“Kids grown?” Ice asked.
“Yeah. Divorced the wife a year ago, too.”
“Then nothing’s stopping you, is there?”
The man gave him a shit-eating grin. “I guess not.”
Ice nodded before reaching into his back pocket. He pulled out his wallet, opening it and taking out a card.
“He’s a friend of mine. Tell him I told you to call. He’ll hook you up with one for a decent price.”
“Thanks.” Herby got up from the booth. “Next time you stop by, the food is on the house.”
“Thanks.”
Ice stood and Grace slid out of the booth, both going back to his bike where he climbed on.
“That man hasn’t ridden in years. What if he gets hurt?”
Her concern brought a wry smile to his lips. “Baby, if you take a biker’s ride away from him, he’s dead anyway.”
Grace got on behind him, and he drove her back to town. He wanted to keep going instead of having to pull into the parking lot where her car was parked. Stopping next to it, he felt her climb off the bike, already missing the warmth of her at his back.
“I have to go,” Ice told her.
“Oh. Okay.” He didn’t miss the disappointment she tried to hide. “I guess I’ll see you around.” She started to turn away, but he grabbed her hand and tugged her toward him.
“How about I drive down next Friday and we go for another ride?”
“I... I don’t think that would be a good idea, Ice.”
“Then how about if I show up here next Friday at say… five o’clock. If you’re here, we’ll go for another ride. If not, I’ll go back home.”
She waited a moment before nodding, and then turned quickly to get inside her car and start her motor.
Ice sat, watching her drive off with his hands gripping his handlebars. He could take his time with her. Trying to rush her would only scare her away. No, the trick to getting that woman in his bed was to go slow and easy, which was all-good to him because that was exactly how he planned to fuck her.
* * *
Ice closed the door behind him after he entered the expensively furnished office.
Desmond sat behind his sleek, modern desk where he was signing papers as his secretary sat in a chair across from him. The woman was exactly the type of woman Desmond never fucked. She was young, and while not exactly unattractive, she wasn’t going to make a man’s dick stand up and take notice, either. Her dull, brown hair and pale skin gave her a boring appearance.
Desmond leaned back in his chair. “I’ll finish these later, Dalis.”
The secretary rose sleekly to her feet before quietly leaving the room.
“We need to talk.”
“You should have called first.”
“Don’t worry; I came up the back elevator. No one saw me,” Ice stated, taking the chair the mousey secretary had just vacated.
“Dalis saw you.”
Ice ignored the reprimand. “That mouse is too scared of her own shadow to open her mouth about seeing me here.”
Desmond’s mouth tightened in anger at his flippant response.
“What did you want, Ice?”
Ice stared at Desmond, the owner and CEO of Beck Industries and the unknown ruler of Queen City. He had replaced King, who everyone in the large city had feared. King had left to marry a woman in Kentucky he had fallen in love with. Desmond had always been King’s silent partner, preferring to stay behind the scenes. With King now gone, he was still trying to maintain his anonymity while controlling a city, which was the center of illegal crime.
“Heard through the grapevine Deacon is hiring more men. He’s going to make a move, Desmond. Hiding behind this fancy office isn’t going to protect you much longer,” Ice warned.
Desmond got up from his desk, going to look out his window. “That’s what this job requires, isn’t it? King hid himself in that strip club of his.”
“Yeah, but he was smart enough to hire men to protect him. When Deacon makes his move, it’s going to get bloody, and my men are going to be outnumbered.”
“Hire who you need,” Desmond ordered, retaking his chair behind the desk. “Is that it?”
“No. You keeping Yo-Yo contained?”
Desmond stiffened. “Don’t call him that. Justin is in lock-down. He’s where no one will find him.”
“Make sure of it. I didn’t do time for nothing.”
“The money I paid you is why you did it. Watch how you talk to me, Ice. I would appreciate the same respect you showed King.”
Ice rose to his feet, placing his hands flat on Desmond’s desk. “King earned my respect. He was a tough motherfucker who knew how to protect himself and the ones who worked for him. You want my respect? Earn it.” Ice turned with that, striding to the door and opening it.
“Ice?”
Ice turned back.
“Next time, call first.”
* * *
Ice strode into the Predators’ clubhouse, finding the brothers in the main room where a bar was against the wall with a bitch wearing a thin T-shirt, who was serving drinks.