Chapter Twenty-Five Spock
The morning sun beats down as Chloe and I cross the highway separating the clubhouse from Inferno Ridge.
I keep myself on the side closest to traffic, even though there isn’t much of it at this hour.
A few cars streak past, their tires humming against the pavement, but Chloe barely seems to notice them.
She hasn’t said more than a handful of words since we left the clubhouse.
I know that look. Her mind is working, turning over every piece of information Juliet gave us during breakfast.
Paul Scaro has ties to Red Rock Construction.
Steven Blackwood lied about his work history.
And before Chloe hired him, Blackwood worked for Elvis Monroe—the same bastard who has been avoiding us.
None of that proves what Scaro or Blackwood is doing, but it’s enough to make every protective instinct inside me snarl.
I stay quiet as we walk. Chloe needs time to process, and crowding her now will only make her dig in her heels.
She owns DC Construction. She built it on her reputation and funded it with her money.
Inferno Ridge is her project. She bid on it and won.
She has earned our support and respect. I know she feels responsible for everything.
That’s exactly what worries me.
By the time we reach her truck, her expression has hardened into one of grim determination. She digs through her purse for her keys, and I know what she’s thinking before she says a damn word. She’s already planning how to confront them.
Before she can reach the driver’s-side door, I step around her and plant myself between her and the truck.
She stops short. “Spock?”
“Before you get pissed at me, hear me out.”
Her eyes narrow. “Moving out of my way would be a good start.”
“Not until you listen.”
She exhales through her nose, but she doesn’t try to shove past me. Instead, she folds her arms across her chest and waits.
I reach for her hips, but I stop before touching her. This isn’t about controlling her. The last thing I want is for her to think I’m trying to take over her business or make her decisions for her.
“I know you want to confront Blackwood,” I say. “And Scaro.”
Her silence tells me I’m right.
“I need to speak to them.”
“No. You want to speak to them. There’s a difference.”
“They’re a potential threat to my company and to me.”
“I know.” I finally settle my hands lightly on her hips because I can’t not touch her. “I understand this is your business. Inferno Ridge is your project, and you’re used to handling problems on your own. But I’m asking you—begging you—not to confront either one of them yet.”
Her eyebrows rise at the word begging.
Good. Maybe it’ll make her understand how serious I am.
“We don’t know what Blackwood and Scaro are up to,” I continue.
“We don’t know if they’re working together.
We don’t know why Blackwood lied to you.
Maybe he’s working with Monroe, maybe not.
We also don’t know if Scaro is working with Red Rock Construction or if he found out what they’re doing and cut ties.
Until we know more, we can’t let them know that we suspect they’re up to anything. ’
“I can handle Blackwood.”
“I know you can.”
Her expression shifts, some of the fight leaving her eyes.
I step closer. “This isn’t about whether you’re capable. I’ve watched you run this site. I’ve seen you stand up to contractors, inspectors, and men twice your size who thought they could intimidate you. I know exactly how capable you are.”
“Then why are you standing in my way?”
“Because being capable doesn’t mean you have to put yourself in danger to prove it.”
Her gaze drops, but I keep going.
“Someone has been attacking your company. Someone attacked your dad. Your equipment’s been vandalized, and now we know the man you trusted to oversee this project lied to you about his past. These aren’t normal business problems, Chloe.”
Her jaw tightens at the mention of her father.
I slide one hand from her hip and curl my fingers beneath her chin, lifting her face until she looks at me.
“You don’t have to deal with this alone anymore. Once we figure out what Blackwood and Scaro are doing, we’ll decide how to handle it.”
“We? You mean you and the club?”
“We. As in you, me, and my club.”
She studies me for a long moment. “DC Construction isn’t club business.”
“The hell it isn’t.” I soften my voice before she can bristle. “The attacks against you aren’t just attacks on DC Construction anymore. They’re attacks on the Demon Dawgs.”
“Because your club has invested in the project?”
“That’s part of it.” I brush my thumb along her jaw. “But mostly because they’re attacking you.”
Something vulnerable flickers in her eyes, but she quickly looks away.
“You matter to me,” I tell her. “That means you matter to my brothers and sisters. Nobody comes after someone under our protection and walks away clean.”
“I don’t need an entire motorcycle club protecting me.”
“Maybe not, but you’ve got one anyway,” I say with a grin, waiting until she looks at me again. “And you’d destroy me if you let something happen to you.”
Her shoulders slump.
“You don’t have to put yourself in harm’s way just to prove you can take care of yourself,” I say. “Everyone who matters already knows you can.”
For several seconds, all I hear is the faint buzz of machinery from the construction site and the occasional rush of a car passing on the highway.
Finally, Chloe releases a long breath. “I won’t confront Scaro. I don’t have any reason to speak to Scaro today, unless he contacts me.”
I study her face, searching for a loophole. “Or Blackwood?”
“I can’t promise that; you know I can’t. He’s my foreman.”
“Can’t you avoid him for one day?”
“I can try.” Her lips twitch, but then her expression turns serious. “I can promise that I won’t confront him without telling you that I’m going to do it. Does that work? I have some calls to make first anyway.”
“What kind of calls?”
“The kind that might help us figure out what he’s doing.” She holds up her phone. “My first call will be to the electrician.”
I study Chloe for another second, searching her expression for any sign that she intends to break her promise the moment I’m out of sight. All I see is determination.
That doesn’t exactly put my mind at ease, but I know better than to push her any harder. She gave me her word. I have to trust it.
“Okay. Please be careful. If you have to speak with Blackwood, don’t do it alone. Make sure you have others nearby. Hawk will be at Riversedge today. Make sure you keep him close.” I lean down and kiss her.
What I intend as a quick brush of my mouth against hers turns into something deeper the second her hand curls around the back of my neck. I slide an arm around her waist and draw her against me, savoring the soft press of her body for a few stolen seconds.
Then I force myself to pull away. If I don’t, neither of us will get a damn thing accomplished today. So, I reach around her and open the driver’s-side door. “Call me if you learn anything.”
“I will.” Chloe steps onto the running board but pauses before climbing inside. “I’m going home to change into my work clothes. I’ll be back here in an hour.”
She climbs behind the wheel, and I close the door. I step back as the engine starts, but I don’t leave. Chloe rolls down the window.
“I promised I won’t confront Blackwood without telling you first. I have no plans to go to Riversedge today. I’ll tell you if anything changes,” she assures me.
“And I’m going to hold you to it.”
“I know.” Her lips curve. “Be careful.”
“You too.”
She pulls away, and I watch until her truck turns at the end of the road and disappears. Only then do I turn and jog across the highway toward the clubhouse.
Rush and Dice come out of the main entrance as I reach the club parking lot. Both men are dressed for business in jeans, boots, and kuttes. Rush has his sunglasses pushed up on his forehead, while Dice checks something on his phone.
“Chloe good?” Rush asks.
“She’s going home to change. She’ll be back at Inferno Ridge in an hour.”
“And she agreed to stay away from Blackwood?” Dice asks.
“She promised not to confront him.” They can probably hear more hope in my tone than conviction.
Dice chuckles as he slips his phone into his pocket. “Hawk and Wildcard are heading to the Riversedge apartment site. They’ll keep eyes on Blackwood and see what he gets up to.”
“Good.” I glance toward the highway, even though Chloe is long gone. “He might get nervous after taking off yesterday. If he was creating havoc and not solving a problem, he could be nervous enough to make a mistake.”
“That’s what we’re counting on,” Rush says. “They’ll follow him if he leaves the site, but they won’t make contact unless he tries to run.”
I nod. As much as I want to drag Blackwood into The Pit right now and beat the truth out of him, watching him could tell us more. If he’s working with Monroe, Scaro, or Red Rock, he might lead us straight to whoever is pulling his strings.
“We’re going after Monroe first,” Rush continues. “We’ll talk to him before we pick up Blackwood.”
“Talk,” Dice repeats, his tone dry.
Rush smiles without humor. “How much talking Monroe does is up to him.”
My hands curl into fists. Elvis Monroe and Blackwood have a past. We don’t know their ties to Chloe. Not yet.
“What about Scaro?” I ask.
“Viper, Rattler, and Chill are already moving,” Dice says. “They’re going to grab him and take him to The Pit for questioning.”
“Monroe will join him,” Rush adds.
I glance between them. “Do we know where Monroe is?”
“Dice tracked him to a work site,” Rush says. “He arrived twenty minutes ago and hasn’t left.”
A vicious sense of satisfaction moves through me. After everything that’s happened to Chloe and her father, I’m ready to get my hands on someone who might have answers.
Rush starts toward the row of bikes. “With any luck, Scaro and Monroe will be sitting across from each other in The Pit within the hour.”
“And Blackwood?” I ask as I follow.
“We’ll grab him as soon as we get some information from Monroe. Wildcard and Hawk can pick him up.”
I swing onto my bike and start the engine. The roar reverberates across the parking lot as Rush and Dice mount beside me.
Three men. Three different parts of the same scheme.
By the end of the day, I intend to know which one of them came after my woman—and why.