Page 31 of Daddy Issues

They were all status climbers. Every last one of them. Her words sank in, settled in with my self-doubt. My mom was right here, too, at my age, with just as many options.

I stood there for a few minutes, catching the breath I hadn’t realized I held. Then I turned back to Puck, who grinned.

The fucker knew, he knew exactly what Jester had made me feel.

He looked like he liked it as much as I did. I held his gaze until he ducked into the tribute hall with the rest of the officers.

Desire infused with whiskey swirling in my system, I came to a conclusion. I was about to give all these washed up bitches something to talk about.

Puck

“Table, brother.” Cam, an unlit cigarette stuck to his lip, smacked a hand on my shoulder, and nodded toward the tribute hall.

He broke through the dirty fantasies I’d been tossing around. Jester’d practically crawled all over Kenna. I should be jealous, I wasn’t, couldn’t fault him for wanting something so delicious. Not when I couldn’t have her myself.

But the hungry look on her face left me halfway hard and pissed when Cam interrupted my train of thought.

“For what?” I hated the bitchy tone to my voice.

Hell, those of us here—half of them were three sheets to the wind. It was a weekend. Admittedly, I was annoyed because I was waiting to see if Kenna would chase Jester down, or what, come for me? But why? She wasn’t mine. AP had made it clear to stay away. I had enough shit. But the idea of sinking balls deep into that tight little body.

I adjusted my cock as I took my seat.

The other guys filed in one by one. Cam was back, but the table was still pretty lean. He sat in the VP’s seat, smoking a cigarette and scrolling through his phone. Jester rolled in last, cheeks a little red and pulling his hair back.

“Yo, David’s new ole lady—she needs someone to teach her a lesson.”

And he would know all about doing that.

“Give her a go, then.” Cam grinned and crushed out his cigarette. “Pretty sure she won’t be at David’s long.”

“Brother…” Jester sat across from me, waggled his eyebrows. “It ain’t his ole lady I want toeducate.”

“What did I say about the girl?” AP rolled his eyes, but his tone joked.

Jester held up his hands. “I’m just sayin’, I wouldn’t say no.Technically, you didn’t tell me to stay away, and I am Ghost’s sponsor.”

Ghost’s property was Jester’s property. Bike. Money. Girl, even if she was his ex and wasn’t full patch. All of it. If he’d been a full patch, even his ex ole lady usually stayed off limits. Ghost wasn’t even a full patch yet. None of it mattered.

But that didn’t stop the surge of jealousy kicking up dust inside me. The woman made my damn head spin. Fucking Kenna would make being Ghost’s sponsor worth it. I couldn’t blame Jester.

“About that.” Cam glanced at AP, who nodded. “Been some weird shit going down in the Bends. Lawnmower Jay’s been blowing my shit up. People coming in and out that ain’t from here. A couple of construction crews. I got some questions. Preacher’d already wormed his way in there with the little bastard. Me and AP were talking—what if we send Ghost in undercover?”

Dekes made a curious noise in his throat. Jester’s affable energy shifted to something more intense. “And if he turns?”

“All he knows is Preacher and Paul didn’t run south,” Cam said. “He feeds them a version of what really happened, says he’s running scared.”

“He grew up with them and to be real, it probably isn’t that big of a stretch.” Every time one of us walked by the slimy fuck, he almost jumped out of his skin. I was of the mind this could be a good idea and would keep him the fuck away from Kenna.

“Planting a mole in with the peckerwoods, all in favor?” AP raised the gavel.

In unison, we said aye.

“Go get the kid,” AP told Jester, who stood and slipped out the door.

He was back before I could do more than stretch, Ghost skulking in behind him, head down.

Not that I blamed him. I’d be nervous as fuck, too. We’d all heard his sob story of just doing what Preacher told him, with no way to tell any of us what was really happening. I still called bullshit on that. Ghost was anyone’s dog who’d pet him.

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