Road Tripped (Satan's Devils MC Utah #1) - Manda Mellett Page 0,23
man I’m working with? Could I stand back and see him executed in cold blood, just to preserve our secrets, however important they might be?
Conveying my thanks via a chin lift to Igor, noting not for the first time how much like a mad scientist the prospect looks, I take the beers and make my way to the table where Road sits, his hand massaging the muscles around his knee. As I see it, I’ve got two options—stay completely aloof and don’t try to get to know the man at all, and keep him on the outside of everything, so I’m unaffected by what happens in the end. Which wouldn’t be what Pip wants me to be doing. Pip might come over as a hard man, but I know he’d want Road to have every chance. No, if I keep Road at a distance, it wouldn’t help him come to a decision, or not the one that keeps him breathing.
My other option is to invest in him staying. To be totally open, answer all his questions and leave nothing unsaid or hidden. That’s a virtual death warrant if I can’t convince him Utah is his future. With luck, he’ll see it offering him a ticket to something that might replace what he’s lost and want to make his life here.
Despite my preference for working alone, I am a team player. I don’t give up on a person with no reason, and it’s ingrained in me never to leave a man behind.
By the time I place his beer in front of him, I’m committed to taking the second option.
When Road asks his first question, I’m glad I took that moment to have an internal conversation as I’ve no hesitation in answering him.
“Tell me, how does a woman end up a member of the Satan’s Devils MC?” He lifts his beer and simultaneously raises his eyebrow in question.
“You surprised to know a woman can ride a motorcycle?”
“No, not that.” He chuckles. “There are a couple of the ol’ ladies in Tucson who ride. Hell, they don’t just ride, they both built their own bikes. They’re fuckin’ good mechanics and put me to shame. Sam, Drummer’s ol’ lady, she fixes up my trials bikes. Fixed.” He grimaces at his own reminder. “Used to ride against female riders in competition as well. I didn’t mind racing against either sex.” He winks and offers a smile. “I didn’t care who I beat.”
“Competitive, I see.” That’s something we’ve got in common.
“You bet.” His eyes close briefly as he remembers that pleasure has now been lost to him.
I decide to counter his question with one of my own. “Why does a man join an MC, Road?”
His eyes snap open and come to mine. Instead of leaping into a response, he gives my question serious consideration. “There are a number of reasons. One is riding beside like-minded people, being part of something. A sense of freedom, of sticking up a finger to citizen’s laws.”
“And you don’t believe a woman might want that as well?”
He regards me carefully. “Not the women I’ve come across. Look, Swift. I don’t know how this chapter works, but Tucson? Well, we’ve had a few enemies—rival clubs, the local crime gang. Our women are kept out of that shit. They wouldn’t want to be part of it.” He picks up his beer again. “I’m not saying women are weak. Darcy, our sergeant-at-arms’ ol’ lady, she’s a fuckin’ firefighter. Puts her life on the line every time she goes to work. But I could never see her taking up arms to protect the club.” He replaces the bottle on the table. “But maybe Utah is quieter.”
Quieter? There are a lot of things Road’s going to find out. And Utah being quiet isn’t one of them.
“You got men who served, Road?” I know he hasn’t himself. I’d seen that on the background check I’d run immediately after he’d entered our meeting room, quickly hacking through Mouse’s defences and finding Road’s government name of Lucas Winchester, and from there finding out his employment records as well as his medical ones.
“Of course. I haven’t myself, but a number of the Tucson club have.”
“And they joined the club, why?”
“To replace what they no longer had.” His eyes flick to mine, a question in them. “To be part of something again, men around who they could trust to have their six. To be part of a team.”
I nod. “I was in the British Army, Road.” I watch his eyes widen,