“I want you to keep your head clear on this one, Beau.” Nix finally speaks again. I know he doesn’t want to undermine me on this. This club is just as much mine as it is his. We’ve both been through our own shit, but we’ve always had each other’s back no matter what.

“Not gonna lie. She’s under my skin, but I’m not going to go there. She’s not what I need and I’m sure as fuck not what she needs.” I give it to him straight. No point fucking around. Yeah, her being here is messing with me, but fuck if I can have a taste of it. We’re both way too screwed up for each other.

Nix holds my gaze a moment longer, still not speaking. I let him have his play and wait to see where he goes with it.

“What’s the plan then?” He finally sighs, and I hold my breath a little longer before relaxing back into my chair.

“We give Tiny a heads up, see what he has to say. Either way, it’s out of his hands but we’ll need his help. Jesse, I know you have shit with Bell going on this week, but we get Jackson in on this, see what we can throw at Chad, legally, and we go from there.” Jesse’s slight nod tells me he’ll set it up.

“Other than put feelers out, what else can we do?” I look back to Nix. This issue with Mackenzie isn’t going to be an easy one. Chad is dangerous because he has powerful connections. We need to go about this carefully, so we don’t become caught up in all of his political shit.

“She stays here on lockdown until we know what they know. She needs something, we bring it to her. Until we know for sure what they’re planning, we play it safe,” Nix gives his orders and I agree with everything.

“I give him to the end of the week before he knows we have her, so we have to keep our eyes and ears open. We should bring a lawyer in on this, see where we stand. Maybe we can look at a protection order for her. I’ll make the call and give him the run down,” I add, looking around the table. They all nod, agreeing with the plan I just laid out. “And she’s off limits.” I look directly at Hunter considering he’s the only fucker left without any regular pussy.

He laughs to start off with then stops immediately when he sees I’m not fucking around.

“You think I’m fucking stupid, Beau?” His body shakes with laughter, but I don’t know what’s so funny. I’m fucking serious.

“Just nod and agree.” Brooks knocks his shoulder giving him some sound advice. Hunter does as he’s told, but it only placates me a little. I know I’m probably overreacting. If anyone needs to stay away from Mackenzie, it’s me, but it doesn’t mean the others don’t need to be warned. Hunter specifically.

“Right, well let’s get this shit done.” Nix taps the table, ending the meeting just as fast as he had called it. The rest of the guys stand without another word and walk out one by one. I don’t shift from my chair, knowing Nix well enough to appreciate he’ll want a word with me privately. My prediction is right when Sy walks out, leaving us alone.

“You sure you know what you’re doing here, Beau?” He closes the door and rests his shoulders against it.

“You know me, asshole. I say I have it under control, I have it under control.” I look up and watch him regard me carefully.

“I know, but they don’t. You sure this doesn’t have anythin’ to do with Missy?” My sister’s name grabs hold of me and I’m thrown back into the past. The past I wish I could change.

“You know this is why I do this gig, not gonna hide it.”

“No, I know why you do it. We’re all aware. But it’s no secret the last few months have been messing with your head and clouding your judgment. It can’t happen with this, with her, Beau. If it does, we’re gonna have problems. Problems we might not be able to come back from.”

“I do it for Missy. I fucking miss her every day. But this shit right here, by no means is messing with me. I’ve got this,” I assure him one last time. It will be the last time I do it too because I don’t have anything to prove. Yeah, I’m twisted, but not for the reasons he might think.

“She’s hiding something.”

I laugh, not because I don’t believe him but because he picked up on it too. “I thought so too, but I don’t know why. Could be just jumpy from the run in?”

“We’ll give her a few days, see how she settles,” is all he says, and I know he won’t question me any further.

“Your wife staying to cook me some dinner?” I change the subject, eager to end this conversation for good, so I can go out and speak to Mackenzie.

“Fuck off, find your own wife.” He flips me off, then turns and walks out leaving me on my own. I laugh at the asshole and his protectiveness over Kadence’s cooking. The truth is if I had a wife who cooks like Kadence, I’d be the same way. Lucky bastard.

Taking one last breath to keep myself in check, I stand and follow him out.

Whatever happens from here on out, I gotta keep my cool. The last thing I need is to lose my head, especially over Mackenzie. And the last thing she needs is more fucked-up shit in her life.

This is going to be interesting.

Taking a sip of my third coffee the following morning, I force myself not to look at the clock again. It’s been less than a minute since I last checked, and it’s not moving any faster.

After we had come out of our meet last night, I was disappointed to learn Mackenzie had gone to bed. I was tempted to knock on her door, make sure she had settled in, but Kelly was pretty adamant about not bothering her, promising me she was fine. So I stewed the rest of the night. Spoke to Tiny about the predicament we found ourselves in, then called it a night. It was a waste of time anyway. I tossed and turned all night wondering if Mackenzie slept well, if she was second-guessing coming here, if we would be able to keep her safe. Every fucking scenario played out, and every one of them ended with me fucking up with her.