Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“And what about the Reapers?” I asked. “What did they think?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Eli told me. “None of it. I’m out of prison, and it’s all over. They never tied Gus to the crime at all.”
“Gage said it was bullshit,” Gus said, his voice haunted. “They wanted to fight it all the way. Eli was more worried about protecting me than he was about himself. He figured that if your alibi accounted for him, then they’d start looking at me. You were part of it, too.”
That caught me off guard. “What?”
“Gus is talking out of his ass,” Eli said, shooting him a nasty look.
“He didn’t want you to lose me,” Gus said, ignoring Eli. “He’d already watched you lose me once. Didn’t want to see it again. So, he took the bullet and pleaded out. Lawyers helped him with that part…the whole thing was a setup, ‘cause they were already planning the appeal.”
I couldn’t breathe, trying to comprehend what Gus had just told me.
“Eli?” I finally asked, still trying to wrap my head around it. “Is that true?”
He shrugged, glaring at Gus. “It was a small factor. Not the only, though. So, don’t get too full of yourself. If it makes you feel better, I had plenty of time to think things over while I was locked up. I should’ve fought from the beginning and let it play out naturally. For what it’s worth, Gus didn’t talk to me before offering to sell you the bar. He already knew my feelings on the subject. I was totally against it, and I still am. It’s too fucking dangerous.”
“So, it’s too dangerous for me but okay for you?”
“I’m a member of the club,” Eli said. “I took on that risk when I joined. You’re a civilian.”
“But why should either of us have to be at risk?” I demanded. “Why can’t one of us just buy the Starkwood and run it? No Reapers, no danger, just good food and cold beer!”
“Because the Reapers own half the business,” Gus said quietly.
That threw me.
“No, they don’t,” I said. “You do. James looked up the property values and the liquor license and… Oh, shit. You mean they own it secretly. Like the Mafia or something?”
“I inherited the bar,” Gus said. “You knew that. Well, I didn’t get it free and clear. It came with a lot of debt. Eventually, I wanted to buy a house, but I couldn’t get a loan from a bank. So, I asked the Reapers if they’d be willing to buy a stake in the business. They said yes. There aren’t any records, of course, but Eli has known about it for years.”
“So you’re saying the Reapers Motorcycle Club owns half the bar you wanted me to buy from you,” I said slowly. “Were you planning to tell me this before or after I signed the papers?”
“I’d have told you before,” Gus said. His eyes had reddened, the surface shiny with tears. For an instant, I felt sorry for him. Then I remembered all the times my mom had cried when I brought a tray of waffles to her in bed.
I wanted to believe that he’d have been honest with me before it was too late.
“You’re an incredibly selfish person,” I said, pushing my chair back as I stood. “I don’t even know what to say to you. Other people aren’t just tissues to be used and thrown away when they get inconvenient, Gus. I can’t believe I used to wish you were my dad.”
Turning my back on him, I walked toward the stairs, trying to think. Obviously, I couldn’t buy the bar. But Eli shouldn’t buy it, either. I knew the club was into illegal stuff. I wasn’t a total idiot. But what Gus had described…that was serious shit. They had to be laundering money or something.
The thought stopped me in my tracks.
I’d been doing the Starkwood books for two years. Obviously, not the real books, but I’d seen enough that it’d been confusing at times. Now, everything made so much more sense. This was horrible. But it might also be an opportunity.
“Eli, can I talk to you upstairs?”
* * * *
~Eli~
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I followed Peaches upstairs.
I’d seen her angry plenty of times throughout the years. Hell, she was mad around me more often than not, usually because I provoked her, which was definitely my second favorite way to spend time with her.
I’d never seen Peaches like this, though.
She wasn’t screaming or throwing things. There was no fire in her eyes. If anything, she seemed to be concentrating really hard. Like she had an idea, which was a turn of events that rarely ended well for me. My dick gave an optimistic twitch as she sat down on the bed. The room still smelled like sex, for fuck’s sake, but I had no illusions.