“If they’re going in—”
“Then you need to be far away. We all do. No one wearing a cut so much as steps foot in the strip club with the Feds breaching. We update Kansas and let him deal with it. He’s more than capable, and you know it.”
I do know it, but I don’t like it.
“Let me know when they go in,” Steel says, and Ghost nods. “I’m heading home. Tempe’s having a rough couple of weeks, but keep me updated if anything changes.”
Steel is the first to leave the room, tension rolling off his shoulders. I don’t know shit about pregnancy except that Tempe seems to be struggling recently, and it has Steel on edge. She’s been in and out of the hospital a few times this month.
I’m one of the last to leave church, and the guys eye me with sympathy like I’m about to attend my own funeral as I head toward Willa, sitting at the bar. At some point during my meeting, she stopped watching me and started watching a prospect, who is getting head from a patch bunny across the room.
“Interesting place you live,” she says when I stop beside her.
“That’s one word for it.”
She looks up at me, and I’m surprised there’s no judgment in her eyes, even if she probably assumes I’ve done that once or twice myself. I’ve done just about everything imaginable in this clubhouse. When I got out of prison, I barely got dressed unless the club needed me.
I was making up for lost time.
“You want to stick around until he comes down her throat, or do you want to go lie down?” I cross my arms over my chest.
Her gray eyes narrow. “You’re such an asshole.”
“So I’ve been told.” I turn toward the hallway, and she follows, leaving her beer at the bar.
Thankfully, Aimee and Luna helped clean my room up and change the sheets on the bed before I got back here with Willa. I might make no apologies for who I’ve become, but something about knowing Willa will be in my room makes me want to be a less horrible version of myself.
I unlock the door and hold it open for her. She pauses a few steps in, taking a look at the walls while the doorclicks closed behind us. Pictures cover almost every inch. Photos from all over the country.
It’s customary for every ranked member to take a photo of the open road on their first run as a new member. We hang them along the wall in church, reminding us of the commitment we made to our club. I liked the thought behind it, so I kept doing it. Every time I go to a new place, I hang a picture of the road on my wall.
I kick off my boots and then flop down on the bed, noticing she’s staring at a particular picture.
“Tennessee,” I say, angling my chin to the photo. “That was taken about five years ago.”
“You really did it?” Willa glances my way. “You always said you’d see everything there was to see.”
“Haven’t gotten around toeverythingjust yet. But yeah, damn close.”
She hums, her face blank as she looks to where I’m lying on the bed. “We’re not sharing.”
“Do you see a couch for one of us to sleep on?”
“Seriously?” She frowns. “Don’t you have a million rooms here? I could stay in one of those.”
“So you can disappear in the middle of the night? Don’t think so.”
“Dean.”
“Willa.” My emphasis matches hers, and she glares. “Just get in the fucking bed. We’re adults. Promise I won’t touch you. You don’t even need a wall of pillows between us.”
“What if I want a wall of pillows?”
I grab one of the pillows and shove it down at my side. I’m not even ready for bed yet. If anything, I should walk out of this room and find someone to fuck before coming back so I don’t act on what I’ve been thinking since I first saw her walk into the club.
“Better, princess?” I hitch an eyebrow. “Or are you still too much of a good girl to share a bed with me?”
That lights a fire in her eyes. She never could resist a challenge.
