B - stard (Royal Bastards MC) - Sapphire Knight Page 0,24
pulling some shit like that.”
The guys around me laugh. “That’d been entertaining,” one of them coughs out as a chime echoes through the clubhouse.
“Someone’s here,” I growl, getting to my feet. I make my way to the monitor behind the bar to see Ammo and Mouse on either side of a black sedan outside at our gate. The cage’s windows are tinted, and I immediately recognize the luxury brand. It took her ass a motherfuckin’ week to show her face around here again. I can’t believe what I’m seeing.
“All good?” Blow’s instantly behind me, suddenly serious with the announcement of company. He fucks off a lot, but he’s a decent VP when it counts. He straightens his shirt and snaps the buttons closed on his cut. “Anything I need to take care of?”
“It’s her…”
“Maddy’s sister?” he asks, craning his neck to see around me.
“Yep,” I retort as my cell lights up. I press accept before it has a chance to ring. “How many are rolling with her?” I bark into the phone before the prospect can utter a word.
Mouse quietly replies, “She’s, uh, got a carload, Prez. Two in the back, one driving, and her.”
Guess they left the other car at home. Wonder why that is. I’ll have to find out once I get her to myself again. “Fine, let them through. Oh, and Mouse?”
“Yeah, Prez?”
“You pat those motherfuckers down, but don’t touch the woman.”
“You’re not afraid she’s carrying too?”
“Did I fuckin’ stutter, kid?”
“I hear you loud and clear. I’ll take care of it.”
“Bet,” I hiss and tuck the phone away, my eyes still glued to the security screen. I shout, “Incoming, four bodies on the way. Pull your heads out of your asses.”
The drinks get slammed down, the bottles cleared away. Everyone’s back on alert. Powerhouse and Blow’s little sideshow is put out of everyone’s minds. I thoroughly enjoy shooting the shit and kicking back with my brothers, but business is business. As long as we have a potential payday from this senator, we need to be on our toes. There’s also the small detail that I’m not one hundred percent sure how to take this confident chick. She’s like a magnet, pulling me to her. That both enthralls and terrifies me.
Chapter 7
Honestly, I don’t need someone
who sees the good in me. I need
someone who sees the bad in me
and still wants me.
- Relationship Rules
“You came back,” the president of the Royal Bastards MC greets me when I step into the bar. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it through the door as my detail weren’t giving up their sidearms. I’d expect the smells of beer and sweat to hit me as I entered, but rather, it smells faintly of lemon and bleach, the same as the last time I was here. It’s not spotless or anything—far from it—but it’s straightened up for being a place full of men. Ripper looks just like I remembered, only he’d looked a bit disheveled last time. I’m here much earlier in the day, so he’s very much put together.
I cast a glance around the room since it’s brightly lit up this time around. The walls are littered with framed mugshots, along with random four by six snapshots pinned wherever they seem to fit. The ceiling is different yet intriguing. It’s decorated in a mismatch of scuffed up hubcaps. Behind the fourteen-foot long hammered metal bar, the shelves are made out of iron bars and darkly stained wood. It screams rustic male in every aspect. I have to commend them. I’ve seen my father’s friends hire decorators attempting to get a similar look and got nowhere near what the Royal Bastards have so effortlessly pulled off. There’s an impressive Royal Bastards symbol painted on the far wall leading to Ripper’s office that must have taken patience to craft.
There’s no mistaking what this place represents or who fills it.
I flash Ripper a polite smile and tilt my head in acknowledgment. “I try to remain good on my word.”
There’s tension rolling around from every direction. I’m not sure whose is worse—the bikers or my bodyguards. I was hoping it wouldn’t be as strained as my last visit, but apparently, that’s asking for too much. I understand that both groups are weary coming from opposite ends of the spectrum, but this has to work so I can get the information I need. Madison must come first.
“I respect that.” He holds his hand out.
I don’t know what propels me to do so or why