I turned to Ayda, shaking off my irritation at Harrybefore I placed a kiss to the side of her head. “Make a round of coffees, darlin’, and then we’ll go and shower. I have something planned for today.”
Turning on the tips of her toes, almost like the ballerina she’d mentioned earlier, Ayda grinned at me and walked backward for a while, before throwing me a wink and grabbing the carafe for the coffee machine that was sitting empty at the end of the bar. Her hand patted Harry on the back as she passed him to fill the pot with water in the kitchen.
I tilted my head and zoned in on her ass for a while, enjoying the view before I forced myself to tear my eyes away. Walking over to the bar, I propped myself up on the stool closest to Harry and leaned over the counter, resting my chest on my balled up fists.
“If you die on me, I’ll make sure I get my revenge.”
“Oh, yeah?” He smirked. “How?”
“I’ll get your high school crush so smashed she ends up sucking Deeks’ dick while you’re watching from Heaven.” I grinned.
“Heaven?” He huffed out a rough laugh, resting his hands on the bar and leaning closer. “I’ll be in Hell, Tucker. Ain’t no window views to your old life from Hell. Good luck with that.”
“Asshole.”
“You’re starting to sound like an old man.”
“I feel like one ‘cause of you fuckers.” I shook my head and watched as he rocked back on his feet and took a long drag of his smoke. There was nothing left to do but roll my eyes. The guy could give all the fatherly advice in the world, but he’d be damned if he was going to listen to it from others. “Fine. If you won’t help me keep you healthy, at least help meorganize a surprise for Ayda today.”
“What kinda surprise?” he asked, his eyes squinting as smoke drifted over them.
“She wants a tattoo.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, holding his gaze and trying to silently pass on a message I wasn’t too sure he was receiving.
Pulling the cigarette away from his lips, he blew more smoke out of his nose before he coughed a little and narrowed his eyes farther. “When you say she wants a tattoo…”
“I mean the skull and hounds, brother.”
“Holy fuck.” He coughed louder, turning to Ayda who glanced over her shoulder and flashed him a sweet smile, even though she had no idea what we were discussing. Leaning closer, Harry eventually looked back at me and whispered, “May as well stick a ring on her finger, Tucker.”
“In good time.”
His eyes searched mine. “Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and all the baby orphans. You ain’t even blinking.”
I shrugged and smirked with confidence. “She’s here for a long time, Harry. Probably longer than us.”
Stepping back, he blew out a long breath and widened his eyes, his smile growing by the second. “Your old man would be proud of you, kid. Your momma, too.”
I pressed my lips together and gave him a nod. “Make the call?”
“I’ll get Stinger right over here.”
I slapped the top of the bar before I turned just in time to see Ayda walking over to us, balancing three mugs in her hands.
We made small talk, filling Harry in on where we’d spentthe night. Our other brothers slowly began to wake and filter into the bar, all with sleepy eyes and showing far too much flesh beneath their cuts. Ayda had seen it all before, though. Nothing about Hut life seemed to bother her anymore. She’d seen everything…
Apart from Stinger.
When he walked through the front door, all dreadlocked hair, tattoos covering every inch of his skin, and eyes that were aflame with excitement, she turned on her stool and scowled in confusion.
“The Hounds of Babylon,” Stinger cried out, holding his arms—bag included—in the air. “Fuck, I’ve missed you guys. It’s been too long.”
Ayda had been around the club too long to openly stare at the guy, but she took him in, did the mental math and looked to me as she slid her mug onto the bar top. “Is that…?”
I didn’t answer, instead offering her a small smile of smug satisfaction before I patted her leg and slipped from my stool to go and greet our new guest.
