Velvet Fire - Ashby Crime Family Romance

Agent Marshall wasn’t amused even though he had no idea just how right Terry was.

“Three dead priests in as many weeks and the FBI comes running?” Sounded suspect to me and based on the way his jaws clenched, Jasper agreed.

“Four actually, as of this morning,” Agent Beck added. “Grisly crime scene too, the poor fella was split from his balls to his well, you know.” She shrugged. “The Church has asked us to look into it.”

“And you never pass up an opportunity to show your worth to the good ol’ Catholic church, do you Agent Beck?” Jasper was back to fucking with the lady agent for some reason, but it was too damn amusing to interrupt.

She glared at him, hard enough to maim if looks could kill. “Solving crime is my job. No matter what gang you belong to.”

“Not even the Catholic church?” Jas couldn’t hide his contempt and the lady agent didn’t miss it, which probably put him at the top of the suspect list. “Funny, I don’t remember you taking them on. Must not have made the papers.”

“Watch yourself, Ashby, I know I will.” Agent Beck was serious but she was new, still a rookie. Too new to have a beef with the Ashby’s in general or Jasper in particular.

“Enjoy the show, Addison.”

“That’s Agent Beck.” Marshall snarled at him before turning to follow his too chipper partner out of Midnight Mass and toward the row of cheap hotels paid for by the Bureau, no doubt.

“We have to do something about this,” Jasper said to no one in particular. That was the hazard of being in charge all the time. He constantly barked out orders to anyone within ear shot.

“About Agent Beck?” Cal asked, worried.

“No. About the fucking dead priests.” His gaze collided with mine and the message was clear. He was tasking me with dealing with the dead priest situation, as if I hadn’t already been dealing with it from the very beginning.

Now the feds were involved and suddenly, shit was more serious, more dangerous than it was just two hours ago. I nodded, knowing there was a difficult conversation in my immediate future.

“Tomorrow. Today I’m spending it with my woman.”

Chapter Thirty

Maisie ~ One month later

I’d thought after more than a month of nonstop craziness, my life would have returned back to normal. But I was dead ass wrong. The only normal in my life was Virgil. Well Virgil and the whole entire Ashby family. They were always around, which I expected since I pretty much lived with Virgil these days. And some days it was more overwhelming than a breakfast table filled with bikers.

“Are you all right in there?” Virgil tapped on the bathroom door, which I’d locked because the man was insatiable these days, and we didn’t have time for even the quickest of quickies.

“I’m fine, babe. Just getting dressed for dinner.” Specifically for Sunday dinner. With the whole family. It was a ritual and as long as I was a part of the family, I was expected to be there come hell or high water.

“You look beautiful.”

I laughed and shook my head as I slid a pop of pink across my lips. “You can’t even see me.”

“That’s because you locked the damn door. You could just resist me, you know?” The tone in his voice was like catnip to me, apparently, which was exactly why I kept the door locked.

“You wish,” I said, because it was my job to keep him humble, even if I did love him. Hopelessly.

I hadn’t told him yet, even though I was pretty sure he felt the same, because I wasn’t sure how he would react. Over the past month we’d swapped war stories. I told him about The Barn Door in Texas and my mom pimping herself out to feed her habit and pay the bills, and he told me about how his father loved to use his fists on his family after too many drinks. We were learning about each other, and I knew Virgil loved his family, but he didn’t believe in any other kind of love.

I had my work cut out for me.

But I wasn’t deterred. When I opened the door and found those dark blues on mine, I knew how Virgil felt about me even if he hadn’t said the words. His gaze raked me over, so hot and heavy my nipples beaded inside my bra, my belly clenched tight.

“So, how do I look?”

“Perfectly. Fucking. Corruptible,” he growled and pulled my body against his.

“These little dresses drive me wild.” I knew it and I’d bought as many as I could find. Sexy little summer dresses with spaghetti straps, a hint of cleavage and flowers, and Virgil was a sex machine. My sex machine.

“If we can make it through dinner without you fighting with your brothers or Terry, I’ll drive you completely wild.”