Zane (Alluring Indulgence) (26 page)

“What
the hell? Why the fuck would I know?”

“We
know you’ve been talking to Kennedy Endsley, bro. It’s not a secret anymore.”
This time Kaleb chimed in, earning himself a glare from Sawyer.

“I
haven’t heard a damn thing. I’ve got a couple of people looking out for him too,
but no one’s heard anything.”

Zane
didn’t even know whether it mattered if Jake was back in town. He dreamed of
his own vengeance against the mother fucker who damn near killed him with a
tire iron, but at this point, he was more worried about protecting V than he
was exacting his own revenge. And that surprised the shit out of him.

Zane
was known for his short temper and his ability to instigate a fight, but he’d
never done so without good reason. He didn’t tolerate bullying, and he’d found
himself in a number of situations trying to defend someone against them. The
same thing happened with Jake, only Jake took the pussy way out, attacking Zane
when he least expected it. He hadn’t had a chance against four of them,
regardless if they were carrying tire irons.

“I
want his ass in jail,” Travis barked, running his hand through his dark hair,
this time Zane noticed that his oldest brother looked right at Gage.

He
wasn’t sure the dynamic between the two men, especially not now since he’d been
out of the loop for so long, but there was a palpable tension between them.
Gage looked... Zane wanted to say guilty, but that didn’t seem like the
appropriate word.

Tense?
Yes.

Concerned?
Most definitely.

Hiding
something? Possibly.

Zane
wanted to know what.

“You
and I both know he’s going to get off easy. His daddy will make sure of it,”
Zane retorted, looking back and forth between Gage and Travis, trying to
decipher the hidden conversation the two men seemed to be having.

“I
bet his daddy doesn’t know he’s harassing women,” Kaleb added, looking just as
perplexed as the rest of them.

“What
the hell does his father have to do with this?” Sawyer questioned, seemingly
oblivious to the tension.

“Pastor
Sanders? That ring a bell?” Kaleb tossed the statement out, looking back down
at his computer.

“Oh,
shit.” Sawyer said the words everyone was thinking.

Zane
hadn’t been out of the hospital for a week, and he was already tired of this
game Jake was playing. No matter what, he was going to be prepared for the next
time; he just wished like hell he knew when that was going to be.

“I
expect everyone in this room to keep their eyes open. If you see or hear
anything, I want to know about it. Immediately.” This came from Gage and Zane
stared blankly at Kaleb’s friend. What the hell did he have to do with this?

“Good
idea,” Travis barked, glaring at Gage. “Care to tell everyone why you’re
suddenly so fucking interested?”

Gage’s
eyes narrowed on Travis, and Zane heard the growl that he obviously tried to
suppress. “No, I’d prefer not.”

“Not
an option anymore.” Travis seemed to be getting angrier by the second and Zane
felt as though he was watching two fighters gearing up for a quick round.

“What
the hell is going on?” Kaleb closed the lid on his computer and stared back at
the two men who were currently in the middle of some sort of pissing contest.

“Care
to enlighten them? Or would you prefer I do the honors?
Chance?
”

The
last word was drawn out, and Zane didn’t take his eyes off of Gage. He had no
idea what the hell was going on between the two men, but as soon as that word
came out, Gage shot to his feet.

“You
don’t want to do this, Travis.” Gage’s words were said through gritted teeth,
his lips pulled back in a snarl. Zane wasn’t sure he’d ever seen the man this
riled up.

“Don’t
you think the boys deserve to know that you’re not who you say you are?”

Kaleb
stood to his feet as soon as Gage moved in closer to Travis. Putting one hand
on his friend, Zane watched as Gage slowly took a step back, a blank expression
hastily sliding down to conceal the anger.

“What
are you talking about, Travis?” Kaleb asked the million dollar question.

Zane
glanced over at Sawyer, realizing his other brother was leaning forward,
intensely focused on the three men across the room. He looked just as clueless
as Zane felt.

“He’s
a cop,” Travis ground out, saying the word like it was an expletive.

“What
the hell is he talking about?” Kaleb looked at Gage, taking a step back as if Gage
might grow horns and a tail and pull a pitchfork out of his ass at any moment.

Zane
watched as Gage thrust his hands through his hair before dropping back into the
chair he’d been sitting in. His head hung low, his shoulders hunched as though
he’d been defeated.

“A
cop?” Sawyer interjected.

“Fuck,”
Gage growled, glaring back up at Travis. “This shit does not leave this room.
You fucking understand me?”

Zane
wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Gage this pissed off.

“I
knew it!” Sawyer laughed. “A fucking truck driver, my ass!”

Sawyer’s
outburst made Zane laugh, but no one else seemed to find it amusing.

“I’m
UC.”

“UC?”
Zane asked the question, hoping it wasn’t as stupid as he thought it was.

“Under
cover. Thanks to dumbass over here, he just blew my fucking cover.”

Travis
growled and lunged at Gage. In an instant, Zane had his oldest brother
restrained. He was quite impressed with himself actually. He hadn’t even known
he had moved until his arms latched around his brother’s torso.

“Sit
down,” Kaleb barked, clearly taking control of the situation. “Both of you.”

When
Zane felt the tension release from Travis’ shoulders, he let go, moving back to
his chair. He knew Kaleb wasn’t talking to him, but shit, if this was going to
get good, he was more than happy to sit his ass down.

“You’re
not a truck driver?” Kaleb stared at Gage, propping himself on the edge of his
desk.

“No.
I’ve never been a truck driver.”

“What
the fuck, man? I thought we were like family?” Kaleb sounded both angry and hurt,
which Zane sort of understood. He couldn’t help but wonder what it would be
like to find out Beau was living a secret life that no one knew about. He
smiled, wondering if maybe he was.

Gage
didn’t respond; instead, he glared over at Travis like he wanted to rip his
head off and shit down his neck. Zane laughed at the visual but wiped the smile
off his face as soon as everyone turned their attention to him.

“What?
I’m not the cop.” There, throw the focus back to Gage.

“There’s
nothing to explain. I’m a cop. Plain and simple. I don’t want this shit to
leave this room. You hear me?”

Zane
wasn’t sure who Gage was talking to, but he nodded his understanding. No point
in pissing him off more.

As
though the conversation had lost his interest, which didn’t make any damn sense
because he’d brought it up, Travis stood from his chair and paced back and
forth across the room for a moment, and Zane knew the man had something to say,
but he couldn’t imagine what it was now.
Shit
. Did he have an arsenal of
personal secrets that he was willing to expose? Zane sure hoped not.

“We
need to get down to business.”

“Business?”
Sawyer questioned, his feet now propped up on the desk, his hands folded behind
his head as he leaned back in his chair. “This was just getting good. It’s like
an episode of Cops or something. Only this time, the rednecks cornered the cop
and not the other way around.”

“Shut
it!” Gage demanded.

Sawyer
laughed, but he didn’t say another word.

“The
McCoy’s requested that we come up to Dallas,” Travis said, indubitably looking
to rein in the conversation yet again.

“For
what?”

“I
think it’s a good idea for you and Sawyer to check out Club Destiny. It’s no
secret that CD is one of the most popular fetish clubs in the state. We can
learn from them. Get some ideas.”

“I
thought Luke closed the doors?” Kaleb questioned, his attention riveted on the
brother standing in the middle of the room.

“He
did,” Travis answered as if that made perfect sense.

Zane
wasn’t following.

If
the doors were closed, what the hell were they going to see?

“I
talked to him this morning, and he’s decided, thanks to Logan’s and Cole’s
persuasion, to open the club doors on Monday nights until he decides what to do
with the rest of it.”

“Mondays?”
Apparently Sawyer was on the same page he was because Zane was wondering the
same thing. “Why Mondays?”

“I’m
the last person who could possibly explain Luke McCoy’s rationale. I don’t ask
questions.”

“Don’t
you have to be a member to get in?” Sawyer asked Travis skeptically.

“Normally,
yes. He said he’s willing to make an exception for us.”

Zane
was confused. Last he heard Club Destiny was a nightclub that catered to the
general public. They also had some sort of swinger’s club that, according to
the articles he read when McKenna Thorne had been doing her exclusive, wasn’t
much to see.

Evidently
Travis recognized his unspoken question, so he settled on the edge of his desk
and looked back and forth between all four of them. “I think it’s worth
checking out. I haven’t been to the club yet,” Travis began, pausing as if the
rest of them were going to bombard him with questions.

If
Zane even knew what to ask, he might do just that, but he felt like he was in
the dark on this one. He glanced over at Kaleb, then Sawyer to see if either of
them could follow the elusive conversation. They looked just as stumped as he
felt.

“I
thought you were a member.” Thankfully Sawyer spoke up after the silence
descended upon them. Zane thought he had trouble trying to figure out Jake and
his intentions, but shit, having a conversation with Travis was beginning to make
Jake look sane.

“I
am,” Travis said, thrusting his hand through his hair once again and returning
to his chair. “I don’t know how much I can say.”

Now
it was Kaleb’s turn to ask the “
what the fuck”
question.

Once
he did, Travis breathed out an exasperated sigh. “Club Destiny was founded by
Luke and Logan McCoy several years ago. In order to keep the attention off of
their members only club, they created a nightclub for the general public. They
also added a members only level that has caused a lot of curiosity, and it has,
up to this point, satisfied most inquiring minds, as well as act as an in
between for new members. However, both of those are just a cover up for the
real club – The Club at Club Destiny.”

Wow,
and wasn’t that creative, Zane thought to himself. He waited for Travis to
continue, and he wasn’t disappointed.

“Luke
and Logan run an elaborate, high class fetish club that’s only accessible by
members who have passed their initial probation period. I haven’t seen it yet,
but that’s because Luke closed everything down right before I had a chance to
check it out.

“According
to Luke, he’s going to open the club on Monday nights, at least for the time
being. If we don’t go up there tomorrow night, we’ll have to wait another
week.”

“And
Luke said we could go? What’s the catch?” Sawyer questioned, leaning his
forearms on his desk and staring back at Travis.

“No
catch. At least not that I can tell. Since they’ve invested in AI, they’re open
to letting us have a look around to get an idea of what they came up with.
Before we start mapping out our clubs, I think it’s a good idea to go see it.”

“What
about Zoey?” Considering Kaleb’s future wife was now a partner in Walker, Inc.,
she had as much right to visit the club as they did.

“Luke
said to let him know if we’re bringing her. They haven’t let their wives go
yet, and I think they’re open to showing them around, but they want to control
who attends when they do.”

“Why?”
Zane didn’t feel as though he was getting any closer to the light at the end of
the tunnel. Travis seemed to be talking in circles.

“It’s
a fetish club. One of the main aspects of the club is the sharing that goes on.
Members attend so that they can engage in whatever floats their boat. Including
orgies. I don’t think the McCoy’s are interested in taking the risk with their
wives. At least not to the extreme that this club caters to.”

“I
don’t blame them there,” Kaleb added, causing the four of them to look his way.
“What about you?”

Everyone’s
attention turned to Gage when Kaleb addressed him specifically.

“What
about me?”

“Are
you a member of the club?”

“Only
on a technicality.”

“Will
you be going with us?”