Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” he says in a sing-song voice. “We’re back,” he announces as if they can’t see us themselves. “Where’s Nova?”
“At the clinic. Some junkies broke in and beat up the young doctor chick who runs the place, so you know Nova. He’s helping where he can.”
Shades shrugs and leans back in his seat, legs crossed on the table with a beer in his hand, and a smile on his face. “You fuckers find out anything?”
Coop flips Shades off and steals his beer, taking a long swig and drawing the moment out for effect. “We did.” He takes another sip, longer this time, and even he can’t hide the smile forming around the bottle.
“Well,” Shades nudges. “The suspense is fucking killing me, man.”
I laugh and drop down between Ace and Dix. “The girl is a hacker, but she only knows the Kings by reputation,” I repeat the story of the asshole threatening her in her driveway. “She doesn’t know Hector either.”
Ace nods. “You believe her?”
“I do. She wasn’t exactly friendly at first, thinking more Iron Kings had come to threaten her.”
“That and Preacher’s got it bad for her.”
“Yeah?” Shades sits up and leans across the table with a teasing grin. “She hot?”
“Oh yeah,” Coop adds. “With blue hair and tattoos everywhere. Nice tits, too,” he says and looks around. “Not as nice as Kelsey’s but not bad.”
I roll my eyes at Coop’s teasing. It’s how we are with each other, and I’m not free of it just because I’m the MC Chaplin.
“Problem, though. She’s not safe.” I turn to Ace to gauge his reaction because no matter what happens, the Iron Kings are a threat to Gia.
Ace’s dark brows dip in confusion. “How do you mean? You said it was just a one-time job she was threatened into doing for them.”
I nod. “That’s what it sounds like, but now that Hector is out and free, it’s only a matter of time before he finds out why he’s out. When he learns that she’s a hacker with those kinds of skills, he’ll take her and force her to work for him. You know that, Ace.”
And I know exactly what Hector will do to a pretty young thing like that, with skills that can help him keep trying to take us down.
Coop nods his agreement. “She’s not quite Wilder-level of hacker, but she’s damn close if she can get into the cop shop.”
“Aww,” Wilder says as he enters the clubhouse and pulls a beer from the fridge. “You really do love me, Coop,” he teases, taking a seat at the closest empty table. “He’s not wrong, though, she’s got mad skills. Took me a while to track her down.”
Ace sighs heavily, unhappy because he knows what he has to do. He nods and turns to me. “Keep an eye on her, Preacher.”
Coop laughs. “There are easier ways to ask a chick out. You know that don’t you?”
I flip him off, but I do it with a smile before turning to Ace. “I’m not a babysitter.”
“Good ‘cause she ain’t a baby. You say she needs protecting, and I’m telling you to protect her. Keep her safe.”
I nod and then shake my head, reluctant to take on this task even though I’ve never told Ace no. “What about the prospects? This is a job for one of them.”
“They’re on round-the-clock surveillance at the port, remember?”
Shit. How could I forget? Hector is trying to come at us from all sides. We—and all of Angel Harbor—will be better off when he’s dead and buried. “Right. Well, I guess I have no choice in the matter.”
Coop laughs. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re real broken up about it, Preacher. Cut the shit, man. This is your chance to get close to her and fuck her brains out.”
It’s no hardship to watch over Gia, but dammit, she is exactly the type of temptation I’m trying to avoid. The club doesn’t have the time or the bandwidth to bring another woman around to protect.
“How long will this protection last?”
“Until I tell you it’s over,” Ace growls.
“Fine.” I just nod to show him it’s done. “I’ll keep her safe.”
“I know.” Ace gives me a look of gratitude before turning back to his beer for a long, dramatic pull. “I can’t believe that fucker is out,” he growls. “Luckily, the detectives on the scene still have all the evidence, so it won’t be for long.”
Shades lets out a huff of bitter laughter. “What the fuck does that mean? He’ll just speed up his plans to fuck with us.” He sits up and looks to Ace and then Dix. “Maybe we should put a few more bodies on the port?”
Ace shrugs. “We’re short on bodies as it is, especially now that we’re covering some of Juniper’s security needs.”
Wilder clears his throat. “There are a dozen new cameras at the port, so I can see what they can see.” He pulls a tablet from his backpack and hands it to Ace. “You can see too.”