Standing, I walked her way. “Sure, but why aren’t you doing sport?” I hoped to hell it didn’t have anything to do with the bitches that had bullied her last year. She’d just started high school and as far as I knew, those girls had been leaving her alone.

Her gaze dropped to the ground and the shame that filled her voice when she spoke killed me. “Mum hasn’t been able to afford to buy me a sports uniform yet and the teacher for that class is really mean to me about it.” She raised her face to look at me. “If I have a note then I can just go to the library rather than have to go to his class and see him.”

I pulled my wallet out. “How much is a uniform, darlin’?”

Her eyes widened. “No, I don’t want you to buy me a uniform. Mum will have the money next week. I just need a note.”

I nodded. “Yeah, so she can pay me back then, but you need a uniform now, so how much?” I dug a fifty out. “Is this enough?”

Embarrassment filled her features, which surprised me. We’d been through a lot together over the years; she shouldn’t have felt that way with me. She finally nodded. “Yeah, that’s enough.”

As she took the money from me, I said, “If you need more, just tell me, okay?” At her nod, I added, “Lisa, I’ve known you for years, and I know you’re going through girl shit and teen shit, but, darlin’, there’s no judgement between us ever. Whatever you need, I want to know, and I’ll make sure you have it. And if it is girl stuff you want to talk about, that you don’t think I’d get, Harlow’s always there for you. Yeah?”

She stared at me for a beat before saying, “Thank you.” And then she asked, “Is Harlow okay? I walked in on her crying the other day. I figured it probably had to do with the baby, but I wasn’t sure.”

Lisa knew about Harlow’s miscarriage, but none of us had ever really spoken about it. Mostly because Harlow hadn’t really wanted to talk to anyone about her loss, but also because we figured Lisa had enough shit going on to deal with that she didn’t need to be burdened with our problems.

“She’s okay. It’s just going to take her some time to work it all out in her mind.”

“I get it.” I figured she probably did. No doubt about it, Lisa had been through a lot in her short life, and I bet she spent hours working through it all in her mind.

“Right, let’s get your mum some water and then I’ll take you to school.”

She did as I asked and once I’d made sure Michelle had everything she needed, I took Lisa to school. She seemed more at ease after our conversation, but I made a mental note to mention it to Harlow. Lisa was at that age where I figured she needed a woman looking out for her, and while her mother had improved, it wouldn’t hurt for Harlow to keep an eye out. Lisa was far too important to me to allow her to be swallowed by the self-doubt and anxiety the teen years would throw at her.

A couple of hours later, I finally got hold of King, the President of the Sydney Storm chapter.

“Cole, how are you crazy motherfuckers going up there?”

I relaxed back into my chair and put my feet up on the desk. The office of the clubhouse was quiet at ten in the morning with a lot of our guys still sleeping after working security for us at night at our various businesses. “We’ve got a situation up here with a new asshole in town. Julio Rivera; you know him?”

“Never heard of him. What’s he done?” I imagined King leaning forward in his chair the way he did when something intrigued or excited him. ‘Situations’ excited King and his insane side; he loved nothing more than to get involved if he sensed he could help fuck some shit up.

“Came to town a few months ago from Adelaide and flew under the radar while establishing his drug connections. He wants the big boys out of the way so he can run this State, and in the process, he used Storm to take out some of his competition.”

“How the fuck did he do that?”

“That restaurant fire of ours? He organised that and set Ricky up to take the fall. We got rid of Ricky and solved his problem.” Anger burned through me just thinking about this asshole. The need to end his agenda consumed me.

“I’ll see what the boys know and get back to you.”

“Thanks, brother.”

“Heard you lost some men. Also heard Griff isn’t who we thought he was.” I couldn’t figure out his tone, but that was King’s signature move; he held his cards close to his chest and often left people wondering what he was really thinking.

“The club took a vote and majority ruled on Griff. We’re better off without those guys who chose to leave. I stand by the decision to let them walk.”

King remained silent for a moment. “A few of them came round here, looking to join.”

“And?” I’d suspected that would happen.

“Fuck that shit, brother. I don’t want men in my club who can’t stand by a majority ruling. I told Hyde to show them the door.” He paused before adding, “I’ll be completely honest with you, Cole – I’ve always liked Griff and always suspected there was something more to him. I never saw his truth coming, though, but I couldn’t give a fuck about it. His loyalty speaks for itself. You made the right call.”

King had a way of surprising the hell out of me. “Yeah.” I was thankful for his support, but it wouldn’t have bothered me if he hadn’t given it. King and I had disagreed in the past, and I’d learnt that he never let a disagreement get between you. So long as you stayed on his good side, you were okay; it was only when he felt wronged that you needed to start getting your affairs in order.