Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
16
SCRAPPER
“You okay?” I put my hand on Mila's back as I walk her out of the pit. I’m not gonna say it, but if Mack and Reaper decide Mullerby needs to have a little accident after we leave, I won’t lose sleep over it.
Mila looks conflicted. She wets the lips that I can’t see without remembering what they felt like wrapped around my cock and nods. “I think so? Is it bad that I don’t really know how to answer? I hate to admit it since I think of myself as pretty civilized, but knowing what he’s been doing, I kind of enjoyed watching him squirm. He’s a horrible man.”
I laugh at that. “Baby, being civilized is overrated. You were never gonna get anything out of him without something like this. And now you know you’re on the right track and we have a phone number that our guy Snark can look into.”
“Maybe I can help. Now that I know—”
“You’re not going to do shit.” She narrows her eyes at my tone, but that’s not changing my mind. “Go to your classes and act like nothing happened, got it? I don’t give a shit if that asshole lives or dies, but he’ll keep his mouth shut to save his own skin and that buys us time. What we don’t want to happen is that his contact gets tipped off and they head straight to you. If you keep poking your nose in their business, they’ll decide you’re less trouble dead.”
Mila doesn’t look happy, but she nods. “Fine. For now. But then promise me you guys won’t leave me in the dark. And I don’t want you taking unnecessary risks, either. You could have gotten caught grabbing Mullerby and then how would I feel if something happened to any of you because of me?”
That’s fucking adorable. “Are you trying to protect us?”
“Uh, yeah. Why is that so hard to believe?”
“Baby, we can look after ourselves. Being a member is both a target and a shield, but people know that we have the club at our back. It's you that needs watching.” I pull Mila in close. “Do you want to stay here, or should I give you a ride home? Unless you're looking for a ride here first, because I’m pretty sure we can squeeze that into our schedule.”
She looks up at me with big eyes and an incredulous laugh. “Can I take a rain check? When Reaper picked me up I thought something like that was going to be my surprise, but I think I need a little more separation between my sex and my war crimes.”
Mila settles on the bike behind me like she’s been doing it all her life. It’s a little strange to have someone riding there, but her arms around my waist feel fucking right. None of us have talked about it, but we’ve been treating her like she’s something special. Like she’s ours. I don’t know where that’s going, but for now we just have to keep her breathing and try not to scare her the fuck off so we can find out.
Her apartment is empty again when we get there. Her friend Meghan seems to care about her, but I don’t like that she’s alone so much and living on a fucking couch where anyone could come in and grab her.
“You want a drink?” she asks.
“You sit. I learned my way around your kitchen the other night, remember?”
I give her a nudge into the living room and watch her sink into the couch, arm draped over the side and the sexy dip of her waist accentuated when she pulls her legs up underneath. I get her a glass of water and go join her. She switches sides, leaning into me once I sit down. I put my arm around her, fingers trailing over her hip.
“This is almost nice enough to make me forget that you guys terrify me,” she says quietly, before taking a sip of her water. “Sometimes.”
“Only sometimes?” I try to laugh it off. “We must be losing our touch.”
She tilts her face towards me and sticks out the tip of her tongue. “It’s not funny.”
“Nah, you’re right. It isn’t.” I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Not everyone’s cut out for this shit, baby. This life takes a certain moral flexibility. This wasn’t our first time around the block. You’ve already been hurt once just by being near us. Things are calm now, but I can’t guarantee it won’t happen again. Does that make you want to go out and find a white picket fence kinda guy named Steve?”
She giggles softly. “Steve might be easier to introduce to my parents, but would he kidnap someone just because I wanted to talk to them? It’s a hard act to follow.”