Chapter 50 #2
“He knows something about those masks,” I say, pulling the folder toward me, and rifling through it, an idea forming in my head.
I pull out what I had a feeling was in there, sliding it to her.
“Those are the transactions when Micah got them. All he would have to do is run the prototype through a recognition program until he got a hit.”
“This had to have been before Holden started covering your tracks,” Dex throws in. “He’s been following you for a while. I bet good fucking money there are more pictures and a lot of them.”
“Who the hell stalks the head of the Italian mafia?” Gage asks in confusion.
“Someone who has nothing left to lose,” I say, coming to the realization. “I’ll keep digging.” Something is telling me this guy has nothing left. There is no other reason you would risk going after someone like Les.
“Thank you, Holden,” Les says with a smile. “I have something else.”
She walks from the kitchen before returning with another folder and handing it to Leo. He opens it with confusion before his eyes widen in surprise. “You’re giving me creative rights to the new restaurant?”
She shakes her head with a smile. “I’m giving you the restaurant.”
The rest of us knew about this; she wanted to make sure we were cool with it. She said Leo had expressed that he felt useless because the rest of us had duties.
“I can’t take this,” Leo says, shoving the folder back at her.
“You will be doing me a favor.” She takes the folder from him and lays it on the island, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I have enough on my plate. I’ve had Holden look up your work, and I trust you to make this place a success. It’s yours, Leo.”
“My name is the only one on that, though.”
“I know. I don’t need it. I want you to feel like you have a place here.”
He finally wraps his arms around her waist. “Are you sure, Baby?”
“I am.” She pecks his lips. “Surer than I’ve ever been.” I feel she’s talking about more than the restaurant.
He sinks into another kiss, making Micah groan like he’s going to puke. Leo flips him off behind Les’ back but doesn’t stop.
“Finally, some balls,” Ryder chuckles, earning a glare from Micah.
She pulls back with a smile. “I have something for you too,” she says, looking at me. Ryder grins at that, sliding off his stool before striding toward the garage door.
I frown. “For me?” What could she have for me? She gave me everything by getting me out of that hellhole.
She walks over, grabs my hand, and pulls me off mine. “Yep,” she replies, pulling me to the front of the house, everyone else following closely behind us. She opens the front door and steps out on the porch, waiting for something.
An identical to Les’ BMW M8 pulls in front of the house, except this one’s a convertible. Ryder gets out of the driver’s seat and tosses the keys at me, and I catch them one-handed, even more confused. This is my dream car.
“It’s yours, Holden,” Les explains, pulling me down the steps.
“I don’t know how to drive,” I say miserably. I know the basics from when I had my learner's permit and my dad taught me, but that was years ago.
Ryder walks up to my other side. “We’re going to teach you.”
Les snorts. “Ryder is. I’m a shit driver.”
“You are not,” Ryder laughs. “You just tend to drive really fucking fast.”
She grins at that. “I love it.”
Their joking is pulling some of the tension from my shoulders. They have enough to worry about besides teaching me how to fucking drive.
I kiss her lips softly. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she replies, wrapping her arms around my waist and hugging me tightly.
God, I love this girl. Every time I see her, it bubbles up, ready to spill out, but I don’t have the courage to tell her.
She pulls back with a smile. “Go on.”
“Now?” I say, furrowing my brows. “You don’t have to do this.”
“No,” Ryder agrees, “I want to. We’re already set with Viktor. Everything else can wait.”
I look at Les again. “You aren’t going?”
She pulls my ear down to her mouth. “Take this time with Ryder,” she whispers.
I have been alone with Ryder thousands of times. Why the hell am I so nervous now?
“These cars have sensitive gas pedals,” Ryder explains. “Just go easy on it.”
He drove us to one of Les’ many worksites around the city. It’s now abandoned, just an empty parking lot and a trailer sitting at the end that would be used as an office. Before too long, it’ll be a huge hotel. It has been sitting empty for a while due to other projects getting pushed ahead of it.
I take a deep breath and shift the car into drive. I barely lay my foot on the gas, making it lurch forward. I slam on the brake, causing Ryder to catch himself on the dash.
“Just a little lighter,” he says calmly.
“I can’t do this,” I say for the twentieth time.
“Yes, you can,” Ryder says in that same calm voice he’s been using. “You’re just learning, Holden. All of us sucked the first time we tried.”
I snort. “I find that hard to believe.” Any of them could jump into any car and easily drive it. I can’t even drive this one.
“I almost took out a building,” Ryder says with a laugh. “Les almost flipped the car. It took mine and Les’ dads four months to teach Gage how to drive.”
“What? No way,” I say with a laugh.
“I think I shaved ten years off Dad’s life.”
“But you’re the best driver.” He really is. He could handle any car to get them out of any situation.
“That’s because I practiced,” Ryder says, turning to me. “Which is what you will do. Now go.”
I steel myself and switch my foot from the brake to the gas, thanking my lucky stars they didn’t put me in something that I had to fucking switch gears. The car lurches again, but not as bad, so I hold pressure on the pedal.
“See,” Ryder comments, leaning back in his seat. “Take us around the lot.”
I slowly take us around the lot, getting the feel of the car. Everything is sensitive about it, the steering, the gas, and the brake. Ryder has me start and stop several times until I can pull out smoothly. Feeling my confidence build, I start going a little faster.
Ryder is relaxed the whole time, letting me take as long as I need to drive him in circles, calmly offering advice.
He has me park in an actual spot, drive in reverse, and parallel park.
I start relaxing in the seat and finally appreciate that I’m driving my dream car, from my dream girl, with my dream guy sitting beside me.
I don’t know what the hell I did to get so lucky, but I’m never going to question it.
“Pull up in front of the trailer,” Ryder says, pointing at the far end of the parking lot. I smoothly pull in front of it, putting the car into park. “There you go,” he praises.
Now that we aren’t moving, my sole focus is on him, and I’m nervous again.
Hyper-aware of everything about him. The way his jeans stretch across his thighs, his hand braced on the side of my seat, his other hand laying casually on his leg, and his smell.
He shifts in the seat, and my heart starts beating double time.
“You keep looking at me like that, and this trip will end a whole different way,” Ryder says, causing my eyes to jerk up to his. He’s pulled his sunglasses off so I can see his dark eyes.
“Like what?” I croak, giving away how nervous I am.
“Like this.” He moves before I can register what he’s doing, slanting his mouth over mine.
The first contact of his tongue with mine, I groan into his mouth.
Kissing Les feels like this, that all-consuming feeling of their mouth on yours, but Ryder is rougher.
I love kissing them, the feel of their lips pressed to mine, their tongue sliding against mine.
“Fuck,” Ryder breathes, sitting back in his seat, adjusting his cock through his jeans, unashamed that I did that to him. “What are you doing to me?”
Feeling bold from the kiss, I tentatively reach over and run my hand across the crotch of his jeans, feeling how hard he is. “The same thing you’re doing to me.”
Ryder’s head hits the headrest with a groan.
“You have two choices, Holden. Move your hand, sit back in your seat, and I’ll drive us back home.
” He levels me with a look. “Or get out of the car and follow me inside.” I don’t need him to explain what will happen if I follow him inside.
I don’t even think about it before I pop my door open and get out.
Ryder slides out right behind me, pulling keys out of his pocket.
He unlocks the door, opening it for me to pass.
I walk in, swallowing my nerves, knowing this thing between us is about to explode.
He roughly grabs me by the arm, pushing me against the closed door.
He steps up and slants his mouth back over mine with his hand wrapped around the nape of my neck.
His whole body is pressed against mine, and I can’t breathe; I don’t want to. I’ve dreamed about this day, the day Ryder would be pressed against me, his lips on mine, and I’m not backing down now.
I run my hands down his back, feeling his muscles shift under my fingers. He moves closer and grinds his hips forward, rubbing his hard cock against mine through our jeans.
Ryder pulls his mouth away from mine, laying his forehead against mine. “Tell me you want this, Holden.”
“I want this,” I pant.
He groans again, rubbing harder against me. “You don’t like something; we stop. This goes as far as you want it to go. No questions asked. Got it?” I nod in understanding, and he steps back.
He walks over to the desk behind us, pulling open the drawers.
“Thank you, Gage,” he mutters, pulling out what he was looking for.
He shoves it into his back pocket before I can see, but I have a feeling about what it is.
Gage used to hang out here when the construction guys were tearing the old building down, and I’m pretty sure he hooked up with one of them.
Ryder leads me to an oversized couch, and I’m attacked by nerves again. He wraps his arms around me from behind. “Are you sure about this?”