the industrial kitchen, Dorie and Lucie worked to set up the side dishes. I knew Dorie was a bit of an introvert unless it was with people she liked, and that she and Lucie got on so well told me that Dorie had never believed Bomber, so she’d had more faith in Lucie than we had… Well, that made me feel like shit, even though I was glad Lucie had at least one friend.
“Do you need more help?” I asked when, after twenty minutes, no one else came in and offered their aid.
Dorie snorted. “Nope. I’m used to it.”
I scowled. “That’s shit. I can get some prospects in to help. You should have said that no one was helping out, Dorie.”
“I like it when it’s quiet. Don’t need all those old hens chattering away.”
Lucie laughed. “Can’t believe you’re Wheels’ old lady, Dorie.”
The other woman chuckled. “That’s exactly why I need the peace. You know he chatters more than the sweetbutts.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” I said around a laugh of my own.
“Surprised you ain’t got into it with some of the sweetbutts, Lucie. Not with the way they hang around your men.”
My laughter died and I glowered at her, but Dorie had been raised with us so she just cocked a brow at me, then, stunned me by sticking out her tongue.
Lucie snorted. “They’ll learn. Soon enough.” The warning was for me too.
I heeded it by staying out of the conversation.
“You still thinking of moving out?”
Shit, Lucie had talked about this with Dorie? But, even as I grumbled inwardly, I couldn’t be too mad. Not when I knew how loud this place was, how inappropriate too—I’d fallen over two couples fucking in the bar before I’d sought out Wolfe for our little conversation with Amaryllis. It wasn’t like I could say shit. They’d been two brothers with their old ladies, and everyone knew that the bar was where any kind of scene could go down.
“Yeah. I keep meaning to, then I get bogged down with something else.”
Dagger had told me she wanted us to move with her, so I wasn’t scared of her leaving, but fuck, it would be a real upheaval and it wasn’t like we worked a nine-to-five. We needed to be on hand most hours of the day, especially when it came down to runs, and hell, they were safe here. That mattered to me more than anything. Especially with those bastard Knights hovering around the perimeter of our lives.
Still, if we kept her busy, then maybe she’d forget entirely… wasn’t a bad plan, even if it was devious, and where devious was concerned, it meant outwitting a master.
Or, in this case, mistress, because Lucie was one of the best bullshitters I’d ever seen. Definitely meant we had to bring our A game to the table.
❖
Wolfe
Four days later
“Okay, give me the details.”
Lucie, ever difficult, squinted at me. “Details about what?”
“You know what.”
She hitched a shoulder. “Maybe.”
My nostrils flared with exasperation. “You have five minutes before the council meeting starts. If you want me to sell this idea to them, then you’d better—”
“You’re giving me five minutes to discuss this business transaction before church?” She shook her head at me. “You really don’t want to make any money this year, do you?”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Do you know how much money there is in smuggling cigarettes between states?”
“A lot, I’d assume. Imagine how much more money there is in guns.”
“You know how bizarre this conversation is, right?” Axe pointed out. “Lucie, if you had a dick, you’d have whipped it out right now and started a measuring contest.”
“Which I’d win,” I told her smugly.
“My cock might be smaller, but I know what to do with it.” She sniffed. “Unlike some people.”
Because that was a blatant lie—and no, my ego wasn’t so huge that I thought I was Casanova reborn—I had to laugh. “You’ve got some front, babe.”
She grabbed her tits. “And all of it’s up here.” When we laughed, she smirked at us. “You know it’s the truth,” she ended with a wink.
I was tempted to haul her onto my lap and motorboat her tits, but fuck, I wasn’t lying about church.
“Yeah, it’s the truth, but come on. How am I supposed to—”
“How about you let me into church and I sell the details myself? I’m the one who knows the process.” She huffed. “Makes more sense, right?”
“No bitches in church,” Flame mumbled, his lighter hissing to punctuate the sentence.