Order (Tattoos and Ties Duet #2)(40)

“Fuckin’ taxpayers gotta be pissed off with all the resources that cunt’s been wastin’. They ain’t got shit on us. As a taxpayer, I’m fuckin’ pissed,” Mack said, mounting his bike.

“You ain’t ever paid taxes in your fuckin’ life,” Fox countered, mocking Mack.

The good-natured ribbing between the two continued. “If I did, I’d really be good and pissed off,” Mack added with a toothy grin and winked at Keyes.

“We’ll be back up and runnin’ by year’s end, so have your fun now,” Fox said, giving Keyes his own sideways grin and a nod. Fox seemed to know that bit of information for certain. Whatever Fox had up his sleeve, he could only imagine. At least twice a month, Keyes was going on their side deals and those weren’t small sales by any stretch of the imagination. With as pissed off as his brothers had been, once they got free of these restraints, he envisioned all kinds of illegal shit going down just to prove they could do it without getting caught.

Keyes gave a nod as Mack’s bike rumbled to life, vibrating loudly in the small space between the two buildings and he pushed the bike backward. Fox drove forward, turning around in the back of Keyes’s property, then lifting two fingers in a peace sign as he passed by. He stared after them before turning to his bike and locking the cash in the seat. He was torn. Saturday nights were his and Alec’s, but he guessed not this weekend. And technically, he was over there every day, so one day didn’t necessarily stand out like it used to.

He studied the ground as he walked back to the shop. He had gone on the defensive against his brothers right out of the gate. Most likely because he was getting backed into a corner with no easy way out. Fuck, he lived in the corner. From the beginning, he’d known he was playing with fire. Alec Pierce was a big open flame that he’d gotten too comfortable with.

He’d been coasting, assuming, and waiting for Alec to dump him. The idea of letting Alec go made him want to fist fight this fucking building to keep it from happening. Viciousness gripped his heart, the kind of anger only his father ever provoked inside of him, at the thought of anyone ever trying to come between him and Alec. He clenched his hands at his side. He’d destroy every motherfucker in his club to protect his man.

With effort, Keyes pushed the unprovoked anger down, letting his feelings for Alec smooth over his jagged psyche. If he were to truly acknowledge his feelings, he was relieved this shit with his old man happened like it had. It gave him more time with Alec. He was driving a million miles a week, but he’d been more content than any other time in his life. Keyes had let the club own him because he talked himself into believing it was where he belonged. Alec showed him what true acceptance and commitment meant. If soul mates were real, it truly seemed Alec fit his person. He didn’t know why, but it didn’t change it either.

Now that his old man had left the clubhouse, Keyes needed to stop by more often, make a few appearances, be a little later getting to Alec’s while continuing the month-to-month rent on Dev’s apartment. The place gave him good cover until something gave to help him and Alec be together. Maybe with business picking up like it had, he could afford to give Louis a few more dollars an hour to take on more responsibility. He had turned out to be reliable at helping him keep things running around the shop, and the guy wasn’t afraid of his brothers. That would give Keyes a chance to cruise out earlier in the day, stop by the club, then head to Alec’s place. Seemed reasonable enough. Maybe.

Keyes rounded the corner, looking at his old man’s bench still sitting against the building. What did he plan to do about his father?

Nothing.

He had no feeling about it at all.





Keyes pulled to the back of the middle school where his uncle taught, combing the parking lot for Clyde’s car. Luckily, it was still there. He pulled the bike into the parking space next to his uncle’s and cut the engine. He hadn’t told his uncle he was coming and had a fifty/fifty chance that Clyde hadn’t left for the day.

As the day wore on, Keyes found he needed to talk, and Clyde was always his go-to guy. He dropped the kickstand in place and scanned the back of the school, wondering if any of the doors were unlocked.

His boots made deep thuds as he headed for the door closest to his uncle’s classroom. It had been years since he’d been at the school, though. He tested the door handle. Locked. He reached for his phone to call his uncle, but as he scrolled his contacts, the door pushed open.

“Can I help you?” a janitor asked. His face changed from concern to recognition. “You’re Clyde’s boy.”

He nodded. The last time he’d been here, he’d been younger, maybe seventeen, and Clyde had talked him into finishing his equivalency diploma. He’d barely paid attention to the building then, and he surely didn’t remember anyone who had worked there. “I thought I’d surprise him.”

The grin was genuine as the janitor pushed the door wider for Keyes to enter. “You were tall back then. You sure kept growing.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, sliding in past the guy who pointed him down the long hall. “His room still there?”

“Yeah, three doors down. He’s finishing up tutoring. Go see.”

“Thanks.” He walked the three classrooms down, looking in each darkened window until he saw Clyde standing at a desk, talking to a student. The best he could see, they looked to be alone. With a rap of his knuckles on the small window in the door, Clyde looked up, clearly in deep thought if the furrow in his brow were anything to go by. His aging face changed when he recognized Keyes, a grin springing to his lips, and he waved him in.