Duke (15 page)

“
Okay, so call a vote. Weapons privileges for your Duchess. Even now, as pissed off as she is, she isn’t emotional. She knows how she feels and she’s tellin’ you. She throat punched you, but knew how much force to put behind it to keep from killin’ you. She kicked the back of your knee, but didn’t do it with intent to maim but to slow you down. You’ve assured us she knows how to handle a weapon, and I have no reason not to believe you, so I’ll vote aye. Call a vote.”

Duke looked around and asked, “Duchess?”

“
Yeah, it fits. She’s the Duchess to your Duke. Now call a damned vote.”

Duke looked back at Gen. “Do you understand what they’re saying?”

“
It doesn’t matter, Duke. I trusted you not to hurt me, and not twenty-four hours later, you hurt me. I can’t do this.”

Duke sighed, but didn’t look away from her as he said, “Count it down. All in favor of letting Gen have permanent weapons privileges on RTMC property, including all areas of the compound, and of letting her have access to the back of the clubhouse without an escort, say aye. Start with Gonzo and work around the room.”

Gen heard Gonzo say “aye,” then heard someone else, and then someone else. She lost count of how many voted, but not a single one voted against.

She could see the emotion in Duke’s face as they all gave consent, but she stayed quiet. When no one said anything for several seconds she said, “Great. Wonderful. Now if you’ll let me go, I’d like to leave.”

Duke shook his head and Gen said, “Here’s a novel idea. Why don’t you trust me enough to walk away from you and decide on my own whether I might be able to give you another chance with my heart?”

Duke looked at her for a count of three, stepped around her, and opened the door.

Gen was halfway across the parking lot when he said, “Don’t take too long to decide, Beautiful.”

She called Bethany as she left the compound, and stopped to buy a bottle of rum on her way to her best friend’s house.

* * * *

Duke looked at his men and said, “I’m gonna get on my bike and start riding. I don’t know when or where I’ll stop, or when I’ll be back. Consider me out of pocket.”

Duke stepped out as Gen was driving out of the compound. Unfortunately, as he threw his leg over his bike, two patrol cars and an unmarked detective vehicle pulled in. Cursing under his breath, he settled his helmet on his leg to see how they parked and how they exited their vehicles.

He knew the detective, but didn’t know either of the men in uniform, and took this as a bad sign — Detective Miller had been to their parties, but had brought people who weren’t a friend of the club as his backup.

Duke returned his helmet to the back of his bike and swung off to walk to the men.

“
Gentlemen. What can I do for you?”

He knew his men inside would’ve been alerted by the control room, and was surprised no one came out to talk. He guessed they all knew he wasn’t in the mood to see them right now. Dawg and Brain had voted with him, so he didn’t want to pummel
their
faces, at least.

“
It’s come to our attention that Thurston Alexander is looking into taking steps to apply for an FFL license.”

Duke relaxed a little as he said, “That’s right. He’s looking to open a gun store, and wants to do it by the books. He’s here if you need to talk to him.”

Detective Miller shook his head. “No, we want to tell you we aren’t happy with the prospect of your MC owning a gun store. Nearly a quarter of your members are felons. You know they can’t have access to weapons.”

Again, Duke nodded. “We’ll set security up so it takes a palm print to get in, and not just keys. None of our felons will have access.” Duke made a quick judgment call and added, “We’re trying very hard to keep to legitimate businesses. You know some of our other chapters have questionable income streams, and we want to avoid that. We’ll be opening up another bar, possibly two more, and we’re going to open a gun store and offer training.”

“
And here’s your warning — we’ve had instructions from the brass to stay out of your way. We’re to watch you, and arrest you if you completely step over the line, but not to harass you over bullshit stuff. You open a gun shop, you lose that.”

Duke nodded. “Thanks for the heads up. I know I can’t offer you to come in and sit down for a beer now, but if you’d like to stop and talk when your shift’s over, all three of you are welcome.”

The two uniforms looked pissed, but Detective Miller smiled. “Not today, Duke. Think about what I said, you know how to contact me if you need to talk. We’ll get out of your hair, now.”

Duke gave them a chin lift, watched them go, looked into the camera at whoever was sitting in the control room, and then turned to get on his bike and roar away.

* * * *

Duke rode without thinking and ended up along the Ocoee River. He knew someone at one of the outfitters, and pulled in. A quick conversation and he had a cabin for the night as well as an invitation to hang out at the campfire later and drink.

He knew his men would know where he was, they all had tracking devices on their bikes and cars. He also knew they’d leave him the hell alone until he got back. Assuming there were no emergencies.

Duke waited until well past dark, hiked a good distance away from the populated areas, took his clothes off, folded them into a small bag, hid them up in a tree, and
changed
.

He ran for hours, letting his wolf free. Nothing existed but the ground under his feet, the wind in his fur, and the smells and sounds of the forest.

He chased a deer, but mostly for sport. He wouldn’t kill one when it was just him, as too much of the meat would go to waste. If he got hungry he’d find a sweet bunny rabbit, or perhaps a raccoon.

Daylight snuck up on him, and it took a while to get back to his clothes. He managed to get
changed
and head back to his cabin a little after sunrise, and he put a note on the door that said he intended to sleep in and would pay for an extra day.

“
Best sex you ever had, and you’re gonna throw it away because he didn’t handle the whole divided loyalty thing very well? I mean, granted — he fucked up. However, he admitted it and apologized.” Bethany shook her head. “I still can’t believe you throat punched him. Damn girl, you have cajones.”

“
That’s the thing. It’s more than just him not trusting me to leave my gun in the car. He said he’d have my back, and it’d be safe for me to go in without being armed, and then he trapped me and wouldn’t let me go. He didn’t have my back.”

Bethany added more rum to Gen’s drink and leaned back. “Fucking
bastard
.”

Gen smiled at her friend and took a huge swig. “Yeah. I know.”

“
So whatcha gonna do?”

“
I have no idea, but I think I need a few days to figure it out. Nothing’s going to be decided tonight while I’m trashed.” Gen looked at her drink and said, “Actually, I’m kind of getting tired. Let’s turn a movie on and watch it until we fall asleep. I’m thinking it’s a Coyote Ugly night, how ‘bout you?”

“
Yeah, what time you need to wake up?”

“
Don’t have to be anywhere till noon. Maybe nine, so I can go home and change.”

Bethany nodded and said, “My first appointment is at eight, but I’ll set the alarm for you before I go.”

* * * *

Gen didn’t hear from Duke all day, and was a little surprised he left her alone. She didn’t feel like going home when she finished for the day, and stopped by her brother’s dojo, as she knew his class should be ending soon.

She was waiting in the lobby when he finished, and Frisco, Cassie, Ethan, and Sam all walked to her. “Everything okay?” Frisco asked.

“
Yeah, just didn’t feel like going home yet, and thought if ya’ll were going out to eat after class I might tag along.”

“
Of course you can,” Cassie said as she reached for Gen and tugged her to the back of the room. “Come talk to me and Sam while we get changed, okay?”

As soon as the door closed, Sam said, “Big alpha dude like Duke? And you don’t want to go home? What happened?”

“
I don’t want to talk about it. I told him I needed time, though, and it looks like he’s giving it to me.”

“
I’d be willing to bet he doesn’t give you much time,” said Cassie.

“
We can always dump the guys,” Sam told her. “The three of us go out without them if you need to talk.”

Gen shook her head. “No. I don’t want to talk about it, just want to maybe have a few drinks and get something to eat.”

“
Cam’s already at the billiard club with Isaac, and that’s where we’re headed,” Cassie said. “Why don’t I follow you home so you can leave your car there, and then I can drive you to the club. That way you can feel free to drink all you want. If you’re still there when we leave, Abbott will take care of you and arrange for someone to take you home.”

Gen nodded. “I don’t have anything on my schedule tomorrow until four o’clock, so that works for me. Thanks, Cass.”

When Cassie and Gen made it to the club, they discovered their group playing pool at two tables side by side, with tons of munchies on the table. Isaac drew her into a hug as soon as she arrived, and she was surprised when Abbott also greeted her. She was used to seeing him around, but hadn’t expected him to be hanging out with their group.

Gen ended up playing a game of pool with Abbott, and while it was close, he still won. As people started leaving, Gen realized he was out there so she could stay later and get sloshed. He was babysitting her for Isaac.

“
Abbott,” she said after the others left, “I don’t need you to babysit me. Just keep the drinks coming. I’ll find someone to play pool with me, and if not, I can play with myself.”

“
Your friends are worried about you and I offered to look after you. They didn’t ask me to, I made the offer. I can lend an ear if you want to talk about it, a shoulder if you need to cry, or I can get you into Isaac’s club next door and offer a punching bag if you need to beat on something. For now, you seem to be doing okay with your rum and Coke, but if you need anything else, let me know.”

“
Why are you being so nice? You barely know me.”

“
Because Isaac is important to me, and Frisco is important to him. You’re family, Genesis. I take care of family.”

Gen put her pool cue down and climbed onto a tall chair before leaning forward onto one of the lofty circular tables to fish for her straw and take another drink. Abbott followed her over and sat on the other side of the table with a smile.

“
I think, when I finish this drink, I might be ready to go home.”

“
Two options. If you don’t want to be alone you can sit in my office and drink and talk to me while I get some work done. I just need to look over the orders, make sure we aren’t about to run out of anything, that sort of thing. I can talk as I work. When you’re ready, I can take you home. Or, I can take you home when you finish your drink.”

Gen looked at her drink, looked back up. “I don’t think I’m drunk enough yet, so I’ll accept your offer to hang out in your office, if you don’t mind.”

“
If I minded, I wouldn’t have made the offer.”

Abbott settled Gen on the sofa in his office and then he got to work. They talked about pool strategy, which led to an in depth discussion about geometry and how interesting triangles are, which morphed into a discussion about how a good grasp of chess can help one succeed in business. When her drink got low, someone showed up with another.

“
Do you think one needs to know strategy to create a successful relationship?” Abbott asked.

“
No. Love shouldn’t be about games.”

“
In a perfect world, yes, but isn’t it necessary to look ahead, to weigh your partner’s reasons for doing something, so you don’t get blindsided later?”

“
Do you think Frisco and Isaac did that?”

“
Oh, I’m certain Isaac did, but I doubt your brother did.”

“
And they’re both happy. Is that because Isaac drove the bus by using strategy, or because it would have worked out, anyway?”

“
You’ve heard the story, I’m sure. You tell me.”

Gen looked at him a few seconds and said, “Because Isaac looked ahead at all future possibilities and created a strategy for the one he thought most likely to work that gave him what he wanted.”

“
What did he want?”

“
At the time, he wanted Cassie. I think eventually he wanted everyone else, but at the time, it was all about making Cassie happy, getting her past the rape, and making sure she ended up in his bed.”

Abbott nodded and looked back to his computer.

Gen took another drink and put her head back, and the next thing she knew, Abbott was waking her.

“
Oh, gosh. I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“
No need to apologize. It’s two o’clock, though, which is when I normally leave. Are you ready for me to take you home?”

Gen sat up and the room swam, so she said, “Yes,” instead of nodding.

Duke was all kinds of pissed off.

Gen’s car was home. Her cellphone said she was at The Billiard Club, but he’d been there and she wasn’t there. He’d asked to see Abbott, but had been told Abbott wasn’t available, even though Duke had seen the man’s car in the parking lot.

So now he sat on her front porch, a six pack of beer on the floor beside him. Waiting. He couldn’t get drunk, couldn’t even get buzzed, but he liked the taste.

And when he saw Abbott’s car turning into her driveway at two fifteen in the morning, he wanted to put his fist through a wall.