“That sounds inconvenient, like it might get in the way of more amazing sex.”
He laughs. The sound is rough and breathless in my ear. Then he kisses me again. This kiss is slower, deeper, and gives me time to get into my feelings.
Just then we hear a whirling sound overhead. Someone shouts, “Inside! It’s another drone.” Jinx steps back, spins me around and puts me between him and whatever’s out there, protecting me with his own body. Then he’s hustling me inside the concrete building.
Chapter 9
Jinx
Iroll into work with Onyx at my side, because Jasper won’t let me go anywhere alone these days. Onyx heads straight to the back office to pull invoices. He’s got his laptop and can work from anywhere. He’s the club secretary and is the administrator for all the club businesses, including this one.
I flip the sign to ‘OPEN’ and begin filling the cash register. The parts store is back to business as usual. The worst thing a club can do when an enemy hits a business is close it. It sends the wrong message both professionally and about the club being easily taken out by rival clubs.
So, I make coffee and inspect the shelves. Eventually, my employees arrive and start sweeping up and fronting the merchandise.
My ring case has been replaced, and my rings are back to being displayed by the register. We’ve scrubbed the spray paint off the walls and replaced what they stole. We’ve righted every single thing they messed up the night of the break-in. I keep turning the situation over in my mind, thankful that Nora is safe and sound at the Sons’ clubhouse being protected by my club brothers.
I check my phone twice in an hour. Nora hasn’t texted. I told myself I’d leave her be after the kiss we shared yesterday. She didn’t invite me to stay in her room last night but I’m a patient man. I’d rather have her eager, than feeling obligated tohave sex with me. I decide to text her and see how she’s settling in.
Me: The store’s open. Are you good?
Nora: Yes. I’m working on my laptop today.
Me: Anything fun?
Nora: I’m doing marketing for a woman’s OF account.
Me: Anybody I know?
Nora: I doubt it. She charges a grand for images. Definitely out of your price range.
Me: Ouch.
Nora: Didn’t know you were into OF.
Me: I’m not. Just messin’ with ya.
Nora: Consider me messed with.
I get excited because it sounds like we are easing into flirting. Of course, that would be the exact moment Onyx walks back onto the sales floor.
“Did you know that Striker has the salvage yard office set up like a war room? Multiple monitors, the laptop runnin’ code, the CB squawkin’ low in the corner. Jasper’s at the head of the table. Slate’s beside him over there trying to figure out how to use that fancy thousand-dollar coffee machine Striker bought.”
“Don’t be absurd,” I tell him. “No coffee maker is a thousand fuckin’ dollars.”
“It was over a grand. I saw the sales slip myself.”
“For that price, it better give handjobs on the side.”
Onyx snorts a laugh, spreading invoices and printouts across the counter. The more he lays down, the more serious his expression gets.
“Something’s been eatin’ at me,” he says.
He’s been pulling double duty as both the club secretary and the club treasurer since his brother, Mica, left to start his own club and he’s looking kinda stressed.
“The Hyenas shouldn’t have been able to pop back up in Cedar Falls. Three years ago, we ran ‘em out of town. Now they’re back again. And they’ve got new cuts. Souped-up bikes that look like they’re cobbled together from trash and are the fastest things on the road. They’ve got drones and the tech they stole from us. They’re clearly good at buildin’ shit. I think they’re fuckin’ stealing all their shit.”
“Striker and Jasper are still thinking they’ve got cartel backing,” I remind him. “We already talked about that, remember? What we’re trying to figure out is why the Hyenas keep circling back around to our territory. Why here?”
