White Heat (Lost Kings MC #5) (45 page)

She buries her face in her hands. Her shoulders shake and at first I’m worried I made her cry. Then I realize she’s laughing. I give her a little shove. “Come on, hurry up. I want to get back to the clubhouse before the guys so we can get ready for tonight.”

Somehow Hope convinced Rock to take her to the Midnight Saloon to check out the band for their wedding. Rock invited—although I strongly suspect
ordered
is more accurate—Wrath and I along. I’ll admit, I’m excited about our little date night out. It feels like such a normal,
couple-y
thing to do.

“Okay. Okay. You think this is it?”

“Yes.” The few alterations that were made to her wedding dress are perfect. So is the taupe sash I want to add. It matches the cowboy boots Hope tentatively picked out perfectly. “I still don’t know about the boots. I ordered a pair of gold flats in case I chicken out.”

“It’s your wedding day. You can wear a tiara and cowboy boots if you want.”

She chuckles and hands me my dress, then turns for me to unzip hers.

I turn at her sharp intake of breath. “That color’s so pretty on you.” She scrunches up her nose. “You’re way too pretty to stand next to me at the wedding.”

“Oh, jeez.” Then I roll my eyes because that’s one of her favorite expressions and now she has me saying it all the time too.

Standing behind me, she gathers my hair up. “Maybe we can hire someone to do our hair. Some sort of updo thing would be great.”

I’m not a professional by any means, but between Swan and myself, I figured we had hair and makeup covered. I don’t get a chance to explain that though, because she squeals and folds my ear down. “Ow! What’re you doing?”

“Wyatt!” she yelps as reads the small tattoo hidden behind my ear. “Oh, my gosh. That’s so sweet,” she croons.

Brushing her hand away, I grumble, “It’s supposed to be a secret.”

“Oh, sorry. But that’s so cute. Did it hurt there?”

“Yes. But not as bad as my hip.”

She nods and before I chicken out, I ask her. “You think we’re cute?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m so glad you guys worked out”—she flails her hands in the air—“your whatever issues out. You’re perfect for each other.”

I turn so I’m facing the mirror. “You don’t think it’s weird?”

“Weird?” She seems puzzled by my question, then I think it sinks in. “Oh. No. That’s none of my business.”

I risk a glance at her in the mirror. “You’d never do that though.”

“Yeah, but I’m not a beautiful, badass biker chick with tons of self-confidence either.”

My jaw drops. Is that how Hope sees me? She’s not laughing. Not even smiling. One thing I’ve learned about her, she’s honest—to a fault sometimes.

“You think I’m self-confident?”

She shrugs. “You’d have to be to hold your own with those guys.”

“All right, Loco. You got me here first thing in the morning. What’s up?” I ask, hoping to sidestep the big bro-hug he’s trying to snare me in. I don’t know when he thinks we ended up on bro-hug terms but I can’t say the feelings mutual.

“Come on, man. I was worried about you.”

“It’s true, prez,” Wrath says with a smug grin. He’s finding this whole thing way more amusing than I am.

Finally, I relent and force a smile on my face. “Yeah, heard you were a big help when they guys needed a location. Thanks for that.”

Loco glances at Wrath. “Yeah, how’s she doing?”

“Fine. Says she wants to stay with us for now. My girl’s lookin’ after her.”

Loco makes this exaggerated-surprised face that I’d love to punch.

“So, what am I here for? Z said you had something major to discuss.”

Loco flicks his gaze at Z and smirks. Next to me, Z shifts. I’d bet everything in my wallet, he’s also resisting the urge to punch Loco.

“Yeah, come on. Let’s sit and eat like civilized men.”

Sucking in a deep breath, I follow Loco to the back of the diner. Wrath gave me the story last night, but I indulge Loco in some conversation about his new business venture. After I’ve gotten some coffee in me—which dials back my irritation a fraction—I put a stop to Loco’s yammering. “All right. What am I doing here?”

“Vipers man. They’re hot on your ass since you got out.” He slides his gaze to Wrath and Z. “Heard you left quite a mess behind. Killed two of their guys. Took one of their whores and torched their safe house. Stole their fuckin’ dogs. That’s badass. I’m impressed,” he smirks and Wrath rolls his eyes, but doesn’t say anything.

“My ass was in a cell, so they know I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“Yeah, except two days later your ass was sprung.” He leans forward. “Here’s my problem, now they comin’ after me.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah. Two nights ago they grabbed one of my girls.”

“Shit,” Z mutters.

Loco pins Z with a harsh stare. “I got her back, but she ain’t gonna be any good to me for a while.”

Now I feel like shit. It’s bad enough Vipers fucked with me. But them going after my business associates and innocents pisses me the fuck off.

“Now, I been helpin’ your boy, Sway with his problem down south, but it’s cost me some territory here. I gotta stay focused, you know?”

“Yeah.”

“I know that ain’t got nothin’ to do with you. My relationship with them’s worked in my favor.”

“Good.”

“Way I see it, you and me got a common enemy. It only makes sense for us to work together to get rid of the Vipers.”

“I agree.”

He looks surprised that I agreed so easily. But I’m not stupid. If we’re going to do this right, I need his help. “I want to push them out of Ironworks. My club’s not big enough right now to hold that territory on our own.”

“So you want my crew to do it?” He’s grinning like a maniac and I wonder what the fuck I’ve gotten myself into.

“We want easier access to Vermont. Right now, I need to get to Bennington, we’ve gotta go up to Lake George, into Rutherford and back down.”

“You gonna try and move product into Vermont?”

“Maybe. Not right now. You’re still getting my entire supply.”

Smug fucker grins at that. “Ironworks is dry. Lot of product to move there. Fuck Vermont. But I get what you’re saying. We can definitely do that. Teamwork, Rock.”

Inwardly, I groan. But I flash a tight smile. Next to me, Wrath moves ever so slightly. Laughing, I’m sure. Dick.

“Last thing, Rock. And I want you to remember I don’t have to explain myself to you. This is pure courtesy, since I got mad respect for you.”

Oh, I can’t wait to hear this.

“What Ironworks lacks in weed, they make up for in pussy. And I know you done everything to keep that out of Empire. I respect that, but—”

“Since when are you working girls?”

“Since I recognized the need for my services. Viper girls are miserable. Half them high as fuck and hooked on all sorts of shit. They ain’t happy willing little hookers.”

My stomach twists. “Yeah?”

“I got a stable of ten solid girls. Taking a page from your book, you know. Treat ‘em well. Fair split, provide protection and they bring in a ton of cash.”

“My what?”

“Your dance club? Everyone says you guys run it fair so bitches are trippin’ over themselves to work there.”

“Okay.”

“And your club. Your brothers are all solid. Got your back no matter what. ‘Cause they know you’d do the same.” He shrugs. “Works better than ruling by fear. Better results.”

“Oh, we’re still afraid of him,” Wrath says with a snicker.

Z glances over at me. “Positive reinforcement, prez.”

My morning’s taken an even more bizarre twist than I could have imagined. “As much as I enjoy having you psycho-analyze me and my crew, can we get to the point?”

Loco leans in again. “My point is, me and my crew will help you get the Vipers out of Ironworks, split the area with you, keep things tight, and in return you don’t give me shit about my working girls.”

“Where are you running this from?”

He gives me a sly smile. “Water Street.”

A short, sharp laugh bursts out from my throat. “You shittin’ me? You’re running a brothel right in downtown Ironworks? No wonder you’re on Ransom’s radar.”

His shoulders lift in a phony-sheepish gesture. “I got a good deal on a nice brownstone. Ironworks PD is easy, keep the street clean, hand ‘em a few bucks and they look the other way.”

“Yeah, except they probably ran straight to Ransom and told him what you were up to.”

Loco cocks his head as if that thought had never occurred to him.

“Yeah, okay.” I hold out my hand and he shakes it. “We’ll get a plan together.”

“Fair enough. You can come check the house out if you want. See the girls are there willingly. Come and go as they please. Any girl you want is on the house.”

Yeah, I can’t imagine anything I want to do less. “No, thanks.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

The last couple weeks before the wedding are nuts. I’m elbow deep in invites when Murphy finds me in the dining room.

“Hope, I get an ‘and guest’ too right?” Murphy asks.

I’m curious who he plans to bring. “Of course.”

“Cool. Thanks.”

I raise an eyebrow and wait for him to elaborate. “You remember Serena? She’s taking classes up here. I don’t know, we’ve been hanging out.”

“Oh, that’s great. She seemed so sweet when we met.”

Murphy’s taken aback but he shakes it off. “How pissed do you think Heidi will be?”

Crap. I hadn’t thought about it. Another thought occurs to me. One I don’t like very much. “Wait, you’re not inviting her here to make Heidi jealous, are you? Because that’s not fair to Heidi or Serena.”

He shakes his head but takes a second to meet my eyes. “No. I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. I’m trying to do the right thing for her, but it’s making me miserable.”

“Well, it’s not all about you.”

“I know. She says she loves Axel. All the time. And how happy he makes her. But don’t know if she means it or she’s trying to rub my nose in it or what.”

Honestly, it’s probably all of those things combined, given that Heidi’s seventeen. “Girls at that age are a little nuts Murphy. I remember. I know I was.”

His eyes widen as if it never occurred to him I’d ever been a teenager. “Yes, Murphy, I haven’t always been an old hag.”

The burly jerk laughs. “You’re far from hag territory, Hope.” His laughter stops abruptly and he turns serious. “I feel like a creepy perv waiting ‘til her birthday, you know?”

“Yeah, it’s a little creepy,” I agree and he smirks. “Don’t look at it that way. Just be her friend like you always have. If it’s meant to be it will.” I lower my voice, because I feel like a traitor for saying what I’m about to say. “I like Axel. A lot. He’s a good kid.” Murphy nods grudgingly. “But Axel’s her first real boyfriend. Girls rarely end up with their high school boyfriend. When she starts college, she might—”

“Meet someone else? Great.”

I chuckle. “All I’m saying is they might go their separate ways. All on their own.”

His mouth turns up, and I cut off whatever he’s about to say. “You mess with them and do something to break them up, she’ll end up hating you, Murphy. Just let it happen naturally.”

“Thanks, Hope. Sorry I’m being such a pussy when I know you got other stuff to do.”

I roll my eyes at him. “You’d be a bigger pussy if you just bottled it up.”

He barks out a laugh. “I guess. But I wouldn’t talk about it with any of—”

“The guys?”

“Yeah. Or Teller. I think he’s relieved Heidi’s with Axel.” He snorts. “Don’t blame him. I had a sister, I wouldn’t want her with me either.”

The way he says it honestly breaks my heart a little. “You’re a good guy. If I had a younger sister, I’d let her date you.”

I don’t care if he gets mad, I have to give him a hug. He lets me and wraps his arms around me.

“I wish you’d been around ten years ago to steer all us fuckers in the right direction.”

“Who says I knew anything back then?”

Trinity keeps me running from one place to the next. For a simple, low-key wedding there seems to be an awful lot to do.

Suspiciously, I never see a bill for anything.

“They’ll bill after,” Trinity says one day when I ask.