Page 51 of Crucified By the Dark
The two glared at each other as they passed, like two stallions eyeing one another up. Morry knew it was only a matter of time before they went for round two. Jeremy stepped into the office and closed the door.
“I need you to cut it out with Judd,” she said.
He crossed his arms, his jaw clenching so tightly she could see the muscles twitch.
“Look, here is the truth. You don’t have the experience yet to do everything Judd does or even take over. I know he can be a jerk, but he’s good at his job, and it causes me more headaches when I have to worry about the two of you throwing down all the fucking time.” She stood and placed her hands on her desk. “So here is the deal. You either leave him alone, or we stop what we have going on because I can’t deal with the worry of you two killing one another on top of all the other shit.”
His arms fell to his sides. “Are you serious? You’d drop us?”
“I don’t want to, but if you force my hand, I will. I have a son who is dying, a motorcycle club that needs to find a new buyer for the millions of goods we just brought in because the people I was selling to are not who I thought.” She held up her fingers. “I have a brother lying in a hospital bed, still in a coma, even though he should be fucking awake. Maeve is still MIA, and now I have four people here for treatment—Stephen being one of them. I just heard that I stand to lose my son on Thursday and had to break my soul to call my father to ask for help.” She slammed her fist off her desk. “You are the one bright spot in all the dark in my day. So do I want to give you up? No. Fine, I said it. No, Jeremy. I want you, but I can’t take any more bullshit.”
His lips curved up in a small smile as he slowly made his way around the desk. Jeremy wrapped his arms around her and hugged her, kissing the top of her head. It felt so good to get that off her chest and be held like it would all be okay. He made her feel like shit just might work out. That was dangerous, but she couldn’t help hoping as she wrapped her arms around his waist and hung on as if her life depended on it.
Jeremy finished tightening everything back up on the bike from the oil change he’d just done. He wiped his forehead on the back of his arm and wished the stupid air conditioning hadn’t conked out. That was something on his list of shit to learn how to fix ‘cause waiting for the maintenance guy to show up was painful.
The shadow outside the large bay door announced the presence of someone coming before Stephen stepped into view. The guy didn’t see him tucked back in the far corner by the bike, giving Jeremy a few moments to watch him. There was something off about him, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. He said all the right things and, after the first couple of days, had stayed out of trouble, but it felt like an act. It felt like it was too perfect of a change and what he was saying was what he thought we’d want to hear.
Not that every person who came through the doors needed to be a screaming basket case like he had been, but there were certain things all addicts had in common, and the biggest was the addiction part. How was it that Stephen needed to come to a super strict facility to get clean but, from what Jeremy could tell, had no withdrawal symptoms? The ones he showed seemed forced or overdone, like he didn’t really know what it was like.
Jeremy could be totally off the mark, but he didn’t think so. He just didn’t want to say anything to Morry until he was certain that the guy was up to no good. Stephen stepped inside the storage area and ignored all the amazing shiny bikes closest to him. Instead, he scanned the building itself, like he was looking for something specific. Stephen’s eyes lingered a little too long on the tall stacks of crates in the back, but his facial expression didn’t give away what he was thinking. When Stephen’s head turned in his direction, Jeremy lifted an arm in a partial wave, then continued to wipe the grease off his hands.
Stephen froze like a mouse caught in a trap, then put his hands in his pockets and walked over. Oh yeah, whatever Stephen had going on was an act, and he wasn’t winning any Oscars. That was the worst transition from snooping asswipe to sad, puppy dog face Jeremy had ever seen. Even at his most high, Jeremy could’ve done a better job.
“What are you doing in here, Stephen? Pretty sure Morry said that the Legion was off limits.” He set the cloth down on the long bench and picked up the torque wrench. He intended to use it on the bike, but it was also better to be armed.
“I was coming to see you. I saw you come in here earlier, but you hadn’t come back out yet.” He shrugged. “Just needing an ear.”
Okay…Jeremy didn’t believe a word of that but leaned against the bench and pretended he did. “Yeah, busy working.” Using the wrench, he pointed to all the vehicles. “It’s maintenance time. So what did you need me for?”
“I’m trying to figure out how to be more helpful. Morry has me in the garden and kitchen, but that’s not really where I’m best utilized.”
Oh, this ought to be good. “Okay, and what do you think you’d like to work at?”
“I’m good with numbers and keeping track of orders. I could do something like order supplies. When I was in boot camp, I cleaned weapons. I’m really good and fast at that, too.”
“Mmhmm. What makes you think we have more than our own personal weapons?”
His eyes grew wide. “Oh, I just meant anything used for training purposes or if someone wanted their weapon cleaned and didn’t have time.”
“You’ve been here less than a week but think you have proven yourself enough to take over ordering all the supplies?” Jeremy kept an amused smile on his face, like this was funny and not something he needed to file away.
Morry taught him a lot, but the one thing he’d always excelled at was reading people. Jeremy knew the moment he laid eyes on Dean that the man wasn’t joking. Dean would’ve dropped him off that building if he hadn’t chosen correctly. Just like Jeremy knew that this guy was flying by the seat of his pants on his quest for what he was really after. The twitch of Stephen’s hand and shifty eyes told Jeremy he was looking for a weapon in case he saw through him. Jeremy did see through him, but he didn’t intend to call him out. It was better to play along.
Stephen’s shoulders lifted and dropped with a dramatic huff. “I just thought I could put my skills to better use.”
“Well, we appreciate the offer, but it’s too soon for either of those things. If you think of anything else, be sure to let me know, though. I’m always happy to hear new ideas.” The tense muscles flexing in Stephen’s neck relaxed, and he nodded and smiled. “You better get on out of here before Morry sees you. She’s very strict with her rules.”
“Yeah, she seems like a real hard ass. Must be hard working for someone like that all the time. Then again, I guess for you, it would be different.”
Jeremy lifted a brow at Stephen and stood up straight but said nothing.
“I didn’t mean to offend you. I mean, if I could get inside that, I would too.” Stephen laughed, and Jeremy fought his instinct to leap over the bike and pummel him to death.
Jeremy hadn’t counted on the guy saying this, and he wasn’t sure if Morry wanted anyone to know they were together. In fact, they didn’t touch in public, except in the alcove the other day, but no one was around. He only went to her room late at night and was gone before everyone was up in the morning. So how had this fucker known they were sleeping together? Fucking creepy much?
“Not sure what you mean by that.”
Jeremy stood there staring into Stephen’s eyes, and there was this moment when he knew that Stephen wasn’t guessing. That was troublesome for several reasons, and none of them were good.
