Page 3 of Ravage

Because the garage wasn’t just a place for us to work on bikes. It was a front. We used it to move funds without suspicion, which meant I had to make sure enough legitimate work was coming through to keep the place profitable.

I needed customers to have a reason to come back, so I refused to accept half-assed work. If a customer brought in a vehicle, I made sure it was fixed and fixed right. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for word to get around that we were the best.

I stepped into my office and closed the door before making my way over to my desk. I sat down, and I’d just started going over invoices when the door swung open without so much as a tap on the window. I didn’t bother looking up. There was only one man in the club who’d walk into my office like he owned the damn place.

“What do you want, Knox?”

“Ah, come on. Don’t be like that,” he snickered. “You know you’re happy to see me.”

“I’d be happier to have a case of fucking hemorrhoids.”

“Damn. That hurts.” He dropped down into the seat in front of my desk. “And here I was coming by to make sure you were okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“I don’t know. You’ve seemed a little stressed lately.”

“Don’t you have a carburetor to clean or something?”

“Nah. I finished that hours ago.” The chair whined as he leaned back and kicked his foot up on the desk. “Already started on the next.”

I finally glanced up and found him grinning at me.

Of course he was.

Cocky asshole.

He was in his early forties, tall, broad, and covered in ink. He had one of those faces that could look either like the guy next door or your worst nightmare. He had a way of making folks like him even when he was a ginormous jackass with an inflated ego and a thick head to match.

But somehow, he managed to earn the privilege of being the biggest thorn in my side and my best friend. His cocky grin grew wider as he said, “You don’t have to say it. I know I’m awesome.”

I didn’t respond.

I just glared at him, but that smirk didn’t falter. “I don’t have time for this shit today.”

“What?” he asked, sounding wounded.

“You want something.”

“Jeez.” He shook his head. “It’s a damn shame when a guy can’t check in on his brother without him thinking he wants something.”

“Have you always been this full of shit, or is this new?”

His smile faded as he sank in his chair. “That’s not nice.”

I snorted.

He was the only man I knew who could get me to laugh on a day like this, but that was Knox. We’d prospected together, and somewhere along the way, we’d gone from two dumbasses trying to earn a patch to brothers who couldn’t imagine life without the other in it.

I'd been there when his brother died, and he found himself raising two kids. He was there for me when Ava left me, and my head was all over the place. We’d seen each other at our worst, and even though I could be hard to bear, he was still there.

Still smiling.

Still driving me fucking crazy.

“So…” He put his hands behind his head and snickered. “You hear about Prez going on the run with us in the morning?”

“Who told you that?”