of ignoring good advice. A lady wouldn’t even think of fucking the bad boy again.

Nope, I’m definitely not a lady.

9

Zeke

I finish off my beer, smiling at Lita as she gyrates on my lap. She’s pretty enough, but not who I came here hoping to see. It’s foolish to think she has any reason to return to The Fuzzy Peach, but here I am.

I’ve told myself over and over, she’s trouble. I’m supposed to be staying out of trouble. Snake made it clear if I can’t figure out a way to do that, I’m out. The more I think about that, the angrier I get. Doesn’t the club see all the sacrifices I’ve made? No. They only see how many times I’ve fucked up. I’ve given a lot to the club and all they want to do is give me shit.

“We can go somewhere more private if you want,” Lita suggests, cupping my dick through my jeans.

Before I can respond, my phone vibrates with a text. It’s Hawk. Again. He wants to meet, have a discussion about the future of the club. He wants to be president and for some strange reason, he thinks I can help him get there. I ignore him, encouraging Lita to keep going.

For a brief moment, it takes my mind off the club drama. Then, Snake takes a seat beside me, interrupting my attempt at getting laid. I’ve been waiting for him to ask me about my trip to the Rebels’ clubhouse. It’s been two weeks. Surely he knows by now.

“I hear you got into a little trouble here not too long ago.”

I shrug. “I haven’t been in any fucking trouble.”

He glares at me. “You think beating the shit out of some random guy at my strip club isn’t trouble?”

“I don’t know what the fuck you want from me, Snake. The fight had nothing to do with the club. You told me to stay out of trouble. That’s what the fuck I’m trying to do.”

He nods. “Fine. I’ll take your word on it. Just keep the fights outside from now on. I’ve got too much riding on us going legit to have some piece of shit try to shut down this place because he got his ass kicked.”

Not something that crossed my mind. Everyone knows what we do here, so I doubt some fight is going to make us close our doors.

“He won’t be a problem.”

“And what about you, Zeke? Are you going to be a problem? Because I can’t tell you how thin the ice is that you’re walking on.”

Another reminder of how the club wants me gone. Forget about the laws I’ve broken for my brothers. Forget about the blood I’ve shed for them. Apparently, it doesn’t mean much.

“I’ve had your back in all of your decisions, Snake.” I push the stripper away and stand up. “Be nice if the club had mine.”

And if they don’t, fuck them. I’ll burn everything we’ve built to the ground.

10

Cleo

I scroll to the next video, giggling as the person does a spot on lip sync of a scene from Rush Hour. I’m taking a much-needed break from the Rebels’ clubhouse and Nitro’s interrogations. I’m grateful that he finally got my car running and, don’t get me wrong, I love my cousin, but he should know me well enough by now to know that the more he forbids something, the more I want to do it.

I take another bite of my burger before moving on to the next video. My eyes are still on my phone when I notice someone taking a French fry from my plate. Since I have my phone in one hand and my burger in the other, I don’t get to swat them away like I typically would.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?” I ask Zeke, who slides into the booth beside me.

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