Page 45 of Blood of Vengeance

“Do they have cacio e pepe?” Locklyn glanced at me, definitely excited by the thought of good Italian food coming her way. “That’s my favorite.”

Rush grunted. “Classic. If they don’t have it on the menu tonight, they’ll make it for you.”

“Thanks.” She looked up at me, smile soft and eyes slightly sad. “I’m all set. Time for you to go.”

It was, and that sucked more than she could have known. The last thing I wanted was to leave her, but I had to deal with her father’s murder. Had to find out who did it and why. So I gave her a hug and patted her ass before kissing the top of her head.

“Be safe while I’m gone.”

She chuckled and gripped my arms tighter for just a second before letting me go. “I’ll do my best.”

And with that, I walked off the porch and toward my crew, hating leaving her behind but knowing I had work to do. Work that would help solve what had happened to her father. A priority for me.

“You good?” Cutter asked as I passed him, keeping his voice low so only those of us closest to him could hear. I gave him a nod then headed right for my bike, swinging a leg over to mount up as soon as I reached her.

“Where we headed?”

Ridge, our road captain, answered that one. “Last ping on Chiggy’s cell phone came from an area nowhere near where he was killed. My guess is he left it in the truck.”

Some men might have wondered how a quiet, bearded biker like Ridge had possibly gotten his hands on information like cell phone pings. Those of us who knew the guy chose not to—what Ridge could do with a computer was a little scary and a whole lot illegal. We didn’t ask, he never told, and information kept flowing our way.

“Good guess,” I said with a slight nod and a glance at Cutter. “Let’s ride.”

I started the engine, looking up to see my girl one last time before I had to go. She stared out at me from the porch, looking like a fucking angel under the lights. An angel with a demon guarding her. Rush hunkered in a chair at her side, looking like the guard dog he was. Taking up more space than any normal human had a right to. He had his eyes on the brothers, had his shoulders set and squared. Ready for battle. Which was good. I needed him to keep his head in the game.

I needed him to keep my mate safe.

Locklyn

I had been sitting on Flinch’s bed, contemplating how my life had ended up the way it had while staring at the ceiling, when a knock sounded from the front. I jumped up and rushed to the living room, throwing open the door.

“Hi,” I said, trying to smile. “What’s up?”

Rush didn’t smile. He didn’t even wear an expressionless face. He glared at me.

“You always open the door like that?”

The anger in his voice took me by surprise. “I…what?”

Rush glanced past me. “I have food. Can I come in?”

From scolding to polite requests for access—the man was giving me conversational whiplash. “Yeah. Of course. But what about the door?”

He walked past me, carrying bags and completely surrounded by the smell of amazing food. “You shouldn’t just yank open the door like that. You never know who could be on the other side.”

“I knew you were on the other side.”

“Just because I’m a brother doesn’t mean I’m safe.” He shot me a hard look. “You always check who’s there and what the situation is before you open that door, you hear me?”

I nodded, feeling rightfully chastened. Rush left my scolding at that, though. He held his tongue while setting the bags down and peeking inside them, moving containers of food from one to another and placing some on the table itself.

“There you go,” he finally said. “Cacio e pepe, the best you’ll ever have. I went ahead and ordered an appetizer sampler for you and some focaccia. There’s good olive oil in the bowl container, and the smaller ones are fresh parm.”

I couldn’t stop staring at the containers on the table. The multiple containers. “This is a lot of food.”

“Giacomo’s doesn’t fuck around on portions. Not for me.”

I tore my gaze from the table to catch his. “You related to them or something?”

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