Devil's Ride by Kathryn Thomas Read Free Book Online

long can you stay?”
     
    “I have to leave right after the doctor’s visit tomorrow. I’m sorry.”
     
    “It’s okay. We have tonight. Will you hold me? I’m afraid for you. For us.”
     
    “All night, if you like.”
     
    “Good.” I snuggled in a little tighter and threw a leg over his to get comfortable. We lay still and quiet for a long time, my eyes closed as his slow steady breathing relaxed me. Even with us still fully dressed, I was so warm, comfortable, and secure in his embrace that I didn’t even realize when I slipped into sleep.
     
    ***
     
    We awoke early. Because of my new schedule, I had moved my appointment to the first one in the morning. Cain and I hadn’t made love last night. He held me, as I asked, until I felt him relax and his breathing became slow and regular. I wanted him, but he looked so tired that I just let him sleep, thinking we could make up for it this morning. Unfortunately, though the morning sickness was better, I was in no mood for play, much to our mutual disappointment. 
     
    All during my breakfast of fruit, I watched Cain. He didn’t look as ragged as he had last night, but he still didn’t have the crisp, playful, attitude that he normally did, and it worried me.
     
    Breakfast completed, we visited the doctor and everything checked out fine. I was really starting to show now, but everything was progressing just as it should be. As the doctor was talking to us, Cain’s phone vibrated. He pulled it out, looked at it, then silenced it and tucked it away. But I could tell from his face something had happened.
     
    The moment we stepped outside the office he pulled his phone. “I need to check in,” he said as he dialed the phone. “Thad, what’s up?” he asked as he took me by my elbow and escorted me to my car. “They what?” he shouted as he stopped walking in the middle of the parking lot. He looked at me and I could see the fury on his face. “I’ll call New Jersey right now and then I will be there as soon as I can. I’ll leave within the hour.” He stabbed at the screen of his phone with a thumb and for just a moment I thought he was going to throw it. “Something has come up. I have go,” he growled.
     
    “I gathered.”
     
    “Don’t be like that,” he said as he hustled me to my car. “You have to go to work anyway, right? I will be back as soon as I can.”
     
    “What’s going on?”
     
    “The Bulls. They are talking shit and stirring up trouble. This has just about gone far enough and we are going to have to deal with them once and for all.”
     
    “What does that mean?”
     
    “It means we are going to have to step on their dicks. Nothing to worry about. We’ve done it before, and we are about to do it again.”
     

 
    Chapter 5
     
    It had been three days since Cain left in a flurry to return to Dallas. He had called me that night and apologized for leaving so suddenly, but I could tell he was distracted. My emotions were all over the place. On one hand, finding out that the Hellhounds sold black-market guns didn’t bother me all that much and I was much relieved that it wasn’t something worse. But on the other hand, the problem with the Bulls was exactly the kind of thing that I had been worried about. I didn’t know what ‘stepping on their dicks’ involved, but it sounded violent and dangerous.
     
    Then there is this shit, I fumed as I stared at the computer screen. Something wasn’t right with the inventory. There were losses that I couldn’t account for and I didn’t know if it was my error or if the new bartender was being a little liberal with the free drinks. For the life of me I couldn’t get the receipts to tally to the inventory, but the books were in such a mess when I took them over, I wasn’t sure of anything. I had checked my numbers three times, and I was still off by nearly eight grand for the week. With a sigh I pulled out last week’s receipts and started again. I had already verified my