by Emma Slate
“O’Banion,” Colt murmured. “That name sounds really familiar, but I can’t place it.”
I sighed. “My grandfather’s side of the family were Chicago bootleggers in the nineteen twenties. Big feud with the Italians, aka Al Capone’s crew…who just so happens to be one of Grammie’s relatives.”
There was a moment of stunned silence and then Colt started to laugh. He chuckled for a good few minutes before he was able to calm himself.
“All this time, I was worried about how you were gonna adjust to my life and running around with a bunch of criminals. Turns out, you’ve got notorious criminals on both your sides of the family.” He looked at me. “You really are the perfect woman for me.”
Chapter 21
We made it back to the clubhouse in record time.
“Has he slept at all?” Boxer asked after a hug in greeting.
I shook my head. “I think he’s running on pure adrenaline. He’s going to crash soon though, right? I mean it’s been over twenty four hours since he’s slept.”
“Church!” Colt barked.
I looked at Boxer. “Finish your meeting quickly and then he needs to go to bed.”
“You know,” Boxer said, stroking his jaw, “he wouldn’t take kindly to knowing you’re calling the shots.”
“Trust me, we’d all be better off if he got some rest. You can’t be clear-headed when you’re exhausted.”
“He’s just gonna fill everyone in. Should be a quick meeting.” Boxer squeezed my shoulder and then followed his brothers out to the shed.
I went into Colt’s bedroom to change and there was a knock on the door when I was drawing the string tight on my pajamas.
“Come in,” I said.
The door opened and Joni’s face appeared. “Hey, welcome back.”
“Thanks.” I waved her inside. “You can enter the room, you know.”
“Well, you looked like you were about to crash. I wasn’t sure.”
I shook my head. “I’m trying to stay awake until at least nine p.m., but I’m dragging hard.”
“You hungry? I was about to order Chinese food.”
“I’m starving. All I’ve had today is a cheese omelet and a couple of Red Bulls.”
“I gotcha. Please tell me you’re a beef and broccoli fan.”
“You know it,” I said with a laugh. “How have things been here?”
“Cheese has been keeping Zip in the loop about me. I made sure to flirt extra hard with Doctor Patterson in front of Cheese. Made him extremely uncomfortable. It was awesome.”
“So that’s why Zip was in such a shit mood,” I said with a laugh. “He was grumpy as hell.”
“I know I should feel bad about what I’m doing, but I really don’t.”
We wandered out of Colt’s room and I sat down on the couch. Joni took it upon herself to order half the menu. “The guys will be hungry, no doubt.” She hung up the phone and sat down next to me. “I don’t know about you, but I’m going crazy here.”
I nodded. “I feel like a prisoner, which is weird because I know it’s for our own safety, but I can’t help feeling like—well, fuck it. You know?”
“Yup. I’m ready to demand my freedom.”
“I missed karaoke night with Shelly. We usually go once a month.”
“Dude. You sing karaoke?”
“I do.”
“Are you any good?”
“After three tequila shots, who cares?”
She laughed in a way that showed me she had seen a night or two of karaoke in her time. We kept up a steady stream of chatter and the two prospects on duty brought in several bags of Chinese takeout. Joni and I didn’t bother waiting for the guys to finish church—we dug into the food straight from the boxes.
“Why are wontons so freakin’ good?” Joni demanded as she shoved an entire dumpling into her mouth.
“No clue, but I’m inclined to say MSG.”
Joni moaned. “Don’t tell me that. Let’s pretend we’re getting all our vegetables in this one fried food dish.”
“Deal.”
The backdoor opened and the brothers strode inside, looking tense. Not even the sight of Chinese food brought a smile to their faces. Well, except for Boxer, who plopped down next to me and opened his mouth.
“What are you, a baby bird?” I demanded.
“Feed me, Mama,” he pleaded.
I slid a piece of beef between his lips.
“You actually fed him.” Joni grinned.
“I’m afraid he’ll die if I don’t,” I said. “Boxer is the human equivalent of a lab puppy.”
Reap and Gray chuckled, but Colt didn’t show any signs of humor. Instead, he walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed himself a beer. He held it up and I shook my head. Colt closed the fridge and then leaned against the kitchen counter.
“There’s something we need to discuss,” Joni said. “Mia and I are tired of being caged in. We want to go out.”
“You already go out,” Zip stated from the recliner, his eyes on Joni.
Joni glared at him. “Going to work is not the same as going out. We want a night on the town.”
“Not so much a night on the town, just karaoke,” I interjected. “We can make that happen. Right?”
“What happened the last time you and Joni went out?” Zip asked pointedly. “On Blue Angels’ territory.”
Joni opened her mouth to reply, but Colt jumped in and said, “The brothers from Coeur d’Alene arrive tomorrow afternoon. We should show them a good time.”
“Safety in numbers,” Reap said with a slow nod.
“We should just have a massive bonfire here,” Zip groused. “No reason to flaunt shit in town.”
Colt rubbed his thumb across his jaw. “I was thinking we could meet the boys at The Rex.”
Reap’s eyes gleamed. Zip’s gaze hardened. Even Boxer’s humorous expression sobered.
“So it’s going to be like that, huh?” Zip asked finally.
Colt looked at each Blue Angel in the eye. One by one they nodded.
“You’ll call Bishop,” Colt told Zip. “Tell him about the new meet up spot.”
Colt was speaking in riddles, but I knew better than to ask him to explain. He’d explain when we were alone.
Hopefully.
“Are we done for the night?” Torque asked. He’d been standing in the corner of the room, tatted arms crossed over his shoulders. “I got a pregnant Old Lady at home who’s demanding ice cream.”
Gray grinned. “It just gets worse. Trust me.”
“She’s carrying my kid.” Torque shrugged. “She wants ice cream. She gets ice cream. And any other thing she wants.”
The group broke up almost immediately. Torque and Reap headed out at the same time while Zip went out back to make a call, no doubt to Bishop, whoever he was. Colt was talking to Gray and Cheese in hushed tones and Boxer continued to lounge on the couch, his eyes half closed.
“What’s The Rex?” I asked Joni as we cleaned up the takeout containers.
“The Rex Hotel. In Dallas.”
“Why are they telling the other Blue Angel chapter to meet there?”
“I have an idea, but I’m not one hundred percent sure…”
“Joni. Tell me.”
“Ask Colt.”
“Ask me what?” Colt said from behind me, causing me to jump and drop fried rice all over the floor.
“Really?” I asked in exasperation. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?” he asked with raised eyebrows.
“Walk silently in heavy boots.” I gestured to the broom next to the fridge. Joni handed it to me. I quickly swept up the mess and dumped it into the trash.
Colt settled his hand on the curve of my neck and gently brought me into the side of his body. “Are you ready?”
“For?” I looked up into his eyes and got lost for a moment.
“Yeah, that’s my cue,” Joni muttered. “I’ll be in my room reading a book, trying not to pass out from boredom
.”
“You’re coming to Dallas with us, right?” Colt asked.
She nodded. “Try and stop me. I gotta get out of this place.”
Colt grinned. “See you in the morning.” He dragged me to our room and shut the door.
I flopped down onto the bed and buried my face in the pillows. “I’m pretty sure I could sleep for days.”
He laughed. A moment later, I heard his boots hit the floor. He came over to the bedside table and set his wallet and pistol on it before removing his jeans, cut, and T-shirt.
“Why are we going to Dallas?” I asked. “Are you going to tell me?
“Yeah, I’ll tell you.” He sat down on the bed. “Take your shirt off first.”
“You’re not going to distract me with sex.”
“Wasn’t planning on distracting you with sex.”
“Then why—”
“I just want to feel your skin, okay?”
I wormed my shirt off and then lay back down. His fingers began stroking down my spine as he talked. “There are two reasons we’re going to Dallas. One, you and Joni want a night out. I don’t want you out in Waco because of Dev, but I don’t have a good enough reason to keep you both locked up.”
“Hmm,” I hummed, my eyes drifting shut.
“Two, Flynn Campbell is the owner of The Rex Hotel empire. Our fathers knew each other when they were younger. The Rex is a safe place, so to speak.”
My head whirled. I’d heard of The Rex Hotel empire, but I’d never been to one of the hotels. I knew they were decadent, expensive, and catered to the elite. More surprising was that my biker boyfriend was a friend of sorts with the owner.
“I still don’t understand why we’re going there, though. I’m sure there are dozens of places we could go to in Dallas. Some shitty dive if all we’re doing is welcoming the Blue Angels from Coeur d’Alene and giving Joni and I a chance at temporary freedom.”
Colt felt silent but his hands continued to caress my tight, sore muscles. He was the one who needed to be rubbed down—he’d been awake longer than me and no doubt his crash was imminent.
“Roll over,” I told him.
“Hmm?”
“Roll over onto your stomach. You deserve a massage.”
Colt heaved his mass away from me and collapsed onto his belly. I straddled his lower back and then got to work on his tight muscles.
“Damn, that feels good.” He didn’t speak for a while and I thought he’d fallen asleep. He surprised me when he said, “Campbell has resources that we could use right now.”
“Your brothers from another chapter aren’t enough?”
“Correct. The guys from Coeur d’Alene are mostly former military and they can handle their own, but that’s just defense. We require something bigger than that.”
“What about other MCs in Waco? Can’t you ask some other clubs to help you push the Iron Horsemen back?”
“It’s not just the Iron Horsemen,” he said. “A cartel too, remember? That’s a different level of shit entirely. You know?”
“It’s their city too. If the cartel has their way and takes over through the Iron Horsemen, that doesn’t just affect the Blue Angels. It affects all of the clubs.” I leaned over so I could look him in the eye. “What aren’t you telling me?”
He ground his jaw tight before answering. “When this is all said and done, we want to be the only shop in town.”
I frowned. “You want—oh. You don’t want to involve the other clubs because you want to be able to go to them and tell them you cleaned it all up, so you and the Blue Angels will have all the power.”
“This is why you don’t tell smart women shit like this—they figure out your motives within minutes. What do you think about that, darlin’? You wanna be married to the king of Waco?”
“You’re not the king. And we’re not married.”
“Not yet. On either account.”
“I still can’t believe you’re the type of man that wants to be settled.”
“You get tired, you know?”
“Yeah, it must’ve been really exhausting to have all the club groupies throw themselves at you. Mindless, string-free fucking. Sounds rotten. Why did you trade all of that for me?”
“Who says I traded?” he joked.
I reached out and pinched his thigh.
“Woman, you took a lot of work to get into bed.”
“Yeah, like two weeks—if that. God, do I feel bad for you.”
He laughed mischievously. “You know what I mean. You were worth it. You are worth it. I knew what I was getting when I went for you, Mia.”
“What’s that, Colt?”
“Fishing for compliments isn’t your style.”
He fell asleep with my hands stroking his back, a smile on his face.
Chapter 22
“Bishop told Knight about the change in our meeting point. They’ll meet us in Dallas,” Zip said early the next morning over breakfast at the clubhouse.
“Who’s Bishop?” I asked as I put two pieces of bread into the toaster.
“VP of the Coeur d’Alene brothers,” Colt said.
“So, Zip’s equal of the Idaho boys.”
“No one is my equal,” Zip said, leaning back in his chair and flashing an arrogant grin.
“Saints preserve us,” I muttered.
Colt chuckled. After a good night’s sleep, he looked rested and alert.
“Want me to rouse the brothers and get them ready to ride?” Zip asked.
“I want them here.”
Zip frowned. “I don’t get it.”
“I’m taking Mia to meet with Campbell. You’ll greet Knight in my stead. Everyone else stays.”
“Wait a second. You’re asking boys from another chapter to come and have our backs, told them to meet us in Dallas instead of here where we can welcome them with a bonfire and party, and now you want me to be the one to greet the president? Respectfully, it needs to be you, Colt. Prez to prez.”
“I’ve talked to Knight on the phone. Explained to him why I need to speak with Campbell first. He trusts me. And he’s not gonna care. Not with Rex pussy waiting for him.”
I choked on my coffee.
Colt shot me an amused look. “Problem there?”
“I wasn’t ready for that word first thing in the morning.”
Colt raised an eyebrow and slowly lowered his gaze down my body. My cheeks flushed and my skin buzzed with warmth. He’d woken me up not that long ago with his head buried between my legs and the bastard wanted to remind me of it.
“Why am I not sitting in with you and Campbell?” Zip asked.
“Three reasons. One, I trust you to greet Knight and the rest of his boys. Two, my sister will be with you, and you’re responsible for seeing to her protection. And three, Campbell is bringing his wife.”
Zip’s eyes darted to me and then back to Colt. “They do things differently than we do. We never have women sitting in on club business.”
I made a move to leave, toast all but forgotten. But when I passed by him, Colt’s arm shot out to wrap around me. Boxer wandered into the kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of black basketball shorts, half asleep, and not at all aware of the sudden tension that had sprung up between Colt and Zip.
“Something’s burning,” Boxer said, sniffing the air.
“Shit,” I muttered. Colt’s arm dropped from around me and I rushed to the toaster, but the bread couldn’t be saved.
“Smoke alarm is gonna go off,” Boxer mused.
“So why don’t you do something about it?” Zip snapped, grabbing the dishtowel from the refrigerator door handle and tossing it at Boxer.
“Why the fuck are you so grumpy?” Boxer demanded as he began to fan the smoke alarm.
“I want you driving Joni,” Colt commanded, looking at Zip. “Reap will follow on his bike. Boxer and the boys will get everyone else to the clubhouse. Darcy, Rach, all the kids.”
Boxer wiped a hand across his exhausted face. “Lemme guess. Official
lockdown?”
“Yup.”
“This is bullshit,” Zip growled. “I’m still on babysitting duty. Fucking great.”
“You’re an asshole,” Joni said from the living room.
I hadn’t even heard her footsteps on the stairs. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and an old gray T-shirt. Her luxurious brown hair was pulled into a high ponytail and the apples of her cheeks were flushed with anger. “Do you think I like having you as my shadow? I can’t even go on a date with a hot doctor.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Make the date.”
“Why? So you can sit at the table between us?” She rolled her eyes. “You’re crazy.” She stalked from the room, but Zip was hot on her heels. A moment later, the back door opened and then slammed shut.
Colt stared after them, his gaze lingering. I shot Boxer a look, but his face was purposefully blank.
“Those two are like oil and water,” Colt said softly with a shake of his head. “I was thinking we could head out later this morning. Does that work for you?”
“Yup. As long as I get to wear my new boots.” I grinned. Who’s cooking breakfast?”
“Don’t look at me,” Boxer said. “If it doesn’t come from a microwavable box, I’m out. And why aren’t you cooking? I want pancakes. I’m a lab puppy, remember? I can’t take care of myself.”
“I feel bad for the woman you trick into falling in love with you,” I said, even as I moved to the fridge to grab the eggs.
“I feel bad for her too,” Boxer stated. “Whoever she is.”
The Rex Hotel was a stunning experience of architecture and fashionable beauty. The ceilings were high; the chandeliers were golden and twinkling; the patrons wealthy and gorgeous.
Colt and I garnered more than a few stares when we entered the lobby. We were leather and ink in a sea of Armani and Chanel. Though Colt’s natural swagger showed the people watching us that he didn’t give a shit about how he looked, I didn’t have the same level of confidence. Sure, I put on a front because I was with Colt, but I was walking across a marble floor in leather biker boots, not Jimmy Choos.
Colt would never be a suit or tuxedo wearing guy. Not even at black tie events. Not that I thought he’d ever be the type to attend a black tie event, but what about weddings? What did bikers even wear to weddings?