Chapter THIRTEEN

“FOR FUCK’S sake, I was lying on top of him with a hard-on. He looked horrified.”

Ross shrugged. “Maybe the kid didn’t notice.”

“Didn’t notice a throbbing erection pressed into his dick? Sure, that sounds plausible.”

The sound of Mitch’s boots hitting the linoleum was loud as he crossed to the fridge and grabbed out a couple of bottles of water. He tossed one in Ross’s direction.

“Well, he was just shot at and thrown to the ground. Maybe he was more focused on other stuff, like protecting his life.”

Mitch rolled his eyes and began to pace the small kitchen of the safe house before finally stopping in front of Ross.

“What am I going to do?”

“Do? About what? The kid?”

Mitch frowned at the term “kid.” He hadn’t thought of Finn like that in forever. “About the—” Mitch waved his hand in the air. “Never mind.”

Ross twisted the cap off his bottle and took a few long swallows. His amusement at Mitch’s situation was obvious as he leaned casually against the benchtop and tried to hold back the smile. Mitch scowled and stalked the few paces into the lounge room.

Ross followed and lowered himself into an armchair. “Seriously, Mitch, I think it’s best ignored. I mean, what can you say? ‘Sorry I popped a boner, it won’t happen again. Sure, I think you’re hot but I can keep it in my pants.’”

“Not helping, mate.” Mitch reached for the pack of cigarettes on the coffee table but fell back into his seat when Ross shook his head slightly. “I think you’re right. I’ll just hope he doesn’t say anything. But fuck, you should have seen his face.”

Blood surged at the memory of Finn under him—eyes wide as he squirmed and struggled, grinding his body against Mitch’s erection, the sound of Finn’s groan. Jesus! He had a flash of memory, the feel of the answering hardness pressed against his own. Finn hadn’t been pissed off at Mitch throwing him to the ground and holding him down; he had been turned on!

“Fuck,” Mitch whispered.

“It’ll be okay, mate.” Ross reached out and patted him on the knee. “If he does confront you about it, just blame it on the adrenaline, the physical response to the drama, plus being forced onto him. A perfectly natural response, right?”

“Yeah, sure.” Mitch was only listening to Ross with half an ear. Am I right? Was Finn’s reaction due to the fear of how he thought I would react to his predicament, or maybe embarrassment? Or am I imagining what I want to believe? “This changes everything,” he murmured.

“It doesn’t have to. Just brush it under the carpet, wave it off as bullshit, change the topic.” Ross stood. “Anyway, I want another water. Want one?”

Mitch nodded absently, although he’d hardly drunk from the bottle in his hand. He swallowed back the cold water, trying to clear his thoughts. He couldn’t afford to fuck up the case, and the way things were going, he might have done something that would put his position with the Furies, and with Finn, at risk. Damn!

“Here you go.” Ross thrust the new bottle at him and sat back down in the armchair. “There’s no update on the drive-by shooting, but I’ll let you know as soon as we have confirmation it’s linked to the Brutes. Let’s go over what we know so far.”

They spent the next half hour discussing the ins and outs of the case. Forensics was wrapping up the investigation into the murder of Russell Hutchins, and arrests were about to be made. They were trying to keep things from the media, but these things had a habit of getting out, and once Rocky had confirmation the Brutes had taken out one of his gang, there was bound to be retaliation. On one hand, the last thing they needed was more violence in an already tense and escalating situation, but on the other, bringing things to a head could be advantageous. Lana was deep into the financial analysis of CMC, locating bank accounts and tracking transactions. Each employee on the payroll was being further investigated, including their assets and financial trails.

“So what news do you have on your part?” Ross asked.

“I overheard Finn talking with one of the guys. Lucky Reed. I couldn’t get close enough to hear exactly what was going on, and I tried to get some information from Finn, but that didn’t get me far. He clammed up as soon as I started asking questions, not that he knew much, anyway. It seems the powers that be in the club are keeping Finn pretty much in the dark.”

“That’s a bit strange.”

“Not really. The more I think about it and the more I see each day when dealing with these guys, it’s obvious that Rocky has a total power fixation. It’s not just the usual leadership focus you’d expect from someone with that kind of role in a club. Rocky’s different.” Mitch ran a hand through his hair as he thought back to what he’d been able to observe during the week. “Some of this is just my supposition, totally unsupported by factual evidence, but it’s the small things that add up.”

“Like what?” Ross raised a brow.

“Firstly it’s the whole angle of how he was raised to power. We’ve heard that Rocky hated being ruled by his father and was even worse once Carl Junior took over despite the rest of the club voting him in. Rocky didn’t like what he saw as the traitorous behavior of his club brothers and was known to backstab anyone who was vocal in support of Carl. Then of course there’s the whole rumor that Rocky played a role in getting Carl out of the way.”

“Yeah, that’s one way to climb to the top.”

“I reckon the rest of the club was too shit scared not to vote Rocky in when the time came.”

“I agree with you there.”

“All his actions have been about power and control, and now he’s trying to exert that control over Finn.”

“How so?”

“Well, me, for a start. I mean, you might call him ‘the kid,’ but in reality, Finn is a grown man. He’s twenty-three and has a driver’s license. He’s quite capable of getting himself to and from work, and anywhere else he wants to go, for that matter.”

“I thought you were being employed in a bodyguard capacity.”

“That’s part of it, and the whole shooting incident backs up the legitimacy of Rocky wanting Finn to have someone watch out for him, but there’s more to it than that. Supposedly Rocky only supported Finn’s education so he’d have someone qualified and reputable alongside him at the helm, but he’s keeping Finn in the dark.”

“That’s the part that doesn’t make sense.”

“What if Rocky’s realized just how smart Finn is? What if he’s seeing his little brother as possible competition for his own leadership position? He could be backpedaling.”

“Keeping key information from Finn would have the effect of hobbling his progress.”

“Exactly.”

“So what does that mean for your ability to gather intel? You’re not going to get much if you’re tied to Finn and he’s being kept in the dark.”

Mitch stood and walked with his empty bottle to the bin. He threw it in with the recycling. “I’ll figure something out. I have to.”

“Well, you’d better do it quickly. Between the killing of Russell Hutchins and whatever this upcoming deal is, it sounds like things are coming to a head. Let’s hope Pete slips us another note soon.”

Mitch sighed and echoed Ross’s words. “Let’s hope so.”