Page 145 of Dirty Salvation

"You shitheads are my core crew, so if it's one of you then you deserve a fuckin' Elizabeth Taylor Oscar..."

“Come on, Prez. Can't it at least be Leonardo's Oscar? And not some old broad." Guffawed the Butcher. Tattooed fingers rapping the table.

"I second this motion." Added Texas with a smile cracking his face. "If we are gonna have an Oscar for best actor, at least let's take the one from the guy who waited decades for it."

"You, knuckleheads scare me. If you start talking about the Kardashians next I'm shooting you," growled Hawk low in his throat. Obviously disgusted in what he was hearing.

"Hawk knows about the K's!goddamn, fuck me! always knew you were a secretive guy, but this ... now I'm just grossed out."

Rider cracked his own grin at Pretty boy's jibe and watched Hawk's scowl and finger salute, sitting back in his massive chair, the leather molded completely to his body frame, Rider waited for the noise to die down. His knuckles rapped the table for attention, everyone immediately came to a quiet, all joking aside.

"Preach, you really think we have a mole?" his man shrugged, but he was fisting his beard, a sure sign his road captain was unnerved about recent events. They all were. "Then give it some attention, if only to lay your doubts at rest. Start with the hangaround's and the prospects then dig into the groupies. Go as deep as you gotta."

"That's with investigative purposes, Preacher, not your cock, man." Advised a laughing Texas. His tie today was ebony black with gray stripes. And had the biggest fucking knot Rider had ever seen, how on earth had he tied it, he wondered, a two-man job?

The meeting came to an end. Rider's boys scattered to do their own thing. Work was busy, it kept them all occupied and not so careless to get themselves killed by picking needless fights with outsiders. The entire community had heard about Tiny, they knew without being told that theSoulswere on the blood scent and no mercy would be shown. The last thing Rider wanted was to bury another of his boys.

"Yo, Prez." called out Capone as Rider strode across the forecourt. "Got mad-dog on the phone for you." Capone didn't need to addagainfor Rider to hear it. He'd been dodging his father's calls for days and would go a couple more. He kicked up his chin to his boy and carried on walking, throwing over his shoulder. "tell him I'm out."

"Will do, boss."

Finding his woman overseeing a delivery around the back of the kitchen he waited until she’d sent the other women off carrying in boxes of food before he grabbed her around the waist.

“Look at you taking action. Thanks, baby. You wanna get out of here for a while?” he kissed the end of her nose.

“Is that code for you want sex?” she asked grinning up at him. They took the longer way around back by walking the outside of the building, his arm slung low around her waist keeping her close.

“You think I need code to get your clothes off? I always want you, Icy. Thought we could get out of here ‘a while, just you and me. You’re seein’ the kid tomorrow, arentcha?”

Zara giggled and wrapped her arm around his waist holding the loop on his jeans. He liked that. “Such a sweet pervert. Her social worker is bringing Angela. So, maybe the boys can be on their best behavior?”

Rider snorted. “Good luck with that. But I’ll have a word and warn ‘em.”

“And…”

“And what, baby?” he asked watching her whittle her teeth on her lip. “Spit it out, you want me to chain Hawk as well?”

She chuckled. “Nothing like that. But Angela seems to be weirdly attached to Lawless, I don't know why, he's not exactly Harry Styles, she’s asked about him every phone call I’ve had with her, perhaps he could be out tomorrow, on a pickup or something, just while we visit. Or just not have it be that he’s one of the guards at your house.”

Laughing, Rider kissed the top of her head. “You’re an oddly sugary quirky little thing, baby, but sure, I’ll have Law elsewhere. I think the kid scared him anyway, he hasn’t recovered from her clingin’ to him that time. He'll probably want to avoid her.”

“That's great, thank you. So…” he saw her smile twitch. “ I want to go to the store if we’re taking off for a bit. For supplies.”

Rider groaned at the sly and sneaky way she’d dropped that in. His feet came to a halt, hands at his hips staring down at her beautiful smile. Damn, she blew him away sometimes. Day by day he was watching his Icy-girl emerge from her cocoon turning into some beautiful as shit butterfly.

Jesus, she knocked his heart and stirred his cock.

But. His eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“Dammit. After the last time, I thought we wouldn’t have to hit the store again for maybe a year. You shop like the Queen of Arabia.”

“Riiiiider. Please! I want snacks for tonight for our movie. I’m sitting through some gun toting boy-crap for you, remember. I need sugar.” her face became cuter when she scrunched it like that and Rider found himself smiling despite the agony of watching her meticulously choosing items like she was picking between diamonds and rubies instead of Pringles or Cheetos.

“Supplies? It’s a movie, Zara, not a 5-week sit-in. I think we can make do with frozen pizza.”

“I’ll owe you a blowjob.” she offered him sweet as shit and oxygen careened in his chest banging up against every rib just because she’d said the wordblowjob.

As he’d thought, sneaky.