Page 66

“Which is exactly why I just baited you into showing me that man-candy.” She ran her free hand down the grooves.

Darien fought the urge to bleach his eyeballs. “Really don’t need to see this right now—ever, preferably.”

Ivy snickered. “Sorry.” She took another bite, nearly eating the red-checkered paper that barely contained the roll. “So, you found my sweet little Pax?”

“And Kylar. Soon as you’re finished with that, we’re going.” He owed Kylar an explanation, but after that, his first stop was Caliginous on Silverway—and, hopefully, waking Lola up.

His eyes flicked to the tinted windows of the truck. Fuck, he wished she would just open that door now so he could forget about all of this and have her back.

Ivy stuffed the last bite in her mouth and dusted the crumbs off her hands—and then wiped the butter on the front of Jack’s shirt, leaving grease stains on the black material.

“Hey!” he protested.

“Would you rather have licked it off?” Ivy waggled her brows.

“I’d rather lick it off those sweet tits.” He dove for her, and Ivy squealed.

Darien cursed, looking away. Anyone other than his sister and he wouldn’t give a shit.

Tanner stifled a laugh. “Where to?” the hacker asked as he pushed off the truck, shifting his hands into the pockets of his gray jacket.

Darien got out his car keys and tossed them to Ivy, who barely caught them with her butterfingers. “Roman’s house,” Darien said.

Jack shot him an intense look. “Not the House of Black!”

“Roman has his own place,” Darien clarified.

“Oh thank god.” Jack clutched his chest. “No Don for one more day.”

“His house isn’t in the Hollow, I hope,” Tanner said. He handed Darien the truck key as they passed each other.

“No, but it is in a Gray Zone.” He rounded the truck and got in the driver’s seat. “Follow me—it’s about a twenty-minute drive.”

“Damn.” Tanner leaned forward in his seat to see the house better as Darien drove up the driveway, Ivy and Jack following in the car. “Tell me Roman’s well off without telling me Roman’s well off.”

Darien smirked. “No kidding.”

His cousin had done well for himself, though it came as no surprise to Darien. Roman had a smaller crew behind him, only two Shadowmasters working directly under him while the rest answered to his dad. He may run the House of Black, but that didn’t mean Don didn’t sink his claws into Roman’s cash cow whenever he pleased. And, last Darien heard, Donovan was slowly infiltrating the House of Black, taking this and that from the Darkslayer circle that had risen above the others since Roman’s promotion.

Clearly, Roman had never allowed his dad’s greedy hands to set him back—though Darien would love to remove the asshole’s hands as a favor to his cousin. He’d killed Randal; maybe crossing another Slade off the list was in his future. For Pax, too—they both deserved to be free.

“You okay?” Tanner asked. He was studying Darien, gray eyes flicking to the steering wheel—and Darien’s white-knuckled grip. Whenever Atlas put away the electronics, he noticed everything.

Darien loosened his hands. “Just getting a little antsy.”

“This’ll work,” Tanner said. “I have a good feeling about it.”

Darien tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace.

The garage doors rolled open as Darien approached. He drove in, parking beside an impressive selection of quads, motorcycles, and flashy hotrods, a few older models among them. Roman had a thing for rebuilding old classics.

Jack and Ivy pulled up beside him, and they cut the engines. A moment later, the garage doors rolled shut, and the lights came on full, bathing the room in a bright wash that made the paint on the hotrods shine like liquid gold.

Darien got out, the others following. Kylar was crossing the garage, a big smile on his face, Paxton and Eugene right on his heels.

“Welcome back,” Kylar said. He gestured to the kids. “I can’t get rid of these two. Might have to call the exterminator.”

Darien chuckled.