CHAPTER SIX

Baja—

I roll down the side street to the burger place, back my bike next to Trez's, and make my way to the table where he, Utah, and Memphis sit.

Trez pulls the drink straw he's chewing on from his mouth and grins. "Was that the blushing bride?"

I take a seat and lean my elbows on the table, folding my arms. "Her name's Elaina."

His brow lifts at my sharp tone.

Memphis frowns. "What bride?"

Trez lifts his chin toward me. "He went home for his brother's wedding and came back with Elliott's bride."

"No shit?" Utah says. His chair is tipped back, but with Trez's remark he slams the front legs on the floor. "Wait a minute. This the brother you can't stand? Didn't you say you wanted to ruin his wedding?"

Trez replies for me with a grin. "Mission accomplished, I'd say."

"You dog," Memphis adds.

"Knock it off, all of you. She's a sweet girl."

"And you saved her from a life with your asshole brother. Way to go." Trez holds his hand up for a high-five, and I reluctantly give it to him.

"So, what was with all that shit earlier? Waving us off like you didn't want her to know." Utah shoves a fry in his mouth.

"Because I don't. She doesn't know anything about the club. I haven't told her. And that's the way I want to keep it. Trez was supposed to tell everyone to stay away, not show up two minutes down the road from my place."

"Whoops." Trez grins wickedly.

"Oh, man," Utah mutters, shaking his head. "How long you think that's gonna work?" He nods to my cut. "Didn't she just see you ride out in that?"

"Nah. She was unpacking. I roared out of there pretty fast." I reach across the table and steal one of Trez's onion rings.

"Hey. Get your own, loser," he snaps.

I feel Memphis's scrutiny from the corner of my eye. "Brother, there's no way you're going to be able to keep the club from her for long. You know that right?"

Between bites, I answer him. "She won't be here too long."

"She won't?" Trez asks.

"She's just here for some time and space to decide what she's going to do."

"How's your brother taking all this?" Memphis asks.

"Who gives a fuck?" Trez adds, then turns to me. "So, what happened? Start at the beginning. You told me some on the phone, but I want to hear every detail."

"I got there late, barely had time to get my tux on and walk out to the altar with Elliott and his other groomsmen—who were all dicks. Anyway, I'm standing there, and the music starts, the bridesmaids come down, and then there she is, looking gorgeous and too sweet to have anything to do with my brother."

"What'd you do?" Utah asks.

"What do you mean, what did I do? Nothing. I watched her marry him."

"Wait. I'm confused," Memphis says. "Then what's she doin' here?"

I shrug. "Elliott shoved her face in the goddamn cake. Ruined her dress, her makeup, her hair. She ran from the room in tears."

"Did you beat his ass?" Utah asks.

"I hauled him down to the ladies room to apologize to his bride. Of course, he was his usual asshole self, mumbling an apology that wasn't really an apology. He got pissed off when she wouldn't tell him it was all okay, and he went back to the reception, pissed like she was the problem."

"What a dick," Trez mutters.

"So, what'd you do?" Memphis asks.

"I asked her if we could go somewhere and talk. I had some things I wanted to tell her about my brother."

Utah leans his elbows on the table. "So, if she's married, that sounds like a done deal to me."

"Not exactly," I reply.

Memphis huffs a laugh. "Not exactly? How does that work, bro?"

"Until she files the marriage license, it's not legit," I explain.

Trez cocks a brow. "Really? And whose got the license?"

"She does. I made sure of it."

"What'd your brother do?" Utah asks.

"Nothing. Called a couple of times. She turned her phone off."

"She gonna go back to him?" Memphis asks.

"I don't think so. Not after the video I showed her."

"What video is that?" Memphis asks.

"The next morning, I took her key card and slipped out. Went up to their suite and let myself in. The asshole was in bed with one of her bridesmaids."

"No shit? Dude, that's cold," Utah says. "And you showed it to her?"

"I had to. She was having second thoughts, and I was afraid she was going to go back to the asshole."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Utah holds his hand up. "Back the train up. She spent the night in your room?"

"We had two beds. She was with my brother. I'm not that big a dick."

"Jury's out on that one, bro," Trez teases, then looks at the time on his phone. "We need to get to the clubhouse. Church starts in half an hour. Let's roll."

Chairs scrape against the concrete as we all head to our bikes. We ride across town and into the hills to the clubhouse. When we troop through the door, Rock and Darko are at the end of the bar, nursing whiskies. T-Bone, Night Train, and Wildman are playing pool.

"'Bout time," Rock growls, standing and downing his drink. "Church. Now."

The boys toss their cues on the table, and we all head down the hall to the room we use for meetings. Once we're all in place around the long wooden table, Rock slams the gavel, calling the meeting to order. He quickly dispenses with official bullshit, then gets to the reason he called this meeting.

"We've got trouble, boys. I've been hearing rumors the Vipers are trying to take hold in in our state. The thing is, they've been making alliances with all sorts of piss-ant clubs. They don't seem to care how young they are. I heard they've made a club called the Rat Boys their bitches."

"Rat Boys," Memphis mutters. "I've heard of them. Ran into a couple in my nomad days. They're a bunch of punks. Unfortunately, they've got more balls than brains. They ride ninja bikes. Surprised the Vipers are going down that road."

"They're desperate and will use anyone to get what they want, and what they want is more territory. Got word from Jameson O'Rourke they've been spotted in Grand Junction."

"Jameson O'Rourke." Wildman drags a hand down his face. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"He runs Brothers Ink Tattoo," Rock replies. "Had that TV reality show about him, too."

Wildman snaps his fingers. "That's right. I remember that show. He's really good. His work is primo. You know him?"

"Evelyn met his brother Rory's wife when she was running from Malik. They've stayed in touch. We rode up there last year. He and his brothers are good people. They all ride, too."

"So, what's our plan?" I ask.

Rock meets my eyes. "We keep an eye out. Jameson said he thinks they were just passing through, but who knows where they were headed. We may need to make a run up to Denver, make sure they aren't trying to take hold there. For now, we just keep our eyes and ears open."

I glance around the table. Some expressions are exasperated, some worried.

"I'm sick of these Viper motherfuckers," Memphis growls.

Trez meets his eyes. "Me, too, brother."

"Doesn't seem so long ago we were going up against them in Utah when they tried to take over the Iron Death," I say.

Rock nods. "I'd hoped they were taken care of, but apparently not." He pounds the gavel down. "Meeting adjourned."

I watch him rise, knowing his ol' lady is the daughter of the president of the Iron Dead MC, the club the Vipers tried to force out of Utah. She was also once with the Vipers' VP before she ran. That was some fucked up shit, and I'm glad she and our president ended up together. They're a perfect fit.

"Let's get a beer," Trez says, slapping my shoulder, and I stand and follow him out.