“That wasn’t as exciting as I’d been anticipating,” Finn said. “Oh, here we go,” he went on when his brother came walking out of the hallway that led to the bedrooms.
“Did your father give you some shit?” he asked.
“He did,” I confirmed.
“Good. So, all I need to say now is this. You don’t get the luxury of deciding to handle shit on your own when you belong to this club. Your choices blow back on all of us. So we all need to know what the fuck is going on.”
“I understand that,” I agreed, nodding.
“You got any more secrets I need to know about?”
“Nothing like that.”
“You make more enemies on the road?”
“None that would feel the need to track me down.”
“Alright. Good. Go heal up. Brooks will have your ass back to work in no time.”
“That’s it?” Finn asked. “I got more shit when I forgot to take the fucking trash out last time. When I had a bullet wound in my fucking shoulder.”
“Yeah, life’s not fair,” Fallon said, smirking at his little brother. “Anyone seen Dezi?” he asked, looking around. “I feel like I haven’t seen him in a while. Did he drown in a bucket of bacon grease or something?” he added, talking mostly to himself as he made his way out front.
“That was a waste of popcorn,” Finn decided, climbing off the couch.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” I told him, hissing as I got up off the chair. “I’m gonna go drop into bed for an hour or so. When Lulu gets her, send her in my direction.”
Voss and I were just moving into the prospect room when we realized we weren’t alone.
Because the missing Dezi and Nave were standing in the sink area of the bathroom, talking in hushed, but heated tones, their body language confirming what we’d been suspecting since we’d first seen them interact.
They’d crossed paths in the past.
And, from the looks of things, it maybe hadn’t been the friendliest of interactions.
“There he is,” Nave said, spotting us first, and dropping all his tension as he turned. “Dezi was just telling me we need to re-clean the bathroom,” he lied. Smoothly. Easily.
“I heard you played a horny chick via text to Curtis,” I said, reaching out toward him to give his hand a shake. “I appreciate it.”
“Had an idea. Ran with it. Nothing to thank me for,” he said, shrugging. “Before anyone asks, yes, I tossed the burner already,” he said, looking at Voss. “That’s where I was this morning,” he added. I wasn’t sure if there was a hint of dishonesty in his tone, or if I was imagining it there because I was a little suspicious of his ability to lie to us.
“Good,” Voss said, shrugging it off.
“Where’s Louana?” Nave asked, frowning. “Thought she wasn’t hurt.”
“She’s not. She’s getting coffee. But she’s done here,” I told him.
“What?” Dezi asked, looking genuinely hurt. “But what am I going to eat in the morning if not her omelets?” he asked. “I’m gonna have to go back to donut holes and then Zaddy is going to give me all kinds of shit. You tell her she’s to blame when I put on another twenty pounds,” Dezi said, shaking his head sadly as he made his way past us and out of the prospect room.
There was a tense moment after he left, all of us unsure if anyone was going to address the elephant in the room.
In the end, it was Nave who broke the silence.
“Better get to cleaning then,” he said, going under the sink to find the cleaning products, then disappearing into one of the bathrooms.
“I feel like I’m walking a tightrope with Fallon, and not telling him about this is problematic,” I admitted to Voss as I walked over to the bunks.
“Not our secrets to share,” he reasoned, shrugging.
That was fair.
Besides, if some shit came up down the road, Dezi was a patched member of the club. He would hold onto the lion’s share of the blame.
And who was to say anything was going to happen anyway? Just because Dezi and Nave knew each other from their lives before the club didn’t mean there was some giant catastrophe heading the club’s way.
When you ran in criminal circles, it wasn’t weird to cross paths with people you would run into again sometime in the future.
“You two settle shit?” Voss asked as he located my phone cord for me.
“Me and Lulu?” I clarified, getting a grunt out of him. “Yeah. We worked it out. She’s out looking for a lead on an apartment,” I told him.
“Can’t be alone here,” he said, shrugging.
“Exactly,” I agreed. “I’ll be here most of the time, but it’s nice to have a place without so many eyes. What do you… think about everything?” I asked.
“Think you’re an idiot for walking away from her to begin with,” he said, surprising me. Voss was not a relationship kind of guy. He liked his women casually.