“Give me a minute and I’ll be ready to go again,” I grunt, my cock already twitching.
“It’s going to take more than a minute, stud. You’re not back to a hundred percent yet, and I’m not about to send you back to the hospital,” she says, amusement threading her tone. “And I need food. Lots of it.”
“What do you want for breakfast?” I might not be back to full strength yet, but I can sure as fuck cook for her.
“Chicken and waffles, same as yesterday,” she declares after a few seconds of consideration.
“With hot honey butter and lots of bacon?”
“You know it.” She kisses my jaw, smiling. “And maybe add some fluffy pancakes to that order. With blueberries on top.”
“I can’t believe we’ve finally reached this point,” Bones says, leaning back in his chair, looking a little stunned. “It’s much sooner than we thought.”
“The club is stable now. Still growing, but it’s controlled. It wouldn’t make sense to wait,” I murmur, tapping a finger on my desk. “Time to ditch the shady businesses the old-timers started and focus on the legal ones.”
I lock eyes with him. “We should keep the Romano deal, though. Money — dirty or clean — always brings enemies. Our alliance with the Famiglia gives us extra protection. It’s worth the risk.”
He nods. “I agree. The brothers will too.” A beat. “Speaking of dirty money… I looked at the numbers. We’ve got a lot of it. More than I thought. It’s going to take time to move away from it completely. We might need to dip into that trust fund of yours for a while.”
Ah, the trust fund.
Imagine my fucking shock when — less than a week after my twenty-fifth birthday, still five months away from release — I got a visit in prison from a sleek lawyer. That’s how I found out I’d inherited my maternal grandparents’ huge-as-fuck trust fund. Wealth built off the very profitable sale of some manufacturing company my great-great-great-grandfather started.
They’d disinherited my mother and named me the sole heir, with one condition — I’d only get access to the money when I turned twenty-five.
I never met those fucking people. They were dead before my parents, anyway. Never even thought about them. But I didn’t care about whatever family drama happened there. I just signed the papers. And then I used some of that money to fund Bones’ plans for the club.
“The last investment I made into this club based on your crazy ideas made me richer,” I say, the corner of my mouth lifting. “I’m game.”
“Told you logistics and construction are a goldmine. Pops and the old guys were playing at the kids’ table with their illegalgambling and smuggling shit. It brought us some quick, easy money, but it’s not worth it anymore. Too much risk for too little pay.” He groans. “Fuck, there’s a lot of work ahead. I want to look into towing too. The Romanos could help us land some sweet city deals for at least three of our Chapters, maybe more. We could do a test run in Driftwood.”
“Not to pile onto that mountain of work, but I’ve been thinking we should also open a bar in Silverpine. Maybe even here, but outside the gates.” I settle deeper into my chair. “Five-Star landed his ass in county last week after starting a fight at that dive bar in town. We’d have more control if the…misunderstandingshappened on our territory. And a lot of these fuckers chase pussy outside the club. They’re also mingling with the townies, making fucking friends. We don’t want all those hang-arounds inside the actual clubhouse, poking into our business. It’s too close to the Fun House. Too close to things we’re not supposed to have. We can keep the bar inside for us only, and the other one as a playground.”
His eyebrows rise. “I’ve been thinking about that too. We have bars for outsiders at almost every chapter. It makes sense to do the same here. We should probably make it a club-wide rule. Reaper needs to do the same in Driftwood.”
“Look at us, finally able to think clearly about club business,” I say, maybe a little teasing. Maybe a little relieved.
He rolls his eyes, unimpressed, and huffs. “I’ve been able to do it for a long time now. I got Temper back ages ago. I was just waiting for you to catch up.” A beat. “Speaking of which, how are you and Adora doing?”
“You gonna ask me to braid your hair next?” I deadpan.
He snorts and crosses his arms. The leather chair sighs under him, then settles. “Don’t be a fucking asshole. If I didn’t ask, you’d never tell me.”
I glare. “You’re not asking, you’re insisting.” I blow out a breath, letting it ease the instinctive resistance stuck between my shoulder blades. It’s easy talking with Adora about feelings and shit. Why is it so hard with everyone else?
“Adora and I are good, Bones. Better than good. We’re fucking amazing.” My eyes drift past him, following the line where the wall meets the door. My voice lowers to a whisper. “It doesn’t feel real sometimes. Like maybe I actually died and, because of some clerical error at the Pearly Gates, I got into Heaven.”
He surprises me, smiling. “Yeah. I know the feeling.” He clears his throat, his expression turning serious. “It’s normal, fucker. Don’t read too much into it. You just got another chance, one that was almost impossible, and now you’re happy.” He gives me a short nod and stands. “That’s all I wanted to know.”
“Bones,” I call before he can turn. “Adora considers you a friend now. Apparently, you bonded over my almost-corpse in the hospital.” I tilt my head slightly. “I know you had your issues with her before. Those issues better not come back and turn you into an asshole.”
He grabs the stack of papers he brought into my office before answering. “She’s wrong, Dom. We’re not friends. We’re family now.” His mouth curves. “And you don’t have to threaten me to be nice.”
I lean back in my chair, stretching my legs, and smile. “I’m not threatening you, brother. You fuck up, I won’t have to do a damn thing. Adora would convince your own woman to gut you, then stroll in at the end just to give you a smile and a final kick in the nuts.”
My phone beeps just as the door closes behind him, leaving only the echo of his laughter in the room.
I answer Domino’s text, then get up, ready to follow Bones out and leave my office too.
