“You expect me to buy that?”

“I don’t give a fuck if you do or don’t; it’s the truth. Now fuck off and leave me alone.”

I assessed the situation and decided to confirm that information with my other contacts before pursuing this any further, but I did ask, “When will he be back?”

The guy glared at me harder, in a ‘you’re-fucking-kidding-me’ look. “I said, fuck off.”

I pulled out my phone and began dialling as I walked away.

Bones answered on almost the first ring. “Kick. What’s up, my man?”

I liked Bones, simply because he usually had solid information, and he was always willing to share it with me. He ran strip clubs and girls, and, in general, had his finger in a lot of pies. “Do you know if Gambarro is out of the country?”

“Yeah, he left last week. Pretty sure he’ll be back this week, maybe in a couple of days.”

“Thanks for that.”

“Why do you ask?” Bones was a nosy motherfucker and while he had his uses, I didn’t trust him with my secrets.

“Just checking some shit out for a friend. Their place was trashed, and they suspect him, but I don’t figure him for that kind of thing.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t sound like something he would pull. Gambarro would be in your face; you’d know it was him without a shadow of a doubt.”

“My thoughts exactly. Thanks, man, I’ll keep investigating and figure out who else it could be,” I said and then ended the call.

No doubt that information would start spreading and perhaps whoever was responsible would come to light sooner rather than later.

***

I headed to the clubhouse after that and found King in the bar. The newly painted bar. He was on one of the old couches with one of the club whores. Brittany had gotten her way with the new paint but not with the new couches. There’d been no point really; new couches would only get used in the same way the old ones did.

King dragged his attention away from the ass he’d been admiring to look at me. “You come to play, Kick?” he asked with a wicked glint in his eye.

“No, I’ve got your money for you, plus I need to talk to you about something.”

He slapped the whore’s ass and moved her so he could stand. “Wait here, I won’t be long,” he ordered her before leading me to the office.

I shut the office door behind me and handed him the envelope of cash. “My girlfriend’s house was broken into today. They trashed it, but I don’t think they stole anything.”

He punched in the code to the safe and dumped the cash in it. Turning back to me, he asked, “Are you thinking this is retaliation from Gambarro? Or Silver Hell?”

“Fuck, I hadn’t thought of Silver Hell, but I had considered Gambarro for it. Doesn’t seem to fit his usual style, though.”

Shaking his head, he said, “No, it doesn’t.” He sat in the chair behind the desk, a thoughtful look on his face. I waited for him to speak. “What about Silver Hell, though? Did you find out anything else about where they are at with Marco’s death?”

“Last I heard they were chasing up a lead that Black Deeds were involved in that. They weren’t even looking in our direction so I don’t think this is their work, either. It’s too subtle.”

He shrugged. “Maybe you and I are just too fucking paranoid for our own good, brother. Maybe this is your run-of-the-mill neighbourhood burglary and has nothing to do with us.”

“Yeah, could be. I’ll keep looking into it.”

King’s eyes narrowed on me. “This chick means something to you?”

“Evie means everything to me,” I stated, aware this would trigger further questions from him.

“As much as the club means to you?”

“My loyalties are even.”

He was silent for a moment, and then he blew out a long breath. “Well, fuck, I never thought I’d see the day,” he murmured.

“Is that a problem for you?” I really fucking hoped it wouldn’t be because it might force me to admit to myself, and everyone else, that my loyalties actually weren’t even. That my loyalties were fast becoming slanted more in Evie’s direction.

Standing, he said, “No, brother. She means something to you, then she means something to the club. We’re behind you with this. Whatever you need, you’ve got.” His eyes bore into mine and told me he meant every word he said.

I let out the breath I didn’t realise I’d been holding. Nodding, I said, “Thanks.”

Contemplating that conversation as I headed back to Evie’s house, I realised how deep I was in with Evie. Seventeen years of club loyalty meant more to me than anything else in my life. But not more than Evie meant to me.

And fuck, I didn’t know what to make of that.

Chapter Seventeen

Evie

Kick arrived back at my house about two hours after he’d left. Maree and I had cleaned up most of the mess the intruders had made, and we were now in the kitchen discussing the break-ins that had been occurring in the neighbourhood lately. Kick entered the kitchen and the energy shifted immediately. He stopped and stared at me, a look of pure need in his eyes. But there was something else there, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on straight away.

Maree sensed it, too, and gave me a look that said ‘fuck, I am getting out of here so you can get laid’. She grabbed her bag and said, “I’ll call you tomorrow and make sure you’re okay.”