RIDING DIRTY (Steel Titans MC Book 4) by Franca Storm (best books for students to read txt) 📗

“What’s going on?” Slade asked, and I felt his hand tensing in mine.

Liam merely grinned.

He opened the door wide, then stepped inside.

Oh my God.

A chorus of cheers erupted and we looked out to see the entire club gathered in the lounge, clapping and wolf-whistling.

Streamers, balloons, and a slew of decorations filled the space. A hell of a slab cake sat on a table in the center. It had an edible, extremely detailed copy of Slade’s cut on it. Abi, the baker extraordinaire, as I understood it, was gesturing to it happily. Liam went to her and wrapped his arm around her. “Looks amazing,” he told her sweetly.

“Well, shit,” Slade said, looking around in open-mouthed wonder.

Cole stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Couldn’t let you go out without a hell of a party.”

Slade smiled and brought him in for a brotherly hug. Well, in their case, it was more like fatherly. I could see the two of them fighting to bite back their emotion when they pulled apart.

Mason made his way through the crowd to the front carrying two glasses. He handed a whiskey glass to Slade, and winked as he handed what looked like an orange juice to me. “Let’s do this thing.”

Slade raised his glass. “One more for the road!”

***

Damn, these guys could drink.

As I looked around the room from the table I’d been chilling at in the corner, I couldn’t see one of them that wasn’t smashed beyond belief.

Well, except Slade.

He hadn’t even finished the glass Mason had first handed him at the start of the party. It was because he needed to be sober for what was to come sooner than any of them knew.

He’d done the rounds and said a personal goodbye to every club member. It had been more than a little emotional to watch, even for someone as classically stoic as me. I understood the weight of it.

But it was time.

The pregnancy was really doing a number on me. I was exhausted. I’d spent the last hour or so lounging back in a chair, unable to even think about moving, just finalizing a few things on my phone for the big move, and liquidating all my assets for Will Decker. It was a major undertaking, but I worked with the best, so efficiency and speed was a guarantee thankfully.

“Sweetheart.”

I looked up to see Ricky approaching.

I smiled up at him. “How did you get passage into the inner sanctum again?” I jested.

“Well, saving the Prez’s ass helped out in a big way.”

He took a seat beside me, emotion welling in his eyes. “Can’t believe it’s over.”

“I know. For a while there, I wasn’t sure we were all going to make it out alive.”

“We had a good team.”

I reached out a grasped his hand on the tabletop. “You were the first member of mine.”

“A hell of an honor, sweetheart.”

“Right back at you.”

Emotion took him over and he pulled away, scrubbing his hand over his face.

“It’s not over for us, remember?” I reminded him softly, trying to keep my own fluctuating emotions in check, before I turned into a blubbering mess. That kind of thing really wasn’t my scene.

He got himself together and managed a smile, a spark actually lighting his eyes, as he said, “Yeah, I know, and I love the business plan we’ve got in the works. Just… not being in-person and all that… it ain’t easy to accept.” He ruffled my hair. “I’m gonna fucking miss you, Willa “Shadow” Rose.”

“I’m going to miss you too.”

“Darlin’?”

We both looked up to see Slade returning to the table. He gave Ricky a chin lift. They’d already said their goodbyes, but Ricky went to him and gave him a brotherly handshake that quickly turned into an emotional hug. They exchanged some whispered, unintelligible words, then Ricky took off.

Slade held out his hand and helped my weary body up. He wrapped his arm around me and supported my weight, getting how exhausted and out of sorts I was. He whispered in my ear. “Don’t worry, you can sleep in the truck.”

I kept my voice low as I responded, “Is everything packed? Your office stuff?”

“Yeah. I took it one box at a time, for your peace of mind.”

Smiling, I leaned into him, loving the feel of him against me.

He paused for a few moments, then sucked in a breath, and led us out of the lounge area and back down the corridor.

Usually, we’d take a right to get to his office.

But this time was different.

We weren’t headed there. In fact, we never would be again.

We veered left and went out through the emergency exit door that led to a dirt road around the side of the clubhouse. It was a little known throughway toward the highway. The truck that he’d moved around from the main lot just before the party had gotten underway was there, ready and waiting for us.

“Are you sure you want to do it this way?” I asked, looking up at him.

He nodded. “It’s gonna be easier on them. A long, dragged-out goodbye will hurt worse.”

“All right.”

He walked me around to the passenger side, hauled open the door, then basically lifted me in.

Surprising me, he then hopped up into the cab and buckled my seatbelt for me. The next thing I knew, he was snatching up a blanket from behind the seat and draping it over me, even tucking me in.

“Slade, you don’t have to—”

“Shh. I’m taking care of my woman and our baby whether they like it or not. Deal with it.”

I grinned. “I actually kind of like it.”

“Yeah?”

I stroked his cheek. “It makes me feel warm and loved.”

“That’s how it’s gonna be from now on. For the both of us. For our family.”

He kissed the top of my head, then jumped down from the cab, shut the door, and rounded the hood. In the next second, he was climbing into the driver’s side.

He slammed the door shut and buckled up. “Let’s do this.”

As he