Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 80902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
That was a fucking message, and I’ve got one guess as to who sent it and why they picked this target.
Shelby waits for us outside, standing with some of the other old ladies, including Emily, who throws herself at Wild Child, and Faith, who looks like she’d stopped breathing until Ripper came out after us. Natalie is already with Quickshot, who must’ve made it out first. The fire department tears around the corner and screeches to a stop. A moment later, they’re getting hoses out and start spraying down what’s left of the entrance to the Eagles’ Roost. I feel a hundred years older, and all the cuts and scrapes are starting to ache.
Shelby breaks from the group and runs my way. I open my arms and pull her into my chest, resting my chin on the top of her head. “I was so scared,” she whispers.
Nitro, the resident explosive’s expert, comes over, along with King and some of the other members. “Looks like someone planted some surprises under a couple of the cars nearby. We’ll have to check surveillance video, but if I had to guess, they wanted to make a lot of noise and get people running to the door for the second explosion.”
King nods. “Prez is up. Let’s go see if Snark has the footage ready yet.”
On our return to the clubhouse, Eagle-eye’s waiting for us on the steel platform in front of the clubhouse front door, with his big arms crossed over his barrel chest and his mouth a hard line under his mustache. Jupiter, his boxer dog, stands by his legs, his nose up as he sniffs the air in the direction of the explosion.
“Any casualties?” Eagle-eye asks, expression grim.
I shake my head. “Don’t think so. Was a close call, though.” My ears are ringing and my head is throbbing.
“Cleanup Crew! Wrecking Ball! You’re on watch. Grab some backup and trade off in a couple hours. Everyone else? Get some fucking sleep so we can move if we have to,” Eagle-eye bellows. “Stay alert, boys. The shit just hit the fan.”
26
SHELBY
“Are you sure it's okay for me to come along?” I’ve only known Alessa for a couple of days, but she and her family have been so amazing about helping me with Mia. I don’t know why I’m so nervous about meeting some of the other old ladies. Probably because in the back of my mind I’m still waiting to get mean girled.
Alessa rolls her eyes like I'm being ridiculous and smiles. “Of course! It wouldn't be fair for us to have Harem Brunch Club while you sit by yourself. Especially now with so many of the men out patrolling. Last night was terrifying. I don’t know what the Outlaw Sons are thinking.”
“Do they know who planted the bombs?” I ask with a shiver, remembering the moment of standing outside in the street, watching smoke pour out of the building and flames shoot from the windows. That short time of not knowing if Havoc was alive or dead really made me realize how much he means to me.
“Not officially, no. But who else would it be? Viking has been in a meeting all morning with Eagle-eye, and Snark is busy pulling together as much surveillance footage as possible. All we can do right now is keep ourselves safe so they don’t worry more than they have to. Anyway, you're basically an honorary member now so consider yourself my plus one.”
“We’re going to… Summer’s house?”
“No. Well, kinda. It was Summer’s house for a while, but they had triplets and wanted more room. Harper is living there with her men, Thunder, Lightning, Shadow and Outlaw.”
“I’m not going to remember any of these names.”
Alessa laughs. “Don’t worry. Harper’s still figuring us all out, too. What’s important to remember is that Emily and Faith have birthdays soon so we’re throwing them a little party.”
“Right. Emily and Faith. Faith is Eagle-eye’s daughter?”
“Yep, and just to make things extra confusing, Eagle-eye’s old lady is Emily’s mother. They had a bit of a surprise baby not that long ago, so now Em and Faith are sort of sisters? Trust me, if you stick around long enough you’ll figure it out but it never stops being complicated. Fortunately I had a good start on complicated families.”
“What do you mean?” I remember one of the guys saying something about Alessa’s family, too. “Sorry, maybe that was rude. You don’t have to answer.”
She shakes her head. “It’s not a secret. You’d hear about it anyway. I’m Luca Giordano’s daughter.”
“Giordano, like… the Giordano Giordanos?” I don’t know who Luca is specifically, but everyone’s heard whispers about the Mafia Family that controls large parts of the city. Rumor has it that some of the fancy houses we clean in Blackworth are connected to the mob.
“One and the same. Let’s just say when I hooked up with four bikers it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. It’s… mostly okay now. I still get dragged into drama sometimes but relations between the Screaming Eagles and my family are good for the moment. Here we are.”