Page 46 of Duke

My phone pings:

Shanna:Your cherry misses you.

The cloud of fatigue I was in lifts. I grin, typing back:

Me: I miss sucking on my cherry.

Shanna: You back safe?

Me: Yeah, but I wish I was still with you.

Shanna: Me too.

Me: Good. I gotta catch up on work. 'Night cherry.

She doesn't respond, and I text Meat to make sure he follows her home from now on. I hate but admire that she works the late shift after studying or attending class all day. I shake my head riffling through the stacks. I boot up my old desktop and get lost tending to all the shit I put on the back burner for weeks.

"Thank god, you're finally back."

He thinks that he snuck up on me, but I saw Smith my right-hand-man, enter the building through the security monitors.

"I just got in about an hour ago, now I’m catching up on all this shit." I gesture to the stack of papers.

"The MC has some hot merchandise they want us to makeover.”

"Fuck. What did they get their hands on now?"

"They stole a shipment of high-end cars, Bentleys, Mercedes-Benz, and shit. They want to strip the VIN's and serial numbers and trick 'em out. They already have a buyer lined up in Mexico."

My seat creaks as I sit back contemplating my move. I've always done little favors, small shit just to keep them happy and off my back. They also don't target me or my business, generally leaving me alone.

Unlike, the rest of the shops by the beach, the club takes a cut off their profits every month, but what they want me to do is way over my comfort line. I just found Shanna; I'm not going to lose her like an idiot by going to jail for a motorcycle club that I've never pledged to.

The heel of my boot rests on the top of my desk, and I reach in the top draw finding my box of Marlboro Lights. Smith lights it for me before taking one for himself.

“What do you wanna’ do, boss?”

“We’re not going to do time for this shit.”

“I know. But the new Prez is off his rocker. They found body parts up in the Hollywood Hills last week, the medical examiner just ID’d them as belonging to the Reaper’s. They could only tell by the ink left. Nothing else was recognizable.”

“Christ.”

“That’s not all. They took a few of Cortez’s girls to be the club’s ‘new brides.’ ”

“Aw fuck. Shit, Smith. I wish you didn’t tell me that shit. I won’t tolerant violence against women… ever. Ah, fuck.”

I pick up my cell and text Zach, the new Prez of the LA Chapter of the club my father founded, feeling the heavy burden on my shoulders to stop this shit and make things right. My old man must be laughing his ass off at me, because even though I walked away from him and the club life—I’m still in it one way or the other.

Thank fuck, I didn’t bring Shanna back with me. My sweet angel would be in the cross hairs of this mess. No one can ever find out she’s my one weakness. I need to keep what she means to me—an absolute secret until I figure this shit out.

Me: Meet me tomorrow on the boardwalk by the pit.

Zach: 10 am.

I place my phone back on my desk snuffing the butt of my cigarette out on the bottom of my boot. I don’t trust this bastard at all.

The pit is the outdoor gym on Venice Beach, tomorrow at ten it will be packed with weightlifters and tourists. Even a crazy bastard like him wouldn’t dare try any shit there. Christ, it’s a drive for me to get there too. I better leave now. I can’t sleep anyway.

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