Chapter 16
16
BLOOD
After I left Maxine, I hit The Tropics just after midnight. The club vibrates with energy even on a Monday night. As I shoulder my way through the crowd, I pick up a beer at the bar along the way, then head for our usual table in the back.
The other brothers greet me with side-eye glances until Smoke jerks his head toward the back hall and growls, “My office, now.”
I follow him, trying to figure out what crawled up his ass. We close the gym on Mondays for general cleaning and maintenance, so it’s not like I was fucking off. Granted, I don’t usually spend all afternoon and half the night shacked up with a woman, but Smoke wants me to get info out of Maxine, so, in a way, he should be happy I was screwing her for the club.
We enter the office, and Smoke slams the door behind me, then silently rounds his desk. I’m flipping back and forth between pissed off about his attitude and curious about what the hell this is about.
I take the chair facing his desk, and he leans his elbows on the worn wooden desktop. “You know what day it is?”
Is this a trick question? “Monday.”
“Right, and what else?”
Okay, so now I’m more pissed off than curious. If the fucker has something to say, just spit it out.
“I don’t know. The gym is closed, and it’s usually my day off, so what the fuck is the problem?”
“Anything else happen on Mondays?” Smoke challenges.
“The Tropics doesn’t open till five and—Ohhh fuck.”
“And every Monday before we open, we have our weekly church meeting.” Smoke slams his hand down on the desk. “A meeting you missed.”
I rub the back of my neck. “Shit.”
“Where the fuck were you that was more important than your club?”
Just maybe I could spin this and save myself from an ass kicking. “I went to see Maxine. You know, trying to get some dirt on Hector.”
“And that made you forget your responsibilities?”
“I wanted to make sure I won her confidence over. Make her trust me so she’d spill some info.”
Rolling around in bed with her for hours wasn’t bad either.
“And did she?” Smoke cocks his head like he already knows the answer.
“No, but I can tell I’m getting close.”
Yeah right, the woman is like a steel trap. The only thing I got close to was tasting her sweet pussy and wanting to fuck her again.
“I see.”
Smoke’s low rumble amps me up. I expected yelling, cursing me out and maybe even a punch in the face, not this scary cool composure.
“Here’s what I think.” Smoke leans back in his chair. “I think you went over to Maxine’s, and after some back and forth, you threw her over your shoulder, headed for the bedroom and tore up the sheets for the better part of the day and night.”
Accurate description.
“I also think, instead of using her in a way that would help the Bastards, you took a little breather and geared up for round two. Then, by the time you were done fuckin’ and suckin’, you didn’t know your own goddamn name, no less be able to get intel outta her for the club.”
Shit, it was like Smoke was watching through a peephole.
“You got anything to add?”
I focus on the wood floor of the office. “No.”
“And would you say my version is accurate?”
I draw in a deep breath and nod. “You’re right about the fuckin’ part, but it was good for her too, which means I’ll be back there again. She’s too savvy to give anything up right away, but, guaranteed, I’ll get to her and break her down.”
“Ohhh, I see, so you fucking her is the answer to our problems with Rodriquez.”
“It just might be.” I shrug. “I’ve never had trouble getting what I want from a woman.”
“Only this goes a little deeper than sinking your dick into some hot pussy for the night. Especially since you and I both know what’s at stake here. In case this hasn’t been clear to you over the last year, Tijuana is our last stop. We screw up again, and Jameson is gonna come down here and pull the plug on us, this club, and everything we’ve worked for is gonna end up in the shitter. No second chances, no bullshit stories. We lose our hold here, and we’re done.”
“And I’ve worked just as hard as you have for this, so why would I fuck it up?”
“I don’t know, but it sounds to me more like she’s working you instead of the other way around.”
“No way. You know I would never give club business to a woman, no matter how hot or how good I fit between her legs. I’m telling you, I’m working on a long con. She’s not stupid, and if she’s working with Rodriquez, it just might take a little more time than we expected.”
“Time we don’t have.” Smoke cracks his knuckles. “Rodriquez is known for striking when his enemies least expect it. Taking them apart piece by piece and hitting them where is hurts, so I wanna shut him down before he gets a chance.”
“And that’s what I’m trying to do. Shut him down by using Maxine.”
“Still doesn’t explain or excuse you missing a church meeting.”
“I know.”
“Which sends up a shit load of red flags. All the time I’ve known you, even back in Cali, you’ve never spent that much time with a woman, and you sure wouldn’t let a woman make you miss a meeting.”
I wouldn’t admit it to Smoke, but it did kinda scare me too. I never put anyone or anything before the club and sure not a woman. Shit, I’ve left women bare-assed and begging for more without a second thought when the club needed me. But tonight, with Maxine, the time just slipped away. Like we were in our own zone. The minute I left, I wanted to go back.
“Hit it and quit it. In and out,” Smoke adds. “That’s your usual.”
Smoke has me there. After I shot my load, I was out the door, most times never to be seen again, no less hanging around all afternoon and half the night.
“I also know from Diesel you spend a lot of time checking out her training in the gym. More so than any other fighters. So, I’m also thinking this woman is getting under your skin.”
“Who the fuck is Diesel to get in my business? I run the gym and the fighters, so I have to know what’s going on.”
“Right, but we both know what happens when we start thinking with our dicks.”
I roll my eyes. “You know, I could say the same thing to you.”
“That’s how I know I’m right. Me fuckin’ around was what sent us to this hell pit. Granted, we’ve made it work, but we can’t take any chances with a fucker like Hector. He’s a different animal than anything we’ve ever come across, and I’m not letting him get over on us ‘cause you got your mind on pussy.” Smoke leans over his desk. “And that’s all she is to us, and all she should be to you. Pussy, plain and simple—a way to get to Rodriquez.”
My gut tightens. I sure don’t need Smoke laying it out for me or bringing Maxine to that level. And that bothers me too. Why do I care how Smoke talks about her? Yeah, why do I care?
“You agree?” Smoke stands and comes around the desk.
“Yeah.” I push out of the chair. “Sorry about missing church.”
“If it ever happens again, you better be dead, ‘cause that’s the only excuse I’ll accept.” Smoke heads toward the door, and I follow him out of the office and into the club.
Smoke jerks his head at Bolt. “You know what I gotta do.”
“Yeah, bring it on.” I trudge toward the back door with Bolt close behind me.
Bolt’s hard face is shadowed by the security lights in the lot behind the club. “Shit, I hate to have to do this, Boss.”
I spread my arms wide. “Just fuckin’ get it over with.”
Bolt cracks his knuckles and shakes out his arms. “I’ll make most of them body shots, but I gotta at least hit you in the face once so Smoke knows I didn’t punk out.”
“Just do it, for fuck’s sake.” The sooner Bolt gets this done, the better.
“I just want you to know?—”
“That you got a tiny dick and you can’t get it up anymore.”
Bolt puffs out his chest. “Hey, that ain’t true.”
“Not what I hear around the club. Most of the strippers say you ain’t been laid in months ‘cause of that tiny dick of yours.”
“Fuck you.” Bolt winds up, landing his thick fist right above my jaw. The sweet spot fucking up the cheekbone, the mouth and the eye.
He follows up with some gut shots and a few hits to my ribs. I’m able to deflect the first few, but the man packs a powerful punch, and when he ends with an uppercut, I stagger backwards.
Bolt surveys the damage. “Alright, I think Smoke will be satisfied.”
I taste my own blood as I carefully touch the side of my face. “You hadda fuckin’ hit me on the same side of my face twice?”
Bolt pouts. “You shouldn’t have made those cracks about my dick.”
“If I hadn’t, we’d still be standing out here.”
Bolt hunches his massive shoulders. “I didn’t enjoy it.” Then he holds out his fist. “No hard feelings.”
“C’mere, you big ape.” We do the male backslap thing. “All good.” Then we troop back into The Tropics. I head for the kitchen for some ice ‘cause my jaw and cheekbone are already blowing up.