Page 37 of Murder & Mayhem

“I don’t want to talk at all.” I shift my hips, intentionally rubbing my ass along his length and eliciting a groan from him. “In fact, I don’t want to stay here with all these prying eyes anymore.”

Pushing out of his lap, I get to my feet and look down at him with a sultry expression.

“What do you wanna do instead?”

I run my hands along his jean-clad thighs and lean in until our faces are so close, that I could flick my tongue out and lick his bottom lip. “I want to repeat this all over again somewhere more private.” I move my lips to his ear. “Somewhere where you can make me scream.”

In the next second, I cry out as I’m thrown over his shoulder, and he gets to his feet. His arm bands around my upper thighs, my hips perched on his shoulder, bringing my face in line with his gorgeous, muscular ass. “Hey,” I shout.

His shoulders move as he laughs, giving my ass a light spanking. “Shush, woman, didn’t you just ask to be defiled?”

Well, when he puts it like that—to the bedroom!

***

I’m laden with grocery bags for my dinner with Luc tonight, my phone wedged between my ear and shoulder, as I listen to Sheryl tell me about the new job she’s got working in a shop.

“I’m so glad you’re enjoying it,” I tell her genuinely. She and Grace have been through so much. They deserve some happiness. It won’t be long until she’s saved enough money to get them out of the women’s shelter and into an apartment of their own.

She’s still talking my ear off as I walk down the street toward my apartment building, when I notice Luc standing on the opposite side of the street. He’s talking to some skinhead I don’t recognize.

“Ehh, let me call you back,” I say into the phone, not waiting for Sheryl to respond before I hang up and, deviating from my path, I dart across the road. I keep my eyes narrowed on the thug Luc is talking to, studying him. He looks only a few years older than Luc, late teens or early twenties, and he’s already got a collection of tattoos, including one super cool one on his face.Fuckwit clearly thinks he’s a tough guy.

Luc spots me out of the corner of his eye as I approach. “I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sure. Think about what I said,” the guy responds in a low voice before taking off down the street without a backward glance.

“Who was that?” I ask, still watching the guy as he casually strolls down the sidewalk, his hands in his pockets, looking entirely at ease.

“Nobody.”

Luc's vague response only makes me more desperate to know. “A Reject kid? I don’t recognize him.”

“Nah, he’s a Bastard.” Luc turns to walk away, as if he thinks that’s the end of the conversation. Not a fucking chance. My hand snaps out and stops him in his tracks.

“What the fuck are you doing talking to a Bastard?!”

“Nothing,” he says defensively. “I’ve told you. Guys like that approach me all the time. It doesn’t mean anything. When he realizes he isn’t going to convince me to join up, he’ll move on. They always do.”

Oh, well, that makes me feel tons better. Not.

“Where’s Jon, or one of the others? Why aren’t they out here with you?”

“Jesus, Sawyer, I don’t need someone to babysit me every second of the day. I was just grabbing some snacks before heading up to the apartment.”

“And he was just standing here?” That makes me feel very fucking uneasy.

“No,” Luc sighs, sounding exasperated. “I just ran into him. We went to school together. He recognized me, and we got to talking. That’s it.”

Nope, I still don’t like that.With the Rejects declaring a silent war against the Antonellis and their ongoing feud with the Grim Bastards, absolutely nothing is off-limits, andeverythinghas me suspicious and on alert.Thisdefinitely has alarm bells ringing.

Chapter 14

“I just… do you think he was waiting for him?”

“I’m not sure,” I answer honestly, knowing it’s not exactly the answer she wants to hear. “He said people usually approach him at school about this stuff?”

Red called me half an hour ago, upset over finding her brother talking to a Bastard. I can understand her concern.

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