Page 21 of Biker's Collar: Property of Scrap

“Does he have a wife and kids?” Quin asks, most likely noticing that this house is far too big for one man.

“No. Deacon doesn’t have what it takes to get married.”

“Damn, Tanner. That’s harsh.”

I put my arm around Quin’s waist and pull her close. She’ll meet Deacon soon and understand what I mean completely. Until then… I’ll allow her to bask in her incorrect self-righteousness. At least she’s close to me and suited up in the sexiest maxi dress I’ve seen her in yet. That baby bump looks ripe. I love watching her grow with my kid.Our second.

I ring the doorbell just to let him know we’re there and hold it open for Quin to walk through — and not just because I want to get a good look at her ass.

She walks through the door — with a fantastic looking butt, I might add — and we’re both hit with the unmistakably strong smell of bleach. Quin turns around to look at me with a confused and concerned look on her face. Ever since I knew her, Quin hated the smell of bleach. She never cleans with it and when she smells it she looks like… this.

Quin stops moving and reaches back for me instinctively. My hand grasps hers. This woman has a past that never stopped her from moving forward, but that doesn’t mean certain ghosts don’t haunt her. I move closer to her and kiss her cheek.

“It’s probably nothing.”

“I heard Southpaw mention the killings,” she whispers.

“HELLO COUSIN!”

Quin gasps sharply, nearly jumping out of her fucking skin as Deacon appears around a concealed corner of his hallway. I swear this house has so many hallways, nooks and crannies, it's like it was built for a vampire and not a human. He looks about as pale as a vampire without the lights on.

“Christ, Deacon. Turn the lights on and stop being a creep,” I grunt.

“Sorry,” he says, turning the lights on and immediately letting his gaze fall on Quin. “Didn’t mean to scare your girl.”

Deacon’s single second of eye contact with Quin is enough for me to pull her closer to me. My man-whore cousin doesn’t need to get any dirty ideas about Quin or her maxi dress, especially considering they’ve never met.

“I’m Deacon. You must be Quin. His mama told me all about you and said you had a nice ass like Megan Thee Stallion.”

“Have you lost your fucking mind, Deacon?” I growl at him, swatting his hand away as he reaches to shake Quin’s.

“Tanner!” Quin says. “People notice my butt. It’s not illegal. But… maybe certain comments we could keep to ourselves.”

“My apologies, ma’am,” Deacon says. “Welcome to Missouri. If Tanner ever gives you any trouble, call me and I’ll kick his ass.”

“You couldn’t kick my ass if I was paralyzed,” I grumble, forcing away the urge to hit my stupid cousin in the face. “Now can you stop hitting on my wife and take us to the prisoners.”

“They’re not prisoners,” Deacon says calmly. “Southpaw was very clear about that. We are transporting this woman across state lines as a friend of the family…”

“Right,” I say. “Then Hunter and Juliette will help her get on her feet and find a home… most likely with Magnum Sinclair.”

Deacon makes a strange face. “Good luck with that.”

“What do you mean?”

“We had no problems getting the Indian girls out of there with Oske. Called Ethan down to come get the white chicks out to Missouri since one of them has family in Joplin. Owen says he knew one of them and she went with him. But the last one… I don’t know.”

Quin chimes in, disobeying my specific instructions not to say a word to my cousin without my permission.

“What’s wrong with her?”

Deacon looks at her, delighted by a second of female attention. My cousin has been living proof that men can be sluts since he first got his dick wet.

“She’s fucked up and crazy,” he says. “That’s what’s wrong with her. She called me a racial slur and then threatened to bite my dick off and drain the blood from my balls.”

Quin raises an eyebrow suspiciously. “She said that out of the blue?”

“Well I sure as shit didn’t make her say it,” he says. “She’s out of her fucking mind. The Indian chicks said the Midnight SS had her on drugs to keep her quiet and I get it. She won’t stop talking gibberish.”

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