“What’s up?” Knox answered.
“Taylor is heading to the hotel to rent a room. I want her escorted out of town.”
“Any messages?”
“No message. Just get her ass out of town before I break my word never to strangle another woman.”
“Can do.”
Disconnecting the call, Reaper pressed another button on his phone.
“Yeah?” An irritated voice answered.
“What are you doing?”
Reaper heard a jumbled mix of voices complaining about the number of hamburgers from the other end of the phone.
“Tryin’ to get my fuckin food before I have a fuckin’ brain hemorrhage and die!”
“I’m at the club. I’ll give you two C-notes if you’re here in the next ten minutes.”
Disconnecting the call, Reaper placed his phone down on the counter, then stared at Shade, who was standing behind the counter. “Give me a Jack.”
Viper gave him a hesitate glace as Shade reached for the bottle of Jack Daniels. “Are you sure …?”
Viper put his hands up, backing off at lethal glare Reaper settled on him. Shade set down a thick glass on the bar and poured a generous portion of Jack. Reaper drank it in one swallow, then motioned for Shade to refill his glass.
“Keeping it coming. I’ve got nine minutes before Greer gets here to take the buzz off.”
“Mind handing me another beer, Shade?” Stud asked from the stool next to him.
“Never mind, Shade.” Sex Piston came up from behind them. “I’ve got a headache. I’m ready to go. Crazy Bitch is getting our coats. Let’s roll.”
Reaper turned to see Crazy Bitch talking to Killyama at the closet as she took her coat out, too.
“Give Stud his beer, Shade. Sex Piston, let me save you and the others the trouble. Taylor’s on her way back to Ohio. She’s not at the hotel.”
Reaper saw the disappointment from his announcement.
“Should have let me handle that bitch. She would have gotten my message not to fuck with my girl again.”
“Taylor didn’t need a message from you. Mine will be waiting for her when she gets back to Ohio and finds out she’s never allowed in the club there again and she has twenty-four hours to give me back the engagement ring I gave her before I was kidnapped.”
Sex Piston appeared slightly modified. “You’re not thinking of giving my bitch a used engagement ring, are you?”
“No, I have another one for Ginny that she refuses to wear.”
“Did it cost more or less than Ginny’s?”
“Less.”
“I guess that’ll have to do.” Sex Piston shrugged.
Reaper eyed her warily. “I guess so.”
“I wouldn’t have taken you for a Jack man. Probably why you’re having trouble getting that ring of yours on her finger.”
“How does what I prefer to drink make a difference?”
“Men who drink Jack tend to be old-fashioned, manly men.”
“I don’t come across as either of those to you?”
Reaper didn’t know whether to take what Sex Piston was saying as an insult or a compliment.
Sex Piston swept her gaze over him from the top of his head down his body, lingering at his chest, hips, and thighs. “Fuck no. Shade, you have any ginger beer back there?”
Shade stepped back from the bar to stare at the under-the-counter refrigerator, then reached down to pull out a bottle of cold ginger beer. Seeing Shade found what she had asked for, Sex Piston went from the front of the bar to the back, then took a bottle of a dark rum from the shelf. Taking a slender glass, she poured a fourth of the glass with the ginger beer then half with the dark rum. Pushing the glass toward him, she gave him a saccharine smile. “You can thank me later.”
“Excuse me.”
Reaper looked over as an older woman squeezed in between him and Viper, rubbing her breast on his arm.
“Are we leaving, Sex Piston?”
“No, we’re staying. He handled it.”
The woman lifted heavily mascaraed eyes to his. “I told Sex Piston you would.”
Reaper barely managed to prevent from gaping as the woman’s eyes leered over his body.
“What’d you make for him?”
“I made him a dark and stormy.”
“Yes, he is,” she cooed. “Make me one, Sex Piston. I’m in the mood to be dangerous tonight.”
The woman turned to go back to the party, making sure her other breast made contact with his arm as she left.
The men all watched Sex Piston make two more drinks.
“In case anyone else wants one,” she said, giving him a wink as she walked out from behind the bar, going back to opening presents with the women.
Shaking himself out of the stunned amazement at the brazen way the older woman had acted, Reaper made sure he didn’t look back to see who had gotten the second drink.
“Who was she? I’ve never met her before.”
“You had the honor of having Sizzle make a pass at you. She’s Sex Piston’s mother,” Stud supplied the information with smothered laughter. “You going to try the drink my wife made for you?”
The men, except for Stud, studied the mixed drink Sex Piston had poured with suspicion.
“You think it’s safe to drink?” Viper joked when Reaper didn’t make a move to take a drink.
“I’ve had one before,” Dalton volunteered. “Give it a try.”
Taking a few sips, Reaper had to admit the drink wasn’t bad.
Viper made a few for the other brothers to try.
Reaper took one of the stools as the men stood around talking. It brought back memories of the way he used to be before he cut himself out of their lives. This time, the recollections didn’t bring back the painful imagery of Memphis and Slate. Instead, it was more of an ache that he hadn’t tried to fix the relationships that had been torn away from him.
Glancing up, he saw Shade studying him. “What?”
Holding his drink, Shade lifted one finger to point at him. “Haven’t seen that shirt since we were in a bar in Houston. Looks good on you.”
Reaper looked down at the black, long-sleeved V-neck shirt that had a white trim around the neck and down to midchest around the buttons. He had paired it with tapered black jeans and black boots.
“I still haven’t replaced the clothes I had to leave behind on the island.”
“Why buy more when you have plenty that Viper never got rid of? Be a waste of money, and you’re going to need every penny.” Shade gave a nod toward the door. “Greer’s here.”
Reaper gave a silent groan when Greer strutted through the room with his customary swagger. Spotting him sitting at the bar, Greer took the stool next to him. Plopping his bag of food on the bar, he began pulling out the hamburgers and fries.
“The calvary has arrived. What’d you need?”
Conscious of everyone watching, Reaper decided to wait until Greer finished eating before having him go upstairs to his room with him to talk privately.
“It can wait until you’re done eating.”
“I can do two things at once. What was the hurry of me getting here if you didn’t need something right away?”
Reaper leaned sideways so he could lower his voice. “I took a couple drinks, I need you to fix it.”