“Yeah, I want you to fix it. I’m hoping you cooperate, ’cause I don’t wanna get rough with you.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked down at the ground. “I like rough sometimes.”
“I wanna know one thing—why the fuck did you lie about my brother touching you?”
Her eyes snapped up to his, her coy smile gone. “What are you talking about?”
Smokey pushed away from the wall. “The bullshit you told the police about Ryan Harty.”
A scowl crossed her face. “That’s why you wanted me to come out here with you?”
“I wanna know who told you to make up that BS. And don’t even think of lying to me.” He stood less than a foot from her—motionless, and staring menacingly.
Hannah cast a quick glance at the store’s back door.
“Don’t even think about it,” he gritted out.
“I didn’t mean to get your brother into trouble. He opened his coat, and I just sort of … freaked. And when he came over, I thought he was going to hurt me or something.”
Grabbing her arm in a viselike grip, he shoved her against the wall. “You’re trying my fuckin’ patience. Tell me the truth. Now.”
“I’ll tell the police I made it up, I swear.”
“I’d hate to cut your face, but that’ll be up to you,” he growled.
Smokey could smell her fear. Hell, he could see it on her face. He didn’t want to rough her up—it wasn’t his thing—so he hoped his threats would do the trick.
“My boyfriend’s brother told me to do it. When I told him about Ryan, he came up with the idea to exaggerate the whole incident.” She wiped her brow with her free hand. “I know Ryan from high school—he was a couple of years ahead of me. And he didn’t even really flash me. He just opened his coat and I saw his hard-on.”
Squeezing her arm tighter, he demanded, “Give me a fuckin’ name.”
“You’re hurting me,” she whimpered.
“What’s the brother’s name?”
Hannah leaned her head back against the brick. “Do you know what he’ll do to me if he finds out I snitched? He’s in a motorcycle club, and he’s bad news.”
Surprise shot through him. “Which MC?”
“I forget the name.” She grimaced when Smokey again tightened his grip. “I’m not lying!”
“Is it a local MC?”
Her eyes widened. “No—it’s not the Insurgents. I wouldn’t be telling you shit if it were. The club is near Cottonwood.”
A tornado of rage swirled inside of him. The only club he knew of in that part of the state was the phony MC Skeet led. “Rising Order,” he muttered.
“That’s it. I’m surprised you know of them. I’d never heard of them until I started dating my boyfriend a couple of months ago. Do you know someone in the club?”
“We’re not out here to chat, so shut the fuck up.” Releasing his hold on her, she rubbed her arm.
“I’m just trying to show you I was used, and didn’t want to make up all that stuff. I like Ryan, but Skeet is real scary.”
I had a feeling that fucker was behind this. I’m gonna beat his traitorous ass!
“Are we good now?”
Smokey nodded. “Go back to work.”
Hannah smiled at him. “My break isn’t over yet.”
“Then walk around the fuckin’ block or something.”
“There’re no hard feelings, right? Maybe we could hook up sometime.”
“Don’t you have a boyfriend?”
“We have an open relationship. Anyway”—she ran a finger over his forearm—“I like bad boys. It’s one of my flaws.”
He stepped away from her. “Not interested. I’ll give you until the end of the day to correct the record with the fuckin’ badges. If you don’t, I’ll look for you, and I won’t be in a good mood like I was today. Don’t be stupid—be smart. In my world, smart people live a lot longer than the dumbasses.”
“I’ll call them now. Tell Ryan I’m sorry about causing him so much grief.”
Smokey turned around and walked away, his anger rippling through him so fiercely, his whole body shook. Ever since Skeet left the Insurgents to join up with the Rising Order, Smokey had wanted to beat his ass good. The two of them never got along, but Smokey tolerated him because he was a fellow member. But now, all bets were off. Skeet was a lying, double-crossing piece of shit. In his mind, Skeet had just declared war, and Smokey was more than ready to go to battle with the fucker.
And Smokey didn’t plan on losing.
12
As soon as the elevator doors swooshed open, Smokey stepped