Chapter 15
fifteen
COLE
The stack of papers on my desk somehow made the room feel smaller.
Invoices for mundane things, beer deliveries and the like, but it didn’t account for everything that was owed.
The ledger sat open in the middle of the pile, open to last week’s numbers.
Gage’s neat block letters logged each shipment date and cost. It was revealing to those who knew what was being shipped, but looked like a normal set of business expenses to the untrained eye.
My cell buzzed every few minutes with updates from my suppliers.
I liked to keep moving, and sitting here in a suffocating room looking over numbers was driving me nuts.
I needed to keep the inventory flowing seamlessly.
I didn’t want to sit on inventory, and that was less about not making anyone wait and more about not wanting to have anything that could be used as evidence against us.
Despite that, there was a fair amount of product at various shipyards around town. No one knew exactly where except me.
I was halfway through mapping out the next run when the office door creaked open. I expected to see Gage or Maddox in the doorway when it opened without a knock. They were the only ones close enough to me to feel comfortable coming in uninvited. But it was Errol who walked in.
“I heard there was trouble last night?” He sat down heavily.
I pushed my chair back and gave him my full attention. I shrugged nonchalantly. I didn’t like to draw attention to Finn and his antics, especially with the old guard of the MC.
“Don’t downplay it. He went in there and nearly fucked up a good working relationship. I’ve said time and again that this kid doesn’t need to be hanging around here. He’s a liability, Cole. Either he becomes a prospect, or he stays away.”
“You concern is noted, Errol.”
“Don’t be soft on him, Cole, it’s not good for business.”
I stared at him, annoyance surging through my veins. Errol often confused my tolerance of his advice as need for it.
“Finn knows that he won’t be a Hound. There is no discussion to be had.
He’s seventeen, and this all seems exciting, but that’ll die off.
I’m sure Travis doesn’t feel the same way about membership now that he’s patched in as he did as a prospect?
People grow up. Finn needs time, and I’m watching his back until then. ”
Errol chuckled and shook his head. “Except last night. Your dad always worried you were too soft for this life, Cole.”—
“And what?” I challenged when he fell silent a moment. “If you’ve got a problem with my leadership…”
Errol looked offended. “A problem? Now I can’t give advice to a boy who was basically my own? I watched you grow up, kid. I just worry about you. Frank left a mess, and you’ve had to deal with it.”
I waited for him to go on and get to the goddamn point.
“Anyway, I’m here if you ever need me. If you want me to talk to Finn, or have Travis mentor him—”
“Unnecessary,” I cut in, just short of snapping.
Errol got up slowly, and headed toward the door. There was a defeated droop to his shoulders that ate at my conscience.
“Unnecessary but the offer is appreciated,” I told him before he left.
He turned his familiar old smile on me and nodded, taking his leave.
Errol wasn’t wrong—shit with Finn was complicated.
It wasn’t a good look that I couldn’t keep him under control.
It wasn’t a good look when buyers were complaining.
I was so tired of paying back my father’s debts, of being ground down under the heel of the man the MC owed.
Of holding on to power in a club teeming with men dying to take a shot at leadership.
I sat there for a long moment, staring at the ledger without actually seeing it.
My mind strayed to the only thing that had been capable of distracting me from my impending demise…
her. My little distraction. Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to leave that little sneak alone in my house.
In fact, I’d bet money that it wasn’t, but I was sure that setting up for the party had kept her occupied until now.
I was getting up and grabbing my jacket before I could question whether I was really worried about Goldilocks’ ulterior motives, or I just wanted to see her.
If I didn’t ask myself that fucking obvious question… I didn’t have to answer it.
Simple.
The lights were blazing as I slowly rode up to my place.
I wasn’t the type to let just anybody come around.
I’d built the cabin with my own hands. Woodwork was my hobby, and the amount of time I’d sunk into every single part of the cabin might seem crazy to most, but to me, it was time spent without regret.
I couldn’t say the same about a good deal of my life.
The cabin was my pride and joy, along with my bike.
The only two things I’d ever owned worth a damn.
The sound of music spilled out of the open French doors to the deck, where Marcus and his friends were talking loudly, drinking, and generally enjoying themselves.
I stared at my younger brother and felt the knot in my chest that had been there since Finn’s debacle loosen.
Keeping Marcus safe had been my priority his entire life. From the days when my father would try to pit us against each other to toughen Marcus up, to when he was taken into a group home when the old man went to prison, he’d been my responsibility. The only family I’d ever cared about.
Now, it tugged at my goddamn heart to see the man he was becoming. He’d be a professional hockey player soon; he already had plenty of offers for after he finished HHU. And he’d be married to boot, to his older and wiser fiancée, Arianna.
Marcus had seen the life that our father had built, from his failed marriage to his angry kids, to The Clutch and the MC, and turned away from all of it. He’d chosen a different path, and I’d lay my life down to make sure he got to walk it.
He caught sight of me and grinned.
“Cole! I never thought I’d see the day you let us get drunk and messy at home.”
“Drunk is fine,” I called back. “But no mess.”
“Got it,” Marcus grinned down at me. “Come and have a drink with your little brother on his birthday.”
I saluted him and headed inside, working my way toward the deck. Wild horses couldn’t have stopped me.
As I moved through the kitchen, I saw her. Of course, I did. When she was in the same room as me, I could hardly look away.
She was laughing at something her friend was saying, bending over at the waist. There were a couple of boys I didn’t know here.
Hockey players too, by the looks of it. I grabbed a beer and went out to the deck, pushing away the sight of my Goldilocks standing next to a jock, while he gazed down at her like she’d hung the moon.
Fucking moron. The guy had a death wish.
I stepped out onto the deck and approached Marcus.
“Happy birthday, man,” I said, clinking my bottle against his.
He was smiling, easy-going and charming.
My brother had always had the gift of making everyone else feel at ease.
Arianna was standing at his side. She clinked her bottle against mine in greeting.
She was good for Marcus. Grounding. After shit had gone down with her brother last year, we’d all grown closer.
I’d never have agreed to this party at my cabin if she hadn’t asked me herself.
“Tell the story!” Marcus insisted.
“What story?” I grunted, but I knew.
“The coming home from the hospital story,” Marcus enthused, tightening his grip on Arianna’s shoulder and dropping a kiss on her temple.
“It’s hilarious.”
“I think you’re overselling it,” I warned, but Marcus shook his head.
Out the corner of my eye, I saw Goldilocks join us on the deck with the motherfucker she’d been talking to inside.
I leaned against the railing, and started my story. The same one Marcus demanded each year. The one about the first time I saw him as a baby, when our parents brought him home from the hospital.
All through it, though she tried to act like she wasn’t listening, I felt my little sneak’s attention on me.
She clearly had a problem with staying out of trouble. She was drawn to that which she shouldn’t be… looking for danger, walking on the wild side. There was no other reason that one of these shiny, good little HHU students would be showing up at The Clutch unless they were after trouble.
Tonight, Goldilocks was going to find it.
She was in my house.
And Papa Bear was home.