Chapter 3
Eagle
I had a full schedule at the shop and was still beat from the night before. We were getting restless and scraping for answers about Raven’s killer, though. Just a few months ago we were on top of the world. We had a great arms dealer in Jersey that only supplied us for the South, our club was thriving and had patched in several new members already for the year, and our alliances with all the local and neighboring state clubs were strong. Besides the occasional deal gone wrong, watching out for the boys in blue, and stupid shit like cat fights with the bunnies, we didn’t have any problems.
Now, we had a rat in the club we still hadn’t IDed, a crime ring with a vendetta against the club and we had no clue why, and with our search for answers, some of our business relationships had started to wear thin.
Raven had done business like a salesman. He was smooth talking but made deals that were mutually beneficial. Lot of good that did. Now he’s gone and we’re trying to manage those relationships while still showing we won’t rest until we know who did this and take down this shadow crime ring.
“Morning, Eagle,” Daisy said as I walked inside Destiny’s Ink, the tattoo shop Falcon and I ran. She started working there a while ago as a negotiation. She wanted to work, but Falcon didn’t want her to strip anymore. So now she’s our office manager. She was our administrative assistant and to push her buttons, we tried calling her the secretary, but apparently that wasn’t to her liking. So, she got a promotion.
She was wearing her new cut that showed everyone who she belonged to. She really was having a good month. But he was happy, and she was a good girl and perfect for him.
“Hey Daisy. Falcon back there?” I asked as I rounded the desk so I could peek at the computer.
She looked up through her lashes with her lips in a smirk. “Can I help you?”
“Any cancellations?” I wouldn’t cancel on a client, but I wouldn’t be upset if someone couldn’t show up today. I was tired as fuck.
She shook her head. “Nope, but if they did I’d fill it for you.”
“If anyone cancels, don’t fill it. And be sure to keep those days blocked,” I said as I pointed to the days highlighted in red for Falcon and I. We had another run to Jersey. Too bad I already had appointments the day after that. I needed some fucking sleep.
“I got those blocked. You need me to move some appointments around?” she asked.
Tucking my hair behind my ear, I smiled and said, “Naw. But like I said, if you get any cancellations, let me know before you fill them for a few weeks.”
“Sure thing, Eagle.” She smiled up at me then turned to face the computer.
I walked to the back and grabbed a soda from the fridge before heading to my station. We had rooms now, but our old shop had cubicle walls separating us and we always called them stations, so we still used the term. Old habits die hard.
“Hey man, we grabbed food on the way. A few biscuits are in the microwave,” Falcon said as he propped himself on my door jamb.
“Thanks. I overslept. These long days are catching up to me.” Too bad we had to ride to Jersey soon. It was usually a nice ride, but long, and we only stopped for a few hours of sleep on the way back. I needed to speak to Daisy about blocking off a full day in the next few weeks, if one was open, so I could just rest.
We had gone longer than normal since our last run, because of shit going down with a wannabe gangster up that way. He was taken care of, but we weren’t sure if the people he worked for were upset about it. Plus, Hawk was still working out how to keep the ladies safe while we were away.
Knowing someone there was working against us and we didn’t know who or why, it was tense around the clubhouse. But the world couldn’t stop. If anything, we needed to show we were as strong as ever and keep business as usual until we found and ended the threat.
“I’m beat,” Falcon agreed. “Long sitting today, too. Not excited about the run, but Mama Hen said she’d drive Daisy up here. She insists on coming in. Stubborn mule.”
“She’ll be fine, man. Tony’s gone.”
He nodded. “That he is. Why don’t you see if Lacy wants to come sit with her or something.”
I rolled my eyes. “Lacy can do what she wants, and Daisy doesn’t need a babysitter, brother.” Lacy seemed to enjoy hanging around the clubhouse and Daisy would only get pissed at Falcon for suggesting she needed company at work.
“I don’t care if she thinks she needs a babysitter or not. A couple of members have already been told to hang out while I’m gone, and she enjoys chilling out with Lacy. You guys good?”
Shrugging as I started pulling my supplies out and prepping my tray I said, “Sure. She’s good.”
Falcon raised a brow but pushed off the door. “Whatever. I gotta go setup. Don’t forget the food.”
His heavy steps were going to the front, not to his station. Trying to focus on my setup, I worked to push down the weight in my chest. What he had with Daisy nearly got him killed. We’d done some wild shit for the club, but that fucker jumped from a moving vehicle for her. Not to mention the chaos around the women to begin with, then having to take out the trash because that dumb fuck kidnapped her.
Falcon had lost his edge. I watched him tremble with fury before he stared into that man’s eyes and slit his throat. That wasn’t club business…it was personal. It became club business for several reasons, but he could have just as easily shot that guy and been done with it. But he was getting revenge for her.
A little piece of me was glad Tony was gone, too. He’d had Lacy hostage up there and was running a whole forced prostitution operation. He deserved what he got. Who was I kidding? I wanted to kill that fucker, too. I did have to remind Falcon not to kill him before he talked, but I let Falcon handle it. I was right there, though, and watched as the light left his eyes. When Hawk asked me to ride up, I didn’t miss a beat and I grabbed Lacy. I told myself it was for Daisy’s sake. But after hearing what happened to Daisy, my only thought was to keep Lacy close for as long as I could.
Her sweet face and that soft blonde hair clouded my mind and my judgment. As hard as I tried to fight it, I couldn’t get her out of my mind. “Fuck,” I hissed as I looked down and realized I had slammed my hand on my portable tray, sending my supplies flying.
Clenching my jaw, I gathered everything up and got new jars then checked the instruments I had laid out to be sure they were all fine inside the medical grade packaging.
This shit was exactly why I couldn’t get too close. How could I handle club business if I couldn’t even setup my fucking tray at work? Thinking back to my Dad and the few times I’d caught him holding his head in his hands while a tumbler of whiskey sat in front of him, I reminded myself I never wanted to end up like that.
Plus, she was chill and seemed perfectly fine with what we had going. I was a perfect gentleman when she first got here, knowing she’d been through some shit. I was just doing the right thing and making sure she had what she needed. And I didn’t want to toss her to the bunnies immediately because, for the most part, they were easygoing and welcoming of newbies, but a small few could be straight bitches and the last thing she needed after all that was to deal with that catty bullshit.
But when she came onto me, I figured, who was I to deny her? Hell, women had needs, too. Just like the night before, after dealing with some heavy shit, a release was always welcome. She didn’t ask me questions, wasn’t clingy, and seemed perfectly happy to just hang around. Was it a bonus that she kept coming to my room every night? Hell yeah.
But she obviously was having a good time and that was enough. I needed to squash whatever these feelings were that kept bubbling up so I could keep my head on straight and everyone got what they wanted.