Brick Brick (Knights Corruption MC - Next Generation, #4) - S. Nelson Page 0,82

flung it at him. “You two,” he said, pointing at Ford and Owen, “take the van in case we need the room.”

“For what?” Owen glanced at his older brother quickly, like he had the answer.

“You never know” was the only response Jagger would give, walking off ahead of the rest of the guys.

“Record everything.” Tripp moved next to his cousins. “We may get a clue or confirmation of something we need.” We agreed that since only the four of them were going to the fight, the entire scene needed to be filmed, from the time they arrived, to Linc’s bout, to afterward when we assumed one of those bastards would pick up the winnings. I highly doubted Griller or Dutch would show up—assuming we’d be waiting even though they warned us against trying something. The destination was texted to my phone from Zoe’s with the warning for Linc to make the defeat appear as real as possible.

“Of course,” Ford answered. “Whatever you need.”

“Watch your back.” My advice wasn’t necessary. They knew the danger they faced, but saying those words made me feel like I contributed in some small way to what they were up against.

Mindlessly drifting toward the bar, I plopped my ass down on one of the stools. Trigger wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but even if he were standing in front of me, he wouldn’t be serving me any alcohol. Everyone needed a clear head. The only problem was, I wanted to forget, if only for a little while, lose myself to the numbness the hard stuff would provide.

“I thought you might like a drink,” a small voice said, pushing what looked to be an iced tea in front of me. I turned to see who made the offer.

“Hey, Maddie.” I looked from her to the drink, wrapping my hands around the glass and raising the edge to rest against my lips. “I don’t suppose you snuck any vodka in this did you?”

“No, sorry.”

The cool beverage slid down my throat. If I couldn’t have the good stuff, I supposed I could make do with some good ol’ caffeine.

“Thanks.” I took two more gulps, then set the glass back on top of the bar. “How you holdin’ up?”

“I’m scared.” I turned in my seat to face her, her confession giving me something else to focus on other than my despair. “Everything is happening because of me, and I’m afraid something bad is going to happen to Linc tonight.”

“Nothin’ is gonna happen to him.” I tried to sound convincing, but her frown line told me I hadn’t fully succeeded. “And this is not your fault, sweetheart.” I rubbed her arm in comfort, the lines around her mouth flattening soon after she attempted a smile. Needing to change the subject, I looked around the room to locate Morgan. She and Maddie had been in conversation for a bit of time before my cousin ended up gravitating back toward Tag.

Linc’s woman followed my line of sight. “I think they’re cute together.”

“I don’t like it,” I said, my response curt and deep.

“Why? Tag seems like a nice guy.”

“He’s a guy. Enough said.” I was grateful for the topic change but quickly regretted discussing my cousin and the prospect. Like I didn’t have enough weighing on my mind as it was.

“They really seem to like each other.” She shrugged, the left corner of her mouth lifting slightly.

“Regardless, she’s only here for a couple weeks, max, then she’s going back home to Jersey.”

“Really? Because she made it seem like she’d be here a lot longer.” Maddie tossed her chocolate strands behind her shoulders, her eyes focused intently on me. “Yeah, that’s not the impression I got, that she was leaving anytime soon.” She continued talking like I’d asked her a question. “Maybe she decided to delay her trip home because of him.”

I’d taken another sip of my drink, coughing when Maddie hit me with that gem of information. “What the hell are you talkin’ about? They literally just met today.”

Her shoulders bounced. “When you know, you know.”

“How long were you talkin’ to her that you have all this info?” Peering over and seeing Morgan and Tag huddled close again only served to piss me off, but I supposed I welcomed the anger over fear, even if that anger might prompt me to do or say something I shouldn’t.

“A little bit. She told me how much she likes T—”

“Any other topics?” I blurted, not wanting to hear about Tag anymore. It was bad enough I had