Page 149 of Collect the Pieces

“No, he heard you two coming and ran through the woods like Tarzan to ambush you,” Z explains, lazily circling his arm in the air.

Wrath crosses his arms over his chest and nods.

“You need to get out more,” I suggest, shaking my head. “Socialize with people. Go on some playdates or something.”

He screws his face into a mask of pure disgust. “I see enough people at work.”

Rock, Murphy, and Z step into our circle, exchanging looks.

“A heads-up woulda been nice, Prez,” I say, slapping Z’s shoulder, “that fuckin’ Tarzan was coming to get me.”

Z smirks wide enough to show off dimples. “I wasn’t sure which one of you he was gonna target.”

“Thanks, Prez,” Rooster says.

I lace my hands behind my back and rock onto my heels—the picture of innocence. “So, did Z fill you in on Stella’shundred-and-one men in one dayfilm proposal?”

Murphy turns to the side and gags. “What the fuck?”

Z shoots me a glare.

Rock arches an eyebrow, then shrugs. “You know what? I don’t wanna know.” He holds up a hand, already done with the conversation. “I’m not volunteering as security for that gig.”

“We voted itdown,” Z says, his glare still locked on me.

“Why…How…What?” Murphy sputters.

“It’s as disgusting as you think,” Rooster says.

A thunderous chorus of bikes echoes up the driveway. “Guess that’s the rest of Downstate,” I shout to Rooster.

It’s not just Downstate, though. Dex is at the front of the pack.

He parks in the garage and jogs over to us. “I was worried I was going to be late. Had the inspector down at Crystal Ball.”

“What inspector?” Z asks.

“Fucking fire marshal,” Dex mutters, scrubbing a hand over his jaw. “It was just a routine check.”

“Was it Keegan?” Wrath asks.

“No.” Dex shrugs. “Wouldn’t have mattered. That guy’s un-bribable.” He grins. “And it didn’t matter. There weren’t any issues for him to ding us on. He wanted to give me a hard time about the back door since we prop it open a lot, but it’s clearly marked. And obviously if we’re propping it open, people can get out if they need to.” He lifts his chin and taps his fist on my arm. “Thanks for helping me get ready for the inspection.”

“Any time, brother.”

A few of the other guys walk over to us and Rock lifts his arm, waving everyone toward the clubhouse. “Let’s go inside.”

We file straight into the war room.

I take a seat on the far side of the middle of the table, between where Rock’s guys usually sit and where our downstate brothers sit. Seems like an appropriate spot given how I’ve been splitting up my time lately.

I reach across the table and slap Eazy’s hand, then Butcher’s as they take their seats.

Sparky shuffles in and lifts his chin at me before sprawling on the couch tucked into a corner at the end of the table.

“All right.” Rock stands at the head of the table. “Settle down.”

The door pushes open and Grinder hurries inside, walking straight to the empty chair on Z’s right-hand side.

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