come to fall to waste. And she knew that’s exactly what would happen if Dennis took over.
She would have taken away his VP patch, but she was an outsider, even if she was Martin’s sister, and she’d come into this with a need for information, and Dennis at least served some purpose in that arena. And any of the boys who didn’t respect her would at least stick behind him.
The real question was, why hadn’t he told her about negotiations with the Devil’s Flames and Diamond Kings?
That phone call had blindsided her, and she’d agreed to meet with the presidents of two very large clubs, unprepared, and now she was supposed to pick up where Martin left off. She couldn’t do that if she had no idea what had already transpired.
Outside, Brett lit a cigarette and pushed her hair out of her eyes. She should have tied it back before she’d stepped into the hot wind. Dennis followed, looking irritated that she’d interrupted his search through the liquor cabinet, which was all but empty after the last two weeks. “You put your panties on wrong side out, doll? Is that what you need help with?”
Brett imagined putting her cigarette out in his eye and clenched her fists to restrain herself. “No, and if you ever try to touch me, I’ll lop your dick off faster than you can whip it out.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she rolled her eyes as his landed on her cleavage. “What was going on with Martin and the other clubs?”
“Which other clubs?” Dennis asked with a smirk.
“Well, let’s start with the call I just got from the Devil’s Flames,” she said, not backing down.
Dennis sighed. “He was working out some business with them. Running the Kings’ shit down the road for cash. But things sort of blew up in his face because he patched in a few of the Ravens. And they wanted to double cross the others.”
“Christ! And you didn’t think to give me a head’s up about this?” What was Martin thinking? The Ravens had always been bad news, for everyone, and taking any of them into the fold had been a stupid move. But to turn on two of the most powerful crews in the state? That was especially dumb.
“Everything worked out, Brett. Don’t get all tangled up about it.” Dennis shrugged, as if none of it mattered. “The Ravens are gone, the Flames and Kings aren’t retaliating. Hell, the plan didn’t even work. All that’s come of it is Martin slipped off.”
Or was killed. But Brett wasn’t ready to believe that yet. And even if he was dead, she had to find a real replacement for him, not some dick like Dennis, who would probably run this club into the ground. “Well, get ready. We’re meeting with both of them tomorrow.”
Dennis scowled, his whole demeanor changing. “What do they want?”
Brett tossed her butt in the overflowing can beside her. “One of the Flames called, somehow got my information. He said they want to talk about continued negotiations for business. What were we going to run?”
His scowl deepening, Dennis refused to look her in the eyes. “The Kings had a proposition. They were working with us on narcotics. The Flames were going to help with security on the run.”
Brett clenched her jaw. She had no intentions of running drugs, and she couldn’t believe Martin had agreed to anything of the sort. “Don’t think I’m going to forget the oversight. You should have brought me up to speed on all of this.”
Dennis scoffed. “You’re not my president, Brett. I don’t care how hard you try. You won’t hold on long, and when it’s all said and done, the boys will support the boys. They’ll have my back, and I’ll take over.”
“Unless I get Martin back. Don’t give up on him that easy, Dennis, or I’ll have to assume you know what happened to him.” She glared at Dennis, who didn’t even squirm.
Instead, he looked at her and shrugged. “I wish I knew where he was. Martin’s a pussy, but he’s better than you.” With the parting shot, he pushed back into the clubhouse, leaving her to stew for a few minutes. If she could choose, she’d leave him behind and meet with the other guys on her own. But she didn’t know them, didn’t know anything about them, and she needed someone around who had a sense of what they were about.
Besides, in all honesty, she was a woman, inserting herself