Switch

That night, I dreamed about Kitt’s long legs wrapped around my thighs. She was strong, sweet. Her lips tasted like candy. The wind carried her lilting laughter, her blonde hair streaming behind her as she ran toward me.

I woke full to bursting, that familiar ache making me see stars.

Shit.

I wanted her. No two ways about it. She was also a distraction I didn’t need right now. I was halfway through my shower when my cell phone rang. Dex’s ringtone. Toweling off as quick as I could I grabbed the phone.

No preamble. “Church in twenty,” he said. “Don’t be late.” He clicked off.

I pulled on my jeans and found a clean tee shirt. I checked my phone again, hoping Kitt had called. She wanted me too. There was no mistaking that look in her eyes, that little catch of breath when she said my name. With things being what they were with the club, it had been too damn long since I’d had a woman.

Wasting no time, I got to Gunn’s shop in under fifteen minutes. We held church these days in Gunn’s garage using a long folding table. I missed the Den. It was a second home for every one of us. There were still a couple of the guys staying with Sly and Scarlett, but they were newly married with a baby on the way. Things were tense enough. Sly and his old lady needed their privacy.

As I walked into the main office, I said hey to Brenna. She’d been running the internet side of Gunn’s custom bike business. With the heat coming down on the club, we’d lost all of our civilian help. Brenna was handling the phones herself most days. She looked frazzled. She held up her hand to greet me, a pencil stuck between her fingers. She smiled at me, the phone still in her ear. I waited until she hung up before heading back to the garage.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” I said. More than just Gunn’s wife, Brenna was family. Years ago, her older brother Scotty had been a prospect. He got killed before he was fully patched. Good kid though. Even without Gunn’s ring on her finger, Brenna had earned the club’s protection.

“Hey, you,” she said. “Where’d you disappear to yesterday? I thought we were going to see you after your road trip with Sly and Dex.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. Took care of some other stuff. I think I might have found somebody to help you out around here though. If she takes my advice, that is.”

Brenna’s eyes lit up. “You serious? I could kiss you! Where is she?”

“Her name’s Kitt Holly. New in town. She kind of ran into me out on the highway. She’s looking for work. She’s supposed to give you a holler today. Let me know when she does.”

Brenna gave me a sideways glance. “How well do you know her?”

“Just met her,” I said. “She’ll bring a resume.”

Brenna looked over her shoulder. The rest of the guys were starting to assemble in the garage. “She’ll have to. You know the rules these days. Sly doesn’t want anyone new hanging around unless they’re fully vetted.”

“Vet all you need to. I gotta good feeling about this one.”

Brenna’s brow went skyward. “What other kinds of feelings does she give you, lover boy?”

I laughed. “Ain’t like that. Just think the two of you could use each other.”

“Right. Well, thank you. If she pans out, I owe you a steak dinner over at our place.”

I blew Brenna a kiss. Ford walked into the office. We were the last two needed at the table. Ford gave me a nod and we walked in together.

Sly called the meeting to order. He still had those dark circles under his eyes and Dex didn’t so much as crack a smile. We went around the table giving reports. Receipts were down. With no revenue coming in from the Den, we were all taking a hit.

“The insurance check is just enough to cover the rebuild,” Sly said. “But that’s gonna be tied up for a while. We’re running into trouble getting contractors out here. Word’s out. Green Bluff is destabilized. Everybody’s holding their breath waiting to see how bad this gets.”

Angel leaned forward. “Security contracts are drying up a little. Three businesses in town have shuttered. Deke’s had a break-in three nights ago.”

“He didn’t say a damn word about it to me,” I said. “I just saw him yesterday.”

Charlie Brogan was the oldest at the table. The last of the old-timers, he rarely came to church anymore. His old lady, Mo, was a surrogate mother to all of us. The club bombing devastated her. Charlie made her take an extended vacation to visit her sister in Florida. I knew how much he missed her.

“Deke’s embarrassed,” Charlie said. “He doesn’t like asking for help. But what I wanna know is, how bad is this, Sly? What are we really looking at?”

Sly dropped his chin. I knew the truth. We were just barely hanging on. If we didn’t find a way to replace the income we lost, things were going to get real interesting real soon.

“We’re holding on,” Sly said. “We’ve got support from all the other charters when we need it, but they’ve got their own issues. This was a coordinated strike. The Rebels are making major plays in Michigan too. The Florida charter’s also feelin’ it.”

“So what’s the end game?” Big John asked.

“The end game is we take the Rebels out,” Dex said. “If we don’t, they’re going to keep coming. It won’t be safe for us. Won’t be safe for our families. Pretty soon Green Bluff will be a ghost town.”

“You’re holding something back,” I said. I could see it on Sly’s face. Dex’s too. He was like that out at the construction site too.

“There’s the easy way out of this, and the hard way,” Sly said.

“Pagano,” Charlie said, his voice gruff. “Fucking Pagano family. They’re using this to leverage you, aren’t they?”

The G.W.M.C. forged an unholy alliance with the Pagano crime family a generation ago. We did their dirty work. They kept the club flush with cash. Until Sly took over and got us out of the one percenter shit. Now the war with the Rebels was putting that truce in jeopardy.

“Yeah,” Sly said. “I’ve been approached. Londo wants to make a deal.”

“Let me guess,” Gunn said. “We get in bed with his crew, he’s offering to back us again. Shit.”

“That’s about it,” Dex said.

This was bad. Getting in bed with the Paganos again meant gun running, contract hits, all the shit Blackie Murphy founded the club on and Sly rejected.

“It would be temporary though,” Ford said. “Right? Londo and the Pagano family help us get rid of the Rebels’ threat and take out the cartel behind it. Soon as we do that, we go back to business as usual. Legit business as usual.”

A look passed between Dex and Sly. I knew the answer before either of them spoke. There would be no going back. If we took the help Londo offered, it would change the character of the club. But we’d get Green Bluff back. We could protect the club and keep the bad elements out of town.

“It’s not time for a vote on this yet,” Sly said. “But you all needed to know what’s been offered. To me, it’s a last resort. The nuclear option. But you have to know it’s out there. I told you to watch your backs. Do it even more now. Londo’s not stupid. He’ll look for every opportunity to try to tip this decision in his favor. Don’t give him any help. We clear?”

“Clear.” The answer went around the table.

“Okay then,” Dex said. “You all know what you need to do. Keep your shit straight and your eyes open.”

Sly banged the gavel. Brenna must have had a sixth sense about it. As soon as we started to break, she opened the door.

“Hey, Switch,” she said. “I just got done giving an interview to your girl, Kitt Holly.”

Sly shot me a look. He didn’t like surprises. I put a hand up. “Not my girl. Just somebody I met looking for work yesterday. I sent her to Brenna to give her some help out in the office.”

Sly smirked at me. Shit. Was I that transparent?

“She’s here now?” I asked, trying to keep my tone casual.

“Yeah,” Brenna said. She stepped all the way into the garage. She had a file folder in her hand. “She was eager to get started right away. I was going to run it by you, Sly. With Scarlett out of town until next week I figured you’d want the final say. Scarlett’s usually the one who makes the final personnel decisions.”

Brenna handed the file folder to Sly. He opened up and quickly leafed through the contents. “Resume, copy of her driver’s license. Social security card.” He closed the file and handed it to Dex.

I couldn’t explain why, but my heart raced. I wanted Kitt to be around. I wanted an excuse to see a hell of a lot more of her.

“Give all this to Charlie,” Sly told Dex. “Have his guy run it. Brenna, tell her she’s here on a probationary basis only. If her shit comes back clean, then we’re good. In the meantime, keep a close eye on her.”

Brenna let out a sigh. Gunn came to her side. “Look, no offense. I need the help. But I don’t need a babysitting gig.”

“Just for a couple of days,” Sly said. “Tell Charlie to tell his guy to put a rush on this.”

“Got it,” Dex said.

“I’ll talk to Kitt again. I’ve got a good vibe already but I’ll back Brenna up for the next couple of days until her background check comes back clean. No problem.”

“Hmm,” Sly said, his brow furrowed. “Of course, the background check is one thing. If Scarlett doesn’t like her, she’s out, no matter what.”

Brenna hid a laugh behind her hand. Shit. Scarlett was every inch as tough as Sly and even tougher on the people who worked for him. I started to regret bringing Kitt into any of this.

“Come on, lover boy,” Brenna said. It was Gunn’s turn to hide his laughter. “Your girl’s out in the front office. Wouldn’t hurt if you said hello. A minute ago, I could see where she got her nickname. She seemed like a scared kitten when she first walked in.”

I shot Gunn an angry look, then followed Brenna out to the main office. Sure enough, Kitt sat at the front desk arranging her things at neat angles. Before she saw me, she dropped a pencil on the ground and leaned over to pick it up.

Damn. Her ass was fine and tight in the little black skirt she wore. I caught a glimpse of her cleavage as she righted herself.

Brenna slapped me hard in the arm. I coughed to cover. “Right,” she whispered. “You’re a regular Good Samaritan, Switch. If she works out and you screw this up, I swear to God I’m gonna cut your balls off.”

Gunn laughed behind her. I glared at him. Hearing the commotion, Kitt turned. Her cheeks flamed red when she saw us all. I felt a wave of protective rage. I didn’t like Gunn or any other guy looking at her ... well ... the way I just had.