Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 117494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
No. Wait.
I saw two women in the kitchen. One was setting up some coffee, and the other was cooking.
The biker—I didn’t know his name—led us down to another set of stairs at the far end. These led up to a third floor that expanded over half of the barn. It was a gigantic room, and as we went up and inside, I saw a private porch, set away from the main house. I could only imagine what that view would look like in the morning.
The guy motioned around the place. “Got your own apartment up here, it looks like.” His eyes found me, lingering a bit before moving on. “Thought you’d like privacy, and…” He motioned to the patio. “There’s stairs going down for an exit, if you need it.”
The guy was young—younger than us—but his eyes weren’t. They were very, very old.
He had dark hair, cut short, and he was bulked out, but still lean. He would’ve been pretty if he hadn’t seemed so haunted.
Shane nodded toward him. “This is Stripes.”
Stripes gave a nod, but he didn’t extend his hand for a shake.
“I’m Kali.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Shane looked around the place. “You good here?” he asked me.
“Uh…”
“I got some business to handle.”
Right. So the whole explanation would come later?
But he didn’t wait for a response. Stripes was already leaving, and Shane went behind him.
He stopped, reaching for the door. “Don’t open this for anyone except me, or if I send Stripes for me. Got it?”
I moved toward him, and as he shut the door, I grabbed the handle, holding it in place. I stepped close and lowered my voice. “You wanna explain what the hell I’m doing here? Or you’re just taking off until who the fuck knows when?”
His eyes hardened, but he let out a soft sigh. “Some shit went south. You’re here because I want you close. Now, I gotta go handle said shit before even more shit happens because of it. Listen, the guys in my charter are fine, but I don’t know the other guys. Stay here. Don’t tell anyone where you are, because that could make them not safe. Got me?”
Was he serious? “No!”
“Good.” He pulled the door shut and spoke through it. “Lock it.”
I growled, but did as he’d said.
Now what?
I hit call on my phone.
“Daughter! What are you up to? Getting tickets for the reunion show?”
I gave him the rundown without telling him where I was, and he got quiet after.
Really quiet.
Really really quiet.
“Say what? You’re where? You told me you were road tripping to California, not to go and get your sister! Because Ruby told you to do that. How come this is coming out now?!”
Oh, boy. This was going to be a long call.
I opened my mouth to talk and closed it.
He started in again.
17
SHANE
My dick was still hard from that ride.
Riding my bike got Kali wet. That was good to know, but this was the wrong time for that realization. She was here in the middle of this, and she was pissed. What woman wouldn’t be with the way I was handling her? I just didn’t have another choice, and none of that could be fixed right now.
When I stepped out of the barn, Roadie was waiting for me, and he fell in step as I started for the main house. “Machete’s not far away,” he told me. “He texted. Thirty minutes out. What do you want us to do with Claudia?”
“I don’t want you to do anything except leave her the fuck alone.”
“Right, but you know, what do you want done with her?”
We had a possible war brewing here, and Roadie was asking me about his ex, who needed to stay his ex for our club’s sake. I growled and turned, stopping him. “You need to get this through your head. Stay away from Claudia. You don’t, and I’m sending you to Texas. For the club, you gotta be up front with me. Are you going to have an issue with her moving forward?”
His eyes widened, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. But then resignation came over him. “No, Ghost. I want to stay with you. I’ll steer clear of her, I promise.”
“You need your dick sucked, you find someone else. Got me?”
He nodded, his eyes shifting over my shoulder.
I had one guess who was there.
Turning, I already knew I was right.
Crow had his head down, but his eyes were trained on us. He must’ve come out of his house as we approached. “We got other trouble brewing I should know about?” he asked.
“No.” Right now we had church. “Let’s do this.”
My phone rang—Heckler calling. I showed Crow the screen.
He raised his chin, and I stepped aside for the call.
“What’s the latest?” I asked.
“We don’t know who did the shooting,” Heckler announced. “We’ve questioned everyone here.”
“How’s Prez?”
“He’s bad, Ghost. You need to prepare.”