Chapter 20
CHAPTER
TWENTY
DARE
Watching the door to the clubhouse open, I stand with Chassis at my side as they begin to file into the room. As much as I want to turn them all away and not have Chassis here to greet them, I decide against it.
This is her family, and I’m not going to alienate any of them. I respect Chassis and Cake far too much for that, even if I want to keep her for myself and only myself.
Cake walks in first, followed by Chassis’s brothers: Piston, Gauge, and Clutch. Some other officers make their way in as well, but my focus is on the four men who are blood-related to my wife.
Cake doesn’t hesitate. He makes his way directly to Chassis. Without a word, he wraps his arms around her and pulls her in for a big hug. He presses his mouth against the side of her ear and murmurs something that I don’t quite catch. Piston, Gauge, and Clutch take turns shaking my hand.
Chassis steps back from her father’s embrace to take her place next to me again. “The gang’s all here,” I mutter, chuckling.
“It sure is, and it looks like you’ve been taking good care of my girl here,” he says.
I don’t miss the snort Chassis lets out, which makes my lips twitch into a smirk. As much as I want to stand here and shoot the shit, I can’t. We need to get this meeting over and done with, come up with a solid fucking plan, and then move forward.
One thing I do know is that we cannot piss the Russians off.
Rustik is reasonable, but the last thing I want to do is get into it with him.
He’s got us by the balls to a degree. Right now, he’s paying our bills and giving us the contacts we need to better our situation here without having to find a way into a different industry.
Hookers and drugs really aren’t our thing.
All of us love the fires. It’s an art form, really, being able to incinerate an entire mansion without burning the entire block down.
And we’ve perfected it. As long as we can keep a steady stream, the income can’t be beat for the effort we put in, or lack thereof.
It’s mostly paperwork, but as we know, if that’s fucked up, it can fuck up a hell of a lot. We owe the Russians for the fuckup. They also didn’t come for us, didn’t blame us, when they very well could have.
As much as I want to pretend that I can tell them to fuck off and it’ll be that easy, I can’t. We need to work together, or there’s going to be an all-out war on our hands, something that I’ve been trying for months to keep from happening.
But as each day passes, as new information comes to light, I have a feeling there will at least be some kind of scuffle, if not a whole-ass war. Stepping to the side, I jerk my chin toward the door that leads to the room where we hold church.
I watch as the men begin to make their way there, but Cake doesn’t move immediately. Instead, he flicks his gaze over to meet Chassis’s before he speaks. He extends his palm, and Chassis lifts hers to slip it into his. He flexes his fingers around her hand before he speaks.
“Don’t go anywhere. I want to see my daughter and spend some time with her before I head back to Arizona.”
“I’m not planning on going anywhere.”
Her words come out in a whisper, and I can’t help but smile, even if it’s a bit sadly. Cake dips his chin in a single nod, then walks away and heads to the room. Everyone is in there, likely waiting for me, but they have to wait because church doesn’t start without the president.
I turn to my woman, giving her all my attention. Lifting my hands, I cup her cheeks, my thumb sliding across her bottom lip as I focus on her. My gaze connects to hers, unmoving because there is nobody else in the fucking world as important as her right now.
“You good, sweetheart?” I ask.
Her pretty blue eyes look into mine. My cock twitches beneath my zipper, pressing hard and without a doubt leaving an imprint. I can’t help but wonder if we have a few minutes to slip into my bedroom.
And also, I’m highly impressed with myself, because the fact that I feel like I could go again is downright fucking amazing considering we only left our bed a few hours ago. It makes me want to see how long I can go for a round two within a few hours.
“I’m good, Amos,” she exhales.
Yeah. I could go again.
“Stay out here. Get whatever you want out of the fridge. We’ll start cooking once the meeting is over. Elodie, Alex, and Juliette should be here soon with the food.”
She dips her chin once, her gaze searching mine. “I don’t have anywhere to go, Amos. I’ll be right here.”
I shift my face closer to hers, and my lips touch hers in a brief kiss before I speak against them. “Good girl.”
I lift my head, my hand falls from her face, and I smirk at the sight of the goose bumps that appear on her skin.
Fuck yeah, good girl.
My good girl.