21. Rooster #2
“I overheard him talking to Nathan. He had him all worked up. Said some pretty crazy stuff like they were going to have to come live with him.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“I know, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to try.”
“I’d never let that happen. Not now. Not ever.” I placed my hands on her hips and eased her towards me. “I meant what I said about protecting the people I care about most. I won’t let anything happen to you or those kids. You’ve got my word on that.”
“Man, going to the movies that night was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
Before she could say anything more, I lowered my mouth to hers, silencing her with a deep, demanding kiss. I feared she might protest and break free from our embrace, but she didn’t. Instead, she ran her fingers through my hair, pulling me closer and returning my kiss with fervor.
Maggie’s lips opened in a small gasp, exactly like I wanted, giving me complete access to her mouth. My need for her hung in the air, taunting me as she moaned into my mouth. My cock throbbed against the zipper of my jeans, aching to be buried between her legs.
Maggie’s breath caught as I reached the dip between her neck and collarbone. She inhaled a quick breath, suggesting that I’d just found her sweet spot. I almost lost it when Maggie shifted her body forward, pushing her breasts against my chest with a little whimper.
Damn.
I had no choice but to step back and say, “Easy there, beautiful. Your friends are just around the corner.”
“Oh, yeah.” A soft smile slipped across her face. “I kind of forgot about them.”
“We’ll pick up from here later.” I gave her one last quick kiss, then said, “I better let you get back to work.”
“Yeah, you probably should, but I should warn you. We’re going to be talking about you for the rest of the afternoon.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” I gave her a wink, then started for the door. Before walking out, I gave her friends a wave and said, “Have a good one, ladies.”
I walked back out to my truck, and as I got back inside, I couldn’t help but notice that all the ladies in the shop were staring out the window, watching as I started the engine.
I gave them all one last wave, then drove back over to the clubhouse.
I wanted to be there in case Prez or Cotton needed me, so I decided it was best for me to stick around for the next couple of days.
Thankfully, it was pretty quiet.
There were no fires to put out with the club.
Most of the guys were either at home or crashed right after dinner, and the girls kept to themselves.
Hell, even Beckett was pretty chill. He’d do his time at the construction site, and when the day was done, he went to his room and stayed there until morning.
That was all well and good, until it wasn’t.
I’d been at the clubhouse for several nights when I heard Beckett yelling in his room.
I thought he might’ve been getting into it with one of the hang arounds or one of the brothers, so I went to check it out.
I crossed the hall, and when I got to his door, it was wide open.
He was pacing in the center of the room as he talked on the phone.
“I know what he said, Grim, and I’m telling you, I don’t fucking care. I don’t want to talk to him, and I definitely don’t wanna see him.”
He listened for a moment, then shook his head. “He can say or do whatever he wants, but it’s not gonna change anything! What’s done is done.”
He continued to pace angrily back and forth as he listened to the other end of the call. Grim was doing his best to get Beckett and Preacher back on track, but he wasn’t having it.
I’d seen what the kid had been through, and I wasn’t sure that was ever gonna happen, especially when Beckett said, “I’m done, man. I mean it! I’m not doing this anymore, even if it means I gotta walk away from Fury. I just can’t do it. Not anymore.”
He ended the call and tossed his phone on the bed as he grumbled, “Sonofabitch!”
“Hey, brother.” I stepped up to the door. “You good?”
“Yeah, man. I’m golden.”
“Need anything?”
“Not anything you could give me.” He shrugged. “I’m just out of luck these days.”
“Things will turn around. You’ll see.”
“I wish I could believe that.”
“Sometimes you gotta walk through hell to get to the other side.” I gave him a pat on the shoulder. “You just gotta keep on walking, brother, cause if you stop...”
“I’ll be in this hell forever?”
“Yeah, and nobody wants that.” I started out of the room as I told him, “We got a long day tomorrow. You best get some rest.”
I walked back to my room, and as I got ready to crash, I was pleased that there was no more yelling coming from Beckett’s room.
I hoped that meant he’d called it a night, and I quickly did the same.
When we got up the next morning, I found him in the kitchen drinking his coffee, and while neither of us mentioned the night prior, he seemed to be in better spirits.
He held onto his good mood all through work and that had me feeling pretty good about things. But the second I pulled back into the clubhouse and spotted an unmarked black Mercedes parked at the front, my good mood went flying out the window.
Torch had pulled in with me, so I turned to him and asked, “Any idea who that might be?”
“No clue.”
Curious, we both started up to the front door.
We’d barely stepped inside the bar when I spotted Prez sitting at the front counter with Savage and Cotton.
And standing in front of them was Maltese, Cardelli's lead man. He looked just as menacing as he did the last time he’d shown up at the clubhouse.
He had on a similar black business suit, and those crazy dark eyes were skirting around the room like he was waiting for something or someone to come out of the shadows.
Torch and I walked over to see what he was doing there, and as we got closer, I overheard him say, “As you might know, Mr. Cardelli had an ongoing issue with Mr. Bauco and his men. They’d cost him a business deal or two, and he was growing tired of their interferences.”
“We’d gotten wind of it, but that was no concern of ours.”
“No, it wasn’t, but you dealt with them and dealt with them well. My boss was quite impressed with the way you handled them, and I must admit, I am, too. I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“You’re walking a fine line between a compliment and an insult, and trust me when I say, now is not the time to be insulting Fury.”
“Oh, there’s no doubt about that. You made that very clear. In fact, I don’t think you will have any further troubles with your deliveries or anything else for that matter.” He kept his serious tone as he added, “So, no. My comment wasn’t an insult. In fact, it was the farthest thing from it.”
And there it was—confirmation that our endeavors hadn’t been in vain. We’d made the statement we needed to make, and we could only hope that Maltese was right, and we wouldn’t have any more trouble with Bruton’s business. It was a laughable thought.
In this line of work, there’s always trouble.
But it was nothing the brothers of Satan’s Fury couldn’t handle.
We’d already proven it once, and if necessary, we’d prove it again.