“I want to know how you get away with it,” Lovie said. “No way would my Daddy let me stay up like that. What is Deke thinking?”
Suzi shook her head. “Oh, he doesn’t know.”
“Okay, now we all want to know how you managed that,” Lele said.
Suzi shrugged. “My Daddy is a hard sleeper. Once he’s asleep, I can pretty much do whatever I want.”
“Oh, really?” “I’ll make sure to tell him you said that.”
All eyes turned to Jaxon. The look of shock on their faces almost made him smile.
Suki gasped. “No! Don’t do that, Jaxon. Please?”
But Jaxon didn’t answer. Instead, he walked past her and held out his hand to Tazzy. “Time to wake up and go home, Darkling. I’ve got you.”
A sleepy smile graced her face as her eyelids fluttered open. “Hello, Daddy.”
Jaxon picked up her margarita glass and took a sip.
“I’ll be talking to Hutch as well.”
Georgia shot up like a rocket. “Why would you think Hutch, of all people, would be the one you need to talk to?”
“You’re kidding, right?” said Jaxon.
Putting down the glass, he held out his hand to Tazzy again. Now she was wide awake. “Yes, Daddy.” For a minute, he thought she was going to salute.
She slipped her fingers into his and stood. There were quick hugs and whispered promises to check on her later. Jaxon tucked her against his side as they left the warehouse. The sun sat low in the sky now.
Jaxon pulled out of the lot and headed toward home. Feeling the rumble of the bike under them felt good, as did Tazzy’s arms aroundhis waist. The General had shown his hand today in broad daylight, a miscalculation he would live to regret.
It probably never occurred to the man that Jaxon wasn’t alone anymore. In doing so, the General did something that would have taken a lot longer to accomplish otherwise. He convinced Jaxon that he wasn’t alone anymore. After being in prison for eight years, accepting in his heart that he had a family of brothers who would stand with him and a woman who trusted him to keep her safe had been hard. But he knew better now.
The General wouldn’t win. Not this time. Not ever again.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Tazzy pressed her cheek tighter against Jaxon’s broad back as the Harley rumbled beneath them. Darkness wrapped the road in deep shadows. The afternoon at the Sabre warehouse with the Musketiaras still had her heart humming. She’d laughed until her belly hurt in the Little Room. The swinging princess chairs and the sneaky, sweet Peeps martinis were perfect.
Now she wanted only one thing. She wanted to be home alone with her Daddy. Nothing could be better than his hands on her and his voice in her ear telling her she belonged to him. Wind whipped past her helmet while she held him closer, enjoying the warmth his body provided. Vibrating through her body, the engine’s throb made her ache for the night ahead.
She squinted when the headlights somewhere behind them hit Jaxon’s mirror and reflected straight into her eyes. Wow, whoever was behind them really needed to dim their headlights.
She looked back over her shoulder and spotted a black SUV. Didn’t they know it was rude not to dim their lights when they were that close to another vehicle? Was it the same one that had pulled in behind them when they passed the gas station next to the warehouse? If it was, it had merged onto the main road with Jaxon.
It was probably nothing. Sure, black SUVs had been involved in several attacks on her friends over the past eight years, but lots of people drove black SUVs. But then it started gaining ground. Now it was too close for comfort.
“Jaxon,” she called, thankful for the Bluetooth helmets. “There is a black SUV behind us. It keeps getting closer.”
“I see it, Darkling’.” Following his lead, she leaned further to the left on the next curve. “Hold on tight. We’re not stopping.”
Jaxon twisted the throttle, and his Harley shot forward. Adrenaline shot through her at the sudden acceleration.
Wind stung her exposed skin, making her cling all the harder. Tilting her head over her shoulder for another look, she could tell the SUV was matching their speed without much effort. It stayed on their tail like a predator on the hunt.
Jaxon leaned the bike into a sharp right turn onto a narrower road. The tires gripped the pavement hard, but she felt them slipping. Tazzy’s body followed his every lean perfectly. A dark calm stole over her, no, more like exhilaration. Squealing tires behind them confirmed they were still being followed.
Again, the SUV accelerated and closed even more. Jaxon pushed the bike harder, weaving through what little traffic remained this late. Horns blared when they cut between two cars and blared again when the SUV followed suit. So far, whoever was driving hadn’t tried to ram them. She felt like a mouse being played with by a cat before the kill.