Free Duke by Tressie Lockwood

over where you were before. This neighborhood’s pretty decent. Are you sure you’ll get the clientele you want?”
    “We’ll draw them in. My better half is an incredible businesswoman.”
    Duke pretended to gag and fanned the air. “All the love coming off you dudes is making it hard to breathe.”
    Stefan smiled that genuine grin that always spread straight to his eyes, and he slapped Duke on the shoulder. “You’ll fall in love before you know it, and you’ll see what it’s like to want to lay down your life for her.”
    Duke looked at the stain of white powder Stefan left on his shoulder. As far as he knew, Stefan didn’t have any renovation skills, but he had heard the brothers put in a lot of elbow grease at Marquette’s before it opened. Duke shook off the hand, but ignored the powder.
    “Don’t lose sleep over me finding love, bud. I’m happy going from woman to woman. Marquette’s is like a smorgasbord, and I can’t get enough.” For some reason, his words reminded him of Takiyah and how much he had enjoyed her body the other day. He had to get a place of his own because he was far from done with her. She might think she would resist him, but he saw how she responded to his touch. He would get her under him again no matter what it took. “Listen, Stefan. How busy are you here?”
    Stefan’s eyebrows rose. “I was planning to help out for another hour or two. Why?”
    “I wanted to see if I can interest you in a nineteen forty Indian Chief.”
    “Your motorcycle? The vintage one?”
    “Is there any other?”
    “Dude, you can’t be serious. It’s in mint condition. You’ve practically had a love affair with it for years.”
    “Yeah, well I kind of need the cash.” Duke rubbed his neck, hoping Stefan wouldn’t push. He had no problem lying though, but he’d like to keep things simple. “If I sell it to you, when I get things in order, maybe you’ll let me buy it back.”
    Stefan shook his head in amusement. “If you need money, I’d be happy to—”
    “No. I earn my keep. Just a sale.”
    “I thought Creed was taking care of you all these years.”
    “You thought wrong.” Duke kept his voice even. For the first time, he cared about the wrong impression, and he didn’t like it. “He bailed me out a ton, but that’s all.”
    “Why did you keep getting arrested?”
    “Bad luck.”
    Stefan chuckled. “You’re not going to tell me, huh? I assume my big brother knows?”
    “He wouldn’t bail me out if he didn’t get the details. You know what a hard ass he is.”
    Stefan made a sound of agreement. “Okay, you can pawn it to me. We have a warehouse down on Tchoupitoulas Street. I’ll house it there. Before you say anything, don’t worry. I have a private section under lock and key, and Creed doesn’t bug me about what’s in there.”
    “I have a feeling you’ve got stuff for your club stored in it.”
    “Talicia is on a buying spree. I might have to rein her in.”
    Duke snorted. “As if you could. So are you leaving Marquette’s?”
    Stefan went silent. They stood there for a few minutes, neither saying anything. Duke knew what it meant. Marquette’s had come back after the fire, hard and strong, but the golden boy was leaving them. He was surprised to find he didn’t like it, but he understood. Duke had always lived exactly the way he wanted no matter what anyone thought. Stefan was the one most like him—impulsive and in constant need of excitement.
    Duke held out his hand. “Good luck, bud. I mean it.”
    Stefan shook his hand. “I’m not leaving the family or New Orleans.”
    “Yeah, well something tells me Creed’s going to give birth to a cow either way. Stick to your guns and enjoy it. I know I will.”
    Stefan laughed. “You would.”
    Duke started to walk out of the building when Stefan called to him back. He waited while his cousin caught up to him, and they strode to the parking lot together.
    “Listen,” Stefan said, “I have a different idea