King's Reign (Sydney Storm MC #6)(64)

“You want me to work with you?”

“Not officially. This would be between you and me only. I’ll bury the case against Storm, and in return, you’ll do everything you can to keep the assholes you work with in line. You appear to have that power, so I figure why not use it for good as well as whatever the hell else you use it for. Keep the streets free of war, and I’ll keep you free of jail.”

“Fuck, that’s a big fucking ask. Streets free of war aren’t something you’ll ever see.”

“I understand that, but I think we can agree you have the power to control a lot of it. You just need to decide to do that.”

“I guarantee you our ideas of war are two different things. Some of it is necessary, and that shit I won’t ever stop. So if this deal is gonna go down between us, you need to understand that sometimes I’m gonna handle business in ways you won’t like. Having said that, I’m all for keeping motherfuckers in line, so I’m on board with that part of it.”

“Good. We have a deal then. And now you can get the hell out of my house and never come back here. In future, you have no reason to come to me. I will come to you if there is a problem.”

I moved closer to her and dropped my voice to a dark rumble. “If I have reason to come to you, I fucking will. Do not make the mistake of thinking you have any power here. You don’t. If this deal goes south, I will find another way to get what I want.”

Without waiting for a response, I turned and strode towards her door.

I’d taken a few steps when she said, “Thank you.” The words were delivered with a softer tone, and I knew she wasn’t referring to anything we’d just discussed.

Looking back at her, I gave a quick nod, and then I exited her home.

I never imagined the day I would get into fucking bed with the cops, but here it fucking was. I would play this game with Detective Stark and see where it got us. If she tried to switch her rules up at any point, I’d abandon the deal and force my own upon her. But for now, this would do.





26





Lily





“What the fuck is that music?” King asked, entering his kitchen on Wednesday night.

I’d dropped the kids over to Linc after work, stopped at the supermarket to buy the ingredients to cook dinner for us, and had arrived here about an hour ago. He’d given me a key to the place two days ago and told me to use it whenever. I’d told him I really wasn’t sure when that would be since he didn’t have any furniture in the place, to which he’d called me a smartass and told me he would buy some. That had caused butterflies in my tummy and that in turn had resulted in him receiving a blowjob he’d loved so much that he had then proceeded to fuck me for three hours straight. Needless to say, Tuesday had been a long, exhausting day at work.

I looked up from my laptop and eyed him, noting the tension lining his face. “It’s Taylor Swift. Surely you’ve heard of her.”

He put the beer he’d bought in the fridge and came to me. Placing his hand on the back of my neck, he bent and dropped a kiss on my lips before continuing on his way out to the living room. “Never fucking heard that song, and never fucking wanna hear it again,” he said as he moved.

I smiled.

All was good in my world.

My man was his usual moody self, my kids were with their father, my sister was with her guy, my mum was out on another date with the library dude, and I had just figured out how to perfect a lemon cheesecake that had given me grief the last time I tried to make it. King would benefit from that on Saturday night, and then I would benefit from him being happy. It turned out he had a sweet tooth. And it turned out that I could get him to do all kinds of shit when that sweet tooth was satisfied.

I shuffled the playlist, and a One Direction song came on. Grinning, I called out, “Is this one better?”

He didn’t reply, but when he entered the kitchen again a couple of minutes later, he said, “Your taste in music is shit. Anyone ever told you that?”

“Only every guy I’ve ever dated.” His features darkened, reminding me of his demand I never mention another man to him again. I’d momentarily forgotten. Shit. In an effort to shift his thoughts from that, I said, “Who’s your favourite band?”

My gaze dropped to take in his change of T-shirt into a clean, white tee. I’d never seen King wear white before. It kinda threw me, but in a good way. He’d also taken his boots off and walked barefoot towards me. I loved it when he wore no shoes. I felt like it showed his relaxed state, and that was a state I wanted him in a lot more. I didn’t like the idea of my man stressing over shit all the time.

When he reached me, he slid onto the barstool beside me at the breakfast bar. “Is this gonna be twenty questions?”

I smiled as I ran my fingers through his long hair that had fallen across his face. It reached just below his beard now, and I had to admit, it did good things to me. I’d never been into this kind of haircut on a man before, but on King, I loved it. “Will you play with me?”

His eyes searched mine. “Twenty is a fuckload. Hit me with five.”

“You play hard to get.”

“Metallica.”

“Does that mean I only have four left?”

“Yeah, and you’re running out of time.”