Adler (The Henchmen MC 14)

"Ya'd just be asking me to put No Diggity on if ya do that. And then ya'd be up on the bar dancing. Which would be a treat for me."

"I don't say this often, but please," she said, brow raising.

Lenny was obsessed with my past, with knowing the secrets, with getting a hint of the man I was before. And for a woman who wasn't one for prying - since she was a private person herself - it was interesting how much this was irking her.

"I spent two years in Scotland," I told her, leaving out the details. Maybe someday I would tell her, but this was not that day. I hadn't even told Ross all the details. Some shite just didn't need to be drudged up.

"Makes sense why more of your words don't have that sexy Scottish hint to them. Just two years."

"Got plenty sexy from plenty places, ya bonnie lass," I told her, letting the accent drip heavy into my words, holding back a smile when her eyes started dancing. "Now I cannae get oot my face alone. Ya fancy a munch box and some telly round at mine?"

"Okay," she said, openly smiling, clearly enjoying this. "That first part has to mean... you can't get shitefaced alone," she guessed accurately, pouring us both another round. "What the hell can munch box and some telly round at mine mean?"

"He's asking you to Netflix and chill," Edison's voice declared, words deep and rolling together as they often did, the sound making Lenny's eyes fill with liquid desire even before she turned to see him standing there. "And he better the fuck be fucking with you," he added, giving me a pointed look.

"Ya ruined all the fun, ya killjoy," I told him, shaking my head. "She'd have been at that one all night."

"Your friend here refuses to divulge his secrets. Like he's some spy or something."

"Only one spy in the compound," Edison told her, pushing her back against the glass cabinet, body pressed to hers, making her breath hitch. "And Adler isn't him."

"Well if ya are gonna take my girl, ain't no reason in hanging 'round here," I declared, grabbing the bottle.

"Pretty sure she's my girl," Edison growled, shooting me a look, the fuck not trusting me much. Couldn't even blame him. I hadn't made the best of friends among my brothers yet. It was hard to get close with people when you didn't give them a lot of details about your life. That was why Reeve was more of an outcast than his brother, why Roan spent most of his time up in the glass room while Sugar and Virgin and Roderick were all a boys club.

"Yeah, go get your girl, Adler," Lenny added, leaning her head on Edison's arm as she looked at me. "We could use some more badass chicks around the compound.

I said nothing as I walked out, the neck of the bottle cool in my hand as I made my way down the street, huddling deeper into the warmth of my leather jacket that had replaced the cut I was originally given, but I was starting to think that maybe I would go see her. The mysterious girl across the hall. Not because she was mine. Not because I had any plans to make her mine. Just to satisfy the curiosity that had been eating at me all day.

And, hey, if we fell into the bed after, that would work just fine for me too.

But when I got back to the building, her spot was empty, her place was dark.

She was gone.

As fate would have it, she wouldn't be back for weeks.TWOLouIt was the kind of month that made you decide you needed a healthy dose of Fuckitall, prescription strength. Chased with about a fifth of Wild Turkey.

And then hit the bed for a solid ten hours after a solid session with that new bullet I bought online but hadn't had the chance to test drive yet.

But before I even finished hauling my duffle bag out of the trunk, my phone was vibrating in my back pocket. And since there was only one person in the world - save for the company who provided my phone service was quick to start blowing me up if I was so much as fifteen seconds late for a payment - was Geoff, I knew exactly what that meant.

I looked into the black lining of my trunk, littered with shoes of all sorts, notebooks, files, sighing out a breath as I considered just shoving my charcoal gray bag with duct tape spots back in, hitting the laundry mat on the way, but figured losing an hour to switch out my clothes and take a shower in my own bathroom where I didn't have to wear flip-flops was more important than whatever Geoff had lined up.