King's Reign (Sydney Storm MC #6)(18)

I stilled, my shoulders rocklike. It wasn’t a good idea for me to see Lily in the state I was in. Not when I was wired for sex. Not when all I wanted to do was wrap my hands around her neck and fuck the hell out of her. When what I needed to do was fuck the dark shit out of my head.

“Get Devil to do it.”

The scowl she directed my way let me know what she thought of that. “Why are you being such an ass about this? Like, is it so hard for you to do something nice for her after everything she’s done for us?”

“I’ve got shit to do. Ask Devil. And if he can’t do it, find someone else.”

“No,” she said with force. “I think you should do it. I want this to come from our family, not from the club.”

I stared at her for a long few moments, warring with myself over this decision. I wanted to do it. Wanted to see Lily. Fuck knew she was the only woman on my mind. While I always used sex to come down after a day like today, I wouldn’t go looking for it with anyone else tonight. But no fucking way would I show up looking for it from her when she was dealing with her sister in a coma. Doing what Skylar asked of me would put me in dangerous territory. I wasn’t convinced I could be near Lily and hold myself back.

I never did the right thing, though.

“Jesus fucking Christ, okay,” I barked.

“Good. They’re in the fridge. You should go now,” she said, lifting her brows, daring me to argue with her.

I ignored that and continued on my way towards the office, my mind already focused on what I had to do. I wouldn’t be going now, that was for fucking sure. I’d give myself a few hours to get my head together before seeing her.

“And stop being a dickhead,” she called out as I rounded the corner of the hall.

The women in my life would be the fucking death of me.

I entered the office, my phone ringing in my pocket as I did so.

“What’s up?” I answered it after seeing Hyde’s name flash across the screen.

“Where are you? There’s a fed out the front to see you.”

And so it all fucking began again.

“I’m on my way.”

This was the first we’d heard from them since discovering Ryland had been removed from the case. I wondered if the new guy would be as determined to see us go down. At least this time we weren’t distracted by Romano. This time I could dedicate my attention fully to the motherfuckers.

I made my way out to the front gate, slowing as I laid eyes on the new fed I was up against.

She stepped forward, her gaze full of steel, her features schooled into an unreadable blank canvas. “Mr. King, we finally meet. I’m Detective Stark.”

I levelled a harsh expression on her and crossed my arms over my chest. The sooner she got her ass off my property the better. “What do you want?”

“Just wanted to stop by to say you left us a hell of a mess today.”

I’d only just met the bitch, but my first impressions of people were usually spot on. This one had brass fucking balls. “I’ve been busy today, so I have no fucking clue what mess you’re talking about.”

“We can agree on one thing—you have been busy.”

“Now that you’ve said what you came here for, you can leave.”

“I also wanted to tell you that Romano was the least of your worries.” She took a step away from me. “Strap in. We’re in for some fun now.”

I watched her leave, my mind going crazy with a million thoughts. A million fucking more than were already in there. As she drove away, I pulled out my phone and dialled Bronze.

“You find Brant yet?” he asked as he answered.

“No, but we’ve dealt with Romano. That’s not why I’m calling, though. I’ve got a question for you.”

“What?”

“You ever work with Detective Stark?”

He whistled low. “I haven’t worked with her, but I’ve heard of her. She’s a ballbuster.”

“Yeah, that’s what I got from her. She ever had any dirt on her hands?”

“Not that I know of. I’ll do some digging.”

“Don’t fucking put yourself at risk, Bronze. Axe has a contact we can use.”

“I’ve got nothing else to fucking do,” he muttered.

“Yeah, you do. Get the hell out of town and never look back.”

He ignored that. “I’ll call you if I find something.”

After he hung up, I looked at Hyde. “She’s gonna prove more difficult than Ryland.”

He nodded. “Yeah, brother. My thoughts, too.”

I jerked my chin at him. “Do whatever you need to do tonight to get your head focused. Tomorrow we make a new plan. No fucking way are we lying down for these feds.”





9





Lily





“Call me if you need me, okay?” Adelaide said as she exited the house, stepping out into the dark of night. We’d had a downpour of heavy rain earlier. A cold wind lingered, reminding me we were heading into the time of year I wasn’t a fan of. I didn’t mind autumn; it was winter I wished we could skip every year.

I reached for her arm and pulled her back so I could hug her. When I finally let her go, I said softly, “Thank you for today. I promise I’ll call you if I need you.”