Rhythm of the Road (Lost Kings MC 16)
Still, it feels weird to get all touchy-feely with my president. “Yeah, I miss her.”
“Then why are you here instead of on the road with her?”
I snap my head up. “What are you talking about? I don’t have time for that when you’re trying to force me into mentoring a bunch of teenyboppers out in the woods and set up porn networks all over the country.”
Z snorts. “As if anyone can force you to do anything.”
“You know what I mean, Prez. Club first.” I tap my VP patch. “Still feel like I need to earn this.”
“You’ve more than earned that patch, brother. No doubt. You’ve been putting the club first more than anyone. Murphy can handle the support club.” Z glances around. “Things are calm here. Might as well take advantage of it while it lasts. You should benefit from all your hard work too.”
“I’m not the only one working hard. Everyone’s finally pulling their weight.”
“And again, you’re partially responsible for that. So, go spend some time with your girl.”
“I made plans to meet up with her in Virginia next week.”
A genuine smile curves his mouth up. “Good.”
“Plannin’ to check in down there. See what I can do to help them out.”
“Appreciate that, brother. I’ll call Ice after my chat with Priest and let him know you’re droppin’ in.”
“Thanks.” I lift an eyebrow. “You mind if I take Jiggy with me?”
“Christ.” He laughs. “You gonna subject poor Shelby to more of him?”
“He was actually helpful at her meet and greet. Keeping the pervs away.”
His expression darkens. “That a regular problem for her?”
“More often than I think she wants to tell me. She downplays it, like it’s part of the job—”
“Fuck that.” Z’s bloodthirsty nature already extends to Shelby and she’s not even officially my ol’ lady yet.
“Yeah, my reaction too.”
“How many dates is she playing in Virginia?”
I’d only briefly looked at the schedule this morning. “Two, I think.”
“Then what?”
“Depends on how much help Ice needs to get his crew set up.”
“Go early.” He hesitates for a second. “But do me a favor and keep it on the down low.” He gestures toward the closed war room door. “I don’t need Stella catching wind of this and throwing a tantrum.”
“She’s smart enough to know if porn’s making the club money, we’re going to set up more sites.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t be so sure about that. To her, it’s ‘art’ and she’s going to be offended if you’re replicating the same setup with another girl.”
“For fuck’s sake. She didn’t invent porn or even the sex-with-strangers reality version she does. People have been doing that shit for eons.”
“I’m not disagreeing, I’m just warning you.”
“Tell Sway to keep her ass in line, then.”
His lips twist with amusement. “I think he’s got his hands full.”
Sway’s recovery from the bullet to the head he took earlier in the year has been going well. Now that I’ve straightened out the mess he made with the film companies and they’re profitable, maybe he should start handling it again.
“I’d like to turn over the maintenance for the sites back to Sway at some point, you know.” Preferably before I have to tell Shelby how often my work for the club involves the business end of amateur porn. I had the perfect opportunity when we briefly talked about Crystal Ball, and let it slip away. Shelby won’t care. She was pretty chill about the strip club. Porn is almost the same thing, right?
He snorts. “Good luck convincing the rest of the club Sway won’t fuck it up again. You’re better off grooming Jigsaw to take over or maybe Steer.”
“Jiggy does have an annoying knack for detail.”
“Good, so get him up to speed while you’re in Virginia. Show him how to build it from the ground up. Like I said, keep it off Stella’s radar.”
“I’m not exactly in the habit of updating Stella on my whereabouts, so I don’t think it’ll be a problem.” I’m trying really hard not to judge Z too harshly for ever gettin’ involved with her.
“Good.” He slaps his hand on the table. “Head down early. It shouldn’t take long to scout some locations, set things up, then you’re free to continue on to the next date with Shelby until I have another assignment for you.”
Z hasn’t dealt with the technical side as much as I have or he’d know it’s not always that simple.
“Are you encouraging me to stay on the road?” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I’m into the idea. “Don’t you need me here at some point?”
“You’ll still be helping out. Besides,” he shrugs, “some things are more important.”Chapter Thirty-FiveRooster
A few days later, Jigsaw and I roll into the parking lot of our Virginia charter.
“Fuuuck.” Jigsaw groans and stretches as he slips off his helmet. The last leg of our trip had been rough.