Page 22 of Devil's Valentine

“Time to get to the bakery, Sugar,” there’s amusement in his voice as he holds out the travel mug while holding another in his hand, clearly for himself.

He’s the kind of guy that takes his coffee black. That was never me. I want all the sweetness and flavoring I can put into it, and milk or cream. Honestly, coffee is a means to a caffeine end.

I can’t tear my eyes off him as I whisper, “Thanks.”

“If you keep looking at me like that, we’re never going to get you to the bakery,” he rasps.

My eyes snap up to his and I swallow hard at the lust in his eyes. I let out a long, suffering sigh. “You’re probably right. I just,” I shrug one shoulder, “missed you.”

He hooks an arm around my waist and hauls me against his chest. My breathing starts to come out in pants.

“You have no idea how much I missed you.” His eyes are intense and focused as he stares down at me. “I desperately want to take you back to bed and bury my cock deep inside of you.” My breath hitches because that is exactly what I want to happen. “But I know how important the bakery is to you, and I won’t be the reason you don’t follow your dream.”

I completely melt and reach up to cup his jaw with my hands. “That is both the sexiest and sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

Dean grins down at me before kissing me until I almost forget about my dreams and the bakery. That’s just the kind of thing this man does to me.

Normally, Dean follows me on his bike while I drive to the bakery, but today he walks me to the passenger side of my car and helps me in before walking around to the driver’s side and holds his hands out for the keys. I can’t help but giggle at how presumptuous he is, but I still give him the keys.

We quietly enjoy being around each other as we head toward the bakery and sip our coffee. We don’t need words. There’s just a comfort between us and I think we spend this down time to just soak it up.

The moment we turn on the street to Crescent Sugar, I know something’s wrong. It’s not like there are flashing lights or anything, but there are three motorcycles parked outside of my shop.

I sit up straighter and demand, “What is going on?”

Dean reaches for my hand, entwines are fingers and gives a little squeeze. “I don’t know, Sugar, but we’re going to find out.”

I nod absently and then gasp when we park in front of the bakery next to the bikes instead of going around to the back where I’d normally go. With one glance, it’s clear what’s wrong.

“Fuck,” Dean barks and is out of the car and then around to my side in seconds.

His hands are gentle as he helps me get out and then his large hands are cupping my face and his dark eyes are filled with promise. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this. I promise you. You won’t be able to open today, but we’ll do what needs to be done to get you open tomorrow?”

I nod absently and Dean wipes the tears from my cheeks. I didn’t even realize I was crying.

As he turns me toward the bakery, two huge men I’ve never seen before are staring at me with a mix of rage and sympathy in their eyes. Hacker looks fucking distraught. With a deep breath, I allow Dean to lead me closer to the men.

These are his brothers and they’re here for me. As much as I want to break down, now is not the time.

I glance at the front of my shop and have to swallow back a sob. All the windows in the front are smashed and that’s not all. It looks like everything that could be destroyed inside the bakery is destroyed. From here I can’t see into the kitchen and can only hope that the destruction was just to the front of the house, but my gut is telling me not to hope too much for that.

Dean, no, Frenzy, barks, “What the fuck happened?”

Hacker runs his fingers through his hair, tugging at the strands slightly in frustration. “I had Billy,” he glances at me, his eyes filled with apologies, and explains, “a Prospect, watching the feed tonight. He fell asleep and then by the time I got the alert on my phone and woke up, they were already tearing through the bakery. I called Scythe and Lucifer before tearing ass down here, but I was too late. The two guys who did this were already gone.”

“Two guys?” I know it’s a strange thing to focus on, but that’s all I’ve got at the moment.

Hacker nods slowly and then looks away as if he’s watching the footage he saw in his mind again. “Well,” he hedges, “maybe. Both of them were on the smaller side. Maybe they aren’t big guys or maybe they’re just kids.”

I sound horrified, “Kids?”

Dean tugs me into his side, and I lean against him, needing him to ground me, needing him to keep me tethered to reality right now. “Not all kids are good. Some are criminals,” he points out to me.

“And some are just misguided,” a man intones, authority radiating through his voice.

He’s older than Dean, Hacker, and the other man I’ve yet to be introduced to. I can barely make out the name on his cut—Lucifer. This is Cherise’s man.

I try and force a smile on my face, but I’m sure it comes out as more of a grimace. “It’s nice to meet you, Lucifer. Cherise talks about you with a dreamy look on her face that has made me envious more than once.”

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