Free Strip You Bare by Maisey Yates Page A

rolling his shoulders back. “My family, as a general rule, is a bunch of rich fucks who have money where their souls should be. I don’t know why Sarah should have grown up to be any different.”
    Now, for some strange reason, he felt defensive of Sarah. And he was the one who had just called her a rich bitch. But he had been lying. The problem wasn’t Sarah; the problem had never been Sarah. The problem was how Sarah made him feel. And that he was impatient to get back home. Leon didn’t know that. Leon was being insulting.
    “Don’t take it too far, Leon. I’m just saying she clearly doesn’t know anything.”
    “Someone does,” Ajax said. “And you’ll continue to keep your ears open.”
    “I think Blue should go deal with his cousin,” Micah said.
    “We already discussed this,” Blue said. “We don’t need to bring baggage into it. As far as I’m aware, nobody in the Delacroix family knows where I ended up. I’m not in a hurry to change that. We need to figure out what all of this means independent of me. Because I sure as hell didn’t have anything to do with the club ending up with this mansion. I don’t want to create connections where there aren’t any.”
    “Bullshit. You don’t want to deal with her because you don’t want to deal with your family.”
    Blue shrugged. And Micah had a feeling he was about to sit and have a beer with his spine in place. Because when Blue was casual, you were usually in danger. Instead, the other man crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned back. “I don’t. There’s nothing in it for me. There’s certainly no reason to make things any more dramatic for Sarah than they need to be. I’m happy to keep those ties severed, thanks.”
    “Just shut your whore mouth and deal with it, Prince.” This came from Ajax, unsurprisingly.
    “I’m dealing. But I don’t have anything to report. If you do, that would be helpful.”
    “Not yet,” Travis said. “Billie interacts with a lot of the people here in town at the gallery, so she’s been feeling things out.”
    “Not very successfully,” Billie said.
    “You’re trying,” Travis said, smiling at Billie in a way that could only be described as tender. Shit. What was the world coming to?
    “Thanks to Alice we have a direct line with the Ministry now. Unfortunately, that hasn’t turned anything up, either.”
    “The Ministry aren’t behind it,” Ajax said. “I’m satisfied enough with Blade’s word on that.”
    “But,” Leon said, “there are connections within connections that we’re trying to use. Alice talks to a lot of people that come through her garage. Real salt-of-the-earth types.”
    “I bet,” Micah said. “I’m sticking close, but at this point all I can guarantee is that I will be attending a very fancy Christmas party when I would much rather be at home dealing with my own shit.”
    “I suggest you get in the holiday spirit,” Ajax said. “Because you’re here for as long as we need you.”
    He couldn’t foresee himself getting in the holiday spirit anytime soon. He was, however, definitely in the spirit to push one very uptight socialite against a wall and screw her until neither of them could breathe.
    He shouldn’t have come here. He shouldn’t have left the mansion. He should have stayed there and done just that.
    “I hate you,” Micah said, no real venom in his words.
    “You and my own mother,” Ajax said. “Am I supposed to be bothered by that?”
    “I’m leaving.”
    “Go,” Ajax said, clearly disinterested.
    Somehow, during this exchange Micah had a feeling he and Ajax had patched up a few things. He wasn’t sure how.
    “I’ll walk you out.” This came from Blue, a surprise. Micah wondered if Blue hadn’t decided to spare him, if he’d only just decided to wait and kill him outside where he wouldn’t make a mess.
    “His ass is mine, Blue,” Ajax said. “If I find out you had him out in some alley, I’m going to be pissed.”
    Neither