Page 13 of My Casanova

“You think there’s a chance we cannot have all of the girls with us?” I asked.

Yarder chuckled and shook his head. “Pretty sure that will not happen, brother. The girls are going stir-crazy with us keeping a close eye on them. They’re clinging on to going to the wine shop like it’s Christmas morning.”

I grunted and stood. I stretched my arms over my head to loosen my stiff muscles. “I guess you’re not wrong. I can’t wait until all of this Boone and Gibbs shit blows over. I miss the days of just living without having to look over our shoulders at every turn.”

“You and everyone else feel that, too, Smoke.” He grabbed the ball Harley had dropped at his feet. “We’ll get back to that soon.”

“Hear anything from Russ?”

Yarder shook his head and tossed the ball. “Not a word.”

I watched Harley chase after the ball and jump over Davidson to get it. “Maybe they’ll forget about us.”

Yarder side-eyed me. “Yeah, that would be great, but I don’t see that happening.”

“They’re gonna eventually mess up. They can’t keep coming after us like this and not expect that someone is going to catch on.” They were making huge moves against us—explosions, involving innocent people. They were bound to screw up.

“We’ll get them. Until then, we keep moving forward. The garage will be done in a month, and today we can talk to Dani about who the landlord of the strip mall is to get the bakery going.”

I nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Dani had until two this afternoon to come to the clubhouse. If she didn’t, I was going to find her.

Chapter Seven

Dani

“We had a run on the garlic olive oil. Can you grab a few more bottles from the back?” I asked Stan and brushed my hair back from my face as I rang up a customer at the register.

“You got it,” he called from across the store. “I’ll grab a couple of the Tuscan, too. I’ve been pushing the sample and sold a few bottles this morning.”

I nodded and flashed a polite smile at the older woman in front of me as I bagged her wine and cheese. “Enjoy your weekend, Mrs. Collins.”

She grinned. “Oh, I will, dear. You know how my book club gets.”

I chuckled. “Absolutely. See you next week.”

With a final wave, she walked out, and the bell above the door chimed softly in her wake. The afternoon sun streamed through the large front windows and cast golden streaks across the polished wood floors. Friday afternoons were always like this—busy, lively, and filled with the low hum of conversation as customers stocked up for the weekend.

For a second, I’d almost called Stan this morning to let him know I’d be late and headed to the Iron Fiends’ clubhouse instead, but I hadn’t. The shop needed me, and besides, I figured the tire could wait.

I moved around the store and straightened a row of wine bottles, my fingers trailing lightly over the labels, making sure they were all straight. I checked the cheese case and rearranged a few wedges to make the display more appealing. Two customers wandered through the shelves, debating on whether to go with a red or a white, and I gave them space while pretending not to listen in on their conversation. They should gowith a white with the cheese they had picked, but I could always help steer them that way if they asked.

Stan emerged from the back room with the olive oil bottles in hand. “Got ‘em.”

“Thanks,” I said and took them. “Can you also grab a few bottles of the balsamic? Mrs. Collins just bought two. And we need to think about topping off the sun-dried tomato olive oil keg.”

Stan nodded and headed back to grab them. I put the bottles of olive oil on display and barely had time to get behind the register before the bell above the door chimed again.

I looked up, and my heart nearly stopped.

Yarder walked in first, tall and broad-shouldered, and his presence filled the space like he owned it. But that wasn’t what had my pulse jumping—it was who walked in behind him. Smoke.

And they weren’t alone.

A group of six women followed them inside, all of them chatting excitedly as they fanned out into the shop.

“Oh, this place issocute,” one of them gushed and twirled in place to take it all in.

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