Page 7 of Dima
Being this close to Maeve was not only careless, but it was also dangerous. I was here to take down her father and stop the violence that had taken over my city. That was my purpose, and although I could use her, Maeve was the type of girl I could get lost in.
I couldn’t get caught up in how good this girl looked. How good she smelled should have been my last concern. After today, I’d probably dream about how good she tasted, and that was treasonous.
I backed away from Maeve and retreated to my side of the garage. I was supposed to be assessing her Jeep, but she was clearly the only thing warranting my assessment right now. I took one last look at her, dipped down, and rolled underneath the vehicle.
I was thankful for all the hours Atlas made me spend with him out in his garage as a kid. Restoring old-school cars and working on his Harley had been his favorite hobbies, and he’d taught me everything I knew. If Maeve had been in the garage with us back then, I doubt I would have learned a thing.
I found it hard to focus on my work with her so close. I knew what needed to be done. Everything she needed should have been simple. It shouldn’t have taken longer than thirty minutes.
Thirty minutes.
That was all the time I needed, and Maeve would no longer cloud my vision, but right now, she was still all I could see. I lay back on my creeper, and as I turned my head to the right, her beauty was on full display. I watched as she opened her laptop and started typing away.
Her nails were long and red with jewels all over them. That shit was sexy as fuck. I had never seen a girl so dramatic with how she wore her nails, but everything about Maeve was unique. She had her own style, her own smell, her own look, and every bit of it was intoxicating.
I shook my head and focused on what I was supposed to be doing. I had to take care of this Jeep and get Maeve out of this garage because, even with distance, I couldn’t get the smell of her out of my nostrils.
“Daddy.”
I watched Maeve's whole face light up from underneath the jeep.
I knew she was a daddy’s girl from this moment alone. I’d heard how protective of his daughter Bishop was, but judging by her smile, she was just as protective of him. I watched as Maeve got up from the stool and walked over to her father.
I slid my creeper out and stood to meet the man I’d been waiting to meet for over a month. I’d successfully infiltrated the Durty Boyz, but I had yet to meet the president. Now, Bishop Moore stood less than ten feet away from me, surrounded by five of his men, including Guard.
Bishop, before today, was nothing more than a myth. A man I had read about in a file, whose name I had written across the whiteboard and jacket that I had read from front to back. I kneweven the smallest details about him, like the day of the week he visited his wife’s grave and how much time he took to get dressed in the morning.
Over the last month, I did everything I could to bring us to this exact moment. I’d arrested the former mechanic, got him to take a deal, and made sure I was his replacement. I’d gone through the initiation process, built bonds with a few of the guys, and now reaped the reward. Bishop Moore finally stood in front of me.
The men moved around the compound in more of a rush since he had arrived. Even the atmosphere had shifted. Since I joined, the guys had told me how much Bishop preached about family, but now I saw it firsthand.
This man was a criminal, but the way he looked at his baby girl with such love in his eyes told me he took being a father more serious than anything else.
“What are you doing in here, baby girl?”
“The Jeep was driving a little weird earlier. I knew you would be on my case if I didn’t bring it in to get checked out.”
“You right about that. Can’t have my princess stranded on the side of some road.”
I didn’t realize my eyes were still firmly planted on Maeve until Bishop cleared his throat to get my attention. Even then, I couldn’t help them drifting right back to their original place. Whatever it was in Maeve that pulled my eyes in her direction every few seconds was a force I was no match for.
“Who do we have here?”
Bishop looked me up and down, and everyone else’s attention followed. He had only come in with a few men, but almost everyone who was on the porch earlier was now trying to fit into the garage. Everyone wanted to be in his presence.
“This is the new mechanic, Dima.”
Guard went right into an explanation. When I arrested Drill, I learned no one came into Durty Boyz without going through Guard’s screening process. He was thorough in his background checks, and in over twenty years, the club had never been infiltrated.
Until now.
Until me.
Drill gave me everything I needed to bypass all Guard’s detections. It wasn’t easy, but I was determined to be where I am now. I had to be the one to close this case.
The way the men all gathered in the garage behind Bishop told me he was more than just a father to Maeve. All of them looked at him as one.
“Where you come from, son?”
