Chapter 29 Ryder
Ryder
Iscrub a hand down my face after looking at the picture Gage sent to a fucking group chat. “Fuck,” I mutter.
Les is snuggled between him and Leo, smiling from ear to ear, those perfect tits squashed against Gage’s side.
Holden chuckles. “You got it too?” he asks, looking at his phone, color creeping into his cheeks. It’s hard to believe this innocent fucker is walking around with Les’ fingernail scratches down his back and the same one who kissed me in the gym.
I still can’t get that kiss out of my head.
“Fuck you, Gage,” I gripe and toss my phone on the coffee table where Holden and I are watching TV. I knew Gage was up to something when he volunteered to take her to the nail salon, dragging Leo with him. Plus, his ass loves going too.
“Are you mad?” Holden asks, concerned.
“Nah, man. Jealous,” I laugh. I’m still not sure how I feel about this, but I need to figure it out. And soon.
My phone chimes again, and I scoop it up; Holden is already chuckling.
Gage
‘image sent.’
It’s a picture of Les in the shower, water cascading down that hot tan body.
Fuck you.
Gage
Bring it on, big boy. ‘kissy face emoji’
Les
‘laughing crying emoji’
Holden
When are you coming back?
Les
Holden ‘heart eyes emoji’ we are leaving in like ten minutes.
What the fuck? I don’t even get a hi, and he gets heart eyes?
Gage
It’s because he has a monster cock.
Holden makes a choking noise, and my eyes snap to him. His face is blood red all the way to his ears.
Les
Ryder’s is pierced. ‘drooling emoji’
Leo
What?
Gage
What?!?!? Let me see!
Dex
You guys are distracting as fuck.
Hey, Baby girl.
Hey to you other assholes.
Les
Hello, Dexton. ‘smirking emoji’
Gage
Shut up, all of you!
Ryder!
Send a pic of your dick!
Les
Les changed the name of the group to: Les’ coop of cocks
Gage
‘laughing crying emoji’
I’m not sending a pic of my cock.
Gage
I’ll just see it in person. ‘eyes emoji’
I roll my eyes with a chuckle and lay my phone down.
Leo saved my ass today; there’s no doubt about that.
If the guy he took out had gotten a shot off, it would have been lights out for me.
He didn’t even hesitate to save my ass, either.
He proved himself to me today even after he spazzed the fuck out in the car, just like I figured he would.
He kept staring at his hands, and they were visibly shaking. I couldn’t even fault him because I felt the same way he did the first time I took a life.
My dad had just started letting me go on jobs with him and Luca, saying I was old enough.
I was just shy of eighteen at that point.
We went on a job to take out some assholes that were trafficking women through the ports, and this guy came out of nowhere.
Just like Leo, I pulled the trigger without a second thought, and it didn’t hit me what I did until we were back in the car on our way home.
My hands were shaking, and I didn’t even realize I was crying until my dad pulled me in for a hug.
He told me that if it were easy, everyone would do it and that we were in a place to protect people, so we had a job.
It stuck with me through every person I dropped after that, even to this day.
I told Leo that, and it seemed to calm him down. By the time we got back to the house, he seemed to have accepted what happened for the most part.
Like we told Les, we’re by no means best friends now, but I’m willing to give him a chance.
“Do you think she’s happy?” Holden asks quietly, breaking me from my thoughts.
I think about it for a minute and answer honestly, “Yeah, man. She is.”
“Are you happy?” he asks with a tilt of his head that he’s picked up from Les.
“I am,” I answer. What is he getting at? “Are you?”
He smiles. “For sure.”
“You’re okay with all of this?” I worry about him getting involved in a relationship like this, but I know Les wouldn’t involve him if she didn’t think he could handle it, and neither would I.
He’s a lot stronger than we give him credit for.
Not even a week ago, he couldn’t even look Les in the eyes.
He nods, then shrugs. “Yeah.”
“Would you tell me if you weren’t?”
“You know I would,” he answers but then lets his eyes drift from mine.
“Holden,” I warn, reminding him to look me in the eye.
He sighs. “Are we going to talk about what happened?”
“We can talk about it whenever you want.”I’ve been waiting on him to bring it up mainly because I didn’t know how, and I don’t want him to regret it, and that thought has been eating at me.
“I need to tell you something,” he says, rubbing his hands together, showing his nervousness. “I’m bisexual.” He looks up and locks eyes with me. “Is that a problem?”
Just like that, I see Holden’s spine straighten and challenge me if it’s a problem. My cock should not be getting hard because of that but fuck if it isn’t.
I sit up in my chair, bracing my arms on my knees. “It’s not a problem with me. Where do you want this to go, Holden?” I need to know what he expects out of this. I can’t risk taking things too far and scaring him off.
Before he can answer, Micah struts into the living room, wearing a three-piece suit. I suppress an eye roll. “What’s up, fuckface?” he greets, flopping down on the couch. “Where’s Les?”
I raise an eyebrow at the name he hasn’t called me since I outgrew him. “With Gage and Leo.”
“When will she be back?”
“You know, Micah, there’s this cool invention called a fucking cell phone. Message her,” I say, then flip him the middle finger. Holden laughs but tries to smother it when Micah narrows his eyes at him.
“Don’t encourage him,” Micah says, pointing at Holden. “You could just answer the fucking question, dickhead.”
I shrug. “What’s the fun in that?” I didn’t suddenly forget he threatened to murder my ass.
He stands up with a huff, jerking his suit jacket to button it. “Tell her to call me.”
“Fuck off,” I yell when he strides back out of the room, and I swear I hear him growl from the other room until the front door slams.
Holden beats a hasty retreat in the other direction before finishing our conversation.
I don’t want to push him, but he needs to tell me what he wants.
Because after that kiss, I know what I want.
I aimlessly flip through channels until I hear Les and them coming through the garage door into the house.
I jump out of my chair, heading toward her, and have her pressed against the wall with my lips on hers before she can take more than two steps inside.
Those pictures have me all kinds of fucked up.
“Hello to you too,” Gage mutters, slapping my ass before laughing and walking away.
I ignore him and get lost, stroking my tongue against hers. It is so damn freeing to finally be able to do this when I want.
I pull back and peck her lips one last time. “Hey, Il mio sole.”
She strokes her hand down my face. “Hey,” she says breathlessly. “I missed you.”
I close my eyes, soaking in those words before opening them. “I missed you too.” I sling my arm over her shoulders, leading her into the living room. “What’s this family meeting about?”
She sighs. “I found some stuff out, and I need you all here.”
“Dex said he would be home for dinner, so he should be here soon.” I take in her face. “Is everything okay?”
She shakes her head. “No. We’ve got trouble.”
Shit.
Dex gets home about the time Les is passing out the food we ordered. We all pile in around the dining room table and dig in. I’m dying to know what she wants to talk to us about because if Les says there’s trouble, you can bet on it. Gage and I clean up the table and settle back, passing out beers.
“What’s up, Baby girl?” Dex asks, breaking the silence.
“I know who Moretto’s supplier is from the name you gave, Holden,” she says, giving a small smile to her hacker. “It’s Viktor Orlov.”
“What?” I explode, “That Russian motherfucker knows better.”
She acknowledges that with a nod. “He does, which poses the question. Why would he make a move like that against me?”
“He thinks you’re weak,” Dex mutters apologetically. He doesn’t mean anything by it, and Viktor isn’t shy about his displeasure with Les being in the position of power to make rules for him too.
“What’s the play, Pretty girl?” Gage asks, casting a look at Leo. It doesn’t escape my notice she’s talking freely in front of him or the eyes he and Gage keep giving each other.
“This is the tricky part,” she says, taking a sip of her beer. “I can issue a warning that he’s not going to listen to. You know what I say about second chances?”
“They don’t get one,” I say proudly. She handles this family just like her dad did, with an iron fist and a soft spot when she needs it.
“So, you know what that means?” She runs her fingers through her hair, her only nervous gesture.
“War,” Dex rumbles, looking at her. “It means we go to war with the Russians.”
“War?” Leo asks with a frown.
“Viktor Orlov is the leader of the Russian mafia,” Gage explains. “He doesn’t like Les ruling over him too.”
“I know this is a stupid question, but how does she rule over him too?” Leo asks.
“Nah, man, it’s not stupid,” I say. I feel bad for him; I can’t imagine what’s going through his mind. “Les runs the most powerful crime organization in the world. Whoever lives where she rules follows her, and she does it to keep as much peace as possible.”
“I thought it was just California,” Leo remarks, confused.
She shakes her head. “I’m just based in Cali; I have people everywhere. They run their own syndicates but still answer to Micah or me.”
“Oh,” Leo says, impressed. Damn right. He should be. “Even North Carolina?”
She smiles. “Even North Carolina, although that’s a small group and more towards Charlotte instead of Spindale, where you’re from.” She turns back to me. “I have more news.”
I already don’t like it from the way she’s looking at me. “Hit me.”