Page 12 of Ink

“Nope.”

“Well, shit. You need schooling,dolcezza.” He grinned at me when he called her sweetness in Italian.

“Keep it up,” I growled. “See what happens.”

“I’m not afraid of concrete shoes,” Wizard quipped.

I raised my brow. “Give me more credit than that, brother. Getting rid of a body has evolved with so much creativity.”

Wizard opened his mouth but was cut off by King’s arrival. “Shut the fuck up, Wizard,” he growled. “I’ll give Ink more than credit for the fact that you’re still breathing. Pull shit like that with Stella, and I’d be using you as target practice.”

“Where is Thea, anyway?” Echo mused as he sauntered in behind Blaze and Ace. “I’m sure she’d like to see you flirting with Ink’s woman. Inspiration for her novels.”

Wizard’s expression darkened, and his hands balled into fists. “Point taken, assholes.”

Ace rolled his eyes and strolled over to the couch on the wall opposite Wizard’s desk. “Might want to watch your words around company,” he muttered as he sat down.

Shit.

I was almost afraid to look down at Annika, but when I did, I was surprised to see her watching us with humor rather than horror.

“Just out of curiosity. Are you guys serious or blowing smoke?” she asked suddenly.

“Would option one freak you out?” I queried in return.

She thought for a minute, then shrugged. “I guess not. I mean, it’s not as though I didn’t have some idea of what motorcycle clubs were like from TV. I just didn’t know how much of it was real and what all was exaggerated for ratings.”

“What's the verdict?” King wondered, watching her thoughtfully.

“Depends on the answer to my question.”

The corner of his mouth twitched, which was almost the same as a fucking belly laugh for our prez. “Probably a little of both, but leaning more toward serious. When it comes to my wife, I don’t fuck around.”

Impressively, Annika held his gaze for a long, intense interlude before cocking her head to the side. “I can respect that.”

King raised a single eyebrow.

“My parents had a love like that,” she added. “I hope I will too, someday.”

The prez’s eyes drifted to me, and his probing gaze made my skin crawl with the sensation that he was staring into my fucking soul. Then he looked back at Annika. “I’d bet on it.”

Before the conversation could go any further, he changed the subject while stalking over to take a seat in front of Wizard. “Let’s hear it,” he ordered.

I gestured for Annika to explain, but she shifted nervously, looking uncomfortable. King used one foot to shove an empty chair at me, and I nodded in thanks as I sat and pulled Annika onto my lap. She was stiff for about thirty seconds, then melted into me.

“Annika’s parents died a couple of years ago and made her uncle her guardian,” I began.

“They left me with our house, so he moved in with me,” she said. I gave her a gentle squeeze, and she kept going. “I appreciated the gesture at the time, but it quickly became clear that he was more interested in free housing than me. I didn’t really mind, though. I just wanted to get through the next couple of years, then I’d leave for college.”

She went on to explain the details of her trust and how it was managed, finishing with what had happened that afternoon. By the time she was done, Wizard’s fingers were already flying over his keyboard, and Ace was working on his phone, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.

I’d known they would have my back—and therefore Annika’s. But sometimes, I was still surprised by the strength of a bond not forged in blood. Familial ties were always a big deal with Italian families, but when you threw the Mafia into the mix, the emphasis was even stronger. For fuck’s sake, they called themselves “The Family.” So it had been a culture shock when I’d first spent time with Mac and the Silver Saints. And even after years of being around MCs, there were times when I was reminded that the bond between my club brothers and me was often even more unbreakable.

“Digging into his finances now,” Wizard commented distractedly. “I’ll send ’em to Ace, then I’m gonna see what I can find in the dark corners.”

“Got a contact at corporate for that bank,” Ace muttered. “They’ll be able to give us access to—” Ace broke off, and his head whipped up, his eyes going straight to Annika.

I gently set her on her feet and stood next to her. “Gonna let you get to it. Let me know what you find.”

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