He snorted at that and turned his back on her.
Stephanie steeled her spine and marched into the clubhouse. Much as it had been when she’d attended their parties, the bar was packed, people in various stages of undress undulated against each other all over the place, and the music was a notch above a roar. Immediately, as though connected by an invisible force, her gaze found Maverick. He sat at the bar, drink in hand, with Carli yammering in his ear.
Stephanie’s stomach soured. He didn’t appear to be enjoying or even aware of Carli’s attention, but when she leaned in and whispered something to him, Stephanie saw red. This was a mistake. She should leave. Call with the information. Text. Hell, send a friendly email. But she shouldn’t be there.
And then it was too late.
The music cut out, and she blinked at the rapid loss of volume. All around her, chatter came to a halt as hundreds of eyes turned her way. For the second time in a week, she was the sole focus of an entire room of pissed-off bikers.
“Um, I need,” she said, then cleared her throat and spoke louder. “I need to speak to Copper.”
The moment her voice rang out, Maverick’s head popped up, and he spun around on his barstool. His expression was unreadable for about a second before it transformed to shock, and he shot off the stool and walked in her direction.
“Jesus, Fed, you must have some fucking balls of steel.” Copper’s voice drew her attention from Maverick.
He stood in the center of the room, hands on his hips, looking like Hell’s welcome wagon.
Shit.
Here went nothing.
“I know I’m the very last person you all want to see. I need ten minutes of your time, then I’ll disappear from your life forever,” she said, unable to make eye contact with Maverick who’d stopped moving forward. “I have vital information for you. About Lefty.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CARLI HAD BEEN running her damn mouth in his ear for way too fucking long. All he wanted was to continue doing what he’d been doing since the FBI raid, and that was drink himself stupid. Or until he forgot.
It was going to take a hell of a lot more alcohol than he’d already consumed. Stephanie would not leave his mind. Her scent, her voice, the gentle swell of her slender hips, the way she arched her back when he sucked on her tits, but most of all, the look of total bliss on her gorgeous face when she came.
He was in some sorry fucking shape, and there appeared to be no end in sight. Hell, he didn’t even have the energy to give a shit that Carli was annoying the hell outta him.
Then she leaned too close, and her heated breath hit his ear. Just as he was about to tell her to take a flying leap, he heard it.
Stephanie’s voice.
Shit, I’m losing my mind.
But then he realized the music had cut off, and all chatter died. What the hell?
He spun around and stared at the woman he loved.
She looked like road kill. “What the…?” He hopped off the stool, ignoring Carli’s outraged, “hey!” and started toward his woman.
But then Copper said something about the size of her balls, and he froze in his tracks. Why was she there? She’d been explicitly warned not to return. And what the fuck had happened to her?
She didn’t so much as blink when she informed Copper she had news on Lefty. His wildcat had guts, he’d give her that. Had Lefty done that to her? He swallowed down the desire to demand the information. Lefty and his crew were sick sonsabitches if what they did to Chloe was any indication.
Oh, Jesus, he hadn’t even considered that Stephanie might have been sexually assaulted. Nothing would matter, not his patch, not the fact that she’d been a fed, not the lies, nothing. If he found out Lefty’d had laid his hands on her, he’d kill the fucker and everyone Lefty worked with himself.
“I’ll give you ten minutes of my time, so I hope that’s enough to say your piece,” Copper said. “Jig, grab the first-aid kit and meet us in the spare room at the top of the stairs. Let’s go, Fed.”
Without an invitation, Maverick followed Copper and Stephanie up the stairs. She knew where all the rooms were and went straight to the empty one.
“Sit,” Copper ordered before turning to Maverick. “Don’t think so, brother.”
Mav never, never, went against his president’s orders. It was less about the pecking order and more about the deep respect he had for the man and his position.
But there was a first for everything.
“Listen, Prez, there isn’t a damn thing you can do to keep me out of that room.”
Copper chuckled and leaned against the door frame. “You don’t think so?”