Page 20 of Tesio
“Adding assault to the charges is fine with me. My client is a poor, upstanding member of the community, who’s being consistently harassed and abused by the local police. That’ll look great on the front page of the newspaper.”
Evers dragged me aside. “You know this isn’t going to go anywhere, Jay. Every time you haul this guy in, this is what you’ll be faced with. They’re not the easy target you seem to think they’ll be.”
I watched Grease chatting quietly with the solicitor, as I tried to swallow my rage.
“Look at the two of them, and tell me how the hell a loser like him can even afford that level of representation. I’m telling you, there’s no way that’s legit. Only the big deal crooks can afford his type, and you know it.” Evers just shrugged.
“Whether the club is like it was or not, this is an exercise in futility, and you need to back off. This isn’t going to go the wayyou want, and I’m fed up with us being the fucking laughing stock of the station.” He nodded resolutely and turned to Grease, unlocking his cuffs.
“On this occasion, we’re willing to release you without charge, but please, try to refrain from any criminal activity, because you know we’re watching.”
“You meanshe is. And, baby, you can watch me any time you like. Later on, I’ll be stroking one off, while I picture you kneeling before me, waiting to catch my cum between those sassy lips.”
“For fuck’s sake!” His solicitor dragged him away, while he kept turning to make kissy faces, and obscene gestures with his tongue.
I glared at Evers as he turned back to look at me, ignoring the apologetic look on his face, because apologies after betrayal mean absolutely nothing.
“Nice to see where your loyalties lie, Evers. I won’t forget this.” I left him standing outside, and went back inside just to get away from him for a few minutes. That was like a vote of no confidence in me. That was like saying I’m just acting out, and he has no faith in my ability to carry out my duties.
It was pure betrayal, and the worst part was being stuck with him, day in day out, because he was my partner right now, unless one of us moved to a different shift pattern, and I couldn’t see either of us doing that. No, I was definitely stuck with him, but I wouldn’t let him get away with that ever again. If he didn’t have my back, then he was against me, and I knew now to watch out for that.
“Jay,” he tried, when I stepped back outside to join him for the rest of our shift, having fought the urge to scream into the void in the ladies room, because I wouldn’t let anyone witness my emotions like that. Women are far too emotional according to so many men in male-dominated careers. Screw that.
My anger was going to work in my favour, even if it meant I’d have to be on Grease like a fucking rash, until I got to the bottom of whatever he was into.
Chapter Eleven
Having to report tothe Don after each arrest was starting to get on my nerves, because they didn’t know who the fuck I was. Grease wasn’t my real name, obviously, but Jason fucking Rees wasn’t either, so every time they wrote me up, it wasn’t even with my real name.
Hell, even my prints led to that fake name, so there was literally no risk to him, but he still needed time to eyebrow me over the phone, which sounds weird, but I felt like I could literallyhearthose hairy fuckers through the phone line.
“And how goes the actual job you’re supposed to be doing, when you’re not flirting with the LEOs?” Ugh. Had he always been so fucking annoying, or was I hitting some belated teenage rebellion thing since I hit thirty?
“All in hand, boss. Cameras all still running, and all updates coming to you and Reacher as discussed. Nothing family related going on at all. It’s all just daily biker stuff.” I hated referring to it as the ‘family’, but phone lines could never be trusted, especially with cops sniffing around.
“Boss?” I hated the silences, and I hated reacting to them, but I wanted off this fucking call. I was pissed at our lawyer for insisting I make the call while we were still enroute back from the police station, and I resented him being in earshot, even while he tried to pretend he wasn’t listening.
“We can remove the issue of the police interference, Tesio. You know this is easily done, yet instead you keep encouraging their interest, or is itherinterest you want?” Shit was getting dangerous now, because if he thought I was into a fucking cop, he’d definitely have her removed, so she couldn’t get close enough to figure me out. And that’s the kind of stuff I was supposed to have in mind all the time. God forbid I get my fucking dick wet with someone who actually floats my boat, right?
“I think taking any kind of action like that right now, amid her intense interest, would look incredibly suspicious, boss. I’ll just keep fending her off.” Lawson gave me a worried look, and I shrugged at him. It wasn’t his business, but he was better off not knowing if shit like assassinating police officers was being discussed.
“Try to spend less time in handcuffs, Tesio. It doesn’t reflect well on our family, does it?”
Fuck you. I cleared my throat, knowing that if she turned up again, I wouldn’t change a fucking thing.
“Yeah, boss, of course. I should get back to the clubhouse now, before I run into trouble on the way.”
His huff of disapproval actually made me smile, but he ended the call a second later, and I realised I didn’t give a fuck if he was pissed at me. This life, this fucking biker life, even with regular police harassment, and being arrested, was fucking exhilarating, and I wouldn’t give it up for anyone. Not even the fucking Don.
Lawson dropped me back at the gates, and having to be let in this time, because thank fuck, for once, the gates wereclosed, was a big relief. If they’d been open, I’d have punched the prospect, for letting it slide, like it wasn’t fucking vitally important to keep the club safe. It was bad enough that they were open again last night.
“Grease. Nice of you to show up. My office,” Micro said, offering me an apologetic look. I followed, because I had to appear to defer to the President while we were here, but I’d be having words when we were in private. When we reached his office, I found the reason for calling me in there. Sophie was nowhere to be seen, which was unusual, but there were two prospects standing by the desk waiting.
“Grease, I was just explaining to the boys why keeping the gate closed is so fucking important. They’re going to do better in future, aren’t you? You wanna get patched in, and you fucking do what we tell you. That’s how it works.” He paused and raised his eyebrows at me, something that’d usually trigger me for obvious reasons, but he was nodding to me to speak too.
“Yeah, you know how that shit this morning could have been avoided? Keeping the fucking gate closed at all times. You open it for club members, and that’s it. Especially when we’re sleeping, we’re expecting you assholes to do the one fucking thing we ask. Maybe I wouldn’t have ended up at the cop shop again, if you’d done your job.”
The younger, more arrogant one, Neil, smirked at me then.
