Chapter 4 #2
Matthieu was all of those things, he knew that. But he wasn’t sure this was all necessary. He was one man. Ink could find other men to work for him. They wouldn’t necessarily be as good, sure. But they existed.
And Reyes had plenty of MC members.
“He doesn’t look convinced,” Spike said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Reyes watched him closely. “We like you, Matthieu. You’re smart and you’re not a hothead. You’ve got skills. And we’ve got some issues in Billings at the moment.”
Issues?
Now this sounded more interesting.
“You’ve come back and forth for a while now,” Ink said. “We figured you might be looking for a reason to stay.”
“And the girls like you,” Duke added with a grin. “They want you to stay.”
Razor snorted. “More like they want to match him up with someone.”
Was that what was happening here? The girls wanted him to stay here so the men were doing what they could to make it happen?
That was insane.
“I’m not looking for a relationship or a home,” he explained.
The men all shared looks.
“And you can tell your women that too,” he said firmly. “They are not to try and fix me up with anyone.”
Not happening.
Ink held his hands up. “I told them that. Betsy seems to think that you’re sad or some shit and that you need a family. She wants you to stay.”
And what Betsy wanted Betsy got? That was ridiculous.
These women needed to learn that they couldn’t get everything they wanted. And these guys had to teach them that and not indulge their ridiculous desires or dreams.
He crossed his arms over his chest. He knew he shouldn’t have come here today.
“That is insane. I am not lonely. I certainly do not want a family. I prefer to be alone.” He’d been alone a long time now, ever since his parents died. Why would he want to have anyone else who might rely on him?
He didn’t have a home. He didn’t have a job.
Sure, he could easily get those, but why bother when he had no desire to settle down?
Duke shrugged. “No problem. You’ve got to do what you want.”
“I get it,” Reyes said. “Sometimes it must be nice not to have anyone that relies on you. To just take care of yourself.”
They were saying the right words, but he wasn’t sure that he believed them. All of them seemed very happy with the way things were.
“But can you come to a meeting with me tomorrow,” Ink said.
Matthieu sighed. Always with the favors. What was wrong with this man?
“You want me to be with you for a meeting?”
“I want you to help me get a read on someone,” Ink said.
“You can read a person nearly as good as I can,” Matthieu told him.
Ink grinned for some reason. “Yeah. Nearly. But a second opinion never goes astray. You know that I appreciate your opinion.”
Hmm.
Still seemed odd.
“Why not just call me and ask me to come in for this meeting?” he asked suspiciously.
“Because the girls wanted you here, of course,” Ink told him.
Matthieu sighed. “They cannot get everything they want.”
“But we want them to have everything they want,” Sav said in a firm voice. “That’s our job.”
Matthieu narrowed his gaze at the big man, studying him. He still thought they were acting ridiculous.
And yet, it was somewhat admirable.
“So will you come to the meeting?” Ink asked.
“Is this a trick to get me to stay here or to work for you?”
“Would I do that?” Ink asked.
Yes. Matthieu thought he would.
“Who is this meeting with? Somebody who needs a new security system? A rich billionaire with a stalker wanting a bodyguard?”
None of that particularly interested him. It often felt like Matthieu had seen, met, or done everything. Maybe that was why he felt so . . . burned out.
Nothing much surprised him anymore.
“It’s with a detective with the local police,” Ink said.
All right, some things still managed to surprise him.
“Why would a detective ask to meet with you?” he asked. “Surely he could take care of his own security?”
“Yeah, he’s being secretive about his reasons and he hasn’t wanted me to say anything to anyone else, but I know it’s not about his personal security. My guess it’s about police corruption.”
All right. Now he was definitely interested.
“Corruption?”
“Billings police department is filled with corruption,” Reyes said bluntly. “Not something that we’d normally get involved in, but three of our guys have been pulled over in the last month and threatened with jail time if they didn’t pay a ‘fine.’”
“I’m guessing these fines lined the individual officer’s pockets?” Matthieu asked.
“You got it,” Duke said with a scowl. “Violence and crime in Billings is increasing.”
“Damon isn’t happy,” Spike said. “His guys know that he doesn’t abide by violence unless it’s necessary. Things like assault and home invasions are off the table. Especially assault against women.”
“Yeah, Markovich said that rival gangs are sniffing around, and that cartels are trying to push drugs through Billings. They want to use it as a homebase to get drugs out to the rest of the northern states,” Reyes said. “Again, not our problem, but this is spreading beyond gangs to everyone else.”
“My garage isn’t in the greatest area of the city,” Razor said.
“Young kids are getting recruited into these gangs and nobody can stop them. Worried parents call the cops about things they have seen, violence, crime, and most of the time the calls go unanswered. Or if they are answered, they want a kickback for doing their fucking jobs. These families need protection and the police don’t give a shit.
” Razor turned abruptly and walked over to where the girls were.
Tabby glanced up at him and got up. He drew her close, hugging her tight.
Matthieu felt a strange tug in his chest. Something like longing. Or need.
Bizarre. He’d never felt that way before when looking at another couple. These people were obviously getting to him.
That wasn’t good.
He’d shut off his heart and he didn’t intend to reopen it.
Not for anyone.
“Razor is upset because one of the guys he was training as a mechanic was beaten up two days ago,” Sav explained.
“Set upon by three guys who are gang members. They seemed to think he was a dealer on their territory when he was just trying to get home. Cops were called and actually came. They blamed the kid who was beaten. Said he shouldn’t be dealing.
They had no proof of that, but they couldn’t even be bothered to pretend to look for the people who beat him.
Cops have been by the garage a few times too.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they start to press Razor for protection money.
Or some of the guys that work for him, since a few of us have criminal records. ”
Aidan Savage had ended up in jail after beating up the guy who had raped and hurt his sister.
If Matthieu had been that judge, he would have given him an award not a jail sentence.
Abusers deserved every punishment they got. Especially those that hurt those weaker than them.
“They are turning their backs to criminal activity, which isn’t our problem. Except that it’s creating more violence and hostility,” Reyes said in a dark voice.
“It’s getting to the point where we’re gonna have to stop our women going anywhere alone,” Spike said. “Millie went to a yoga class yesterday with Livvy without telling me or taking her phone. Nearly lost my mind.”
“Surprised she can sit today,” Duke said.
“She’s not sitting comfortably.”
Matthieu couldn’t help but glance over at Millie who was wearing a fifties style dress with a wide ribbon around her waist. She had on a fluffy green cardigan. An image of a pink dinosaur ran around the back of the cardigan to the front.
Spike had punished her for going to a yoga class without telling him?
Matthieu couldn’t imagine needing to know where his girlfriend was at all times.
Then again, it had been years since he’d had a girlfriend. And he’d never lived with any of them.
Perhaps because you never loved them.
“Yeah, I don’t want Sunny driving around on her own anymore,” Duke said.
“Emme certainly isn’t allowed to,” Reyes said. “She has a driver at all times. She could easily be targeted just for being Markovich’s daughter.”
Drew Markovich was the head of a criminal enterprise, so that was understandable.
“One of the customers at the garage told me that some cops have started pulling people over for trumped up charges, then demanding money or other things to let them off. They target people they know can’t fight back,” Sav said.
“Other things?” Matthieu questioned.
Sav grimaced. “Fucking sexual things.”
Putain.
Was he serious?
Matthieu glanced around at all of the men. Then he nodded.
“Fine. I’ll come to the meeting. But that is all.”
“That’s all I’m asking,” Ink said innocently.
Right.
Why didn’t Matthieu believe him?
“Matthieu!” Betsy walked up to wrap her arm around his and smile up at him. “Come and sit with us. We want to tell you about this friend of Tabby’s.”
Great. The matchmaking had begun. He shot a look at Ink who had turned away.
Oh, he was going to owe him big for this.
Matthieu had a long memory and he would not forget.