He cuts his eyes to his brother, and I see the rage just below Mack’s surface. To everyone else, it might just seem like disinterest, but the tic at the side of his jaw and the smallvein pulsing right below his hairline are his tells. When one is showing, it’s bad. Both? Catastrophic.
“Take the pictures and leave.” The venom in Mack’s voice would make a grown man pee his pants. But this group isn’t normal. Not a single one of them flinches, unlike me and Summer. We know when a bigger animal is in the room. Then again, we’re surrounded by alpha predators. Summer and I aren’t little bunnies, but if we had to fight one of these men, I’m not sure what the outcome would be.
Usually I know who’ll win. I’ve fought enough people to know my chances of winning and losing based on a few looks. And most of the time, I come out the victor. Others, it’s a toss-up depending on who brings what to the fight. I can usually outmatch anyone if I’ve got my A game. And I think I might give a few of these guys a run for their money, but not all. And Mack and Domino are the true unknowns.
Mack trains us. I’ve never seen him fight, but if he can build me and Summer into what we are, you know he can handle himself enough to be a challenge. And I’ve got a feeling he hasn’t even taught us his best stuff yet. Domino also has this calm personality about him, but I saw him react. He’s quick. I bet he gets overlooked because of the clean-shaven look on a president, but he has to know how to hold his ownif he got the top patch. They don’t give those to just anyone.
Ryan, to his credit, takes his time. His sweet time actually, and with every sigh he pulls from Mack because of how long it takes him to collect a few pictures, my smile grows. Kid’s got balls.
By the end, Summer and I are giggling like little girls. It’s the tension break that’s needed, and I even catch Dominoand some of his Hounds smirking. The only one not having fun is Mack, but that’s his own fault. He’s choosing to be pissy when he could see the fun in this. But then again, ever since Winter died, he stopped smiling. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him even hint at anything resembling glee for the past eight years.
Once Ryan is done, he puts his stuff away and turns to Domino, holding out a hand once more to shake. “I’ll let you know when we get a hit off this, but if I know anything about the club—and that’s not much, so don’t think Pauly’s snitching—I’m pretty sure you’ll know before we will.”
Domino nods. “’Preciate it man. And if you’re looking for a career change, come see me.”
Ryan lets out a surprised laugh. “Seriously?” Domino nods, and Ryan smiles wide but shakes his head. “I’m good, but thanks.”
“Either way, kid, stop by the clubhouse on a night off.” Rooster gives him a chin lift as he opens the door for him.
Guess the entire club’s good with him and don’t mind that he’s a cop. But what do I know? Maybe this is some code speak for getting a cop on the payroll. But if Ryan is anything like his brother, he’s headstrong and isn’t one to falter to another’s beliefs easily, or at all.
As soon as Ryan leaves, Mack visibly relaxes. I give him an eyebrow raise, and he just shakes his head. Now ain’t the time to dive into his issues.
Man, who knew we all had so many tonight? Talk about a lack of talking among friends. We’re close, Summer, Mack, and me, but we’re also independent enough not to need to lean on any of the others. We’re close because we choose to be, not because we have a trauma holding us together.I mean, we have that, too, but there are other things that bind us. Like our desire to protect the others, even if they don’t ask or want it.
“You have your cameras on?” Mack goes into overprotective-brother mode, and I roll my eyes.
“Yes, Dad. But I already checked them before I called Summer. No one is on the cameras.”
Lucky perches on the back of my couch before asking, “They knew enough to go around your system?”
I shake my head. “No, they turned it off.”
“Off?” Domino raises both eyebrows. He’s not the only one thrown by my words.
“Yeah. Must have hacked me.” Is it frustrating? Yes. Does it make this situation a bit trickier? Again, yes. Should it be cause for a total freak-out? In my opinion, no. But I’m a party of one at that.
Everyone flips out and starts talking to everyone else at once. I just watch. If that’s what they need to do, then they should do it. I’m all for everyone getting to do what they want, but only up to the point when someone tries to tell me what to do. They can make a suggestion, and I can choose to accept that or not. But the minute someone tries to take over my mind and actions, that’s whenI’llflip out, and no one wants that.
Especially not Lucky.
Chapter 15—Domino
Iwake up in bed, alone. Not how I thought I would if you’d asked me last night, before I took Viv home. Before we realized there was a problem.
I sit up and rub my hands over my face, trying to get the sleep out of my eyes. It was a long night. Got to bed four hours ago, based on the current time. I’ve had worse, but I’m not bouncing back as easily as I used to. I’m not old, but hell, sometimes I feel it. And with the cold here, I feel shit in my bones I’ve never felt before. Thank God for the heated floors. It isn’t the first time I’ve praised them, and it won’t be the last.
I head to my attached bathroom and crank on the shower. I jump in before it’s fully warm and welcome this bit of cold to fully wake me up. Hopping into a shower that’s still getting warm isn’t that much of an issue for me. I know the heat’s coming, unlike this place. You walk outside and have no clue if you’ll ever be warm again. Or it feels that way.
I wash quickly, but then my hand touches my dick, and I can’t ignore it anymore. Morning wood is, well, morning fun. In Kansas, I usually had a vamp help me with it if I could find one. Mostly, they just used their hands. They liked to play with my dick, but few could take it. Not like Viv did. Her pussy squeezed me so tight and never let up, no matter how much I punched into her tight canal.
Fuck, she was amazing. Stretching her cunt is one thing, but the idea of stretching out that mouth of hers has mejerking faster, tugging hard on my cock. I want to see the strain in her cheeks as she tries to take my girth. I want to see how far her lips go down on my cock and if she’ll need to use one hand or two to pump the rest of me. I’ve got lengthandwidth. God blessed me a little too much with both, if you ask some.
I’m not looking to kill anyone with it, but the joke around the clubhouse is they should have called me Third Leg or Hammer or something along those lines. But I think my love for blowing shit up outweighed everything else. Well, that and I’m really good at it. Blowing shit up, that is. I can fuck, too, but my best skills lie in how I can make something fall in places I want it to. I’m like a goddamn magician, an artist, with C-4.
I come with her name on my lips and a promise to myself that I won’t be sleeping alone tonight. For now, I’ve got a claim on Viv. Well, as much as she’ll allow. I think we both know this will only last for a bit, and no one is voicing it. Why talk about the ending when you can focus on the beginning? And the club knows how I feel about her—I wouldn’t have half the club watching her place if I didn’t feel something for her more than a quick fuck.
I dress quickly after that and head out. No one has texted me about anything this morning, and I know they will if something is going on or if they find something. I’ve just got an itch to see Viv for myself. It was the first thought I had when waking, and it was the reason to get up. Might as well deal with that before anything else.
