Page 21 of Dirty Like Jude
He was in too deep. I was in too deep. And I would never turn my back on my brother. Our father may have been many things, but he raised uswell.
My brother taught mewell.
Lonewolf.
Twopacks.
Family.
11:17pm.
I sat at the bar, not drinking, not really listening to whatever my brothers were talking about around me. Ignoring the women climbing into their laps, trying to climb intomine.
I didn’t even know if I wanted to be here. If I wanted to get laid. If I wanted to bealone.
If I wanted to go to sleep and ignore my phone for twelve hours, turn off the clock in myhead.
I stared at Lex’s text on myphone.
V, it said.ArtemisClub.
Chapter Five
Roni
“Haveyou ever had that feeling you’re beingwatched?”
Talia strode through my front door, dropping her purse on the floor before giving me a quickhug.
I shut the door behind her. “Watched?”
“There was a guy downstairs,” she said, “sitting on a bike, and I swear I saw the same guy when I was at JJ Bean the other day, picking up coffees for us. And both times, he looked at me. Likelookedatme.”
“A bike?” I followed her into the livingroom.
“Yeah.” She unpacked her laptop, laying it on the coffee table next to mine. “Like one of those big-ass biker bikes, you know? Like a Harley orwhatever?”
“Was he wearing a Sinners vest?” Talia had met Taze, so it couldn’t have been him, but I wondered if it was one of his guys. “Or, you know… Kings, orsomething…?”
Would it be too much to imagine that Jude had some dude parked out there, stalking me, because he was as obsessed with me as I was withhim?
Yeah.Definitely.
“No,” Talia said as she tapped on her computer, getting set up. “His jacket didn’t say anything on it. I never would’ve noticed, actually. Totally not my type.” She glanced at me. “No offense. But when I looked at him he did this thing. He like, showed me histeeth.”
I felt my eyebrow raise and she grinned. “Histeeth?”
“Yeah… I’m assuming you have beer?” She headed into the kitchen, not even needing an answer. “It wasn’t exactly a smile, but he touched his tongue very deliberately to his canine tooth, and it was like,silver.”
Nope. No one I knew. I did not know any dude with silvercanines.
I leaned against the kitchen door frame. “Maybe he wanted you to know he’s got a silverdick?”
“Sadly, I don’t go for anything less than solid gold.” She helped herself to a beer from myfridge.
“And why should you?” I teased, flattering her. Talia was gorgeous, a peppy little blonde-Italian ex-cheerleader type, and if I was a dude, I’d totally want to sink my teeth intothat.
“Neighbor of yours?” she teasedback.
