Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“Well, shit, Bee. That’s all you needed to say.”
The black Escalades follow me to Mayor Boney’s office.
“This is all just a little dramatic,” I say, walking into his office and finding Boney behind his desk. “There was no need for an escort.”
“I wanted to make certain you would arrive in a timely manner.”
I look at the two suits and then back to Boney. “I hate to break it to you, Bee, but two suits and a couple of Escalades ain’t going to make me do what I don’t wanna do.”
I wink at Babyface and enjoy watching him bristle.
I turn my attention back to Boney. “I’m here because you said you want this settled once and for all. I hope for your sake that means you’re giving up this hate campaign against the Knights in favor of working together.”
“I wouldn’t work with the Knights if you had a gun to my head,” he says, his politician’s smile firmly in place.
Okay, so we’re not one step closer to a truce.
That’s fine by me.
I have cards up my sleeve he wouldn’t dare dream about. I didn’t want to play them, but if he backs me into a corner, I will pull the trigger on them real quick.
He stands and rounds his desk. He hands me a document.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a copy of the contract of sale between the original owners of the land your clubhouse sits on, and the Knights of St. Boniface.”
“And?”
“It’s a few pages long so I will break it down for you. The sale wasn’t signed by all the required parties back in 1918, making it null and void. Meaning, if there were any surviving descendants of the original owners, the land would be theirs. Not the Knights Motorcycle Club. And so far, we haven’t been able to find any descendants. Which means, according to the law in this grand state of ours, the land belongs to the county.” He hands me another document. “That’s my offer to buy it from the county. And when they accept it, which they will, then I am going to burn that goddamn clubhouse of yours to the fucking ground.”
I shake my head as I look at the documents in my hand.
“You can shake your head all you like,” he says smugly. “But it doesn’t change the fact that it was an illegal sale and that land isn’t yours.”
I throw the documents onto the desk behind him and they hit with a slap.
“It’s true. It was an illegal sale. You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know.”
Boney looks proud of himself. He folds his hands in front of him, and his smug grin gets bigger. The twinkle in his eye tells me he thinks he has me over a barrel, and it’s giving him a hard on. “So you’ll agree the Knights have no claim to the land.”
“Not so quick, Bee. You see, you’re right. The land doesn’t belong to us. But you’re also wrong about there not being a descendant to the land. Because there is a true living heir. The great, great grandson of George Rose was a man named Harrison Rose. He was a club member, but he died twenty-five years ago in a car accident. Him and his wife, Lucy. But their daughter survived the accident.” I tilt my head and smile when our eyes meet. “And I just married her.”
CHAPTER 54
BELLE
While Beast is gone, I decide to tidy up a little. My clothes are scattered across the floor after last night. The ripped panties. The tank top he yanked over my head in a hurry to get to my nipples. The jeans I couldn’t get off him quick enough so I could taste his cock.
I bend down to scoop them up, but when I do, his wallet falls out of one of his pockets.
I look at it in my hands, remembering what is inside.
The angel on my shoulder tells me to put it on the dresser and walk away.
But the devil on my other shoulder tells me to go ahead and look through it again.
The first time I went through his wallet, he was a stranger forcing me into a situation I had no choice but to go along with. But things have changed since then. He’s not a stranger anymore. He’s the man I share a bed with. The man I am falling for.
Yet…
He has so many secrets.
It takes me back to the moment when I found out about Gaston being his brother, and my hands begin to shake.
What else is he hiding from me?
How can we move forward when he keeps so many things from me?
I need to see the photo again, so I remove it from his wallet.
Unfolding it carefully, I study the two little kids on the crumpled paper.
Who are they?
Why does he keep it tucked away like a precious memory?