"Reservation under Evangeline White." Bear tells the maître-d who looks over all of us in distain.
"Will she be joining you?"
"Nope, but her boyfriend is right there." Bear points at me and I roll my eyes. I'm not even surprised that he's done it even though he doesn't know anything that's happened between the two of us except that kiss in the club. I just salute and return to my phone, not really caring for the glares the idiot is giving me.
"Nice try, she's single. Maisie, open up the reserved private room." Bear is dialling someone on his phone - most likely Eva - who answers almost immediately. The waiter pales when he's given the phone, recognising Eva's voice as soon as the receiver touches his ear. "Follow me." He clears his throat, gathers the menus and leads us through to the private room.
Most of the men went to one of our clubs for the night, the strip clubs to me more specific. The mated Riders came here so we don't get murdered by our women for touching/looking at people we shouldn't. The room is extensive, with red velvet couches lining the outside of the room and a large table set out in the middle.
Boulder and Bear are put at the heads of the table and the rest of us take the free seats. Two bottles of scotch are brought out and one is delivered straight to me, I look at the label and roll my eyes. It's the same one I have in my office and Eva, with that photographic memory of hers, remembered that. "Why do you get a whole bottle to yourself?" Romeo pouts from next to me, watching as I take the cap off and pour myself a glass.
"Eva knows I don't drink that scotch." I point at the scotch Boulder selected because it's his favourite and she chose another just for me.
"What's the difference?" Runner looks around Romeo and looks at both bottles in turn. "They look exactly the same to me."
"Different brand and this one is older." Bear raises his glass in a toast to Boulder who accepts the gesture by shooting back the scotch. I wince at that. Even with this scotch that I love, I can't help but remember the one at Eva's house that was quite possibly the best thing I've ever tasted. After Eva anyway.
"Fuck off, you're the idiot. If you keep betting so much on our relationships, you're gonna lose out." Boulder tells Reign and we all agree.
"You think I'm the one that makes the bets? I just get told what I'm betting and what the timeline is, I'm not about to say no. Have you met my wife?" To be honest, I was scared when I first saw Reign and Saviour together. Sometimes it was my own fear about my own relationships seeping in but it was also because the both of them are so hot headed that it is considered dangerous.
"True, I'm surprised you two haven't murdered each other." Bear comments after the waiter finishes taking our orders.
"Nah, we kill other people." Reign justifies, tilting his glass in Bear's direction. I mean, their entire job is to murder, torture and scare people into doing what they're supposed to be doing so I suppose it is pretty cathartic.
"I'm starting to think you do that too well." Rubble points out. He had his first torture session with Reign a few weeks ago after some doctor went after Juniper and he was traumatised by it. I doubt he'll be one of the future torturers unless someone threatens Juni again, he's a good fighter but he's still a kid.
"You just can't handle torture, Rubble." Boulder mocks while Rubble rolls his eyes.
"I'm not gonna argue with that, I'm still traumatised." He shivers dramatically and we roll our eyes. As I said, not a torturer.
"Don't worry, Romeo isn't very good at it either." Runner says with a laugh, patting a disgruntled Romeo on the head.
"Hey, I tortured plenty of people for you. I wouldn't have had to if you didn't get kidnapped all the fucking time."
"He's not lying." Breaker replies, watching as the waiter lowers our plates in front of us. It smells good, steak is always good with scotch especially when I'm not paying for it. I dig in while Runner and Romeo continue to bicker with the others about who has tortured the most people for someone.
"Wait, we're not counting the oldest two at the table." They turn to look at Gears and I in curiosity. Gears is smoking a cigar and I'm eating steak peacefully, I don't see why I need to get involved in this. Gears then points at me because he was always in an office working on the accounts and books for the club while I was out doing runs and fighting for more territory.
"You." Reign points at me and I shake my head.
"Not so much, I was mainly working on the information tortured out of someone rather than doing the actual torturing. It was Skeeler that did most of it, he retired to the forefathers earlier than expected."
"Damn, I thought I got it from you." Reign shakes his head and turns back to Boulder, "but you have it harder than me now, you've gotta marry Riley." Boulder rolls his eyes good-naturedly. Riley is definitely one of the spitfires of the group, Lexie being the other one, and she is more emotional than Saviour who has the zen warrior thing going for her.
"I wouldn't say that in front of her." Boulder warns, draining his glass again. Everyone's eyes have a drunken sheen over them as we drink and eat ourselves into an early death.
"This is for you, Mr Mac." The maître-d comes back in with a drink on a tray and the others watch as I take it. It's scotch, I know that much and I thank the waiter for it, spinning the glass in my palm.
"What is that?" Bear asks, leaning forward in his seat. "Is it from Eva?" I take a sip of it and recognise it immediately.
"It's one of Eva's vintages." I savour the liquid on my tongue and try not to flash back to everything that happened after that. There's no point getting a hard on if there's nothing I can do about it.
Still, I would very much to relive last night all over again.
YOU ARE READING
Mac (Riders of Apollo #8)
Romance"Are you going to kiss me or are you just gonna stare?" As if he needed the encouragement, he slams his mouth down on mine in a frenzy, his hands moving from the counter to my thighs and pressing himself against me completely. I try and overcome hi...
