Climbing out of my car, I crossed the parking lot. When I walked into the diner and paused on the step, a small bell above the door alerted everyone to my presence. Cade sat with the women two tables down and all three of them looked up. If he was surprised by my arrival, then he didn’t show it. He remained completely poker faced.
Straightening my shoulders, I walked over to them and calmly sat down, folding my hands in front of me on the table. Right away, the blonde woman widened her heavily made-up eyes and scoffed at me.
“Um, hello? This table is taken,” she said. “You can’t just—”
I shut her up with one look.
“It’s okay, Nancy. This is Indy.” Cade’s eyes didn’t leave mine as he spoke. “My old lady.”
I raised an eyebrow at him.
And he raised one right back.
“You’re his old lady?” Nancy gasped. She looked at Cade. “You’re married?”
“As good as,” he replied, his eyes remaining glued to mine.
“I think we should go,” said the redhead sitting next to me. She stood up, the bracelets on her arms jangling as she stubbed out her cigarette and reached for her handbag.
“No need,” I said, without removing my eyes from Cade. “You should sit down.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the two women exchange a look before the redhead slowly eased back down.
“So,” I said, cocking an eyebrow and tilting my head to the side. “What does a girl need to do to get a cup of coffee around here?”
CADE
I don’t know if I have ever loved her as much as I did in that one moment. Seeing her walk into the diner and calmly sit down at the table. Seeing how she hadn’t mistaken this for anything other than what it was. She knew something was up, but she wasn’t jumping to any conclusions. Not that I would blame her if she did. Especially with our past. But she didn’t. My queen was fiercely loyal and now it seemed, fiercely trusting.
A smile tugged on my lips as I watched Rosie and Nancy. They looked anxious. Confused. Nancy seemed suspicious, while Rosie bit her lower lip and squinted her eyes as she scrutinized the situation.
We’d had pie once more since the first night we met, and again this afternoon. The second time we met up was because of an encounter Rosie had with a john who liked to talk while he jerked himself off over her huge breasts. “Men are most vulnerable when they’re coming,” she explained. “You’d be surprised by the secrets they let out with a stream of ejaculation.” Apparently, the talker was a member of the Satan’s Tribe, a rival gang who ran out of Gulfport. He shot off his mouth as he shot cum all over her tits. He said their president—a Behemoth of a man called Balthazar—had arranged the hit on Isaac.
Armed with this information, Bull had dug deeper. Probed harder. Twisted balls. Found out the john was a wannabe club member who hung around the clubhouse like a bad stink, occasionally doing odd jobs for the club but never being drawn into the inner sanctum. There was no truth to what he said; he’d made up the story to sound like a tough guy. It was all part of his fucked-up fantasy.
Today I had asked to meet Nancy and Rosie because I was convinced Tex’s death was no accident and I wanted to know what the word was on the street.
So far there was nothing, they said. No rumors. No gossip. No word.
They were just about to leave when Indy showed up and sat down. And I couldn’t help but smile when my two very street-smart companions were knocked on their asses by one sharp look from my queen.
Amused, I watched as Indy listened to Rosie and Nancy explain our deal. They gave me intel and I gave them pie. That was it. Nothing else. Indy was calm. But I could tell she was angry with me, because I knew her. I knew the way she bit her bottom lip when she was trying to calm her thoughts. Knew the way she cocked one eyebrow when she was just keeping her temper in check.
I wasn’t even sure what she was saying, I was too busy watching her, watching the way she talked to them, watching the way they took to her once they knew she wasn’t a crazy old lady who wasn’t going to rain hellfire and brimstone on them for meeting with her old man.
Because that was what I was. I was her old man.
And she was my old lady.
INDY
The ladies left, leaving me and Cade alone. We sat across from each other, an electricity of unsaid words charging the air between us.
I waited for him to speak.
And he waited for me to speak.