Page 26 of Justice's Reward


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His eyes caught hers and he smiled. “Being with you is like every dream I’ve ever had about what it would be like with a woman I love.”

Adley stared at Zane, stunned. Had he really used the “L” word?

“I know you might not be there yet, and that’s fine. I can wait. I know what it’s like to have something special. This is more than that to me. It was coming home and knowing that you were mine. When you’re ready, I’ll ask you to wear my cut and be my wife, but we’re going at your pace, Adley,” Zane said, dropping a kiss on her nose and rolling off her.

She watched his buttocks flex as he walked to the bathroom. She heard the water running, then he was coming back with a washcloth. He gently cleaned between her thighs, tossed the washcloth back toward the bathroom, then lifted her and pulled the comforter back. Laying her gently down, he turned off the light and lay down beside her, pulling her head onto his shoulder.

“I feel something for you, but I’m scared to trust, Zane,” she said.

“It’s okay, Honey. We’ll take this at your pace,” he said, kissing her hair.

Adley snuggled close to Zane and closed her eyes. She didn’t need to think about forever yet. Zane said they’d go at her pace. She could take her time. When she told him she loved him, she wanted to know it with her whole heart and not have it be in response to him saying it.

Chapter Seventeen

Adley waited in the main room of the clubhouse with all the ladies, along with Teddy and Ian. They’d been woken up at six a.m. this morning with a call that there was a fire at Pit’s KC Barbecue restaurant. The men had ridden out, leaving a couple prospects along with Deputy Dawg and Cuffs. Retread, who was the Road Captain but also a fire investigator, along with Sledge, the Secretary of the club, had been on duty at his firehouse. He was a firefighter. They were already on scene and had called Pit.

After Adley had a couple cups of coffee and was feeling a little more awake, she had to believe that this was connected. She walked into their room with the butcher paper and added the event. She wondered how many more businesses the club had. She walked back out and sat down by Ruthy and Charlie.

“So there have been two instances of events at the club’s businesses. What other businesses does the club own, and has anyone checked the status of them this morning?” Adley asked.

Before Ruthy and Charlie could answer, Macy stood up. “Hey, this is my contact. I’m going to take it in the room just in case.”

Adley nodded. Macy must be feeling the same thing that she was—an uneasiness here in the clubhouse. Adley looked aroundthe room. Nita, one of the Sirens, was here along with a woman that Adley didn’t recognize. Although Adley hadn’t chatted with Nita for very long, they’d been in the kitchen, and Nita hadn’t set off any alarms.

The woman near Nita was doing something at the bar and then would glance over to where Ariel was with Teddy. The hairs on the back of Adley’s neck stood up, and she fought a shiver—and it definitely wasn’t the good kind that Justice created. Adley decided she wanted the boys out of this room. Her mom had Ian in her arms and was sitting by Ariel, who was holding Teddy. Adley reached for her mom’s hand and squeezed it three times fast.

When Adley and Macy were little, that was her mom’s signal to go hide from her father’s wrath. Adley mouthed Justice’shouse to her mom. Her mom nodded and put her arm around Ariel.

“Ariel, I want to show you the quilt I started for Teddy,” she said. Ariel caught on quickly because she stood up, and they walked out of the room. Adley turned back to Charlie and Ruthy. She grabbed the notebook Charlie had been writing a grocery list on and wrote,the Sirenat the bar is worrying me. Charlie nodded, and Ruthy winked at her. Macy walked back out of the room from her phone call and walked over by Adley as Ruthy and Charlie got up. Adley stood up because she thought they needed to ask the woman questions but had no idea how to approach it. Ruthy and Charlie had no problems making a decision quickly. Before Adley could ask the plan, Ruthy had the woman shoved up against the bar, her arms spread on the bar topand held in place. Charlie was fishing in her pockets and pulled out a phone.

“What’s your code?” Charlie asked.

“Not telling you anything,” the woman growled.

Charlie grabbed her hair and pulled her head back. “Are you going to tell me your code?” she asked.

“Fuck you, bit…” she said. Charlie slammed her face into the bar before she finished. Well, that was one way to get her to talk.

“Give me your code. I have no problem breaking your jaw to keep my grandson safe,” Charlie said.

The woman spat toward Charlie.

“Okay. Playtime’s over.” Charlie walked around the bar and moved in front of the woman, turning on the water in the sink. While it filled, she grabbed some zip tiesfrom under the cabinet. Adley wasn’t sure she wanted to know why those were there. Charlie laid them on the cabinet, and before she could offer to help, Ruthy had the woman’s wrists hooked together.

“You have until the sink fills before I hold you underwater until I feel like you’re starting to drown, then pull you out to take a breath, then back under. You can stop all this by giving me your code,” Charlie said.

The woman stared at Charlie and started to spit.

Charlie waggled her finger in her face, “Uh, uh, uh… say your code or take a deep breath. You don’t want to waste time trying to spit.”

“5499,” the woman said.

Charlie turned off the water and used the code on the phone to open it and start scrolling through the text messages. When she got to one, she paused, then stared at the woman.

“What do you think I should do to you?” Charlie asked.

“Hey, they have my little sister,” she said.