“What? But I was only going to thank him,” Lily protested.
“Then thank him, but Do. Not. Touch. And quit kissing,” he added as an afterthought.
“Quit kissing? But I like kissing you. I don’t want to stop that,” Lily protested. She turned red when Viper and Razer began laughing. Train was still standing, unmoving.
“That’s not what I meant.” Shade gradually regained control. “I meant when you kiss men on the cheek.”
“Who did I kiss on the cheek?”
“Viper.”
Lily looked thoughtful before she reproached, “You scared Pastor Dean,”
“You do not touch anyone, especially Pastor Dean,” Shade told her sharply, still glaring at a pale Train.
Lily looked at him. “Okay.”
She relaxed against him, rubbing his chest with her hand until his breathing returned to normal.
“Thank you,” he said, relaxing back against the couch.
“No problem.” Lily smiled gently up at him.
“Thank God. At least we finally got that shit straight. I didn’t think I’d have a brother left after Christmas.”
She had given each and every one of the brothers a peck on the cheek with a present she had picked out for them.
“You didn’t?” She looked at him suspiciously.
“No, but it was close,” Shade said unrepentantly.
She was shaking her head at him when Knox came in with Diamond. She was like Lily; she hadn’t dressed overtly sexy, either. She was wearing a dark jumper and a black pair of leggings with high-heeled boots.
Knox took a seat on the couch next to Shade, pulling Diamond down onto his lap. He wasn’t wearing his uniform, just jeans and a T-shirt. His huge frame crowded the large sofa. Lily sat up straighter, curling her legs on top of Shade’s.
“I put Georgia on suicide watch. Had to hire an extra policewoman from Jamestown, but at least I don’t have to worry about walking into her cell and finding her dead,” Knox said, looking at Lily. “You were right; I saw the marks on her wrist.”#p#分页标题#e#
“I wouldn’t have ever said anything, but I didn’t want her to hurt herself because she’d made a mistake.”
“It’s more than a mistake. She fucked up bad. She’s going to do some hard time for arson unless she can come up with a name. Cash is trying to trace the account, but he said whoever set the account up knows what they’re doing. He said it’s one of the best he’s ever seen,” Knox informed them.
“Fuck,” Shade exclaimed.
“Not only that, but Georgia says she doesn’t know the man who gave her the money. Said she was at the grocery store, and he drove a dark car up to her when she was putting groceries in her car. Handed her twenty thousand to do it then promised her the fifty thousand after it was done.”
“Did you check the store surveillance?” Viper asked.
“Sure did. The store erases the tapes after a month. I looked through them just in case we got lucky, but no such luck.”
“Damn,” Shade said. “I was hoping she had more information than that.”
“I’ll see if she can remember anything more in the morning. Maybe spending her first night in jail will jog her memory,” Knox responded, adjusting Diamond on his lap.
“We need to catch a break somewhere before whoever they are makes another move against Lily,” Shade said grimly. It was disconcerting to have someone so determined to hurt someone you love and not know why.
“I like your boots,” Lily said to Diamond.
That started a whole conversation about shoes which caused Knox and Shade to share a what-the-fuck look and roll their eyes. Finally, Shade could take no more of it.
“Let’s dance,” Shade interrupted them, his hand lifting her legs off his.
Shade saw her looking toward Train who had his hand between Bliss’s thighs as she sat on a stool at the bar. Several of the women who were allowed in the house were dancing suggestively with the members on the floor. Nickel was standing behind one, pulling her breast out of her top.
Lily hastily turned away.
“I think the floor is crowded enough.” she stood up.
“It isn’t downstairs,” Shade said, taking her hand. “Knox?”
“Coming.”
Shade turned to Viper and Razer. “Later.”
“Happy New Year, brother,” Viper said, lifting his beer up.
“You, too.”
Shade led Lily downstairs where he turned on a couple of the lamps then the music. He pulled up the workout mats, placing them against the wall before holding out his arms for her. She stepped into his arms without hesitation.
Knox and Diamond came downstairs, closing the door behind them, and then they began dancing next to them.