Page 31 of Dima
I had worked multiple undercover cases before this one and never slipped like this. My head being wrapped up in Maeve was the only explanation for how I kept dropping the fucking ball.
This invite to dinner had a bunch of different scenarios going through my head. Either Maeve told her father about us without me and now he wanted to talk to us together, or she had heard me on the phone, and this was all a setup. Either way, I had to see her, so I was going.
“I’m on my way now,” I answered Bishop, who was still on the phone.
“Cool. Let them know at the gate that I’m expecting you. They’ll let you in.”
I looked for cues in his tone, but he kept it straight. He didn’t give shit away.
“Alright. See you soon.”
I never knew what to expect with Bishop. He was an unpredictable type of man, but ever since I’d been undercover, I had gotten to know the different sides of him. One side was the ruthless underground king of Jackson. The other side was a stand-up man changing the lives of everyone attached to him.
Bishop was the kind of man who wanted to hit his enemy head on. That way they’d know he was coming. He was never one to sneak behind someone’s back or try to catch them slipping. Anybody he ever took out always knew he was coming, and I didn’t think it’d be different with me. That was the only thing that kept me from thinking this was a setup.
Just as Bishop said, the guard let me through the gate without issue, and in no time, I pulled up in front of the big house. I put my truck in park, hopped out, and headed up the steps to the front door. I only knocked twice before their housekeeper let me in.
“Mr. Moore and his daughter are already in the dining room. Follow me, Mr. Dima.”
She led the way into the dining hall where Maeve and her father were already seated. It was just us three, which was strange. None of the other guys from the club had been invited, so whatever Bishop wanted to talk to me about was private. I was eager to know what the fuck it was.
“Dima, you made it,” he said, standing to shake my hand.
“Yeah, boss. Thanks for the invite.”
“Yeah, I knew I had to get you over here sometime soon, and I thought tonight was as good as any.”
“Dima.”
Maeve spoke sharply, but she didn’t look at me. I could tell she wasn’t excited to see me, which explained why she hadn’t been answering my phone calls or my text messages. It had been two days since the last time I saw her, and she didn’t look happy to see me at all now.
“What’s up, Maeve?”
I let my eyes rest on her for a minute, trying to decipher what was going on. She glanced up for a second but broke eye contact way too soon. I would definitely get to the bottom of that the first chance I got. We hadn’t been at odds since we started talking, and I didn’t want us to be now.
“Have a seat. They should be bringing the food in any moment.”
Bishop went into telling me everything that was on the menu for the night, and honestly, my eyes kept venturing back over to Maeve, who looked down in her lap at this point. I learned that Bishop didn’t like cell phones at his dinner table, but I was sure if he did, Maeve would be deep into hers right now. She did everything she could to not have to pay attention to our conversation. I didn’t know what I’d done to upset her, but it was clear she was pissed at my ass.
“Excuse me for a moment, Daddy. I need to run upstairs for a few minutes. I’ll be back down before the food is ready.”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
Maeve got up and walked out, and my eyes followed her until she was out of the dining hall. She wore an oversized graphic tee with bright colors. She had those same colors in her pants too. The big gold hoops she had in her ears lit up her whole face. Even the frown she wore couldn’t make her any less beautiful.
“Dima, tell me how you like things at the compound. You fitting in okay?”
“I am. Everybody treat me like family, and I been learning a lot about the bikes, culture, and history from Guard. It’s been straight.”
“It’s been good to have you. Especially for Maeve.”
Bishop stared me down after that last line, and I didn’t break eye contact. I hoped the subject of me and Maeve came up. This was my opportunity to be straight up with the man I had come to respect in such a short time.
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that.”
Bishop’s phone rang, taking his attention. He looked down at it before standing up.
“Hold that thought. I got to take this.”
