“Shit. I hate it when you grin like that.”
I watch Day enter the office. Although his lips are grim, laughter sparkles in his eyes, and I shrug as I sit in the chair in front of his desk. TJ and Leon are by the window which faces the compound. Bastion is by the window facing the river. Kit and Oyster have propped themselves up against the far wall.
“Grin like what,” I said.
Day rolls a piece of paper, throwing it over the desk, and it rebounds off my forehead. “Like Leon and Bastion after they’ve left their ol’ ladies. It only means one thing.”
I chuckle as I place a foot on the desk and scratch my nose. “Mia said she’s going to do the laundry.”
TJ responds to Oyster’s snort with a snigger. “Last time she offered to do my washing. I had just bought this tee-shirt, and she dyed the fucker some kind of blue.” He shakes his head. “I wouldn’t have minded, if it had turned blue all over, but there were blotches of white. Ended up turning it into a duster.”
I raise my bottle at him. “That my friend is why you don’t buy white.”
“That’s why you don’t get Mia to do your wash. Get one of the other women to do it.” Day’s smile deepens. “They’re happy to do it. Especially if you’re just about to kick them out of bed.”
“As much fun as it is to chat about laundry. Can we get down to business?” Kit’s voice is dull, and I turn to him and wink.
“I’m more than happy not to talk about my laundry.” As Day talks about the casino, I think of Mia, the gifts I left for her and the fun we’ll have later. I would love to have seen her face when she opened the butt plugs. Three in total. Each one a different size. Something nice and small to start my girl off. My cock twitches as I imagine inserting the butt plug between her sweet little rosette hole, then sinking my cock into her creamy pussy. I close my eyes. I can already see the pleasure on her face as she shudders on and around my pulsing cock. Day’s voice breaks into my daydreams and I shuffle in my chair.
“We set sail at eight tonight, TJ. Will you be joining us?” Day’s gaze is steady as he watches the biker. For the last few weeks, TJ’s had the pleasure of watching Delaney’s office. The beauty of this duty being he was excused from working shifts at Demon’s Lair.
TJ scratches his chin. “Will Mal be there.”
Day nods. “Yeah, she wants to go through the books. Do you have a problem with that?”
TJ’s eye close as he runs his hands through his hair. “Copper’s watching the shop. And I heard Delaney’s back. Best if I return to Noir Valley.”
“I should watch his office,” I said.
TJ shakes his head. “No. You’re the target for the man. Better if I watch. He’s not out to get me.”
I stand and pace the room, joining Bastion by the window. “I need to do something. It’s my woman he threatened.”
Bastion pats me on the shoulder, his lips twisting in a mockery of a smile. “And when he strikes. We can do something. Until then. We take his bullshit and watch him.”
“Shit.” Leon slips his cell phone into the back pocket of his jeans, then grabs his jacket. “That was Firebird. Shit, Bastion. It’s your house.”
Bastion turns from me. His keys in his hands. “What about my house?”
“It’s on fire.”
A chair clutters and I watch Day grab his cut and keys, then follow Bastion from the room. I have my keys in my hands and follow my brothers out of the room. My heart pounds and I rejoice silently knowing Mia is on the boat.
When we arrive at Bastion’s house, there are several fire trucks battling the blaze and I scan the area for Firebird and Poppy. When I spot them standing at the ambulance, Data, who is supposed to be watching Poppy, is with them. My gaze swings across to Bastion. His face paler than normal. But it’s Day who scares me as he watches Poppy. His lips pinched; his cheeks hollow, yet he stays where he is. A car screeching next to me has me glancing over and I watch Mia climb out of the Corolla, slamming the door. Without looking in my direction, she heads straight for Poppy. Eve also climbs out of the Corolla. She glances at Poppy, then turns her attention to Bastion. There is no hesitation from Bastion as he accepts her comfort.
Data, sensing Day’s gaze, looks over at us. I am too far to hear what he says to Poppy and Firebird who are joined by Leon and TJ and he walks towards us. Day is in his face as he reaches us, and I notice Kit has a firm grip of his arm. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure. We were in the garden. Poppy wanted a swim. Thank god she did.” Data looks over to the burning house. “Shit. I’d hate to think what would have happened if we had been inside.”
“You didn’t see anything or hear anything.”
Date shakes his head. “Shit, Day. It’s a gated community. You need a fucking code to come and go.”
I glance around the small community. There are few houses, a dozen. Most of the neighbors are standing at their doors, watching the fire as it’s brought under control. On several doors there are security cameras and I make my way over to the house opposite Bastion’s. “Hi.”
The woman, who is in her late thirties to early forties, places her hand on the shoulder of her teenage son, pulling him close, but her smile is friendly. “Hi.”
“I see you have CCTV.”
The
