Outlaw's Ride: An MC Romance Carter Steele (if you liked this book TXT) 📖

could make a threat through a soft smile and scare the shit out of who he was talking to. Dunkin was an example that you didn’t have to be big or mean to be ruthlessly dangerous

Patrick nodded slowly, understanding what Dunkin was saying. He wouldn’t make that mistake twice, at least not if he knew what was good for him. Afterward he was suddenly all nervous smiles, offering the club to join him in the back room for some drinks while they waited for Billy Bones and his crew to show up. We accepted of course. There was no reason to sit through turf negotiations sober.

Over the initial round of drinks we got to business. Patrick briefed us on this Billy Bones prick and what his reach was just before a small fleet of the blacked-out Hummers pulled up.

It took everything I had not to roll my eyes as Billy and his boys came in for the meeting. They were a bunch of Gucci-wearing, spiky-haired, sunglasses at night, soft-skinned, millennial brats who were playing in their parent’s shoes. The hardest thing about them was the pistols they wore under their tailored thousand dollar suits.

“Buon giorno,” Billy greeted Patrick with a handshake. He had a well-manicured, meticulously maintained image, but also had bones tattooed on the backs of his hands to mirror his actual skeletal system.

Patrick offered Billy a drink, but he turned his nose up to the cheap booze and opted instead for his own gold coated, diamond-encrusted vape pen. Billy and several of his guys puffed away leaving the whole room smelling strongly of medical-grade weed. Patrick shrugged and slid a chair up to the pool table. It was cleared off of balls and had a custom piece of polished plywood covering the felt. It fairly comfortably doubled as a meeting table.

The door that lead to the second floor opened quietly and a small, mousy figure stepped into the room. Sarah walked in with a thick leather-bound ledger, a notepad and a pen, and took a seat next to Patrick at the pool table. Dressed in corporate casual-wear with the addition of her purple scarf, Sarah filled the role as his assistant and note taker. I hadn’t seen her like that before. Like many of the men in the room, my eyes flashed at her presence here. Patrick was quick to offer that she helped him in his business affairs and assured us that she was discrete.

Business affairs huh? Hooker, wounded victim, passionate artist and now this…

How many sides were there to this woman?

I studied her to make sure he hadn't beaten her or anything as punishment for her being late. I'd already spoken with Patrick and explained to him that it was my fault and that Sarah didn't have any idea where I was taking her or why. I even offered to pay him for the extra time spent with her, but he turned me down. He told me it was no big deal, and that our satisfaction with his product was his top priority.

I didn't like hearing him refer to her that way, but thought it best to keep my mouth shut, at least until I knew the whole truth about what was going on here. Sarah averted her gaze from me, obviously not wanting to risk drawing Patrick’s irritation.

With the strained pleasantries out of the way the two men sat down across from each other at the table in Patrick’s large office and got straight to business. Billy was the disgruntled nephew of one of the other old-blood mafioso factions in the city. He wanted our help to stage a coup and take over his family and their holdings; in return Patrick wanted to be Billy’s sole connect for drugs and girls.

We stood along the back wall behind Patrick, and Billy’s crew stood opposite us behind their leader. Every one of us was ready to throw down if things went bad, but, fortunately, it didn’t look like it was going to come to that. Dunk and Dreamer listened to the discussion closely knowing that they’d have to figure out a way to put whatever plan the two kingpin wannabes came up with into motion.

I folded my arms and listened halfheartedly all the while trying not to glance at Sarah as she feverishly took notes. She also wrote a few and slid them to Patrick whenever he asked her a question about logistics or various research.

A lock of hair slipped from behind her ear and brushed across her face, but she made no effort to tuck it back. She was too absorbed in keeping up with the conversation. She really was beautiful. I was almost surprised at the naked admiration I felt for her. However desperate her situation truly was, she’d found a way to survive. I’ve buried many friends that couldn’t say the same.

Thoughts of her were rapidly filling up my subconscious mind. The more I was around her, the more I found myself looking forward to getting her alone again.

So what was so special about her?

I definitely yearned for her, but I didn’t really know why. I found her sexy, but so what. I’d been with a sexy woman in every city the club moved to and being that we were nomads we never stayed put for long. Was that it? Was it because we hadn’t actually had sex yet? Or maybe it was something else entirely.

I was also a very curious man by nature and figuring this girl out was the ultimate riddle. Who was she really? For such an obviously smart and talented girl, how did she wind up working in a whorehouse?

Then there was the elephant in the room.

I didn’t see it right away, because she puts on a brave face while working, but today at the aviary I saw what true joy looked like on her. Despite being a criminal, I hated seeing good people taken advantage of and regardless of what she says, Sarah hates it here.

I’m not an idiot;