24. Like Two Aces
Chapter 24
Like Two Aces
Mensa
He followed Whitney to the back room. “How wrong is it that I want to make out with you just to be contrary?”
Whitney whirled on him. “Forget it. You’ve gotten me into enough hot water with her. Besides, I got work to do, mister.”
He glanced around the room and spotted five boxes with labels on them. “This is it? If I help you check these, you’ll be ready to leave in no time.”
Whitney shook her head. “Oh, no, I won’t. The website probably had at least one or two orders over the weekend. Aunt Nadia never checks that until Monday morning, so I won’t be ready to go until well after lunchtime at the earliest.”
He didn’t know why, but down to his bones, he didn’t like that.
“I won’t be here if you go after lunch.”
She gave him her big eyes and a cute chin dip. “Hence, Aunt Nadia wanting me to have my vehicle.”
He chuckled and muttered, “Vehicle.”
“That is what modes of transportation are called.”
“Is there any way to do this before lunch?”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, they were filled with patience. “I appreciate that you’re concerned, honey. But it’s a routine errand.”
He fought against his rising temper. “Like the trip to the mall should have been a routine outing with Riley?”
She pursed her lips together and nodded. “You’ve got me there, Mensa. But what’s the likelihood of him needing to go to a shipping store? And it being the same one Aunt Nadia uses?” She shook her head. “I don’t think so. You mentioned their clubhouse is in Ocean Springs.”
Her argument held logic, but he couldn’t ignore his gut. “It’s not like Ocean Springs is another state away. It’s maybe fifteen minutes from here.”
She turned her head an inch. “I’m carrying a gun, Mensa.”
He sighed. “That’s true, but it doesn’t mean I want you to use it. Pretty sure your FBI privileges were revoked when you resigned.”
“Am I taking a prospect with me to the UPS store? I’m guessing that will go over better than the mall.”
He’d received a text from Har earlier that said the only prospect able to help that afternoon would be Scrap because he had a half-day at school, with graduation happening the following week. He trusted Scrap and was all for him earning his patch, but he didn’t want to put him in the position of having to defend Whitney.
Finally he said, “Possibly. Let’s get these boxes sorted and start on other orders while we can. I’ll see what Cynic has happening at the bar and go from there.”
Two hours later, Mensa assembled another box for Whitney just as Nadia wandered into the back area. He caught Nadia’s gaze. “If I’d have known how many orders you processed in a weekend alone, I’d have told the brothers to start our own screen-printing business, four years ago. The hours would be better than working the bar, that’s for certain.”
Nadia shot him a saucy grin. “I get so many orders over a weekend because I’ve been doin’ this a long time, Mensa. Did you think about that?”
Whitney leaned to the side toward Nadia. “It’s also because eight years ago, your niece hooked you up with someone to build out a great website for you.”
Nadia gave Whitney a conciliatory nod. “And that’s why I know you’re the best person to take over for me. You care more than you let on.”
“How many more orders need to be processed? Or is this it?” Mensa asked.
Nadia met his gaze. “I have two embroidery pieces going out, but since Whitney hasn’t mastered the sewing machine just yet, it’ll take me another two hours at least.”
Mensa sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “You know, if you do so much business with UPS, why can’t you open a business account and have them come to you? They pick up from all sorts of businesses before five.”
Nadia opened the small refrigerator and pulled out a soda. “You’re right, but most of the time that sort of service comes with a corporate account. I can’t afford that, and I prefer working with the people at the store.”
Whitney moved to stand in front of him and put her hands on his biceps. “It will be fine, Mensa. I love that you care so much, but I can take care of myself.”
“Will there be a brother following her?” Nadia asked.
Mensa did a slow nod. “If I can’t stick around, a prospect will, yes.”
Nadia shook her head. “I didn’t ask if a prospect would follow her.”
“Most of the brothers have day jobs now, Nadia.”
“Well, la-dee-dah,” she muttered.
His phone rang and he pulled it from his back pocket, Cynic’s name on the display.
“Hey, ‘Nic. Everything coo—”
“No, everything isn’t cool. Fucking Corrupt Chrome set a dumpster on fire and pushed it up next to the goddamn building.”
He opened his mouth, closed it, and pulled his thoughts together. “Did the building catch fire?”
“Not the way you’re thinking. The back door’s compromised. I’m trying to get someone out here ASAP, and Brute’s working a few contacts he has to see if some other company will get us in fast.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“Need you to get your ass down here. I got distributors comin’ in all fuckin’ day. I can’t deal with the door people. That’ll be on you because Finn’s got the whole damned bar and grill until Two-Times can get here, which won’t be until after four because his sister can’t watch his kids until she gets off work.”
He blew out a breath. “Know this isn’t your call, but can I get a different prospect over here for Whitney? I don’t want to put Scrap in the position to get so violent before he graduates.”
“Yeah. I’ll talk to Har. How soon can you get here?”
He ground his teeth together. “Once I know someone else is here, I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Where do you have to be in twenty minutes?” Whitney asked, as he put his cell in his pocket.
Glancing around the room, he noticed Nadia had gone back out front. He faced Whitney. “I gotta get over to Twisted Talons. Seems the Corrupt Chrome assholes set a literal dumpster fire, and shoved it up against the building to try and start a full-on fire.”
Whitney gasped, and her eyes were wider than he’d ever seen them. “And did they?”
“No, but they damaged our back door. Cynic needs me to be there to meet with a repair company because Finn’s manning the grill and bar while Cynic has his regularly scheduled meetings with distributors.”
“He can’t reschedule those?”
He turned his hands up in question. “I’m guessing he tried…but knowing ‘Nic, he might figure that lets the Corrupt Chrome MC win since it would disrupt our business.”
Whitney tried, but failed, to hide her outraged expression. “I could argue that with him, but okay.”
She turned back to the order she was working on.
“Blume,” he called.
Her hands froze and she turned her face to him. “Yes?”
“Come here.”
“Mensa, I’ve got a deadline if these—”
He closed the distance between them and tugged her a few inches toward him. “I need two things from you.”
“Just two?”
He grinned. “For now, yes. Go easy on the prospect. Don’t speed out of the parking lot away from him—”
“Like I do that,” she muttered.
“You know what I’m saying. If the light’s yellow, stop, don’t make shit harder.”
She nodded once. “Okay. What’s the second thing?”
“Kiss me. I don’t care if Nadia said no necking. This shit will run right into my shift at the bar, and I won’t see you again until after midnight.”
She wrapped her hand around his neck. “I was going to mention, you might want to stay at the clubhouse tonight seeing as you’ll get in late, and I’m—”
“Do you love me?”
“Yes, but I’m just—”
“No, Blume. If you love me, then we’re doing this, and that means going through the thick and the thin together. I’ll do my best not to wake you, but you need to kiss your man before the prospect gets here.”
“You are incredibly bossy.”
Mensa smiled. “Says the pot to the kettle. Guess I’ll kiss you.”
Har, Gamble, Cynic, and Block were standing around the back door to Twisted Talons when Mensa arrived.
“This shit doesn’t make sense,” Gamble muttered.
Cynic shook his head. “No shit, Gamble. Not sure who I’m more pissed at, the assholes who sold us this building or the fuckin’ Corrupt Chrome.”
“Why would you pissed at the sellers?” Block asked.
“Those bastards should have had a ninety-minute fire door back here at a minimum. From what the fire department told me, it was a twenty-minute door tops. Otherwise, this damn thing wouldn’t be so warped and shit. Almost owe the Corrupt Chrome a thank-you because without this bullshit we’d have never known, and would’ve really been fucked in an emergency.”
Mensa slowly stalked around the group, looking at the dark soot outline against the brick wall. “Why would they half-ass this, though?”
Cynic glowered at him. “This isn’t half-assed. We got a smoke alarm right at the door and it kicked off a call to the security company.”
Mensa held his hands up for a second. “Chill, Cynic. They burned down Dontrell’s restaurant – I don’t care what the fire investigators say. They leveled that building, but didn’t bother to do the same thing here. Why?”
Block dragged his hand over his bald head. “Can see why you’d ask that, but Dontrell’s security set up is probably different. The building they burned down was definitely older—”
Mensa’s patience slipped. “Okay, but I’m not the only one questioning this, so what’s their goal?”
Cynic glared at Mensa. “I don’t fuckin’ know, but I know we’re shuttin’ their shit down.”
“We aren’t rollin’ out half-cocked, ‘Nic,” Har said.
Cynic turned his glare to Har. “We waited too long to fight back after the gunfire broke out here, Prez.”
“That was out of necessity.” Har glanced at Mensa and back to Cynic. “Corrupt Chrome has a narc – they don’t know it, but we do. We go after them, we’ll get taken down with them. Gamble’s gettin’ married soon. He isn’t doin’ that from prison.”
Cynic put his hands on his hips. “I want some fuckin’ revenge, Har.”
Har’s eyes glinted with anger. “So do I, and Corrupt Chrome will pay. You gotta be patient.”
“Shit,” Cynic hissed. “This is enough to start smoking again.”
“Don’t let Fiona hear that,” Gamble muttered.
Mensa tuned out the rest of the conversation because something told him this was a diversion. He wandered toward his bike and called the prospect assigned to Whitney. It rang five times and rolled to voicemail. He willed himself not to worry about not getting an answer.
After a deep breath, he called Hard Pressed. Nadia answered almost immediately.
“It’s Mensa. Did Whitney leave for the UPS store?”
“She did , and she told me why you had to split like two aces at a blackjack table. Nobody got hurt, right?”
“Everyone’s fine, but I wanted to check on Whitney since the prospect isn’t answering my call. They must be driving.”
He could hear the smile in Nadia’s voice. “Yes, in fact, they just pulled up. You want me to put you on hold?”
“No, ma’am. I’ll call her cell.”
“You should have done that to start. She’s got that new fangled in-car—”
His lips tipped. “No, Nadia, she’s in your car today.”
“I stand corrected. I got a business to run, you have a good one, Mensa.”
Rather than call Whitney, he hit Hummer’s contact.
“Yo, I was on my bike when—”
“Yeah, Nadia told me. Did you see anything odd?”
“No.”
“Did you watch for a tail?”
“Man, I did two tours overseas. I know what it feels like to be followed.”
Mensa ground his teeth together. “Now you’re cocky. It’s a yes-or-no question: did you watch for a tail?”
Hummer hesitated. “Not like I should have.”
“Cynic’s gonna kick your ass,” Mensa bit out.
“What?” Hummer scoffed. “Are you too much of a pussy to do it yourself?”
“No, Cynic has more anger to work off. Then I’ll pour salt in your wounds. You got one fuckin’ job. Make sure you do it.”
He ended the call, moved back toward his brothers, and heard Gamble say, “…think Hummer’s ready for his patch.”
Mensa prowled closer. “The fuck he is. Admitted to not watching for a tail. Claims he knows what that feels like.”
“It does have a feel to it,” Gamble said.
Mensa widened his eyes at Gamble. “You gonna trust that shit if Vickie’s got an asshole like Rod gagging for her?”
Gamble’s expression turned stony.
“Yeah. I didn’t think so.” Mensa looked at Har. “Like I told him, he’s got one job and he needs to do it. Hell, he’s on his second chance since he missed Whitney’s brother making an approach.”
“You didn’t mention that,” Gamble said.
Mensa tipped his head at Har. “I told him and Block.”
Har dug his phone out, but didn’t engage it. “Lucky for you two, we aren’t voting on any new patches for a while.” He aimed his phone camera at the door and took a picture. “Gamble, we need to get back to the shop, let them handle this shit. We’re having church in the morning.”
Cynic turned to Mensa. “You can help me set up the dehumidifiers Block brought over here. Water was all over the back hall. We’ll be lucky if we don’t have to rip out the dry wall.”
“You probably will anyway, but this might help hold it off for a week,” Block muttered.
“Lead the way, ‘Nic,” Mensa said.
Mensa approached Whitney’s door and realized his mistake: he didn’t have a key.
A dim light could be seen behind the blinds. He knocked softly, then tried the handle. If he found it unlocked, he’d find a way to drive it home how important her safety was. The knob didn’t turn and relief swept through him.
He heard the click of what he assumed was the security bar lock, then the deadbolt clicked, and she opened the door.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?” he asked, closing the door and locking it.
She chuckled quietly. “It’s only midnight, Kenneth. I’m used to getting only six or seven hours of sleep.”
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. His tongue slid over hers and he tasted hints of dry white wine… and if he wasn’t mistaken, Skittles.
With a groan he ended the kiss. “You been eating Skittles, Blume?”
Her coy smile went straight to his dick. “Maybe. Now when I pair them with wine, I can’t help but think of you.”
He walked her backward toward her bedroom, tagging the light switch as they went. “What else does it make you think of?”
She slid her hands under his shirt. “How I didn’t get to do half of what I wanted to do with you that night.”
He arched a brow while shooting her his own coy smile. “Pretty sure tonight’s your night, baby. Gonna let you do whatever you want.”
A gleam hit her eyes. “Even put cuffs on you?”
That stopped him in his tracks. “Why would you want to do that?”
She shot him a curious look which faded to realization. “I guess I never told you. For so long, I wanted to be the one who cuffed you and brought you down.”
“Brought me down? You wanted to arrest me?”
She looked slightly contrite. “I did. It doesn’t make sense, but—”
“Baby, you don’t need to justify it. Hell, I wanted you gone every time I caught sight of you.”
Her head tilted, even as he moved them into the bedroom. “Yeah, but that isn’t nearly the same as wanting to arrest someone.”
He leaned forward, forcing her to bend backward, and he turned on her bedside lamp. “I have to think about that, since I’ve never let anyone restrain me, Blume.”
“Yeah,” she whispered when she straightened.
“For now though, we’re pressed for time since you got work in the morning and I’ve got church. So, I hope you got a plan B in mind.”
She kissed a path along his jaw. “Pay closer attention, genius. ‘I didn’t even get to half of what I wanted to do’. …So yeah, I definitely got back-up plans.”