Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 76022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Slash, Sway, Detroit, and Crow were all in various locations on the way out of Shady Valley, making sure there were no roadblocks set up or cops parked anywhere.
Rook was conferenced into the call as well, keeping an ear on the police chatter.
No one was going to be able to take a proper breath until the guys were out of California. Luckily, it wasn’t too far to get across the Nevada border.
The rest of us waited with bated breath until the OG club members made their way in, saying it seemed all clear.
Not long after that, we got the text that they were across the border.
By dinnertime, they were already in Arizona.
From our calculations, they were a solid sixteen or so hours, drive-time, to get to the Texas chapter, but they would likely break that up into two or three days, depending on how many stops they (or Steve) needed.
As for the rest of us, we were antsy and restless.
“Why don’t we go for a few drinks?” Colter suggested. “Maybe play a few games of pool?”
The insinuation was clear: without Raff and Syn, no one was feeling like a big party, but we all clearly needed to get out of the clubhouse for a bit.
“Sounds good to me,” I said.
Did I have the ulterior motive of wanting to see Este? Sure. But who cared? Maybe I could talk her into another overnight.
The pub had the usual crowd, and after catching up with the Murphy brothers, we were all pretty much ready to move on.
Colter and Saint beelined for a table featuring three of the typical club girls—sans their usual club outfits, looking comfy and casual in roomy tees, flats, biker shorts, and makeup-free faces.
As for me? I scanned the hall for a familiar face.
A movement out of the corner of my eye had me turning to find Konstantin and Mikhail watching me a little too closely for it to feel fully casual.
They looked like they’d been through the wringer the night before. Their eyes were red, hooded, and sleepless. Mikhail had a split lip. Konstantin was sporting a decent bruise on his jaw.
Mob business was mob business, though, so it wasn’t like I could ask what was going on.
And the second I saw some gorgeous copper hair, I didn’t give a fuck what happened to the Novikoff brothers.
Este’s head was down, focused intently at something on her phone. Her hair was a curtain, making it hard to see her face until she almost plowed into me, causing her to jerk back and look up, an apology on her lips until she saw it was me.
I got the smile then.
Big, easy.
But I was immediately distracted by the things that were wrong with her face right then.
Angry red cracks at the corners of her mouth.
A big rash down her cheek that looked a lot like carpet burn.
My arm lifted, fingers snagging her chin. She tried to duck her head, but I lifted her head tighter, mad that the light in the pool hall was dim and warm, making it hard to see the depth of the injuries.
Este’s gaze flicked to the side, making mine follow to find what she was looking at.
Not what.
Who.
The Novikoff brothers.
Her face.
Their faces.
Rage, familiar and molten, rose up through me, dragging a growling sound out of my chest.
I was half-turning toward them when Este’s hand grabbed desperately at the hand that was still holding her chin, fingers digging in.
Her other hand rose, grabbing the other side of my face, forcing it back toward her.
For just a beat, I registered a kind of panic in her round eyes.
But then she was going up on her tiptoes, pressing her body to my chest, then sealing her lips to mine.
My fucking mind went blank.
The world narrowed down to her. The soft press of her lips, the crush of her breasts to my chest, her fingers on my cheek, her arm that slid from my wrist to wrap tight around my neck.
Maybe it was the surprise of it—not expecting her to reach for me at all in public, let alone at her workplace—I lost any sense of common decency as my one arm anchored around her and my other hand went to the back of her neck to angle her back so I could take the kiss deeper.
I did just that, my lips pressing harder, my tongue seeking hers, my mouth swallowing her soft sighs.
It wasn’t until my cock started to threaten to go from interested to at full attention that I finally began to break away.
Este’s eyes fluttered open, looking up at me all soft and turned on at the same time.
“Want to get out of here?” she asked, her voice husky with desire.
It was hard to form a single thought other than Fuck yeah.
But I did eventually manage to rasp out, “Aren’t you working?”