Now, every single wall, except, obviously, where the kitchenwas, was floor-to-ceiling bookcases that were, for the most part, filled withbooks.
There were some framed pictures his mom had given him.Oneof him, Jag, his mom and Hound on Hound and Ma’s wedding day.One of him andJagger with their arms slung around each other, both of them wearing theircuts, the night Jag was patched in.Another one of him in his mother’s hospitalroom holding his newborn brother the day Wilder came into the world.
And one of his dad, the dad that was no longer breathing,leaning forearm to the bar in the Chaos Compound, smiling big at a camera thatwas in front of the face of the woman of his dreams, the mother of hischildren, his wife, Dutch’s mom, Keely Black Ironside.
The shelves were also punctuated by things like lamps and acandle one of his ex-girlfriends gave him and he liked the scent of it, soafter they were over, he’d bought another one.
But mostly, yeah, it was books or space where more bookswould go when he bought them.
Though, there were three shelves that were all albumsbecause he liked the sound of music from vinyl, which was, as far as he knew,the only millennial thing he could get on board with.
He grabbed his bottle opener, popped the caps on both of theFat Tires, came to stand across from Georgiana, slid hers to her and waiteduntil she took a sip, something he did not do, before he spoke.
“First, before we get into inane things like my bookcollection, I was a dick.It was out of line.You did not deserve it.And I’msorry that shit came out of my mouth.”
“Okay,” she said quietly.
“I was a dick two days ago when I dropped you off too.Youdidn’t deserve it then either.”
“Okay, Dutch.Though, I’m not sure that’s correct.”
“It’s correct,” he said firmly.
She pressed her lips together then let them go andwhispered, “Right.Okay.”
“Second, that kiss was hot.So I’m takin’ you out to dinnertomorrow night, somewhere nice, good food, maybe even fancy, then plan to spendthe night here.”
Her brows went way up, she sucked her lips in so far betweenher teeth they disappeared, it was cute asall fuck, something he feltin his dick, throat, and the fact his mouth got dry with the need to take hersagain, before she rearranged her face and asked, “Is that a biker’s way ofasking a girl on a date?”
“No fuckin’ clue.It’s just what’s happening tomorrownight.”
“Righty ho.”She was whispering again and now looking likeshe was about to crack up laughing.
“So, we on the same page with all of that?”
“Well, um…yes, of a sort.”
“What’s the ‘of a sort’ part?”
“I can’t tomorrow night.”
“Why?”
“Well, you see, my source in the DPD chose this unfortunatetime to realize I was using his fascination with my breasts to semi-kinda-but-mostly-definitely score information from him andhe pressed the issue.So, in order to learn what the cops know about Carlyle’sdad’s case, I have to go out to dinner with him tomorrow.”
Dutch took a beat.
Then he took two.
Then he said gently, “Right, baby, you know that bikerresearch you did?”
She nodded.
“And that hardcore stuff you learned?”he continued.
She nodded again.
“Well, there is a definite Chaos version of that,” he toldher.
