Chapter 8

8

KING

D espite all the shit happening right now, I shook my head and chuckled as I walked through my house and into the clubhouse. That woman… What the hell had I gotten myself into? Whatever it was, I had no intention of getting myself out.

Life would never be boring, that was for sure.

When I entered my office, Wizard was slouched on the couch with his laptop on his knees. He straightened the glasses on his face before his fingers flew over the keyboard.

Ace sat at the conference table, poring over some documents, while Blaze paced in front of my desk.

I stalked around it and sat down, then watched my VP wearing a hole in the wood floor.

“Blaze,” I barked. “You call me down here to watch you do a motherfucking dance or is there important shit to discuss? ’Cause I’m telling you now that if you dragged me away from my woman for nothing, I’ll give you a two-minute head start before I hunt you down and make you eat a bullet.”

“A two-minute head start?” Ace piped up, his tone skeptical.

“I was trying to be sportsmanlike and shit,” I drawled.

Wizard scoffed. “Bullshit, he wouldn’t make it to the door before you put another hole in his head.”

I shrugged.

Blaze shot Wizard a scowl and took a seat in one of the captain’s chairs in front of my desk. “Tell him,” Blaze ordered.

“I think I found Joseph Ford.”

I whipped my head in Wizard’s direction. “Where?”

“I don’t have the exact location. Ace and I have been sifting through the database that the digital key unlocked. Holy fuck, Prez. That is some messed-up shit.”

Ace grunted an agreement without looking up from his papers.

“There’s still a lot to decrypt, but Ford did us a major favor by organizing it all.”

“Good,” I said tiredly. “Stay on it. We’ll need everything if we’re going to get to the people behind this. Now, back to my woman’s father?”

My choice of words was to specifically remind Wizard who this man was to me. He wasn’t only like family to me. If I had my way, he would be family soon.

Wizard took off his glasses and set them beside him on the couch, then scrubbed his hands over his face.

“You get any sleep lately?” I knew he’d been working on shit for a client the past couple of days. Then I’d given him the stuff from Joseph to decrypt and find any other information that would be of use in locating Stella’s father and taking down the bastards who were selling operatives to the highest bidder.

“Got a couple of hours this morning.”

“Go get some food and some shut-eye. We’ll talk later. You’re no good to me if you’re catatonic from lack of sleep and food.”

“I’m good,” Wizard assured me.

I frowned. “That wasn’t a request.”

“I’ll fill him in on what I found,” Ace told him.

Wizard looked like he wanted to argue, but when he clocked my expression, he mumbled, “Sure thing, Prez.” Then he closed his computer and picked up his glasses, shoving them into the inside pocket of his cut before trudging out of the office.

I glanced at Blaze. “Send a prospect to let me know if he follows my order.”

Blaze pulled out his phone and shot off a text while I looked at Ace. “What?—”

A menacing growl and a frightening bark stopped all conversation. “Shit,” I grunted as I bolted to my feet. Before I took a step, Cerberus came trotting into my office with Echo right behind him.

“New prospect tried to pet him,” Echo explained with a shake of his head. “What the fuck kind of morons are we letting in this place lately?”

I dropped my hand, and Cerberus moved to sit right under it so I could run my hand down his head and back. He leaned into my side, and I scratched behind his ear before turning back to Ace. “Any luck on the money trail?”

“Dirty money involved in this is fucked up, Prez,” Ace muttered. “Definitely making the rounds through different companies, but the trails to The Company are there if you know where to look. When are you supposed to hear from your contact?”

I glanced at my watch. “Gave him twenty-four hours. He’s got a few left.”

“Think he and his CIA bigwig will come through?” Echo queried.

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “They want to catch these motherfuckers as much as I do.”

Ace nodded. “Here are some reports I think you should take a look at first. I’ll have more to go over with you soon.”

“Great,” I muttered, taking the sheaf of papers he reached over to give me. I looked through the first two pages, but my mind kept wandering to Stella. I hated that this was hanging over us and that the situation would only get worse before it got better.

Dropping the report onto my desk, I rubbed my temples for a few seconds and took a deep breath. I needed a fucking breath of fresh air.

“Let me know if there are any updates or when Wizard resurfaces,” I instructed Blaze. “I’m going to check on Stella.”

I didn’t wait for a response. I just strode out of the office and started back to my house. The only thing that stopped me was hearing Stella’s voice as I was passing by the clubhouse kitchen.

Without pausing, I changed direction and pushed through the swinging doors that led to the large industrial kitchen. Along with the area where the meal prep was handled, there were two long, wooden tables—made by a member who’d been a woodcarver over thirty years ago—lined with chairs on each side and one on each end. The kitchen was set up to accommodate feeding a large crowd, which was sometimes the case if all the club rooms were occupied.

We were always wary of having outsiders in the club, but we had hired the widow of a patch from Pierce’s day to come in and cook a couple of days a week. Otherwise, the prospects, or even the patches if needed, cooked during specific meal times.

Outside of those times, the kitchen was open for anyone to grab food if they were hungry.

I’d made a quick breakfast and lunch for Stella and me earlier, but it didn’t surprise me that she was hungry again. We’d burned a fuck ton of calories today.

A smile curved my lips when I spotted her sitting crisscross up on the countertop, munching on a cookie.

Mrs. Devlin laughed at something she said before taking a sheet of freshly baked cookies out of the oven.

“Hey, baby,” I murmured as I walked up to the counter to stand right in front of her.

Stella frowned. “You’ve got some nerve, Kingsley!” she growled.

I had no idea what she was angry about, but my woman was damn cute when she got all huffy and fired up. However, I swallowed my grin, figuring it might piss her off even more. “Something on your mind?”

“Seriously?” she snapped before shoving the rest of the cookie in her mouth.

Since I had no clue what was going on, I silently waited for her to finish chewing and swallowing. “You should be shot. I’ve been here two days, and you haven’t given me any cookies!”

I laughed, understanding now. Mrs. Devlin made the best fucking cookies any of us had ever tasted. Leaning in so only she would hear what I said next, I whispered, “I was too busy eating your cookies, baby.”

Stella’s cheeks burned, but her eyes twinkled. “Lucky you,” she sassed.

“Damn straight,” I agreed with a chuckle.

“Wow.”

We both turned at the shocked voice of Mrs. Devlin, who was staring at me with a giant smile. “I don’t think I’ve heard you laugh since you were a boy, Connor,” she said affectionately. She was one of the rare exceptions allowed to call me by my given name. Mostly because she’d known me since I was ten and would laugh in my face if I tried to tell her she had to call me King.

“We rarely even see you smile.” Then she looked at Stella and winked. “You’re good for him, honey.”

“She’s perfect for me,” I agreed.

“Thanks,” Stella replied sweetly.

I cupped her face and brushed a soft kiss over her lips, then murmured, “You look like you could use a nap.”

“Oh no,” Stella muttered, and she tried to shove me away with two hands on my chest. “I’m not falling for that.”

I blinked innocently. “What?”

“You say nap, but when we get back to bed, no one will be sleeping.”

I grinned unrepentantly. “You complaining, baby?”

“Well, no,” she admitted. “But I need food and some sleep before I let you exhaust me again.”

“How about a shower?” I suggested, unfolding her legs and putting them around my waist. “No funny business.”

She watched me warily. “Why do I feel like I’m being conned?”

“Maybe because you've pulled so many you’ve forgotten what it felt like to be the sucker?” I teased.

Stella observed me for a few more moments before confirming, “No funny business?”

“I promise.”

Two hours later, I carried her limp body to the bed as she grumbled, “You promised no funny business.”

“I didn’t hear anyone laughing, baby.”

I’d only laid down with Stella for ten minutes when Blaze texted me that we had company, and it couldn’t wait. After climbing out of bed and getting dressed, I bent over my woman and softly kissed her lips. “Gotta go, baby. Club business. Be back as soon as I can.”

“Mmmkay,” she slurred. “But when you get back, I’m totally going to get revenge for that stunt.”

“Sure you will, baby.” I chuckled and kissed her again, then left the bedroom wearing a smile.

My mood changed the second I walked into my office and saw Weston Davis waiting for me. The text I’d received earlier was from Blaze, letting me know he was here.

Blaze and Wizard were standing on either side of the door as I walked in, arms over their chests and mean as fuck expressions on their faces. It was understandable. They didn’t know Weston like I did. In fact, until now, Blaze had been the only one who knew anything about my background other than that I’d been a spook. However, I’d brought Wizard up to speed in order for him to look into the situation. Now, after digging around in the deepest crevices of the computer world, it was anyone’s guess what shit Wizard knew.

“If you’re here, shit’s worse than I thought,” I muttered, walking over and holding out my hand.

We shook and slapped each other’s backs in greeting, then I rounded my desk and dropped into the chair.

I lifted my chin toward Blaze. “You’ve met my vice president, Blaze.” Then toward Wizard. “That’s Wizard. Tech.”

Wizard nodded but didn’t speak.

“Well, I have bad news, news, and good news,” Weston remarked as he sat on the corner of my desk.

“Good news?” I muttered.

“We have a plan.”

“News?”

“You won’t like the plan.”

My eyes narrowed. “Bad news?”

“Congratulations. Welcome to the CIA.”