Marcus let out another growl before throwing the sheet off his body.
“Get dressed. We’re not boning.”
14
MARCUS
After spending the morning listening to Blade and Ace make wiseass jokes about him and Gavin sleeping together and secretly hooking up, Marcus finally walked into Ride ’em Hard a little crabbier than usual.
“Is it just me, or is the big guy a little moodier than usual?” Caden asked Nikolai, assuming that Marcus couldn’t hear him.
Marcus growled as he looked over the balance sheets and books he had laid out on the large table at the back of the bar.
It was too quiet in his office to work, so he set up shop in the back of the bar, where they usually prepared food and snacks for paying customers. It was early afternoon, so the only ones drinking were the usual drunks and retirees who had nothing better to do.
“Oh, the boss is just pissed that we caught him cuddling with his little twinkie this morning. It was cute. They were playing with their little puppy and everything. Very Hallmark Christmas special-ly,” Blade explained, only adding to Marcus’s sour mood.
Seriously, sometimes he wondered why he kept the guy around.
Because he is loyal and big-hearted, and even though he is sticking it to your little bro, deep down, you know you love the prick, Marcus heard that pesky voice inside his head say.
“We weren’t cuddling,” Marcus clarified, refusing to look up from his books and give the story any more credence than was necessary.
“You were both in your underwear, the boy was nestled into your chest, and you were both playing with the mutt. Sounds like cuddling to me,” Blade noted. Then he turned to Caden and Nikolai. “Oh, and the dude had a massive boner.”
“Who? Gavin?” Caden asked, his eyes suddenly widening.
“No. The boss!” Blade clarified, nodding his head toward him.
“I didn’t have a boner,” Marcus growled, this time looking up and glaring at his men.
“Okay, it was covered by a sheet, but still, I’ve never seen a sheet so high. It might even rival yours, you freaky Russian,” Blade added, turning to his buddy.
Before Blade got serious with Ace, he and Nikolai usedto fuck chicks together all the time. It was kind of their… thing.
It was a well-known fact within the Shadow Vipers that Nikolai’s cock was… well, let’s just say, way above average. The running joke was that when God made Nikolai’s cock, he used double the clay.
Marcus and Nikolai had never actually compared cock sizes, but based on his visual assessment, he was pretty sure that the Russian had him beat. Perhaps by only an inch.
“When you’re done idolizing my cock, can we get down to business?” Marcus asked, slamming closed one of the books he had been reviewing.
“Yeah, sure, boss,” the guys mumbled as they gathered around the table he was sitting at.
“Has there been any word from our friend on the West Coast?” Marcus asked, looking up at Caden.
“Yeah. They’ve been busy moving shipments, and everything seems back on track, with delivery scheduled for mid-next week.”
“Good. Hopefully, that asshole learned his lesson and doesn’t need another reminder of who he’s dealing with.” Every so often, some young punk would get it into his head that he didn’t need to follow orders and could do whatever the fuck he wanted. Whenever that happened, Marcus would just send a few of his guys to pay them a visit and remind them of their role and who was really in charge.
“And, what about this thing with the sheriff?” Nikolai asked.
“What thing?” Marcus asked, his eyes shifting to the blond-haired Russian.
“Do we sit back and let Burke catch this killer? Or do we take matters into our own hands and hunt him down ourselves?”
Marcus looked around the room at his boys. Every one of them would be willing to hunt down this man if he asked them to. But now wasn’t the time.
“For now, we give Burke and his team a chance to bring in this motherfucker on their own. Right now, Gavin is safe, and there is no immediate danger to the public. Burke thinks the Valentine Killer ran off, knowing that someone actually saw his face. He doesn’t think the killer will try anything else, at least not for the immediate future. If the cops can’t locate him in the next few weeks…” Marcus paused, considering his words once more. “Then we can take matters into our own hands and hunt down this pathetic monster.”
