Page 71 of Break Out

Simone chuckled. “Not necessary. I think Jackhammer has that duty tonight.”

Rafferty’s eyes slid to the side and back to her. “He’ll have company then.”

We missed the green light to leave the parking lot. While we sat at the red, using the side mirror I watched Rafferty on his bike behind us. He wore a helmet with a visor, preventing me from seeing his eyes.

“Why isn’t he prospecting? Do you know?”

Her head turned toward me. “Why? You gonna recruit him?”

I glanced at her. “Yeah.”

“What? Are you serious? Why?”

The light turned green and I tipped my head toward it. “Focus on the road, woman. To answer your question, he stepped in without either one of us there. Kept his cool more than twice during that encounter. I respect the hell out of that, and I don’t see it every day.”

“Wow,” she whispered.

“So, why isn’t he a prospect?”

She sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know. My hunch is that they’re waiting for him to turn twenty-one.”

“How old is he?” I asked.

“Nineteen, but he turns twenty soon.” She paused. “I could be completely wrong about the reasoning Steel. The last four years, I’ve been in Gainesville and that isn’t info Dad would tell me anyway.”

“Fair enough.”

“His mom’s gonna lose her mind.”

“But not his dad?”

She chuckled. “Him too, but Aunt Trixie loves the club with her heart and soul.”

I hummed as her words replayed in my mind. “Wait, he’s Roll’s son?”

“Yeah.”

I chuckled. “Then I really don’t understand why he isn’t prospecting early. It’s in his fuckin’ blood.”

“Yeah, I don’t get it either. Seeing as you know the Riot is in his blood, maybe it’d be a good thing to keep searching for your next recruit.”

“No,” I said.

“No?”

With a curt nod, I said, “No, and that’s final. Should be his decision any damned way.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

Chapter 14

Free-Fall

Simone

Guilt gnawed at me. I probably shouldn’t have said anything about Rafferty not prospecting with the Riot, and I felt like a traitor for sharing. Yet, over the last week, I had developed a soft spot for Jackhammer and Warden – maybe it was only by association with Steel. Who knew? Either way, I felt like I’d put myself in the middle of an untenable situation.

I made a mental note to text Rafferty and ask why he’d been following me. That wasn’t just something Steel wanted to know. Had Dad put him up to it? Or was he trying to impress all of the brothers?

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