He was beside me in an instant.“What?”
I held out the note to him.
He didn’t touch it, just read it while hovering close.
“Son of a bitch,” he growled.“Did you see who put that there?”
“No.”I looked around the bar, and my heart thudded in my chest.“I didn’t see anyone last night, but I honestly wasn’t focused on who was leaving garbage on the bar.”
He pulled out his phone.“Calling Twister.”
I wanted to say don’t.I wanted to downplay it.But the note was still in my hand.Still real.Still terrifying.
“Twister’s coming,” Method said after a tense moment.“Now.”
I nodded and leaned back against the bar, clutching the wood behind me for support.
Five minutes later, I heard the roar of a bike.Then the door swung open hard enough to rattle the hinges.
Twister.
He stormed in, eyes locked on me.“Tempi?”
“I’m okay,” I said quickly and held up the note.
He strode over, took it from my hand, and read it.
The muscles in his jaw went rigid.“Where did you find this?”
“On the bar.I was cleaning, and it was just… there.”
Twister cursed under his breath and folded the note with sharp, precise movements.
“They’re not just fucking with the club,” he said.“They’re trying to rattle you.”
“Well,” I muttered, “mission kind of accomplished.”
He stepped closer, cupped my cheek, and his thumb stroked beneath my eye.“I got you, doll.I promise.Nothing’s gonna happen to you.”
“I know,” I said softly.“But this is feeling bigger.Not just business rivalry or whatever.”
“It is,” he agreed, voice low.“We’re trying to dig into who’s behind all this.Swift and Wheels are chasing down some leads.”
“I’m guessing they didn’t leave business cards behind,” I joked.
That earned a flicker of a smile.Just a flicker.
“I’m not letting them scare you off,” he said.“You’re mine.They’re gonna figure out real quick that I don’t break.”
“You’re not scared?”I asked.
“I’m furious,” he said.“And yeah, I’m worried.But scared?Nah.They picked the wrong people to push.”
I took a breath and nodded.“Okay.So what happens now?”
“Now, I add more protection.Until we figure out who left that note, you don’t walk five feet without someone watching your back.I’ll rotate Method, Cord, Swift.Whoever’s free.When I can’t be with you.”
I opened my mouth to argue.
