into what was traditionally a man’s world, and regardless of what kind of an asshole Dennis was, he had a dick. It meant he would fit in better and give her some leverage in whatever happened during this meeting.
With a sigh, she went back to the little closet Martin had turned into an office. It was cramped, but it gave her privacy. She wished she could find a clue as to what happened to her brother, but she’d ransacked everything in this office and everything in his tiny apartment. She couldn’t find any sign that anything had happened to him, that anyone had hurt him. So, she’d taken the assumption he’d disappeared on his own.
Hearing from Ethan, and then getting the truth out of Dennis, had ratcheted her concern up a notch. Until then, she’d seen no reason for him to go into hiding. But she also hadn’t had any reason to consider he’d been taken or killed. This changed everything, and her nerves were on edge. What if the guys she was meeting tomorrow had something to do with Martin’s disappearance?
She supposed she’d find out soon enough. Glancing in the small mirror she carried with her in the backpack she’d used to replace her purse – not wanting to give these guys more ammunition against her gender – Brett wondered whether she should do everything she could to dampen her feminine appearance, or if she should play it up. Either way, it was a manipulation tactic she wouldn’t be proud of.
Instead, she shoved the mirror away and decided it didn’t matter. She’d get up tomorrow, get dressed as she did every day, and see what came to pass. She’d grown up with bikers. Her father had held his own club together like glue, and she watched and learned. She also saw how quickly it disbanded when he died. She could handle this, at least until she had some answers about her brother.
The café was cliché for clandestine meetings, but it wasn’t like Brett had anything to hide. And hopefully, neither did the other side of the table. She’d had no problem coming into the Devil’s Flames territory. It had been a nice ride, and she knew enough about the club to know they were not crazy, for the most part. She didn’t quite trust Dylan and the Diamond Kings as much, but they’d be tame around their best friends. Neither could afford to blow that relationship.
She took a seat in the vinyl covered booth, facing the door, with Dennis beside her, fidgeting and playing with the salt shaker. He wore his cut, which she hadn’t taken the liberty of doing. She hadn’t made one, and she had only donned one of the patch-less cuts a couple of times. She hadn’t been voted in and probably wouldn’t be. And as much as she loved the club, she also respected the rules.
Obviously, so did the others. Four men entered the café in their leather vests, with one different than the rest. She looked over all of them, without looking into anyone’s eyes directly. They were not tense, but they were clearly not happy about this meeting, except for the one smiling in the back. The two presidents of both the clubs walked in front, exuding power in the same way she had seen in her Dad.
All of them fit that hot biker cliché, exuding a masculine energy that was the wet dream of every rebellious rich girl in town. And her mind decided it was the perfect time to remind itself of the opposite with images of all the big tubby bikers she saw growing up, the ones with condiments stuck in their beards and questionable hygiene, just keep her hormones in check.
These people were dangerous, they were here for business, and she needed to keep her wits about her when dealing with them.
The two men behind the presidents flanked around them now, one walking towards Dennis’s side of the table, and one walking straight to her. There was a glint in his eye and a smile on his face that sucked her attention solely to him.
Of course, he was hot as hell, all lean muscle and height with beautifully detailed sleeves on both arms with jeans that hugged his hips all too well. His tan was healthy, and it set off the angles of his face as well as the well-maintained scruff that adorned his jawline. And the short cropped hair, perfectly styled, completed the look.
But there was something else,