“Inez,” Steele greeted as they entered the grocery store.
The older woman behind the counter broke into a smile. “Steele, Maestro, Keys, good to see you.”
Her gaze went to Breezy and then dropped to their linked hands. Immediately, for reasons she was uncertain of, Breezy tried to let go of Steele. It was impossible with his fingers wrapped around hers. He had a large hand and it completely enveloped hers.
“Inez, I’d like you to meet my woman. This is Bree Simmons. Baby, this is Inez Nelson and Frank Warner.” He indicated the man seated behind the counter with the older woman.
Inez beamed before Breezy could put in a quick disclaimer to the fact that she was not Steele’s woman. Truthfully, she didn’t have that kind of courage. One kept club business, especially personal club business, in the club. That had been drilled into her from the time she was a toddler, just as it was being drilled into Zoe, Emily and Darby.
“Nice to meet you, Bree,” Inez said.
“Have you thought any more about our proposition?” Steele asked.
Inez nodded. “It’s a good one. We took it to our silent partner and he agreed it was a very good plan, but he can’t be a part of it. Still, even without him, Frank and I are very interested. When would be a good time for us to drop by and talk things over with you and Czar?”
Breezy let the conversation flow around her while she watched others in the store. Clearly the sight of three very rough-looking Torpedo Ink members wearing their colors didn’t strike fear into anyone’s heart. More, several greeted them. She noticed the women looking more than once.
Her heart clenched, and she looked down to the floor, an old habit she couldn’t quite break. The moment she did, Steele transferred his hold from her hand to around her waist, his arm a bar, locking her to him. It was a claiming hold. She remembered how he’d done that when they were together. He’d always made her feel so safe and secure. He’d made her feel his.
“We’ve got a few things going on right now, but Czar will be in touch in a few days,” Steele reassured Inez. He flashed a small smile and urged Breezy down one of the aisles, snagging a basket as he passed it. Maestro and Keys trailed behind them.
Breezy had no idea what was going on so she remained silent as Steele filled up his basket and the two baskets the other members of Torpedo Ink had with all sorts of food. She recognized that most were her favorites. She tried very hard not to be thrilled that Steele remembered what she liked. He would. Steele didn’t forget things.
She just couldn’t let herself buy into anything Steele was saying to her. She had before, and she’d gotten her heart broken. This time, she had to look out for Zane. There was no risking herself twice, not and come out of it healthy and whole. She forced herself to remember the women Steele had partied with. She closed her eyes and conjured them up. Not one looked anything like her. He couldn’t even say they were a substitute for her.
“Stop.”
The whispered command came straight into her ear. She felt his breath exploding in a warm, exasperated puff.
“Seriously, baby, let it go. Just for now.”
“You can’t know what I’m thinking.” She tried scowling at him, but she couldn’t meet his eyes because he was right. He was always right.
“Your face is an open book, sweetheart,” Steele said and caught up a small bag of baked pretzels, her favorite kind. “You’re thinking about walking into the clubhouse and seeing me with those other women. I asked you to hold off thinking about them until I had the chance to explain.”
“I don’t want your explanation. I’m grateful I saw you with them.” She tilted her chin at him. “Every time I think I might be buying into what you’re selling, I think about them and remember none of it was real and you’re very, very good at conning people—especially women.”
He nodded. “I am. There’s no question about that, but I wasn’t conning you and I’m not now.”
“Because I’m so different from every other woman.” Sarcasm dripped from her voice. “I might have swallowed all this, Steele, if you’d come looking for me, but I have your son and you want him. You think I need to be part of that package, but you’re wrong. I don’t have to be. There are so many couples making it work when they aren’t together. We’ll do just fine apart.”
“We’re not going to be apart, Breezy. We’re going to talk this out.”
He made it a decree. There was nowhere to go with that so she changed the subject. “What kind of deal are you making with that very nice woman?” There was a bite to her voice she couldn’t quite keep out of it, because Inez seemed extremely friendly and not at all a woman involved in anything illegal.
“She owns this store and we were hoping to get a smaller version up and running in Caspar. We have the funds and she has the name. If we can get her to work the store for us even for just a few days a week for a few months, just to get it going, we can make a success of it. We need her to bring the locals in. She knows her value too.” He flashed a smile Inez’s way.
“Are you going to be laundering money through the store? Or selling drugs out of it?”
“No, baby. All businesses in Caspar are legit. We’re putting down roots here. This is our community. You don’t fuck with local royalty and Inez is just that. Everyone loves her. Besides, her silent partner is Jackson Deveau, and he’s a sheriff.”
She mulled that over as they paid and got back on the bikes. Could it be the truth? Was Torpedo Ink that different from the Swords? She hadn’t been around any club other than the Swords and those they did business with. The local people here seemed to accept Torpedo Ink—but then there hadn’t been locals at the party taking place at the clubhouse. The Demons had been gone, but she’d seen their colors. She knew patches and what they meant. They weren’t angels any more than Torpedo Ink was.
Steele took them back down the highway to Caspar, but he didn’t turn toward the Torpedo Ink clubhouse. Instead, he chose a winding road leading to the cliffs above the ocean. From there, he chose a lane that seemed to be more of a long drive than a public street. He slowed the bike even more once he turned away from the ocean and back toward a slight hill all overgrown with tall shrubbery. The road narrowed more, the vines climbing high on trees lining the road, so thick they formed an impenetrable wall on either side, preventing anyone from seeing the landscape, other than the occasional glimpse of light.
They went through a long archway created by the tree branches. She found herself looking upward at the flowering limbs. It was really quite extraordinary. Breathtaking even. How had Steele found such a place? It was an avenue of pure beauty.
Then he slowed even more and came to a halt. Breezy sat up straight and looked around her. A house sat straight ahead, tucked into the hillside, rising up like a great palace. It was something out of a fairy tale. Unreal. There weren’t houses like that in real life. The structure stretched out in length with rounded turrets and wide long windows facing the sea. It rose up maybe three stories, she couldn’t tell because one of those stories was tucked into the hillside.
Steele took her hand and helped her off the bike. She kept her eyes on the house while she removed the helmet, afraid such a beautiful home couldn’t be real.
“Who lives here?” She didn’t want anyone to call the cops on them and she really, really wanted to look around.
“It’s ours.”
Her heart clenched hard in her chest. She scowled at him. “First, Steele, there is no us, so nothing is ours. Second, this place has to be worth millions. Millions. I don’t have a huge concept of real estate and what it’s worth, but this place is enormous. The grounds alone are worth a fortune, and it overlooks the sea.”
He nodded slowly. “Seven million and some change. We got it for a steal.”
She felt a little faint. “Steele.” She whispered his name. Shocked. It didn’t occur to her, not even for a moment, that he was kidding her. He wasn’t. She could see that on his face and hear it in his voice. He meant every word.
“And yes, we are together. There is an us. You. Me. Zane. This is our home. I bought it because we’re putting down roots here. I like the view.”