Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 94921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“What’s up?” Hunter asked.
“Where are you?” Smokey asked.
“I’m at home, just checking on a few things. I got an alert, but it was some cat or stray or something.” He didn’t like lying to his prez. Smokey had made mistakes over the years, but he was still his fucking brother, and the man had saved his back more times than he could count.
The truth was, Smokey was his best fucking friend, not that he’d get all warm and cuddly with that kind of shit. They were not going to braid hair, or do anything about it. Nor was he going to buy him a necklace.
“I need you down at the bakery.”
Hunter tensed up. There was no way Smokey fucking knew.
“Why?” Hunter asked.
“There was a hit on the place.”
“A hit?”
“Someone flung a brick through the window and it had a message on it.”
“What was the message?”
“Soon.”
“Soon?” Hunter asked, repeating him.
“Yeah. I need you to come and look. I’ve got Big Dick on the scene and a couple of guys. This is the Twisted fucks. You know it, and I know it. I’m not going to have them toying with my woman.”
“You’re sure it’s not just a bunch of kids messing around, causing damage?” Hunter asked.
They had sent the Twisted Bastards MC into hiding. They had wiped out Creed as well as a few of their members. There was no fucking way for them to come running back unless they were fucking stupid.
“No, trust me.”
With that, Smokey hung up.
“Shit.”
“What is it?” Harlow asked.
He spun around as he hadn’t heard her approach. “You were asleep?”
“Nah, I wasn’t. I’m a light sleeper. The moment you started to get out of bed and get dressed, I was awake.”
“Don’t do that kind of shit again. If you’re awake, tell me. I don’t play the game like that. What did you hear?” he asked.
“Something about the bakery,” Harlow said. “It wasn’t exactly clear. You were on the phone and I only really heard your side. You think it’s kids?”
“Someone tossed a brick through your window. Have you and Ava got any bad blood with any of the local thugs?”
Harlow shook her head. “Just to point out, in Fort Clover, you’re the local thugs, and nah, we’ve had a pretty easy time of it, since the whole club accepted Ava, and Smokey loving her and claiming her and all that. It’s an attack?”
“Unless you think tossing a brick through a window is a sweet love note.”
She snorted. “I might not be the expert on sex, but I do know that a brick through a window is not good. So not good on many different levels.”
“Why did you pretend to sleep?” he asked, more interested in why she’d do that than driving over to the bakery. He wasn’t afraid of the threat the club faced. They always had them. Those threats had only increased since joining forces with Carlos Santiago. The Twisted Bastards MC were just an old enemy, and like now, they would make a fuck-up.
Kind of like how you’ve fucked up big time by screwing Big Dick’s little sister.
“I … ugh … I didn’t know what to do.”
“So you pretended to sleep.”
“I’ve never done the whole morning after.” She shrugged. “I did what I thought I was supposed to do. It’s how all the good movies handle it. The morning after is not something people want to talk about.” She nibbled her lip. “Are you going to drop me off at my apartment?”
“No. I’ll tell them I saw you on the way over and I picked you up. Do you want any breakfast?” he asked.
He had intended to cook her something, but with the club calling, there was nothing he could do but answer it. This was his job.
“Nah, I’ll eat something at the bakery or the diner. It’s no biggie.”
He stepped around her. The temptation to organize another night was strong, but instead he went to the hallway and picked up his car keys.
“I’ll be waiting for you outside. Get dressed.”
He left her alone as he made his way toward the car. It was cold as fuck and his car had frosted over. Opening the door, he climbed in, turned over the ignition, cranked the heater up, and directed it over the windshield. It wasn’t long before it started to melt. Harlow didn’t take long. She held her bag against her chest and wrapped herself up in a jacket.
“I’m ready,” she said.
Just from his front door to the car, she had started to shake. She handed him the house keys, and then he turned his car around, got to the gate, wound his window down, and typed in the code. The gates opened, and the moment he was through, he waited until the gates were closed before heading out to the main street and back to town.