Anger stirred low in my gut as I stared at the shit storm in front of us.
Three of our men were working on clean-up. Brick lay everywhere. Shattered glass crunched beneath my boots. Gun pieces were fucking laying all over the goddamn ground, and they were charred and twisted.
“You’re sure Joey’s got us covered?” I asked River. Couldn’t ever be too careful, though Joey had never let us down before.
River nodded. “One hundred percent sure on that front, brother.” He looked around us. “But we’ve got to find a new location.”
I rolled my neck around, tension tightening the muscles in my shoulders. I could go for a damn good massage, but I never had the goddamn time to indulge in shit like that anymore. “Think Joey can hold everything for us, and we pay him to bring shit up to us as we need it?”
My president looked over at me. “Wasn’t keen on putting him in the crosshairs on us,” River told me.
I wanted to laugh. Joey would do anything if it meant Adelaide and the boys were safe. Didn’t matter that they had both moved on. They’d do anything for the other. It was a rare kind of love, and it was one no one but them truly understood.
I cut River a look. “You think he’s going to give a fuck?” River snorted. “He may be happily married, River, but your wife is the woman that holds a piece of him that no other woman will ever be able to touch. He’ll burn this goddamn world to the ground for her just as fast as he will for Elaina. I think you’re forgetting that. Either you allow him to be there, or he’ll force his way in.” That was just the way Joey fucking worked.
River clenched his jaw, but he knew I was right. Joey played by no one else’s rules but his own.
“I’ll give him a call—see what I can arrange.”
I nodded once, glad that we were both finally on the same page. River’s phone suddenly rang. He cursed and pulled it out. “Darlin’?”
“Alejandro is here with an army of men,”Adelaide’s voice rang through the phone.“Apparently, Joey has ordered protection.”
I barked out a laugh and arched a brow at River. He scowled at me. He knew I was right.
When it came to Adelaide, Joey didn’t give much of a shit about boundaries. You either let him in, or he forced his way in. There was no in-between. He loved that woman too much. It’d probably get him killed one day.
“We’re on our way back,” River told her. “Let them inside.”
He hung up and looked at me. “Well, looks like when it comes to protection, brother, we’re covered.”
I laughed again, but I couldn’t deny—and neither could he—that having Alejandro’s added protection took some weight off of our shoulders, especially mine. Alejandro’s men were some of the best-trained men I’d ever come across. The US military could take some pointers from Alejandro and his methods for sure.
Tank walked over to me. “Reina good?” he asked me.
I nodded. “She’s asleep,” I informed him. “Or, she was when I left.” Concern flashed in his eyes for her, but I didn’t elaborate on it further. It was no one else’s business why she didn’t sleep at night. If she wanted anyone else to know, she’d tell them. I clapped a hand to his shoulder. “I’m sure she’ll be up when you finally make it back.”
He nodded. “Take care of her, yeah? For a while there, brother, not going to lie, I thought you weren’t damn good enough for her.”
I cracked a grin. I loved Tank’s honesty, even if it did rub me the wrong way sometimes. But I appreciated it, nonetheless. “Brother, every damn second of the day, I fight to be worthy of her because you’re right. I’m not good enough for her. None of us are. But for some fucked up reason, she chose me, and I’m doing everything I can to make myself worthy of that choice.”
11
Sam
Reina was missing from the crowd in the main area of the clubhouse. I’d have thought she would be awake by the time I got back since it was nearing six in the evening.
“You seen Reina?” I asked Adelaide when I found her behind the bar.
She shook her head. “Think she’s still sleeping.”
I thanked her and headed down the hallway, nodding once at Alejandro out of respect. River grabbed his attention, and I smirked. No doubt River was about to find out just what kind of protection detail Joey had in mind.
I eased open the room door, and sure enough, Reina was still asleep. Her lashes cast a soft shadow over her cheekbones. She was on her stomach, the blanket pooled around her hips just low enough to show the curve of her ass. My dick hardened to a semi as I quietly shut the door behind me. My property stamp on her back fuckingalwaysturned me on. I’d never get tired of seeing it.
And then a glimpse of her perky ass with it? That shit just about did a man in.
I toed my boots off and slid onto the bed beside her, slipping my hand beneath the cover to palm a smooth ass cheek. I rubbed my thumb across her light stretch marks. She used to hate them, but I loved them. There was something about a woman’s body with those light-colored stretch marks that always turned me on. And when I licked each line? My girl just about lost her fucking mind.