Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 31295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
Stella’s unique upbringing made her slow to trust. Except with King...and not just because her dad sent her to him. There was just something about the club president that had her walls crumbling, even under the worst of circumstances.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
KING
“You ask Wizard if he finished those background checks?” I asked as I picked up a contract my VP had dropped on my desk.
Blaze put his hands behind his head and leaned back in the chair in front of my desk. “He sent two over the secure server an hour ago, but he’s still working on the third.”
I looked up, my brow furrowing. “Why?”
Blaze shrugged. “He said something about the kid having interesting ties.”
“Then toss the fucker out on his ass,” I growled. Three months ago, I’d had to dig into the prospects for my MC, the Hounds of Hellfire, because we found out there was a rat in our ranks. Since I wouldn’t let someone patch who I didn’t trust with my life, it had to be a prospect who had informed on an MC with whom we had an alliance and nearly gotten one of the old ladies killed. We’d been damn lucky the Iron Rogues hadn’t gone to war with us over that shit.
We’d found the motherfucking mole. After questioning Tom, it turned out that he’d been seduced into leaking information. Intentional or not, he’d earned a lesson about what happened when someone fucked with the Hounds. Then we turned him over to Stone, the Iron Rogue whose woman was put in the crossfire because of the asshole.
Spies, especially ones who revealed the location of a hidden person, were a hot button for me. It stemmed from my time in the CIA. Luckily, when I left The Company after eight years, I’d retained a lot of my contacts. And they had introduced me to people I couldn’t have worked with while under the CIA’s thumb. Now, I was able to get shit done because I had the freedom to burn the rulebook.
I’d always required background checks on anyone looking to prospect. It would be stupid as fuck not to. Especially considering the nature of our most lucrative business. But after Tom fucked us over, I started having Wizard—a tech genius who’d been a patch almost as long as I had—do an even deeper dive on all of them.
As president of the Hounds of Hellfire, I had the last word on everything, including who we accepted into our ranks as prospects. My judgment of a person’s character was usually pretty accurate, but there were times when I just didn’t have time to interview every request. Tom’s ability to be easily manipulated had slipped through the cracks, and I wasn’t gonna let it happen again.
“If this was just about rejecting a possible prospect, Wizard wouldn’t be digging deeper than is normally necessary. Either he found something really bad and we need to take care of the bastard, or Wizard thinks the guy has something better to offer us and wants to confirm.”
“He’s got until the end of the day,” I muttered, turning my attention back to the contract. “What is this bullshit about fee negotiation?”
Blaze lifted his chin toward the door to my office, and I glanced over to see Ace, our treasurer—who was a fucking brilliant when it came to money—strolling in. Quickly followed by our secretary and club lawyer, Ash.
I asked the question again, and Ace strode over to the couch on the left side of my office and flopped down onto it. “My doing.” He grinned. “They didn’t even notice the addendum Ash added.”
My dog, Cerberus, ambled over from where he’d been lying next to me on the floor. He jumped up next to Ace and growled menacingly…until Ace scratched behind his ear.
I rolled my eyes when the cane corso flopped down in his lap, rolling over to show Ace his belly.
Cerberus was a sturdy, muscular giant who looked like the intimidating guard dog that he was. He was trained to protect and put the fear of hell—making Cerberus a fitting name—into strangers but would ignore outsiders that he deemed not to be a threat. Most people shied away from him, put off by his fearsome presence and cold attitude.
However, like most of his breed, he was extremely affectionate with me and anyone he grew attached to, cuddling to express his approval and love. I’d been surprised but pleased at how quickly he recognized the loyalty he shared with most of my brothers. Although he only truly let his guard down with me. That didn’t stop him from demanding attention from the ones he’d recognized as suckers.