It was an awkward moment. Feelings weren’t my thing. Last weekend at the party, I’d totally lost it. Madeline had later told me it needed to happen. She was right. I’d felt ten times better after releasing all that pent-up anger.
“I need to make some calls,” Hero told Ryder, then turned toward me. “Show him the checklist and where all the cleaning supplies are.” He pointed to the closet on his way to his office.
“Sure, boss.”
Ryder and I stood there staring at each other for a beat. I wasn’t a talkative person or good at making conversation. Getting slapped around for talking too much as a kid, I’d learned to keep my mouth shut—until Emilee came along. My sweet girl was the first person who put me at ease. She’d made me feel safe to speak my mind. Hell, she encouraged it.
“So…” Ryder looked around the shop. “Sell a lot of guns and ammo here?”
“We do okay.” The gun shop was more of a façade for the illegal shit the club partook in, the shit Storm wanted to get the club out of. It was what his uncle Matt had put in motion back when he was alive. With brothers getting married and having kids, it lit a fire under Prez to make the club legit.
“Cool. I’ve never shot a gun before.”
I jerked my chin for Ryder to follow. “On the compound, there’s a shooting range. Storm or Boxer will train you. They’re expert marksmen.” I opened the door to the utility closet behind the counter.
“Yeah, Hero told me they were marines. I thought Boxer wasn’t around.”
“He’s not. He and his wife are in Oregon on an extended honeymoon.” I grabbed the clipboard off the wall.
“Hero misses Boxer. I guess he helped him train for MMA fights. Do you think they’ll really come back? Hero’s skeptical after Ire was promoted to enforcer.”
I shrugged. “Don’t know. We all miss Box.”
I’d wondered if Boxer would quit the club after we voted Ire in as enforcer. Boxer hadn’t turned in his cut, but he hadn’t given Storm a return date either. Something about making up for lost time with Snow.
Maybe Prez was right when he said two enforcers were better than one.
“I wish I could’ve met him. He sounds cool.”
“He is.” I raised the clipboard, ready to be done with all the talking. “This is a list of your daily duties. Hero likes for everything to be finished by noon.”
Ryder glanced over it. “No problem.”
The bell rang when someone entered the shop. I went out to the counter to check it out.
“Hey, man.” Lynx jerked his chin as he leaned against the glass cabinet.
“Hey. Hero’s in his office.”
“Not here to see him, brother.”
Ryder came up beside me. “Lynx, right?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely.” Lynx extended his hand. “Ryder, it’s good to meet ya.”
“Yeah, you too.” Ryder studied him as they shook hands. “Treasurer, huh?”
“I like to play with money.” Lynx shot him a wry grin. “I also manage The Bullet.”
Ryder folded his arms on the counter. “I know the place. I used to go dumpster diving there after closing. You threw out good food, packaged stuff all the time. Not very financially wise, in my opinion.”
Fuck, that was plain sad. I’d had to fend for myself plenty when I lived with my mom, but I never had to dig in a trashcan for my meal.
“It’s my way of feeding the homeless.” Lynx clucked his tongue. “We have cameras in the alley. Knew you and others were looking for food.”
Damn, I had a new level of respect for Lynx.
Ryder perked up. “Really, you have cameras?”