RIDING DIRTY (Steel Titans MC Book 4) by Franca Storm (ebook voice reader .txt) 📕

with me throwing a good load of my intimidation factor at her, right in close quarters. “We were together once. Very briefly.”

“Briefly, huh?” I couldn’t help snapping. “I thought more of Rick than being a quickdraw.”

She rolled her eyes, because, yeah, I weren’t exactly living up to my age right now. “I meant it wasn’t more than a one-night thing.”

“Taking on this job… is that part of some game plan for you to get another ride on his dick? That it? Your endgame?”

Her hand came at me so fucking fast that I didn’t see it until it was already delivering a stinging slap across my cheek. The force behind it had my head snapping to the side, a grunt escaping me.

“How dare you? My personal life is none of your business, nor does it impact this mission. Lock it up right now, you asshole. Am I being clear enough, or do you want to experience what I’m truly capable of?”

Asshole. Yeah, I was being an asshole. And I didn’t know why. Why did it bother me so much that she’d fucked Rick one time, ages back? I wanted to believe that it was because I was worried about her being in league with him, having his back more than mine, which could end up proving fatal for me and maybe even for my brothers too. But, at the heart of it, I didn’t think that. It didn’t make sense. It was the fucking between them that bothered me. But, thinking about it, it could’ve been anybody she’d been fucking.

Goddamn it. It weren’t about Rick. It was all about her.

Knowing that just made everything so much worse.

My defenses kicked in automatically.

That familiar wall came up.

I shut down.

I couldn’t bring myself to offer up an apology. It would point to where the animosity was coming from. And I couldn’t have that. I had to keep a distance between us. Hell, it weren’t just protecting me, it was in her best interests too. Getting mixed up with me could only ever lead to a death sentence.

I stepped back from her. “Get a hold of him and see what’s up,” I told her, brushing past her and heading for the kitchen door. “I’m gonna do what I do best. Take care of my club.”

9

~Slade~

 

“DELAYED?”

I gritted my teeth at the suspicious tone in that one word from Liam.

It was the last thing I needed right now. Things were fucked-up enough as it was. I couldn’t have him becoming another complication to add to the pile of crazy I was already dealing with.

“Yeah, delayed. I ain’t gonna be back at the club when I thought. You got a problem with that?”

Unlike normally when I got heavy-handed and he and all the boys backed down right off the bat, doing whatever they could to avoid my bad side emerging, Liam blew right past it, like it’d never been said, asking, “What’s going on, Slade?”

“Told you already. It ain’t nothing yet. Don’t got proof on it. It’s all just suspicions about Freeman and Nolan right now. All you gotta do is maintain the beefed-up security we got on Titans territory. As soon as I know more, I’ll get the intel right to you. Making a move right now ain’t on the cards. We need more, need confirmation, or we’re gonna be riding right into another war that the club don’t need after everything it’s already been through.”

“Yeah, I get all that, and I agree. I meant, what’s going on with you, personally speaking?”

“What you talking about?”

“Well, first off, you say you just happened to get word about this possible Nolan and Freeman situation, while you’re supposed to be on vacation. Why would you still be tapped into all that if you’re on a break from being Prez? Second, you never gave any details about this apparent vacation of yours and it isn’t exactly like you to take time out in the first place.”

For a long time, Liam had been hesitant and unsure of himself when it came to taking up the Prez mantle. But after what’d gone down with him when he’d lost it after the hit he’d taken during our takedown of the Strikers MC, he’d basically rebuilt himself and come out of it all the stronger. Before I’d taken a break from the club to deal with my lingering enemies, I’d stepped up my training with him, pushing and testing him, making damn sure he’d be ready for the promotion to the big, bad leader of the Steel Tians MC. This call with him was proving just how great a job I’d actually done. He’d grown harder, ballsier, and he was bringing a load of resolve and grit to the table now. He was acting like a leader, like me.

Hell, I was proud of him. But it was also biting me in the ass. He was a smart guy, astute. With his suspicions growing, he wouldn’t just let it lie. Nah, he’d start looking into it, maybe even try to track me down. The phone I was using right now was untraceable and secure, but there were loads of other methods he could call on to get the job done.

Nah, I couldn’t have that.

I didn’t want the club brought in on all this bullshit. It was bad enough that I’d had to put them on alert with this potential Nolan and Freeman situation. The club had been through way too much lately. The boys needed a break, needed good things coming their way now. Not all this darkness, danger and pain slamming into them. It was my responsibility anyway, not theirs. These were my enemies that were coming at me for things I’d done. And, with me on my way out, it would be shitty and wrong to call on the brotherhood for my own ends.

But I had to give Liam something to get him to chill.

There was only one thing he’d buy. It was a big part of the truth, so I weren’t