Throne of Scars (Lost Kings MC 20)

He shrugs. “Go on.”

“I don’t know. I showed up for my weekly appointment. She said he’s on leave but wouldn’t elaborate. She made it clear she won’t take any bullshit from me but also seemed like she’ll be fair and reasonable.”

“Give me her name,” Z says.

“No. I don’t want the club gettin’ involved. She said she thinks I’m making progress and she might recommend I get released early if I stay out of trouble. You’ll blow my reformed criminal image if you try to bribe her on my behalf.”

“Fair enough, brother.” Z holds up his hands. “I’ll stay out of it for now. But if she gives you trouble…”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

Rock stares at me, then Z, then Teller. “You think Loco went for Grillo already?”

“Seems awfully fast,” Z says. “I barely got the dude’s schedule.”

“You’ve been tracking Grillo?” I ask Z.

“Damn right I have.” He crosses his unapologetic arms over his stubborn chest.

“Who knows how many enemies he’s got,” Wrath said. “All his people have done hard time. Fucking around with their freedom’s a good way to get killed.”

I hadn’t really given a lot of thought to anyone else Grillo might’ve screwed over. Too concerned about my own damn freedom.

“Any other business?” Rock’s gaze slides down the length of the table and back.

Even though I don’t want to start another round of fuckery, I raise my hand. Rock sits back and nods at me.

“We got any prospects around?” I haven’t seen any yet. But Wrath said something about them not being allowed at the property until they’d been prospecting for a certain amount of time.

“Only a couple at the moment,” Wrath answers.

“What do you need?” Rock asks.

“Serena’s staying with a friend of hers. She needs some yard work done. I said I’d take care of it. I can do it myself, but—”

“I’ll do it,” Dex volunteers.

“Bro, you don’t have enough to do?” Murphy says.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Ravage stands and waves his hands around in a slowdown gesture. “How hot is this chick if Dex is willing to give up his free time to do manual labor?”

“Jesus,” Dex mutters. “It’s got nothing to do with that.”

Teller cough-laughs into his fist. “Okay.”

“Thanks, brother.” Ignoring the comments, I lean forward to look at Dex. “That would help me out a lot.”

“Not a problem.”

“I’ll pay you for your time.”

“The fuck you will,” Dex snaps.

“She’s got a big yard.”

Rav opens his mouth.

“Don’t,” I warn him. I return my attention to Dex. “A lot of hedges.”

Rav lifts his hand and opens his mouth again.

“Don’t do it, bro,” Teller warns. “Grinder came locked and loaded to kick fuckin’ ass today.”

“Damn right.” I nod at Teller. “I also need someone to help me move stuff out of Serena’s apartment.”

“Why isn’t she moving in with you?” Steer asks.

I can’t tell if there’s sarcasm coloring the question, or I’m just irritated that Steer opened his mouth. “Because I’m still dealing with drop-ins from parole and other shit.”

Jigsaw lifts his hand. “I can help you, G.”

“Thanks. I’ll have more details after Friday.”

“Notice Dex ain’t volunteering for that one,” Murphy mutters loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Fuck off.” Dex flicks his middle finger at Murphy.

“All right. I think we’re done here.” Rock smacks his palm against the table to end the meeting. “My officers stick around, please.” He glances at me and nods. I take it as a cue to keep my ass where it is.

Z shuts the door behind the guys and returns to the table, taking the seat next to mine.

“For real, what do you think happened to Grillo?” Rock asks.

“Got no fucking clue. She said he was on leave. I asked if he was okay, and she said she didn’t know. Sounded like it was unexpected. She wasn’t pleased to have his caseload thrown on her, I could tell that much.”

Rock glances at Wrath, then Z.

“You think we need to pay Loco another visit?” Teller asks.

Rock groans. “Yes. But this time, let’s just stop by the diner. I’m gettin’ sick of going all the way into Ironworks.”

“Wait, he owns a diner along with the whorehouse?” I ask.

“Legit income.” Wrath rubs his fingers together. “The burgers are pretty good, too.”

“Dex, can you ask Malik to set something up?” Rock asks.

“Yup. I’ll do it as soon as I get to CB.”

“All right.” Rock stands. “Anyone need anything else?”

When none of us answer, he nods at Teller. “Get those permits done.”

“I’m on it.”

Z touches my arm, stopping me from getting out of my chair. “Helping her move, huh? That’s a big commitment.”

“Is it?”

He shrugs. “How long is she staying with her friend?”

“Until I get a bigger place. I don’t know. We haven’t really gotten that far.”

He stares at me, then flicks his gaze across the table. No one’s paying attention to our conversation, though. “You’ll have to get there sooner rather than later.”