Not Constructive: Red Eyes MC Series Book #6 Page 8

  He stalked toward the doorway. I could see people glancing around, and I was still wishing that this was just some sort of nightmare. Surely it hadn’t come to this. Surely, we could talk these things out.

  If Braxton had these sorts of misgivings about Grant becoming leader of the MC, why hadn’t he voiced them before, when Ray was still around? I knew that grief tended to make people do crazy things, but why did he have to sabotage the whole MC with his actions?

  About half the guys got up and followed Braxton out of there. The rest of us were left in dead silence, nobody able to make eye contact with one another or with Grant. For a second, I could see how flustered Grant was. Whatever he’d been expecting from this meeting, it certainly hadn’t been this. I wondered if I should have given him a heads-up after Braxton had come by my house the previous day.

  But I honestly hadn’t expected that Braxton would do something like this. I don’t know why, but I’d thought that if Braxton had a problem, he would address it quietly with just Grant and the core group, maybe the new recruits. I hadn’t expected drama like this.

  I don’t know why I had expected that, though. This was Braxton who we were talking about. Part of why he wouldn’t make a good leader for the MC was that he was all flash and drama.

  I looked around at the faces that were left. Grant did as well. “Thank you, all, for standing with me,” he said. “As you know, that’s what Ray would have wanted.” He paused. “Like I said, for now, nothing has changed. You know what your duties are, and we’ll continue to meet here on Mondays to discuss anything of interest to the club.”

  It was an anticlimactic way to end what might have been a great meeting without Braxton’s interruption. But I could tell that now, Grant just wanted everyone to get out of there so that he could talk to me in private. Sure enough, as soon as everyone was gone, he turned to me.

  “Well, that didn’t go so well toward showing them what a great leader I could be,” he said sarcastically.

  I grimaced. “We’re going to fix this,” I assured him. “Braxton’s just upset right now. And Landon wasn’t here at the meeting, was he?”

  “He had to head back to Florida,” Grant said. “Something to do with the Sarasota branch of the club. His official business.”

  I shook my head. “Great, well I guess that explains part of the madness,” I muttered.

  My phone started ringing, and I barely glanced at it. But then, I looked again. That was a familiar number, one that I had just programmed in since Ray’s death. The funeral home.

  “Hello?” I asked, motioning for Grant to wait for just a moment.

  “Cameron?” Tara asked, and if I wasn’t mistaken, she sounded angry. What the hell was the problem now? I had paid for the funeral, hadn’t I? Even before I had known for sure that she was going to organize it all like I had asked. “I need you to come to the funeral parlor. We need to talk.”

  “Now really isn’t a good time,” I told her, even though I was sort of curious what she was thinking. Jesus, we hadn’t even slept together and she was giving me the no-nonsense “we need to talk” speech? Who the hell was she?

  “I don’t really care if now is a good time for you or not,” Tara said stubbornly. “You know that guy who was at the funeral the other day? The one who you asked to leave?”

  “Lex?” I asked sharply.

  “I don’t know, sure,” Tara said, and I could tell that she was rolling her eyes from the way that she said it. “He wasn’t exactly here for a social visit. He didn’t tell me his name.”

  “‘He wasn’t exactly’—he was there?” I asked, shocked to hear that.

  “Yeah, he came by to ask what my ties to Red Eyes were. And to threaten us, basically. So I’d like you to come over and tell me what exactly I’m dealing with here.”

  I glanced at Grant. I knew that he needed my help. His confidence was shaken and we needed to figure out a plan for how we were going to convince Braxton to stop whatever crazy crusade he was on. But on the other hand, I was the one who had gotten Tara involved with Red Eyes business to begin with, however tangentially, and I hated to think that Lex might cause problems for her.

  And hey, if we were going to figure out what Lex was planning and gather information on him, there was no better place to start than figuring out what he had said to Tara. What information he was trying to get about us.

  “I’ll be there,” I promised Tara.

  14

  Tara

  Maddie frowned at me as I hung up the phone with Cameron. “Shouldn’t you tell the police about this or something?” she asked. “I just don’t see where asking the guy who got us into this mess in the first place is the right decision.”

  “He didn’t get us into this mess,” I protested, even though I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to defend Cameron. “He just needed someone to arrange the funeral for him. He didn’t mean for this guy, whoever he is, to be trouble for us.”

  “You’d like to think so,” Maddie muttered under her breath. “Maybe they should have stuck with your idea of throwing the body in a river. Isn’t that what these gangs are known for anyway?”

  I shook my head but didn’t answer that one.

  “Anyway, didn’t you promise me that you weren’t going to see him again?” Maddie continued. “What happened to that?”

  I sighed. “You know he’s the only person who can give us an idea of just what sort of mess we’re in,” I told her. “I have to ask. If I go to the police or if I just try to ignore it, who knows what this other guy might do to us?”

  I hated to even think about it, but I knew that I had to be responsible and face the issue. And I had to admit; I was kind of glad to have an excuse to see Cameron again, even if I was sure that Maddie disapproved.

  Cameron got there not much later, and I could see another crack in his otherwise stoic facade. “Are you all right?” he asked immediately, looking concerned. “He didn’t try anything, did he?”

  “No, he didn’t try anything, and we’re both okay,” I told him.

  “For now,” Maddie added. I gave her a look, and she threw her hands in the air. “All right, I’m going to go clean up the reception hall. If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

  Cameron gave me a quizzical look as she walked out. “If I didn’t know better, I’d get the feeling that she didn’t like me. Is she still upset that I demanded to speak with you the first time that I came in here?”

  “No, it’s not that,” I assured him. “She’s just a bit of a worrier, and the fact that you’re involved in Red Eyes has her all kinds of uncomfortable.”

  “Smart girl,” Cameron said, nodding. But I could see the way the corners of his mouth twitched upward in a smile. Then, his look turned serious. “So Lex came here?”

  “Yeah, I don’t know if he was watching the place or what, but I went to go out back to do some inventorying, and he was there waiting for me,” I told Cameron, frowning. “He wanted to know what my relationship with Red Eyes was. He apparently saw the two of us getting coffee after the funeral, and he wanted to know what my relationship was with you.”

  Cameron scowled. “What did you tell him?”

  “I just told him that you were a client. Nothing more,” I said. I paused. “But I have to know. What exactly have you gotten me involved in? I know you said before that you were worried that other clubs might try to attack you right now because of Ray’s death. But are we in any danger here? Are we in the middle of things now?”

  I couldn’t help feeling worried, but I still wasn’t ready to bring up Sam and his potential safety. At the moment, Cameron and Red Eyes seemed like the good guys, but who knew if I could really trust them? For all I knew, they were all in cahoots. I didn’t pay dues to Red Eyes to get their protection, so where did that leave me?

  I had long since learned not to trust anyone. It might be a lonely way to live in the long run, but it meant that I was able to hang on to the life that I was accustomed to living.

&n
bsp; “I’ll handle all of it, don’t worry,” Cameron said. “You and your business are going to be okay.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m not asking you to handle it,” I said peevishly. “I’m just asking for information. I want to know what’s going on. So that I can handle it.” It was my business after all, and I didn’t want him to feel like I owed him a favor, even if it was his fault that I was in this mess to start with.

  Cameron looked surprised to hear me say that, but then he shook his head, eyes twinkling. “Trust me, this isn’t something that you could handle. I’ll handle it. I’ll put some guys here to make sure that you’re safe too.”

  I scowled at him, but I realized there was something more to it. There was an almost distracted look to his gaze like he was thinking hard about something else. And this time, I didn’t think that it was Ray that he was thinking about either. I had asked him to come here because I wanted to know what kind of trouble we were in, but now I wanted to know what kind of trouble he was in, too.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked him.

  Cameron blinked, looking surprised for a moment. Then, an easy smile came across his face. “Nothing’s wrong,” he said, but I could tell that he was lying from the way his eyes shifted away from me.

  “Bullshit,” I said. I paused. “Look, if you need to talk about something to an impartial party, I’m here. Just, if you want.”

  Cameron at first looked like he was going to say no. But then, he paused. “Do you want to get dinner with me?” he asked. “We can talk all about what this means for your business, as well as everything that’s on my mind.”

  “Deal,” I said immediately, not even having to think about it. Immediately after I agreed, I felt guilty. So much for never seeing the guy again, indeed. But, I reasoned, I needed to know about this Lex guy and what he might try to do. I needed to know if there was going to be any threat to Sam. And if I didn’t want to tell Cameron about Sam, then I was going to have to find that out in a different way.

  Besides, I could tell that Cameron needed a friend. And for some reason, I wanted to be that friend, even though I was sure there must be other guys in the MC who were more suited for the position than I was.

  Not only that, but there was a sneaky part of my mind that wondered what the evening might bring. It had been a while since I had been to dinner with anyone other than Maddie or Sam. I wasn’t necessarily going to take advantage of Maddie’s kindness in watching Sam, either. I wasn’t going to spend the night with Cameron or anything like that, but it would be fun just to go out with a male someone. Even just as friends.

  It made me feel selfish and guilty and a whole combination of not-so-nice things. But it also made me excited in a way that I hadn’t felt in a long time.

  “What time are you done here?” Cameron asked. “I could pick you up.”

  “I’m not going anywhere on your motorcycle,” I said immediately. It was a silly thing to say, Maddie’s worrying from the other day getting into my head.

  But Cameron laughed it off. “Noted,” he said. “I have a car as well, mostly for when the weather isn’t good. Or we could walk.”

  “A car’s fine,” I said, and for some reason, I was blushing. “I should be done around five.”

  “Perfect,” Cameron said. “I’ll see you later then.” He sauntered out, glancing back over his shoulder and catching me watch his ass in his jeans. That wink of his certainly made me blush as well.

  I headed quickly into the reception room, nearly knocking over the podium next to the door. “Whoa, what’s got you in a tizzy?” Maddie asked.

  I sighed and dropped into a chair, rubbing a hand over my flaming face. “You’re going to kill me, but I’m apparently going to dinner with him.”

  “Tara!” Maddie exclaimed, sounding shocked.

  “I know, I know,” I said. “But he didn’t want to give me any information about what’s going on; he just tried to tell me that he was going to handle it, that he was going to post guards at our doors or something, and that I shouldn’t worry about it.”

  Maddie groaned. “And that drove you crazy, so you asked him to get dinner with you.”

  “Actually, I asked him what was going on with him because I could tell that something was wrong. And he said we could discuss all of this over dinner.” I shrugged. “I know you don’t approve, and I know that this is playing with fire. But I have to know what’s going on. I have to know what I’ve gotten myself into. And seeing as how whatever it is, I seem to be involved in it now, like it or not, and I think it’s best to know everything that I can about what’s going on.”

  Maddie sighed. “You’re probably right,” she said. “I just wish you’d never gotten caught up with it in the first place.”

  “Yeah, but the only way to avoid that would have been to never start this funeral home,” I pointed out. “If we had refused to hold the funeral, there might have been problems as well. And who knows, even if we were involved in some other business in town, they might have come around anyway. They might have wanted dues from us.”

  “You’re right,” Maddie said. But she shook her head. “I just hope it all works out all right.”

  “It will,” I said confidently. “It always does.”

  “I don’t know about always,” Maddie said. She paused. “So I’m assuming you’re going to need me to watch Sam tonight?”

  “Could you?” I asked. “I could try to call the babysitter instead if you already have plans.”

  “Nah, it’s fine. I’m free. Just don’t tell him that I’m the one watching Sam. I don’t want to be on his radar any more than I already am.”

  I laughed. “Don’t worry. If I have my way, Red Eyes is never going to find out that I have a son,” I promised her. “I’ll try to make it early. He’s picking me up right after work, so I don’t think I’ll be out too late.”

  Maddie shook her head. “I wish this were the kind of normal date where we could quit work early and go get you all dolled up. Where I could tell you to have fun and to not worry about how late you come home. But I’m honestly going to spend the whole evening worrying about you.”

  “I know,” I told her. “But I’ll have my phone with me, and if anything happens, you’ll be the first person I call. Promise. I just need to get some information from this guy.”

  “All right,” Maddie said. “But I’m going to hold you to that.”

  15

  Cameron

  I had a little bit of time to kill before picking Tara up for dinner, but instead of going back to the clubhouse and trying to sort things through with Grant, I headed home. I knew that she would be coming straight from work, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t dress in something a little nicer. Her work outfits were always so put together and stylish.

  I wondered if she dressed like that when she wasn’t at work as well, or if she was more of a sweats and T-shirts kind of gal. I could picture her padding around the house barefoot on weekends, curled up on the couch reading a book. And then I realized that I was picturing her in my house, and I froze. What the hell was I thinking? Just because we were getting dinner together, it didn’t mean that it was anything more.

  We were just going to talk—that was it. I needed to tell her about Lex, I supposed, although I still wasn’t sure how to do that without revealing too much of the club’s business to her, something that I didn’t want to do. I didn’t know what her relationship was with other shopkeepers in town, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted it to get out that we were under attack again. I didn’t want anyone worried, and I definitely didn’t want the businesses that had paid dues to the Unknowns before to think that they should start paying dues to them again.

  The Unknowns were not going to gain back any territory in this town. I was adamant about that. Whatever might be happening with Red Eyes at the moment.

  Jesus, what a shit-show. I still couldn’t get over what Braxton had done. And it wasn’t like I could talk about that with anyone in the MC. To be honest, I was c
loser to Braxton than I was to Grant or any of the other guys, but I had promised Ray that I would help Grant. And besides, Ray chose Grant to be the leader of the club, and I supported that decision.

  So that left me with no one to talk to about all the drama. Except, maybe, Tara.

  But would that mean telling her too much about the club information? Again, I just didn’t know where to draw the line. I didn’t know how much I could trust her. The truth was, though, that I wanted to trust her. Or at least, to take her out to a nice dinner and have a good conversation with someone who, like she had said, was impartial in the matter.

  Tara came out of the funeral home not too long after I pulled up out front, and she immediately slid into the passenger seat. “This is a nice car,” she said, her hands running over the leather upholstery.

  I grinned, unable to help it. “Well, yes,” I told her. “I don’t only know my way around motorcycles. This is my baby. My little vintage Chevy.”

  “You built this?” Tara asked, sounding shocked.

  “Not entirely. But I fixed her up. She was in pretty shoddy shape when I first bought her.”

  “Wow,” Tara said. “That’s honestly really cool.” She paused, looking out the window for a moment. “So where are we going?”

  “There’s this French place on my side of town that I’ve been meaning to try,” I told her, glancing over to see her reaction. “I hope that’s okay?”

  “Sounds nice,” Tara said. “I haven’t been to a place that wasn’t kid-friendly in ages.” I blinked, but she quickly explained. “Not that I have kids, you know. Just, I’m at that age where most of my friends do. And I’ve never been a fan of eating out by myself.”