“Happy now?” Romeo asked Magnum. “You were worried about fuckin’ up our alliance. Like you bein’ with Cait strengthened it with the Angels, me bein’ with Maddie strengthens it with the Fury. We’re closer to being bullet-proof. You’re fuckin’ welcome.”
“Goddamn lucky you didn’t find yourself skinned, filleted and hangin’ upside-down by your ashy feet,” the big man grumbled.
“My feet ain’t ashy!”
“That’s the part you’re worried about? Not bein’ skinned or filleted?”
“Hell no. My future stepdaddy-in-law loves me.” Romeo grinned.
Magnum snorted and shook his head. “Later, asshole.” With that, the Knights’ sergeant at arms lumbered toward the exit.
Romeo watched him go for a few seconds before snagging an unopened bottle of Jack Daniels from behind the bar at Dicks and heading through the kitchen to go home to his woman.
It wouldn’t be home for long. He was passing it on to Bishop, his VP, and soon they’d be moving into a larger crib not far from Dick’s. They found a three-bedroom, two-bath house with a garage big enough for both his sled and her SUV. Even better, it had no damn stairs.
It even had a backyard large enough to hang out and barbecue. Just like a real domesticated motherfucker.
He turned the knob to make sure the door was locked—since that was a requirement for her safety and his sanity—and was relieved to find he needed to use his key to go inside.
When he did, he found Maddie—now officially his ol’ lady—curled up on the couch with her laptop, most likely scouring job postings and sending out a fuck-ton of resumes.
He told her multiple times to not freak out about earning scratch—he had them covered—but she was determined to get a job as soon as possible.
She glanced up from the computer and shot a smile at him as he slipped out of his cut and hung it near the door. “Hey, baby.”
Her smile grew bigger as he went directly over to her, grabbed her face, leaned down and planted a kiss on her mouth.
Actually, it was now his mouth since it belonged to him.
“Is that supposed to be foreplay?” she teased.
“What, that didn’t get you wet?”
“Wrong lips,” she advised.
“Will take care of that fuck up later.” His gaze dropped to her laptop. “Any luck?”
Her smile faded. “No.”
He glanced at his phone, saw the time, and muttered a curse under his breath. He almost missed it .
Snagging the remote from the cushion next to her, he quickly changed the channel from some brain-rotting reality show with a bunch of catty bitches to a local station that covered the Pittsburgh news.
Roger Smith’s mug was plastered on the screen with the caption: New twist in the case of a local man missing for a month.
“Oh my God!” Maddie yelled, closing her laptop and sitting up. “Turn it up!”
The news anchor behind the desk wore a serious expression. “Local business owner, Roger Smith, has now been missing for almost four weeks. The only sign of Smith’s disappearance was his Porsche 911 found in a corn field about five miles from his home. With this new development, law enforcement is now labeling his sudden disappearance as foul play.”
“What new development?” Maddie yelled at the TV.
Romeo dropped his ass on the couch next to her, cracked open the whiskey and swallowed a generous mouthful.
As if the anchor heard Maddie’s question, he answered, “Several sources are telling us that Roger Smith is an alias, and he has ties with the Russo crime family.”
Maddie turned toward him with wide eyes as the newscaster droned on in the background.
“Police are looking for any tips from the public. If you’ve seen Roger Smith, or know his whereabouts, please contact the 800 number on your screen.”
Guaranteed, Romeo would not be calling that toll-free number.
With a dropped jaw, she asked, “I wonder how the media uncovered that connection?”
Romeo shrugged. “No clue. Might be good for you, though. His word is now shit. ”
She bugged out her eyes at him. “What did you do?”
“Didn’t do dick.”
“Rome…”
“Look, woman, don’t fuckin’ ask questions you don’t want the answers to. Told you I was gonna make it up to you?—”
Her lips flattened out. “So, you did have a hand in this.”
Not only with his “disappearance” but the leak to the media. “Karma can be one independent bitch.”
“Does karma happen to be a six-foot-one Black biker?”
“Can’t confirm.”
She whacked his bicep. “Rome!”
He shrugged again and swallowed another mouthful of Jack before offering the bottle to her. She shook her head, rejecting it.
“All I know is, now that his ass has been exposed for being tied to the fuckin’ Mafia, those professional teams will be cuttin’ their connections with him as fast as possible.”
She grabbed his forearm and squeezed. He had to assume with excitement. “How do you know that?”
“Educated guess.”
“Bullshit,” she said.
“You’re a helluva lot smarter than me, so bettin’ you can figure out what this shit all means for you. Ain’t sayin’ there’s a guarantee one of them’s gonna hire you, but at least his opinion will be considered fuckin’ worthless.”
“And they might give me a fair shot.”
They might, but he was afraid she’d get her hopes up and then be devastated when it didn’t pan out. “Got us covered financially so you might be able to get your foot in the door with one of their internships. Then once they realize how fuckin’ valuable you are?—”
She grinned. “Like you did. ”
“They’re gonna want to hire you permanently. They don’t, their loss.” Like it would’ve been his loss if he didn’t chase her down in Manning Grove.
He had zero fucking regrets on making her his ol’ lady.
She wasn’t a jealous bitch. She wasn’t a dumb cunt. She didn’t screech non-stop. She was super responsive in bed. Looked great naked. But, best of all, she had eyes only for him.
She was damn near perfect.
Him? Not so much. He got the better end of the deal than she did. He wouldn’t deny that.
“I think we need to celebrate.”
He lifted the Jack Daniels. “Why I brought this.”
She narrowed her eyes on him. “So, you knew we’d have a reason to celebrate? Or was that another educated guess?”
“Got a degree in guessin’.”
With a soft snort, she put her laptop aside, grabbed the bottle, took a long swig, then plunked it on the coffee table before climbing onto his lap, straddling it.
He immediately planted his hands on her luscious ass since that was the best place to put them, besides her tits.
She wiggled in his lap. “How are you hard already?”
“Don’t take much with you.”
The corners of her lips twitched. “That’s the nicest compliment I’ve ever received.”
“Got plenty of ‘em.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and locked gazes with him. “Let me hear some more.”
“Your tits are the fuckin’ bomb. Your tight pussy’s addictin’. Your mouth can suck me off better than a Shop-Vac.”
“That’s sooooo much more romantic than flowers or a candle-lit dinner,” she teased. “Wait a minute! How do you know that my mouth is better than a Shop-Vac?”
“Just told you I got a degree in guessin’.”
“You sounded pretty damn confident about it.”
“Confident about a lotta things.”
She poked at his gut. “Like what?”
He reluctantly released one of her ass cheeks to cup her face. “Like how much you made my life a whole lot fuckin’ better.”
“And?”
“How I’ll do anythin’ to protect and take care of you.”
She bent her ear forward. “And?”
“How much I love you?”
Her eyebrows pinned together. “Why did you make that a question?”
“Ain’t a question. It’s true. Just didn’t know if that’s what you wanted to hear.”
She grabbed a handful of his beard and tugged gently. “I always want to hear that.”
She wasn’t the only one. But he knew he never told her enough and needed to do better. Telling her didn’t cost him a damn thing and it made her happy.
And he only wanted her happy and to never regret being with him.
“Who knew that my craving for a burger and fries from Bangin’ Burgers would alter the direction of my life.”
“Gotta agree, a Bangin’ Burger is life-changin’.”
“So is ‘karma’ in the shape of a big ol’ biker.”
“ Your big ol’ biker,” he reminded her.
She leaned in until her lips hovered near his. “And I think I’ll keep him.”
Thank fuck for that.