It felt right, having her work with me, so despite knowing it was going to cause issues with Charlotte, I kept pushing. “Come on, Sierra. Come work with me. It’ll be fun.”
Her lips twitched like she was fighting a smile as she said, “I feel like I should be saying no to you more often. I don’t want to set a precedent.”
I waved that away, smirking at her. “Don’t worry about that. I promise I won’t use it against you.”
The sound of her laughter filled the room, and I felt another layer of tension ease out of me. Yeah, we could definitely make this work.
After tellingme three times that she didn't need a nap, we headed back downstairs to join the crew and I finally took a minute to introduce myself to the new guys. There were three in total. None I recognized. I introduced myself to the biggest guy first, a quiet guy named Mark, who made even Butch look small. Despite his size, he was careful when the kids started using his legs to hide in a game and smiled softly when Malcolm started asking him a million questions.
The second guy was Mark’s opposite. If I had to make a guess, he’d barely top 5’8” and he didn’t have much muscle on him either. What he lacked in stature, he made up in personality, though. He shook my hand with a bright smile and started up a conversation about bikes like we were old buddies. He introduced himself as Rick Dexter, but asked me to call him Dex, and it took Butch pointing out that he was a PI for me to recognize the name. He was the guy hired to find Maggie when her ex was stalking her.
He winced when I looked at him more suspiciously. “Yeah, I know. I screwed up. It's part of the reason I’m here. I wanted tomake amends. He was literally my first client, and I didn't do the due diligence I should have. I won’t make that mistake twice.”
Prez clapped my shoulder as he joined the conversation. “Relax. We talked already. And he helped a lot in getting that asshole locked up with his testimony. We’re good.”
My shoulders came down, and I nodded, listening to Dex talk about the office he was setting up in town. The dude was energetic, possibly more so than Rooster. When I pointed that out to Prez under my breath, he shook his head with a smirk.
“I’m aware. He’s young too. Which is why I’m putting him with Axel. He’s got the older brother thing down to a science. He’ll keep Dex in line.”
True. Axel was Buzz’s older brother. Despite joining at the same time as Rooster, Buzz was a lot better behaved thanks to Axel’s influence.
“Where’s the last guy?” I asked, looking around. Half the crew were outside around the grill, but I hadn’t seen him pass through at all since I got here.
“Who? Riggs?” He looked around before jerking his chin toward the corner. “He’s over there.”
My eyes locked on the man in question. Of all the prospects, he looked the roughest. There was a sharpness in his eyes that put me on edge. The dude even had a scar slashed across one cheek.
“Prez?”
I trusted Prez’s judgment, but my eyes automatically strayed to Sierra. I had more than just me to look out for now. If the guy was as dangerous as he looked, I didn’t want him anywhere near Sierra or my kid.
“I know. I was wary at first too. He’s not as bad as he looks. His dad was a friend of Tank’s, and he needed a fresh start, so they sent him here. I’ll be keeping an eye on him, but I’m notgoing to turn him away just because he looks dangerous. I won’t treat him like the rest of the town treats us.”
10
Sierra
Idecided to call it quits not too long after Vegas brought me back downstairs. It had been a long day, emotionally speaking, and my bed was calling to me. Sort of, anyway. I wasn’t really looking forward to crawling into my tiny uncomfortable twin sized bed, but sleep beckoned. Maybe if I took Vegas’s offer to work at the casino, I could save up enough to afford a small place of my own before the baby was born.
Finding him in the crowd of bikers sounded daunting, so I asked Skylar to text him for me and let him know I was headed out. He met me by the front door, surprising me, and his face was lined with worry when he asked, “Are you alright?”
Smiling, I waved him off. “Just tired. I’m gonna head home now.”
“I’ll give you a ride,” he offered.
Raising an eyebrow, I asked, “How, exactly? We drove separately, remember?”
He seemed to belatedly remember that, and he flashed me a sheepish grin. “I forgot. But still, let me drive you. I’ll have one of the guys follow behind and give me a ride home.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that. Everyone is having fun here and–”
“I’ll do it,” a quiet voice offered.
Neither of us expected it and we both jumped. Vegas spun around, letting out a sharp breath of relief when he saw who it was. “Damn, Mojave. You scared the shit out of me.”
While I didn’t remember all the names of the men who’d introduced themselves to me today, I was pretty good with faces. This one hadn’t come to say hi yet. He seemed a little… off, if I was being honest. His eyes seemed to track everyone as they walked past and there was a line of tension in his shoulders that I wasn’t sure Vegas noticed. He accepted the offer without hesitation, his smile friendly.
“Thanks, man. Her place is off Rosewood. You familiar?”
