Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
I shifted, crossing my arms over my chest.
I looked out of the corner of my eye and spotted Webber and Doc, both watching but not making a move to intervene.
“I think if you want to act all big and tough, you might not want to do it with a whole fuckin’ diner full of cops,” Auden pointed out.
Sure enough, when I looked behind me, what looked like the entire Carter Clan was in the diner behind me, staring out the plate glass windows.
One of the elder Carters, which likely was Auden’s dad, was standing protectively next to Milena. Which made me feel a sense of relief, even if he was another cop.
I hadn’t wanted her in this sort of situation, but the worse thought was leaving her behind with no protection where she expected to be safe.
Next to the group of Carters was a couple of familiar faces from another MC watching but not intervening.
I didn’t have to look at the name patch to know that gator skeleton.
Gator Bait MC.
Fuck, but these fuckwit bikers really chose the wrong fuckin’ diner.
If they only knew…
The Truth Tellers MC and the Gator Bait MC were friendly. There’d been many times that we’d had each other’s backs in the past.
But having the Carters here, who had a kinship to my wife…
Granddad did know how to start a party.
“You don’t fuckin’ scare me with your cop badges,” the biker, whose name patch said ‘Sniff’ on it, said.
Ol’ Sniff had no clue.
Sniff’s friends shifted restlessly, likely seeing the error in their friend’s ways.
Sniff didn’t care, obviously, because his next words were short and sweet.
“I’m going to fuckin’ kill you.”
Then he launched himself at my granddad.
And let me tell you something, folks.
My granddad was a vet.
He had done things, seen things, and experienced things that not even I, as a SEAL, had experienced.
He’d been in the trenches of Vietnam.
He’d turned into a man that not even I would fuck with.
Not even at eighty-eight years old.
Sniff launched himself at Granddad, and Granddad slapped him across the face like a bitch, dropping him to his knees.
Auden moved then, cuffing Sniff before he could recover from the slap.
Granddad’s friends were snickering, and Sniff’s friends were shifting from foot to foot.
“Now’s the time to take a hike,” I suggested to them.
They looked like they wanted to argue but chose not to.
The crowd of them dissipated, heading toward the back of the lot where the bikes were lined up.
Auden walked toward a cruiser I had noticed in the corner of the lot and deposited a bleeding Sniff into the back of the cruiser.
I turned just in time to have Milena come up to my back and wrap her arms around my side.
“So, you’re a dolphin trainer?” she teased.
I looked down at Milena and narrowed my eyes. “Not anymore.”
“Why not?” she pushed.
“Because it was exhausting,” I admitted. “And it was time to find a new path in life.”
“Now he’s just a pain in our ass.” Webber came up after parking his bike. “It’s nice to see you again.”
Milena offered Webber her hand and said, “It’s great to see you again, too.”
The lines at the corners of Webber’s eyes creased as he practically beamed at her.
The most dangerous man I knew, smiling like a fuckin’ loon.
“When’s your man going to bring you around again so we can get to know you better?” Doc walked up and offered his hand as well. “I feel like he’s been hogging your attention.”
Milena flushed.
I narrowed my eyes at Doc.
Always the fuckin’ charmer.
It was part of his persona.
Charm them. Make them think that he wasn’t as dangerous as he was.
But sometimes he was genuine.
Like right now.
“Circumstances.” She shrugged, not offering an explanation, which I approved of.
I loved my club brothers. Most of them I loved like my real brothers.
However, the less people that knew about why I married her, the better.
Because, the more people that knew, the more likely that Milena would know, and I didn’t ever want her to find out the real reason.
She might hate me for it, and I didn’t think I could handle her hating me.
“Well, now that we’re here,” Webber drawled, rubbing his belly. “I’m a bit peckish.”
I waited until Auden got back and offered him my hand, which he surprisingly took.
“Thanks for having my granddad’s back,” I offered.
“He didn’t have my back. I had my own damn back!” Granddad cried.
My lips twitched as I turned to the man that’d finished raising me—who was pretty much the only positive male influence I had growing up—and said, “Granddad, since you’re now unbusy, maybe you could finally meet my wife.”
Granddad’s sharp eyes turned to Milena and held. He stared at her for a long moment before saying, “You’re a looker. You do realize that he’s way beneath your level, right?”
I shook my head, a smile forming on my mouth despite my granddad’s words.