Alejandro barely heard what Slider said about their respective cuts from the last run. It hardly mattered; profits from the resale of stolen ammo were always about the same. It was business as usual in the old warehouse they'd repurposed as their temporary clubhouse, but he couldn't focus.

 

His mind was where he'd been last night: in Ali's bed, where everything made sense.

 

He'd texted her around nine to say he couldn't sleep, and she invited him over. They were only halfway up the stairs to her bedroom when she stopped him in his tracks by unzipping his jeans.

 

It had only gotten better from there.

 

She was so passionate, so present with him. When she wrapped herself around him he forgot everything except the silken strands of her hair, the delicate texture of her skin, the sweet cries of pleasure she made when he buried himself deep inside her. Ali was like a drug high, only she never wore off. Every time he touched her, he hit that fantastic first-time peak, and last night had been no exception.

 

His balls ached just thinking about it. He had to see her again.

 

Glancing at the clock, he itched to pull out his cell phone and violate the strict "no electronics" rule they had for their meetings. The rule had been his idea, though, so he could hardly disregard it now. That would set a shitty example for his brothers.

 

He sighed and thought about what it would be like to have Ali as his old lady. If her fellow cheerleaders and sorority sisters could only see that. They wouldn't recognize their pristine princess dressed in leather and riding on the back of a Harley.

 

Unbidden, his brain took him on an erotic slideshow of Ali in various poses on a bike, wearing only chaps, and he shifted so Pitbull wouldn't see him sporting wood. Get your shit together. You're like a horny teenager. He was only vaguely aware of the turn in conversation to the Diablos Verdes.

 

Pitbull elbowed him, and he realized his brothers were all staring at him expectantly. “The Diablos Verdes,” Pitbull prompted.

 

Alejandro cleared his throat. "Right. They want Arroyo Flats, that's obvious from their actions the other week. It's not just about Haji. The bigger plan was to get to us, to see how hard we would push back." He thumped his hand on the table, hard, and made eye contact with each of his brothers in turn. "Now we're pushing back. Too many of us have family here to let the Diablos take over. Those crooked motherfuckers would be poison for this town."

 

The other men murmured in agreement.

 

"We're going to start making ourselves a bit more visible. Pitbull and I are going to pay Hennesy a visit to figure out the climate around here with respect to the Diablos." He paused. "We've got a lot to accomplish and only a few weeks to get it done." He glanced at Pitbull, raising his eyes as if to say, anything I'm forgetting?

 

"The good news," Pitbull said with a smile.

 

"Right, the announcement. So, as most of you know, there's someone at this table who's getting patched this week." There were a few appreciative murmurs and whistles, and Benny puffed up a bit with the attention.

 

"We're going to celebrate, Padre Knights style. The Maidens have been invited and old ladies are welcome," Alejandro continued. "In fact, if we want to eat, we sure as hell better make sure they're here." A collective chuckle erupted at the table. "Popeye's old lady will be contacting the others to arrange for some covered dishes. I need a couple of you on grill duty. Let's make this induction a special one. We're all grateful to Prospect--I mean, Zig-Zag--for his part in the incident with the Czechs the other week." He smiled down the table at Benny. "Bet you'll be glad for us to stop calling you 'Prospect,' huh?"

 

"That's not so bad, I just want my patch." The younger man grinned back at Alejandro.

 

"You got it, brother. You earned it." Pitbull and the others who had been on the scene of the handoff a few weeks ago nodded in agreement. If it hadn't been for Benny... But he refused to think about that. Fact was, the prospect had shown up just in time, and Alejandro had found himself at Ali's house that very night. Best nursing I've ever received, he thought, remembering Ali's words that night. Take me, use me, fuck me till I cry...

 

"One more thing," he said, clearing his throat as he came back to reality. "I heard from Prez. He's not doing too good. Whatever your higher power, keep old Turk in your prayers. His dialysis is kicking his ass, and I'm not sure when he's going to be back with us."

 

The others were solemn. Turk had run the club for years and was well-respected by its members. Years of drug use as a younger man left him with Hepatitis C. Now, only in his late fifties, his kidneys were failing. Alejandro had felt horrible for Turk when he went to visit him in the hospital right before he left San Antonio. "Hurts to ride and my piss looks like whiskey," he'd croaked to Alejandro from his hospital bed.

 

"That's why we got rules against doing hard drugs, even though we move it," Pitbull reminded everyone. "That shit fucks you up bad, man." He shook his head.

 

"And that's why we're going to run the DVs out of town, finish this assignment, and get back home to make him proud," Alejandro declared. "I know we had that small setback, but we're all in one piece now, even Haji, so time to take care of business and show those motherfuckers who runs Arroyo Flats." He raised his bottle. "To Prez."

 

"To Prez!" the others toasted heartily.

 

"And to getting the fuck out of here before we all grow old and die," said Slider. "I don't mean no disrespect to you motherfuckers who grew up here, but this town is boring."

 

Alejandro feigned offense, but secretly he agreed with Slider. There was only one thing he found exciting about Arroyo Flats, and with any luck she'd be waiting up for him when he got out there. Maybe even wearing that new lingerie she'd mentioned in her text message earlier that day. His cock stirred eagerly as he thought of seeing her... touching her... tasting her... She burned in his veins like some kind of wasting disease, and he didn't want the cure.

 

Alejandro tried to keep himself in check. He limited his visits to the ranch to a few times a week, but he constantly felt like he was about to go off the deep end. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep taking this thing with Ali a day at a time. Not when his entire body throbbed at the slightest thought of her. With a deep sigh he glanced at the clock and inwardly groaned at how many minutes separated him from Ali’s bed.