Page 22 of Pulse

The DEA would do that too. They would keep pinning crimes on him until one of them stuck, or he would grow so tired of the game that he relented and gave them what they wanted, which would never happen. He had to come up with a plan to keep his club safe and his life from going to shit. He started over from nothing once and didn’t relish the thought of doing it again, not now that he had his club brothers and their women in his life and a job he loved.

“Then I’ll deal with it.”

“We’ll.” She rested her hands on her hips. The position thrust her tits forward. Damn, they were nice. She seemed oblivious to the fact that every male within viewing distance would be checking her out.

“What?”

“We’lldeal with it. Not just you. That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Pulse. I’m on your side, in your corner, or however you want to say it. Just keep that in mind. Okay?”

He nodded. Trusting outsiders wasn’t easy. Hell, it wasn’t something he did. And trusting someone with the secrets of his past? That was out of the question. But he said, “Okay. Thanks.”

She nodded once. “Great. I have more people to meet, so I’ll get out of your hair.”

She turned from him, but before she could take a step, he said, “Hey, Talia?”

“Yes?” She spun back.

“Thank you. Don’t think I said that last night. Thanks for getting my ass out of there so fast.”

Her smile transformed her face, erasing the fatigue and lighting her up. “My pleasure,” she said with a nod, then turned and strode across the yard to where Liv and Spec stood wrapped up in each other.

Each step caused her ass to swish in the most enticing way. She had more than enough to overflow his hands. Fuck, it had been a while since he’d grabbed onto a thick ass as he pumped into a woman. Groaning, he stared up at the sky.

He knew what he had to do, and unfortunately, it didn’t involve Talia’s ass. It did involve a very uncomfortable phone call to the one person he’d stayed in contact with from his old life if one text a year counted as in contact.

His brothers were absorbed in conversations with their women and others invited to this grand opening, so he could easily slip out the backyard’s side gate. As soon as he was away from prying eyes and ears, he pulled out his phone and thumbed through his contacts. When he found who he was looking for, he strode away from the house and placed the call.

Two rings, then a gruff voice announced, “I don’t have any details for you.”

“And yet, you knew I’d be calling. Dammit, Birdy.” He nearly ground his teeth to dust as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Two hours ago, Max. I found out two damn hours ago.” Birdy was a hacker Pulse had befriended back in elementary school. They grew up together, and by the time they were in their late teens, Birdy was tall and slender with the delicate bone structure of a bird and had been playing around in government agencies’ computer systems. No one caught him.

Ever.

Birdy knew things that even the president didn’t. He was a paranoid sonofabitch who could bring down the world with all his knowledge. His loyalty to Pulse went back to the moment they met when Pulse saved him from an ass-kicking by the school’s biggest bully. He’d provided invaluable intel when Pulse had been an agent and was the one responsible for crafting Pulse’s new life after he walked away from his former one years ago. They weren’t exactly friends, but Birdy was the only one he could count on outside his club.

“I’m working on it, man. I promise. Something shady is going down, and I don’t like it. I’ll call you the second I have this shit worked out.”

Pulse sighed. It was a long shot to assume Birdy would have been able to tell him exactly what was going on already.

“All right. Thanks.”

“Watch your back, man, okay? Don’t get lazy. Like I said, something shady is going down, and I don’t like it. You seem to be at the center of something ugly.”

Great. If Birdy was worried, then things were worse than he’d feared. “Will do. Same goes for you. Don’t you go getting your ass caught.”

He hung up to the sound of Birdy’s offended snort. It made him want to smile, but his lips wouldn’t obey.

Hopefully, Birdy could figure out what the fuck the DEA was up to and why they wanted Pulse. It was the only way to keep his club safe and him out of a body bag.

CHAPTER SIX

TALIA CLOSED HER laptop with a sigh. Her neck ached, and as she rolled her head from left to right, her stomach let out a loud, inelegant rumble.

A glance at her watch reminded her she’d planned to leave her office four hours ago, and, as usual, she’d lost herself in her cases and worked straight through dinner.

Long past dinner.

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