Page 41 of Lucifer's Hounds

“Yes ma’am.” He opens the door for me, and we walk out together, hand in hand. Cass walks me to my car and kisses me one more time before getting on his bike. He follows me until I turn down the road to my house and I watch in my rear view as he keeps going and disappears into the night.

Chapter Seven

By the time I make it home, I feel both happy and sad. Cass is amazing but he’s leaving for a few days. That will give me some time to get my head together.

I walk inside and lay down on the couch. I’m exhausted and some trashy cable television sounds like good enough company for me to watch until I can’t hold my eyes open any longer. I doze off before the TV has been on for five minutes. I sleep peacefully despite being alone in my house. It’s been an adjustment over the last few months to live alone. I’ve always lived with my mom or a roommate, so this has been a learning experience.

I hate being alone, but I’ve been learning how to cope with it, or at least I’m trying. I wake with the first rays of sunlight, my phone buzzing on the stand next to me.

Cass: Good morning beautiful.

I smile at my phone.

Lilly: Good morning. What time’s your flight?

I look at the time. 7:03. This man is never going to let me sleep past eight. I let out a defeated sigh and get up, walking to the bathroom to brush my teeth and get my day started. I’m not amorning girl, but at the same time, I love being up and moving around early so I can get more done and feel like I accomplished more during the day. I pour a bowl of cereal and sit at the table in my small kitchen, phone in hand.

Cass: I take off at 7:30

This fucking sucks. I’m going to miss him while he’s gone. At least I’ll be able to talk to him this time.

Lilly: Text me when you land, boss man.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I snap a picture of myself making a goofy face and send it to Cass. A few minutes later he sends one back, a picture of him making the same goofy face. Man, he makes me smile so fucking much my cheeks hurt. I’m growing quite fond of this man.

Cass: It’s time for me to fly.

Mindy and I meet at the bar a few hours later to get things in order for the coming grand reopening of the bar. Representatives for the different liquor and beer companies will be in throughout the day and we both need to be present since Cass is out of town. Mindy’s sitting on the front porch of the bar at ten o’clock on the dot when I pull into the parking lot, with a smile and a cup of coffee. My kind of morning. She hands me a cup of coffee and a kiss on the cheek.

“Good morning, sunshine. Someone looks chipper this morning.”

“It’s just a good morning.” I smile, lifting my cup of delicious hot energy to my lips.

“That’s heaven. One of the many reasons I love you, woman,” I whisper, savoring the sweetness of my drink.

Mindy shrugs. “Eh, I’ve only known you for oh, I don’t know, half of our lives. So, four scoops of sugar in a tiny cup has always been the standard sweetness level for a Lilly cup of coffee.”

“How many of the vendors are supposed to be in today?”

“All of them, if my memory serves me right. Boss said that you and I are to manage all accounts; he doesn’t really want a hand in that kind of thing. Also, he doesn’t want his name in any of this. No one is to know that he is the new owner, or that he’s in an MC,” Mindy says.

My head snaps toward the driveway at the rumble of a motorcycle. Pulling down the drive is an orange and black motorcycle along with a blue and black one to his right. As they approach, I can tell that Scott is on the orange bike, but I don’t recognize the other guy. They’re both wearing the same cut that Cass wears. They park and step off their bikes. Scott meets us on the porch along with the other man who looks to be in his mid to late thirties. He has a goatee that nearly falls to his chest; his hair is dirty blond, short, and he has light blue eyes.

Scott greets me with our routine hug, the one where I jump into his arms, and he pops my back from the top of my neck all the way down my spine. I sigh in relief.

“That’s amazing,” I sigh as he sets me down.

Scott chuckles. “You’re welcome. Lilly, Mindy, I’d like you to meet Leo.”

Leo extends his hand to each of them. “Hey. Nice to meet y’all,” he says, shaking our hands.

“You too.”

“Leo and I are here to help out while Cass is out of town, so, anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask. It’s what we’re here for.”

“Thank you.”

“Cass said something about vendors coming in today. He asked us to make sure they didn’t give the two of you any problems and he wants all accounts set up in Lilly’s name.”

---