to him.”
“I’m here with you all the way,” she says, kind brown eyes sympathetic. She closes her notebook and stands up. “You want to go and get coffee or something? I’ll tell you about each suspect and all the information I could get on them. I have a plan. I just hope people will talk.”
She’s right. I need my uncle, because he’s the only insider who we have a shot at getting to speak to us.
“Sounds good,” I say. “Thank you so much for helping me, Nadia. It feels just like the old days, except way more personal.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” she agrees. “And you’re welcome. What are friends for, right?”
We head out to catch up. “These men are good at what they do. Fake names, fake addresses, the whole shebang. It’s going to be hard but not impossible,” she murmurs as we sit down at a café and order some coffee.
“I know, it’s definitely not an easy one,” I reply, sighing. “But it will all come together. It always does. What is your gut instinct telling you in regards to the suspects?”
She points to two names. “These two are the ones that keep sticking out to me. They both live in the area, and I know territory is a big thing with drug dealing. So I’m going to research them first. And if your uncle can confirm any of them, that would be a big help. We can work down the list and anyone he is familiar with we can make a priority.”
“That sounds like a plan,” I say.
We discuss our plan of action before we each head home. By the time I get there, Crow is just pulling up at the same time.
“Where did you go?” he asks, bag of groceries in his arms. Is he going to cook for me? First the kiss, now dinner?
Today has been a pretty damn good day.
“I went to see Nadia, and we went out and had some coffee. And now apparently a sexy man is going to cook dinner for me,” I reply, wiggling my brows at him. I unlock the door and he steps inside after me, putting the groceries on the kitchen counter.
“Prepare to be amazed,” he says as he pulls out all the ingredients and sets them on the table.
“I was already amazed today,” I say softly, but I know he hears me from the twitch of his lips.
“Me too,” he fires back, lifting his hand and resting it on the side of my neck. “Do you know how badly I’ve wanted to kiss you? Ever since I first laid eyes on you. The timing was never right, and then you lost your dad and... I don’t know. I was waiting for you to be ready.”
“And I appreciate that,” I reply, resting my head against his chest and wrapping my arms around myself. “I like how thoughtful you are. It’s really different. And unexpected.”
He laughs. “Didn’t think a big, bad biker would be so emotionally adept?”
“Exactly,” I admit, lifting my face up to him. “You’re just...more than I’d ever imagined.”
He kisses my forehead, my nose, and then my lips. “You came out of nowhere, Bronte, but I’m glad you’re here. You’re more than I ever expected,” he replies, resting his forehead against mine. “Now let me feed you. And then you can tell me what you learned with Nadia, because hell if you aren’t keeping me up to date with this whole thing.”
I grin.
He makes me rib eye steak with creamy prawns on top, potato salad and garlic bread, and I tell him what I learned today, and what the new plan is. “So I’m going to speak with my uncle tomorrow after work.”
“Do you want me to come?” he asks, but I shake my head.
“No, this is something I need to do by myself.” For the sake of my relationship with my uncle.
Crow nods, and doesn’t say anything else, which I also appreciate. I know he’s the alpha male type, but he should let me sort through all of this myself.
When I need him, I’m going to ask, because at some point I know I’m going to be in way over my head. But for now, with my uncle, I’m going to do this how I need to.
Let’s just hope he’s willing to cooperate and give me the inside information I need.
* * *
“What are you guys doing?” I ask as I step into work. They’re all sitting around my desk watching something on my