way the house is set, we have the best view of the ocean from this side on all three levels. There are five complete bedroom suites. There’s a home office, which I need, but if you want one, we can allot one of the rooms for you. Each of the suites has views and balconies. There’s open social spaces.”
“Social spaces?” Breezy echoed faintly, looking at him like he’d grown horns. “Steele …”
“I know, at first glance, it looks like too much house. When we were choosing homes, Czar made it plain to choose something we’d be comfortable in. This has a temperature-controlled wine and cigar room.”
She frowned up at him and then blinked, those long lashes fanning her cheeks. “Do you even drink wine? Do you smoke cigars?”
He grinned down at her. “No. But that doesn’t matter. It’s just fuckin’ cool. There’s an indoor home spa, Bree, with heated floors, a steam room and a quick-fill tub. That doesn’t include the outdoor one. There’s a home gym you might like too. The best is the master suite. I can’t wait for you to see that.”
He took her farther into the house. She was staring all around her, looking at the ceilings with recessed lighting and wide-open spaces. The floor to ceiling windows were really movable pocket electronic doors that brought the outside inside. When they were opened, one had access to an extremely large patio with an infinity-edge pool and spa, a fireplace, a built-in barbecue, a covered dining area and the lawn.
She stood at the glass staring out, looking as if she might faint. “Steele, this isn’t real. No one has a home like this. Maybe a movie star or someone like that, but you’re in a club.”
“We’re in a club, Bree, and this is really ours.”
“I work in a diner. I couldn’t afford the electricity on a place like this, let alone help with a mortgage payment. Does being a doctor really make you that kind of bank?”
“Baby, we own it outright.”
“The Swords didn’t have this kind of money.” She shook her head and stepped away from him, nearly pressing her nose to the glass, staring at the backyard with wonder.
“They had the biggest human trafficking ring in the world, Breezy. They had money. Their president was a fucking billionaire. We took his money too.”
She was silent. He watched her closely. She looked pale, but her shoulders were straight. She used to hunch a little. He had continually told her to stand up straight when they were together, especially around her father and brother. Now, she did that all on her own. She was absorbing everything he said to her—with the exception of the “we” he kept throwing in. He did that on purpose, knowing the more she heard it, the more accepting she would eventually be.
“That’s a good thing then. I hope you broke their backs.”
“We did. And Code keeps his eye on them. Any time they try to reestablish those pipelines, or they kidnap fresh girls, we take that shit apart as well. We sub some of the work out if they’re in states too far for us to ride.”
She turned toward him. “Sub it to who? Steele, I really am not understanding any of this. Who exactly are all of you? Where did you come from?”
At last. He’d been waiting for genuine interest. She wanted to know. That was step number two. Getting her was step one. That had been the trickiest because he knew she would be royally pissed at him and she’d equate him taking her prisoner with a club. He knew few clubs would have done such a thing, but it was ingrained in Torpedo Ink members to get what they needed at any cost to others. Blythe was trying to help them find a way to appear to assimilate into society, but all of them knew, they would be forever living on the fringes.
Phase one was complete. Phase two was in progress. He had to seduce her first, get her in his bed, make certain she was mellow and on board and then he’d talk to her about the difficult subjects, things he wished he didn’t have to explain, but knew were necessary to address if they were going forward in a relationship—and they were. It was a good battle plan, but there were quite a few things that could go wrong.
“You good?” Maestro asked. “The security system is up and running, groceries are put away and you’ve got the place