Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
“Girls,” I say and damn near burst into tears.
Maven immediately wipes her hands on the apron and gathers me in her arms. “What’s wrong?”
“There was a guy, a man actually, with a thick Hispanic accent.” I stumble over my words but manage to recount the last few minutes exactly. “He’s the guy that shot me. One of them, anyway.”
My hands tremble, and my breath is short and choppy. I feel like I’m about to have a panic attack, even though I’m not the kind of chick who has panic attacks.
“Is he still here?” Letty asks, the phone against her cheek.
“No.” I shake my head. “He took his cookies and strolled out like he didn’t have a fucking care in the world.” Meanwhile, I’m left shaking like a goddamn leaf.
“Joaquin and Wilder will be here soon,” Letty says with a sympathetic smile. “Can I get you some coffee or a sweet treat?”
“I’m off my antibiotics and wouldn’t turn down a few fingers of whiskey.” It’s the small things that make a simple girl like me happy.
Less than ten minutes later, my man strolls inside, looking fierce as hell and ready to kick some ass.
“Willow,” he grunts, coming up to me. He pulls me into his arms. “Are you all right?”
I nod and flash a shaky smile. “I’m fine. The guy just shook me up a little.”
“We should close early,” Wilder says to Maven after pressing a quick kiss to her lips.
She shakes her head. “Why? He’s already come and gone. He wanted to scare Willow, not hurt her.”
“She’s right,” I agree. “If he wanted to hurt me, he could have done it right there. No need to put a dent in the business on my account.”
“Dent in the business?” Maven practically shrieks the words back at me. “This isn’t about that. It’s about continuing as normal and not letting these assholes see that we’re afraid of them.”
“Yeah, that.” I agree, just to get everyone to stop fussing. “What she said.”
Maven’s nostrils flare, and she turns to Wilder, her expression softening when she looks into his eyes. “You’re right, babe. We’re closing early today.”
“Dick whipped,” I murmur, knowing I’m beat for the moment.
“Damn straight,” she replies back. “Now, let’s get the end-of-shift tasks done, so we can get out of here.”
Joaquin nods. His arms fall away from me, but one hand slides slowly down my arm. He takes my hand in his, clasping them together. “We’re going home,” he growls. “Where I can keep an eye on you.”
I laugh, but his expression is serious. It’s so fierce and angry, and I can’t understand it. “Why are you so pissed?”
He says nothing, and I shrug it off when he hands me the helmet because at least I get to wrap my arms around this beautiful hunk of man on my ride home.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Joaquin
I’m angry. I am so fucking pissed off that my lifestyle, who I am, has brought this trouble to Willow. Some asshole felt comfortable enough to go to the bakery and threaten her, and it’s all because of me.
Willow gives me a hard shove when we arrive at the clubhouse and is off the bike. “Well, why are you so angry at me?” she says to my face.
“I’m not angry,” I tell her. “I have to go.” I have no time to argue with her or explain my shitty behavior. I don’t need Ace up my ass about showing up late for Church.
“Yeah, well fuck you too,” she mumbles to my back, and I can feel the heat of her glare as I make my way to the room where we hold Church. The rest of our brothers beat me to the meeting, everybody eager to plan our response.
“How are Willow and Maven?” Ace asks as soon as I enter the room, Wild Man right behind me.
“Shaken up but unharmed. Pissed off,” I assure them. “What do we know?”
Ace turns to Dix and motions for him to speak. “There’s a bigger connection between the Iron Kings and Morgan International than we realized.”
I perk up at his words and lean forward. “Yeah? How so?”
He smiles at me and then at Wild Man, who is equally interested. “Turns out, Hector and Nogales were middlemen between Geoffrey and Los Tres Colombianos.”
“Who the fuck are they?” Preacher asks with a dark scowl.
“The assholes who killed Devon and Jordi,” I growl.
Ace explains, “LTC is a small cartel, at least compared to the bigger, more well-known cartels. Made up of a father and two sons. Maybe a daughter. Some soldiers. They’re ruthless and driven only by profit. No dogma or ideology and they don’t give a fuck about competition.”
Dix nods gravely. “And now they’re here. We need to find out why.”
“I have some idea,” Wild Man adds with a tired sigh. “Getting rid of Hector and Nogales was bad enough but ending the Kings has created an economic problem for LTC and Morgan International, which puts us right in their fucking crosshairs.”