Page 68 of Cook

Fucking hilarious.

That red-headed giant and I had been making our own law before we could drive. And setting up the official MC after he’d murdered the last Prez, the same man who’d terrorized his family for years. Icing on the goddamn cake.

Eyes swung to me when I strode in, and I swore.

In addition to Celt, Maddie’s sister and Angel were on the desk side of the office, Melanie sat behind the second desk that had been moved in. Celt reclined in the chair behind his desk in his MC cut and no shirt, boots kicked up and showing off the soles. Melanie’s face had a ghostly blue hue from the open laptop, and she glared at me over the top.

Lanie, as she was starting to favor, happened to be the last person I wanted to see today.

“Cook.” Lanie slapped the laptop closed, stood, and left Angel sitting on the edge of the desk to meet me halfway.

“Getting settled?” I quipped some small talk, hoping she wouldn’t poke the elephant in the room.

“Studying for the Arizona bar.” She closed the final few steps, and I tensed.

She looked too much like her sister, only more fit. Curves of muscle filled out her blazer, and it seemed wrong.Not Maddie,I had to remind myself.

It stopped me cold when she paused, then locked her arms aroundmy chest.

I met Angel’s hardened gaze with a plea, but he didn’t rip his girl away. I gave Lanie a quick hug as she took a deep sniff. Could she smell Maddie? Or was that a happy-to-see-you gasp?

Regardless, I pushed Lanie to arm’s length before she could ask about her sister and preemptively said, “Give it a couple weeks, ’kay?”

Frowning, she stepped back. She had fury in her eyes like she was about to argue with me. Her objection must’ve been on the tip of her tongue, but Celt dropped his heavy boots to the floor.

“’Bout time, bro.” Celt skirted his desk and clapped me on the shoulder. “Let’s move this across the street.”

“Sounds good to me.” It seemed like I’d just eaten, but I wouldn’t turn down a cup of Louie’s sludge. A spoon could stand up on its own in that shit. Maddie had wrinkled her nose when I’d given her a cup at the house, but dark, thick, and strong was just the way I liked my coffee.

Celt and I hung back as Lanie and Angel marched through the bread aisle in Mel’s Market toward the door.

“How’s the girl?” he asked in a low voice.

It was the only question anyone asked these days. A fucking good reason to stay away from all the bastards in the Ridge.

“Fine,” I said, checking our surroundings.

“Then what’s got you turnt?” murmured Celt. “You’re twitchin’ like you just did a line of coke.”

“You know that’s bullshit.” I scratched at the scar that ran down the center of my chest.

I’d covered the mark with tats, but I could still feel the puckered skin. The last time I snorted blow, one of the sweetbutts hanging around Rex’s MC went knife crazy during sex. I woke up alone, wondering who bled out in my bed. To this day, I still wasn’t sure which bitch I’d fucked.

Granted, I’d done a whole slew of other shit that night too.

“Then what?” Celt frowned. “Something with your mom? Roni and I checked in on her in Phoenix like you asked. Still can’t believe you’ve been hiding her there for twenty-three years, asshole.”

I winced. “Better to let everyone think she and my dad both up and disappeared. You know how rumors fly in small towns.”

Cook, of course, knew what really happened to Daddy, but I’d lied about Mom. The last thing I’d wanted was his sympathy when he had the perfect fam. Another thing my bro had ripped away by that dead motherfucker, Rex.

“It’s not Mom,” I said as we stepped past our motorcycles in front of Mel’s.

Louie’s Diner, our destination, and my coffee waited across the street.

“It’s Maddie, then?” Celt cut me a look.

Did he already know? Surely Wilde and the Warden wouldn’t have said anything. Brothers in the club talked about a whole slew of shit, but ol’ ladies weren’t the normal chatter.

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