“I usually go over to my parents’ house and have dinner with them. I was an accidental late baby, so they’re older.” She sighs. “And I was way too much for them to handle. By the time I hit my wild teenage years, they were in their late fifties and didn’t know how to handle me.”

So all Lila has are two old parents. Then again, maybe she’s lying and really has a huge family. At this point, I still shouldn’t trust anything she says one way or the other.

“Would you like to come back over tomorrow night for dinner?” she asks, changing the subject. “I’ll cook.”

I’m relieved. I wasn’t sure how things were going to be between us after tonight.

“Oh, I don’t know,” I tease. “It would depend on what’s on the menu.”

“How about grilled steaks, sautéed mushrooms, and a baked potato? Can you make it by eight o’clock? Or later is fine too. Whatever is good for you.”

She’s talking fast, like she’s afraid I’ll turn her down.

“I wouldn’t miss it. I’ll be here right on time.”

“You’re such a stickler about being punctual,” she says.

“True, but how do you know that?”

“Lucky guess, that’s all,” she says to cover up her mistake. “You always show up when you’re supposed to. I like that trait in a man.”

Her slipup throws me and makes me wonder how deep her research into the Steel Infidels goes. She’s obviously dug into my personal habits. Are all the Steel Infidels under close scrutiny?

What if the ATF is looking at Kendra and Trish too? The ATF might think they’re involved in our business dealings. Of course they aren’t, because we would never mix up the women in anything illegal. The risk is too great and the kids need their mothers.

How many people are going to get hurt in this mess before it ends?

Lila reaches for the sheet at the foot of the bed and tugs it up over us. “Will you stay with me tonight?” she asks. “I don’t want you to leave.”

I thought she would never ask.

“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away from you.”

Chapter Fifteen

Sam

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I pull out a chair and silently sit down beside Toby at the clubhouse. He glances over at my swollen lip and bursts out laughing.

“Damn, Toby!” I say. “Did you really have to elbow me so hard?”

“See? I knew you would get pissed off.” He throws up his hands and lets out a frustrated sound. “That’s why I didn’t want to do it. You kept saying ‘hit me, hit me’ and I did. And now you’re mad as a wet hornet.”

“I said hit me, not knock my fucking teeth down my throat.”

Toby laughs and tilts his baseball cap back on his head.