Wrench shrugged, flipping through a couple pages and scanning the paper. “Marco, the older brother is still involved in the family business.”

“Weird,” Kev mumbled with a frown.

“You think this is important?” I asked, leaning back in my chair.

He scratched his face with his hand, taking a moment to think about it. “I’ve dealt with the Italians before, not the DePalma’s, but there isn’t a shortage of Sicilian crime families out there. The firstborn male is always the one to get the throne when the father dies. If there isn’t a male in the family at that time, it’s passed on to the next oldest brother, or nephew.”

“You ever hear of this before?” I questioned.

“Yeah, the older brother was disgraced from the family. He was an alcoholic and drug addict. He couldn’t be trusted to run the family business, so he was cast out. There’s no coming back after that. I’m curious as to why this brother isn’t in charge but is still kept inside the family.”

I nodded, I was also very curious about this. Maybe the DePalma’s had a weakness within their ranks that we could use.

“Wrench, when we’re done take Kev with you to do some more research. I want to know if there’s something we can use.”

The boys both nodded and Wrench continued to explain what he had, giving us a short lesson in Italian Mafia history while he was at it.

“He said we had hurt his family, but they were the ones to send Target in the first place. There’s got to be more to this?”

“Quite possibly, but I’m fighting to see what.” My brain was turning so fast, trying to figure out all these stupid riddles. “We emptied his room. Was there anything there?”

Blizzard shook his head. “We didn’t find anything overly suspect. But we didn’t exactly go through it with a fine-tooth comb.”

“Do it.”

He nodded.

“I want extra security on the gates, three guards at all times, one full member always.” I saw a few of my men screw up their faces, but they didn’t argue. Usually protecting the gate was a prospect job, because let’s face it, it wasn’t that hard. But I didn’t trust a prospect to let someone in that they didn’t know just because they knew the right things to say.

“Any other matters to discuss?” I eyed my men. This church had been called especially so we would leave normal business discussions for our regular church time.

Camo raised his hand. Camo had joined the club fresh out of the army. He was honorably discharged due to shrapnel in so many parts of his body, he’d lost count after his crew had been hit by a roadside bomb. Like most army men, he craved the brotherhood that the club offered. He was never found in anything other than army issue pants and could blend into any area or situation.

I gave him a quick nod.

“The club girls are dropping like fucking flies. Any chance we are gonna get some more round here?”

I rolled my eyes but saw a few other members nod in agreement.

“When things calm down a little, we’ll open Friday nights to girls from town and hangers. There might be some interest.”

“What about that hot piece of ass Chelsea hangs out with from college?” He grinned.

“Leave Rose alone you fucking horn dog,” Blizzard growled from his seat beside me, glaring at Camo down the table.

Camo held up his hands at Blizzard’s outburst and I couldn’t help but smirk.

“Dismissed.”

My brothers all filed out, but Blizzard stayed still glaring at the other man even as the doors closed.

“You got a thing for her?” I asked.

“She’s not club whore material,” he said, avoiding my gaze.

I laughed. “That’s not what I asked.”

He turned in his seat and glared at me. “I dunno. She doesn’t want anything to do with me or the club anyway. She’s made that quite clear.”

“And when did she make that quite clear?” I asked, rather amused by the turn of events.

“When I tried to invite myself into her apartment the other night, and she told me no,” he mumbled.

I chuckled. Blizzard was a ladies man. A huge ladies man. He was laid back, funny and charming. The fact that he’d been turned down would be a massive shock to his system. But I knew he wouldn’t leave it there. Like every red-blooded male, we all wanted what we couldn’t have.

“Maybe she’s just playing hard to get. Like you said, the girl isn’t club whore material.”

He screwed up his face at the word ‘whore.’ “Nah, it was more than that. When I pulled her out of that club, you should have seen the way she looked at my bike and my cut. It wasn’t quite fear, but there was something there that turned her off.”

“There’s a lot of people around who don’t like bikers. Our reputation precedes us.”

He stared at the large table, the club logo hashed out in the middle. “Maybe.”

“Chelsea will have your balls if you mess with her.”

I caught the cheeky gleam in his eye even before he spoke, “Why would she need mine when she’s got her pockets full with yours?”

“Fuck off,” I growled, reaching out to smack him but he dodged it, jumping out of the seat with his regular grin now firmly back in place. “Go get me some answers, asshole.”

He snapped me a salute before heading for the door. Heading for my room not long after, I gave out orders to a prospect to run around and tell the girls they could come out. I opened the door only to find Sugar and Harlyn tucked up on my bed, reading a story.

Harlyn caught my movement first. “Daddy!” she called, untangling herself from her mother’s arms, leaping off the bed and running the few steps over to me.

I picked her up with ease, resting her on my hip, missing this girl like crazy. It killed me that she was so far away and my visits to see her were kept to a minimum. She was my daughter and I’d missed her first steps, her first words, her first haircut, her first visit from Santa. I’d wanted to see her grow up and be a positive influence in her life, not the barely there dad who sent money and presents in hopes it made up for my absence.

Sugar was right. Sending them away had been a mistake—one I would forever regret.

But things would be different now.

I wouldn’t make that same mistake again, and when this was all said and done, Sugar and I were going to sit down and have a very serious talk about the future. We may not have a future together, I think we both realized that a long time ago, but my future with Harlyn was going to be strong.

Of that, I was sure.

“You want another drink?!” Harmony called over the music.

I bobbed my head up and down before throwing back what was left in my glass. We’d decided on a night out. First we’d called it a girls’ night out, but that had quickly changed and Kit protested against letting us out alone. This was how we ended up at Glow, the strip club the Troy chapter owned in the local city.

That was the compromise we’d been given. Not really a compromise on the men’s part, but we took what we could get.

Missy, the woman who ran the club, was a riot. She’d joined us as soon as we had walked in the doors. I had the feeling she had an ulterior motive for joining us, though, as she and Tally, Kit’s VP had been giving each other side glances every two minutes since we walked in the door.

With a few vodkas in my system, I nudged her in the side. She turned to me with the most beautiful smile. Missy was stunning. She wore just the right amount of makeup to accentuate her features without looking like a hooker, and her body was all hourglass—slim waist and round ass.

“You and Tally have something going on?” I asked slyly with a wiggle of my eyebrows.

I caught the blush on her face before she had time to turn her cheek and shake her head. “Why would you say that?”