Ethan (Devil's Flame MC #9) - Romi Hart Page 0,63

head. “I just got back half an hour ago, you know. I could have used the sleep.”

Rafe rolled his eyes. “Leigh told you at least six times to go home and go to bed. She’s fine.”

Zeke just grunted, and Rocky asked, “So, what exactly happened?”

Ethan let Dennis tell them, since he’d actually confronted the assailants. “I didn’t recognize either of them, but it could have been some of our guys or a couple of thugs someone hired. They wore masks, and it was dark.”

“And you’re not involved at all?” Rafe barked, obviously not quite believing it any more than Ethan did.

This time, Ethan spoke up. “He shot at them, drove them away, and got Brett back to her apartment. I can’t imagine why he’d do that if he wanted her hurt.”

Rocky tilted his head, considering the statement, and addressed Dennis directly. “And what about the threats to Brett? You made direct threats to her, and it seems like you’ve been at odds with her the whole time.”

Dennis let his head fall back and closed his eyes. He looked drained, exhausted and exasperated. “I wanted her out for her own protection,” he said finally. “And I needed to keep up appearances in the club. There are a lot of guys who would have acted rather than threatened.”

“And who might those be?” Ethan asked, seeing the possibility that everything Dennis had done was to try to help Brett from his skewed perspective.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Dennis replied, waving a hand in dismissal. “Half the club either had issues with Martin or has a general distaste for being told what to do by a woman.”

Zeke scoffed. “Well, they’ll never get married.”

“Probably not,” Dennis agreed. “Listen, I know Martin owed a lot of money, and I know the club is broke because he used some of that money to try to pay off debts for other people. But I’m not sure why he owed so damn much at this point.”

Taking a deep breath and letting that settle in, Ethan asked, “What about the clubhouse? Do you have any idea who would have burned it to the ground?”

Dennis shrugged. “Anyone whose name might have shown up in the financial records for owing money. That’s part of the reason I wanted to talk to Brett. I didn’t know if she’d seen any of that information yet. I know she was looking through the files, but I don’t know how far she got before they were destroyed.”

Ethan debated telling him the truth, finally deciding it wouldn’t do any harm at this point. “The records weren’t there. Brett took them home to look at them.” Hoping he was making the right decision, he said, “What she didn’t take was the cash that was in the office. Did you know about that?”

Rather than say anything, Dennis walked over to his bike, opened up the seat, and pulled out a crumpled white plastic bag, tied tight. He tossed it to Ethan. “You can count it. It’s all there.” Ethan started to ask why the hell he had it, but Dennis held up a hand to stop him. “Look, I’ve known it was there for months. I never touched it until I started worrying that someone else might find out about it and take it. I have a feeling that’s part of why the place was torched. Someone went looking for it and didn’t find it.”

“How long have you had it?” Zeke asked, shooting Ethan a look that told him he thought Dennis could still be involved in burning down the place and was trying to cover his tracks.

“I grabbed it when you put a tail on Brett, after I sort of threatened her,” Dennis explained. “And yes, I knew you put a tail on her. That was what I was hoping for. Why the hell weren’t they on her tonight?”

Ethan threw his hands up in exasperation. “Look, it was a huge mistake, okay? She wanted a few minutes to ride and clear her head after finding out about her brother, and I told her I’d go to my apartment, pack an overnight bag, and meet her back at her apartment. I was going to keep watch tonight. And then, I got a little involved in another conversation and was gone longer than expected.”

Zeke cleared his throat. “That’s our fault. We came to talk to Ethan about something. Which reminds me, I’m assuming you haven’t exactly had a chance to address it yet,” he said dryly, directing the