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She tucked her Sig into her back waistband before flipping Dex off. But her face quickly sobered when she started speaking. “This is more fucked up than I thought. I figured Mario was going to try to take you out, but the fact that he hired the Reapers to do the job—seems he’s working with them behind Los Muertos’s back, and I want to know why and for how long,” she answered, her hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

“Sure, but you didn’t have to go all trigger-happy on your phone, chica. What if you had shot me?” Dex whined.

I failed at holding in my laugh at the look of annoyance she was giving Dex.

“Dex, when I shoot you, you won’t have to wonder if it was intentional or not,” she threw back, her hands hitting her hips.

“What do you mean when? You meant to say if, right? Right?” Des asked, his eyes looking back and forth between Ryan and me.

My hands raised in surrender. “Hey, don’t look at me. I have no interest in getting you into bed, so you’re on your own,” I said, blowing a kiss to Ryan, which only got me a middle finger back.

“Dex, stop pissing me off. Gunner, stop trying to get me naked. I have important shit to say.” She let out a deep sigh. “I shot my phone because something’s going on. And Mario has enough resources to get my phone traced and information pulled from it. It’s not going to be long before he realizes I’m not home, and I don’t want him to know where I’m going. Or, more importantly, who I’m going to see. Scar is…secretive like that…” She gnawed on her bottom lip.

My hands wrapped around her waist; the feel of her body against mine was heaven on earth. My lips brushed against her hair as I spoke. “Damn, I love a woman with street smarts.” I stiffened slightly at my choice of words.

Would she take them as me saying I loved her? Did I love her?

I’d been a shell for so long I hadn’t thought I would ever feel alive again. But being around Ryan gave me the same sense of freedom I was constantly chasing.

Pulling back, I cupped her face as I tried to imagine leaving her behind. A stab of pain shot through my soul, and my tongue swiped across my dry lips. Ryan was oblivious to my internal debate.

“So Gunner, mind if I move in for a bit? Oh, and Dex, text Nikki and tell her I said to leave town for a bit.”

“Why is that my job?” he whined from behind me.

Ryan just arched an eyebrow and cocked her hip. “Don’t play with me, Dex. Nikki already told me you drunk sexted her, so I know you have her number,” she called out.

He mumbled his agreement while he walked off to make the call.

My fingers wrapped in her hair, and I brought our mouths crashing together. She tasted of dirt, sweat, and all of my fantasies.

“Yeah, babe. You can be naked in my bed for as long as you want,” I answered, searching her face in hopes of answers to all my problems. This situation with Mario left me not knowing what our future held, whether I would get to keep this Latin beauty in my arms at the end of this.

Or lie in my bed having nightmares of the things I’ll miss out on with her.

Her hand traveled up my chest, trailing along my collarbone until she reached my jaw, gently cupping my face.

“You’re tensing your jaw, Gunner. Relax, this whole situation may be fucked, but you can get me back to the clubhouse, and I’ll let you see my boobs,” she teased.

I didn’t know how she knew I needed that moment of laughter, but she did. And for just a moment, I could put all the bullshit coming our way out of my head.

A scoff left my mouth. “I’m insulted, Ryan. What, do you think that because I’m a man, that’s all I want from you?” I asked in mock horror.

She studied my face for a second before bringing her lips so close to mine they were almost touching.

“No. I think you want my pussy too,” she whispered before turning around and striding toward the box truck and carnage. I stood there shaking my head because she was wrong.

I wanted so much more than just those two things from her, and I didn’t know what to do.

Gunner

Today we were meeting whoever this Scar person was. Ryan refused to give me any information on her or why we were meeting. All she said was that Scar was the best at what she did, and she might be able to give us the insight we needed to get a leg up.

We left the box truck out in the desert, along with all the bodies. Figured it would be a clear enough message to the Reapers and Mario; we weren’t to be fucked with. Whether they figured out we knew Mario was working with them—only time would tell. The whole situation was a shit show, and I felt like I was being backed into a corner.

Because now I had Ryan to consider.

The moment she opened up that beautiful mouth of hers and told me to go fuck myself, I was hooked. She had a heart that bled for helping those she felt would never see justice. The more I was around her, the more I realized I would burn down the world for her. Take the head of anyone who tried to harm her and offer it to her on a silver fucking platter. And those types of feelings had no place in this life of mine.