Page 39 of Nitro

“The best. You’re spoiling me. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“Remember what we talked about yesterday?” I ask, referring to my revelation about my time at Blackstone’s.

“Yeah.” Her gaze softens.

“I’ve never had anyone I could talk to like that.” My throat is suddenly swollen. I push down the rush of emotion so I don’t lose control.

“If you ever want to tell me more about that, or anything in your past, I’m here for you.” She strokes my cheek before giving me the softest kiss. “I’ll go change.”

“Leave it on. I’ll take it off you when we get home.”

“Okay.” She grins and skips back to the fitting room to put the rest of her clothes on. If it were up to me, I’d take her homeexactly the way she is, but I don’t want those perfect nipples getting windburned.

The ride home is pure torture. Instead of putting on jeans, she changed into one of her new short skirts. The garter belt sticks out just enough to give me a tantalizing glimpse. I keep glancing over while trying to ride, which is a dangerous distraction. I should have made her put more clothes on before we left, but we’re almost home. No point in stopping now.

When we get back to the clubhouse, it’s oddly quiet. I get Holly settled in my room before telling her I’m going to see what’s up. I find Matrix sitting in his office. It’s dark, but the flicker of his laptop illuminates his face. The frown on it worries me.

“Where’s everyone?” I ask.

“Got a lead on Polson.”

“Where?”

“Butte.”

“What the hell is he doing all the way over there?” I sit in a chair across from him. As much as I want to chase after that fucker, I don’t want to leave Holly. She’s not ready for another two hours of riding, so I’m staying put. Scar and the others can handle Polson. Hopefully they’ll bring him back gift-wrapped for me.

“No idea. He tried to use his credit card. It didn’t go through, of course. But he’s up to something. How was your shopping trip?”

“You really need to stop monitoring all our cards,” I grumble.

“Trust but verify.” Matrix shrugs.

“You don’t trust the guys?”

“I trust exactly four other people in this world: you, Scar, Talon, and Reaper.”

“What about Nina?”

“I should, but she’s not one of us. Not really. She’s never done anything untrustworthy, but she doesn’t really know what we went through. She doesn’t understand the bond we have. No one does.”

“What about Scar and Julia? Do you think he trusts her completely?”

“Doubt he would have made her his old lady if he didn’t.”

“Do you think we could find someone like that too?” I ask.

“Nah. Julia’s special. Women like that don’t come around but once in a blue moon. He got lucky. Why are you asking, anyway?” Matrix leans forward and puts his elbows on his desk.

“I told Holly about Blackstone.”

“Shit. All of it?”

“No. And no details. Except I did tell her about that guy I killed at his place.”

“Which one?”

“The one with the nitroglycerin.”