Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“The old guard?”
“Nope. Just the kids.” He stood and stretched his arms above his head as the sound of tires on gravel filtered in the front windows. “Not sure how many people Brody invited, but I told him to keep that shit small so they didn’t tear up my house.”
“Good fuckin’ luck,” I said with a laugh as I followed him toward the front door. “Brody’s never met a stranger. He was probably invitin’ people at the gas station today.”
“I’ll fuckin’ kill him,” Titus replied quietly before calling out to Noel. “Hey, baby. What happened to you?”
“I stopped at the store on my way back,” she replied, pointing to the trunk of her van. “I grabbed some food for tonight. Hey, stranger!”
“Hey beautiful,” I called back as we walked over to unload the groceries. “You look pretty as a Christmas card.”
Noel snorted and swatted me with the back of her hand, her cheeks flushing with pleasure. “I look like I haven’t showered in two days. Which is where I’m headed now.” She turned to Titus. “Put the fridge stuff away, but I’ll deal with everything else when I get out, okay?”
Titus looked at her, then looked at me, then looked back at her as she walked away.
“You know where everything goes,” he said, slapping me on the arm as he hurried behind her. “Thanks, Bas.”
I watched as Titus chased her onto the porch, the two of them laughing as they disappeared inside the house. Then I took my time grabbing all the bags of groceries before I carried them inside.
Even though I’d bitched earlier, I didn’t really mind helping out. Titus and Noel didn’t get much time alone, and I was sure they’d like to make the most of it. I’d had an up-close view of their relationship from the beginning, and I didn’t think I’d ever seen a couple more devoted to each other.
To be fair, I was surrounded by solid couples. It was something I hadn’t anticipated when I’d walked into the MC’s garage all those years ago looking for a community. The Aces and Eights MC lived outside the law in a lot of ways. From the outside looking in, they were dirty as hell, and none of the brothers were perfect, but no one could deny that they loved their women well.
Lately, I’d started to feel a little out of place as the brothers who’d come up with me paired off one by one. We’d drank and fought and done stupid shit together for so long, and now they were moving in with their women, having kids, buying houses, and settling down—or as settled down as they’d ever be considering their occupations and associations.
I had my hands full of freezer food when my phone rang, and I threw some tater tots in the freezer so I could pull it out of my pocket. Like an idiot, I put it to my ear without checking who was calling.
“Mr. Banks,” the voice on the other line said sternly as soon as I’d answered. “You’re a hard man to reach.”
Fuck.
“I’ve left you a few messages, and I was prepared to leave another one. As I said in my last voicemail, this is Lewis Concord. I’m an attorney with Concord and Ford. Is this a good time for you to speak?”
“Not really,” I replied, stuffing the rest of the frozen food into the freezer. “Why don’t I call you back—”
My words trailed off as Lou walked in the back door and set trays of food on the counter. She smiled at me and waved, lifting her eyebrows as she glanced at the phone.
“Mr. Banks, I represent Bernice Macintosh,” the lawyer said quickly, like he was afraid I would hang up.
Once, not long after the Aces had agreed to take me on as a prospect, I’d been working out with Titus’s oldest brother, Mick. We were taking turns working a punching bag, and he hit it at just the moment I wasn’t paying attention. It smacked my torso so hard that it knocked the air out of me, and I’d fallen to my knees in terror as I’d tried to drag oxygen back into my lungs.
The lawyer’s words had the same effect, but this time I was able to keep my legs under me.
“I have the privilege of taking care of Ms. Macintosh’s estate,” the lawyer continued. “Of which you are a beneficiary. If you’d like, I can detail that now or you could come to my office next week, and I can walk you through—”
“It’s not a good time,” I said, cutting him off. I could feel Lou’s eyes like lasers on the side of my face. “I’ll call back.”
“I won’t be available again until Monday,” he warned.
“Monday’s good. I’ll call then.” I hung up before he could say anything else.