“We’re going to stop them.”
“When you stop them more come up to take their place.”
“Let’s talk about something else. What were your plans for that property you were checking out?” he asked, trying to distract her. This had memories of Karen, but he’d come to see everything in Anna’s life had been filled with her friend.
“I told you we weren’t sure what to do with it.”
“I’m asking about your dreams, your thoughts.” He kept hold of her hands, stroking over her wrist.
“I don’t know. I wanted to either open up a bakery—but I’m not professionally trained—or we were going to open up an artisan store specializing in locally grown produce.” She released a breath. “We were going to plan everything else out.”
He nodded. “A plan is always a good place to start.”
“It is, and good food is always appreciated. I think it’s time for us to order.”
Russ signaled the waitress over, and they ordered their food. He asked for some breadsticks while they waited.
Anna took one the moment they were on the table, and he grabbed one for himself as well.
He really wanted to help her to reach her dreams, but they were all over the place right now.
Turning the conversation to some of the movies they watched, Russ had the best date ever. Anna didn’t have a clue that it was a date, but it was one. The restaurant fell away, and he became absorbed in everything that was her.
When they were finished, he paid for their food, and was on his way toward his apartment when his cell phone rang.
He saw it was Lewis, and answered. “What is it?” he asked.
“We’ve got something. You need to come and have a look,” Lewis said.
It had been a long time since he’d heard Lewis excited, but that was exactly how his friend sounded.
“I’ve got Anna with me.”
“Bring her to the club. She can sit and wait for a few minutes.”
Glancing at Anna, he saw her interest was piqued.
“Okay. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Lewis?” she asked.
“Yeah, he wants me to stop by to see something.”
“Go on, and I’ll go back to the apartment.”
“Nah, he’s desperate. You’re coming with me. I just hope you can stomach being inside the B. B. MC clubhouse.”
“I can handle it. Richard told me it’s more of a fancy bar. He said think proper MC just with billionaires’ backing.”
Russ laughed. Several of the guys had stopped by to see her when he’d been at work. She was the first woman that he’d refused to ignore. Every other woman he saved had been taken to the hospital, and he forgot all about them. With Anna, he couldn’t forget about her.
He took her over town toward the clubhouse, and parked the car. The building was heavily secured, and at each gate he had a different security number.
“Wow, you really value your privacy.”
“There’s a reason we’re helping the cops. We all know our shit. Inside that building are nine very intelligent, business minded men,” Russ said, parking in his spot. “We’re not just a front from all of the businesses. We all did this together.”
“I believe you.”
When they entered the bar, he first saw Tina, who was turned toward him. He placed his hand on Anna’s back, and urged her forward. Richard, Jamie, and Sean looked his way as well.
“Wow, talk about fancy meets sexual,” Anna said.
He chuckled.
“Anna, you’re walking normally,” Richard said.
“Yeah, no more crutches. Be careful, I can catch you, and hit you on the head.” She held her arm up in a cast.
“Not with that ass you can’t,” Tina said, mumbling. It was loud enough for Russ to hear, and it pissed him off.
Anna didn’t show any sign of having heard, so he left it alone. He didn’t want her to be nervous around him, and so left her at the bar.
“Have you heard?” he asked, talking to the three men.
“Yeah. It’s big, Russ. Lewis is, well, he’s planning something.”
Russ went straight through to the main office where he found the rest of the club. Lewis was pacing.
“I’ve found her, Russ. I’ve found Mandy.”
Jackson, Blake, and Malcolm shook their heads.
Russ would need to be the person who put some focus onto his friend.
“Tell me what you’ve got.”
“So I was looking through the final tablet, and it has a connection to a live feed.”
“Live feed?” Russ asked.
“Think of it as a constantly running CCTV but in a house,” Jackson said.
At the main screen in the room Lewis did some typing on a keyboard, and over twenty mini screens appeared in front of him.