Page 71 of Under His Protection

I narrowed my eyes and shook my head. “I doubt it. We’ve started to talk a bit more about her past. She loves her brother in the name of caring about her sibling, but they’ve never been close.”

“They shared an apartment,” Franco said.

“Yes, because he mooched off me for money,” Nina said, clearly unwilling to let us talk about her. She approached, coming into view around Romeo. A thick towel was tied snug around her waist. With another, smaller towel, she dried the moisture from her hair. “Sorry. I heard my name and listened.”

I scooted my chair back for her to sit on my lap. She was my woman, always would be, so it wasn’t difficult to let her in on this conversation. She was loyal to a fault, but to me.

“If the MC takes Ricky and tries to negotiate, to get me to go to Reaper in exchange for freeing Ricky…” She licked her lips and lifted her finger. “One, I’m not that stupid. They wouldn’t release him.”

Exactly.

“Two, it’s karma. Ricky tried to hand me over to them, and it would only be justice for him to go to them instead.”

It sounded cold, but firm. That was the strong woman who had my heart.

“And three,” she said, lifting the third finger, “they’d have to get past him to reach me.” She patted my cheek, smug.

I caught her hand and kissed her palm. “Well said.”

“However, we shouldn’t be this lax about the Devil’s Brothers coming to the Hound and Tea,” Romeo said.

I suspected he said that with a figment of that stubborn survivor’s guilt he still struggled with. That if he could help spare men from a worse fate, he would join in on the action immediately.

“Then I’ll go have a word with them,” I replied matter-of-factly.

Nina stood from my lap. “Tonight?”

I nodded. “The sooner, the better.”

She kissed me quickly. “Then hopefully, I’ll be back when you are.”

“That’s right. Your spa day.”

She smiled wide. “I think it might be fun. I’ve never had a ‘spa’ day before. It was nice of Eva to ask me along.”

Romeo rolled his eyes. “She probably just wants to justify going herself.”

Nina shrugged. “Well, I appreciate the invite. I’m looking forward to it.”

I was too. If she came home relaxed, it would be the perfect motivation to get her all excited again, on my cock.

Later, Romeo accompanied me on the way to the Hound and Tea. I hadn’t been back here since that night Nina literally ran into me here. I had no reason. Actually, now that we had jumped into our relationship, I seldom made time for many visits. Romeo seemed to benefit from handling the things I used to. I wasn’t anywhere near ready to hand over the reins of the organization to him, but as he coped with the night those three soldiers were killed, being busy and not having time to dwell were a positive outcome.

He spoke with the security staff as we reached the back doors. Two men were perturbed, pissed that word had come back to them of two bikers sneaking inside.

“I’ll handle it,” I told them. And I would. I didn’t expect lower-level bouncers and security guards at the door to tell the leader of another crime unit to back off and not come back. That was a task best delegated to me. One leader managing another. Man to man.

It helped that Reaper was there. If it was a couple of his men, my message wouldn’t have been as direct. It was preferred to tell that MC fucker to the face to get the hell out of my gambling rooms, and to stay away.

He wasn’t easily recognizable dressed in more basic clothes. Without the grungy, dusty leather vest and all the colorful patches sewn on it, he almost blended in. Instead of ripped and filthy jeans, he chose slacks to complement the cheap suit he’d picked up somewhere. The signature bandana wasn’t tied on his head, and the slicked-back effect of the little thinning hair he had might have been presentable on someone else.

His eyes didn’t lie. As he met my gaze from across the room, he sneered with pure malice. This asshole would always be up to no good. Kicking him out would be my pleasure.

“Get out.” That was my greeting. It was the only order I had in mind, too. In one fell swoop, I conveyed all that needed to be said.

“Fuck off,” he replied cockily. “What’s a man gotta do to get a fucking drink around here?” He tapped his fist to the top of the bar he was leaning against.

When the bartender glanced at me, I shook my head. The smart man backed up.

---