Page 57 of Riding Hard

“We go to them, offer them a cut. They are in bed with every fucking major player in Vegas. They know who owes whom, and who is about to lose every fucking thing they have.”

“But we can’t find that out?” I ask.

He dips his chin once, his gaze searching mine, then his lips curve up into a grin. Oh, he’s been waiting to explain this. He probably fucking practiced it before he walked in here. I can tell he’s beyond fucking jazzed. This is his moment to shine, and I can’t help but chuckle.

“We could get the names. That part is easy as fuck. What we don’t have are the contacts. We can’t talk to these people. They are beyond anyone we could ever attempt to get into contact with.”

I know he’s right. There is no way some of those people will ever talk to us, and we’ll never get close enough to speak to them. They’re all swimming in debt, waiting for deals to come through and shit like that. Whatever the fuck the rich worry about.

“Then we meet with the Russians,” Dare announces. “I’ll set it up.”

And that’s that. “We got any other leads?” I ask. “Anything we can get done before we talk to them?”

Hound shakes his head. “There’s a house under construction, a big fucking bitch on the outskirts of town. They seem to be struggling. That might float us for a month. I’m waiting to hear back.”

“The economy isn’t that good,” Hippie calls out. “There is no way nobody else is struggling enough they want their shit burned to the fucking ground for some insurance money.”

He’s right. The economy is shit, and there is no way that people don’t want to use our services. But I do know that getting it from people swimming in money is a hell of a lot better.

“At this point, we can’t keep working small jobs. We need to land some bigger ones and diversify,” Dare murmurs.

“Diversify?” I ask. “How?”

“We need a new avenue of income. It needs to fucking flow, not trickle,” Sparrow announces.

He’s not wrong. As much as I want to tell him that it doesn’t matter, that the fires are what we’re not only good at, but what we love, I don’t. We need to do this because there is no way we can pay our bills trickling in from home insurance fraud cases.

“Agreed,” I call out. “I got an old lady and a kid to take care of full-time now.”

There is a moment of silence, and then the room erupts in applause. Bounce slaps his hand down on my shoulder. “An old lady?” he asks.

Nodding a couple of times, I press my lips together, unable to hide my smile. Fuck me, but yeah, I got an old lady. Only took me fifty fucking years to get one, but here she is, and I’ve never fucking been happier. Not ever. My kid and my woman. I don’t think life gets better than this.

CHAPTER

FORTY-SEVEN

JULIETTE

Lips travel down the center of my body, stopping at my lower belly, before a tongue swirls my flesh there, then continues between my legs. I feel my knees being lifted and thrown over shoulders before warm breath slides against my center.

My eyes slowly open as I feel his tongue glide through, circling around my clit, and then back again. Back and forth, around and around. Reaching between us, I slide my fingers through the strands of his soft hair and hold on, gripping him tightly.

I arch my back and pull him closer to me. Opening my mouth, I try not to make any noise, knowing that Cade is sleeping just a few feet away in another room. I lift my hips, searching for my release. I’m sensitive and sore from last night

After Slade came home, he ate half the cookies we baked, claiming they were the best things he’s ever eaten. I know he was saying that for Cade’s sake and not necessarily for me, but it still made me feel good.

I don’t think I ever made a single thing that Victor said was edible, let alone the best thing he’d ever eaten. Even if it was just for Cade, it was still sweet. He took us out to dinner. It wasn’t fancy, just a build-your-own burrito place.

It was perfect to me, though. On our way home, we went to the grocery store and got food for the house. He bought more food than I could have imagined two people needed for the next couple of weeks. The bill was outrageous, and it made me wonder if he thought I was staying longer.

I wouldn’t protest if that were the case.

Especially right now… with his mouth between my legs.

He shifts his face up slightly, his tongue focusing on my clit, just as two fingers slip inside me. He curls his fingers, moving them. Instantly, my muscles begin to tremble. I’ve been on edge constantly the past couple of days, staying with him. I can’t believe how much sex we’ve had and how amazing it’s been.

Every. Single. Time.