Free Outlaw Road (A MC Romance) by Nora Flite, Adair Rymer Page B

many to begin with. He was more of a useful associate of the club. Before the Knights of the Only Order set up shop here, another gang ran this area. For whatever reason, they didn't like Roach or the rundown motel he'd owned.
    They'd occasionally break in and trash his place. They'd trash him, too, if he was there. I was the one to politely convince them to fuck off and leave him alone. Ever since then, Roach has always hooked me up when I rolled through.
    Some time back, Roach's shitty motel burned down. With the insurance money, he bought this little gem. All things considered, Roach was a shifty guy, hence the nickname, but he always came in handy as a set of eyes in an area where the Steel Veins weren’t so welcome.
    “Something like that,” I said in between sips. Roach shuffled uneasily, it was obvious that he had something else to say and it wouldn't be any more strained niceties. “The hell is it?” I looked up at him. “You wanna offer me your shoulder to cry on?”
    The apprehension in his face soured, but his expression lightened as he began to speak. “I wasn't listening in...”
    “You—” I shot to my feet. I wasn't exactly discreet while talking to Poet, but eavesdropping on club business? A guy like Roach should've been smart enough to know that shit like that was bad for his health.
    “Wait, wait! I wasn't listening in but! ” Roach threw his hands up and shuffled backwards a step. “I may be able to help you out of your... situation.”
    I was drunk, pissed off, and in no mood to have my patience tested. “Talk fast.”
    “Okay, Okay. Listen, it sounds like that girl upstairs is nothing but a problem. I can take her off your hands for you, maybe smooth all this over with the Knights.”
    “The fuck are you working with the Knights for? You switch sides on us, Roach ?” I grabbed a wad of his sweater vest and jerked him towards me. “You know the Steel Veins' policy on rats.”
    “I'm not working with them, but of course I know them! They come by every month to collect their extortion money—”
    “Last I checked, the Veins compensate you for that.”
    “As long as I keep providing information! How the hell am I supposed to give your MC what they want if I don't know the enemy?” Roach's explanation was quick and emphatic.
    He was worried that I might put him through the same hole in the wall that my fist made earlier. I thought about it for a minute; Roach was sleazy by nature, I'm sure he would've deserved it, regardless.
    I let him go. I wasn't thinking clearly, I was trying to solve problems, not make more.
    “Okay,” he said, breathing a little easier, smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt. “I'll call them and set a pickup for the girl tomorrow night in exchange for them dropping whatever beef they have with you.”
    I eyed him skeptically. “You don't strike me as the benevolent type, Roach. What do you want from me?”
    “I want this arrangement to end. I want my debt with you cleared. No more favors. Every time you come into town, you drag trouble to my fucking doorstep, and when you leave I'm stuck cleaning up after you. I'm a legitimate business owner now, I can't be dealing with—”
    “Legitimate?” My abrupt snort cut short his self-righteous rambling. Yeah, and I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you, you fucking con man. “Tell me again who caused that fire at your old motel?”
    Silence.
    His mouth closed into a scowl. Suddenly, defending his own honor didn't seem as important to him. The only thing that mattered to Roach was that he was insured for arson. Ethics were disposable to men like him.
    He swallowed, cleared his throat, and tried to salvage his dignity by changing the subject back to the situation at hand. “Do we have a deal?”
    I'd heard that question asked countless times by dozens of people in my run with the Steel Veins, and every time it felt like a victory, like an agreement reached where I, or the club, came out on top.
    This time was