My immediate reaction is bullshit. Malone’s too much of a pussy to be that stupid. Then again, desperate men do dumb things all the time. Maybe he feels DeLova can protect him if we find out.

“Vipers are coming all the way from Jersey to meet DeLova at some dumpy bowling alley in the middle of nowhere?” Jigsaw asks, not bothering to hide his disbelief. “They’re so eager for DeLova’s business, why aren’t they rolling out the red carpet for the old dude?”

“How the fuck should he know?” Smoke rumbles.

Shadow jerks his shoulders and throws his hands in the air. “I ain’t exactly privy to what’s going on in their minds.”

“When?” I ask.

“Tonight.”

“And you’re just telling us now?”

“I just found out,” Shadow says.

“From who? How reliable is this?”

Shadow smirks and runs his hand over his chest. “I’m friendly with one of the waitresses there. She let me know.”

“You trust her?” I ask.

“Enough to let her suck my dick.”

“Great, that’s helpful.”

“I trust her. She ain’t dumb. Knows what’ll happen if she fuckin’ lies to me. Also knows Vipers got no business in our territory. Says it’s not the first time they’ve been to Malone’s, either.”

“But she just told you now?” Teller asks.

“We’ve gotten closer,” Shadow answers with a lazy smirk I’d really like to punch right off his face.

I tap my finger on the table a few times while I think it over, then look down the table at the men I’m in charge of. “I want to take a small crew down there tonight. Only to check it out. No cowboy shit. Stay out of the way and observe. Am I clear?”

“I’ll go,” Rooster volunteers.

I nod at him. “Shadow—”

“I should stay here so she doesn’t accidentally tip them off or something,” he interrupts.

Not fucking likely, asshole.

“No. This is your show, brother. You’re going.” My tone leaves no room for discussion. I move on down the table. “Steer, Jigsaw, Hustler.”

“You got it,” Jigsaw says. The other two just nod.

“Everyone else, I want to stay here at the clubhouse. No partying. Everyone remains alert, in case this is a trap and someone comes to fuck with the clubhouse. Or in case I need you to come back us up. Is that clear?”

“You got it, Prez,” Suds says. Not that he’s a coward, but I think he’s relieved not to be heading into the action.

“We’ll bring some weapons upstairs,” Smoke says.

“Easy on the guns, old man,” I warn. The last thing we need is that trigger-happy motherfucker surrounding himself with an arsenal tonight. The other brothers laugh and rib Smoke, something I’m sure pisses him off.

Confident the brothers who are staying behind can handle things, I end the meeting.