Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Maggie—
The next morning, I’m back at the bar at ten am, surveying the damage. I didn’t have the heart to make the staff stay and clean up last night. They were all too traumatized.
I’d heard of this happening at different businesses around town, but I never thought my bar would be hit, especially given our MC connection.
But perhaps that’s not as widely known as I thought.
Maybe it didn’t matter. These guys were looking for an easy mark, and the bar has a lot of cash.
Surprisingly so, given this day and age.
I’m alone and sweeping the broken glass that litters the floor by the plywood-covered window when the front door creaks open, and in walk two Royal Bastards.
Once I see the leather cuts, I barely turn and continue sweeping glass into a dustpan.
One gives a slow whistle. “Damn, darlin’. Somebody get thrown through the window last night? That must have been one hell of a bar fight.”
I recognize the voice immediately.
It’s Utah.
“Worse,” I say. “We got robbed.” I stand and turn, and for the first time, my eyes lift to the man standing next to Utah, and my mouth drops open.
Sully.
I haven’t seen him in over a decade, but here he is standing in my bar like he’d just been teleported here.
My eyes sweep down and take in the leather cut he wears.
No. Way.
He’s a Royal Bastard?
What the ever-loving hell?
My mouth snaps shut.
I see the recognition in his eyes. His gaze drags over my body, stopping at my tight t-shirt that hugs my breasts, its scoop neckline revealing cleavage I didn’t have the last time he saw me. His gaze moves on to my hips and legs.
At twenty-nine, my figure is no longer that of a teenage girl.
I wait for him to say my name, but he doesn’t acknowledge me. He stands there like we don’t know each other, like he didn’t give me my first kiss when I was seventeen.
I take him in and try to remember to breathe.
Ho-ly crap. He looks good in that cut.
He’s harder now, with more muscles and way more ink on his arms.
I wonder immediately how much more of it is hidden beneath his shirt.
I want to know when he got it, who did it, and where the fuck he’s been all these years.
I lick my lips, and his eyes latch onto my mouth.
“What happened?” Utah asks, dragging my attention to him.
“That fucking ski-mask gang. Three of them came to the front door. The first one through had a shotgun. Shot the ceiling tiles, then the front window. I’m lucky no one was hurt.”
“Why didn’t you fucking call us?” Utah snaps.
“I called the police.”
“Why not the club? Rock has a right to know.”
“Sorry. I was a little shell-shocked last night. I had a lot to deal with. I was going to call him today.”
Utah shifts on his feet.
I’m sure my answer doesn’t please him, but he doesn’t give me anymore grief.
“Who boarded up the window?” He gestures to it.
“Ray called a company. They came right out.”
“The club would have done it for free.”
“I didn’t call the club. Again, I was a little worked up.”
“That’s exactly when you call the fucking club, Maggie.”
It’s the first time my name is spoken in front of Sully.
Utah sees my eyes shift to him and gestures with his thumb. “This is Keno. Guess you haven’t met.”
Sully—aka Keno—nods at me, and I do the same back. Keno? What the hell kind of name is that?
“You need any help?” Utah asks.
I shake my head.
“How much did they get?”
“A little over two grand.”
Utah whistles, then pulls his phone out. “I’m calling Rock. You know how soon you can get the window repaired and reopen?”
“Glass guy said it’d be Thursday before he can get the glass. It’s an old building, and it’s a specialty glass and size. I won’t be able to reopen until it's installed.”
“Maybe Rock can push the guy. What’s the company?”
“Smith Brothers.”
“I’ll send over a couple of prospects to help.”
“Don’t bother. I’m almost finished.”
“Expect a call from Rock later.” With that, Utah and Sully head outside to their bikes.
I move to the glass door and watch them. My eyes drop to the bottom rocker on the back of Sully’s cut. NOMAD it reads. Not COLORADO like Utah’s cut and like all the rest of them I’ve ever met. I frown, wondering what the word means.
A moment later, they roar off down the street.
I take a deep breath, my feet rooted to the floor, remembering the last time I saw Sully. The night he’d promised me he wouldn’t leave town until we saw each other the next morning.
So much has changed in my life since then, but I can’t help wondering what my life would be like if he’d stayed, if I’d left town with him instead of on my own.
I stand there a long time thinking about how that one decision on his part affected everything.
I finish with the broken glass, then grab my keys and head out to my car.