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“It’s for the best,” Luke said as he took a swig of his beer.
Saks and Luke were sitting in Luke’s living room of the house he shared with his wife, Emily, and their toddler son, Robbie. Normally, Saks enjoyed spending time in Luke’s home, but this wasn’t the same as other days. For one thing, Rob had dumped him here instead of taking Saks back to his parent’s house. Rob had left Luke no choice but to take Saks in, despite his well-vocalized opinion of the entire Chrissy debacle.
The woman Saks loved had left him, despite his efforts to stop her. The mere idea of his loss left his lips downturned.
The Hades’ Spawn probie, Hawk, lay in the hospital after being shot while at the pharmacy to pick up Saks’ pain medicine. Saks wanted to be there with the other Spawn, waiting for updates and offering his support, but what he wanted hadn’t been in the cards as of late. Okie, Hades’ president, had been concerned about Saks after everything that had happened, and had told him not to come.
Lost his girl, nearly his stripes, and his life all in a few days.
This week fuckin’ sucked.
Saks drank his glass right down to the dregs. Though it soured his stomach, there was no blaming the beer. It was his own twisted gut, reminding him of just how messed up things were. “I don’t see how you can say that,” Saks finally replied. “One of Pearson’s personal assistants disappeared, and the other turned up dead.”
“You don’t know if he had anything to do with it.”
Luke hadn’t been there when Rob Gibson detailed the seriousness of James Pearson’s crimes. Saks had seen the look on the man’s face, and it was one he understood well. He dropped his empty glass onto the table with a thud.
“Damn it, Saks! That girl is just bad news. Wise guy mafia grandfather, father—damn, the whole freaking family is mob material.”
“So’s mine,” Saks said pointedly.
“But yours is at least helpful. If it wasn’t for them, the Rojos would have started bringing drugs in through my fucked-up uncle.”
“That’s not how your uncle explained it.”
“And you believe him? No. There’s only one thing Uncle Raymondo Icherra wanted, and that’s me in the family fold. He’d do anything for that to happen, and he won't change his mind one bit about it. If there’s one thing you can be sure of, it’s that he’s looking for a way to get into my business and me into his.”
Saks could relate. His familia wanted him in the family business. They were so desperate for it they’d agreed to his Uncle Vit’s proposal that Saks marry a Serafini girl. Saks had hated the idea, and even started an affair with a whip-smart and classy gal who melted him on the insides and made him rock-hard on the outside. That the woman had turned out to be the same Serafini his and her family picked to marry Saks was an irony even Shakespeare didn’t tease out of his stories.
She was the same woman who’d left him to fly off with one James Pearson, a rich fuck, and all- around bad guy. The thought of him being near Chrissy made his blood boil.
On top of that, his shoulder throbbed like a bitch and the police had, quite rightly, confiscated his pain meds as part of their investigation. The beer didn’t do much to ease the pain in either his shoulder or his heart.
Saks wasn’t a man who sat around and felt sorry for himself, but today he was getting there fast. He needed a change in his life. Hell, he needed a change in the conversation.
“Luke. Boss,” Saks corrected as he switched gears. “Our newly hired mechanic is an active FBI agent, and your newly promoted shop manager has a temporarily busted wing. I think it's time to find new personnel.”
“You’re right,” Luke said sourly. “Damn, ever since Gibs died I can’t keep a crew.”
“I have an idea, but don’t hate me for it.”
“What?”
“More like who. Pepper.”
Hector Gonzales AKA Pepper was a DEA agent, who thought Luke got a bad deal from the government and tried to help by getting Rob Gibson involved. But in the process, he lied to Okie about Luke’s involvement with the DEA and got him kicked out of the club. No. Pepper wasn’t Luke’s favorite person.
“No,” Luke growled.
“But we know his work.”
“And we found out he’s a liar and a backstabber. No.”
“He was doing his job.”
“Look, I don’t fucking care. He betrayed me, you, and the entire club. I can’t trust him, and I won’t hire him back.”
“Do you want to shut down your shop?” Saks pressed. “Have you even looked at how many Harley shops in New England are looking for technicians? Besides, who do you think can really get the skinny on why Rob Gibson is hanging around our shop?”
“Sometimes I hate you, Saks,” Luke muttered. He nursed his beer for the distraction that it was.
Saks sank into the couch. “You know I’m right.”
“Well, even if that were true, how would we get a hold of him?”
“Who,” Emily asked as she walked into the living room.
“Pepper.”
“Pepper? Oh, he works at the Harley dealership in Hartford.”
Luke frowned. “And you know this how?”
“He was the one who resold me the Sportster at Christmas.”
The Sportster was Luke’s second bike that he’d traded to his and Saks’ lawyer, Matt Stone, as partial payment for helping Luke with his immigration problems. Emily bought the beloved bike back as a Christmas present for her husband.
“What!” Luke shouted.
“See, I told you, Saks,” Emily said with a frown.
“You were in on this, Saks?” Luke asked incredulously.
Saks held up his hands in mock surrender. “Look, someone told me it was a super-secret Christmas present. You think I’d dare mess with that?”
Luke shook his head, and Emily set beers in front of him and Saks. “What are you, three?” he muttered to Saks.
“Now you stop, Luke Wade,” Emily warned. “Super-secret Christmas presents are sacred.”
Luke scoffed, and Emily whirled and stalked back to the kitchen. While on the surface their discord had been light-hearted, Saks couldn’t help but notice the tinge of disappointment beneath it all. He’d always thought of the pair of them as the perfect couple, so to notice anything less than pleasant at all disheartened him.
“She okay?” Saks queried.
“Yeah. Pregnancy.” Luke shrugged.
Saks had forgotten for a moment that Emily was pregnant. He was pleased for Luke and Emily, but children were one of those things he never thought about. Though he did have brief thoughts about having them when he was with Chrissy, they were fleeting, and didn’t stick around long enough for him to give them serious consideration.
Luke rose from the couch. “I’ll be right back,” he said. “Damage control.”
Just as Luke vanished from the room, leaving Saks to wallow in his thoughts, the doorbell rang.
“Saks, can you get that?” Emily called from another room.
Saks pushed his body up with a grunt and checked the peephole. It surprised him to see his lawyer, Matt Stone, at the doorstep.
“Hey, Matt,” he said as he swung the door open. “Come in.”
“Saks, how have you been?”
“I’ve had better weeks.”
“Yeah, I heard. I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“I was in the hospital.”
“What’s up with your cell?”
“Like I said, I’ve been in the hospital. Just got out today. Haven’t checked my phone.” Saks motioned to the couch. “Have a seat. Luke’s in the kitchen with Emily.”
“That’s fine. I came to talk to you anyway about the traffic ticket.”
Saks’ brow arched in question. The damn ticket had been a thorn in his side ever since he’d gotten it with a few extra dings. He’d stupidly tried to pass a car at a well-known speed trap, and got yanked by a state trooper. Seeing Saks’ Hades’ Spawn coat, the trooper went overboard, and at an involuntary movement added the charge of resisting arrest. It was the reason Saks had hired a lawyer in the first place.
“I had a chat with the prosecutor, and I can get it reduced to simple speeding. The resisting arrest charge has been dropped, but they’ll hit you for reckless driving.”
“Bastards,” Saks muttered.
“I talked him into dropping the speeding charge if you take drivers’ re-education. Usually, that's reserved for people with more serious violations, but it was the only way I could get the speeding charge dropped. That's how the judicial system rolls. They want you to feel a little pain. He’ll continue the case until you take the class, and then he’ll make his recommendations.”
Saks huffed lightly as he picked up his beer again. He wondered how Matt finessed that deal. Saks had a high stack of points against him with law enforcement between the Spawn, his family, and the mess last year with the Rojos and the Hombres, which resulted in those people kidnapping him.
“Well, if I can get away without points on my license, that would be helpful. Not sure how many more I could spare.”
“I aim to give my clients the best value I can,” Matt responded. “You’ve got a court case tomorrow, but since I'll have it continued you don’t have to show. I’ll be there.”
“Thanks.”
“Now, one more thing. What's this about in the news with the Hades’ Spawn guy being shot?”
“He’s a probie, Hawk, who Okie sent to help me on my first day out of the hospital.”
“Your cousin, Anglotti, contacted me, ostensibly as part of the investigation. From what I get, his bosses want to spin this shooting a retribution for a failed drug deal. They pointed to the prescription Hawk picked up as evidence of trying to deal pain killers.”
“What? That’s ridiculous.”
“Really? You are aware, aren’t you, that a single Percocet goes for five bucks a pill on the street? That a bottle of thirty can net you a profit of $125?”
“No. Why would I be aware of something like that?”
“Okay,” Matt said, nodding his head. “That’s good. In the future, don’t talk to any law enforcement without me being there. Just say, ‘under advice of counsel, I decline to answer until my lawyer is present.’”
“That’s why my cousin didn’t contact me directly, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Matt replied. “He knows you have a lawyer, and is following protocol.”
“And protecting both our asses,” Saks grumbled. “I get it.” Which also meant no calling his cousin for info, either.
Matt saluted, and chuckled. “Then I’ve done my Boy Scout deed of the day. I’ll put it on your bill.”
“Thanks,” Saks said wryly.
“I’ll let myself out,” Matt offered.
“Aren’t you going to stay for a beer?” Luke asked. He stood at the doorway of the dining room, leaning against the doorjamb with his arms crossed.
“Sorry, man. Places to go. People to see.” Matt meant it, too, given his quick departure out the door.
“Later,” Luke shouted after him before his eyes fell square on Saks. “So. More shit from your end.”
“Hey, that’s harsh,” Saks protested.
Luke shrugged. “Yeah. Truth’s a bitch.”
