Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 115186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
All three locks. The one on the handle, the slide latch, and the deadbolt. He also set the security bar in place.
He did not want what they were about to do to be interrupted.
He turned to see her brown eyes wide.
“Do you really need all of that?”
“Yeah,” he answered simply.
“Is this a bad area?”
“Nothin’ to do with the area since we rule it. Has to do with me bein’ prez of the Knights.”
“Are you paranoid?” she asked.
“Realistic.”
“Have you had threats against you?”
“Not lately, no. That don’t mean there won’t be in the future. The Knights and the Angels had an issue with those fuckin’ Shadow Warriors before they were dealt with. Then we had to deal with those motherfuckin’ Deadly Demons more recently.”
“Who are the Deadly Demons?”
“One-percenters that got too damn big for their fuckin’ britches. They got decimated.”
Her eyebrows rose. “By your club?”
He pulled in a breath. They had a hand in it but only because the outlaw club took Aaliyah, Magnum’s oldest daughter, against her will. They swiftly dealt with the two MC members that snagged her after La Cosa Nostra dealt with the remainder.
The rest of the cleanup was done by a fucking federal task force. One that Ali-Cat’s hubby had been a part of.
Romeo’s upper lip pulled up into a sneer as it always did when he thought about Magnum’s pig son-in-law and baby daddy of his latest granddaughter Destiny.
“By your club?” she prodded.
He answered, “No,” because they did not talk about what happened the day they found the two Demons, T-Bone and Saint, at a motel with Magnum’s oldest daughter. The Knights only assisted karma when those two motherfuckers disappeared that day and were never seen again.
“So, if that club was decimated, why worry?”
“Ain’t worried. Bein’ smart. Never know what evil lurks outside that locked door.” He pushed past her, headed to his right and into his open kitchen. He opened the refrigerator. “Beer?”
She nodded.
He grabbed her a cold bottle, twisting off the cap and handing it to her before grabbing one for himself.
When he turned with his beer in hand, she said, “Not much food in there.”
“Don’t need much. Got a whole damn kitchen with a walk-in fridge only yards away.”
Surprise colored her tone when she asked, “You cook?”
He huffed out a breath.
“You have your kitchen staff make it for you?”
“Them or the sweet butts.” Another perk of being president of a strong, growing MC.
With her expression closed, she stared at him for a whole damn minute before asking, “I should’ve asked this before, but you’re single, right?” then taking a swig of her beer.
Chapter Twelve
“You don’t have an ol’ lady or a girlfriend?” Or a wife? Why didn’t she ask this prior, instead of only assuming he was free? It was Romeo. Maddie doubted he showed any woman loyalty. Wife, ol’ lady or otherwise. “I don’t want to step on another woman’s toes by being here.” He might not care about that, but she did.
“No toes to step on.”
After a quick glance over at him to make sure he didn’t appear to be lying, Maddie wandered from the small kitchen that was to the right of the side door to the open living space that took up the majority of the building. Or house. Whatever it was considered.
The structure had a ceiling two stories high with what looked like a loft. She could barely get a glimpse of a big bed up there. Under the loft on the main floor were shelves, closets, and a door to what was most likely a bathroom.
His place pretty much reminded her of a studio apartment and was about the size of one, too.
To her left and along the side wall was a very narrow, very steep stairway that led to where he slept. It wasn’t much more than a ladder on steroids, and she couldn’t imagine trying to climb up or down the steps while either drunk or exhausted.
That was a disaster waiting to happen.
“This place is… interesting.” Despite being small and basic, it was surprisingly nice inside. Super clean? No. But it wasn’t a pigsty, either.
She had no doubt since the sweet butts cooked for him, they also cleaned his place.
As well as did other things.
She knew how the whole club girl thing worked in an MC. She’d also witnessed them being used by members of the Fury more times than she’d like to admit.
After some of those incidents, the need to bleach her eyeballs was strong.
Those same eyeballs noticed that not much decorated the walls. And what did was more a generic decor and not at all personal. If she had walked in without him, she never would’ve guessed it was his place.
That was a bit strange to her since as soon as she moved into her current apartment, she couldn’t wait to make that space her own. To turn it into her home. To put up pictures of her family and some of Jude’s drawings. To decorate it as she pleased.