Cannon (Savage Kings MC - South Carolina Book Series 5) by Lane Hart (simple ebook reader txt) 📕

makes me realize just how different Madison and I are. As I watch her in action, so incredibly smart and confident, she’s the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen. But I know we don’t belong together no matter how much I’m starting to care about her.

“Cannon?” Madison tilts her head in front of my face to get my attention.

“Huh?” I ask like the intellectual I am.

“Mr. Jeffries was asking if you could get some character witnesses to write letters or come to court next week to talk about your brother being a good, upstanding citizen?”

“Ah, yeah. Sure.”

“Ten is the minimum for letters, and it would be nice to have at least three in person,” the older man explains like someone who has been doing this shit for a long damn time. Hell, he may be old enough to be Madison’s father, but the two of them probably have more in common than her and I do.

His bushy salt and pepper eyebrows that match his full head of fluffy hair stay raised like he’s waiting for me to respond to something.

“At least ten and three. Got it,” I tell him. “Thanks for your help.” I hold out my palm, and he shakes my hand while giving me a look that says he doesn’t think I’m too bright.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Madison

“I wish we had been able to get Conrad out,” I tell Cannon as he drives us to my office.

“Yeah, me too,” he agrees while keeping his eyes on the road.

He’s been quiet and acting off all morning. I’ve never had a sibling, much less an identical twin, so I’m sure he’s just worried about Conrad.

“Next week, we’ll put on so many character witnesses, that the judge will probably cry uncle and let him out just to get rid of us.”

“Uh-huh.”

When we pull in the strip mall where my office is located, Cannon doesn’t park in one of the many parking spots. Instead, he pulls right up to the front, so the door is just a few steps away from the passenger side of the SUV.

“You’re not coming in,” I realize.

“I’ve got to, ah, handle some things,” Cannon says, dipping his head down to look through the office window. “Jake and Lucas are here, so you’ll be fine.”

“I know I’ll be fine without you, but I still prefer to have you around.”

He doesn’t respond or even look at me. Fine. Maybe he needs some time alone with his thoughts and concerns for Conrad.

“I’ll come by later.”

“Okay.”

After last night, I thought he would at least kiss me goodbye. Since he doesn’t seem inclined to close the distance between us, I remove my seatbelt and lean over to kiss his cheek. The small contact startles him so badly the SUV jerks forward because he took his foot off the brake and it wasn’t in park.

I’m not sure if that reaction is a good one or a bad one.

“Cannon?” I say his name to try and get him to look at me. If he doesn’t snap out of this odd behavior soon, he’s going to break my heart just like I assumed he would. I usually hate to be wrong, but I want to be wrong about this, about him.

Finally, he turns toward me and reaches up to cup the side of my face before he leans over and places a chaste kiss on my other cheek that’s sweet and not at all what I expected from him.

As if reading the confusion on my face, he lets go of me and says, “If I kissed you the way I wanted to kiss you right now, then we would end up having to park the car and break a few laws.”

“Oh,” I say in surprise. He’s trying to show restraint because he wants me as much as I want him. That’s a relief and exactly what I needed to hear before I finally open the passenger door and climb out. “See ya later.”

“See ya,” he agrees. I barely get my door closed before he pulls away and drives around to the entrance. But he doesn’t leave the parking lot until I’m safely inside even though there’s no traffic.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Cannon

I drive around in the silent SUV for a while, wishing I had my brother to talk to about what’s happening with Madison.

Since I don’t, I drive to the Savage Kings’ clubhouse for the next best thing.

Only Roman’s truck is in the lot, which is good because I want to keep this conversation between us.

The front door is locked, so I pull out my key to unlock it and head inside.

“Roman? You here?” I call out so he doesn’t shoot me, thinking I’m a robber.

“Yeah, in my office!” he yells back.

I head back and find him in the office with the door open, his laptop in front of him, surrounded by a sea of paperwork.

“You look busy,” I remark.

“Just trying to get the businesses up and running again. Madison gave me a few ideas for the appeals that our attorney agreed to try. The sooner I give them the financial numbers and how much we’ve lost for the bullshit closures, the better it helps our case.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” I tell him as I turn to leave.

“Wait,” he says. “How’s everything going with Conrad? Did he get out this morning? Need any help making his bail?”

“No,” I answer with a shake of my head. “No bail, not at least until the full-blown hearing next week, which is so fucked up.”

“Damn,” Roman mutters. “I’m sorry, man. If there’s anything I can do or the Kings can do, tell me.”

“I wish there was, but there’s not, and now I have to go tell my parents and Hannah the bad news. Fuck!”

“It’s not your fault,” he says softly. “They won’t blame you or Conrad for this mess. It’s all on Bailey.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“What’s up with you? I know you’ve been doing all you can to help your brother and you’re busting your ass trying to help Madison win.”

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