Page 2 of Rooster
“Got no reason to doubt yourself, babe.” I slowly withdrew, then quickly tossed the condom in the trash. “You’re amazing.”
As I was pulling up my boxer briefs and jeans, she hopped down from the countertop and started to get dressed. “Tell my ex that.”
And just like that, there was a shift in her mood. I couldn’t stand the thought of her thinking she was anything but incredible, so I told her, “Your ex is a fucking idiot.”
“Oh, yeah? What makes you say that?”
“He’d have to be to let you go.”
Her smile returned as she said, “Thanks, you didn’t have to say that.”
“Just tellin’ it like it is.” I stepped over to her and placed the tips of my fingers on her chin, forcing her to look up at me. “Why don’t you give me your number so I can remind you whenever you forget?”
“I would, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.” She stood up and fastened the last button of her jeans. “I’ve only been divorced a few months.”
“Okay, then give me your phone.”
“Hmm?”
“Your phone.” To my surprise, she grabbed her phone from her purse and handed it to me. I put my name and number in her contacts as I told her, “My name’s Ronin. If you change your mind or need something, just give me a call.”
“Okay, thanks.” She dropped her phone back in her purse, then eased up on her tiptoes and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for this. I really enjoyed it.”
“Yeah, me too.”
She studied me for a moment, and just as I thought she was going to say something, she turned and walked out the door. I wanted to believe that I hadn’t seen the last of the beautiful brunette, but with the way my luck had been lately, I wasn’t so sure. Regardless, she’d given me a night I wouldn’t soon forget, and I could only hope I’d done the same for her.
Rooster
“It’s gotta be a password, right?”
“Yeah, but to what? We checked the house and his office. There was nothing there.” Bones sounded frustrated as he added, “And I already have access to his laptop, emails, and bank accounts. What else could there be?”
“I don’t know, but there’s gotta be something. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have kept repeating that Sawyer 247 bullshit.”
“Could it be one of his kids or grandkids?”
“Nope,” Bones answered. “Already checked.”
“What about an employee? Or some woman he screwed around with?”
“Maybe.”
I’d been listening to my brothers go back and forth for over an hour, and I couldn’t help but notice how much had changed over the past couple of months. I’d patched in more than ten years ago, and back then, Cotton sat at the front of the table with Guardrail and Stitch at his side. They were a force to be reckoned with.
Now, Maverick sat in Cotton’s place, and Savage and Wrath were his right-hand men. They were just as fierce and determined, but unlike their older, wiser, more mellow predecessors, Savage and Wrath were still young and quick-tempered. Most of the young ones were. I fell somewhere in between and considered myself to be a decent mix of the two.
Except when I was hungry or hung over.
And today, I just happened to be both, and I was teetering on the edge when Smokey asked, “When were we supposed to deliver the next load, or is that still on?”
“Next week, but we got no idea about the who or the where,” Prez answered. “We’ll figure it out, but you know Bruton. He only told us what he felt like we needed to know.”
“Yeah, he was a real gem about that.”
“Maybe there was a reason for that. For all we know, we’re worrying over nothing,” Clutch suggested. “It’s not like his death wasn’t plastered all over the fucking news. Surely whoever he was working with saw it.”
He was right.
