He sat up and stared at me. “Yeah, it rings a bell. What about her?”
“We met when I was doing my residency at Boston General.”
“No shit.”
“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “A few days ago, we were on the phone, and she told me all about her fiancé’s business relationship with Flynn Campbell. And Flynn’s relationship with Colt. Ramsey’s wrapped up in all that, too, isn’t he? That’s why you’re in Dallas a few times a week, right? Because you’re doing business with Ramsey that isn’t on the up and up?”
He ran a hand across his cheek and then scratched his chest. “Here’s the thing, Doc. All this shit you’re talking about is club business. And we don’t involve our women in club business. What did Quinn tell you about us?”
“Nothing,” I said. “She was vague.”
“Good.”
“Not good,” I replied. “Why don’t you tell the Old Ladies what goes on?”
“If they need to know anything, it’s broad strokes only.”
“You guys keep them completely in the dark?” I accused.
“It’s for their own protection.” He paused. “There’s a code among clubs. No women, no children get caught in the crossfire. Usually.”
“Crossfire?Usually?”
“Look darlin’, you’re into a whole can of worms here. Some bad shit happened about a year ago.” He sighed. “Fuck. This is already getting complicated. This, right here, is why I stick to broads who know how the club operates. They know what they’re getting into. They know the danger that surrounds us, and they don’t ask questions. Yeah, there are times when life is normal and not much happens around here, but then there are times that shit goes south. You just never know when that’s gonna be.”
I sighed but didn’t reply.
“What’s that sigh mean?”
“I’ve never thought of this stuff,” I admitted. “Maybe I should have dug a little deeper before coming here…”
“Why didn’t you?”
I glared. “Why didn’t I? I don’t know. Maybe I was too pissed off because you didn’t call me back, and I’d thought you’d ghosted me. Again.”
“I did ghost you,” he said without a hint of apology. “Again.”
“You bastard.”
“Woman, I was trying to get you out of my head. We’d barely started this thing, and I was already fucked up over it. I tried to keep my distance, but then you had to show up at the clubhouse wearing leather pants—”
“Do you wish I hadn’t come here?” I asked quietly. “Do you wish I’d just let things be and we’d gone separate ways?”
He reached out to cradle my cheek. “It might’ve been easier on both of us if you’d stayed away. But no, Doc. I’m glad you showed up. But this could really turn into something, yeah?”
I swallowed my fear and nodded.
“Things in my life are fine until they’re not. You’d be crazy to stay, even though I want you to. Every girl wants a bad boy, until they actually get one.”
“What about Mia? Or Joni? Or the other women who decided to be part of this world? They’re here. Why am I different?”
“Joni grew up in it. Her old man was club president. Her brother is the current president. She gets it.” He paused. “Mia was an outsider for sure. Knew nothing about club business or what it meant to be an Old Lady.”
“She looks pretty happy,” I said.
“She wasn’t always. She was involved in the shit that went down last year…” he trailed off.
“How bad was it, Boxer?”