I kissed the top of her head. “Good as new. I wasn’t going to let youdown.”
* * *
It didn’t take longfor us to get to my tiny house at the end of a dirt road. It was an Unacceptable thing; we all felt more comfortable living far away from the beatenpath.
“Wow! This place is great,” Scarlett remarked before getting out of myDenali.
“It’s not much, but it’s home.” I showed her around the first floor. “Make yourself comfortable. My bedroom is right at the top of the stairs if you get tired and want to get some sleep. I need to head to the shop and take care of some things for a few hours. Are you all right withthat?”
Scarlett sank down onto the couch while sighing with relief. “I am just so glad to be out of that stuffy, smelly hospitalroom.”
“I haven’t been around here much since getting back to town, so I don’t think there’s anything edible left in my fridge. There’s most likely a few beers and in the side drawer there are tons of takeout menus for the places that deliver out this way. Your best bet is Al’s Pizza. It’s not the greatest, but it gets the job done. I’ll leave some cash on the kitchen table in case you gethungry.”
“You’re pretty great, did you know that?” Her coy smile made me feel drunk. Walking away from her was getting harder and harder. I craved to drink from her lips and get intoxicated on her, but I knew with one kiss, I would be donefor.
“I’m just me, darlin’, and I ain’t nothin’special.”
“Keep telling yourself that. I hear it’s good to lie to yourself to keep from gettin’ too big of ahead.”
* * *
My entire chaptersat around our table with the presidents and vice presidents of the other four charters of the Unacceptables. The tension in the room couldn’t even have been cut with a knife; we needed a damn chainsaw to break throughit.
“I wish this meeting was called under better circumstances. First, I want to express my condolences once again to Ryder and Holt. Saying Abel will be missed is a complete understatement.” I let the men all say their piece to the two before I continued with my speech. “It goes without sayin’ that this tragedy should have been and could have been avoided. For that, I take full responsibility. Brothers, I am truly sorry. Some of you in this room are already privy to the information I am about to share, but the majority are not.” I cleared my throat. “Please understand that this information comes to you with a heavy heart and all shady dealings have ceased completely. I also urge you all to share this information with your members as soon as you return home. This should not be kept secret. We all wear the same skull and bones on our backs and secrets are part of what got us in this damn mess in the first place. I urge you all to learn from this tragedy and become more forthcoming with information with oneanother.
“I found out about an easy money drug run that was dealing with heroin and cocaine. It was being stored not too far up the coast from Vilas. Kane, Abel, and I went in on it together, thinking that if it panned out and was successful, we would bring it to the rest of the charters and all the members. I had no idea about the Sinners’ involvement. Once they heard what we were trying, unknowingly undermining their involvement and basically cutting them and whoever was employing them out of the drug trade in the area, they retaliated. This entire situation is something I will regret until I am six feetunder.”
I glanced over at Ryder and his father. “Either of you have anything toadd?”
Holt stood. Even though it had only been a little over a week since I had seen him, he looked like he had aged at least ten years. His grief was seriously getting the better of him. “Abel was my best friend. He had been since I was a punk kid trying to learn my way around an engine. I didn’t know a carburetor from a hole in the ground, but Abel took me under his wing. I proudly stood by his side as his second and now I am proud to see my son, Ryder, take his spot. Our charter is wounded, but not broken. In time, we will start to heal. I know I can speak for all the guys of the Vilas charter when I say we need time. We can’t afford any more casualties right now. I know our normal course is to seek swift and loud vengeance, but right now, we need to laylow.”
Ryder stood next to his father. He put his hand in the air, standing tall and proud, addressing all the members. “I know there is a lot of skepticism, not just in my chapter, but with all men who wear the skull and bones on their backs, about my age and what that means when it comes to my ability to be an effective leader. I am here to put your minds at ease. Abel wasn’t just my father-in-law, he was my mentor. I will do everything in my power to live up to his legacy and make each and every one of youproud.”
After the two men took their seats, Maccon addressed the room. “Being the elder in this group now, only being a few months younger than Abel, I do have to say that having some rest before wielding the gavels and seeking revenge seems to be for the best right now. Between old farts like me who are too set in our ways and much too narrow in our senile vision and the new age of the regime, the future looks brighter than it ever has for our organization. I do want to stress that we need to make a stand, in due time, against our unknown adversary. We cannot appear weak in the eyes of our enemies, and this murder must beavenged.”
“No one is saying Abel’s death will go without punishment to the culprits, brother,” Holt responded. “I am just trying to keep my club whole for as long aspossible.”
Chapter 6
Scarlett
Afew hourspassed and Bear was still out. I wasn’t a stranger to the late-night hours of club business. I flipped through channel after channel, not finding anything that could keep my attention for more than a few minutes. As dusk began to settle, sleepiness started to take over. Climbing the stairs, I tiptoed into Bear’s room. Even though I was alone in the house, I was still scared to make too much noise. I feared anything more than a whisper might disturb the peacefulness that blanketed the entirehome.
I grabbed a white shirt from the top drawer of the dresser. Holding it up to my nose, I breathed in the woody musk of Bear’s masculine scent. It was so comforting and completely inebriating. Stripping down, I pulled his shirt over my head and crawled into his gigantic, plush bed with nothing else on but the covers. I curled up in the sheets, wrapping them tightly around my body. As I drifted off to sleep, I pretended his strong arms were cradlingme.
“Scarlett.”Bear’s husky voice glided into my ear as he softly woke me up. “Darlin’, don’t move.” His calloused fingertips glided up under the thin cotton that covered my stomach and breasts, exploring my skin for the first time. His deep brown eyes locked with mine as I gasped to catch the breath his slightest of touches stole fromme.
Goose bumps covered my body while he left no inch of my chest, shoulders, and neck untouched. His hot breath curled around my ear as he whispered, “You’re so stunning, sweetheart. I’ve been cravin’ this since you locked your fingers with mine that first night in the hospitalroom.”
“Oh, Bear.” I whimpered, turning my head slightly so our lips finallyconnected.
Instantly our bare bodies were pressing against each other. His fingers teased and explored as our lips danced in a perfect rhythm. The sensations coursed through my body like lightning in a darkened sky—simple, seductive,captivating.
“Scarlett.”The sound of my name broke through my love-drunk dream state. The bed sinking next to me made me snap to attention. My dream had felt too real. Suddenly, I was sad it had been just a figment of myimagination.
Had I imagined all the attraction too? A sinking feeling pulled at my heart as I worried that I had built everything up in mymind.
Even though Bear had been nothing but a perfect gentleman around me, that was all he had been. Even though I thought there were flirtations, it had been so long since I’d had to read subtle cues like that, I could have been completely off base. Jasper and I had slowly evolved into glorified roommates over the years. Yes, we were married and I thought everything was fine, but looking back, that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. In the hospital, I’d had plenty of time to reflect, and our red-hot passionate love had fizzled out into nothing. I should have been furious that my marriage was over and had ended the way it had, but I wasn’t. I’d thought I would mourn the loss of the love of my life, but I had come to find that I was not in love with Jasper at all, and maybe never have been. Lilith was scum for going behind my back like she had, but in so many ways, she’d done me a hugefavor.