Order (Tattoos and Ties 2)

Fox completely lost his casual swagger. Things took a different spin as he swung his head toward his son. “Goddamn Dev, actin’ like a fuckin’ ass or we would’ve stayed to take you home.”

Not the first time Dev had heard those words, and his buddy was completely unfazed by his father’s customary outburst. Devilman never looked away from Keyes. In all the years he’d known Dev, he generally had two types of looks: that of the joking, fun-lovin’ guy who was always up for a good time, and the other that was red-hot, pissed off and everyone knew it. Today though, Dev had speculation on his face, and those eagle eyes focused straight on him. Keyes couldn’t get a good read on his brother.

“We got Margo ready to go, but she said you’re already represented.”

Well hell, in all his planning, he hadn’t come up with a reasonable explanation as to why he’d chosen not to use the club attorney. Fox’s words didn’t sound like a question, more an accusation, and Fox crossed his arms over his chest, his full attention back on Keyes. Dev mimicked his father’s stance, crossing his arms over his chest, remaining weirdly quiet, waiting on his answer.

“Clyde called somebody. I don’t know. He’s freaked. I’m meetin’ with ’em later. I’ll let you know,” he answered vaguely. He didn’t dare say more, feeling like he was already rambling.

“Not sure that’s gonna be good enough. This is club business. You know the rules,” Fox said with a single nod, his biceps bulging as he shifted from one foot to another. That was the other fucked-up thing churning in his gut. How much did he tell his club about Cummings? They’d want to know where he got the information, and by God, he’d never tell them the truth.

If Fox wanted to talk club rules, Keyes had one to throw out—Donald Cummings had been voted in as a prospect without his approval. That broke every goddamn rule they had. The club bylaws were clear: patched members voted unanimously on new members, both prospects and full members, or the individual didn’t make the cut—no exceptions. His brothers’ betrayal festered in his gut.

Instead of saying any of that, Keyes held the argument and responded with an impromptu something he pulled straight out of his ass. “Nah, not really club business. I didn’t know who he was, but he was terrorizing his kid.”

“So, this was more of that vigilante shit,” Fox said. Again, not a question, and Keyes would let him think whatever he wanted. It was as good a deception as any, and he reached inside his cut, pulling the prospect patch out of the pocket, handing it to Fox.

“Maybe, but he had no respect, sounded like my old man. I lost it, not club-related, just me pissed off.”

Fox took the patch. His brow wrinkling at the material in his hand.

“Figured I’d take it back since I never voted him in.”

He let that sit between the three of them. His club leaving him out had been a hard pill to swallow. All his lifelong lines of loyalty and friendship were blurring. This time a year ago, if Keyes learned there was a rat among them, it wouldn’t have even been a question. Fox would know within minutes of him finding out. Today, he didn’t know who to trust in a club that owned him body and soul. All he’d ever done was put this group of men above everyone and everything. Had they always kept him at arm’s length not because of his old man, but instead because of who he was as a man? Had they used him for his strength and brute force like Alec had suggested before?

“You know better than most we ain’t ever got between a brother and his kid, but the no respect bothers me,” the prez said, tucking the patch in his back pocket. Yeah, Keyes wasn’t buying that either. He’d never been respected. If this had been any other brother, they would have ridden out together last night to finish Cummings off.

Keyes’s jaw ticced in aggravation.

Fuck. He wasn’t feeling his brothers at all. What the fuck did that mean?

It meant Alec had gotten inside his head.

“I sent Ray-Ray over to the tire shop to help out. He says Louis’s got your shit down, so don’t worry about that. I didn’t know how much time you were gonna need today,” Fox said and lifted a hand to clamp on his shoulder. Keyes looked over at it and had to stamp down his need to move out from under the hold. “Don’t worry about Cummings. I’ll take a ride this afternoon, see where his head is. You’ll decide how the club handles this one.”

The back and forth inside his head made him feel like he was playing mental volleyball. Habits were damn hard to break, and the protect-the-club-at-all-costs habit went to the forefront of his thoughts. Fox going to Cummings would be the worst thing in the world to happen. Right as Keyes said an internal “fuck it,” and started to spill Alec’s secrets, the door rattled again, drawing all their attention that way. A small woman stood in the threshold, staring at them with a hubcap in her had.