Page 59 of Lawless in Leather

“Are you about to travel for several hours in the middle of the night to see her before you have to turn around and fly back here in the morning?” Alex asked.

“Yes,” Mal said. Then. “Shit.”

“If she isn’t your girlfriend, then you’re inclined in that direction, I’d say,” Alex said. “Good.” He nodded. “I’m happy for you. It’s been a…”

“I know,” Mal said. Alex and Lucas had only met Ally a few times but they’d both been there for him when she’d died, trying to bring him through the grief.

“And you’re going now because you think it’s a good idea, not because you’re…” Alex trailed off but Mal knew what he was asking. Was he being overprotective? Trying to fix things he couldn’t fix. Protect things that didn’t want or need to be protected. Like he had with Ally.

Ally who’d died anyway.

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “But I need to go.”

Alex nodded. “Then go.”

“Don’t tell anyone what I said about Raina. I haven’t asked her if she’s ready for everyone to know.”

“It’s in the vault. Don’t worry. Did you get a flight?”

“Charter job,” Mal admitted. “Old friend of mine.”

“You and your old friends. You could run for president one day. Get elected just by activating your super-secret ex-army-buddy network.”

“Go back to bed,” Mal said. “You’re not making any sense.”

Alex gave him the finger and shut the door.

Chapter Thirteen

The rest of the show passed in a blur. Once again instinct and autopilot got Raina through as she rode the wave of adrenaline, shock and anger churning her stomach. Whoever was messing with her, she was going to kick their ass if she ever got hold of them. This was her damned club and her damned people and no one fucked with them.

After the show, she skipped her usual post-performance mingling and stomped up to her office. Brady knocked on the door about two minutes later.

“What?” she demanded.

“Maggie Jameson asked if she can talk to you a moment.”

Raina sighed. She wasn’t exactly in the mood for a chat but Maggie was the Saints in a way, and the Saints were paying her. She wondered if Mal had called Maggie. Raina had half expected him to call her but so far, nothing. So maybe he was, like a sensible person, asleep in Baltimore.

Brady reappeared with Maggie in tow. He showed her in before pulling the door closed and leaving them to it.

“I saw the police,” Maggie said as she took a seat. “Did something happen? Mal told me about your truck. I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s not your fault,” Raina said. “And yes, there was a little incident with some idiots and some fireworks out the front of the building. But everything is okay now.”

“You need to tell Mal,” Maggie said. “He can help you if someone is giving you trouble. It’s what he does.”

Raina regarded her for a moment, unsure of the best approach to this. For all she knew, Mal had called Maggie even if she hadn’t said so. In which case Maggie already knew that Mal had talked to Luis and this might be a test to see exactly what Raina was going to say.

The muscles in her neck tightened as she thought about it. She decided that it was simpler just to tell the truth. Only maybe not the whole truth. “Luis—he’s my security guy—he already talked to Mal.”

“Good,” Maggie said. Then she paused. “How does your security guy know Mal?”

“Mal had a chat with him after the truck thing,” Raina said. “Made some suggestions.” There. Mostly the truth. Slightly out of order. But she wasn’t about to tell Maggie Jameson that she’d slept with Mal without asking Mal if he was okay with his friends knowing about that first.

“I see,” Maggie said. “Well, good. Mal can help. He’s a good guy.”

“Yes,” Raina said. “He is. All three of them are from what I’ve seen.”

---