Page 27 of Hard as Stone
“Speaking of the road crews turning people around.” Lee smirks in my direction. “How’s your traffic controller research going, brother?”
“Fuck off.” I attempt a growl, but it’s hard to get worked up when I’m still riding high from last night.
“That good, huh?” Tank chuckles. “Must be why you took the long way home last night. She give you any insight into what Summit has planned? A little…pillow talk, perhaps?”
I glare at Tank, resisting the urge to reach across the table and slap him. “She doesn’t know anything. Far as I can tell, she and her brothers are just doing the job they were hired for.”
“And her old man?” Stone asks, eyeing me carefully. “You get any read on him?”
I shake my head. “Haven’t had much interaction with him. But from what Poppy’s said, he seems pretty cozy with the city officials and Summit execs.”
Stone’s eyes narrow. “Cozy how?”
I hesitate, not wanting to implicate Poppy or her family without solid proof. “Just that he has a lot of meetings with them. Seems eager to impress.”
“Could be nothing,” Tank offers. “Guy’s running a construction company, probably just wants to keep the contracts coming.”
“Or he could be in Summit’s pocket,” Cash counters. “Helping them isolate the west side in exchange for kickbacks.”
The thought makes my stomach turn. I think of Poppy’s fierce defense of her family’s work, her genuine confusion about the armed guards. If her father is working with Summit, she has no idea.
“We need to know for sure,” Stone says, his voice grim. “Axel, I want you to keep getting close to the girl. See what else you can find out about her family’s involvement.”
I nod, ignoring the twist of guilt in my gut. Using Poppy for information feels wrong, especially after last night. But I push those feelings aside. The club comes first. It has to.
“What about the cartel angle?” Lee asks. “We know Summit’s getting funding from them from the document Axel found in their records room last month. Could be they’re laundering money through these construction projects too? Maybe we slowed their developments down so much that they’ve had to improvise?”
Stone nods. “It’s possible. Which is why we need to know exactly what Bennett Construction is up to. Axel, see if you can get a look at their books. Maybe even talk to Maria and see if she can find out something. She lives right near them in Paradise, right?”
I nod, feeling uneasy about involving Jack’s widow. “Yeah, she’s a few trailers down from the Bennetts. But I don’t want to put her in any danger.”
“Just ask her to keep an ear out,” Stone says. “No need for her to go digging. If Bennett’s involved with Summit and the cartel, there might be something a neighbor could see.”
I reluctantly agree, though the thought of using Maria and Poppy both for information sits heavy in my gut.
“What about the city contracts?” Cash asks. “Any way we can get a look at those? Might give us some insight into what Summit’s really up to with all this construction.”
Stone nods. “Good thinking. Duck, you still got that contact in the permit office?”
“Ethel?” Duck chuckles. “Yeah, she’s still there. Sweet on me ever since I fixed her car last winter. Bet I could get her to ‘accidentally’ leave some files out next time I stop by to chat.”
“Do it,” Stone orders. “And see if you can find anything on Bennett Construction while you’re at it. Any connections to Summit or discrepancies in their paperwork.”
I shift uncomfortably in my seat, not liking the idea of digging into Poppy’s family business. But I know it’s necessary. If her father is working with Summit and the cartel, we need to know.
The meeting continues, with reports on Summit’s latest moves and updates on our efforts to protect the west side. But my mind keeps drifting back to Poppy. To the way she’d looked at me last night, all soft and trusting. The feel of her in my arms. How right she looked on my bike. In my jacket.Christ, what am I doing?
“Axel?” Stone’s voice cuts through my thoughts. “You got anything to add?”
“No.” I straighten in my chair. “Just thinking we need more concrete proof before we move on any of this.”
The rest of church passes in a haze of plans and possibilities. When Stone finally calls it, I’m the first one out the door, needing air, needing space to think.
I find myself in the garage, methodically checking my bike’s oil just to have something to do with my hands. But even the familiar routine can’t quiet the war in my head.
The club needs information. Needs to know how deep Summit’s corruption goes, how many families are at risk. And Poppy—through her father’s involvement—could be the key to unraveling it all.
But last night hadn’t been about intelligence gathering. The way she’d melted into my kiss, trusted me enough to climb on my bike, to let me take her home... that was real. And fuck if I don’t want more.
