“Vic’s breathing down my fuckin’ throat,” Roadrunner muttered. “They want a strike. Full offensive. You know how they are.”
Vic was one of the Mayhem boys that Roadrunner had been tight with for years. And, yeah, I knew how Mayhem was. I’d known it before I gave in and brought them into this fucked situation.
“Shit’s coming to a head, one way or another,” I said.
“You thinking of making that move?” he asked.
I had not one fucking clue what to do. That shit with Jamie and everything that happened with Evie later that night had me at sea on the whole thing. I didn’t want to put myself or any of the brothers in danger, but the shit the Devils were pulling couldn’t stand. It wasn’t just about pride or saving face, even if the police went ahead getting their rancid shit tested, and they were eventually taken down, it wouldn’t change that we hadn’t put a stop to their shit. The Devils weren’t the only organization that would want to get a foothold around here if they could. There was a message to be sent here.
“We’re going to have to. No fuckin’ choice with this shit they’ve been pulling. I’m just looking for the move that had everyone on our side walking out unscathed.”
Roadrunner didn’t respond. That was the big question. How?
We both sat outside the clubhouse, eyes on the forecourt, not having an answer.
“Want to get Jager on a recon. Know he didn’t find anything first go, but we gotta know where they’re at. The quantities of shit they’re distributing needs to be stored somewhere. From what I’ve heard, there’s no way it’s at their clubhouse, so we gotta start narrowing down properties they have access to. Just didn’t want to jump on him too soon after Jamie’s accident.”
“Your girl took care of Jamie,” he replied. “No issues at all. They had her in for a follow-up yesterday. That darling girl is just fine. About now, I’m thinking he could use something to focus on besides reliving that shit.”
I read the unspoken statement there that it was that exact reason why he was sitting in the sun with me. He’d nearly lost his granddaughter. For a while, that was going to haunt him. It was going to haunt us all.
“Speaking of your girl,” he said, then lifting his chin toward the road.
There was that fucking car of hers. I know it was fixed, but every time I saw the damn thing, I pictured her stranded on the side of the road. I pictured that absolute devastation in her eyes when she’d first looked at me that night.
She’d never end up in that position again. I’d guarantee it. It didn’t make my irrational hatred of that fucking car lessen, though.
“You gotta get her in a better ride,” Roadrunner commented, and I huffed a laugh at how well it reflected my own thoughts. “We got a couple things moving through the garage that might be good for her.”
“Been down that road, it doesn’t end well.”
He laughed. “So the sweet one’s got some spirit, then?”
Did Evie have spirit? That was one fucking way to put it.
“Tried to tell her she wasn’t moving out of the farmhouse yesterday,” I informed him. “She’s a tiny thing, but her attitude can fill the whole fucking place.”
It had started by Evie telling me, excitedly to say the least, that she’d gotten a call from the local hospital asking her to come in today for an interview. Then, it had deteriorated fast.
“Hopefully, I’ll get a job there. The pay will be way better than the diner, so I’ll be able to get my own place soon,” she chirped, all smiles.
I was fucking thrilled for her until that. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Total fucking waste, babe, when I’d just drag your ass back to my bed every night.”
Her expression had gone from pure joy, then confusion, and that had it swinging into anger fast. I wasn’t the smartest man on Earth, but I was smart enough to know not to mention the way her nose twitched right through that transition, making it a hell of a lot less imposing than she was going for.
“Excuse me?”
I knew the old rule about women asking questions like that, that it was actually just an opportunity for you to change your answer. But she was talking complete bullshit.
“Why the fuck would you go through all the trouble and drop all that cash to get some fucking apartment, when there’s no way in fuck I’m letting you sleep away from me?”
“You won’t let me?”
Oh, she was gearing up, all right. “Take a second and really think about how asinine that plan is before you blow up.”
The second those words came out, I knew they were a mistake. Even before her eyes widened like she couldn’t believe I’d said it, I wanted to pull that shit back.
“Take a breath? You want me to take a breath and think about how asinine I’m being?”
Fuck.
Not good.
“Well, let me tell you, Mr. Badass Biker President. I didn’t leave a life where I was under someone’s thumb to end up there again. I swore the day I walked away from my parents that I would never, NEVER, end up in a position where I relied on other people to take care of me. I was never going to be that powerless again. And clearly I failed at that, but that doesn’t mean that just because we’re together that I’m going to become the good little woman that lets you provide for me! Not ever!”
She’d started off all sass, and by the end, she was all out yelling.
“Bunny—”
“If that’s not what you’re looking for, if you want to be some…some…SUGAR DADDY, then I’m not the woman for you after all, because I refuse. I can damn well take care of myself!”
“Evie—”
“And another thing—” she started, but I grabbed her and slammed my mouth down on hers. Anything to get her to stop.
I pulled back, already having the words on the tip of my tongue so I’d get them out before she got on a roll again.
“I know you can take care of yourself. I know you could have found some man to take care of you a long time ago if you weren’t that woman. Fuck, you could have stayed right where you were and had that financially.
“I don’t want you for one minute not to go take that job. You should. You should do it because it’s what you love and because I’ve seen firsthand that you’re fucking good at it. I don’t want you to stay here out of some fucked up bid for control over you. I want you here because I’m in love with you, even when you start irrationally screaming at me about shit. I’ve finally found the woman I want in my life and in my bed, and I don’t want to crawl into it alone just so you can assert your independence.
“Now, you really need that, then we’ll figure it out. If paying rent for an apartment somewhere feeds something in you that needs it, then fine. I’ll fucking deal. But if you’re trying to do this just to make a statement about the fact that you’re capable of doing it alone, then it is asinine. Not one fucking person here is questioning that.”
We both stood there for a long minute, breaths labored a bit from the intensity.
Then, my sweet—if somewhat crazy, apparently—girl snipped, “Well, okay then.”
She didn’t appreciate that I started laughing at that, but she got over it pretty quickly when I introduced her to make-up sex despite her protests that we hadn’t really fought that much.
It didn’t matter; it was spectacular anyway.
“She has her moments,” I said, watching my girl alight from that shitbox on wheels.
When she was out, dressed in a fitted maroon dress that had my dick responding, she threw her hands in the air and shouted, “I got the job!”
Fuck. She was so fucking cute.
I jogged to her, wrapping my arms around her middle and lifting her off the ground—which incidentally was when I noticed the heels she had on that would absolutely be staying where they were when I got her in bed, hopefully sooner than later. She laughed, bright and happy as I spun her once before dropping her back to the ground.
“Congratulations, bunny,” I said, leaning in to kiss her.
“It’s even in the neonatal unit. After one year, I can hopefully move up to intensive care. After two years, they’ll sponsor me to get a graduate degree,” she gushed. “It’s my dream come true.”
“Your dream that you fuckin’ earned,” I corrected her, and she beamed up at me. “When do you start?”
“Monday,” she answered, looking like she’d gladly drive back to the hospital and start right then if they’d let her.
“Good. Then I can take my girl out tonight to celebrate.”
She gave me that smile that was brighter than the fucking sun. “I’d like that.”
I started to lead her back to where I’d been sitting with Roadrunner, who was smirking like he found this shit funny, when I told her, “One condition.”
“What’s that?” she asked, looking up at me.
“You don’t change out of that fucking dress.”
She took another swing at my gut while Roadrunner got up, arms out, and said, “Congrats, girlie.”
She went right in for the hug, thanking him. I unabashedly watched her ass under that fitted fabric. Oh, yeah, I was going to have some fun with that later.
“Should head inside, there are a few people around that’ll probably all want to hear the good news,” he said as she stepped away.
Evie looked back to me to make sure I would follow before she went through the front door.
Before either of us went after her, Roadrunner commented, “She’s something else.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. That wasn’t even the half of it.
“Happy for you, brother.” He clapped a hand on my back, heading toward the door, where I could already hear a girly cheer rise up from whoever was hearing Evie’s news.
Happy.
Yeah, that was the word. With her filling my life with her sweetness, I was fucking happy.
So I followed her inside to soak up some more.