Page 19 of In Too Deep

Placing my hands in my jeans pockets, I reply, “Yeah, I don’t know him well, but this garage was for sale, and I snapped it up quickly. It’s a good business.”

He smiles, showing a missing tooth on his upper jaw. You can tell he doesn’t look after himself. His skin is burned, with wrinkles forming around his eyes and mouth, proving that he’s a heavy smoker. Speaking of smokes, my hand rests on my lighter inside my jeans, and suddenly, I realize exactly what I’m doing here. I need to earn their trust.

My eyes glance to his cut, and I say, “So you’re the president of the Royal Bastards? I’ve been meaning to meet you.”

“Oh, yeah?” he questions, eyebrow raised. “And why’s that?”

Shrugging, I say, “Just want to offer my services to let you know I’ll look after you and the club if you need anything done on your bikes. I’d be more than happy to do the work at a discounted price.”

The other men laugh and step in next to Vinney. “Who said we do any paying?” the skinny VP who goes by Mikki says.

“Um…” My eyes shoot to Tyler, and he gives me a quick shake of his head, proving what they’re saying is right. I laugh.

“My bad, gentleman, looks like you already had a deal with Brent.”

Mikki places his hand on top of Vinney’s shoulder and taps it.

“Looks like this asshole needs a bit of a lesson.”

Panicking on the inside, I try hard not to show it on my face.

“Hey, fellas, he’s all good. You should see how Seth knows his way around a bike. He added that extra air drone to Shooter’s bike,” Tyler adds, walking the few steps toward us and pointing to Shooter’s bike.

Shooter whistles, his fingers running over it. He looks over his shoulder at us. “You see this, Prez… he’s done a hell of a job.”

Feeling relieved, I hold my breath, waiting for Vinney’s next words.

He doesn’t talk but turns around and walks toward Shooter, squats, and takes a closer look at the work I’ve done.

Out the corner of my eye, I look over at Tyler, who’s reaching for a smoke from his pocket and lighting it up. I don’t smoke, but God, do I need it right now.

Mikki follows Shooter and stands there, his head bent, also looking at the bike.

Vinney stands and walks back toward us. “You did a hell of a job, Seth.”

Smirking, I nod. “Thank you.”

“To thank you, why don’t you join us at our club tonight? You might as well get to know the other boys, as they’ll be regulars here.”

Shit, this is my in.

“I’d be honored, Vinney,” I reply, knowing I’ve got an in. If I can get into their clubhouse, it means I will have an opportunity to earn their trust. I just have to make sure I don’t fuck this up.

Mikki steps closer to us. “Hey, Prez, how do you know we can trust this man?” he asks, followed by a very heavy smoker’s cough.

“Hey, you okay there, brother?” I ask Mikki, coughing up a lung.

He gains his breath back and inhales. Then he grabs his packet of cigarettes from underneath his T-shirt sleeve and lights one up.

I want to ask him if he should really be doing that.But it’s not my place to tell him what to do, plus, he already doesn’t trust me. I don’t want to add to that.

He lights up his smoke and inhales, followed by blowing the smoke out in my direction.

Trying hard not to cough, I keep my eyes focused on him, proving that I’m not scared of him.

Vinney asks, “Is there a reason why we shouldn’t trust you, Seth?”

“No. Nothing I can think of,” I joke.

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