Page 17 of Hell Bent

“Have fun.” Vicious waved Player off. When he finished his beer, he was heading out. He needed something else to look at.

“Don’t worry, I will.” Walking off, Player stopped for a second and turned back to Vicious. “If you go stalking tonight, take Joker with you. The Scorpions have been stirring the pot again.” God knew Player could use a break from his best friend being moody all the damn time. Talking about getting laid, Joker needed to get on that as much as Vicious did.

“Will do, mom.” Vicious chuckled as Player flipped him off.

Chapter Eleven

Sitting at her small kitchen table, Sway scanned over the information Lottie’s boyfriend had gotten her. After hours of reading over everything on Jerome Michel, Sway started putting things together. Just as she suspected, he was nothing but a thug. He was also connected to the Bloody Scorpions. It was obvious if you connected the dots. He was also known to be a hangaround with multiple motorcycle clubs. The one club he wasn’t affiliated with was the Royal Bastards. She found that information interesting since he had been at one of their parties. Then again, Vicious hadn’t acted like he knew Jerome when he threatened his life.

Tapping her pen against the notepad, she scribbled down the name of the club and the man who had walked her home the night of Tesh’s funeral. She wondered if he knew Jerome was a snake. Thinking about Vicious, Sway chewed on the pen, lost in thought about the man.

It had taken everything in her to not confront him. Since walking her home, he had taken up watching over her. Hewasn’t there all the time, but more times than not, she’d see him. She joked with Lottie that she had a stalker. Some nights, she worried he was just that, a stalker, and possibly crazy.

Staring at the papers, she told herself to stay away from the man. Against her better judgement, she had already been thinking of a way to get chummy with the gorgeous green-eyed devil. When she told Lottie, her best friend argued, but Sway reminded her she was a grown woman and didn’t need her permission.

She had decided getting into the man’s bed was too risky. There had to be another way to get information from him. It was Lottie who suggested she get involved by working on their bikes. But it wasn’t that easy. It wasn’t like she could walk into the clubhouse and introduce herself.

“Look, Sway, if I was a mechanic, that would be my in. Well, not really. I’d be getting in one of their beds, but that’s me, not you.”

“Maybe you could just get cozy with one.”

“You don’t get cozy with these guys. Do you know what the girls in the clubs do?”

“Not really.”

“You should research that shit. They call them club girls, patch whores, sweetbutt, house mouse. There are lots more, but those are the primary ones. They screw all the guys, and that’s expected.”

“What if you’re married or a member’s woman?”

“You’re their property, which protects you from sleeping with the entire club.”

“Seems you’ve been researching, Lottie.”

“I’m telling you, Sway, use your talent as a wrench. Tesh used to work on their bikes. He was their friend. They might give you some work.” Sway heard what Lottie was saying, but she didn’t know if they would let her work on their bikes because she was a female.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Maybe you should just leave it alone. Let go of all of it. Live your life for you, your way. Shit, close the shop, rent the space, and go to school if you want to.”

Sway knew Lottie was trying to help, but the shop was all she had left of her family. Even if most of the memories weren’t happy ones, they were hers. The shop was hers. “I like what I do, Lottie.”

“It was just a suggestion.”

Thinking about their conversation, Sway was aggravated that Lottie didn’t understand how hard it would be to get up close and personal with Vicious and his friends. They were on a different level than the men Lottie hung with. Lottie’s current boyfriend was dangerous, but not like the Royal Bastards were. Everything she’d found on them said they were lethal.

Moving from her kitchen table, Sway walked to the window and pulled the curtains back. Looking up and down the street, she didn’t see her stalker. Disappointment settled over her. Dropping the curtains, she went back to the kitchen and made herself another cup of hot tea.

Carrying it back over to the sofa, she curled up in the corner and pulled a throw blanket over her lap. She didn’t want to read a book, watch TV, or listen to music. What she wanted was to figure out how she would continue to keep the shop open and earn money to feed herself.

“Move in with me, Sway.”

“Thanks, Lottie, but I’m staying at the apartment for now.”

Maybe she should take Lottie up on her offer. She could rent out the apartment to bring in money. If she couldn’t keep the shop running, maybe she could rent it too, like Lottie suggested. Both were ideas she should consider. The problem was, she didn’t know what she would do if she wasn’t working on motors.

Not too many repair shops would give a woman a chance. They’d want to shove her behind a desk or make her a receptionist. Neither appealed to her. Shaking her head, Sway was overthinking her current situation. The shop was doing good. Not great, but it was doing better than it had in the past.

A knock at the door had Sway jumping. Before she answered, she hurried back to the kitchen table, gathered up the papers, and hastily shoved them in a folder. Glancing around, she made sure there were no signs of her investigation into Jerome Michel. Tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear, she smoothed out her sweater then walked to the door. Peering through the peephole, she saw Lottie on the little landing. Opening the door, Sway greeted her with a casual smile. “Good morning.”

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