Page 58 of Chief's Addiction

“It’s good to have you home.”

Her expression softened, but there was that shadow again in her eyes. Loneliness. “It’s good to be home.”

After she left, I sat in silence for a moment, letting the full weight of the situation sink in. The Bratva. Sidorov. Spike was still on the loose. And in the middle of it all was Cora and Beckett, two civilians who had no idea what kind of danger was coming their way.

I’d made a promise to keep them safe, and I intended to keep it. But I hadn’t counted on the fucking Russian mafia being part of the equation. This wasn’t some dispute over territory with another club like we’d originally thought, and it wasn’t the usual beef with local dealers fucking around in our city. It was goddamn worse. The Bratva operated on a completely different level.

Standing, I grabbed my cut off the back of my chair and shrugged it on, feeling the weight of the leather like armor across my shoulders. The first thing I needed to do was talk to Cora.

Fuck.

I ran a hand through my hair. I really wasn’t looking forward to explaining that she was going to have to take some time off work. That we were heading into something dark, something dangerous.

Heading out of my office, I nodded to the prospects behind the bar on my way out the door. As I threw my leg over the seat of my bike and started the engine, the rumble vibrating through my bones, my thoughts drifted back to Beckett and Cora. They’d become more important to me than I’d ever expected.

And that made them targets.

Chapter 14

Cora

“This is getting ridiculous.” I glared at the back of Mason’s head.

He had been holed up in his home office for days. If he wasn’t hunched over his laptop, he was glued to his damn phone, whispering about something that he refused to tell me about. I really tried to be understanding. I could tell by how he’d been acting that things weren’t good.

But my patience had officially run out.

“What’s that, baby?” he asked without looking up, proving he wasn’t actually listening.

I leaned against the doorframe, crossing my arms over my chest. “I said Beckett and I are planning to rob a bank today. Thought we’d take your motorcycle as the getaway vehicle.”

“Mmhmm. Sounds good.”

I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly saw my own brain. “And after that, we’re going to join a circus and become professional fire-eaters.”

“That’s nice, babe.”

Men.

Walking over, I got right beside him and snapped his laptop shut, narrowly missing his fingers.

“Jesus!” His head jerked up, eyes wide with surprise before narrowing in annoyance. “What the fuck, Cora?”

“Oh good, you’re still alive. I was starting to wonder.” I perched on the edge of his desk, letting my fingers brush against the papers scattered there. “Beckett needs clothes, Mason. The kid has three shirts that barely fit, and one of them has a big hole in the front.”

He sighed, scrubbing a hand down his face. I noticed the dark circles under his eyes had gotten worse over the past couple days. Whatever club business was keeping him up at night was clearly serious, but he refused to tell me anything about it. “Not today,” he said, reopening his laptop. “I’ve got too much shit going on.”

“Then I’ll take him. We’ll be quick; just to the mall and back.”

His head snapped up again, his eyes narrowing. “Absolutely not.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you think that was me asking for permission?” I knew my tone was snotty, but I couldn’t help it. Ever since he’d convinced me to take a leave of absence from The Burger Shack, and by convinced, I meant fucked me senseless until I couldn’t think straight, I’d been feeling increasingly trapped. The walls seriously started to feel like they were closing in on me.

Mason’s jaw tightened, a muscle ticking beneath the stubble. “Cora, I’ve explained this?—”

“No, you haven’t!” I pushed off his desk, throwing my arms in the air as the frustration that had been simmering finally bubbled over. “You haven’t explained shit to me, Chief!”

“Don’t fucking call me Chief, woman,” he growled.

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