Page 56 of Lulu

Demon shook his head for a minute, and then directed his attention to me. “Good to see you again, Brother.”

The fact that I wasn’t a member of the club didn’t stop some of them from calling me “brother.” I’d been an associate of the Desert Rebels for a long, damned time. Had helped them out on occasion when they’d needed something taken care of that they didn’t want to deal with.

“Doc filled me in, you can stay as long as you need.”

“Appreciate it.” I leaned forward and dropped my clasped hands between my knees. “If there’s anything you need me to do while I’m here…”

Demon nodded, his expression pleased that I’d offered, which told me that he was probably going to take me up on it. “There might be, we’ll see. In the meantime, Oz is working his magic to see if he can find out who might be after you.”

“It’s not just me they’re after. I just happen to be the one who got away. So far three of us have been killed.” Which reminded me that I needed to touch base with Sanford.

“And you think it might be an inside job?” Oz asked.

I got more comfortable in my chair and ran my hands through my hair. “Pretty sure. The company records were breached, and our personal information compromised. Whoever is taking us out is a trained professional. Not saying that we’re the only professionals good at what we do, but…” I shrugged. “It’s a place to start.”

“You have any idea who it could be?”

I considered Demon’s question before I shook my head. “That’s the problem, I don’t know who Sanford has working for him except for a handful I’ve been on jobs with. We go by aliases for that very reason. I doubt even Sanford uses his real name.”

Doc cleared his throat before asking, “What about Sanford? You trust him?”

I thought about Sanford’s reaction to all of this. He’d seemed genuinely outraged and worried, and there was no reason for him to want us dead. He needed us to do the government’s dirty work. I took a deep breath. “Don’t know if I trust anyone right now,” I admitted. “I’ve worked for him for fifteen years, but that don’t mean shit in this business.”

“Got that fucking right,” Demon agreed.

I pinned my eyes on Oz. “Don’t know what you’re going to be able to find out. Got nothing to go on.”

Oz shrugged his big shoulders. He didn’t look concerned. “Got contacts, Brother, and they have contacts. I can check with them to see if they’ve heard anything on the street, tell them to put some feelers out. Can you get me the names of the men who’ve been hit?”

I couldn’t, but Sanford could, and there was no reason for him not to give me that information, since those men were now dead. “That I might be able to do,” I said confidently. I leaned forward again and met Demon’s eyes. “Look. I’ve only got one property with my legal name on it, and that’s where the bastard took shots at me the other night. This mother fucker has the advantage of knowing who we are now. He’s picking us off one-by-one. When I find out who he is, I’m going to end him.”

“Feel you, Brother,” Demon stated. “We’ll do what we can to help.”

I stared at him for a minute. As president of the club, Demon’s word ruled. He made independent decisions when it wasn’t necessary to bring something to the table for a vote. Because of this, I knew there was something he could do for me. The only thing holding me back from asking was the questions that would follow.

I thought about Lulu, and her connection to the club, which was lifelong, even though she’d left. Once you were considered family it was forever, and they looked out for you forever. I knew that her years with the club had solidified her protection by them. I didn’t think she was in any danger, but did I really want to take a chance with her life?

“Something else?” Demon asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

I released a heavy sigh and made eye contact with all three men, nodding. “Yeah. I’d like to put protection on Lulu.”

Demon’s brows rose high on his forehead, showing his surprise. Doc snorted as if he knew something that the others didn’t, and Oz sat there with a stupid smirk on his face.

“OurLulu?”

Christ.Demon’s words were a reminder to me that she’d probably slept with all of them at one time or another. I clenched my jaw as jealousy reared its ugly head, and fought the feeling down, determined not to let her past get to me. We all had a fucking past.

“Yeah.”

“Are you sayin’ that you and Lulu are a thing?” Oz grinned.

Oh, we were a thing alright, but I doubted they’d be happy if I told them what our “thing” was. “I’ve been seeing her,” I admitted. “I don’t think she’s in any danger, but it wouldn’t hurt to have eyes on her.”

“Always knew you had a thing for her,” Doc said matter-of-factly. “’Bout time you got your head out of your ass.”

I wasn’t going to respond to that.

“So our little Lulu is going to get her happy ending,” Oz piped in, clapping his hands like a high school teenager.