Page 98 of Red's Peril: Part 1

I raise my chin toward him in thanks. “Look, Skull’s a cop with all the resources that go along with his job. She needs a place to hide out where he won’t come looking for her.”

Roller starts nodding his head. “Cops fuckin’ stick together. If she goes anywhere else, he’ll be able to find her.”

He’s right. I recall it happening to one of the Arizona guys, Dart, who’s now VP in San Diego. His old lady was a cop’s wife. When she left him, it wasn’t long before he found out where she was. The thought makes me frown. Not only did he find her, he half killed her. Luckily, Dart found her in time. Of course, he was soon put underground.

“What made her come to her senses at last?” Fox asks, his brow creased.

“Skull hit her.”

“Fuckin’ bastard.”

Fox’s comment is echoed around. There’s one thing that’s an anathema to Satan’s Devils, and that’s violence toward the fairer sex. Sure, there are some women who can take care of themselves, but normally men have more brawn, and unfortunately, usually the upper hand. To my mind, using that strength is a sign of weakness.

Sarge raps on the table to get my attention. “You take in a broad who the cops will be looking for, where’s the benefit for us? I can only see downsides.”

Rope’s nodding at him. “And don’t forget she could be a plant. Skull might like to keep it in the family.”

“Why do we owe her anything at all?” Crash asks.

“Good points,” I say loudly, getting the attention back to myself. “Who I’m thinking about is Mel. You all saw how it destroyed her to lose her baby? Well, by keeping Clare and his kid here under wraps, he gets to feel just a bit of the pain of losing something.”

“Rather he was six feet under,” Indian complains.

It seems everyone agrees with him. “He’ll get his. Eventually. In the meantime, though, how about we cause him a bit of pain?”

To be honest, I’m clutching at straws. I can’t really explain why I have this urge to keep her under my roof. There’s just something about her, something that drove me to make the offer in the first place weeks back, which was amplified today once I saw the injury Skull had caused her.

“How about one of us fuck her? Let him know what it feels like to be cheated on?”

“Good fuckin’ idea, Rope. She’s a good-looking broad.”

Rage rises fast. “No one,” I glare at Hammer, then repeat myself, “no one is touching her. Got it?”

Cuff nudges Rope and says loudly, “Prez is keeping her for himself.”

I send my best prez scowl toward him. It works as he pretends to slide under the table. I’ll be keeping my hands off. Won’t I?

“We gonna vote to let her stay?” Crash catches my eye.

I suppose we ought to. “Anyone got any objections?”

“Nah. If it hurts Skull, it serves us.”

Twister’s sentiment is echoed around the table while I’m just pleased they accepted my lame excuse.

Dismissing the meeting, I go to check on our new adoptee. Walking into the kitchen, I hear laughter, and smell something tantalising.

“Prez.” Rosa beams at me, and points to Clare. “You should keep this one. She’s got good spicing skills. This fried chicken is going to be the best you’ve ever had.”

Clare blushes red and gets back to what she was doing.

I should tell Rosa not to get dependent on her as she won’t be here long, but something holds me back, unable to put a time limit on how long she’s going to stay.

It’s her, I decide, leaning back against a worktop and folding my arms. Despite having a baby, she’s slim, tall—not my height, but enough so a man wouldn’t need to fold himself in half to kiss her. Her long hair is tied back in a ponytail, showing off her shapely face. Her nose is small and perks up at the end, and her mouth, well, I bet I’m not the first man to imagine my dick going there.

Someone should fuck her.Rope’s words echo in my head.

Nah, not going there. Clare wouldn’t be up for casual sex. She’d want something to last. While my dick wouldn’t object to giving her a trial run, it wouldn’t be fair.

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