Page 8 of Havoc

Glancing at Zoe and then back at me, he continued, “About two weeks ago, he got the prospects all riled up during a police raid at a bar in town.”

I knew exactly what he was talking about. It was the only police raid in town all year, and even the local media had been talking about it. I interjected quickly, “If it’s any consolation, they didn’t do much damage to the bar. I think they were just causing a bunch of chaos because the cop who called in the raid is dirty and was keen to arrest a bunch of us on trumped-up charges.”

Storm’s hands came down to rest on his desk. “Is that so? How do you know this?”

“I was there. It’s the bar where me and my friends meet up for our girls’ night out. Bruno Romano owns the place. I’ve always suspected he deals drugs out of the back of his bar, but no one has ever tried to sell drugs to me personally, and I’ve never watched a drug deal go down with my own eyes.”

Storm suddenly hung on my every word. “Tell me everything you know about that bar.”

“Well, it’s a popular bar with a good atmosphere. The place is always slammed on Friday and Saturday nights when I’ve been there. People mostly come to dance, it’s a place women can go and not get hassled,” I paused, thinking about Detective Slater again. “Well, usually we don’t get hassled. The drinks are reasonably priced, and their nightly specials are fantastic.”

Storm’s voice shifted to something a little more accommodating. “That’s all good information. Tell me more about why you think this Romano guy is dealing drugs.”

Without missing a beat, I told him exactly what he wanted to know. “I’ve been there a bunch of times and noticed that people leave way more messed up than when they came. I’ve even seen people walking around with white powder dusting their nostrils. To be honest, a lot of people seem to be snorting drugs there. The bathrooms are at the back of the bar down a little hallway that has an office at the end. The way it’s set up, people could be pretending to go to the bathroom and then slipping into the office to buy drugs. To be honest, I’ve never really given it a lot of thought before you just asked. It’s not like a dive bar, the place always seems nice.”

“Do you think that dirty cop is involved?”

I stared at Storm for a second as I thought it over. “To be quite honest, I’d never thought about it, but there’s this one cop, Detective Slater, who was there that night. He’s a Class A asshole. There was something about the way Bruno kept looking at him that was weird. It almost felt like Bruno couldn’t believe he was being arrested and kept looking for Slater to do something to stop it.”

Storm asked, “Is that all you remember? The reason I ask is because two of my club brothers were arrested that night along with eight prospects. Their bail cost the club a nice chunk of change and our club attorney has been working overtime to get the prosecuting attorney to drop the charges. In short, it’s been a cluster fuck.”

I totally sympathized with his plight. “Yeah, I see how this could be a real pain in the ass for your club. To be honest, I don’t really interact with Bruno or his employees very much. Mostly, my friends and I are joined at the hip. Our rule is, we all leave together no matter what.”

Storm pointed out sagely, “So you’re careful not to leave a woman behind, right?”

I flashed him a quick grin for pointing out that we did our own female version of ‘leave no man behind’.“You got me there. See, we do have something important in common after all.”

Storm pulled out his phone and began texting, so I assumed the interview was over. Turning to Zoe, I asked, “So, when do you want to set up a meeting between me and Havoc?” Pulling out my phone, I opened my calendar and started scanning my availability.

Storm lowered his phone and answered my question. “We’re doing this right fucking now.”

Zoe shot me a helpless look and murmured, “Yeah, before you decide my darling husband and his club brother are too much trouble.”

I told her, “Fat chance of that happening. I’m a woman who loves a challenge.”

Her eyes flashed from me to her husband and back again before she added, “Well, prepare for the challenge of a lifetime. Havoc is one of the most stubborn men on the planet.”

Chapter 4

Havoc

It had been exactly eight days since the sprinkler incident when I got the text from Storm that I had been dreading—the one summoning me to his office for a well-deserved tongue-lashing. I knew I’d fucked up, more than once lately. It seemed like every fuckup was a lesson in disguise, one I somehow failed to learn growing up.

I stopped in my tracks at Storm’s doorway because he already had visitors. I knocked tentatively on the doorframe and asked, “Do you want me to come back later?”

Storm motioned me in and said gruffly, “Hell no. I want you to get your ass in here. I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

I strode into the room and came to stand by Storm’s desk.

He gestured to his old lady and said with a chuckle, “You already know Zoe.”

I gave her a genuine smile. “Yes, Prez. It’s nice to see you again, ma’am. I hope everything is going well with you and your little ones.”

“Yeah, they’re great, because they ended up with my bright, sparkling personality rather than my husband’s surly disposition.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be amused by her gently teasing her old man. Storm barked a laugh. “You got that right, sweetheart.”

Finally, Storm introduced me to the stunning redhead sitting with them. “I called you in here because I wanted to introduce you to Riley Dalton.”

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