Reign (The Sainthood - Boys of Lowell High #3)(56)
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“YOU NEED TO wait here,” I instruct when we reach the barn after the longest fucking day of my life. Today snailed by—like every time I looked at my watch, it seemed as if time had stood still, but I shouldn’t be surprised. When I’m anticipating something, the day usually crawls by, yet when I’m dreading something, the day flies by so fast it’s as if time fast forwarded. “And turn around,” I add, heading toward my Gran Turismo. “I’ll be a few minutes, and no peeking.” Caz’s head pivots a little, and I stomp over to him, placing my hands on my hips as I stand before all of them. “I went to a lot of trouble for these wedding gifts, and you’re not going to ruin them by spoiling the surprise.” I jab my finger in Caz’s direction. “Behave or no sex for the rest of the year.” He opens his mouth to protest, clamping his lips shut when he sees the glare on my face. “Theo, keep them in line, or I swear I’ll give all your pubes a trim.”
Galen’s lips twitch, and warning drips from every pore in Saint’s body. “Itchy pubes are no joke,” I tell Galen, smothering a snort of hilarity and ignoring the dark glare coming from his cousin. “Ask Saintly. He can tell you all about it.” Figure that will distract them long enough for me to get inside and get the pictures up on the wall.
I leave Saint steaming, attempting to ignore telling them the story, while I lug the frames inside, one at a time.
Ten minutes later, I have them up on the walls, and I stand back to admire them. Damn. They are seriously hot, if I do say so myself. Pushing strands of damp hair back from my brow, I open the front door and call them inside.
“Thanks for that,” Saint drawls, pursing his lips as he strolls past me.
I shrug, failing to hide my grin. “You can always punish me later.” I tug on his arm. “Wait a sec. I want to show you together.”
Theo and Caz stand beside Saint while Galen takes up the rear.
I usher them forward, stopping in front of the framed nudes of me now hanging on the wall. “Ta-da.” I stretch my arms out, turning around so I can see the expressions on their faces.
“Holy fucking shit!” Galen exclaims, stepping in closer. He runs his fingers over the glass in the place where his name is printed in mock graffiti.
“I got one for each of you,” I explain. “That’s why the poses are different, and I wrote a personal message for each of you.” It’s not lengthy as I didn’t want to detract from the sexy photo, but I wanted to individualize them.
“The photographer better have been a woman,” Saint growls, his gaze skimming across all four photographs.
I roll my eyes. He’s utterly predictable, but it’s reassuring in a way. “I didn’t want you up on a murder charge, so, yes, it was a woman.”
“These are beautiful, Lo.” Theo pulls me under his arm, pressing a kiss to my temple.
“They’re perfect,” Saint agrees. “You look like a fucking queen.”
Warmth blooms on my cheeks. “Well, I couldn’t look at those Godawful tacky posters with their airbrushed bodies and plastic tits any longer.”
“Massive improvement,” Caz says, pecking my lips. “Thanks, queenie. I love mine.” His eyes glint mischievously. “Now I have something to jerk off to when you’re not around.”
“That’s an added bonus,” I agree, smirking. “Just try not to get cum on the glass.”
“We’ll have to cover them if Granddad is dropping by,” Saint says. “Unless you’re happy for me to slice his head off his shoulders.”
I’m tempted to argue, just to push his buttons, but I think better of it. These photos remind me of the best day of my life, and they are for my guys’ eyes only.
It doesn’t matter that Diesel has seen me naked.
These are not for his viewing.
“I’ll get something we can throw over them for when he visits,” I agree.
We shower and get changed, preparing to leave for the meeting at Sainthood HQ. The guys are wearing their leather cuts over black shirts and black jeans. I dress in black skinny jeans and my scuffed boots with a tight black and red T-shirt on top. I zip up my black hoodie and tie my hair into a high ponytail. We all tuck our guns in our jeans, and I strap my knife to the outside of my thigh.
“Don’t forget this,” Theo says, approaching me with the necklace Diesel gave me. He fastens it around my neck.
“Thanks. You still have the recording of my initiation meeting safe and close at hand, right?”
He nods. “I’ve backed it up to a couple places, and I have a password-protected file on my phone. When we need it, I can pull it up in seconds.”
“Good.” I exhale heavily. Sinner will lose his nut when he realizes we have incriminating evidence on him and the board. Especially when the commissioner gets “taken down.” That recording proves they set it for me as a task and that the motive behind his assassination came from them. We’re holding this in reserve to pull out when we need it.
“Okay.” Saint stands in front of us, folding his arms. “These meetings are usually a shitshow,” he explains. “An opportunity for Sinner to lord his power over us. I’m not going to tell you what to do, only stay sharp and be smart. Let’s not antagonize him in front of other junior chapter members because he won’t take kindly to that.”