Page 6 of Stripping Keys
After West orders two tender combos and two teas, he pulls around the building, shooting me a glare in the process.“These tenders better be good.”
“They’re the best,” I tell him, grinning brightly while pulling out my wallet. I joke about him paying, but I still give him money for the food.
West shoves the cash in his pocket and pulls out his card. Pays and takes the drinks, then the bag with the food. Once we’re back on the road, I situate the two boxes between us and start nibbling on the first while West navigates us down the road toward the clubhouse.
I shouldn’t be able to eat anything, but I’m a nervous eater. It’s how I handle getting through things I find stressful.
By the time we get to the clubhouse, we’re ten minutes late. Oh well. They’ll deal.
West parks the car, and the two of us get out at the same time. I take my bag with me, throwing the strap over my shoulders.
“Ready?” West asks, looking at me briefly before scanning the lot.
I do the same, spotting my dad’s truck and Marshall’s. Great. We’ll be getting this over all in one shot. Go figure. I was going to try to explain to those two separately in order to keep their questions contained.
That won’t be happening now that I know they’re here.
“Let’s just get this done,” I state, the bitch in me snapping in place.
Together we walk up to the clubhouse front doors. West stops to open the door for me, his hand going to the small of my back as he guides me inside.
We’re met by the silence of the room and the men watching both of us.
“Gentlemen,” I mutter, scanning through the crowd, seeing all of them standing there, but none of the women. “I see you didn’t allow your women to be here for this.”
Once those women find out what happened during this meeting, they’re going to be pissed not just with them, but with me. I’m sure Marley will try to track me down in order to try and punch me.
“Wanna explain the fuck this is all about, Marla?” Griz grinds out. To his left were both my brother and dad.
Dad steps forward, arms crossed, and makes his own demand. “Explain.”
West clears his throat and glances down at me. “Tough crowd, aren’t they?”
I roll my eyes and look through all of the men and focus in on Blow while moving deeper into the room. “We’re here because we found some intel you’ll want to know. It involves the entire club and the women. We couldn’t take chances of this information getting into the wrong hands before you received it. It’s why we didn’t go through normal channels.”
“Marla here has spent the better part of two months following this up to get you what you need to know.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Dad snarls.
“What information are you talking about?” Blow demands, voice harder than I’ve ever heard it before. Granted, I’d only heard his voice a handful of times.
Straightening my shoulders, I let the bitch out to play. “It’s information I’ve spent my time getting in the bowels of the worst of the worst, that is correct. I’ve verified it before thinking of bringing it to you all.”
“What information is it you have?” Nines growls, stepping forward to stand to Blow’s right, looking just as menacing as the rest of them.
Just to Nines’s side, Keys steps forward, a dark expression consuming his features.
I glance to West, and he gives a slight nod. Sighing, I dig in my backpack and pull out the files and the drive. “Here.” I hold it all out to Keys. “See for yourself. You all want to act like a bunch of caveman assholes. Then you can look into it and see the truths for yourself. You don’t need me to explain it.”
Keys reaches for the files, and as he starts to take them, I let them go. Letting him fumble to keep them all together.
Spinning on my heels, I start for the door. I stop long enough to look back at all of them. “Think what you want of me. I don’t give a damn, but know that the information in that file, it’s legit.” On that, I step outside, refusing to allow my emotions to get to me.
Three steps later, I find my arm grabbed and I’m spun around to face off with a livid Keys. Behind him were Griz, Marshall, and my dad.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Keys snarls, eyes blazing with fire. “You just waltz in here, throw a file at me, and think you’re just gonna walk the fuck away?”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” I snap and yank at my arm.
