Page 75 of Bullet

“That ain’t happening. Hellers don’t want anything to do with this. They’ve gone legit.” Bullet glanced at Alex and Torch as he rubbed his tattooed knuckles. “They aren’t a part of my problem with Barras. This is personal.”

“Keep your problem off my streets,” Marco said. “Mafia deaths make news. The new district attorney is a family friend. I’m a banker and a businessman. I don’t enjoy cleaning up other people’s messes.” Marco narrowed his gaze on Bullet. “Do you understand?”

Knox stared at me. Not in a lecherous way, but as if he was trying to remember how he knew me. Because if he’d been to the Landing Strip, he’d probably seen me dance.

“Got a problem?” Bullet ignored Marco’s question and focused on Knox.

“No problem.” His gaze raked down my body and paused on my boots. “You look familiar. Have we met before? I know Byrne and most of his associates, although I don’t know Barras.”

Bullet stood. “If you don’t want another problem, forget you know her.”

“Stormy, you should come join me,” Gabi said from the glass.

She may have been trying to douse the heated tension between Bullet and…everyone, but she managed to add fuel to the flames.

A smile curled Knox’s lips, but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. After hearing my stage name, no doubt he remembered exactly how he knew me. I excused myself from their conversation and crossed the room.

“He’s intense,” she whispered to me.

“Who? They’re all puffing like peacocks.” I glanced over my shoulder. “Except maybe Knox.”

“Make sure you’re ready.” Her words were soft and laced with concern.

“Ready for what?” While she spoke, I was intimately aware of Bullet with the mafia men. I couldn’t swallow down the unease that Bullet would escalate the tension already saturating the room. Men like Marco Bruno didn’t answer to anyone. They made their own rules, and I was learning that Bullet might be even more dangerous.

“For all this. When I met Torch, he wasn’t part of the Hellers. They were his past, but these guys never really leave the MC. They have a code the rest of society might not understand.”

“Were you ready for it?”

Alex and Torch had rejoined Bullet and the others. Marco stood with his hands in his pockets. Alex and Luca spoke, but I couldn’t overhear what was said. Bullet’s gaze met mine, sending a shiver down my spine. I couldn’t look at him and not want.

“No, I wasn’t ready, but I loved Torch, and then I saw what they do for family.” She leaned against the window, but her focus was on Torch and Bullet. “Bullet was there for me when my sister was in trouble. He didn’t know me or Pippa, but Torch is hisbrother. That’s all he needed to know.” She turned to me. “Bullet won’t be fighting alone either.”

“But I’m not serious with Bullet.” The dark ache seeping into every part of me revealed just how dangerous my emotions had become. “We hardly know each other.”

And what I did know scared me. Scared because, no, I wasn’t ready for my feelings for him. I needed to remember the only thing I had to be ready for was how much it would hurt to walk away. Because I accepted who Bullet was, and I could only be temporary for him.

“Alex gave us his dungeon for the night, but if you want, we can go down to the main floor.” She nodded toward the younger Bruno. “Luca will be there with his submissive, Tinker. My guess is Alex and Evelyn will stay for a little while.”

“You’re all into this?” The windows overlooked the main floor of High Protocol. Thirty feet below, people mingled. Lighting created dark corners, and other areas were lit with spotlights for demonstrations. A bar stretched along the far side of the club, and to the right, an observation platform gave a few people an unobstructed view of the entire room.

Gabi softly laughed. “Not until I met Torch. I’d gone to a bar, found my boyfriend”—she made quote marks with her fingers—“cheating on me and met a badass biker. We were going to be a one-night stand.”

Torch came up behind her and crossed his arm over her collarbone. “But she was too drunk to fuck.”

“So drunk I passed out and woke up in a bondage bed with a tattooed master of orgasms whotalked about eating pussy like it was a food group and likes to fuck me in public.”

“And you fucking love it. Put your hands on the glass.” Torch opened his mouth over her neck. “Who are we watching?”

She scanned the crowd. Then her gaze shifted to me. A cyclone of hot, deviant butterflies swarmed my belly. Was she asking me to choose someone engaged in a scene or was the spark in her eyes insinuating she wanted to watch me?

“Huh? What?” I asked.

“Did Bullet talk to you about tonight?” Torch asked.

“Um, yeah, sort of. BDSM, double date with a Dom.”

Torch laughed. “Luca and the Boss are Doms. We play.”

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