Page 154 of Break Out

Torque swallowed his food. “Jesus, I think the hang-around rubbed off on you.”

I sipped my coffee. “We aren’t getting any younger, Tor. This shit’s getting old. I give it nine months, tops, before another club or a street gang fights us for the same turf.”

“Right.”

I shook my head. “I’m not doing any more time. Finally have something good and sweet to live for. If the last twenty-four hours have shown me anything, it’s that I didn’t give a damn about dangerous situations. I wanted the danger to feel alive. Now, I don’t need that. Being with Jade has changed everything.”

“So… you really want to clean the whole club? Top down?”

I shrugged. “Of the drugs, yeah.”

He narrowed an eye at me. “That’s gonna be a tough sell.”

“Got two chapters that want to clean up, and one of those is our best market for drugs. Then there’s Jacksonville, which isn’t doing well in terms of sales. Even if that’s because their membership is low, they didn’t do well ten years ago either.”

Torque gave a small nod. “Yeah, but what about our other seventeen chapters?”

I twisted my hands up. “I’m not sure. It’ll take time and a decent plan, but we won’t know until we float the idea to the members.”

He crumpled up his sandwich wrapper, tossed it on the tray, and sat back in his seat, blowing out a sigh.

I stared at him. “What? After last night, you really want to stick with it?”

His eyes slid to the side while he mulled it over. “You got a point. Last night was pretty brutal.”

I walked into the kitchen at eleven-thirty and found Simone and Rafferty sitting at the breakfast bar with bowls of cereal in front of them.

“Where’s everybody else? And why are you eating cereal? It’s nearly lunchtime.”

Simone tilted her head up as I approached her side. “Mom and Dad got on the road early. Blood and Abby followed suit, and Uncle Cal left about an hour ago.”

I tipped my head at her bowl. “And the cereal?”

She shot a quick grin at Rafferty. “After Uncle Cal left, he decided to sleep a little longer in a real bed. So, I guess this is breakfast for him, and I never know what I want to eat, but cereal hasn’t steered me wrong yet.”

My woman was gorgeous, but the dark circles under her eyes told the tale. Yesterday had taken a lot out of her and she was still tired. “Once you’re done, go grab a nap.”

Her eyes widened and I anticipated an argument. Then she reluctantly said, “I will.”

It didn’t take long for Simone to finish her food and leave the room.

Rafferty had nearly finished his bowl.

I pulled out the chair next to his. “I want you to prospect with us, but that won’t work if you decide mid-way to cut bait to join the Riot MC.”

He kept his eyes locked on the fridge. “I know.”

“The only way you get out of prospecting as a Devil Lancer is if you don’t make the cut… and you’ve shown you have what it takes.”

He shook his head and looked at me. “But I don’t have it, since I was knocked out when it really matters.”

His self-loathing tone hit me hard.

“How many bar fights have you been in?”

His eyes held a hint of irritation. “Two.”

“That’s not enough. I think you know that. Takes a hell of a lot of guts to go up against an enforcer for another MC.”

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