Chapter Twelve

 

Maddox

 

I know I’m in trouble as soon as I walk back into the clubhouse…and Reece is sitting at the bar with the two prospects. He rarely comes up here unless he’s hanging out with some of the guys, and right now, the veins in his arms and neck are bulging like he really wants to hit me.

“I found one of your prospects downstairs and came up to return him to you,” Reece grits out between his clenched teeth. “Check his phone.”

“Shit,” I mutter as I glance at the two guys, who both look nervous. “Which one?”

“Does it matter?” Reece huffs.

“Hand them over,” I say with my palm out, waiting for their devices. Cedric offers his first, followed slowly by Mike.

“Mad Dog and I need to have a talk. You two keep your asses glued on these chairs.” Reece then points to one of the cameras with a red glowing dot in the corner of the room. “I’ll know if you squirm even an inch!” he warns them.

Fuck. This is bad. Reece is always in a grumpy mood but today, he is livid.

Phones in hand, I follow him to the keypad and watch as he punches in a new code. “If you let them see you punch in the numbers again, I’ll take your fingers off,” he grumbles over his shoulder.

“How do you know they got the code from watching me?” I ask as I jog down the steps behind him. “I haven’t even been down here since I was given the prospects.”

“Keen observation,” he says, without looking back at me. “But that means you still let them get close enough to see one of our brothers enter the code.”

“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath as we head inside his apartment. As soon as I’m inside, he gets in my face and slams the door behind me.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” he snarls.

“Fine. I heard you loud and clear!” I reply. “I won’t let the prospects near the keypad. But it’s not like there’s anything secretive going on down here…”

“No, but there’s sure as fuck something secretive going on upstairs. In the alley, to be exact.”

“Oh.”

I slip the two prospects’ phones into my jeans pocket when I realize what this chewing out is really about.

“You’re fucking War’s sister!” Reece asks. “Are you planning to follow in your father’s footsteps and die young too?”

“Wait,” I say, holding up my palm in confusion. “First of all, how did you know what I was doing outside, and how do you know she’s War’s sister?”

“Cameras!” he exclaims, pointing over to the many, many screens around the room that show various parts of the building…and outside of it.

“Shit,” I groan, while scrubbing a hand down my embarrassed face before the indignation hits. “Hold up. You were watching us?”

“It’s my job to keep an eye out for threats!” he yells. “It’s not my fault that you picked the wrong place to fuck the wrong girl instead of babysitting the fucking prospects, like you were told to do!”

“Fine, it was stupid of me to do that outside with her, but I told the prospects to clean the kitchen and I wasn’t gone long.”

“Yeah, I’m well aware of that too,” he responds snidely as he crosses his arms over his chest.

Instead of arguing that I made sure she still came, I ask, “You still haven’t said how you know she’s War’s sister.”

“I ran her license plate. The car’s in his name,” he grumbles. “Everyone thinks I’m a genius, when all I do is run a few numbers through a database and ta-da, I get answers.”

“Oh,” I reply. “So, are you going to tell War?”

“Are you?” he counters.

“No.”

“Why not?” Reece asks.

“Because he would kill me.”

“Good. So, you’re not as dumb as you look,” he scoffs before he goes over and sits down in his Captain Kirk-looking computer chair.

“Can I go now?” I ask. “Are we done talking about this?”

“We’re done talking about your premature ejaculation, but not the prospects.”

“There was no premature ejaculation!” I yell defensively. “It was fucking amazing sex, for me and her! Something you wouldn’t know anything about. People living in glass basements really shouldn’t be throwing stones, should they?”

Rather than be offended by my remark, Reece only smirks and shakes his head.

“Go through the phones, and then get the hell out of my apartment,” he says.

“You were serious about that?” I ask as I pull them out. “I thought you were just fucking with them.”

“No,” he says with a sigh. “The dumbass really was wandering around down here with his phone out. I thought I would let you do the honors.”

“Should we cut him loose for that?” I ask.

“What do you think?” Reece asks.

Shrugging, I say, “Maybe he was just curious. I wouldn’t know, since I lived down here for two years before I became a prospect.”

“Yes,” he agrees. “But did you ever step foot in the chapel without permission?”

“He was in the chapel?” I ask.

“Yep.”

“Shit.”

“Check his photos,” Reece suggests, so I do.

“Wow. The stupid fucker took pics of the table,” I tell him, turning the screen around to show him.

“Why would he do that?” Reece asks, not like he doesn’t know the answer, but wants me to come up with my own.

“To post and brag about on social media?” I suggest.

“Maybe. Kids today do like to share photos of every fucking thing,” Reece grumbles. “Keep looking.”

I pull up the calls and text chats next.

“Hmm,” I say, as I go through a chat log.

“What?” Reece asks.

“Mike has been talking to someone on a chat log named only as PB,” I tell him. “That’s odd, right? No one goes by the initials P.B., do they?”

“Not that I’ve ever heard,” Reece agrees. “What do they talk about?”

“Mostly Mike is just checking in, saying ‘No news today. I’ll call if something comes up.’”

“When did the log start?” he asks.

I scroll up to the top to get to the first message. “A few weeks ago.”

“The exact date?” Reece demands.

“August sixth.”

“And what was August sixth?” he asks me.

“I dunno. The beginning of the month?”

“You really should keep better records of shit,” he huffs. “It was the day we picked our potential new prospects.”

“So, you think that’s significant?”

“Maybe not normally,” he replies. “But when the feds are trying to get their hooks in the Kings, hell yes.”

“Holy shit!” I exclaim in understanding. “You think he’s a snitch? But we vetted him!”

“Do you think he’s a snitch?” he asks.

“Jesus,” I mutter. “It’s starting to look like it’s a possibility.”

“‘Looks like a possibility’ isn’t having proof. We need proof,” Reece explains. “Undisputable proof. How do you suggest we do that?”

“Follow him? Bug his phone?” I suggest. “Hell, I don’t know. You’re the expert on snooping on people.”

“Only to keep my people safe,” he argues. “And I think that, in this case, it may be time for us to try another method of investigation.”

He swivels his chair to look at the screen showing the bar, where Mike and Cedric are still sitting as still as statues.

“If we let him leave now, after he knows we looked at his phone, he may not ever come back,” I point out.

“Exactly,” Reece agrees when he spins back around to look at me. “If we want answers from him, we’re gonna have to extract them by force.”

“Torture?” I ask in understanding.

“It only hurts if he doesn’t talk,” he says with an evil smile.

“You’re looking forward to inflicting some pain on him, though, aren’t you?”

“Hell yes, I am. When I find a roach, I squash that motherfucker,” Reece replies. “But we can’t do it here.”

“Then where?” I ask before it hits me. A place the Kings own, with no one around for miles, and so dirty that any evidence could easily be destroyed. “The salvage yard?”

“See, now you’re thinking like a Savage King,” he replies with a chuckle. Getting to his feet, he rubs his hands together like a comic villain and says, “Today, I’m actually looking forward to leaving the basement.”

“But if you leave, who’ll watch the cameras?” I ask.

Reece is already pulling out his phone and putting it to his ear. “Fast Eddie and I are gonna switch roles for a few hours.”

 

…

 

Audrey

 

I didn’t tell Maddox the real reason I was in town—that my former professor creeped me out in the produce section of the grocery store. In fact, we didn’t really talk much at all. But I guess I can’t blame him, since that’s all I acted like I wanted, when really, I wanted a lot more.

Turns out, Maddox doesn’t.

He said he’s worried about my brother finding out about us, and I know he would probably get his ass kicked by Warren because he is so protective. If Maddox actually wanted to keep seeing me, then I think I could talk my brother down. Probably.

Anyway, I was most likely overreacting, and Professor Burrows was just all dirty talk and not being serious. He wouldn’t have told anyone about the two of us being together last year, or he would be risking not only his job but his entire career, since he teaches at an all-girl Methodist university.

I decide I’ll pack up my things and head back to campus tomorrow, since I feel like the fourth wheel here at Warren’s house. Ren thinks Nova has been staying in my room when, in reality, she and Warren are shacking up, which makes me think things between them are pretty serious. My brother is incredibly protective over me and Ren, so if he’s letting a woman stay in the house, he must love her and trust her not to up and leave, hurting himself and Ren.

Speaking of my adorable nephew… “Good night, sweet boy,” I tell Ren before I kiss his forehead and tuck him in after his third bedtime book.

“Night, Audrey,” he says, and then leans over his small bed to pet his new best friend. “Night, Stella.”

Ren was so happy to see me, and then the kitten was an added bonus since he’s never had a pet. Warren always said he was too busy to look after any animals too, and now I know why—living a double life must take up a lot of his time.

Thankfully, my brother has been in a really great mood since Nova is here with him, so he barely even lifted an eyebrow at my new pet visiting.

And while I’m happy that everything seems to be going great for my brother, that doesn’t mean I’ve let him off the hook for lying to me for years.

Back in the living room, Warren and Nova have the volume down on the television, watching some medical sitcom when I join them.

“Ren finally let you escape?” Warren asks with a grin.

“He did. After three stories,” I say as I plop down on the sofa, and Stella climbs up and jumps in my lap. I give her scruffy head a rub because she was so good playing with Ren and didn’t scratch him, even when he picked her up and held her like a baby.

“I’m surprised he didn’t try to abduct your cat for the night,” he replies with a chuckle. “Now you’re gonna have him wanting a pet.”

“He should have a pet,” I tell him while I keep rubbing mine. “Mom and Dad let us have pets…”

“Low blow,” he grumbles.

He thinks that’s low, when he lied to me for who knows how many years.

“Did you ever work as a mechanic in an auto shop?” I ask him.

“Yes,” Warren answers. “But just before we left Texas. I never worked in one here.”

“Wow,” I scoff. “So, you’ve been lying to me for almost seven years, ever since we moved here from Texas?”

“I wouldn’t call it lying,” he replies. “It was more like withholding the entire truth.”

“Same thing,” I point out. “Do you carry a gun?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever shot anyone with it?”

“Maybe.”

“Warren!” I exclaim, both at his half-answer and the fact that I think he has. “You shot someone?”

“Am I on trial here, or what?” he huffs. “It’s bad enough that I have this one questioning me constantly,” he says when he kisses Nova’s nose.

“Do you approve of my brother’s secret life?” I ask her.

“I’m not sure if I approve, but I’m trying to accept all of him, the good and the bad,” she answers.

“So that’s a no?”

“Don’t put words in her mouth,” Warren responds. “And the less you know about the MC, the better.”

“What if I told you that about my life?” I challenge. “Don’t worry about what happens at school. The less you know, the better.”

“What is there to know about an all-girls university?” Warren asks. “You eat, sleep, and go to class. That’s it, right?”

“Yeah, Warren, that’s all there is,” I say with a roll of my eyes. He has no clue what it’s like to be a woman at the mercy of the men of the world.

And sure, I blame myself for the position I’m in with Professor Burrows, since I’m the one who first came on to him. But then he blackmailed me for sex for weeks because he could, and there was nothing I could do to stop him unless I want to drop out of school. No one would believe me over him anyway, not when he puts all the blame at my feet and says I seduced him. While that’s true, I didn’t intend to fall into a trap where I had to do him whenever he said until the end of the semester.

I don’t think I can handle that again, if what he said about Professor Talbot is true. But I need the class to graduate and it’s only taught in the fall semester by one freaking man!

When the semester starts, I’ll just sit in the back of the class, keep my head down, and study my ass off to make sure I pass. I won’t even smile at the man on the chance he’ll get the wrong idea. I’m sure that I’m just overreacting, and everything will be fine.