Page 52 of To the Grave

He’d dated Daya when we’d been in middle school. We’d all liked him, but he was too enmeshed in the club for it to work long-term. Daya wanted to be in the woods, not riding around onthe back of a bike, and she wasn’t down for the rampant criminal activity either.

“She’s good,” Wolf said.

Bruce nodded. “Good.” He stroked his beard. “Gotta say, I never thought I’d see you at the Strike.”

Wolf and I weren’t members of either of Blackwell Falls’ MCs, but Jace was a member of the Blades, and the Blades hung out at Screamin’ Syd’s.

“First time for everything,” Wolf said. “You got a minute?”

Bruce held Wolf’s gaze, then glanced at me, clearly trying to get a read on the situation before returning his eyes to Wolf. “Let’s take it outside.”

We crossed the room and followed Bruce out the squeaky screen door. It slammed shut behind us and we made our way down a short set of stairs to the area at the back of the house.

The bonfire was still blazing, the group of bikers I’d seen from the screen porch sitting around it drinking, talking, and laughing. It was more low-key than the party going on in the bar and it was definitely weird to see a bunch of costumed bikers sitting around a fire like they were away at summer camp.

“Must be important to come here like this,” Bruce said, coming to a stop under a tree a few yards from the fire.

“It is,” Wolf said.

“You could have called,” Bruce said. “Rather than take your life into your own hands, I mean.”

Wolf shrugged. “Didn’t think of it.”

It had been a decade since Daya had dated Bruce. He’d faded into my memories of the handful of people Daya had dated since, none of them seriously and none of them for long. I hadn’t thought of it either.

“So what’s this about?” Bruce asked, folding his big arms over his even bigger chest. He wasn’t as trim as he had beenwhen we were in middle school, but he was still built and scary as fuck.

“We’re looking for somebody,” Wolf said. “Rumor has it he’s a member of the club.”

Bruce narrowed his eyes. “If there’s anything more dangerous than a bunch of fuckers associated with the Blades coming to the Strike, it’s a bunch of fuckers associated with the Blades coming to the Strike looking for somebody.”

“Believe me, I know,” Wolf said. “We wouldn’t be here if there was any other way.”

Bruce sighed, then ran his hand over his face and down his beard. “Who is it?”

“Derrick Mayer.”

Bruce raised his eyebrows. “You in some kind of trouble?”

“Not like you mean,” Wolf said. “Just need to talk to this guy.”

“Ishein some kind of trouble?” Bruce asked.

Wolf shook his head. “Nope.”

Bruce’s nod was slow. He held Wolf’s gaze for a few seconds, like he was activating some kind of internal lie detector, then tipped his head to the fire. “Over there. Next to the gladiator.”

Chapter 38

Daisy

Ifinished my beer too fast and felt the warm heat of it in my body, the buzz in my head that proved I was a lightweight.

One beer? Pathetic.

Still, I was feeling good. A little too good.

Jace was next to me in the leather mask, my imagination in overdrive, my sex-deprived body revving at the thought of feeling him inside me again.

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