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Good to know I’m not the only one being affected here.

“You guys weren’t laundering money out of here before? Usually, strip clubs have plenty of cash to clean the dirty money with.” Dex’s question got Ryan’s attention, giving me a moment to look over the gun and mentally try to pull myself out of wanting to fuck her on these crates.

“They were, but I don’t take a cut of the girls’ money. They keep everything they make on the stages and tips.” Her tone left no room for discussion on the matter. This subject had clearly created arguments in the past. “They put in the work, so they deserve to keep the cash. I knew selling Mexican tequila would provide the perfect cover for receiving regular shipments. So I started moving firearms out of here.”

That statement made me look up at her.

“You decided to run guns?” I asked incredulously.

She gave one quick nod in response. “Up until you guys, men I trusted moved the guns from here to other markets. Being popular in arms-dealing circles is a blessing and a curse. I have the clientele, but not enough people I trust to move the weapons. I have a connection as far as New York. She handles the East Coast and international side. I just have to get it to her. But the fucking Reapers decided they wanted in on it. So far, I have been able to keep their fucking noses out of my business. And hopefully, with you now running the guns, they’ll back off.” There was clear disdain in her voice when she spoke about the Reapers MC.

None of us commented on the elephant in the room, which was that the Reapers were likely to take this partnership as a slap in the face and retaliate. Dex once again broke the silence. Quiet made the fucker nervous. Said it was because that was when the demons took over—in the silence.

“How have you managed to keep them out of your business?”

My cock twitched at the bloodthirsty smile that touched her lips.

“I beat anyone who needs a reminder with a bat. Fucked-up faces make good messengers,” she replied.

My mouth fell open at the nonchalant shrug she gave after her answer. And before I could touch on her response, the door we entered was pushed open, and another hulk of a man walking in.

“Damn. Do you only employ giants here?” I hadn’t meant to ask the question aloud. Ryan looked over at me and rolled her eyes.

“So says the six-fucking-two man who looks like he could take out a house.”

I stepped closer to her, our bodies barely touching, and whispered in her ear, “So…you were eye fucking me upstairs.”

Her head whipped around, making it so our faces were inches apart, a determined look on her face. She wasn’t going to stand for my bullshit.

“How’s your cock feeling against your zipper right now? I imagine that isn’t going to feel great on the ride home.” She tilted her head to the side and gave a condescending smile.

Damn, was she ballsy.

My tongue ran along my bottom lip before I responded. “You know. You have quite the mouth on you.”

Ryan moved even closer, cutting the distance between our faces in half. She peeked at my lips before moving back to my eyes.

“I can do a lot of things with my mouth, Gunner,” she replied, her warm breath caressing my lips.

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. The tension between us was so thick, it felt like I was suffocating. There was bound to be half-moon-shaped marks on my palms from how tightly I clenched my fists to keep my hands from tangling in her hair and slamming those pouty lips on mine.

She pulled back; the distance between our bodies made me frown, and my scowl only deepened when I thought about the reaction I was having to her. I needed to find a way to banish this woman from my thoughts.

“Too bad you’ll never get a chance to experience those other things.”

She flipped me off before walking over to where her employee had entered the warehouse.

Dex’s large body appeared beside me. “Dude. You’re fucked. You’re going to have blue balls for a long fucking time working alongside her.” When I turned to look at him, he was adjusting himself again. My elbow landed in his ribs, which just caused him to laugh.

“Quit looking at her ass so I don’t have to watch you fondle your junk,” I hissed.

Another chuckle fell from Dex’s lips. “Oh, it’s not just her ass that has me fondling my dick. I told you. Watching you two is like foreplay. I’ll have to rub one out before the ride back.” Nodding my way, he added on. “Looks like you will, too.”

Ryan walked back over. “Boys, you’re going to have to see yourselves out. Some shit’s come up that I need to take care of. Sergio already set up things with your president. I’m supposed to stop by the clubhouse on Friday. So I’ll see you then. Adios.” She turned on her heel to walk away.

“Wait. Why are you coming to the clubhouse?” I called out.

This was news to me. And while the thought of her on my territory was appealing, that feeling quickly diminished when images of her being eye-fucked by a bunch of assholes there popped into my head. I knew that would happen because the weekends were always parties at the clubhouse. So that meant club bunnies, strippers, hang-arounds, and a bunch of other fuckers would all be there.