Page 81 of Riding Hard

He comes.

And it’s perfect… just like him.

Just like us.

CHAPTER

SIXTY-FIVE

JULIETTE

I don’t know what I’m expecting to happen, but it isn’t to see that woman—who was trying to twist my mind all up like a pretzel—standing next to the front door of the clubhouse with a suitcase next to her feet when I pull up to clean.

I’ve just dropped Cade off at school, and now I’m starting my workday. I love cleaning the clubhouse and the strip club. I didn’t think cleaning would be something I would find meaningful or enjoy. But I do. It’s something I can see the progress of throughout the day. It’s extremely satisfying.

I can walk into the clubhouse or the strip club, and they’re both completely gross when I arrive. But it gives me a full day’s worth of work, and when I leave, you could almost eat off the floor. I mean, I wouldn’t ever do that, because—ew—but you might be able to use the five-second rule if you dropped something.

But sitting in my car, staring at Rocky and her bag, I don’t move. I’m afraid to, actually. Her attention is completely focused on me, and judging by the stank face she’s wearing, she’s not going to just let me walk past her without some sort of confrontation.

A knock on my window causes me to jump and let out a little scream. Turning my head, I look up to see that Alex is standing there, staring down at me. Reaching for the window button, I press it and watch the glass slide down.

“Looks like the bitch got her walking orders,” he states.

“What happened?”

He shrugs a shoulder. “Probably gonna have to ask your man, but my guess would be that she got kicked the fuck out for being a cunt one too many times. For whatever reason, she thought she was the queen bee, and she is not.”

I don’t respond to that. I don’t think I need to because I have no clue. I didn’t even know she existed until she approached me the other day. All I know is that I did not like what she insinuated or what she was saying to me. Past that, I haven’t thought about her since then.

“Come on, we have work to do, and if we’re going to get this done before you have to pick up Cade from school, we need to get started. She won’t say shit to you.”

Unfolding from the front seat of the car, I walk around the back and unload all my cleaning supplies. Thankfully, Alex waits for me and walks with me. I hold my breath as we walk past her.

She doesn’t speak, but I can feel her heated, angry gaze on me with each step. I stop and turn to face her for just a moment, but she pretends like I don’t exist. Shaking my head once, I move into the bar, and I don’t let out the breath I’m holding until I am safely inside the building and the door is closed behind me.

Only then do I let it out with a whoosh.

Lifting my hand to my chest, I close my eyes slowly before I reopen them.

“You good?” Alex asks.

I start to answer him when my throat goes dry, and that’s because Slade walks out of the conference room. Alex chuckles before he murmurs something under his breath, but it’s just loud enough that only I can hear him.

“Yeah, you’re good. I’ll get started. You come see me after he dicks you down.”

My mind shifts from Rocky at the entrance to him. Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I can’t take my eyes off him. My heart slams against my chest just at the sight of him. I am so damn good. Just the sight of him takes away anything that isn’t… good.

Placing my cleaning things down, I don’t respond to Alex’s words, mainly because I want to be just that, dicked down… and sooner rather than later. My feet begin to move toward him and don’t stop until I’m close enough to smell him, to kiss him, to touch him.

“I’m sure you saw her outside.”

“Do you want to tell me why?” I ask.

He hums, then shakes his head once. “It wasn’t just you she was trying to intimidate. I didn’t kick her out on her ass.”

“What happened?”

He curls his arm around my waist, and then, before I realize what’s happening, I’m pulled into the room, the door is slammed, and my ass is planted on the edge of the conference table.