Page 46 of Sly (Dragon Riders MC 5)
Then, with one last deep kiss as my brother sighed heavily on the other side of the door, I sent him back off into the darkness.
Hoping and praying he’d stay true to his word.19SlyIt felt weird having Chai—I mean, Ben—to my side in the SUV. But it did give us a chance to talk. I mean, I didn’t want to. I only had the energy to focus on bringing Skeleton down once and for all. But since he had direct access to me, it didn’t shock me that he used that to his advantage..
Ben cleared his throat. “So, you and Tara.”
I pointed. “Take that left.”
He furrowed his brow. “Wait, how did you know?”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re not the only person with a group that knows how to track someone down. I know where we’re headed, too.”
Silence fell between us as he took a sharp left, the tires screeching across the pavement.
I sighed. “If you announce us like that, though, we won’t find the bastard anywhere.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, well, consider it my style.”
“No wonder you suck at your job then.”
He barked with laughter. “I see why my sister likes you now.”
I furrowed my brow. “What?”
He took a hard right. “You’re snappy, like she is. Quick-witted, and all that.”
“Sounds about right.”
“But I’m her brother. And we need to talk about this.”
I cleared my throat. “Guess that depends, then.”
“On?”
I looked over at him. “Whether you’re going to fight with me or not. Because it won’t matter how upset you get. At the end of the day, if Tara wants to be with me, then that’s what she’s going to do.”
“I agree.”
I cleared my throat. “And one more thi—what?”
He snickered. “I said I agree.”
I blinked. “Right. Well. There. Okay. I’m glad.”
He chuckled with glee. “Look, I know my sister like the back of my hand. And when she puts her mind to something? There’s no turning her away. It’s how she got to be so tenacious. It’s why she lives her life on the edge the way she does, acting like there’s no tomorrow. No future to bank on.”
“Same way I live my life. I’ve got no guarantee I’ll wake up tomorrow morning. So, why waste a perfectly good day doing shit I don’t want to do?”
“You sound like my sister, exactly.”
I grinned. “Because we were made for each other.”
He took another sharp turn as those words hung in the air. And while I expected Ben to rebuttal, he didn’t. He didn’t confirm or deny anything, but he also didn’t unleash some sort of hellish, brotherly rage in my direction. So, I took the win as I could. Because either way someone sliced it, this wasn’t the moment to be having some dumbass heart-to-heart conversation.
We had a trafficking ring to take down.
“Your guys meeting us there?” Ben asked.
I shook my head. “My guys are already there. They’re giving me a textual play by play of what’s happening.”
“What!? Let me see your phone.”
The car swerved as he reached for my cell, but I held it away from him.
“Why don’t you just focus on the road and I’ll read, yeah?” I asked.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly. “What’s going on? What do they see?”
I scrolled through the surveillance pictures Link sent me.
“Looks like they’re holed up in another random abandoned building. It’s nowhere inside their usual hunting grounds, though.”
Ben nodded. “Doesn’t shock me. If they know someone’s onto them—which they do—then they’ll switch things up to throw us off.”
I smiled devilishly. “Yeah, well, little do they know their time is about to come up.”
“Can I just say one thing, though?”
“Say whatever you need to say to clear your mind. Because once we get to Skeleton? We have to focus on that.”
He nodded. “Of course. Yes. I just want to know that you’re going to take care of my sister.”
My eyes locked with the profile of his face. “You have my word.”
“Any trouble you get into, try not to rope her into it.”
“Never again.”
He sighed. “Then, let your guys know that I’ll make sure the investigation into you guys is completely squashed by the end of this. I’ll let my superiors know how much help you guys have been in tracking down this crew.”
I saw an opportunity for my whole family and took it. “I’ll agree under one condition.”
He scoffed. “The fuck? I’m essentially giving you permission to date my sister and you’re leveraging that?”
“Don’t get it twisted, I never needed your permission. But I want to make sure the rest of my family is taken care of.”
He shook his head. “You’re not getting any money out of this deal.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Ben, I’ve got enough money. I don’t need that shit. What I want is for you to make sure that your head—as well as others—are turned away from my crew.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
I shook my head. “Tara’s going to stay out of trouble. I’ll make sure of that. I want her to have the best life possible, but I want that for my entire family.”
