Roman's Vow (Riley's Pride #4) - Sandra R Neeley Page 0,16
sunny winter day. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“How does it feel to be a married man?” Riley asked, coming to a stop beside Roman and putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Feels right, but won’t feel good until my Talie is with me and Darcie,” Roman said.
“It’ll happen, Roman. Just try to be patient,” Riley encouraged. “You hungry? You skipped breakfast.”
“Not really,” Roman answered.
“Gotta eat, man. Gotta take care of yourself so you can take care of those you love to the best of your ability,” Riley said.
“Yeah, alright. Where you want to eat?” Roman asked.
“Let’s see what we can find,” Riley answered.
~~~
Talie waited at each checkpoint while the guards searched her to be sure she had no contraband before giving her access to her cell again. Once she’d been processed and cleared to return to her cell, her female guard escorted her there.
“They must have grilled you coming and going,” the guard said while she unlocked the cuffs on Talie’s ankles and wrists. “Took forever.”
Talie nodded. “They made me go through everything at least three times,” Talie said.
“How you paying for a lawyer like that?” her guard asked.
“I’m not. My husband hired them,” Talie answered, smiling to herself at the sound of the word.
“Husband?! Since when are you married?”
“Today. I gave my deposition over and over and over again, then I got married,” Talie said, still smiling a bit.
“You got a better love life than I do, and you in jail, girl!” the guard teased.
Talie laughed lightly.
“Is he good to you, Talie?” the guard asked.
“He is. He’s a good man.”
“Good. You deserve it, girl. I hope he manages to get you the hell out of here. You don’t belong here,” her guard said as she closed the door securing Talie in her cell. “You missed lunch, I’ll bring you a tray.”
“Thank you,” Talie said, taking a seat on her bunk. She looked around the small cell with a toilet, a sink, and a bunk. The only thing that showed it was occupied was the toothbrush in the cup on the sink, and the two pictures taped to the wall beside her bunk. She smiled again when she looked at those pictures. She was still in jail and still separated from her daughter, but she didn’t feel all alone anymore. And she didn’t feel as overwhelmed as before. She had Roman now, and Roman was taking care of everything. She had someone to help her fight.
~~~
Lazarus walked into the seedy, dark, smoke-filled, dive bar and made eye contact with everyone he saw. The aura he gave off was, ‘I wish a motherfucker would’. It was clear to anyone who saw him, he was not in any mood to be fucked with. Of course, he was a shifter, and humans were always uneasy around shifters though they didn’t quite know why, but even without that added edge — his look, his attitude — that was enough to make most think it was best to give him a wide berth.
He walked up to the bar and ordered a shot of whiskey. The bartender put it in front of him, and he shot it to the back of his throat, swallowed, slammed the shot glass on the bar and asked for another. The bartender refilled his glass, and Lazarus shot it back. “Leave the bottle,” Laz said, taking the shot glass and the bottle with him to the end of bar where he took a seat at the end with his back to the wall, and his booted foot up on the stool next to him as he faced the rest of the barroom.
He spent a few minutes obviously assessing every one of the men in the bar, and the two girls. One of the girls decided he looked like someone she’d like to spend some time with. As she strolled over, he watched her with no reaction at all.
Standing in front of him, she placed a hand on her hip and did her best to look seductive as she thrust her chest out. “I’m Candy, what’s your name?”
“Don’t look like no candy I’ve ever seen,” Lazarus answered, taking another shot of his whiskey.
“Hadn’t had a taste yet, neither, have you?” she answered.
“Not planning on it,” Lazarus answered. “Could you move now? You’re in the way,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Of what?” she snapped.
“Of me trying to determine whose ass will be the most fun to beat,” Lazarus answered.
“For what? You just feel like a fight?” Candy asked.