Screwingin the last piece of the camera that’s facing the balcony door, I let out a heavy sigh. It took me all fucking day, but every single part of this apartment is now connected to a camera. I will be able to see every fucking square inch of this place, inside and out, from my phone.
“Are you hungry?” Cidney calls out.
Turning my head, I look at her. She’s standing in the kitchen, still wearing her sexy-as-fuck cutoff shorts and oversized tee. I want inside her again. I’m not sure I’ll ever want to not be inside her.
Spending the whole day working around her apartment has not curbed that desire. Seeing her, smelling her, being near her. In fact, I think it might have fueled my desires.
“Sure. You cooking?” I ask.
Moving toward my small bag, I toss in my screwdriver and turn toward the kitchen. Slowly, I make my way toward her, closing the distance between us. Being across the room is too far from her. Hell, an inch away from her is too far. She’s gother back to me, her sexy-as-fuck ass on display, standing at the stove.
“Don’t get excited about it, though,” she warns.
Her head turns as I approach her side. Cidney’s gaze flicks to meet mine, her eyes searching for a moment. She doesn’t say anything immediately, then her breath hitches when I lower my head, my lips brushing against her temple.
“It’s just tacos,” she exhales.
Humming against her skin, I lower my head a little more, touching my lips against the side of her throat. Then I lower a bit more, until my lips find her shoulder, smiling when goose bumps break out all over her flesh.
Sliding my hands around her waist, I gently pull her away from the stove, feeling her back press against my chest and hips. If there weren’t hot-as-fuck meat cooking on the stove, I would bend her over right here and fucking now.
“Goose,” she exhales. “I need to cook.”
I chuckle, lift my head, and reluctantly release her as I take a step backward. My phone rings in my pocket, breaking the moment completely. Taking a few more steps back, I dig my phone out of my pocket and slide my thumb against the screen, holding it to my ear as I greet the person on the other end of the line.
But I don’t let him say anything further, at least not until I can get my question out. Because I’m done pussyfooting around. I want to know what the fuck is going on, and I want to know it now.
“You get info?”
Bullet clears his throat. “It’s not Ivy they’re after,” he begins.
I start to ask him who Jeffrey Hagerty is really after, but he continues talking without me having to actually voice my question, as if he anticipated it. When Bullet continues, I can’t help but wonder what the fuck is actually going on here, becauseI feel like it’s bigger and more complex than what I can come up with on my own.
“I’m pretty sure this has to do with Cidney’s mother. I don’t know much about her, gonna have to meet with Ivy, but there was a link in the past between her and the head of the Front Mob Family.”
“What the fuck kind of connection?” I growl.
“The head of the family and Cidney’s mother dated. There are pictures of them together, and Ivy’s Dad confirmed it. When she married Ivy’s uncle is about the time there was an issue between the club and them.”
“And before them?” I ask.
I’m fairly certain I have at least an idea of where this is headed. But I want to hear it from him. I don’t want to have to guess. I need confirmed facts and details, and I want Bullet to give them to me sooner rather than later so I know what the fuck I’m dealing with here.
“Things weren’t bad. Weren’t good either, but they weren’t bad. They were comfortable, then shit got really bad until there was a truce around the time Cidney was born.”
Closing my eyes, I clear my throat, trying not to scream at Bullet to spit it the fuck out. Because I’m ready for him just to tell me what the fuck he’s got rolling around inside his damn head.
“I don’t think that Cidney is part of the family, but I do think the leader was very pissed off when she started dating someone involved with the club. I’m going to assume her mom left him, which is a hit to the ego, and we know that makes people do crazy fucking shit.”
I know that if Cidney walked away and went into the arms of a member of another MC, I would lose my fucking mind. I would wage a war. But I’m not sure if my kids would do the same. That seems a little over the top.
“So this Jeffrey is going to get back at the club because his father felt slighted?” I ask.
“I think that’s where the connection is. I’m not sure what the fuck that has to do with why he was pretending to date her in an effort to get inside our operation. There are definitely some missing pieces.”
Instead of responding withno shit, I flick my gaze down to my feet, my brain working through this new information. I’m trying to connect dots, place puzzle pieces, but my brain is having a hard time with this information that seems useful yet also useless at the same time.
“Maybe it’s not a romance aspect,” I murmur, speaking as I attempt to work through this. “Maybe it’s something different…”
