didn’t know much more. “ATF, maybe? We’re not sure. It may not even happen.” He grunted. “Anyway, we shouldn’t be talking about this shit out here. Fuck, we shouldn’t be talking about it period.”
Without uttering another word, he turned around with Ama still glued to him, and began to climb the two steps to the front door.
Opening it, he headed in, leaving Keys and me out in the garden.
“What do you think is going down?” I questioned.
“Fuck knows. Maybe it’s why Lucifer went straight to Wolfe to talk? I thought he was traveling with us for, I dunno, protection, maybe? But it could be for something else.”
“If it’s connected with the Knights, then it could be the cigarettes. Makes sense that the ATF would be involved.” I scrubbed a hand over my chin. “Wonder why we haven’t been called in.”
“Wouldn’t wonder too hard. Ama. You know her folks will do what they can to keep her safe. Plus, if anything happens to us, you heard her today.” He shook his head. “I’ll bet you my bike that Lucie knows exactly what’s keeping Ama stable.”
When he made to walk off to the door, I grabbed his arm and jerked him back. “Hey, did you know back then she was suicidal?”
“No.” He pulled a face. “I knew there were some tough times. Some of the cunts at school were giving her shit about her folks, and then about the MC too. She was having some trouble with her classes, especially when they shoved her into some AP stuff, but I think that would have been after the time she was talking about.” His nose wrinkled. “I don’t know, man, she’s always been kind of fragile, you know that.”
I winced at that. Mostly because I hated the word. Ama was fragile, but it was the fragility of a poppy. Sure, it swayed in the breeze, its delicate leaves fluttering and being torn by its environment, but it appeared year after year. It was hardy, made of tough stock, and that was Ama.
What she’d gone through might have broken another kid.
She was here.
Bruised, a little battered mentally, but still fighting strong.
Gnawing on my bottom lip, I stared at the house and murmured, “Once you’re in, you know it will kill her if you leave.”
His shoulders hunched. “I was jealous.”
“Aren’t you now? You saw how she ran to him.”
Keys smirked. “She did the same to me when I arrived at the tattoo parlor.”
My brow crumpled. “Why the fuck didn’t she do it to me?”
He slapped me on the back with a laugh. “You had food.”
Jesus. Yeah. Ama and food weren’t something you got between.
With a dopey grin crossing my jaw, I began to walk up to the house. When I headed inside, Keys at my back, I stared around. There was a caution to my movements that I couldn’t really explain. It was almost like I was waiting for a skeleton to pop up around the corner.
Ink was a well-respected brother in the club. He was trusted, and as a Secretary, everyone had a habit of going to him with their shit, expecting him to mop it up and, kudos to him, he usually did it. But I don’t think anyone knew him well.
He’d sure as fuck kept the fact that Ama was sneaking into his bedroom at night a secret.
What else was he hiding?
I knew he’d been in the army. Also knew he’d been kicked out for insubordination, which didn’t exactly surprise me. A lot of brothers started in the army and found their way to an MC. There was less BS, less posturing, but it still had some structure ex-soldiers needed.
Ink’s house was clue enough that he’d been in the Forces. It was neat. Clean. Just like the outside. Well maintained and properly kept.
It just wasn’t what I’d expected.
I’d thought it would be a man cave, with black leather sofas and huge TVs in every living space. Instead, in the lounge, the walls were a weird blue color, the sofas were leather, yeah, but cream, and they were covered in soft-looking blankets. A glass coffee table supported a reusable Starbucks mug that he’d evidently dumped there when he’d come in, and the TV stood on a matching stand. But it wasn’t a sixty-inch behemoth. Just a regular-sized one.
When we headed into the kitchen where the murmurs of conversation were coming from, I frowned at the sight of the shiny white cupboards, the small scrubbed oak island in the middle, and the matching table