Throttle MC: A Stepbrother Romance by Daphne Loveling Page B

speaks Spanish, but it would be helpful to have a receptionist capable of helping those patients with appointments and billing questions.”
    “I’m sure I could handle that,” I replied.
    We chatted for a while longer about my psychology degree, my work experience, and the clientele of the clinic.  Apparently, they had been seeing an uptick in substance abuse cases, and had recently hired a counselor with that specialty.  I struggled to keep my face neutral as she told me this. I knew that the club had been at least partly responsible for that increase.
    At the end of the interview, Ms. Hensley – who told me to call her Barbara – said she would be making a decision about the position within a week.  “But,” she added, “I don’t mind telling you that you are our top candidate as of now.”
    “I’m glad to hear it,” I said truthfully.  “I would love to work here.”
    “I’ll need to check your references, of course, but assuming there are no problems there, would you be able to start by the first of the month?”
    “Yes, definitely.” I smiled.  “Thank you so much!”
    I walked out of the clinic in a daze.  I realized as I walked back to the car that I felt more grounded at that moment than I had in years.  Since I was fourteen, I hadn’t really had a home to speak of, just a series of places where I was currently living.  Maybe, just maybe, Cheyenne could be home again, at least for a little while.
     

 
 
 

Chapter Fourteen
Ryker
     
    The sound of my knuckles rapping on the door was loud in the empty hallway.
    “Yeah?” Lon’s gruff voice called from the other side of the door.
    I turned the knob and cracked the door open.  “You got a minute?”
    “Yeah, come on in,” Lon said easily.  He reached his arms over his head and stretched back in his chair with a grunt. “Just lookin’ at some parts orders for the next month.”
    I slid into the wooden chair next to the desk.  The arms of the chair had been worn smooth from years and years of people sitting just where I was. “Lon, I gotta talk to you about something.”
    “What is it, brother?”
    For months, I had been trying to figure out a way to maneuver the club away from meth and toward something just as lucrative but less shitty.  But up until now, I’d never brought any of it up with Lon.  For better or worse, it was time I did.
    For Hadley.
    I cleared my throat.  “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about this for a while.  I’d like us to think about moving the club away from meth distribution.”
    Lon frowned.  “You worried about the Chrome Warriors?” he said, puzzled.  “We can take the heat, Ryke, you know that.  They stay on their side of the line, we stay on ours, and there’s no problem. If they don’t, well, we’ll give them a reason to back off.”
    “No, it’s not that.” I shook my head.  “I don’t like what it’s doing to Cheyenne.”
    “Whaddya mean?” He seemed genuinely surprised. 
    “We’re bringing in substance abuse problems. It’s fucking up families.  And it’s gonna eventually bring us problems.” I leaned forward in my chair.  “It’s gonna mess with our equilibrium.  Right now, the town respects us. The cops leave us alone. That’s gonna change if we keep bringing shit in here that spills over onto the citizens.”
    Lon was eyeing me now.  He cocked his head.  “Is this about Jimmy?” he asked.  Lon knew Jimmy and me didn’t much like each other, and he was a shrewd guy.  What had happened the other day at chapel certainly wouldn’t have escaped his notice.
    “No,” I said truthfully.  “But it is about him wanting to up our involvement.  I think we oughta be going the other way, Lon.  There’s other ways to make money than bringing a drug problem into Cheyenne.”
    “Such as?” he challenged.
    “Fuck, man, anything.” I spread my hands wide. “Open up a bar.  Strip clubs.  Shit, whorehouses. Booze and sex sells.  And we could partake