Wolfe: The Biker Next Door, page 16
“Can I go in?” Delta’s eyes sought out Lola for permission.
Lola stepped forward and opened the gate. “Are you interested in a puppy, too, Ella?”
“As cute as they are, I’m more interested in an older dog.” Her gaze shifted around to the other pens, and it was obvious that she was searching for one in particular. “Do you mind if I walk around?”
“No, go right ahead. Just don’t go into any of the pens.”
I hung back with Buck, but my eyes followed Ella as she sashayed away.
Buck didn’t waste any time voicing his opinion. “You got it bad, Prez.”
I reluctantly pulled my gaze from Ella. “I could say the same thing about you, Brother.”
“No argument here.” Buck’s gaze moved to Delta where she was sitting on the ground with the puppies. They were climbing her like a tree, and she was laughing while trying to love on each one of them equally. She and Lola were chatting. “She thinks we’re friends.”
“With benefits?”
He didn’t miss a beat. “Not going to answer that.”
I clamped my mouth shut to stop myself from saying more. I had to respect a brother for being honest with me, and it was none of my business anyway. Besides, Buck knew how I felt, and I trusted him to treat Delta right. I should have paid more attention when she’d been with Tommy, but that shit wasn’t going to happen again.
Why the fuck did some men think it was okay to mistreat women? I looked in the direction Ella had gone to find her at one of the pens closer to the entrance to the building. She seemed to be in deep conversation with her friend, who I now knew was named Jillian. I could tell they were discussing the dog in the pen next to them. From where I was standing, the Pitbull looked to be on the small side, a beautiful golden brown with a white chest.
“Looks like your girl has found a dog.”
I shot Buck a sharp look of irritation, a denial ready on my tongue. The smirk on his face told me that he was just messing with me. I decided not to give him any ammunition by making a big deal out of what he’d said.
“Good luck with nine puppies,” I muttered, and walked away to his roar of laughter.
Chapter 33
Ella
Male laughter drew my attention away from Jillian long enough to determine that it was coming from Buck. That’s when I noticed Wolfe walking our way. Our eyes connected briefly before I turned back to Jillian. “So you’ll come for dinner tomorrow night?” I had a feeling that Jillian, Steffy, and Val would become fast friends.
“I’d love to,” she responded. “And by the way, I know what you did.”
Her comment caught me by surprise, and it took me a minute to realize that she was probably referring to the money I’d won at The Animal’s Den. I just stared at her, blinking and mute, not about to admit to anything. One of the bouncers had caught me on the way out the door with the payoff. I’d asked him to give it to her. His reply that he knew Jillian and she would never accept charity had prompted me to tell him to come up with a plausible story to get her to take it.
“The money?” Jillian clarified. “That was sweet of you to donate it to the runner up. I didn’t even know we had runner ups,” she laughed. “Did you know it was me?”
I pretended surprise. “It was? I’m glad it was you. You can use it toward the remodeling of your house.”
She looked at me skeptically, but remained quiet. By now Wolfe had joined us. He stepped up to the pen and peered down at the quiet dog inside.
“This the dog you want?” Showing no fear or hesitation, he reached down and rubbed the Pit’s head vigorously. “You’re a beauty, aren’t you, girl?”
“I’m thinking about it,” I responded, moving next to him. She was a beautiful dog, and small for a Pitbull. “Jillian has told me a lot about her, and she seems friendly enough.”
He looked back at Jillian. “Oh, yeah? Like what?”
“Her name is Daisy, and she’s three-years-old. She was turned in, reluctantly I might add. Her owner has terminal cancer and can no longer take care of Daisy, and no one in her family wanted to take her.”
“She hasn’t been here long,” I added, watching how receptive Daisy was to Wolfe’s familiarity. She sat still beneath his large hand, her trust of humans and sweet nature recognizable. I was already half in love with her, but still needed to talk to Val.
“She won’t be here long, either.” Jillian’s words drew both of our attention her way. “We don’t get Pits like her often, and there’s been a lot of interest. I’d take her myself, but I’m not home enough to care for a dog.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say that a dog might be good for her mom’s recovery but I kept the thought to myself. It was probably something she’d already considered anyway, and decided that it wouldn’t work for their situation.
Wolfe laughed softly, a look of amusement in his eyes. “Sounds like you have a stake in her.”
She shrugged. “I just want to see her go to a good home. Plus, we’re beyond full right now.”
Wolfe pulled his hand away from Daisy and straightened to his impressive height. “We’ll take her.”
My jaw dropped with surprise. Were we getting a dog together, or was he just assuming that I would take her? “Wolfe, I, um, need to run it by Val first since she’s moving in tomorrow.”
“Do you want Daisy?” he asked.
I glanced down at Daisy and my heart warmed immediately with the thought of taking her home. She looked up at me with something akin to hope in her big brown eyes, and I was lost. “Yeah,” I finally said in a soft voice. “But—"
“Then I’ll come back in my truck and get her.”
Wolfe’s gaze went to Jillian, who stood off to the side, watching our interaction with curiosity in her eyes. Was she wondering what our relationship was?
He followed up with, “Won’t be until tomorrow though.”
“Wolfe—” The grin that he turned on me caused me to halt what I’d been about to say. It was clear that he’d made up his mind.
“Babe, if Val says no, I’ll keep Daisy. Either way, she’s coming with us.”
Oh. “Are you sure?”
He nodded and returned his attention to Jillian, who had a smile on her smudged face from ear to ear. “Can you hold her ‘til tomorrow?
“Of course!” she exclaimed, happy with our decision. “And since I’m going to Ella’s for dinner tomorrow night, I’ll bring her with me and save you a trip.”
Wolfe’s gaze swung my way, a silent question in his dark, nut-brown peepers. “A girls’ night, huh?”
He already knew that Val and Steffy would be there. “You and your brothers are invited too, and their girlfriends, if they have any.”
“No sweet tarts?” he joked.
I opened my mouth to say no, but then considered it for a minute. I’d gotten to know Ginger, Hannah, and Jezzie a little since they hung out most weekends at Wolfe’s house. They were okay once you understood what was behind their somewhat possessive ideas about the men in the MC. What they chose to do with their lives and their bodies wasn’t for me to judge, and while they were a little obvious, it was Ginger’s sly, devious methods of trying to get Wolfe’s attention that annoyed me the most. She was so freaking obnoxious about it.
“They can come if you want. It’s just dinner though. No naked chicks.” I shivered dramatically. “I don’t want anyone screwing on my furniture.”
His pearly whites flashed at me. “I’ll pass it on.”
“Look what we have!”
I hadn’t seen Delta and Buck walking our way until they had practically reached us. Lola was right behind them, talking to someone on her cell. In Delta’s arms was a solid black pit, while Buck was trying to hold on to a squirming white one.
“Only two?” The observation came from Wolfe.
“For now,” Delta smiled, cuddling her puppy like a baby. “Aren’t they beautiful?” They were beautiful. “We’re going to come back later today and pick them up. Lola says they’ve had their shots and are healthy.” Her gaze fell on the dog in the pen next to us. “She’s beautiful. Are you adopting her?”
I couldn’t contain my smile, and nodded. “Her name is Daisy.”
I watched Wolfe dig his phone out of his pocket. He put it to his ear, frowned at something the caller said, and walked out of the building and out of range. Buck’s eyes trailed him, his brows pulling together with foreboding, but he stayed back with Delta. Maybe he knew something was up. No one else seemed to notice Wolfe’s leaving.
I caught Buck’s eye and mouthed, “Club business?”
He blew out a snort of laughter, but remained silent.
Chapter 34
Wolfe
I hadn’t planned to call church tonight, but I had a lot of shit to cover with my brothers, and after the phone call I’d received earlier today from Canton, it couldn’t wait. It looked like the Soldiers of Retribution had some serious issues to deal with.
The bar had just closed up. Mac flipped off the window lights and locked the door, cloaking the room in a kind of murky gloom that would more than likely match the mood of our discussion. I took a long drink of my beer and waited until everyone was sitting down, my thoughts drifting to my sweet neighbor. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spent as much time with a woman out of bed as I had today.
Mac took his seat, and I started in right away. “Ella’s fuckwad ex escaped. She already knows. I put Tyler on her.”
I’d hated like hell telling her that her ex had somehow escaped and was roaming around the countryside, free. Panic had flared briefly in her eyes before she’d squared her shoulders, shaken her head, and turned that pretty mouth downward in disgust. Though the news had upset her, she hadn’t over reacted, and I’d surprised myself by taking her in my arms and committing myself to protect her.
“How the hell does something like that happen?” Eagle snarled, shaking his head with disgust.
Lynx snorted loudly. “Brother, small town, Canton, short staffed jail house…” He waved his hand in a motion that indicated he could go on and on listing the shortcomings of the police department. “Plus the dude’s a slimy snake.”
I was pretty sure we were all in agreement on that. “The good news is that Canton doesn’t think he’s still around. He’s got family down south, and Canton thinks he’s heading that way until shit cools down up here.
Knuckles chuckled. “Since when do charges for attempted abduction cool down?”
I leaned forward. “They don’t, and I want that fucker in prison so Ella doesn’t have to worry about him any longer.” I shifted my gaze to Buck and Mac. “Want you two on the road tomorrow. There’s no bounty on his head, but I don’t give a fuck.”
They both acknowledged me with a nod as I’d expected them to. I grinned. “Get with John. He’ll have information for you.”
Our prospect, John, was computer savvy as hell. Even though Google was the place to go to find shit out, he seemed to know where to go to get info even faster. He knew how to dig deep, and that was going to prove helpful for the team. Right now he was a mechanic, but I could see him moving into a research and security-type position once he was patched in.
I swung my attention to Bear and Knuckles. They weren’t going to like what I had to say. “I know you brothers want to hear that I’m pulling you out of iron works, but the raid we did at Collins farm was a setup to get Aaron Jackson.”
Tank released a snarl as he set his beer down. “Fuck, he was there?”
I nodded. “Turns out drugs were planted on him, supposedly by us. Apparently Collins has a partner who wants the Jacksons out of the game.”
“And apparently us, too,” Bear grated with a scowl.
“Is the dad still in prison?”
I gave Eagle a nod.
“So we have a mark on our backs now?”
“We might. That’s why I want you two--” I nodded at Bear and Knuckles, “to keep working. Those fucks who gave you the information about the dog fight, you see them at the fight?”
Bear and Knuckles looked at each other and then back at me, and shook their heads.
“That’s what I thought. I want you to stay close to those little fucks. See what else, if anything, you can find out. I think they were paid to feed you that info just so we’d show up and Collins could convince Jackson that the drugs that were planted on him came from us.”
“Any idea who his partner is?” Buck wanted to know.
“Nope. Just stay vigilant, brothers. We move in twos as usual. No one goes dark, and if you do there better be a fucking good reason for it. Expect some kind of fallout from the Jacksons. I’m going to make contact with Bodie Jackson to let him know that we, along with his son, were both being set up that night.” I hadn’t decided that until this very minute, but it was a good idea. No telling what he was being told in prison.
“You going to the prison?”
“Hell the fuck no!” I snapped to Tank’s inquiry, a cold chill dancing down my spine. Several brothers chuckled at my reaction. “There’s this invention called the phone, gonna try that out and see how it goes.” I shot him the finger at his smug look. “Shithead.” I steepled my fingers and exhaled a deep breath. “Canton may be retiring. If that happens, you know what it means.”
Murmurs moved among my brothers as they voiced their opinions.
“Damn, Prez, you’re just full of fucking good news.” Bear linked his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair.
I cut eyes to my VP for a minute. “It gets better. Ella’s invited all of us to dinner tomorrow night, and your girl is going to be there.”
“Now you’re talking!” Bear laughed, then dropped his arms and thrust his hips in a motion we were all familiar with. And then as fast as his smile had appeared, a big pout crossed his whiskered features, and I swear I saw tears in his eyes. “Fuck, I have to work!”
Laughter erupted among my brothers.
Knuckles didn’t help matters by saying, “It’s for a good cause, Brother.”
Bear communicated his feelings by flipping him off.
“Got something I want to ask you, brothers. Another investment opportunity for the club. Got a call from Toby. He’s decided to sell the salvage yard.” Toby’s Salvage yard was located outside of town and looked like a fucking dump, but if the old man was being honest it brought in good revenue.
“Whew!” Lynx let out. “He’s owned that fucking yard for what, fifty years?”
“Is business good?” Tank asked.
“It’s been open for fifty years, Brother! Duh!” Eagle grunted and then rolled his eyes dramatically.
“Brothers, I’d like to get home before morning,” I growled. Everyone quieted. “What do you think about acquiring the salvage yard? Toby’s willing to let our lawyer look over his books and contracts.” I grinned, proud of how far we’d come in ten years. “We got the money according to Aunt May.” Eagle’s Aunt May was the club accountant and bookkeeper.
“Hey, if Spiegel’s happy with what he sees and we have the money, I’m all for it. When Knuckles and I leave iron works we can run it.”
Those were my thoughts exactly. “Anyone against it?”
No one raised their hand.
Chapter 35
Ella
“That’s the biggest pot of beans I’ve ever seen!”
I had to laugh. Steffy wasn’t wrong. I’d had to make a run to Walmart to buy the biggest pot I could find because, thanks to my big mouth, half the world was at my house for dinner. I’d also purchased two more baking pans for the extra cornbread I’d made. In truth, I didn’t mind the extra work. I knew my grandpa’s pinto bean recipe was the bomb, and so was grandma’s sweet cornbread.
Wolfe and his brothers--minus Bear, because he had to work, and Buck and Mac, because they were on the road looking for my crazy ex--had arrive an hour ago. When Hannah, Ginger, and Jezzie had followed in behind them, I’d glanced at Wolfe with concern. He’d quickly confirmed he’d already spoken to the sweet tarts and had warned them that there would be no fucking on my furniture.
Everyone was here. I’d ended up inviting Lola before we’d left Second Chances the day before, and she’d come with Jillian. Delta had arrived with Wolfe. Right now the women were out on the porch. Even though I used it as my office, there was a section set up with rattan furniture for lounging. The girls were conversing and drinking the citrus sangria cocktail I’d made from a recipe I’d found on Google. The guys were chugging beer like water out by the lake, watching how Daisy and Demo interacted with each other for the first time.
“Taste?”
