Page 14 of Stone

Shit! I immediately realize I’ve put my big filthy biker boot in it when I notice her face goes white, eyebrows drop, and her eyes snap closed.

“My parents died a couple of years ago in a road accident,” she blurts out, a slight tremble to her bottom lip.

“Sorry to hear that.” Wolf steps in when he sees that I’m struggling to respond. This is too close to the bone. “Do you have any family here in Reno?”

“None to speak of. I take care of myself,” Oriana replies.

Damn, her situation has so many similarities. Sure, she is older, but still barely an adult. Thankfully, she’s at an age where she’s avoided being dragged into the system, but if she has no family to speak of, no support network around her… Jesus.

Suddenly the room feels too oppressive, too enclosed. I need to get out of here, space, fresh air.

“This isn’t going to work,” I say, jumping to my feet before I turn and give her my back.

“But, if you’d just give me a chance,” she whines, which pisses me off even further. I stomp towards the front door, grabbing the handle and swinging it open. I hate whiney women.

“Please, Mr. Stone, I really need this job.”

“Wolf will show you out,” are my last words before I step out onto the porch, slamming the door behind me.

ChapterEleven

Stone

Ifill my lungs with air, close my eyes and force myself to get a grip on myself. The image of my brother Jacob, and his beautiful wife Savannah, pops into my mind like an apparition. Jacob has a scowl on his face, and Savannah is shaking her head at me, berating me for being an asshole.

The door swings open, and Smoke comes to my side. He pulls out a packet of his favorite brand of cigarettes, taps the pack and takes one out.

“What the fuck, Stone,” he chides around the tab that’s now between his lips. He holds his lighter to the end, and sucks until the end glows a cherry red. “I love you, brother, but sometimes you can be a downright cunt.”

“Don’t hold the punches, Prez.” He shoulder bumps me hard, but I don’t lose my balance. “She’s not right.”

“Why?” he asks simply.

“She’s too young. What is she? Eighteen, nineteen? How can she look after a three-year-old when she’s still a kid herself?”

“Harks, the guy who, up until a couple of weeks ago, had zero experience in bringing up a kid,” he snorts back. “She probably knows a damn sight more than you think. Think about it. She’s mature enough to put herself through college. Sure, she might be struggling financially, but so is a million and one other Americans out there. At least she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get to where she wants to be, and without any family out there to hold her hand while she does it.” He takes a long deep drag on his cigarette and purposely blows the smoke in my direction. “If you’d taken the time to read her resume, rather than skimming over the sheets, which points to the fact you’d already made up your mind no one that Wolf put forward would be good enough, then you’d have seen that she’s actually twenty-two.”

“There you go. That proves my point. Shouldn’t she have finished with all that education shit by now?”

“Fuck, Stone,” he punches me in the arm and pain ricochets up and along my shoulders.

“What was that for?”

“Again, should have read her notes, you soft pussy.” He rolls his eyes when I rub my arm to get some sensation back into it. “She took some time out when her parents died. Hell, if I would have been able to pick my ass up and gone back after that, but she did. Got right back at it, determined to finish what she started.”

“So what? I still don’t think she’s right for the job.”

“Well, I fucking do and I say that you give her a chance,” he slaps me hard on the back. “If I’m wrong, then I’ll let you step down from being my VP.”

“You want rid of me now, huh?” I bite back. Smoke drops his cigarette to the floor and crushes it with his boot as he steps forward to walk down the steps.

“Hell no,” he shouts back at me as he mounts his black beast of a motorcycle. “But that girl there, she’s going to be the best thing that’s happened to you and Sasha, and you know that I’m never wrong.”

A deep rumble fills the air as he fires up his lady and powers down towards the gates. Fuck knows where he’s going, but if it was something club related, he’d have had backup going along with him.

I take another deep, soul calming breath and wonder if it would be a good time to start smoking. Not an option. I’ve already warned Smoke and the other guys that the cabin is a no-go area for cigs, drugs or debauchery.

Oriana

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