Swift grinned at my expression.“I can see you trying to figure him out, Tempi, and I doubt you’ll ever get the answer.We’ve been trying a while.”
I shook my head slowly, still chewing, still thinking.“That’s wild.”
Gramps grabbed a beef stick and leaned back on the stool like we were just shooting the shit on a lazy afternoon.“The club’s full of stories like that.”
It hit me then just how much I didn’t know about these guys.They moved like a unit, tight and quiet, but there were layers under all that leather and ink.And I was only starting to scratch the surface.
“How did you guys all get to be… here?”I asked, motioning around the bar, the city, everything.
Gramps traded a glance with Swift, then shrugged.
“We were all nomads for the Saint’s Outlaws,” Swift said, and leaned his hip against the bar.“Didn’t have a home charter, but we were patched in.Rode where the club needed us.Twister and I’ve known each other since we were kids and always stuck together.I knew he wanted to start his own chapter someday.Shit lined up right, and Madison was it.”
I leaned in, hanging on the pieces of their story he handed me.
“The rest of the guys?We knew ‘em from the road.Years of riding, running jobs, helping out other chapters.Word got out that Twister was settling down, planting roots, and one by one, they called in and asked where to show up.”
Gramps smiled faintly.“We figured out the ranks, recruited a couple of prospects, and hauled our asses here once the ink dried on the building papers.”
I blinked.“Wait, you guysboughtthe Sam James building?”
“That we did,” Gramps said, his tone light, but there was pride there.“Twister did, to be exact.”
I blinked again.Twice.“Wow.”
That place had been sitting empty for years, but the bones were solid, and downtown real estate wasn’t exactly on clearance.
Gramps caught the look on my face and laughed.“You gotta get a better poker face, sweetheart.You’re gonna have to talk to Twister about how he managed that one.”
I smirked.“Am I also going to have to ask him how he got his name?”
Swift didn’t miss a beat.“Yup.”
I popped another cheese curd into my mouth and chewed slowly as I side-eyed the both of them.The list of things I didn’t know about Twister was growing by the second.And so far?Every answer only made me want more.
Maybe I didn’t know him at all yet.
But I was starting to really want to.
Chapter Nineteen
Twister
The roar of my engine cut through the quiet morning like a damn war drum.The streets of Madison were waking up slowly, but I was already fired up.That note shoved under Tempi’s door was a warning and a threat.I didn’t take kindly to either.
I pulled into the clubhouse lot and parked.Dust kicked up as my boots hit the pavement.Nugget was leaning against the wall outside, smoking a cigarette like he hadn’t slept.
“Everything good with Tempi?”he asked and flicked ash to the side.
“She’s fine,” I replied, my voice low.“Got her watched.Now it’s time to handle the ones behind the bullshit.”
Nugget nodded.“Hodge and Podge are already inside waiting for you.”
I pushed open the heavy clubhouse door and found them seated at the table, chewing on breakfast sandwiches like it was just another day.Hodge wiped his mouth with the back of his hand when he saw me.
“You look like you’re ready to set something on fire,” he muttered.
“Not yet,” I said.“But I plan to get close.”
