Blazing Hot Bad Boys Boxed Set - A MC Romance Bundle (71 page)

Joseph chuckles. “Nothing much. Went to Tucson and joined the Nines. Worked my way up. Last year, when I become President, we moved back here to Eagle Valley.”

“Okay, but what did you
do?
You couldn’t just ride your motorcycle all day. How did you live?”

“Worked odd jobs. Nothing to speak of. I don’t need a lot.”

“And what do you do now?”

“Same thing. But what about you? I understand your restaurant is the toast of Las Vegas.”

“I’m doing okay. It was tough the first couple of years and I nearly went under at least a dozen times. Dad had to bail me out twice, but yeah, things are good now. But, like all restaurants, I’m only one bad review away from bankruptcy,” she says with a grin.

“I’m glad for you, Rose. I always knew you would make it. Are you married? Have a family?”

“No. Not yet. I have been too busy. You?”

“No,” he says, then grins. “It is surprisingly difficult to find a woman that buys into this whole ‘dropping out’ notion.”

Rose bursts into laughter. “I can imagine. I think I would die without my iPhone.”

Joseph’s grin gets even wider. “Yes. I have noticed that about a few of the women I have dated. The moment they realize they can’t call me, or me them—pfft—they are out of there.”

“So no one special?” Rose asks.

“No. Not since you.”

She has mixed feelings about his answer. There is a slightly morbid satisfaction that he hasn’t found someone else, but at the same time, she is saddened that he is still alone. But then, really, is she any different? She has had lovers, but none have made her feel like Joseph did. “I’m sorry to hear that, Joseph. I really am.”

His grin fades just a bit. “That’s life. You have to roll with the punches. So. Uhh… Rose. I need to check my messages. May I do that now, or should I come back? My food should be hitting the table pretty soon.”

“You’re dining with us today?”

“We all are. The Nine’s I mean. We eat here a couple of times a week. The food’s good, the prices are reasonable, and Tim is a good guy. Was a good guy,” he amends, and he looks at the floor.

“Go ahead. Introduce me you your club when you’re done?” Rose asks, rising from her chair.

“Sure,” Joseph says, brightening slightly. “I won’t be but a moment."

CHAPTER THREE

It doesn’t take Joseph long to take care of his messages and he escorts her to the seven tables they occupy. “Nines, this is Rose. Her family owned the
Goose
before Tim took it over. She is back helping out until Melina can get on her feet.”

“
The
Rose?” a woman asks Joseph.

Joseph blushes slightly. “The one and same.”

“What does
that
mean?” Rose asks him.

“Only that he talks about you. What you meant to him. I’m glad I have finally had a chance to meet you,” the woman answers for him.

Rose is terribly flattered by the comment. “Whatever he told you about me, it was all lies,” Rose says, trying to cover her embarrassment.

She quickly surveys the group spread across the tables. The only consistent thing about them is they all have on a Nine Devils jacket, jeans and riding boots. Beyond that they are as different as any group of people can be. They run the age gamut from perhaps her age of twenty-eight to a man and woman that appear to be well into their sixties. Some are clean cut, like Joseph, while others sport the stereotypical long hair and beard, and their skin color represents the entire human spectrum.

“Somehow I don’t think so,” says the older man, grinning at Joseph like a proud father. “He certainly wasn’t lying about how beautiful you are.”

Rose gives Joseph a push on the shoulder. “You charmer. So why are you guys hanging out with this loser?”

The table become quite for a moment before the man answers. “Because we believe in his vision.”

“What vision is that? The ‘living off the grid’ thing?”

“That’s right. If you take a moment and think about all the ways government intrudes on your basic freedoms, it becomes disturbing. After California closed me down, closed down a business that had been in my family for three generations, I finally realized that I was working at the pleasure of the government. I’m not doing that anymore.”

Rose notices that almost the entire group is nodding as the man speaks. “Closed you down? How?”

“My grandfather opened a plating company in the forties. We did plating for various hot rod and automotive companies. The state finally regulated me out of business.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Rose sympathies. “I own a restaurant in Las Vegas. Believe me, I know about regulations.” 

“Rose, you
don’t
know regulations until you are in California and own a business that uses ‘toxic’ chemicals,” the man says, making quotation marks in the air with his fingers. “Nobody wants to pollute the environment, but the regulations… they got to be just ridiculous. I finally couldn’t operate anymore and had to close down. I had to lay off thirty-five people. That was the hardest thing I have ever done.”

Rose can feel the man’s pain. To be regulated out of business like that would be terrible because you would lose everything, unable to continue to operate and unable to sell. Before Rose can say anything else, the food begins to arrive and she fades away as the wait staff begins to pass out plates and refill glasses.

“They come in often?” Rose asks Tonya after the meals have been served.

“Oh yeah! They are my favorite customers! Gail and I, we always split up waiting their tables. They are great. They don’t make a mess and if you give them good service, they tip good too.”

“And they don’t cause problems?”

Tonya and Gail both smile. “Absolutely not!” Gail chortles. “They are some of the most polite customers we get and the only time they complain is when they have a reason to. Which we never give them of course.” 

Rose pulls at her bottom lip, thinking. Motorcycle clubs have such a poor reputation—perhaps undeservedly so, if how they are welcomed in the
Goose
is any indication. “They always come in for lunch?”

“Naw… could be any time. Normally breakfast or lunch though,” Tonya says before stepping away with pitchers to refill drink orders.

Rose watches as the Nine’s eat, talk, and laugh, thanking Tonya and Gail as they scurry about filling glasses. To be so odd, they seem so… normal.

CHAPTER FOUR

The next day Rose closes the
Goose
after the breakfast rush so that the employees can attend Tim’s funeral. She rides in the family car with Melina, trying to be strong for her friend as Melina stares vacantly out of the side window.

Rose looks about as family and friends gather. Many she knows, at least in passing—a lot she does not. Tim must have been very well liked considering the number attending his service. As Joseph speaks of Tim, Rose can no longer hold her tears. His soft-spoken eulogy seems to come from the heart and he has to pause several times to collect himself.

After he finishes speaking he rejoins Melina and holds her hand, perhaps taking strength as much as giving it. Several others step forward to speak after Joseph but none have the eloquence that he did. 

As the mourners begin to pass by Melina and her family, offering their support and sympathy, Rose hangs back, not wishing to intrude. She spends the time gathering herself and getting her emotions under control. To help herself she looks about the cemetery, trying to focus on the landscaping and not the heart-wrenching sadness on Melina’s face. As she does, she notices that there appears to be a group of men, some of which she recognizes from the Nines, stationed around the mourners. She slowly turns, not wishing to draw attention to herself by looking wildly about, but the phalanx of bikers surrounds them… and they all appear to be inconspicuously watching away from the group gathered about Melina.

She searches faces until she locates Joseph, and another member of his club, standing respectfully behind Melina, far enough back to not be in the way, but close enough to be at her side in an instant. But what captures her attention most are their eyes. Their eyes are hard and constantly moving, peering at each person as they get close before moving to the next person in the line. Rose watches the silent drama play out, Melina and the rest of Tim’s family apparently unaware of the silent guardians at their back.    

After the funeral, Rose leaves Melina at home in the comfort of friends and family and returns to the
Goose
to reopen for the soon-to-arrive dinner crowd. Throughout the evening, the more she thinks about the scene at the funeral, the more she is convinced something is going on. Something more than just Tim Scholly being gunned down in cold blood.

***

“Melina? Are you okay?” Rose asks as she quietly shuts the door to Melina’s house behind her. It is just after eleven and she is exhausted from her long day and the emotional toil of attending Tim’s funeral. She is ready for bed, but seeing Melina staring blankly at the television screen as monster trucks rampage around an arena worries her.

“What? Oh, hi Rose. I didn’t hear you come in.” Melina focuses on the television for a moment before making a face and clicking it off. “You look beat.”

Rose flops into a chair, glad to be off her feet. “Yeah. Now I remember why I only serve dinner at
Aguilar’s.”

“You should let one of the others open or close. You don’t have to be there all day.”

“I know. And I will. I can’t do this for long. Eighteen-hour days get real old, real fast. But I have to see what goes on for myself before I can know what to do.”

Melina smiles sadly. “You sound just like Tim.”

“I should. Dad taught us both.” They sit quietly for a moment before Rose speaks again. “It was a beautiful funeral, Melina. Tim had a lot of friends.”

Melina begins to break but gathers herself with a sniff. “Yeah. He was a great guy. I’m really going to miss him.”

“I know. I am too. Joseph surprised me. I had no idea he could speak like that.”

“I did. I have heard him speak before. Not in the same setting, but he is a natural-born leader. When he talks, people listen.”

“Still, what he said was touching.”

“Yes. He and Tim were very close.”

“I can see that. Joseph told me about the arrangement he has with the
Goose
.”

Melina nods. “He’s no bother, but it can be hard to function in today’s world the way he likes to live.”

“That doesn’t strike you as odd?”

“Odd, as in different? Certainly. But you should ask him sometime why he lives the way he does. You may find yourself thinking about things you never even considered before.”

“You sound like you admire him.”

“I do. As I said, you should talk to him. Listen to what he has to say. I think you may find it very enlightening.”

“How are you holding up?” Rose asks, changing the subject.

“Okay, I guess. I don’t think I would have been able to cope with the
Goose
and this at the same time.”

“I understand. But you’re sure you want to sell?”

“Yes. I don’t really
want
to but I don’t have much choice. The
Goose
has been very good to us, but I can’t manage the
Goose
and raise the kids too. It is just too much. Maybe I will go back and work for Dad. Take Tim’s life insurance and finish my accounting degree. Find something with more stable hours.”

“You could always hire a manager for the
Goose.”

“Maybe. You want the job?” Melina asks with a slight smile.

Rose snickers. “No thank you! I have enough problems with my own place. I couldn’t handle two.”

“I can’t thank you enough for helping me out.”

“Hey... What are friends for?”

Melina’s face crinkles as she struggles to not cry. “You have been such a good friend Rose,” she gasps.

Rose grits her teeth, struggling to stay strong, knowing if she begins to cry Melina will break. “And you, Melina. You have been my best friend ever.”

Melina throws her arms around Rose and weeps softly into her shoulder, holding her tight. Rose embraces her friend and, despite her own tears of sorrow and grief, tries to give her the strength to endure.