I wiped my mouth off with a napkin. “Thank you so much for having us over, you guys. And the food was fantastic, Raven.”
Raven smiled at me. “Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, so I frequently throw it down whenever I can. Thank you for giving me an excuse other than feeding this neanderthal over here.”
My brother chuckled. “I think you’ve taken enough punches at my expense, beautiful.”
Raven peered over at him. “You got that attitude of yours in check?”
And when my brother patted Porter’s shoulder, I knew things were buried. “Yeah, yeah. We’re back on track. Unless he hurts Astrid. Then, we might have an issue.”
Raven stared hard at Porter. “He’ll have a problem with both of us if he does.”
Porter scoffed. “And what if she hurts me, huh? Who’s kicking her ass if she breaks my heart?”
Raven looked back over at me. “He’s a good man, Astrid. And I’m whipping your tail whether or not Brooks wants me to if you hurt him. Got it?”
I smiled. “Only fair. I got it.”
Brooks snickered. “Better than nothing, I guess.”
Porter shook his head. “Pathetic, if you ask me.”
The four of us shared a nice little moment of laughter before we all got up from the table. Brooks and Raven escorted us to the front door, and my brother actually gave me a hug before we left. A hug! I hadn’t gotten him to hug me properly once since I’d gotten into town. But I guess another man in my life to take care of things finally snapped some sense into him.
That, and Raven.
Bless that woman.
They waved us off as we got back onto Porter’s bike, and I slid my arms around his waist. I pressed my cheek against his leather jacket, reveling in the freedom we had as we pulled out of the townhouse complex. The wind whipped around us as we soared back to my childhood home. I nestled against him, drinking in the way his muscles flexed as his bike shifted gears. Enjoying the way his warmth felt as the cool summer wind wrapped around our bodies. I loved riding on the back of this man’s bike. I wanted to make it a thing we did at least once a month, where we simply packed up a couple of outfits, rode until we wanted to stop, and then got a hotel for a weekend where we enjoyed one another to the fullest.
I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my days with this man.
“Home sweet home,” Porter said.
He helped me off the back of the bike before we walked inside. Every time I walked into this place, I saw something else that needed to be done. A piece of furniture that needed to be replaced or a crack in the wall that needed to be patched. The carpet itself needed to come up altogether, but I needed to save up the money first.
But Porter’s voice pierced my thoughts. “So, what happens now?”
“Hmm?”
I turned around and watched him lock the front door closed before he sighed. “What happens now?”
I blinked. “I’m not following.”
He turned toward me and shrugged. “Are you staying here? Are you staying in town, but finding somewhere else to live? Are you heading back to L.A.? What’s the plan?”
Confusion wafted through my body. “I thought we already discussed you moving in.”
He nodded. “Yeah, but that was before you patched things up with Brooks.”
I paused. “I still don’t see how that changes anything.”
He walked over to me and put his hands on my shoulders. “What I’m trying to say is, things are different. And maybe that means you’ve had a change of heart or plans. I’m just trying to get a read on where we stand now since that breakfast didn’t go one bit how I imagined it.”
I giggled. “Right!? I mean, I knew Raven could talk some sense into him. But I didn’t expect a flat-out acceptance.”
His hands slid down my arms until he took my hands in his. “So, where do we stand? Are you staying, or have you decided to head back since there’s no tension with you and Brooks anymore?”
I took a step toward him. “My work travels with me. I can do voice-over work from anywhere, so long as I have a quiet and soundproof room to work in.”
He took a step toward me. “I could soundproof any room in this house for you, once I figure out how to do it.”
I took yet another step toward him. “And while this house does need some updating and some work done to it, it’s got good bones.”
He closed the distance between us. “I’ve already got projects I’m budgeting for that I can start today. I’ll need a truck, though. Or someone to help me get shit back to the house.”
I gazed up into his eyes. “I’m sure one of the guys would be willing to help out. I know Josie’s got a Bronco, but I’m not sure how much can fit back there.”
He brought my hands to his lips to kiss. “You know I’m not leaving the club though, right?”
His question gave me pause. “Even if it gets too dangerous?”
He nodded. “Even then. They’re my family in ways I’ve never had family before. I’ll never abandon them, no matter what happens.”
“Even if it gets you put in prison? Like my brother?”
His eyes held mine before he nodded. “Just like I’d die or go to prison for you, I’d die or go to prison for them. That’s just how it works.”
I sighed heavily. “I can come to accept it with time, but that’s the best I can do.”
He released my hands and cupped my cheeks. “That’s all anyone can ask.”
My eyes danced between his. “I’ve only got one rule regarding the club, though, and this house.”
“Oh, work doesn’t come home like that. Church meetings are always at the clubhouse, not in people’s actual homes.”
I shook my head. “That’s not what I was about to ask.”
“Then, ask it. I’ll do my best to oblige.”
I hung my hands off his forearms. “I don’t want Chops in this house. I get a bad feeling about him, and I don’t want him anywhere near this place.”
He didn’t skip a beat, either. “Trust me, that man isn’t coming anywhere near this neighborhood. You’re not the only one who’s got a bad feeling about him. And if we’re really being brutally honest about him right now? I’m pretty sure he’s the one who set up Brooks for prison.”
I gawked. “You’re fucking kidding.”
His hands fell from my cheeks and he ushered me into the kitchen. “We’ve actually been investigating him as of late. We don’t have all the details so I can’t talk about much until we have concrete evidence, but all of us are basically in agreement that the night Gage died and the night Brooks got arrested, Chops was behind all of that shit. We think he got Hyde killed, too.”
My eyes widened as my voice lowered. “Holy fuck, and he’s your president, isn’t he?”
He nodded slowly. “Yep.”
“Please tell me you guys have a plan to take him down. Because if you don’t? I might just do it myself.”
He grinned. “And what will you do, beautiful?”
I scoffed. “For starters? Tie him down and pull his teeth out, one by one. Five of them, for every year of Brooks life that got taken from me. Then, we start on his toenails. One by one, just like his teeth. Five of them, five of his fingernails.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist. “You’re cute when you act tough, you know that?”
I drew in a sobering breath. “I mean it, Porter. If that’s really true? Either you guys do something or I do.”
His forehead touched down against my own. “We’re working on it, gorgeous. I promise.”
I kissed his lips softly. “Good.”
He captured my lips of his own volition before his tongue invaded my mouth. I moaned down the back of his throat as I stood onto my tiptoes, pressing myself deeply against him. His arms cloaked my back. His warmth penetrated me as our teeth clattered together. My head fell off to the side as he backed me against the kitchen wall, his leg pressed between my own.
And when his knee touched my panties, wetness pooled against them.
“I’ve wanted to flip this dress up since you first put it on,” he growled.
I sucked on his lower lip before I giggled. “Then do it, big boy.”
He grunted as he whipped me around, flinging me like a ragdoll. He shoved my cheek against the kitchen table with his hand fisted into my hair before I felt the cool air of the house against the backs of my legs. He spanked my ass, causing me to jolt as my excess jiggled for his viewing pleasure. And as he massaged the spot that he cracked against, my breathing grew to wanton panting.
“Porter, please,” I begged.
The second his hands slipped between my trembling thighs, though, my phone rang. I heard my purse vibrating and dancing around on the floor as the soft, soothing tones of Josie’s ringtone filled the space beneath the table. Porter paused his movements as I groaned, pressing my hands against the kitchen table.
And when I lifted myself up, he helped me upright.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
I reached for my purse. “Just like you pick up for Brooks, I always pick up for Josie. And it’s weird for her to be calling me so early. She should be asleep.”
“Why’s that?”
I pulled my phone out of my purse. “She’s a stripper, and I know she just came off a shift last night.”
I answered the phone call and turned around, leaning against the kitchen table. But the second Josie sniffled, I pushed away from it. Porter’s eyes grew serious as I snatched my purse up from the floor, and when I dug my keys out I dangled them in front of his face.
He nodded his head as Josie continued sniffling in my ear as the two of us booked it out the front door.
“Josie, what’s wrong? Where are you?” I asked.
I tossed the keys to Porter and he unlocked the car before opening the passenger door for me.
“I—I-I-I–don’t know what ha-happened, Astrid.”
I dropped into the seat as Porter jumped over the front of the car to get to his door a bit quicker.
“Josie, just take a breath and tell me where you are. Porter and I are coming to get you.”
She drew in a broken breath. “I’m—uh. You know where, uh…”
Porter cranked up the car. “Where we headed?”
I held up my finger, telling him to give me a minute. “Landmarks. Give me landmarks.”
Her trembling voice filled my ear. “Urgent Care. I’m at the urgent care across from… uh, Macky’s Diner?”
I turned to Porter. “Downtown Urgent Care off 5th. And step on it.”
He nodded and cranked the engine before speeding out of the driveway. I knew my car would groan and complain the entire way, but I didn’t care. I sat on the phone with Josie as we soared across town, listening to her cry and slowly choke out what the fuck had happened.
But when she uttered that one phrase, I was ready to pop off shots.
“I was beat up at the strip club, Astrid. And I don’t think it’s safe there for me anymore,” she said through her sobs.
