Ride Steady (Chaos, #3)(78)

She did a quick wave then tucked herself closer to her father.

“Joker? Like Batman?” Jackson asked.

“No, son, he’s a good guy,” Linus answered.

Jackson had a look on his face that said he didn’t comprehend this but he was trying.

It was funny and Joker wanted to crack up watching him.

But he didn’t.

Because he was taking it all in.

The house was a newish build, on a small lot, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t huge. It was also nice. Clean. Decorated. All about Kam’s colorful, stylish personality… and family. And Linus, with his beautiful wife, his three healthy, cute kids, the man of the family standing among all he built, the most important things in life. Woman. Kids. And the home you could give them.

He took this in glad as f*ck Linus had it.

But he took it in thinking for the first time in his life that he wanted this.

Just this.

Gorgeous woman. Cute kids. Clean home decorated in the warmth his woman wanted to give their family.

“You gonna stand there starin’ at me, or you gonna take off your jacket and drink some of your old friend’s beer?” Linus asked.

Joker let Mrs. Heely go to shrug off his jacket, answering, “Beer.”

“Now that introductions are complete, Linus, would you like to share how you feel about Car… Joker’s lack of grooming?” Mrs. Heely asked.

Linus turned laughing eyes to the woman. “Respect, Mrs. Heely, but even when he was a kid, he was good-lookin’. He could have hippie hair and still be that way.”

This said a lot coming from Linus, who might work in a garage but right then he was dressed well. He’d always cropped his hair close to his head with clean lines razor-sharp all around and straight up took care of himself.

“I disagree,” Mrs. Heely snapped.

“He’d be cuter with shorter hair,” Candace piped up shyly.

“There’s a girl with taste,” Mrs. Heely declared, moving forward and arriving at Linus in a way it was impossible to misunderstand what she wanted.

Linus didn’t misunderstand it. He put his daughter down and Mrs. Heely claimed her immediately.

Taking her hand, she moved her up the steps from the living room that led toward the back of the house and a big, open kitchen, saying, “We girls gotta stick together, Candy. Now, let’s go help Mommy with dinner.”

“Okay, Momma Heely,” Candace replied.

“That’s my cue,” Kamryn muttered and he looked to her. “So glad you’re here, Carson.”

He nodded.

She moved into the house.

“Bud,” Linus called. “Beer.”

“Yeah,” Joker replied and moved toward him thinking next time, he’d bring Carissa and Travis.

That being after he told her he was Carson and he could quit dicking around and give it all to her so she knew what she was getting, the man he was, how he came to be that man.

And then they’d see.

*

After dinner with his friends, Joker was walking into the Compound when his phone rang.

He looked right, saw some of his brothers hanging out with beer, shot glasses, and a bottle of vodka. He headed that way while he pulled out his phone.

“Beer or shot?” Rush called.

“Beer,” Joker muttered, looking at his phone.

He didn’t know why he took the call. He didn’t want to talk to the man, and he no longer had any reason to talk to him.

But in the end he was glad he did even if it was the beginning of an uncertain end.

It started with him putting the phone to his ear and saying, “No reason for you to call me.”

To which Monk replied, “Got my fighters, a basement full of bloodthirsty motherf*ckers, and bets taken on my main draw. A main draw whose ass is not here.”

“Told you when you texted me days ago, Monk, I’m out.”

He had told Monk that. He got Monk’s text about the next fight the day he decided to make his play with Carissa.

The money he made on fights was good. Good enough he had a whack and could buy a truck with cash without hardly making a dent in it.

But he also got paid a brother’s cut of Ride, which wouldn’t make him a millionaire, but it was substantial. He didn’t need to fight anymore.

Not to mention, any good fighter knew when to quit. Bare fists, if he was lucky, he might have a couple more years in him. But if he had a woman like Carissa in his life, he had no business taking those punches.

“You can’t just be out,” Monk replied as Joker stopped by his brothers at the bar.

“Fuck me. Apologies. Did we sign a contract and I forgot?” he asked.

“No, Joke, but you’re my main f*ckin’ draw. You can’t just pull out,” Monk returned.

That was a lie. Monk had two monsters who always fought after Joker. They played that crowd like the pros they were, total carnage.

And Joker never threw a fight, as Monk had asked him to do repeatedly so they could both cash in on it. This meant Joker was a sure thing. Since entering the circuit in Denver, he was undefeated.

So he was nowhere near Monk’s main draw. What he was was a fighter who people liked to watch, and bet on, and win, and Monk put up with that because they won on Joker, so they had money to bet on the monsters who came up after him, fights on which they could lose their cash.