She gasps. "Blake! That was brand new!"
"I'll buy you the factory," I mutter, grabbing her hand again. "Let's go."
We move to the back door. I pause, checking the alley. Empty. I hustle her to the truck, opening the passenger door and lifting her in by her waist. My hands span her hips easily. She’s light, but curvy in all the right places. As I lift her, her skirt rides up,exposing a pale, soft thigh. I force myself to look away, slamming the door shut.
I circle the truck, scanning the rooftops, the street corners. Nothing. I climb in and lock the doors. As I pull out of the alley, I see her looking at her bakery in the side mirror, her expression crumpling.
"I worked so hard for this place," she says softly.
"It’ll be there tomorrow," I promise, reaching across the center console. I take her hand, pulling it onto my thigh. Her fingers are ice cold. I crank the heat up to max without asking and reach into the back seat, grabbing the heavy wool blanket I keep for emergencies. I drape it over her lap with one hand, tucking it around her legs. "My cousins will have eyes on it by morning. Nobody burns down a Gunnar protected business."
"Gunnar protected?" She looks at my hand engulfing hers, her thumb tracing the thick vein on the back of my wrist. "Is that what this is? Business?"
I shift gears, the engine growling as we start the climb up the switchbacks. The town lights fade behind us, replaced by the towering, silent sentinels of the pines. The air gets thinner, colder.
"No," I say, my voice low. "This isn't business."
I don't elaborate. I drive.
The road to my place is barely a road. It’s a gravel track that winds up the eastern cliffs, far past where the pavement ends. We pass the turnoff for the main Clubhouse. We keep going up.
"Where do you live?" she asks. The fear recedes, replaced by a nervous curiosity. She watches me drive, her eyes tracking the flex of my forearm as I wrestle the wheel.
"The Old Forge," I say. "My grandfather built it. It’s the highest structure on the ridge."
"Is it... safe?"
I glance at her. "It’s a fortress, Tiffany. Steel reinforced doors. Bulletproof glass. You could drop a bomb on it and it wouldn't shake."
"And you live there alone?"
"I like the quiet." I liked the quiet. Now, looking at her sitting in my passenger seat, silence seems unbearable. I want to hear her breathe. I want to hear her moan.
We crest the final rise. The Forge sits against the rock face like it was carved out of the mountain itself. It’s an ugly, brutalist structure of stone and iron, smoke rising from the chimney stack. The security lights flood the gravel turnaround as I pull in.
I kill the engine. The sudden silence is deafening. The wind howls outside, stripping through the pine needles, but inside the cab, it’s just our breathing.
"We’re here," I say.
She looks out at the dark building. "It looks... intense."
"It keeps the world out."
I get out and come around to her side. When she opens the door, the mountain air hits her—crisp and freezing. She quakes immediately, her thin bakery apron offering no protection. I strip off my cut. Underneath, I’m wearing a black t-shirt thatstrains across my chest. I drape the heavy leather vest over her shoulders. It swallows her. She looks ridiculous and perfect, wearing my patch.
"Come on."
I lead her to the massive steel front door. It unlocks with a biometric scan of my palm. The bolts retract with heavy, mechanical thuds. More vault than prison. And I just put my most valuable asset inside.
We step into the living space. Open concept, industrial. Concrete floors heated from beneath. Exposed beams. One wall is entirely glass—the bulletproof kind—looking out over the dark valley below. A massive stone fireplace dominates the room, the embers still glowing red from this morning.
I lock the door behind us. The sound is final.
Tiffany stands in the middle of the room, clutching my vest around her. She looks around, taking in the sparse furniture, the lack of decorations, the wall mounted with antique tools and weapons.
"It’s warm," she murmurs.
"I keep the fires going." I walk past her to the kitchen area. "Are you hungry?"
