Page 45 of Providence

I grinned back, and for a split second we were normal people on a first date. “What convinced you to go on a date with me?” I asked, ruining the moment because that’s what I did.

Goliath shrugged, and to my surprise, his smile didn’t diminish even a fraction. “Judas gives very persuasive blowjobs.”

I choked on my drink, the acidic juice burning the inside of my nose. “Excuse me?”

He laughed, and it was a dark, rich sound that made my netherbits tingle. He dropped his voice low so it didn’t carry in the near empty diner. “He told me that you were made for us. I told him that I would try not to be a fucking psycho, and he gave me head in his office. All very simple.”

What did a woman even say to that? Was it too late to drag him into the diner’s bathroom and fuck him again, like some kind of weird sex bar hop? Maybe we could go home and he could recreate the moment for me in living fucking color. My body clenched at the idea. Yeah, that was definitely a plan I can get behind. Or on top of, or hell, even under.

Instead of dragging him out of the booth and into a dark corner somewhere, I cleared my throat and gave my vagina a serious mental talking to. This shit was important. The words were going to be just as important as the actions when it came to Goliath. “I find that very arousing,” I said primly, and the hooded look he gave me made my heart race in my chest.

Then Becky ruined it. Again. Dammit Becky. “Your food,” she said shortly. “How are Cain and Solomon? They haven’t been in much?” she said to Goliath, ignoring me like I didn’t exist. Again.

“Getting their dick wet and treating Serendipity like a fucking Queen, so I’d say they are pretty fucking good,” he growled. Becky’s face went pale at the noise, and she turned on her heel and scurried to the other end of the room. Whoops.

I raised an eyebrow at him, and he held my eyes unapologetically. “What? It annoyed me how women buzzed around them like flies to a carcass. I didn’t say anything because Sol would fuck them, it was his thing.” His eyes dared me to be upset about it. I wasn’t. Sol’s past didn’t bother me anymore than the bloodshed that Goliath had bathed in every day for decades. “Doesn’t matter now. They love you, and I won’t see you or them fucking disrespected.”

Be still my freakin’ heart. Just like that, we’d turned a corner, and that strain that ticked between us all but disappeared. We talked about Madoc and the guys. Well, I mostly talked, but he grunted responses when necessary. We talked about what I’d like to do if I didn’t have to run anymore. It was a dream that I hadn’t ever thought possible. I told him I’d like to be an artist.

He didn’t open up much, making enough conversation to keep me talking, but not giving away a lot of his own secrets. I was okay with that. I had an eternity to unravel Goliath. I just had to convince him I was worth the risk.

24

Solomon

Iwatched Goliath pace the small room where the Club held Church. He was tense and twitchy. I thought getting laid was meant to chill the fucker out, but apparently it had the opposite effect. It made him jumpy as hell, like he was a crack addict and Dippy was a pure shot of heroin.

It was more than that though. I could tell that his Horseman was riding him hard. Whoever that slimy fucking Cartel dude was at the bar the other night, he’d riled Conquest. Goliath was itching to get out there, to grind the man into dust until he knew exactly who ran these streets. But Judas was holding him back for now. I didn’t fool myself that it would be for long. I’d seen Judas’ face when he heard the fucker had threatened Dippy. It was like a shot of ice water to the veins, you felt that chill in your very soul.

Still, we didn't run like that. We were putting everyone's lives on the line if there was retaliation, so we had to vote. I had no doubt which way the vote would go. We were proud and reckless, every last one of us.

Judas laid it out for our Brothers; every single one of them had been dragged in from wherever we had them situated. This room hadn’t been so full in years. But still, there was enough room for Goliath to pace back and forward, drawing the eyes of every man in the room, making everyone tense as fuck. He was like a bomb set to explode, and you just knew you had to get the fuck away before you were collateral damage.

Judas continued. “While I am of the opinion that this fucking shit cannot go on, we’ve always run this as a democracy. We’ll put it to a vote. All those in favor?”

Unsurprisingly, the younger, hotheaded blood in the Club put their hands up. The only surprise really was Shots, who usually towed the party line, but his hand stayed firmly down. When I raised an eyebrow at him, he shrugged. “I’m getting old, Sol. Too old for wars and killing. I just want to pour shots, drink with my Brothers, and be around to appreciate my grandkids. Not out killing other peoples grandkids.”

Fuck, I mean, I could relate. We wouldn’t make Shots be on the frontline either. An unwilling soldier was a dead soldier, and there was plenty of other shit a man like Shots, who’d been around the block a few times, could do while still helping. But I didn’t begrudge him his vote. It’s why we fucking voted in the first place. “I get it man, I do. Besides, if anything happened to you, Sweetie would lead the Old Ladies and sweet butts into a fucking revolution.”

Shots threw back his head and laughed easily. Yeah, we wouldn’t take that from him. “You ain’t wrong, Sol.”

The vote swung overwhelmingly in favor of war, and the tingle of apprehension and excitement zinged down my spine. Cain looked fucking giddy. War. He loved that shit. Goliath grunted in satisfaction, but it wasn’t enough.

Judas closed Church and the members all dispersed, not stopping to have a drink like we normally would after Church. Everyone was going to do the shit you do before you go to War. Kiss your mama. Fuck your girlfriend. Make a damn will.

Still Goliath just paced. “For fuck’s sake, G, sit down because you are giving me a fucking neck cramp,” Cain grumbled. He didn’t like sitting on his hands anymore than Goliath did. He didn’t like that he’d let Bambi the stripper rot with the Cartel for the last few days while we gathered Damnation for Church.

Judas held up a hand, making us all stop. “Let’s take this to the office. Trigger, you too. I need an update about that fucker from the bar.” He stood, and we all followed him like unhappy little puppies.

Goliath flopped onto the couch, finally no longer pacing, and Cain rested his back against the window, looking through the bars out into the distance. I sat next to G, and Trigger laid on the floor like a kid, tapping away on his phone.

“Want me to send some crayons and coloring books down there?” I teased.

He lifted his finger. “Just send your mom and then you can call me Daddy, fuckface,” he sniped back, and I laughed. He had some fucking balls. No wonder we kept him around.

“She’s been dead for like forty years, man. I mean, we could find a necromancer, but not even an ugly fucker like you is that hard up. She was a fucking bitch when she was alive as well, so her reanimated corpse would probably bite your dick off.”

Goliath slid his eyes toward me. “There’s something seriously fucking wrong with you.”

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