Chapter Seven #2
Cliff’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and that’s when I knew they weren’t here for me. No, they had simply come in, and they’d found me.
“Just a friendly pool game. We’re almost done if you want the tables,” I said, my voice casual.
The Connollys must have figured out that there was something wrong because they all stood a little straighter and angled their bodies so they stood in front of their women.
I knew that they didn’t know exactly what was going on. Then again, I didn’t really know.
“Beckham,” Cliff growled out. “I knew you were around here. At least, somewhere in the city. Had to be. You wouldn’t go too far since you’re a lazy fuck. Always were. It’s my luck that I was the one to find you.”
“We don’t want any trouble here. We’re just playing pool. I’m only the bartender.”
Meadow stiffened beside me. I hated this.
Fuck. I couldn’t take her to the side and explain things to her now, tell her why I had kept my past a secret.
It was over. She would likely hate me forever.
I had to get these guys out of here before they recognized who was standing beside me.
If I weren’t careful, they would figure it out.
And I didn’t know what would happen if they did.
It wasn’t safe for Meadow. I shouldn’t have stayed as long as I did.
I shouldn’t have even become her friend. But I had. And now, she wasn’t safe.
“Sure,” Cliff said, “but maybe we should go out back and talk. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen you, Beck. I see you’re just as ugly as ever with that fucking beard of yours. Couldn’t even grow it. Had to be a patchy-assed-face like usual.”
“Hey, this is our bar. If you’re going to start something, you should leave. We don’t take kindly to violence here,” Cameron said, his voice low but still a growl.
Cliff looked over at him and snorted. “Okay, pretty boy. Whatever you say. We don’t want no trouble either. Just surprised to see Beck is all. And acting all casual, like he isn’t the scum of the earth. A fucking traitor.”
I stiffened then and slowly angled my body a little bit more so they couldn’t see Meadow. Thankfully, none of the guys in front of me looked toward her. And even better, the woman beside them wasn’t looking.
I knew her. Trace. Coby’s sister, his damn twin.
And, if I remembered right, she was Cliff’s old lady. But that had been a while ago, and even though you didn’t poach women—one of the primary rules of being a brother—things happened.
But hell, things were getting a little too intense. I needed to get them out of here and away from Meadow.
“I don’t want any trouble. I’m out. You know that.”
The Connollys all looked at each other, and I could see them out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored them. They weren’t the dangerous ones. No, the guys in front of me were.
The ones who ran drugs and did shit that I wasn’t proud of.
They weren’t like some who dealt in guns and other things. But they were the worst of the bunch.
And I’d brought them right to my friends’ door. Sure, they might not have known that I was here when they walked in, but now they were trying to start something because I was.
I needed to make it stop.
“Come on, guys, you don’t need to do this.”
“Yeah, maybe we do,” Cliff growled. I noticed that the others didn’t say anything, but they didn’t need to. With Coby in jail, Cliff was number one outside of the main circle.
Coby had been the leader of his generation. And I’d followed him. Of course, then I’d become VP over him, and everything changed. Things had gotten worse. Coby found a woman, even though I hadn’t known who she was at the time.
Coby always wanted more power. Because I didn’t like the man I’d become, I left.
It hadn’t been easy. And I bled for it in the end, burned for it.
I’d left, and Coby took my place. And Coby had gone to jail because of his own stupidity.
I hadn’t paid for my crimes. And I knew Cliff, Coby’s BFF, blamed me for that.
“Hey, I have the cops on the line, and I can get them here at any minute. So why don’t you guys get out?”
I held back a curse as Sienna spoke, and I had a feeling the rest of the Connollys did, too.
“You really going to let your bitch talk for you?” Cliff asked, and I moved forward, putting my hands on his colors. The leather felt soft and supple under my palms, but I twisted it until it cracked.
“Just go. You don’t have any business here. This isn’t your place. This isn’t some TV show where you can fuck up a bar because you feel like it. Just go before you end up in jail again like your little buddy. You hear me? You’re not wanted here.”
Cliff’s eyes narrowed, but when one of the other guys elbowed him in the side, I pulled away. Cliff growled at me.
“Come on. You’re on probation, man.”
“Come on, Cliff. I’m tired of this already. Let’s just go home,” Trace whined, leaning into her man.
I ignored the other guy, my eyes on Cliff.
“This isn’t over, Beck.”
“It was over a long time ago, and we both know it. Go back to the life you chose. I’m making mine here.”
“For now, asshole.”
“No. Forever. Just go.”
The guys grumbled, and I had a feeling it had nothing to do with my words. No, it was because of the men at my back and the fact that the rest of the bar had gone silent, even though some of our regulars, big men in their own rights, had also stood up, ready to do what they could to help.
Only five minutes in, and the guys had made this place a biker bar. One where there’d be a fight and blood and broken glass.
And it would all be my fucking fault.
The members of my old club turned on their heel and left, but not before knocking down a couple of chairs and cursing up a storm as they did.
Glass shattered on the floor as they knocked into one of the tables, but no one moved to pick it up. At least not right away.
The others started talking, asking me questions, wanting to know what was happening, but I couldn’t listen. I didn’t have eyes for them. No, I could only look at the woman at my side, who hadn’t said a word. The one who didn’t want to draw attention to herself. And I knew why.
I looked over at Meadow, my jaw tight as I tried to open my mouth to say something. But there were no words.
She simply looked at me, her eyes wide as she blinked. “You knew them. You’re part of them.” Her voice was so hollow, like the one I’d heard when I first met her. Not the Meadow she was now.
“Yeah. No use in lying. I was.” I paused. I knew I shouldn’t say the rest, but realized I probably needed to. “It was before you were part if it with Coby, though.”
Her face blanched, and she took a staggering step back. “You knew. You knew?”
The others looked at us, confusion clear on their faces, but I had to ignore them.
“Yeah. I did.”
I was prepared for the slap, ready for the shove, the punch, something.
But I didn’t expect what actually happened.
She looked at me, took another step back, and then turned on her heel, grabbed her bag, and walked out.
I looked over at Cameron and gestured towards her. “Can you follow her? Make sure that the others don’t find her. She wouldn’t welcome my help.”
“Yeah, we got it,” Cameron said, his voice low. “But then you’re going to explain exactly what the fuck just happened.”
“Promise. Just make sure she’s safe.”
“I’ll go, too,” Aiden said, following Cameron.
And then the two were off to make sure Meadow got home okay in case the guys were out there waiting.
I wanted to be there. I wanted to fix this. But I didn’t think I could.
I looked at Brendon and the girls, and I swallowed hard. I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything.
Instead, I picked up the chair and went to get a broom to sweep up the glass.
I figured if it was my last day at the Connolly Brewery, I might as well clean up some of the mess I’d indirectly made.
But I also knew that, no matter what, some messes couldn’t be cleaned up. Some stains would forever haunt the place.
Just as they hung over me.