Chapter Three

Axel

I received the call from Johnny about the MC meeting the morning after the fire, the morning after he and I had beat the holy hell out of those Black Hearts boys in the middle of their living room. I told him I’d be there, and half an hour later, I was strolling into the bar, the first one to arrive.

As usual.

I ordered a beer and took up a seat at one of the corner tables, putting my back to the corner. This way, I could see every soul in the place, and I gave no one the chance to surprise me. Not that I thought they would. This was safe territory for us, and it had been for over a decade.

Shortly after taking up my seat, Johnny arrived. He stopped briefly at the bar to order himself a drink and then wove through the scattered tables until he reached me. He dropped down into the open chair beside me and kicked his heels up on the table. The impact made the amber liquid in my glass dance and slosh over the sides.

“Hey, you fuck,” I growled, snatching my glass from the table. “Don’t spill the good stuff.”

Johnny waved my concerns away with one hand as he tipped his head back to take a swig of his drink. “Did you tell Ellie to come?”

“Yes, as you said.”

“And the others?”

“Are all on their way.” I took a sip of my beer and enjoyed the way it bubbled down my throat. “Nobody knows about last night, right?”

Johnny shook his head. “No one needs to know. It stays between us for now.” He looked at me like he was accusing me of spilling the goods.

“I won’t say anything.” I didn’t like being eyed up. “You know me, Johnny. Your word is law in my books. Point that glare somewhere else.”

Johnny gave me a wide smile then. It reminded me of how things used to be before his brother had been killed. And his father. Back when things were simpler for MC members.

“I’ve been thinking,” I said as I leaned back in my chair and folded my hands in my lap.

“Yes?”

“I’m not opposed to the idea of using my shop to get our jobs done. Until the insurance money comes through and we can rebuild, that is.”

Johnny’s eyebrows crept toward his hairline. “You’d be willing to let us on your property? That’s a first.”

“That’s not what I said. We can use my shop to get our current jobs done. I don’t want any of these fucks using my tools. The only person I’m willing to share the space with is Ellie. Unless you have a problem with that.”

Johnny didn’t answer me right away. He took a giant mouthful of beer and swished it around his mouth, ballooning his cheeks and looking at me out of the corner of his eye. There were several things he wanted to say. I could feel it in the air between us. After he swallowed, his lips curled into a small smile. “I don’t have a problem with that.”

“Why the fuck are you smiling then, you prick?”

“Nothing. I just can’t help but picture the two of you working alone so close to your house … and your bed. It’s easy for one thing to lead to another. One minute you’re asking Ellie to pass you a wrench, and the next, you’re three knuckles deep in her—”

“Ellie and I aren’t like that, and you know it. She’s my employee. That’s it.”

“If you say so.” Johnny shrugged.

“Besides, she’d murder me if I asked her to pass me a wrench. She’s just as capable under the hood of a car as I am. She’s not a broom pusher.”

“Never said she was.”

I scowled at Johnny and let the conversation die. I didn’t want to keep discussing Ellie with him. It was a topic he had drawn up out of the well several times before, and I knew this wouldn’t be the last time.

We sat in comfortable silence as the rest of the MC members began to slowly trickle into the bar. Each stopped and ordered a drink, or two, and with no sense of urgency, everyone took their seats and chatted amongst themselves. As we filled the bar, conversation grew louder, and non-MC members naturally vacated the area, giving us the space to speak freely without worrying about who might overhear us.

When everyone had arrived and everyone had a drink, Johnny motioned for me to get to my feet and tell everyone about the shop situation. I did.

“My shop has all the necessary space and equipment for me to finish all our current jobs. If you have a customer who needs a rush order, run it by me first. We’ll have to be a bit restrictive on jobs for the time being. Just until the insurance money comes through and we have our space back again. Got it?”

All the heads in the room bobbed up and down.

Johnny got to his feet beside me and addressed the crowd. “Axel is doing us all a favor. His shop will allow us to still pull in some profit. But for now, we aren’t going to do any work on members’ vehicles. You all hear that? No side jobs. Only paying jobs.”

The heads all nodded again. Then, someone hollered something about getting payback for what had been done to our shop.

Sabian Delgado, the lean, dark-featured Mexican in the seat closest to the front, lowered his beer from his lips. “Those Black Hearts deserve to be ripped a new asshole, if you ask me.”

“We didn’t ask you,” I growled, holding his gaze.

Sabian shrugged one shoulder and stretched his legs out in front of him, crossing one ankle over the other and hooking his thumbs in his belt. “I’m just sayin’. Sure seems like we’re pussying out by standing by with our cocks in hands, doing nothing about their hit on our shop. You’re okay with this shit, Ryder?”

I looked over at Johnny, who tore his dark gaze from Sabian to regard the whole room. “We’re not standing around with our cocks in our hands. We’re waiting for the right opportunity to come our way.”

Sabian rolled his eyes and uncrossed his ankles. He sat up straighter and scowled up at me.

“You heard the boss,” I said. “Deal with it.”

Derek Baxter, who we all called Money because he was our treasurer, stood from his seat at the back of the bar. His beard seemed even denser than usual and gave way to a wild mane of thick, brown hair. There was a hint of amusement in his dark eyes as he looked from me to Johnny. “I heard someone hit a Black Hearts clubhouse last night around nine.”

“Oh?” Johnny asked innocently, eyebrows arching like he was inviting Money to spill more details.

Money did. “Yeah. Word is three boys had their asses handed to them by two guys with baseball bats. A few broken bones. A concussion. They did some serious damage in a matter of minutes.”

Johnny crossed his arms over his chest. “I suppose no one has any clue who these guys were?”

I tried my best to keep my expression neutral.

Money shrugged before dropping back down into his seat. “No one seems willing to come out with any names. But, if I were to point any fingers, I’d say an MC member had all the right motivations to do it. Wouldn’t you think, Ryder?”

Johnny stroked his chin and then shot me a look. “You hear anything about this?”

“No,” I said evenly. “But I’ll keep my ears open.”

“Sounds to me like someone disobeyed your direct order, Ryder,” Sabian piped up from the front row. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and shook his head once, slowly. “Playing with fire.”

“I find it hard to believe someone in this room would go behind my back,” Johnny said. Then his dark gaze swept across the room. Tension settled in as his stare landed on each man and held him in place for several agonizing seconds.

Johnny was not the sort of man you disobeyed unless you were willing to expose yourself to his brutality. I had seen Johnny in action, and I would never make a mistake that would put me in his line of fire. I was a big man. I was tough. But Johnny was ruthless, and as the President of the MC, he sometimes had to do things that I knew I could never follow through with.

Like punishing someone who was your friend.

Or banishing someone who was family.

The swinging doors at the front of the door opened, and someone stepped inside. It was a woman, and her shape was framed by the sunlight streaming in behind her. When the doors closed, it became easier to see her, and I realized it was Ellie. She took up a spot near the back wall and met my eyes for the briefest second. She gave me a tight-lipped smile and then turned her attention to Johnny, who began speaking once more after staring each MC member in the eye.

“We lay low until I say otherwise. Run all customer inquiries by Axel before committing to any work. And take care of your own vehicles because we won’t be fixing them up until the shop is rebuilt. Now get the fuck out of here.”

Everyone got to their feet and slowly began saying farewells. Soon, they were filing out of the bar and heading back to their cars or bikes out in the gravel parking lot.

Ellie was still leaning against the back wall. She hadn’t moved an inch.

I went to join her and stood across from her. “You missed half the meeting.”

Ellie shrugged and brushed her long, blond hair from her shoulder. “I’m not an MC member. The rules don’t apply the same to me. Johnny said so himself.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. You heard the part about using my shop as a temporary replacement?”

“No, but I gathered that was what’s happening.”

“I’ll need your help getting it in order. I’ve been working on a lot of my own projects. There’s no room to bring in any other vehicles. I’ll pay you, of course. You shouldn’t lose work because of this.”

“Because of a gang hit?” Ellie asked, pushing her hip out to the side and cocking her head in the same direction. I couldn’t help but notice the curve of her hip and waist as she stood like that.

“Yes,” I said.

“All right, I’ll help.”

“Follow me there?”

Ellie nodded and pushed herself off the wall. “I’ll be right behind you.”

I didn’t doubt it. Not only did Ellie know what she was doing under the hood, but she was also pretty good behind the wheel. Better than some of the MC members even. Not that I’d ever admit that to her out loud.