Order (Tattoos and Ties Duet #2)(106)

If Fox wanted to talk club rules, Keyes had one to throw out—Donald Cummings had been voted in as a prospect without his approval. That broke every goddamn rule they had. The club bylaws were clear: patched members voted unanimously on new members, both prospects and full members, or the individual didn’t make the cut—no exceptions. His brothers’ betrayal festered in his gut.

Instead of saying any of that, Keyes held the argument and responded with an impromptu something he pulled straight out of his ass. “Nah, not really club business. I didn’t know who he was, but he was terrorizing his kid.”

“So, this was more of that vigilante shit,” Fox said. Again, not a question, and Keyes would let him think whatever he wanted. It was as good a deception as any, and he reached inside his cut, pulling the prospect patch out of the pocket, handing it to Fox.

“Maybe, but he had no respect, sounded like my old man. I lost it, not club-related, just me pissed off.”

Fox took the patch. His brow wrinkling at the material in his hand.

“Figured I’d take it back since I never voted him in.”

He let that sit between the three of them. His club leaving him out had been a hard pill to swallow. All his lifelong lines of loyalty and friendship were blurring. This time a year ago, if Keyes learned there was a rat among them, it wouldn’t have even been a question. Fox would know within minutes of him finding out. Today, he didn’t know who to trust in a club that owned him body and soul. All he’d ever done was put this group of men above everyone and everything. Had they always kept him at arm’s length not because of his old man, but instead because of who he was as a man? Had they used him for his strength and brute force like Alec had suggested before?

“You know better than most we ain’t ever got between a brother and his kid, but the no respect bothers me,” the prez said, tucking the patch in his back pocket. Yeah, Keyes wasn’t buying that either. He’d never been respected. If this had been any other brother, they would have ridden out together last night to finish Cummings off.

Keyes’s jaw ticced in aggravation.

Fuck. He wasn’t feeling his brothers at all. What the fuck did that mean?

It meant Alec had gotten inside his head.

“I sent Ray-Ray over to the tire shop to help out. He says Louis’s got your shit down, so don’t worry about that. I didn’t know how much time you were gonna need today,” Fox said and lifted a hand to clamp on his shoulder. Keyes looked over at it and had to stamp down his need to move out from under the hold. “Don’t worry about Cummings. I’ll take a ride this afternoon, see where his head is. You’ll decide how the club handles this one.”

The back and forth inside his head made him feel like he was playing mental volleyball. Habits were damn hard to break, and the protect-the-club-at-all-costs habit went to the forefront of his thoughts. Fox going to Cummings would be the worst thing in the world to happen. Right as Keyes said an internal “fuck it,” and started to spill Alec’s secrets, the door rattled again, drawing all their attention that way. A small woman stood in the threshold, staring at them with a hubcap in her had.

“Mr. Fox.”

The woman diverted the prez’s attention and he turned to help his customer. Dev slammed both his palms on Keyes’s chest, pushing Keyes backward a couple of steps until he spun him around, shoving him out the front doors. When they were about halfway to his bike, Dev grabbed his arm and twisted him back around, getting right in his face, not three inches separating them from being nose to nose. “All right, man, which one? The blond or the old man?”

Keyes narrowed his eyes, staring at Dev’s excitement as a knowing grin tugged at the corners of his friend’s mouth.

“What are you talkin’ about?” he asked and took a step backward. Dev followed. Of course, he totally knew what Dev was asking, but fuck no, he wasn’t answering, so he schooled his features and started to turn away, giving nothing up.

“Oh bullshit,” Dev said, coming in and crowding him. The playful side of Dev was intrigued and there would be no stopping him until he had his answers. “Ain’t no way you got the kind of money to hire that dude without the club backing you. After I got your bike, I came back and sat outside, watching that shit go down. Those two guys left for a while, not long, but long enough for me to see the older attorney get in a Benz S-class, and the blond in a fuckin’ Ferrari. You ain’t got the cash to hire either one of them, so you’re fuckin’ one, maybe both.” Dev’s newest burst of amusement was immediate as he laughed in Keyes’s face. “Shit, man, I didn’t think about that. You went kink on me, got you a daddy and a third.”

Keyes stepped back again. Dev didn’t follow, but his hand went out for a celebratory hand slap—one that Keyes left hanging.

“You don’t know how much money I got,” he grumbled, ducking his head, fighting his own grin. Dev’s craziness was exactly what he’d needed. It also gave him confirmation that Dev had in fact gotten Fox and Mack out of there on purpose, which meant his brother still truly had his back. The relief was a bit staggering, and he lifted a hand, scrubbing it over his face. Fuck, he had needed the reassurance more than he ever thought possible. Keyes was truly beginning to believe he had misread every person in his whole damn life.

“I kinda fuckin’ do know how much cash you have. You just bought that fuckin’ truck when business has been shit, then yesterday, I figured out that older sugar-bear bought it for you. Then I saw the blond, and my money’s on him. He’s fuckin’ classy-hot with all that rich, motherfuckin’ swagger. I’d fuck his sweet ass.”