Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
As I got older, got into dating, it was just a trend that continued.
Guys who were hot, confident, and extroverted always made the move first, never left me wondering about their interest.
And, well, in my experience, guys with smiles this one had were always good in bed too.
The other guy had inky black hair, matching eyes, and more golden skin. There was a sort of calmness about him, a quiet confidence.
Hot, just in a different way.
“What do you want to chat about?” I asked, keeping my finger near the trigger, but snapping at the dogs.
They each took turns looking back at me, wanting to make sure they heard me right before they sat.
But they kept their gazes on the strangers.
“About a couple of really expensive guns you owe some friends of ours,” the playboy said, shrugging.
“Sounds like I should be talking to them, not you.”
That was a bit of a test.
“Well, see, our friends didn’t want to drag themselves up from sunny Florida to this frigid-ass corner of the world. So here we are, in all our glory.”
“What’s your friends’ names?” I asked, still a little suspicious.
“I don’t know who you talked to directly. But Huck would be the president. They have a friend named Zayn who contracted them to get the guns made. And Zayn has some friends over in…”
“Okay,” I cut him off.
He was right.
I’d spoken to two guys in the Golden Glades Henchmen MC. Huck and Seeley. And I knew just from… doing what I do that the very notorious Zayn was working with that crew now to source guns and bring them overseas.
And I recognized that patch on the leather jackets that they were likely only wearing because it was too cold to wear their usual cuts up here.
One-percenter badges.
These were bikers.
A sister chapter, probably.
Bike clubs seemed to be like that. The mother chapter, then lots of little sister chapters popping up all over the place.
“Our buddies are a little worried you ran off with their client’s money,” the guy continued.
I couldn’t stop the snort that escaped me at that.
“What? Forty grand? Seriously?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “That’s pocket change,” I added.
His gaze slid to the cabin.
And, fine, the place didn’t make it seem like I had a lot of money. But when you were in my line of work, and you needed more than one safe house location, you don’t waste a shitton of money on any of them, since they were most likely going to sit empty.
“Would you let a million-dollar safe house sit empty all the time?” I asked, rolling my eyes at him.
“Good point,” he agreed. “I’m Sway. This is Coach,” he said, gesturing toward his friend. Or… brother. Bikers called each other brothers, didn’t they?
Honestly, I couldn’t care less about crime organizations. The only interest they held for me was a way to make money doing what I loved.
“Yeah, I don’t care,” I said, shrugging, trying to play it off. Experience had told me that being a bitch kept me safe. Any small crack in your armor could and would be exploited by men like this. I never planned to be anyone’s victim ever again. “You can tell your buddies that I will get to it when I can. The world doesn’t revolve around them or their client. I have other shit going on.”
With that, I turned as if I was going to walk away, going to dismiss them, even though I knew that they wouldn’t be brushed off so easily. They never were, guys like this.
“I hate to tell you, sweetheart,” Sway started, and I went ahead and pretended that it didn’t feel good to be called a pet name instead of ‘you stupid bitch’ for a change. “But we have orders not to go back home until we have those guns.”
“Then I hope you enjoy the great outdoors,” I said, waving around. “Because I’m not leaving for a while.”
“Did you finish them?” Sway pressed.
“No.”
I also learned that short, clipped answers were more of a power move than giving full explanations.
All these stupid rules I needed to live by, this mask I wore to stay safe. Or else.
“Do you plan to finish them?” he asked, unbothered by my briskness.
“Yes.”
“Come on,” Sway said, laying the charm on a little thicker, giving me that smile. And, no, I wasn’t immune to it. But I couldn’t let him know that. “We all have people we are working for, that we need to answer to. Give me something to work with here, baby.”
“Actually, some of us have highly specialized skills that mean we get to make our own schedules and deadlines. If your boss and his buddy don’t like that, they can go find someone else to do the job,” I told him, knowing full well that there was no one else who could do this job. Which was why it was all the more absurd that we were even having this damn conversation. “I will find some bars tomorrow, and I will send the money back. I don’t need this shit right now.”