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Before we could comment further, the door opened. I blinked, and in the next moment, the weight of my Glock was in my hand, pointed at a man in the doorway. I relaxed slightly when my brain caught up to the fact that it was Sergio walking in. His thick black eyebrow rose in response to having two guns pointed at his chest.

Well, three. Dex liked to carry two. Said it made him feel like a cowboy or some shit. But Sergio was freakishly calm.

“Buenas noches, gentlemen. Antsy, are we?” There was a hint of amusement in the kingpin’s voice.

“Used to having a gun pointed at you?” I threw back at him.

I didn’t personally know the guy, and seeing him in person reminded me that Sergio was a scary-looking motherfucker. So while the alliance meant we should be safe at this meeting, I wasn’t stupid enough to let my guard down. It would take more than a spit-shake agreement between criminals for that.

Especially since there were rumblings—the heir to Los Muertos didn’t have the same commitment to loyalty the cartel was known for. It would be stupid to assume he didn’t get that trait from his daddy. So until proven otherwise, I wasn’t trusting any member of Los Muertos not to turn on me.

“Drawn on me? Nah, gringo, I’m used to being shot. Are you going to be the next one to do that? Because if not, put your fucking guns away,” he said.

I plastered on a grin before speaking, keeping my tone light. “Naw, I just wanted to impress you with my quick reflexes.” There was a thin line between asserting yourself and pissing on someone else, and I needed to be careful not to fuck that up.

“In that case,” Sergio walked behind the desk and took a seat. His gaze roamed over Dex and me, “thanks for the demonstration, and welcome to Los Muertos territory.”

I didn’t fail to notice the warning in Sergio’s tone when he mentioned being in Los Muertos’s territory. Message was clear. Regardless of our alliance, he wouldn’t tolerate disrespect. I admired that, but Sergio would learn that I was in charge here, and it was my brother and I who shouldn’t be disrespected.

“We heard you have a new protégé handing our arms dealing. We’re meeting him as well, correct?” I tried to hide my edge of irritation that the dude wasn’t already in here.

Who shows up late to a first meeting?

Sergio scowled slightly, but a smile quickly replaced it—looking like the cat that ate the fucking canary. It wasn’t meant to look threatening, but it put me on edge.

“Some business came up last minute, so Ryan will be joining us after that’s handled. In the meantime, can I get you boys a drink? I can text Nikki our order to bring up from the bar.” He finished by pulling out his phone and looking at us expectantly.

Dex and I rattled off our orders, and I sat back in my chair, preparing for the small talk I would have to endure while we waited for Nikki. But moments after the text was sent, the door was flung open.

“That was fas…” Dex’s comment cut off, and his mouth hung open at whatever he saw at the door behind us. Before I could turn around, I caught sight of a woman’s backside from my peripheral and nearly snapped my neck to get a better view. Her black hair was pulled into a slick ponytail that hit her lower back. The swing of it was a cock tease on its own, begging me to wrap one hand around it while the other held her throat. A groan tried to escape when I saw what she was wearing, a fitted white suit that looked like she’d been sewn into it.

Coffee-colored eyes met mine the moment she turned around. They were hard and challenging—this was a woman with confidence. I nearly choked on my tongue when my eyes trailed down her body. Her suit jacket was buttoned a few inches above her navel, but she wasn’t wearing a shirt underneath.

Instead, I was graced with the sight of her tan skin and cleavage. Blood instantly rushed to my cock, and my brain felt foggy with lust. I had no clue a suit could be so sexy on a woman, but she looked like a fucking exotic goddess. All I wanted was to rip that suit off her, bend her over Sergio’s desk, and drive my throbbing cock into her warm pussy. A wave of possessiveness came over me when I caught Dex adjusting himself out of the corner of my eye. The urge to yell at Dex to close his eyes or I would rip them out was almost unbearable.

But my veins instantly turned to ice when I caught the mischievous smile Sergio was giving her. My lip curled in disgust at both my reaction and her.

Obviously, this Nikki woman was meant to be a distraction. Women were often used like this in the criminal world, and most of these women got off sleeping with men in power, never caring who they stabbed in the back on their way to the top.

I was sure this woman was no different.

Ryan

What kind of motorcycle club fantasy had I walked into? Sergio hadn’t mentioned that the Skeletons of Society dickwads would be so fucking hot. The one sitting closest to my glass wall was rockin’ a seventies porn ’stache that was literally what my wet dreams were made of.

I’d always told Nikki my sexual awakening happened with Tom Selleck.

My eyes roved down his body; he looked like he could throw me around. I noticed that purely for tactical reasons…because I was a professional.

His dark hair had that effortlessly messy look going on, and he was covered throat to fingertips in tattoos.

God, this man was beautiful.

My tongue swiped along my bottom lip, checking to make sure I wasn’t drooling, especially since he was taking in my every detail. He narrowed in on the movement, his fists tightening. I nearly choked when his assessing green eyes met mine. I couldn’t tell if the heated look he gave me was because he hated me or wanted to fuck me.

Then again, could be both.

His body language was meant to look at ease. But he couldn’t hide from me that he was positioned so he could see the door and desk, keeping his gun easily accessible. The man had training. And he trusted the giant sitting next to him since he allowed his back to be exposed to the wall of glass. Sure, we were on the second floor, but in our line of work, you didn’t make it very long if you started assuming you were safe.