Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
M oon stuck his head inside Nickel’s open bedroom door. “Hey, you got a minute?”
Nickel pulled his gaming headset off. “Yeah. What’s up?”
He moved further in and closed the door behind him. “I checked the logs; do you remember guarding the door the night I walked home?”
Nickel grimaced. “How could I forget? I damn near shot your ass—appearing out of the dark like that. Why?”
Moon nodded to the headset. “You have anyone listening?”
Nickel turned the computer game off. “No.” Rotating more fully toward him in his computer chair, he gave him a curious look.
“I’m in a predicament, and I need your help.”
Nickel frowned at him. “How?”
“Will you keep it just between us?”
“No.” He turned back to his game.
Moon swung his chair back to face him. “Brah, it doesn’t involve club business.”
Nickel folded his arms over his chest. “Go ahead, but I’m not making any promises.”
“Cool. Just hear me out.” Moon raked his hand through his hair. He needed to get the shit cut; it was driving him crazy. “Do you remember who was in the club when I came inside? The only person I remember is Winter, because she was standing outside the bathroom. The rest is a motherfuckin’ blur to me.”
“Why does it matter?”
“That’s all you’re getting unless you promise not to repeat what I tell you.”
Nickel shrugged. “I don’t need to know that badly.” His face turned thoughtful. “Lily, Beth, and Killyama were there.” Nickel stopped, as if he were still thinking. “Ginny was there …”
“Anyone else?” Moon prodded.
“Hmm … I think that’s it, but I remember thinking they were louder than normal. Winter was bugging the piss out of me that night. Had me searching for Aisha’s cat a couple of times.”
“Anything else?”
“Nope, that’s it.”
“If you remember anything else, let me know.”
“Sure thing.” Nickel turned back to his game. “Later.”
Moon left Nickel’s room, shutting the door after him.
“Fuck, fuck,” he muttered. “Fuck, fuck …”
“Ah … no, thanks.”
Moon spun around to find Nickel behind him.
Nickel looked at him like he had a screw loose. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing, just deciding if I want to eat now or later.”
His expression cleared. “I’d eat now. Beth made chicken, gravy, and biscuits. They aren’t going to last long.”
Walking downstairs with Nickel, Moon saw Lily and Beth serving behind the counter. He took a plate and got in line.
“How you doing tonight, Lily?” Giving Lily a friendly smile, he held his plate out to her.
“I’m doing good.” She smiled back at him.
“I’ll take a breast or a leg; I’m not particular.”
Moon caught her eyes when she handed his plate back with a chicken breast and a leg. Lily’s translucent skin blushed as her gaze shied away from his.
Moving along the counter where Beth was standing, he handed her the plate. “Your night going good, too?” he asked conversationally, bestowing another smile on Beth and catching her eyes in the same trap he had Lily’s.
Beth wasn’t as flustered. Frowning, she gestured to the potatoes and green beans. “Yes, thank you. What would you like?”
“I’ll take both.”
Beth filled his plate, keeping her eyes turned to his side, where Puck had gotten in line behind him. “What can I get you, Puck?”
Moon moved aside to make himself a salad next to where Beth was dishing out the vegetables.
When neither Beth nor Lily looked in his direction, Moon found a spot at the kitchen table. Pouring salad dressing on his salad, he noticed Viper eyeing him. He had thought the coast was clear with his back to the table and neither Razer nor Shade being around.
Shoveling a forkful of lettuce into his mouth, he ate as usual while his stomach was doing flips.
You got to play it cooler than this. You want to get your ass killed?
“Where’s everyone at tonight?”
“Jesus and Train are sleeping. They just got back from Ohio. Shade and Razer are on their way to Ohio.”
“Hmm …” Moon mumbled around a mouthful of lettuce and onion.
Viper crinkled his nose at him. “You have enough onion shoved in there?”
“Onions are good for you.”
“If you say so.” Viper continued eating his food as he listened to Rider talk about a new car he had bought.
Moon ate slowly, taking his time.
After Rider finished his meal, Moon expected Viper to leave as well, when his plate was empty. Finally, Viper stood up to leave, taking his plate and coffee cup to the sink. When he came back with a brimming coffee cup, Moon got up to make another plate after putting the first one in the sink. He headed around to the front of the counter and handed the clean plate to Lily.
“Could I get another piece of chicken?”
“Of course.” Lily placed a chicken leg and a thigh on his plate. “Here you go.”
Beth’s hand was already outstretched to take his plate. She filled it, then handed it back.
Going back to the salad, he forced himself to make another huge serving. When he sat back down, he saw Viper eyeing his plate.
“You’re hungry tonight, aren’t you?”
Moon poured the salad dressing over his salad. “I’ve been eating out so much lately. I miss having homecooked food. What has you here tonight?”
“Winter has a meeting. She should be here anytime. Aisha is spending the night at Rachel and Cash’s, playing with Emma. I’m getting ready to go pick her up.”
Moon stabbed a cherry tomato with his fork, pretending as if he didn’t care if Viper stayed or left.
Viper checked his watch before finishing his coffee. “I need to leave.”
Moon nodded. “Later.”
“Brother, I would ask what you’re up to, but I have a feeling I don’t want to know. I’m going to be back in ten minutes, and your ass better be upstairs. Got me?” Viper’s menacing voice got his meaning across loud and clear.
“Got you,” Moon replied, stabbing another tomato.
Viper rose to put his cup in the sink before leaving out the back door.
He glanced at the counter, seeing what he had been waiting for—Lily and Beth were both making their plates. Turning his head back to his plate so they wouldn’t notice him looking, he pretended disinterest when they took chairs at the table. He made sure to continue eating to get them to lower their guard. He had felt their tension when they first sat down.
He had hoped when he got in line and caught their eyes, one of the women would reveal something that would remind him of the woman he had fucked in the dark. The calculated risk had backfired—both women had been staring at him distrustfully.
“Not many here tonight.” He started to try to ease their guard.
“Most of them went to a movie. We’re going to put the leftovers in the oven. Nickel and Puck offered to clean up for us once their game is over,” Beth told him.
Moon looked at his watch. Viper would be back in five minutes.
He placed his fork on his plate. “I haven’t seen much of you girls since the fight at Mick’s. How’s Crazy Bitch’s nose?”
Beth and Lily shared a secretive glance.
“Much better,” Beth said, buttering her biscuit.
“You girls seemed to be having a good time when I came home.”
The sisters shared another glance. This time, Moon caught a glint of fear in their eyes.
“Yes, we did.” Beth laid her butter knife down. “You seemed to have a good time while you were out, too.”
Moon shrugged. “Just so-so. I noticed one of the barstools is fucked up. It’s off kilter. Another one is missing.”
Looking at Lily, Moon saw she was playing with her food, and Beth wasn’t making any headway with hers, either.
“That’s not surprising; they’re pretty old. I’ll mention it to Viper tonight. We wouldn’t want any of the men falling on their asses, would we?”
Moon stiffened as Winter walked into the room. How long had she been listening behind the door?
“No, we wouldn’t,” Moon agreed, picking his fork back up.
“Any food left?” Winter asked, moving behind the counter to get a plate.
“Plenty.” Lily started to rise from the table. “Can I get you something?”
Moon pinned her in place. “Finish eating. Winter is capable of making herself a plate.”
Lily gave him a defiant look. “I’m finished. I need to get home so Ember can come and eat.”
She carried her plate to the sink after she emptied her plate in the trash, then took off out the back door.
Winter set her plate down with a hard thud before getting herself a glass of ice water. “Proud of yourself?” she asked as she took the chair Lily had vacated.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Bullshit, you don’t.” Winter gave him a stern glance, as if he were one of her misbehaving students. “Viper knows we had a party that night, so if you think of trying to blackmail us—”
Moon started laughing. “You’ve been watching too many movies. Blackmail was the furthest thing from my mind.”
The women looked at him disbelievingly.
Moon dropped his fork to the plate. “Damn. Thanks. Show me what you really think of me.”
Winter wasn’t fazed. “Then why all the interest about that night?”
He needed to tread carefully. Wanting to find out who had snuck into his room was his priority, but he didn’t want to out the wife either, indirectly saving his own life if he had fucked one of the brothers’ wives.
“Killyama came barging in the other day after the hours outsiders are allowed. Jade, Stori, and I were having—shall I say a good time? She killed the moment. The point I’m getting at, you wives aren’t allowed upstairs afterhours without your husbands. Did one of you come upstairs?”
Moon felt the hair on his arms stand up at the nervous tension hitting the room.
Winter took a bite, looking at her food. She was no longer meeting his eyes. “What makes you think that?”
“Killyama came upstairs, didn’t she?”
Winter’s gaze flew back to his. “Of course not.”
“I don’t believe you.” Moon narrowed his gaze on Winter. “One of you came upstairs.”
“Fine. You’re right. I went upstairs. Whoopee . Give Moon a star. I went upstairs to use the restroom. You can run and tattle to Viper if you want.”
Moon stared at Winter searchingly. Taking his mind back to that night, he thought about the fact that she did have the right length of hair. Without being obvious, he tried to gauge Winter’s size. He thought the woman he had been with might have been her size, but Beth wasn’t far off from her weight, either. Lily was the slenderer of all the wives.
Winter started talking to Beth, asking her about her day. Moon decided he had pressed his luck enough for the day. He carried the dirty dishes to the sink.
Going out the back door, he took a seat on the picnic table to light a cigarette. While smoking, he replayed the conversation with Winter. He had heard the ring of truth in her voice about going upstairs. That part, Moon believed. Had she decided to take a detour on the way back downstairs? He couldn’t tell from her reaction. One thing he knew for damn sure was she was hiding something, and he was going to find out what the fuck it was.