4. Deacon
DEACON
SHE KNOWS SOMETHING.
Her demeanor was different when she came back. I watched her disappear down the hallway, and when she emerged, she had this look behind her eyes that we’d seen too many times. Someone knew why we were there and was filling in the staff. I didn’t like that.
I didn’t like rats.
Whoever the hell she had been talking with had told her something because the way she looked at us had changed.
Dallas probably didn’t clock it since he was too busy trying to get his dick wet, but I saw it.
As she whipped up our third round of drinks, she didn’t banter with us playfully like before.
She didn’t try to get us talking. She didn’t attempt to flounce those tits of hers around while she shook our drinks.
Yep, she knew who we were.
Or, at least she had an idea of it.
I watched as she slid my beer toward me. Not a word spoken as she divvied out the drinks. Hell, even as she started cleaning down the bar, she wouldn’t look at us.
I took a long pull from the glass bottle as Dallas spoke. “Cat got your tongue, beautiful?”
The bartender—Char, I think was her name—shook her head. “Just got a lot on my mind.”
I set my beer down. “Bosses will do that to you.”
Her gaze finally met mine, but it was cautious. Not at all like the pretty little slut she had been earlier. “Miss Lilly is a phenomenal woman.”
“I’m sure she is.”
“And besides, Mr. Salt, you can’t expect everyone to be alert this late into the evening. Last call means I finally get to turn my brain off.”
“And yet, you still haven’t called it out yet.”
She drew in a deep breath through her nose and locked her gaze with me before her jaw unhinged.
“Last caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!”
Her voice bellowed over my head, tugging a grin against my cheeks. It wasn’t her voice I was intrigued with, however. It was her stare. I expected her to be fearful. To be wary of us now that her boss had spilled the beans as to who we were.
There wasn’t fear behind her eyes, though. Not by a longshot.
She was simply… curious.
That would be a first.
“Good enough for you?” Char asked flatly.
I raised my beer to her before I tipped it back and chugged.
I emptied the bottle, feeling the burn slipping down my throat.
This place was perfect. I had already made up my mind that I wanted it.
And as I placed my empty beer bottle back down onto the sticky bar top in front of me, I made a mental note to replace the damned thing.
It was gross, and it needed to go.
“Wait, you guys do last call at one in the morning?” Dallas asked.
Char turned her back to us and started grabbing liquor bottles off the mirrored shelves behind her. “We don’t do much business past that point, so Miss Lilly shuts down around this time, yeah.”
Dallas leaned forward. “And you’re the closer?”
I stared her down as Char peered over her shoulder. “And opener. I’m the bar manager, essentially.”
“Essentially?” I asked.
She nodded before turning her attention back to the bottles. “Can I get you boys anything else?”
“No,” Gauge said flatly.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me,” she said as she nodded toward the door, “we’ve apparently got a small wave coming in.”
The bell above the front door tinkled, drawing my attention toward the door. I watched as six or seven people walked in, reeking of cigarette smoke and regret. All of them were coupled up, with the girls hanging off the boys’ waists like a fucking belt or something.
They all stumbled up to the bar, and I watched as Char put her best foot forward.
“It’s last call around here,” she said as she slapped her bar rag over her shoulder, “so I can serve you exactly one round.”
“That’s all we’ll need, thanks,” one of the guys said as he waved his hand toward her.
“What’ll it be, then?” she asked.
One of the other guys scoffed. “Got any house specials or something? We’re in a bit of a hurry.”
“Yeah,” one of the girls said before she started chomping on her gum.
Char tilted her head. “I make a mean midori sour, if sweeter drinks are your thing.”
“I’ll have one of those, then!” one of the girls chirped.
“Me, too.”
“Make that three.”
“And for the gentlemen of the group?” Char asked.
One of them rolled their eyes and it made me want to pluck them right out of his fucking skull. “Just a beer. Whatever you’ve got on tap.”
“Got a preference for what kind?” Char asked. “We’ve got IPAs, stouts, a couple of lagers?—”
Then, the idiot with the popped collar waved his hand at her. “Forget it, she can’t even follow a simple command.”
I couldn’t hold my tongue a second longer. “Maybe if you were more specific about what you wanted, she’d be able to service you.”
The young man chuckled as he turned toward me. “And you are?”
I reached for my empty beer bottle, just in case I needed to smash it over his fucking head. “Deacon.”
“Mac, don’t,” the girl on his arm whispered.
I nodded toward her. “You should listen to your lovely ladyfriend. She’s wise.”
The young man shook her off his arm. “Why don’t you keep your opinions to yourself and let me finish ordering?”
“Oh, is that what you were doing?” Dallas asked as he leaned back, peering around Gauge’s broad shoulders. “Because I could’ve sworn you were giving the bartender a hard time over a beer order just to show how macho you can be in front of the girl you want to fuck tonight.”
“That’s enough, you two,” Char said curtly.
“Order, or shut up,” Gauge commanded.
The booming of his voice could’ve stunned a goddamn horse, and when it brought those pathetic little boys to a grinding halt, I damn near cackled.
“So?” Char asked as she set six empty glasses in front of her. “I’ve got three midori sours and…?”
“Three IPAs,” the young man said.
“Three IPAs… what?” Dallas asked.
I heard the grin in his voice and couldn’t help the smirk that crossed my own face.
“Please,” the young man muttered.
Char beamed with pride. “Three midori sours and three IPAs coming right up. Why don’t you guys go make yourselves comfortable? If you want food, I believe the kitchen is still open for a few more minutes.”
The young adults backed away from the bar and scurried to a rickety table in the middle of the room.
I watched as they kept peering over at us, studying us like we were some sort of last-minute exam they had coming up.
They couldn’t have been older than college age.
Barely twenty-one, and out in the world trying to prove themselves.
They needed to up the ante if they were gonna justify those shitty attitudes of theirs.
Still, it wasn’t hard to turn my attention back to Char.
She moved behind the bar like a swan over a lake, barely breaking a sweat while her body danced for my viewing pleasure.
Her tits jiggled against her chest and her ass cheeks damn near fell out of her shorts, making my cock twitch with desire.
Her blonde hair was pulled back into a braid that had more than come loose, and all I thought about was wrapping my hand around it and yanking her head down to my dick.
Those icy blue eyes of hers were filled with a curiosity I wanted to satiate while she rode my cock.
I’d answer any question she wanted, so long as she gave me an orgasm in return.
Fucking hell, I bet her luscious thighs would feel like a cloud wrapped around my waist.
Still, I was curious as to what her boss told her.
I wanted to know what she knew. No, I needed to know what she knew.
Me and my guys? We’d always been great at staying under the radar.
Hell, not even the local police had caught onto what we were doing.
And those that did were on payroll, making as much money as we were doing what we did.
We had it made in Layborn. Out in the desert, where barely anyone crossed our paths.
It was the longest we had gone without any sort of federal involvement of any sort, and that’s how we wished to keep things.
But, as long as Char didn’t put up a fight or get in our way, she’d be fine.
She looks like a fighter, though.
And goddamn it, I loved a good fight.
“Come on,” Dallas said as he tossed some cash onto the bar top, “we’ve seen enough. Let’s get out of here.”
Gauge tipped the rest of his Jack and Coke back before standing. “I’m good.”
I peeled my eyes away from Char’s figure long enough to stand. Thank fuck, I had impeccable self-control.
Might’ve been embarrassing to stand otherwise.
“Let’s go,” I said as I moved away from the bar.
Char loaded the six drinks onto a tray. “You guys need some waters for the road?”
I grinned. “Funny, that you think our tolerance is that low.”
Dallas blew her a kiss. “Have a nice evening, Char.”
Gauge just rolled his eyes, though. “Come on.”
Char hefted that tray in the air and onto her shoulder, and it gave me a chance to get away.
To get out from beneath her enchanting presence.
The three of us made our way outside, heading straight for our bikes that we had parked around the corner of the bar.
In the alleyway, where the cover of darkness shrouded our vehicles, we could come and go as we pleased with very few eyes on us.
And as I hiked my leg over my bike, I nodded. “Let’s make an offer.”
Dallas walked his bike next to mine. “I’ll get on it once we get back to the clubhouse.”
“Gauge? You got anything else to add?”
He scoffed as he cranked his bike’s engine, which answered my question.
“All right, then,” I said as I cranked mine up as well, “time to get the fuck out of here, then.”
And as we soared off into the darkness, blazing a trail toward the dark, dry desert oasis we called home, I relished the wind whipping around my body.
The sand, pelting my face as it kicked up behind us.
I grew excited for our newest adventure.
Our latest foray into planting ourselves and making this town our bitch.
We already had the police in our pockets.
Those that weren’t on payroll were much too afraid to go up against us, and we liked it that way.
Now, all we had to do was secure that bar for ourselves by any means necessary.
Because then, we could finally ramp up our operations and make the kind of money my father could have only dreamt of making.