“If your dick is so magical why did we have to pay for breakfast?” Colt asked, finally joining the teasing train.
Boxer’s face fell.
I let out a deep belly laugh. “That totally just made my morning.”
Zip was on his bike, helmet and sunglasses on, ready to depart. He glowered when he saw the three of us come out of the diner. “Bout damn time.”
“Why so happy, sunshine?” Boxer needled.
“I just want to get the fuck out of here.”
I didn’t blame him. Even though I’d had more sleep than Colt, my eyes were gritty. I’d added a Red Bull to our check and held the cold can in my hand. I popped it open and took a long sip. I needed the energy and caffeine if I was going to keep Colt awake while he drove. I certainly couldn’t drive his truck—not with my wrist the way it was. A truck that big needed serious power and both hands to control.
“See you guys,” Colt said, heading around to the driver’s side. We waved and Boxer and Zip pealed out of the parking lot.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay to drive home?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be okay,” he said.
“You’ve been awake for hours—”
Without a word, he filched the Red Bull from my hand and guzzled it. “This’ll keep me going for a while. I swear. If I get tired, we can pull over and I’ll crash for a bit.”
“Why didn’t you want Zip or Boxer to drive the truck back?”
“It would’ve been more trouble than it was worth to get one of the bikes stored properly in the truck bed—besides, three of us sitting in this truck would’ve been cramped.
“If only my wrist wasn’t in a cast,” I muttered. “Then I could’ve driven your truck. I’ve got experience driving a truck, you know.”
“Your truck is an accident waiting to happen. When was the last time someone took a look at the engine? It’s gotta be at least twenty-five-years old.”
“It belonged to my grandfather,” I told him. “And it does just fine.”
He made a noise in the back of his throat. “We gotta get you a new truck.”
“You could just give me this one.” I slid my hands over the hood. “It’s a beautiful, purring beast.”
“Maybe for an anniversary gift,” he said with a grin.
“How about an I’m-sorry-I-torched-your-bar gift.”
“We’ll see.”
We got into the truck and then drove away from the diner. “Who taught you to shoot?” he asked. “Been meaning to ask you that.”
I briefly looked over at him. Even with exhaustion tugging at the lines around his mouth, I thought he looked formidable and in control.
“Grammie,” I said. “She and Gramps are both from Chicago. Gramps was from the North side. Grammie was from the South side. A regular West Side Story, you know? They weren’t supposed to be together. They both came from—ah—less than stellar families.”
“O’Banion,” Colt murmured. “That name sounds really familiar, but I can’t place it.”
I sighed. “My grandfather’s side of the family were Chicago bootleggers in the nineteen twenties. Big feud with the Italians, aka Al Capone’s crew…who just so happens to be one of Grammie’s relatives.”
There was a moment of stunned silence and then Colt started to laugh. He chuckled for a good few minutes before he was able to calm himself.
“All this time, I was worried about how you were gonna adjust to my life and running around with a bunch of criminals. Turns out, you’ve got notorious criminals on both your sides of the family.” He looked at me. “You really are the perfect woman for me.”
Chapter 21
We made it back to the clubhouse in record time.
“Has he slept at all?” Boxer asked after a hug in greeting.
I shook my head. “I think he’s running on pure adrenaline. He’s going to crash soon though, right? I mean it’s been over twenty four hours since he’s slept.”
“Church!” Colt barked.
I looked at Boxer. “Finish your meeting quickly and then he needs to go to bed.”
“You know,” Boxer said, stroking his jaw, “he wouldn’t take kindly to knowing you’re calling the shots.”
“Trust me, we’d all be better off if he got some rest. You can’t be clear-headed when you’re exhausted.”
“He’s just gonna fill everyone in. Should be a quick meeting.” Boxer squeezed my shoulder and then followed his brothers out to the shed.
I went into Colt’s bedroom to change and there was a knock on the door when I was drawing the string tight on my pajamas.
“Come in,” I said.
The door opened and Joni’s face appeared. “Hey, welcome back.”
“Thanks.” I waved her inside. “You can enter the room, you know.”
“Well, you looked like you were about to crash. I wasn’t sure.”
I shook my head. “I’m trying to stay awake until at least nine p.m., but I’m dragging hard.”
“You hungry? I was about to order Chinese food.”
“I’m starving. All I’ve had today is a cheese omelet and a couple of Red Bulls.”
“I gotcha. Please tell me you’re a beef and broccoli fan.”
“You know it,” I said with a laugh. “How have things been here?”
“Cheese has been keeping Zip in the loop about me. I made sure to flirt extra hard with Doctor Patterson in front of Cheese. Made him extremely uncomfortable. It was awesome.”
“So that’s why Zip was in such a shit mood,” I said with a laugh. “He was grumpy as hell.”
“I know I should feel bad about what I’m doing, but I really don’t.”
We wandered out of Colt’s room and I sat down on the couch. Joni took it upon herself to order half the menu. “The guys will be hungry, no doubt.” She hung up the phone and sat down next to me. “I don’t know about you, but I’m going crazy here.”
I nodded. “I feel like a prisoner, which is weird because I know it’s for our own safety, but I can’t help feeling like—well, fuck it. You know?”
“Yup. I’m ready to demand my freedom.”
“I missed karaoke night with Shelly. We usually go once a month.”
“Dude. You sing karaoke?”
“I do.”
“Are you any good?”
“After three tequila shots, who cares?”
She laughed in a way that showed me she had seen a night or two of karaoke in her time. We kept up a steady stream of chatter and the two prospects on duty brought in several bags of Chinese takeout. Joni and I didn’t bother waiting for the guys to finish church—we dug into the food straight from the boxes.
“Why are wontons so freakin’ good?” Joni demanded as she shoved an entire dumpling into her mouth.
“No clue, but I’m inclined to say MSG.”
Joni moaned. “Don’t tell me that. Let’s pretend we’re getting all our vegetables in this one fried food dish.”