“It’s okay, I don’t mind.”

Prez catches her hand before she can turn away, and she glances down at his big oil-stained fingers encircling her wrist. “You ain’t gotta bring anyone those muffins but me, darlin’. You got that?”

She nods and scurries from the room. I turn and watch her arse as she leaves, and I’m met with a cold, hard threat from my Prez because of it. “You lookin’ to have those pretty baby blues of yours removed, Tank?”

I grin. “Nah. She’s a fucking peach, real ripe and juicy that one, but I like my eyes, and my balls where they are. Besides, I got enough shit to deal with since the junkie moved in.”

“How’s she doing?”

“You mean when she’s not trying to claw my face off, holding Killer at gunpoint and shooting him in the chest as she runs away? She’s a fuckin’ walking advert for schizophrenia, Prez.”

“You takin’ care of her right? Getting’ her clean? Meetin’ her other needs?”

“I got all her needs but the one for drugs met, Prez,” I say, and it’s my turn to lean forward, resting my arms on the table, and staring him down the way he’d stared at me. He doesn’t need to know that she and I ain’t havin’ sex. We’ll get there. Neither one of us are goin’ anywhere. “And that’s how it’s gonna stay.”

“Boys are gettin’ lonely, Tank. Missin’ their girl.”

“She’s never been their girl,” I snap. “I’m the one she came lookin’ for. I’m the only one that gets to call her that.”

Prez leans back in his chair and folds his arms behind his head. I don’t like the turn this conversation has taken. I don’t like the fuckin’ smirk on his face. If it were anyone else I’d wipe ’em fucking clean of it. Smarmy fuckin’ bastard.

“You were really fuckin’ serious, weren’t you?” he asks, and his cocky smile is an all-out grin now. “About claimin’ her for your woman?”

“As a fuckin’ heart attack. Bitch is mine,” I warn. “And I’ll risk my cut to defend her.”

“Alright, alright. Calm your fuckin’ farm, arsehole.” He smiles and then shakes his head, taking a sip from his coffee. “Guess I’m in the market for a new girl then.”

“Guess so.”

“This isn’t why you came to talk to me though.”

“No, it’s not,” I agree. “It is about Ivy, though.”

“Of course it is.” Prez says.

“I wanna know who the bastard is. I want a name, and I want a fuckin’ address.”

“Ah, shit.” He scrubs a hand over his beard. “I knew you were gonna make this complicated. Actually, I’m kinda surprised you didn’t come to me before now. I’m sorry, brother, but I can’t give you a name.”

“What do you mean you can’t give me a name?” I ask. He better start talkin’ real fuckin’ soon, because I’m about to lose my shit entirely. “You know who he is, right?”

Prez gives a solemn nod. “I know. Ivy came to me her very first day and struck herself a deal. I’d keep him away from her, give her a roof over her head, food, and the protection of my club if she’d take care of my men.”

My jaw ticks, and I find myself balling my fists together on the table. “She never told me that.”

“I’d bet my arse there’s a lot of shit she hasn’t told you, brother.”

“Looks like.”

“Don’t be too hard on the girl,” he says, taking a bite out of the muffin Raine left for him. “She didn’t want anyone to know. I don’t even think she told Kick all the shit about her old man—”

“I need to find him,” I say.

“Bad idea.”

“He’s a fucking animal, Prez. He deserves to be strung up and flayed open. This is Ivy we’re talkin’ about. She’s family and he fucked her up worse than any of the shit that fucker down at the café did to Raine. We’ve put people down for a lot less.”

“Listen, there’s nothing I’d love more than to give this fucker his just deserts, but it’s complicated.”

“Complicated how?” I seethe.

“He’s workin’ with the Russians.”

“Fuck,” I say, and shove away from the table. My chair clatters to the floor and I pace, runnin’ my hands through my hair. I grip the back of my head and let out a deep breath.

“Yeah, fuck is right. With this deal goin’ south with Ryzhanov, drawin’ any more attention to ourselves is fuckin’ suicide.”

“You mean you’ve known all along where this fucker is? You’ve known exactly what she’s been runnin’ from all these years, and you haven’t put a fuckin’ bullet in his head?”

“We can’t risk it.”

“And what about her, huh, Prez? What about Ivy and what she’s risking? What I’m risking by keeping her arse at the cabin? You think about that?”

He nods. “Yeah, I thought about that, arsehole. That girl may be every shade of fucked up, but she’s still family. Of course I fuckin’ thought about that. Why the fuck do you think she isn’t in Kick’s care right now?”

“Maybe ’cause he has some other bitch to contend with.”

“Yeah, she’s a problem, but not one he couldn’t handle. He’d take on both women if I told him he had to, but he ain’t what she needs right now.”

“And I am?”

He stares at me for a long time and nods. “Yeah, brother, you are. That girl ain’t got a single living soul in the world that’d see this through better than you can. You’re exactly what she needs. That cabin is exactly what she needs, and as long as you keep her there, she’ll be fine. No more fuckin’ field trips, you got me?”

“You’re watching me?”

Prez’s eyes are glitterin’ with rage when he says, “In all the years I’ve known you, have you ever needed to doubt my trust in you?”

“No.”

“I didn’t have you watched, motherfucker. Grim caught sight of the two of you leavin’ that fancy lingerie store as he was comin’ back from my place. Said the bitch was all over you like a gold-diggin’ whore on a carcass.” Prez smirks. “Ivy’s always been the kinda girl who wants what’s bad for her. Maybe it’s a condition of her upbringing, maybe it’s just fuckin’ stupid female logic. I don’t fuckin’ know. But either way, you want her on the back of your bike permanently? You gotta nail that bitch down. Show her that she’s yours and only yours. Right now, with you is the safest place she can be. When her old man is out of the picture with the Russians, we move in and take that fucker out. But he’s been there a long time, brother, probably as long as you been jonesing for his sweet daughter’s pussy, and I don’t see it changin’ anytime soon. For now, we don’t make a move until this Ryzhanov headfuck has blown over.”

“This is bullshit,” I say and lash out at my overturned chair, unleashing my anger. I kick the fuck out of it for several moments, and all the while I feel the weight of my Prez’s stare.

“We don’t make a move until I have the Cold King’s balls in my hands, you got me? You hearing me loud and fuckin’ clear on that, arsehole?” Prez says, getting up from the table. He stops beside me and leans his head in real close. Too fucking close. “We leave the fucker alone until I say he’s all yours. That’s an order, Tank.”

“Yeah, Prez, I hear ya,” I snap. “Loud and fuckin’ clear.”

“Good. Now get your arse back to that cabin. I got another mark for you in the next few days and I’m gonna need surveillance on a residence—”

“Someone else can’t take it?”

“Don’t you think that if I had someone else to take it I wouldn’t be callin’ you in here, motherfucker? I told you yesterday I got every spare man I have wrapped up in this bullshit with Kick’s bitch. I got Feds crawlin’ all over my arse tryin’ to track down our men for questioning, and this shit with the Russians ain’t gonna fix itself.” Prez walks back to his seat, and picks up his coffee. He’s not that much older than me, but today he looks haggard.

“I need you on your fuckin’ game, brother.” He runs a hand down over his face, and leans back in his chair. “I know this shit with Ivy is doin’ a real fuckin’ number on ya, but right now my priority is keeping every single member of this club safe and away from a holdin’ cell.”

“Yeah, Prez. I got it,” I say, and pinch the bridge of my nose. Only I don’t got it, because I need that fucker strung up like a pig on a meat hook. I need to make him pay, and I can’t wait for this thing with the Cold King to blow over, because it means playing fuckin’ Russian Roulette with Ivy’s life, and I reckon she’s done enough of that shit to last a lifetime.