Page 17 of Mad Max

Which is fine, ’cause I know how to deal with men like that: show no emotion and bring a wad of cash. One I have, and the other I just need to stop at the bank for. Luckily, it’s on the way home and next to the only grocery store in town that sells my favorite drink.

Seems like fate to me.

Chapter 8 – Mad Max

I

stay seated, even as I feel every fiber in my body demanding I get up. I honestly don’t know which of the three reasons is pushing me more.

It wasn’t too long ago that I sat at these very same tables but on the opposite side. There’s a distinct itch to get the fuck out of here so they don’t find a reason to make me a permanent resident again.

There’s also another part of me that wants to get my ass up and move to sit at the table with my president. Never was the club’s enforcer, but I always had Law’s back when shit like this went down. He’s the one man who I protect over everyone else while Casper cares for the rest of the brothers. Not sure if that’s why I got chosen to come here over the VP. It sure as shit wasn’t because I have friends in this place who can help us out. I survived, like every man here, and I kept the enemy list low.

That’s about as poetic as it got around here. And the man across from my president was never an enemy of mine, but he’s not a friend either. We had an understanding—some was club mandated, and some was just between me and him. I can respect the man and still not trust him at the same time. He might have said his niece wasn’t involved in anything shady, but I also know how he gives out information. And that last bit was filled with it, even if I don’t know what it was about yet.

Cheyanne, the fairy. There’s a strong urge—might be stronger than the others and that’s why I’m pushing it so far down—to go after her. She’s a grown-ass woman, been coming to see her uncle like clockwork. She knows how things work around here, and no one bothers her, but I don’t like it. Not sure when I decided to care what a woman did; ain’t about to figure it out now. Just know I’d rather she wasn’t alone. I took care of one of her problems, but my gut is telling me she’s got a few more.

“You must have friends in some pretty high places, Law.”

With Cheyanne gone, the man I know comes to life. Jimmy Travis might put on a front when his only niece is around, but he’s a cold-ass bastard. He might have done something noble to get locked up, but he’s got too many fingers in some shitty baskets that keep him here under the disguise of a minor infraction. Everyone who knows the man knows his trial was a charade, and even if he got a “possibility for parole,” it’ll never happen.

Law shrugs. “Helped the warden out on a few parking tickets before he got stationed over here.”

Travis huffs a laugh. Law hasn’t practiced law in years, but when he did, he did more than parking tickets. He was a shark in the courtroom and researched the shit out of things to find loopholes. If the warden is still granting Law access to shit, like joining a meeting of an inmate already being visited, then it was a pretty big help.

“Ask what you want. My time is limited, and bingo starts soon.”

“A mutual friend said we should pay you a visit.”

“How mutual?”

“Gideon.” This draws Travis’s attention. He raises a single eyebrow, a trait he does when he wants others to continue to talk. Which Law knows. “Said you might know what Duke’s into.”

“Name ain’t ringing a bell.” He responds too quickly. Another tell that he knows more shit than he’s letting on.

“Said if you don’t know, maybe she does.” I pull the attention my way, and Travis’s nostrils flare at my words as he keeps his anger in check. Just barely.

“Boo’s got nothing to do with this, and you know it.” He holds my gaze across the two tables. Not sure if he’s using his endearment for Cheyanne to speak to me directly or not. Not many know that name for her, only the select guards Travis permitted on her visits. While I might not have noticed her when she visited, the name, and that she wasn’t a threat, was what I did know.

But I also have no idea if he knows I fucked her or not. No clue what was said before we got here. She could have come running to her uncle because we had sex. Chicks are weird like that. They’re all for it during, but then they regret shit after. Never made sense to me. The deed is done; no need to regret anything if everyone got off. But the fairy doesn’t seem like normal a chick, so who the hell knows if she told him or not? She doesn’t seem the type to hide what we did, but I wonder if she would share it.

I grind my teeth, forcing discomfort to my brain. Why the fuck do I care? Never did before, so what’s the fucking big deal? I might not regret sleeping with this chick, but I fucking hate how I’m thinking about her more than I have any others. It’s different, and I ain’t a fan of different when I don’t know if it’s good or bad for the club.

“Maybe you should tell us who does have something to do with this, and we can make sure she’s protected and kept far away.” Law throws the offer on the table as if it means nothing. But it does. Club protection isn’t given to just anyone, and Travis knows it.

“She doesn’t need your protection because she ain’t involved. And before you ask again, I don’t know a Duke.” He gives me a side-eye before continuing. Not sure what it means, but my brothers see it as well. “Doesn’t mean I’ve never heard the name.”

“Ain’t that the same thing?” Casper chimes in, and Travis just looks at him like he’s a child.

“Not a damn thing is the same about that boy. Rumors spread faster than wildfire, especially here. You can hear a name but not know the man attached or what makes them tick.”

Before Casper can open his mouth and possibly get Travis pissed enough to end this little meeting, Law brings the conversation back to him again. “What you hear?”

“Probably same as you. Guy’s tired of not being king of the castle, you know. Wants more.”

“More what?”

Travis shrugs as if it’s obvious. “Money, power. You name it, he wants it. The second string is done for him. His king sent him north more as a punishment than a promotion. Guy resents it and is branching out.”

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