Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Chevy grumbled something under his breath, and Cutter snorted in laughter.
I sat there, watching the table at large, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
These last two days had been a whirlwind.
From the moment that both Tavi and Laney had died, I’d been thrown into a very personal moment for them all, and I felt like an impostor.
Like I shouldn’t be there to witness all that heartache.
I was an outsider, a person that Chevy had just started to see.
I shouldn’t have witnessed Audric cry like his heart would never be whole again.
Neither should I have been there to hold a baby of a woman that’d just been killed.
Yet I was, and I had.
And I didn’t know how to feel about it all.
But throughout it all, Chevy had never let me retreat, and Cakes had been there at my side whenever he felt like I needed it.
It was…surreal.
“I’m not an expert on your family,” I said softly. “But I do know when shit’s hitting the fan, and I feel like it’s hitting the fan for Copper.”
All eyes came to me.
It was Chevy who said, “What do you mean?”
“It just looks like he’s desperate,” I said. “That something is going on with him, and he’s trying to hide it from you guys.”
Keely’s eyes narrowed. “What makes you say that?”
“Well, during the funeral, he sat behind all of you. And during the wake for Laney, he left, then came back, talked to Audric, and then left.” I shrugged. “All of those times, he stayed as far away from y’all as possible. I only noticed because all of the times that I’ve witnessed him with you guys before, he’s been so open and expressive with every one of you. I would’ve thought it was me, but at the wake yesterday, I wasn’t anywhere near you, and he still avoided y’all.”
Cutter sat back in his seat and said, “Huh.”
“Webber.” Chevy tapped his chin, one of the arms he had across his chest raised to reach his face. “He’s going to know what’s going on. That night that I was sick, I heard a commotion and heard Reign mentioned. But the next morning, Webber told me to leave it be. So I let it be.”
“I’ll talk to him tomorrow with you at the club party.” He paused. “Do you think it’s insensitive to still have this party for the community despite what’s happened?”
Cakes leaned back in his chair and said, “Laney would’ve wanted us to do it. It was her baby.”
Chevy told me all about Laney, and her love for all things community. She worked with Cakes at One Love, Dallas. She loved the community so much that she threw so many club get-togethers a year to help the community kids, veterans and elderly that she could.
This particular club community party was so huge that there were several hundred motorcycle clubs going on a poker run throughout the area that would bring in so much cash from the community that they expected to be able to donate tens of thousands of dollars to community outreach.
Laney had planned this event for over a year.
She would not be happy to hear that they’d canceled it.
Though…
“What about doing a memorial for her? Y’all could dedicate the event to her and possibly make it a yearly event in her honor,” I suggested.
“That’s a good idea,” Keely said. “I…”
She trailed off when every man at the table looked toward the front door of the diner.
“Whoa,” I said. “Who’s that?”
“Congressman Jimenez,” Dima replied.
Was that…
“That’s the father of the kid that went joyriding in the Maserati his daddy bought?” I asked coolly.
“Sure is,” Chevy said as he stared at the man who came into the diner like he owned the place.
The congressman’s bodyguards took up positions in front of and behind him.
The men that came in behind him that had FBI written on their jackets had me more curious than the congressman.
What was going on?
“They’re heading this way,” I murmured as I watched them come.
It was the congressman who spoke first, his eyes on our small group as he said, “Which of you is Chevy Clayborne?”
“Me,” Chevy said indifferently.
I squeezed his hand so hard that my fingernails started to dig into the palm of his hand.
“We’d like you to come with us, we have a few questions,” the FBI agent closest to us ordered.
“Not without a lawyer,” Dima said carefully.
“Agreed,” Cutter muttered.
“What’s this about?” Keely asked, eyeing everyone suspiciously.
“This is about none of your business, ma’am,” the congressman, Arriel Jimenez, retorted sarcastically.
“I beg to differ,” Keely said. “This is my brother, and if you have questions for him, I have every right to know.”
“How much do you like your little job at Castanon, Inc?” the congressman asked.
I rolled my eyes.
“Actually, I kind of hate it,” she said. “I’m only working there because my brother needs the help. It would be no skin off my nose if I couldn’t work there anymore. Honestly, if that place imploded, I’d be able to sleep a little better at night.”