“No need to apologize.” Menace’s eyes skirted over to me for a second, then back to the road as he admitted, “I’ve been trying to figure out how the hell to get him out of there for years, and then you...you come in there and finally give him the hope I never could.”
“You’ve been there for him through all of this. That’ll always mean more to him than a little advice from a stranger.”
“Maybe, but it sure as hell means a lot to me.”
Hearing the sincerity in his voice truly touched me. It warmed my heart to think I might’ve helped Dalton in some small way, especially since he meant so much to Menace. I found myself wondering if Billy meant as much to him as Dalton. I didn’t have a clue who the man was or what he could do to help me with my situation with Rossi. When Menace mentioned we were going to see him, I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t see the point. He was offering to help, and I wasn’t in a position to question it, but after our visit with Dalton at the freaking federal prison, I was beginning to wonder if I’d made a mistake in not asking more about him. He could’ve been a psycho serial killer they hired to just kill off Rossi and the rest of his mafia family…or worse. They could’ve hired him to finish me off and end my problems altogether. I highly doubted it was the latter, but that didn’t stop me from asking, “So, what’s the deal with this Billy guy?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Who is he? How do you know him? What’s he do?” I shrugged. “Anything.”
“I can’t really get into all that.” He kept his eyes on the road ahead as he declared, “It’s club business, and we don’t discuss club business with anyone outside of the club.”
“You don’t talk to anyone about stuff that goes on with the club?”
“Nope.”
“Well, that’s just asinine. I mean, seriously? How does that even work?” I pushed. “There are people who need to know things.”
“Not if they aren’t directly tied to the club.”
“And this Billy guy is tied to the club?”
“He is.”
“Okay, but we’re not going to see him about the club. We’re going to see him because of me. I don’t see why I can’t at least know who the guy is.”
“We might be going to see him because of you, but he’s working with us on behalf of the club. So...”
“Well, that’s just asinine.”
“You already said that.”
“It deems repeating, because it is, in fact, asinine! Very much so.” I crossed my arms with a huff. “What about the ol’ ladies? Do you talk to them about club business?”
“Nope.”
“What about the girls who work in the club?”
“Nope.”
“Asinine.”
“Are you done?” I turned to face him, and when I saw the smirk on his face, I rolled my eyes and glared straight ahead. “You know, you didn’t ask the most important question.”
“Oh, really? And what’s that?”
“Why we don’t share club business?”
“Okay, yes. That’s a good question.” I looked back over to him. “So, why don’t you?”
“We look out for the people we care about and have always believed the less you know, the safer you’ll be. It’s not always easy. In fact, sometimes it’s really fucking hard, but trust me when I say it’s for your benefit. Not mine.”
“Oh well, when you put it like that.”
“Exactly, now settle in. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”
“How long?”
“You’re not going to start that shit again, are ya?”
“Nope.” I sat back in my seat and stared straight ahead. “I’m done. Not asking another question.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Oh, you just wait and see. I won’t ask another question for the rest of the day!”
“Whatever you say, boss.”
“Ass.”
Out of pure spite, I did my best to keep all my questions and doubts to myself, but it wasn’t easy. There were so many thoughts bouncing around in my head, but every time the temptation to speak started to brew, I swallowed back the thought and tried to focus on the road ahead. The silence was exhausting, so I finally closed my eyes and dozed off. I slept right up until a hard jolt had me springing up in my seat and looking out the front window. We were on a long, winding, gravel road, and there wasn’t a house in sight. I was about to turn and ask Menace where we were when I remembered that I’d told him I wasn’t asking any more questions.
Trying to work around my stupid declaration, I glanced back at the tall stalks of corn that were growing in the field in front of us and said, “Wow, that’s a lot of corn.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Looks like a pretty big farm.”
“Apparently so.”
After continuing down the rutted gravel road for another mile or so, we came upon a beautiful pond with a long pier. Behind it was a large white house resting on top of a hill that looked like it was straight out of a Southern Living magazine. I’d never seen anything so beautiful. Not only was there a white picket fence outlining the entire property, but also a large walnut tree that cast just the right amount of shade on the enormous front porch; not to mention all the gorgeous ferns that were potted at every corner. This place was not at all what I was expecting, especially after visiting the prison. When I couldn’t stand it a minute longer, I finally asked, “Is this Billy’s place?”
“I knew you couldn’t do it!”
Menace
I was just as surprised as Parker when we pulled up to Billy’s place. I thought for sure that Viper had written down the wrong address, but then the front door opened and Billy stepped out onto the porch. He was wearing his typical khakis and freshly ironed, white button-down with tan loafers and horn-rimmed glasses. His dark brown hair was perfectly combed to the side, making him look more like an accountant instead of a fucking cleaner. His face was completely void of expression as he watched Parker and me get out of the truck. She followed close behind as I started down the front walkway and up to Billy. “Hello, Menace. Good to see you again.”
“Hey there, Billy.” I extended my hand. “How’s it going?”
“I can’t complain.” Billy shook my hand, then turned his attention to Parker. “Is this the young woman Viper was telling me about?”
“Yes, sir. It is.” I placed my hand on the small of her back. “Her name is Parker, and we both truly appreciate you agreeing to help us.”
“Why don’t you both go collect your things, and I’ll show you inside to your room.”
“Sure thing.”
Parker waited on the front steps with Billy while I ran to the truck to grab our things. While I couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying, I could hear them talking back and forth like long lost friends. By the time I made it back up to the porch, Parker was smiling, and Billy was smiling right along with her—which was something I hadn’t expected from either one of them. When they noticed I was standing there next to them, they both immediately stopped talking and looked at me like I’d just interrupted some in-depth discussion. I lifted the bags and said, “All set.”