Page 32 of Mad Max

In my world, names have meanings. Not the ones we’re given at birth but those we give to each other. Nicknames, unique terms that no one else uses, mean something. She ain’t my old lady, and I sure as hell ain’t her old man. But the names we place on another, even if it’s only in our heads, prove we want to be more than whatever the fuck we are now.

Can a fuck buddy be defined by two fucks in one night, or is that more like a one-night stand? ’Cause there’s nothing about her that makes me not want to go back for seconds and thirds.

But I guess you have to be a buddy before you become a fuck buddy, and I know we aren’t that. The question is if I want to be.

Or do I want more?

“Church!” Bulldog yells across the bar, and the boys and I get up and make our way in. We all got the text two hours ago that it was going down, so not a one of us is surprised.

I take my normal spot in the back of the room, sinking down in the chair that’s unanimously known as mine, and look at my hands. This chick is messing with my brain, and I know she’s going to be a part of the conversation. I need to do something she said, something her uncle preached to me several times in lockup: Shut my emotions down. Lock that shit up. Emotions in this room will not help anyone. I might not know what I’m feeling, but I know I’m feeling something. And something other than a clear determination to seek and destroy is not what the club needs right now. I don’t know if I even want to be that person for the club anymore, but now is not the time for revelations.

“All right, boys. Most of you already know what went down last night. For those who don’t, here’s the quick and dirty. It wasn’t just chatter but good intel Flint found. He’s going to continue to monitor those dark sites and keep us looped in. If more chatter comes in on the same frequency, we’ll move. That’s the good news. Bad news is that Jimmy Travis’s niece, Cheyanne, was the contact Duke was meeting with.”

A chorus of profanity litters the room, and Law gives it a moment before he continues.

“We still don’t know the full extent of her involvement. While they were there, a few Vultures also showed and tried to take everyone out. Our boys got out with the girl. Domino got hit, but he’s doing fine thanks to a nice vet.”

“Maybe a little too nice, right, Casper?”

“Shut it, Kooper,” Casper growls as the other man chuckles but goes back to paying attention.

“When the cleanup boys arrived, we only found a few Vultures dead and some men we think were on Duke’s payroll. No big players were popped, or if they were, they were taken away. No one saw that we were there. From what Cheyanne tells us, with the headlights from the SUVs they rolled up in, it was hard as shit to see who was shooting at them.” Law takes a breath, and I look up. I know what he’s about to say, and I know, like him, how the boys will react.

“Cheyanne is now a guest here.”

As predicted, this news gets the boys more riled up than the first time she was mentioned.

“Shut the fuck up, all of you, and listen for one goddamn minute. Jimmy Travis is not an enemy we want. He expects us to watch her, to keep her safe. He knows we’re connected with her since we showed up and started asking questions. Even if we aren’t the ones who attempted to hurt her, he’ll expect us to be the ones to pay for it.”

“He’s in jail. What the fuck can he do from there?” Kooper barks, and it’s my turn to speak.

“Kill your family and drain every cent you own.” The group looks to me, and I continue. “It’s not him you need to worry about but those who owe him a favor. Guy’s been collecting for a while. By watching the girl, he owes us. We’d be stupid not to take that opportunity.”

“Exactly,” Law takes over after a nod in my direction. “Flint’s run the girl through the loop. She’s clean, but she’s got a case of wanting to play the hero right now. She told us she was contacted to find a girl. Only reason she got pulled in was because they were looking for her uncle and found her. She was intrigued and just kept running shit to ground, so she says.”

“So she says? That mean we don’t trust her?” This from Atom. Don’t know much about the kid, but I like that he’s picking up on shit that the boss is glossing over.

“Too early to tell. Right now, she’ll remain in Hounds territory, where we can keep eyes on her. Either she slips up or we find something. Rather have the devil in my house than out there hiding among the people.”

The boys and I nod to that.

“What’s the plan, then?” Atom asks, and a few of us look at Bulldog.

He grinds his teeth, clearly not liking the idea, but he couldn’t offer up a better one when we spoke about it earlier.

“Going to have a family day,” Law replies. “Bring in the old ladies and see if they can get something out of her. See if she slips or something. Lady was the one who brought Cheyanne to us the night we held Mad Max’s welcome back party. We still don’t know if she was the contact we were looking for or not. It’s not lost on any of us how all this shit started the moment she showed up.”

Got to hand it to the guy—the prez knows how to keep his emotions out of shit. Especially after telling the boys we’re bringing family in close to a possible threat.

“Told you before, Law, I don’t like using my woman as bait,” Bulldog growls, and Chains nods along.

“Don’t care what you like. You got a better idea?” Neither says anything, but I know their dental bill is going to rise soon with all the grinding they’re doing. “Then shut the fuck up and fall in line. I ain’t asking for anyone to be left alone with her. Hell, she’d probably notice something is up if we do that. Girl’s smart, even if she seems dumb at times.”

I force myself not to react to that, but I want to. She doesn’t act dumb; she just speaks her mind. She doesn’t hide shit and pretend to be something she’s not or say something just to get someone to like her. Sure, her timing is off, and her humor isn’t for everyone, but there’s nothing dumb about her.

“If we aren’t getting her alone, then how do we know she’ll talk?” Atom asks the same question I want to know.

“Going to have Ruby ask a few questions.”

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