Page 24 of Rooster's Remorse
"Here's what I've got." Amara pushes off the desk. "A prospect who lied about his name, which I already knew, because every man in this building lied about something to get through the door, and I don't really give a shit. And a prospect who talked to the feds, which I do care about, and which I'm going to think about, and it isn't getting settled in this room today."
"Prez." Razor stands up. "Church."
"Yeah. There'll be church." Amara doesn't turn around. "I'm not doing this behind a shut door like it's a secret. Every brother gets to look at him and say his piece, and then I'll make the call, and that's the end of it."
My stomach's gone somewhere south of the floor.
"Till then." She comes around in front of me. "Bike stays where it is. You stay on the property. You don't go past that gate, you don't touch a phone that isn't in my hand, and if you're smart, you'll do all of it without me saying it twice."
"Yes, ma'am."
"And Rooster."
I look up.
"I'm not angry with you." She stops close enough that I have to drop my chin to see her. "I want you to hear it, because you're standing there braced like I'm going to hit you and I'm not going to hit you. I've had you on my gate and in my garage and in my kitchen for years. I know what you are. One word out of a woman's mouth doesn't undo years of watching a man’s hard work."
My eyes go and I can't stop them.
I stand there in front of my president and let it happen because there's nothing left in me to fight it with.
She lets me have it. She doesn't say a word about it.
"But I'm not the club," Amara says. "And you know that better than I do."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good." She looks past my shoulder. "Now. Ms. Bacani."
I'd forgotten she was there.
That's a lie. I've felt her on that couch behind me through every word like a hand on the back of my neck and I haven't turned around once.
Amara walks past me.
"He gave me his whole life in four minutes," she says. "Your turn."
So, I turn around.
She's got both hands on that backpack and she hasn't opened it.
Her face is exactly where it was at the gate, exactly, not one thing has moved on it in the last ten minutes.
She's not surprised.
She hasn't been surprised once.
CHAPTER FOUR
Mila
Four people are looking at me, and my hands have been on this backpack since I sat down.
The zipper's been broken since Tucson.
It catches at the third tooth and you work it sideways, and I do that now, slowly, because my hands are the only part of me anybody in here can read and I need the extra four seconds.
Finn's turned around.
