Page 250 of Sweet Temptation

I definitely respected Jude’s efforts to protect the guys in the club, trying to get them legit work and a foot out of the club if they wanted it. But I was never, ever gonna be comfortable having one of the Kings on Summer’s security detail.

I decided to call Maddox, though. Because you had to give a man credit.

“Am I up shit’s creek here?” he asked me when he answered.

“Not yet,” I said. “Just don’t disappoint me.”

“You know, you did good last night,” he said.

“Then why did you all stop me?”

“Hey, no sense seeing a good man go to prison over a waste of life like that.”

“Right. So I called to say thanks for that. For looking out for me.”

“I look out for everyone on our team. That’s the job, right?”

I didn’t quite know what to say to that one. The fact was, the Kings—at least some of them—were, in a way, part of the team. I still didn’t love it.

“But hey,” Maddox said, “if you want to thank me, go right ahead.”

“Don’t make it awkward. I’ll let you know if we have work for you. Or let Jude know. That good with you?” I figured I’d maybe put him on some events, like Dirty had in the past. I could throw him a bone, for the good of the “team.”

Plus, I didn’t mind the idea of giving these guys legit work—if they’d earned it. At least it was one less biker out there causing trouble for a few hours.

Call it my civil duty.

“Yup,” he said. “Jude knows where to find me.”

“Cool. I’ve gotta run.”

I hung up and looked out over the hazy city. The mountains were all gray in the distance, their bases wrapped in wisps of cloud, the towers of downtown emerging from the fog like a cloud city.

It was a crisp, cool morning, the first of November. I could see Halloween decorations on the yards along the street. Next door, a skeleton dangled from a tree with a fake knife buried in its chest.

One of the university students who lived there was just walking to the end of her driveway to pick up a newspaper, in a bathrobe and UGGs, coffee mug in hand. She caught my eye. She looked disheveled and hungover, remnants of Halloween makeup still on her face. She gave me a little wave.

I waved back.

I watched her head back into the house.

I looked up at Summer’s house… and this deep, warm feeling stirred in my chest. I could feel my own heart beating, strong… the same way it did when I came home to her with bloody hands, and she kissed me.

She took me to her bed.

She took me into her body, and she told me she loved me.

And I wondered what I would’ve done last night, if I’d been left to do it. How far I might’ve gone.

If there was anything I wouldn’t do to protect her.

I didn’t really think there was.

I was pretty sure, if Blair Sanchuk ever got released from prison, I wouldn’t hesitate to call up Piper Grayson and ask him for one more favor.

No matter what the cost.

A little kid, maybe seven years old, rolled by on a scooter, a little pug wearing a dog sweater running after him, trailing its abandoned leash. A couple followed, the man pushing a baby stroller. He nodded at me and said, “Good morning.”

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