Page 25 of Sparrow

“She write something dirty?” Dash asked, ruining the moment. “’Cause, the only way a girl is gonna make me smile like that after a little note is if she wrote something dirty.”

“Fuck off.” Romeo threw his blankets off and went into the bathroom.

“She gave you some awesome tiger stripes,” Dash called through the closed bathroom door.

* * *

With the patch over,they had to stick around to ensure a smooth transition. That meant hanging around the clubhouse while the new members of Odin’s Fury adjusted to make sure they did. They’d laid down some serious changes for these men, and sticking around was a show of support to Bowie.

Unfortunately, that meant hanging around and doing a whole lot of nothing. Well, not nothing, it meant doing a lot of watching. They needed to observe how their new brothers were taking to their new patch. As the mother chapter, and as an Enforcer, it was on Romeo’s shoulders to ensure these guys represented their club, so he had to watch without being obvious about it.

After they’d arrived at the clubhouse and he’d gotten himself a drink, Romeo sprawled out on a stained, brown floral couch. He had one leg hooked over the arm, and the other planted on the ground. Situated on his side, he rested on an elbow while he sipped at his whiskey and thumbed through his burner phone.

The thing received text messages, and most were in code. True to form, when he was out on club business, his personal cell phone was left with a prospect to keep up his routine. Sparrow’s note, with her number, was in his pocket. He didn’t need to look at it, he’d memorized it already.

Taking a swallow of his whiskey, he debated contacting her on the burner phone. It wasn’t his, and he’d have to destroy it when they left Ohio. Contacting her would link her to the phone. If shit went down, not that he anticipated any shit, but if it went down and the phone still existed, she’d be tied to it. Fucking risks. Life in the motorcycle club always meant calculating which risks were worth taking.

“A man drinking whiskey at the beginning of the day always seems to wear a serious face,” Tex said as he sauntered over, interrupting Romeo’s internal debate.

Shifting to make room for his father on the couch, he tucked the phone into the inside pocket of his cut. “Look who’s talking, old man.”

“I will have you know this is tequila,” Tex said holding up his glass. “A completely different matter. On top of that, I’m rumored to be somewhat of an alcoholic. So, I have to keep up pretenses,” he said with a grin and a wink.

There were times when Tex was Tex, his club brother, and times Tex was a father. The wink could go either way.

Romeo rolled his eyes. “Just trying to figure something out.”

With a groan, his father flopped down beside his son holding a glass. “This have to do with the candy girl?”

“Lollipop Girl,” Romeo corrected automatically and shook his head. “Don’t call her that. Dash is an asshole.”

Chortling, the older man brought the glass to his lips and took a small sip. “I’m going to take that as a yes.” Leaning back on the couch, he sighed. “This the same girl you used to write?”

Jerking his head toward his father, Romeo arched a brow. “You knew about that?”

“I got the mail from the box, you know.” Tex laughed.

Nodding, Romeo leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I guess it wasn’t a big secret.”

Tipping the glass up again, Tex slowly shook his head from side to side. “Didn’t know it was supposed to be. Plus you had pictures of that girl in your room.”

“How did you know about that?”

Laughing again Tex lowered his glass. “Your mother is a snoop.”

“Jesus,” Romeo mused. “It’s a shame it took moving out to find some damn privacy.”

“Wouldn’t be good parents if we gave you too much privacy,” his father said before a sobbing woman came out of the hallway with Bowie at her side. Both men on the couch watched in silence as the president of Odin’s Fury, Ohio chapter, escorted her out. Romeo heard something about ‘being taken care of;’ ‘they’d get to the bottom of what happened;’ and the name ‘Keats.’ Recognition dawned—Keats had been the VP. Club business often left behind collateral damage. It was the price of doing business sometimes.

Out of respect, they shared a moment of silence for the woman. They didn’t know if Keats had kids or what the deal was, but either way, that woman just got some shitty ass news. Granted, Bowie wouldn’t have told her the truth, but it didn’t matter. Seems she got the message that Keats wasn’t coming back.

“Damn shame when the women we bring into this world gotta suffer for our stupidity,” Tex said.

Studying his father, who seemed intent upon the amber liquid in his glass, Romeo marveled at him. He’d never known his dad to be philosophical or anything. He usually just cracked jokes and drank, but that right there, that was some heavy shit. Seems he’d become quite the philosopher in the past few days.

Be a better man.

The women we bring into this world gotta suffer for our stupidity.

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