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The sun was barely peeking through the slats in the wood blinds when Tag was woken by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He remembered bringing it into the bedroom the night before after he had ordered Chinese food. That was the first time Tag had ever eaten dinner in his bed, naked. He would never forget it either. McKenna had been propped up against him, her bottom between his thighs, her head resting on his chest while they ate and talked.
He could feel her against him now, her arm over his chest, her soft breasts against his side, and her leg across his. He wasn’t sure he wanted to move, but when his cell phone rang again a few minutes later, he knew he couldn’t stay there forever.
He eased out from under her, reaching over to grab his phone and after hitting the talk button, he pressed it to his ear. “Don’t you dare fucking ask me where I’m at,” he greeted the caller.
Logan actually laughed, but Tag could hear the tension in the sound. “Fine. I’ll just ask how long it will take you to get here.”
“Where?”
“The club. Meet us in Luke’s office in half an hour.”
Tag was used to being summoned, and though it pissed him off, he knew he couldn’t tell Logan no. “I’ll be there.”
“Hey,” Logan said as Tag was about to disconnect.
“What?”
“I’ve been trying to get in touch with McKenna. Do you know where she is? I’d really like her to be here too.”
Tag turned to see the sleeping woman beside him and smiled. “I’ll make sure she’s there.”
Almost an hour later, thanks to McKenna’s insistence that they take a shower – together – they were walking into Luke’s office.
Tag proceeded with caution as he took stock of the unfamiliar man standing near a corner in the back. Luke, Logan, and Alex were seated in the only three available chairs while Cole stood in another corner, his arms crossed over his massive chest in a defensive stance. As soon as they approached, all three men immediately stood, offering McKenna their chair.
She smiled at them, and then glanced over at Tag before taking the one closest to her and leaving Luke to stand.
“Thanks for coming,” Logan said, sounding much more enthusiastic than he had on the phone. Surprisingly, he didn’t even give Tag a hard time about being late.
“What’s going on?” Tag asked, stepping around to stand behind McKenna’s chair, placing his hands on her shoulders because he couldn’t resist touching her.
“Tag Murphy, I’d like you to meet Chance Reed. Chance, Tag is Club Destiny’s legal counsel.”
Tag didn’t move forward to shake the man’s hand, but neither did Chance. Instead, they stared back at each other for a moment, both of them sizing each other up. Tag had seen the man somewhere, he just wasn’t sure where.
Logan broke the tension once more as he introduced McKenna, as well. He briefly explained his reason for asking her to join them, which Tag understood to be due to the topic of Stephen Crawford.
“What’s going on?” Tag wanted to get right down to the point. Whoever this man was, there was a reason he was here and Tag wasn’t interested in trying to figure it out for himself.
“Chance is our newest member,” Luke clarified, standing beside Cole, mirroring his defensive stance with his arms folded over his chest and a scowl on his face.
“So why don’t you look happy about that?” Tag asked the obvious question.
“They aren’t thrilled with the fact that I’m an undercover cop,” Chance relayed, his eyes intensely focused on Tag.
“Is that right?” Tag felt his curiosity intensifying, but the tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. “And how does that affect us?”
Chance leaned against the wall behind him, crossing one booted foot over the other ankle and his hands in his pockets. He didn’t look concerned to have all eyes on him, nor did he seem to mind the permanent scowl etched on Luke McCoy’s face.
Tag wasn’t one to get intimidated easily, but then again, at six feet three, a solid two twenty, he’d gotten pretty comfortable in his own body. As for Chance, well, Luke definitely had a few inches on him, even though the cop didn’t look much shorter than Tag was. And the only other person in the room who might’ve had the same breadth would’ve been Cole. Both men looked like they lived at the gym.
When Chance started talking, all eyes stayed on him. “I’ve been investigating Stewart Crawford for going on a year now.”
“Stewart Crawford? The big oil tycoon out of West Texas?” McKenna asked.
“That’d be the one. You might not be familiar with him, but you’re definitely acquainted with his son, Stephen.”
Tag knew the relation because the McCoy’s didn’t play around when they did background checks. He just wasn’t sure why it was relevant.
“We know for a fact that Stewart’s managed to get away with thousands of oil drilling violations in recent years. Mainly, as they relate to corroded pipelines that are leaking and in desperate need of repair.”
“I don’t understand,” McKenna voiced. “Wouldn’t that be something for the Texas Railroad Commission to investigate? Why are you undercover investigating it?”
“I’m not,” Chance clarified, and Tag noticed Luke’s eyebrows get even closer as he regarded Chance.
“Then what are you doing?” Logan asked.
“I’m investigating Stephen Crawford.” Chance didn’t elaborate, and Tag felt the pressure in the room shift dramatically.
“Do we have to drag it out of you?” Cole bit out, standing more firmly in place.
“Stephen Crawford has managed to blackmail a handful of very influential people in this state, several of them members of your club.”
“Sonuvabitch!” Luke bellowed and began pacing. “That’s why that little mother fucker wanted in so bad. He’s using us to get the dirt he needs.”
Tag watched each person, noticing how Logan allowed his twin a moment to vent before he spoke up. “If Crawford’s blackmailing government officials, I assume they are the ones who are managing to bypass the red tape as far as the environmental violations are concerned.”
“That’s correct,” Chance responded. “Keep in mind, I’m undercover, and I’ve managed to get close to Stephen Crawford in the last few months. So, I was a little surprised to learn he wasn’t just using his underhanded skills to protect his daddy’s fortune, but that he was now venturing down a new path of crazy.”
Luke stopped moving and jerked his attention to Chance at the same moment Logan stood up. Tag didn’t move from behind McKenna, keeping his hands firmly on her shoulders as he watched the two identical brothers. He recognized their immediate protective instincts.
“Chill out, boys,” Chance said casually, never moving from his disinterested stance against the wall. “I’m here to help you.”
“How the hell do you propose to do that?” Luke asked.
“Well, if you’d let me finish, I was just getting to the interesting part.”