The last report I got from Anchor didn’t have a lot more information on the investigation. It’s clear that whoever is investigating Kendra’s murder isn’t doing so quickly. I suspect it’s because of Wagner and whatever lies he’s told his brothers in blue.
The thin blue line protects their own. While part of me can’t blame them, in this case they’re protecting a dirty fucking murderer with a badge. Their ignorance will put my woman in danger.
And that just doesn’t work for me.
“Duckie is on him. I told him about the trip to Magnolia Point,” Ripper informs me. He shoots me a wary look, “Town like that with a cop asking around? Wagner will know her entire life story in no time.”
“Yeah,” I grunt, “it’s what I’m afraid of.” No one will know to keep quiet and close ranks. I can’t even blame anyone because they don’t know any better. “Thanks, brother,” my voice sounds far away, the words more perfunctory than anything else.
My mind is spinning with how wrong this all can go and how much danger my woman is in. A cop without oversight who is dirty as fuck is a dangerous cop. But since everyone thinks he’s a good guy who is loyal to the law, people won’t want to acknowledge the truth.
“Church?”
I look at Ripper when he grunts the one-word question and nod in response. He’s up and heading out of the room after giving me a chin lift of acknowledgement. I’m sure he’s going to grab a drink or something at the bar. Honestly, I’m just grateful for a moment to think.
Thinking about the danger nipping at my woman’s heels is almost too much for me. Danger and violence aren’t things I normally shy away from, but this is different. This is the woman I can’t live without.
To some it might be fast, but not in my world. Life can be lived in one mile or thousands, but it should be lived.
I’m up and stalking out of my office before I can think too hard about it. I find my woman in the kitchen along with Mom, Candy, and another angel whose name I always forget because she’s new and I have shit going on. I don’t even try at this point. As long as they know where they stand in the pecking order around here, including knowing there’s a new queen on the throne, I’m good.
They’re working on dinner for everyone and I need to get church started. Soon the good smells coming out of this kitchen are going to be distracting everyone.
Addy turns when I walk through the door and gifts me a smile that makes my heart pound in my chest as my soul settles. I missed her.
It’s a wild fucking feeling.
When I get to her, everything else falls away even though I can feel everyone watching us. Let them watch, I don’t fucking care.
“Everything okay?” The genuine concern in her voice is what does me in. Fuck. This woman.
“I’m a lucky fucking man,” I murmur right before I take her mouth in a kiss that would be punishing if she wasn’t full of fire.
Her hands come up and grip my cut as she abandons whatever she was doing, all of her focus shifting and narrowing to just me. Like mine does with her.
I think I hear a gasp of surprise, but I don’t pay it any mind. I kiss my woman and pour everything into it, including a little bit of the fear I have for her. She takes it all, without question, without hesitation. And she gives it back to me in equal measure.
It feels like leveling out. Like finding center.
“Just keep in mind that I cook for everyone here,” Mom snarks.
Addyson jerks in my arms, pulling her mouth away from mine. “You really gotta temper this whole biker president swagger you have going on,” Addyson demands, her finger circling the air in front of my chest like she isn’t considering stripping me and having her way with me.
But I see the lust in her eyes.
“It wasn’t just Prez who was hot as fuck during the kiss,” Candy whispers out of the side of her mouth, every word filled with a giggle.
Addyson’s cheeks turn a pretty pink and I wink down at her before looking toward Mom. As expected, she looks like she’s floating. She might have just given me shit, but she’s smiling from ear to ear.
Candy wiggles her eyebrows, her voice teasing, “If you ever want to play, Queenie, I’m your girl.”
“Candy,” Addyson admonishes her, but there’s no real heat in her words, “I’ve never been interested in being with a woman. Tal and I kissed once in high school to try it, but that was enough.”
“What the fuck?” I bark out the question, unsure of how I feel about such a revelation. “Does Scythe know this?”
“What?” My woman blinks up at me innocently. “How else would we find out if we liked it?” She tilts her head to the side slightly. “I’m not sure if he knows or not. Only if she told him. It might not have come up.”
Oh, fucking hell. I face palm before gripping the back of my woman’s neck. When I kiss her this time, it’s soft and gentle. Someone sighs, but I don’t give a fuck.
