Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 76953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Before I could find out which it might be, though, someone was clearing their throat.
We broke apart like guilty teenagers caught necking on the living room couch when we thought our parents were asleep. Not speaking from experience here. I’d never been bold enough to sneak a boy into my house. But Layna had stories.
We turned in unison to find not just Matteo Grassi standing there, as we might expect, but his older brother Luca as well.
He’d likely just been waiting for all the cops to clear out before he showed up.
I was a little surprised at myself that I thought the questioning portion of the night was over. This was mob territory. Of course the boss of the family would want to talk to us.
I was finding it impossible to find words as I was currently dying of embarrassment for getting caught in a club member’s arms. Even if I knew there was no way the Grassi brothers could know what kind of wicked, raunchy fantasies my mind was cooking up. Including one that may or may not have included one of those vibrators in the box of unneeded party favors near the door.
Luckily, Perish wasn’t so afflicted.
“Tell me you got them on the cameras.”
“We caught the car,” Luca confirmed. “But no plates and no faces.”
“Cops were pissed as fuck that you claimed there were no cameras,” Perish said.
“We’re not in the habit of letting the law handle our problems for us,” Luca said with a shrug.
Perish nodded at that. “You have any idea who this was? Fallon is gonna have questions. Not to mention her old man,” he said with a nod toward me.
Oh, God.
Yeah.
My parents were going to freak out. If they weren’t already losing their minds. Someone at the club was usually keeping an ear out for any local police activity. And my mom would know that I had an event at this place.
“We don’t have any known active threats,” Luca said. “But…” He waved a hand out.
But there was no such thing as safety when you ran the docks. When you imported and exported all sorts of contraband for different criminal organizations.
“We will be looking into it, of course. And we will share any pertinent information with Fallon as it comes in,” Luca assured Perish. “Gracie, can I give you a ride home?” he asked, making me jump at being addressed suddenly.
“Oh, I—”
“I’m taking her,” Perish insisted.
“I have my car,” I piped in. “And all of this to pack up,” I added, waving at the boxes of items and food.
“I can have someone drive your car back to the clubhouse,” Matteo offered.
I could have fought.
But I knew men like this far too well.
It was easier just to go along with things.
“Okay,” I agreed, unclipping my keychain from my purse and handing it to Matteo.
“I’m so sorry about all this, Gracie,” he said.
“It’s okay,” I said, shrugging.
“Ready?” Perish asked.
To wrap my arms and legs around him while trying not to act like it was doing things to me? Not remotely.
“Yeah.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Perish
I was covered in coconut.
I figured maybe the ride back to the clubhouse would air me out or something. But with Gracie’s soft body curled around my back, there was no way she wasn’t rubbing off on me some more.
I tried to mentally block those thoughts as they formed, as my mind desperately wanted to revisit the way her breasts crushed against my back, how the juncture of her thighs pressed against me.
But there was no stopping them as I moved away from the bike, trying to breathe, to focus, to get a fucking hold of myself.
I couldn’t be walking into the clubhouse with a fucking semi in front of all of Gracie’s loved ones.
It was clear by the bikes gathered in the lot when I pulled in that the news had spread far and wide already, bringing in not only all the current members but the OGs as well.
Gracie’s footsteps were hesitant behind me until the door flew open.
Then there was Duke, his light eyes panic-stricken and relieved in equal turns.
“Dad!” Gracie yelped, breaking into a run and throwing herself into the man’s arms.
He wrapped her up like she was a little kid still, squeezing until I was sure she might burst.
My footsteps faltered.
That familial affection shit? I never seemed to get used to seeing it.
The door whipped open again. Then there was the preview of what Gracie was going to look like in another twenty years. Her mom pulled Gracie away from Duke, hugging her hard before leading her into the clubhouse.
Alone, Duke’s gaze slid to me.
He sucked in a deep breath.
Then made a beeline for me.
I found myself bracing.
For what? Impact?
As soon as he was in front of me, he offered his hand. As soon as I gave him mine, he pulled me in for a quick, hard, one-arm hug.