He eased away from me. “You don’t get it, Lace. Derek Wolfe could do anything he wanted.”

“Why would he want to have you watched all this time?”

“Hell if I know. Why would he want to fuck me over from his grave?” He let out a sarcastic laugh. “That part I know. Because he was a dickhead. Because he wanted to control me. To punish me.”

“Punish you? For what?”

He clammed up then, riffling his fingers through his short hair.

“What, Rock?” I persisted.

“Nothing. I need to go see Hoss.”

“Where?” I asked, picturing another biker bar in my mind.

“Lucia’s.”

“Is that a bar?”

“Yeah…sort of. I mean, it has a bar.”

“Get to the point, Rock. Where are you going?”

“I don’t need to leave for a few hours. Besides, we haven’t eaten yet. We should shower and get the bike grime off of us, and then I’ll take you out for the best steak you’ll ever eat.”

I had to hand it to him. Rock Wolfe was a master at avoiding the subject. I wasn’t born yesterday, though.

“What is Lucia’s, Rock?”

“Fuck, Lacey. It’s a strip club, okay?”

A brick hit me in the stomach. “Oh.”

“I don’t find any of those women remotely attractive. I never go there myself.”

“Then how do you know about it?”

“Because I’m not a moron. I live here. Well, lived here.”

“So you’ve never been there?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You did. You said you never go there.”

“Anymore. I never go there anymore. I moved here when I was eighteen, Lace. Give me a break.”

“When’s the last time you went there?” I cringed at my own words. I sounded like a jealous teenager.

“I don’t know. A year ago, maybe?”

“A year ago?”

“Yeah. For a bachelor party. For fuck’s sake, Lace. Are you really upset about this? You?”

I inhaled and let the air slowly out of my lungs. I was being a complete child. “I’m sorry. This isn’t me. I’ve just… I’ve never felt this way about anyone, Rock. I’m not quite sure I’m ready to deal with it.”

“The first thing is trust, Lace.”

“I know. I know.”

But did I know? I’d had two significant relationships in my life, and both had ended with infidelity on their parts. I didn’t talk about it. I didn’t have any close friends. Instead, I threw myself into my work.

“Do you trust me?”

Did I? He could have run off with Nieves easily. She made me look like liverwurst. “We don’t know each other very well yet.”

“So you’re saying you don’t trust me?” He raked his fingers through his hair once more.

“That’s not what I’m saying. But this all happened so quickly.”