Page 79 of Property of Stone
“Weren’t lookin’ hard enough.”
Of course.“You also mentioned protection and collections.” Activities normally tied to organized crime.
“Yeah.”
That was his answer? Justyeah? “Are you saying the club runs a legitimate security agency as well as a collection agency?”
He snorted.Well, there was her answer. The Kings were probably no better than the Mob.
“Areanyof these businesses legal?”
“Depends on who you’re askin’.”
She knew Stone had no problem with breaking the law. She didn’t try to convince herself otherwise. But was his criminal activity a lot worse than what she thought?
“First of all, I’m askingyou. Second, the legality of a business isn’t an opinion. If you weren’t aware, pesky things exist called laws. Either the club businesses follow those laws orthey don’t.” She tilted her head to the side.. “Which one is it?”
“First of all,” he echoed, “club business ain’t anyone’s business ‘cept members. Second, that don’t includeyou.”
“Tell me, if my Honda needs work, where am I taking it?”
“You give it to me and it’ll get done.”
With that answer, she had to assume that none of their businesses were legal. It sounded like they didn’t even have legitimate-looking “fronts” typically used to launder illegally obtained money. That also meant the majority, if not all, of the money the club—and their members—earned was dirty.
Were they so arrogant that they didn’t think they’d get caught?
Probably not, since Taryn could take an educated guess that none of these “businesses” were new.
That also meant the house where she and Wren were staying was purchased with money earned by doing crimes. The truck that Wren had rode in was probably restored with the same dirty money.
All of that should bother her. She’d never been one to break the law. Now she was living in the middle of a crime ring.
Could she be considered guilty by association?
Worse, what kind of mother was she by not removing Wren from the situation?
But was Vic any better? The man beat the crap out of herin frontof their son. The man Wren wassupposedto look up to, to learn his morals from, was the last person Taryn now wanted to have access to him.
It was a dilemma that made her brain ache.
Yes, Vic was a bad man. But so was Stone.
The difference: Stone wanted to protect her. Vicwas out for blood.
The choice might not be easy, but it was clear…
Wren’s well-being came before anything.
She could easily use the Kings as examples to teach him the difference between right and wrong.
But not if she was dead.
Chapter Sixteen
Yesterday,Stone brought Taryn over to inspect the old cafeteria’s kitchen to see if it would work better for her video classes. Or demos. Or whatever the fuck she called what she was doing online.
That cucumber bullshit she made the other morning didn’t look good at all. Or filling. If she served that to his brothers, they’d probably look at her sideways before spitting it at her.
