that he’d taken a chance on a fledgling artist, giving her the opportunity to get away from Stanton and a marriage that should never have happened in the first place.
“If Viper finds out about Bill’s scam, he’ll probably be back with his entire MC,” Connie whispered when Evie brought in the last box from the shipment they received that morning, leaving Gene free to return to the mechanic shop out back. “Imagine. Dozens of hard-riding outlaw bikers camped outside our door. It would be Christmas in July.”
Evie placed the box on the stack beside the rack of motorcycle jackets. “More like a slaughter. Bikers don’t like witnesses when they do something bad.”
“They can witness me doing something bad.” Connie raised her voice. “Ain’t that right, Gene? You like a bad girl, don’t you?”
Gene reddened and turned his attention to the sliding doors that separated Evie’s paint shop and the garage from the store. Bill had a senior mechanic and three juniors working out back. Evie did the detail work, and Connie took care of sales out front. Bill handled the illicit gun running, and although his employees knew about it, no one was involved, which turned out to be a good thing when they discovered he was skimming off the top.
“You know what I’m talking about, Gene,” Connie teased. “Friday night. You and me and a bottle of…”
Evie gave her a nudge. “Leave him alone. He might sue us for sexual harassment.”
“Sexual harassment is your hot biker friend walking in the door and me not getting an introduction.” She gestured over Evie’s shoulder. “Look who just came to visit.”
“Jagger!” Evie greeted him with an outstretched hand, and was promptly swept up in his arms.
“Can’t tell you how nice it is to see you again. Too bad it wasn’t under better circumstances.” His deep rumble caught her off guard. He was a man now, not a boy, and the evidence wasn’t just in the breadth of his chest or the lines on his face, but also in the shadows in his eyes. Maybe the life of an outlaw biker wasn’t all it was cut out to be.
“Is this a social visit or are you here to kill someone again?”
Jagger raised an admonishing eyebrow, and she swallowed when her eyes fell on the president patch on his cut. He had always been the leader of their threesome, so she wasn’t surprised to see that he now led the Sinner’s Tribe, and he wore the mantle well. Not many people could say as much with just the lift of a brow. “I came to find out what the hell Axle was doing here, deal with his bike, and visit with you. No shooting today.”
“Excellent.” Connie cleared her throat. “Today isn’t really a good day to die. I have … overdue library books.”
Evie cringed on Connie’s behalf. “Um … this is Connie. Short for Constance.” She made the obligatory introduction and Jagger nodded.
“Pleasure.”
“All mine.” Connie’s cheeks brightened. “Maybe we should all go for a coffee at the restaurant down the road, and get to know each other. Gene can man the till while we’re gone. Well, not really ‘man’ the till, ’cause he’s not really a manly type. More like a boy, since he can’t legally buy alcohol until next year, and he can’t rent a car—”
“Connie—”
“Although he doesn’t look like a boy with his head all shaved and those piercings in his ear, which some of the girls think are hot, but not me because I don’t like the competition. Unless, of course, you have piercings and then I might change my mind.”
Evie raised her voice. “Connie.”
“You’re a beautiful girl, but I got an old lady.” Jagger flashed the grin that had sent no less than half the senior girls in school into a frenzy. Okay. So some things hadn’t changed.
“Old lady?” Connie frowned. “You look kinda young to have an old lady.”
“He’s twenty-eight and an old lady is the biker equivalent of a wife.” Evie buried a tiny sliver of disappointment. Aside from Zane, Jagger was the only other man she’d ever really cared about. Mark, her ex, had been a port in a storm that had turned out to be a sinkhole. After her mother died, and she’d been left alone with her twelve-month old son, Ty, the void in her life had begged to be filled. Although she didn’t love Mark, and had told him as much, he’d had a crush on her since high school and wanted to give