Page 62 of Biker's Baby

“What do you want from me?” Mikey asked.

“Advice, mostly,” I said. “You come riding in here to save the day, and that voids my stake in the inheritance. If I’m sticking this out for any reason, it’s going to be to the full extent. But that doesn’t mean I can’t ask you what you’d do about something like this, right?”

“Sure,” he said. “Have you stopped to think of what your father’d do?”

“Ask you?” I guessed.

He laughed.

“Your gut instinct is right,” he said. “A war is the worst thing to do. But you’ve also got that girl in your care, too, so you’ll have to figure out how to handle her and keep Tad happy and preferably in the dark, too.”

“How would you recommend I go about doing that?” I asked. “You keep telling me the same things that I’ve come up with as solutions, but not how to execute them.”

“You seem good at making up stories on the fly. I don’t recommend lying as a habit of life, but I think you’re smart keeping things close to yourself. Trust few people, and don’t give anyone the ability to get the jump on you,” Mikey said. “I’m going to do some research on this club coming into town, and I’ll get back to you on what they’re really like. I can’t say a lot about them when I don’t know what I’m dealing with.”

“That’s fair,” I said.

“You can expect another call from me in the next few days, and you best answer when I do. I’m not in the habit of chasing people down,” Mikey informed me.

“Yes, sir,” I said. “I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

“Good.”

I hung up my phone just as I pulled into my driveway. I’d taken the truck that morning, so I was able to make both my calls in private, but I’d have to talk to Glenn with Iris around. Not that I minded when she was able to hear my phone conversations, but I knew that it scared her.

She hated this aspect of club life, and I felt sorry for her having to live with it. Still, it was part of the package. She had come here of her own accord, and she’d have to deal with that unpleasant side of the spectrum now that she was here.

I found Iris in the living room with Tris. He was coloring some picture on the coffee table in front of the couch, and Iris was watching a cooking show while browsing her phone. She threw me a worried expression when I walked in the door. She hadn’t liked the idea of my being summoned to the restaurant so early, and I knew she was dying to hear what Tad had so eagerly informed us of when I was there.

I smiled at her but was already on my phone with it ringing on the other end.

“Hello?” Glenn said.

“Thought you might want to hear how things are going at the club,” I said.

“Was Tad pissed that I wasn’t there?” he asked.

“Not as pissed as he is over the fact I’m living across from the enemy and haven’t said a word about it,” I replied.

“Shit.”

“Yeah,” I said. I wandered into the living room while speaking, and I couldn’t help but notice the concerned look etched into Iris’s features. I would talk to her when I was off the phone and tell her what was going on. She didn’t have much to worry about. Not personally anyway.

I sat down and let Tris come running over to me, running my hand through his hair as I talked to Glenn.

“What’s his solution?” Glenn asked.

“He wants me to get to know the guy so I can feed the club information. Take them out from the inside is basically what he wants to do,” I explained.

“Are you?” Glenn asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t like the idea, but I know Tad’s got his eye on me now. I can’t let him think I’m disloyal, or that’ll open a new can of worms.”

“Shit.”

I knew Glenn was at a loss for advice, so I just let him react to what I had to say. My point with calling him was to tell him what was going on anyway. I didn’t need him to tell me how to handle it necessarily.

I looked at Tris while I talked, for the first time noticing that his eyes were the same vibrant green as my mother’s. It was the first time I’d seen anyone besides her with that shade of green. In fact, his eyes were closer to mine than they were Iris’s. It hadn’t struck me as odd at first, but as I looked at him, I started to realize that his features were pretty close to my own in more ways, too.

---