Order (Tattoos and Ties 2)

Fuck, even being man-handled out of the cruiser and dragged inside the jailhouse, the only thing that caused pain was the thought of Alec moving on without him. They fingerprinted him, took his mug shot, and booked him in quick order. He wasn’t given the opportunity to make his one phone call before being tossed inside a crowded cell—nothing new there. That would be an ‘accidental’ oversight later on down the line if he complained. He wouldn’t though, the less he said the better.

Apparently, his reputation preceded him or the unfriendly glower on his face intimidated his cell mates. Two scooted off the bench where he chose to sit to keep his back to the wall. Good, he wasn’t there to make friends anyway. Keyes rested against the wall and waited.

Hours had passed from the bullshit bail hearing that set bail at a crazy expensive amount for somebody who had just gotten into a fucking fist fight—that shit pissed him off more than the time it was taking to be released. He’d been waiting so long for his uncle to post bond that Keyes was certain he was staying the night.

Metal on metal signaled the cell door opening, then a cop yelled, “Keyes Dixon.”

Every-fucking-thing the cops ever did concerning him included a minimum of three officers, this time included. All took measured steps backward as he walked through the cell door. Two had their hands on their weapons, eyeing him as if he were stupid enough to start shit in the fucking jailhouse.

The wait had been long and uncomfortable, his attitude was complete shit, and he growled a response when he was handed his jacket, wallet, and phone. He walked out to his Uncle Clyde standing there, looking haggard, worried, and uncertain as hell. He hated he’d put that concern on his uncle’s face. Keyes scanned the waiting room to see Alec standing with an older man, the same one who’d introduced himself as his attorney at the bail hearing earlier. From where he stood, he took a better look at the guy who wore an expensive suit and fancy tie. The man held a briefcase in his hand and, from the familiarity he showed toward Alec, probably wasn’t the free court-appointed attorney Keyes had initially thought he was.

On top of everything going on with Keyes, he didn’t need the burst of jealousy slicing at his heart at seeing Alec and the other attorney standing so close. They looked good together too. Alec belonged with someone he could be proud of, not someone he had to bail out of jail. Keyes was a biker; he fit perfectly in this backdrop. The two men across the room dressed in expensive suits certainly didn’t fit in the cold, dingy waiting area where they currently stood.

He wanted to drive his fist through something, anything. Jealousy was a funky little bitch, sliding in to take the top spot for fueling his anger.

“What’re you doing here?” Keyes asked, walking toward to his uncle, but talking directly to Alec.

“He was here before I got here,” his uncle answered, drawing all his attention back to him. “Dev, Mack, and Fox were here too. I don’t know how they found out. Dev was causing a big scene, so Fox took him to get your bike.”

Keyes cut his gaze straight to Alec. The jealousy dropped a notch as Alec’s safety moved to the most important concern he had. Keyes felt his face tense. All that bullshit talk of him staying out of harm’s way then fucking Alec shows up here at the same time as his brothers? Keyes somehow managed to hold tight rein on his anger and swung his gaze back to Clyde. “Did you get my money?”

“Alec got you out. He had already posted the bond before I could.”

Fucking hell, the shit show just kept getting better. His jaw clenched tight but the fire breathing dragon was hard to tamp down. His gaze sliced back to Alec who stared boldly back at him. Every motherfucker in that jail cell was afraid of him, but not Alec, not even a little bit. It was Keyes who was scared to death of losing Alec.

In the hours Keyes had spent sitting on that fucking hard bench, he had devised his plan. He’d tell his brothers this wasn’t about club business, that it was personal and shit had just gone sideways. That would make sense to his brothers why he’d called Clyde to bail him out instead of them.

Alec had put himself right in his club’s path.

Keyes also hadn’t wanted Alec spending any of his cash on him. This had been his decision alone. He’d fucked up. Now, all the ground they’d covered since they’d met led them right back to the beginning, when he’d felt like Alec was slumming it with the trash that wound up in county lock-up.