Guts & Glory: Mercy (In the Shadows Security Book 1)

by Jeanne St. James

  Jazz’s gaze slid to her cell phone, then back to Parris.

  She wrung her hands and put on her best award-winning concerned face. However, she never won an award for acting, not even when she took part in a play during high school. The teacher had actually asked her to never sign up for any plays or musicals again. What a way to crush a blossoming child’s dreams. “I’m really worried about her. I’m the only family she has left. And unfortunately, due to my current circumstances, I couldn’t be there with her. I could never live with myself if something happened while she was under the knife and I didn’t get to tell her how much I loved her before... Well, you know.”

  She was going to hell. She glanced up at the sky to make sure there weren’t any clouds and there was no risk of lightning striking her.

  “Is Mercy going to kill me if I let you use my phone?”

  A little nervous laugh bubbled out of Parris before she could stop it. “No... No. Not at all. Like I said, he forgot to charge his phone... and...”

  Jazz was reaching for it... Parris held her breath and her fingers twitched. The woman hit the power button, plugged in her password, then held it out to her.

  Parris breathed with relief as she snagged it quickly, turned away, pulled up the text app and entered Londyn’s phone number. “Thank you,” she said over her shoulder as her fingers quickly moved across the keyboard.

  She typed, “Hey, sis! Just checking in. Everything’s fine with me. My phone’s broken and I’m waiting for it to be repaired. Hopefully everything’s fine with you.” Send. “I love you and miss talking with you. I’ll call you soon! Promise! Just be careful and stay safe!” Send.

  Shit. She heard the whoosh of the sliding glass door being opened behind her and her heart began to race. She quickly typed one more message. “I’m borrowing someone else’s phone, so don’t bother to text me back. Love you!” Send.

  She gripped the phone tightly, hoping her sister wouldn’t listen and instead respond quickly with a return text so Parris could see for herself that she was okay.

  But before she could turn, the phone was plucked from her fingers. By fingers which weren’t Mercy’s. After last night and many, many naughty things later, she’d recognize those fingers. The ones taking the phone from her were slightly darker and not quite as long as his.

  She slowly turned... and lost her breath.

  Oh...

  Wow...

  What looked like a Native American man frowned at her. One who had sharp cheek bones, almost black eyes, and long black hair held in a tight braid down his back...

  Even wearing a scowl, he was...

  Stunning.

  While not as tall or even half as muscular as Mercy, he was lean, and his skin tone looked like a burnished gold. He seemed to be a lot older than Jazz, who was now standing next to him, looking slightly worried.

  “Hi,” Parris managed, a little breathlessly. Her excuse wasn’t overexertion this time. “You are?”

  The man shot her one more scowl before scrolling through Jazz’s phone to read what text messages Parris sent.

  “This is Crow, my ol’ man.”

  He was what? “He’s your father?” They definitely didn’t look related. Not even distantly.

  Jazz’s eyes widened for a second, then she shook her head. “My ol’ man.”

  Okay, she still didn’t get it.

  But before she could get a clarification, Crow’s annoyed gaze dropped to the smaller woman next to him. “Don’t have to ask if you got Mercy’s number in your fuckin’ phone. Know you do.” He shoved the phone at her. “Call ‘im an’ tell ‘im this woman was here an’ I’m takin’ her back.”

  Say what?

  Though his voice was as smooth as melted butter, his speech pattern didn’t match his looks. He had to be one of those bikers Mercy had mentioned who lived in the neighborhood.

  That was confirmed when he turned enough so she could read what was on the back of the black leather vest he wore.

  DIRTY ANGELS was curved downward at the top, PENNSYLVANIA curved upward at the bottom, with some sort of skull insignia in the middle. It was similar to the one that Diesel was wearing the first day she arrived in Shadow Valley.

  “His phone isn’t charged,” Parris panicked and fibbed.

  Onyx eyes turned back to her. “Right,” he grumbled before ordering Jazz, “Call ‘im.”

  Jazz glanced at Parris, mouthed a “sorry” and then went into the house with her phone to her ear.

  Shit!

  “I can find my way back,” she quickly reassured Crow. She swung an arm blindly toward the house where she came from. “Look, I can see it from here. I promise not to get lost.”

  Crow shook his head and jerked his chin up at her. “Let’s go.”

  She sighed and walked down the steps and back toward the house. The closer they got, she began to walk like a death row inmate on the way to the electric chair, because now on the back deck was a very tall man only wearing a pair of those Ranger panties and a pair of sneakers, standing with hands on his hips and wearing a very perturbed expression. It might be possibly, slightly a bit more than perturbed.

  “Shit,” she whispered under her breath.

  “You lied to my woman,” Crow growled.

  “Sorry,” she whispered again.

  “By leavin’ that house, you coulda put her in danger.”

  “I was desperate,” she kept whispering while her gaze remained on the man whose hard, gray eyes were fixed on her. Fury visibly rolled off him in waves. “My sister could be in danger.”

  “Sure Mercy’s got it covered.”

  “I’m not so sure about that.” He’d stated that Michael had someone watching Londyn. But since she hadn’t heard a word from Michael, she couldn’t confirm that.

  Mercy walked down the steps and met them in the yard. No pleasantries were exchanged between the two men. In fact, they both scowled and seemed to have a clear dislike of each other. “Got it from here,” Mercy growled.

  “Keep ‘er on a leash,” was Crow’s return growl before he spun away and headed back to his own house.

  Parris had a hard time pulling her gaze from the retreating man since his gait was smooth and, she had to admit, pretty damn sexy.

  When Mercy ordered, “Get the fuck inside,” much louder than necessary, she reluctantly turned her attention back to him.

  She shivered because his voice, no longer growly, was sharp and chilling. “I—”

  “In...” he said slowly and with tight control, “...side.”

  She huffed out a breath. “Fine.” She hauled herself up the steps and through the open glass door into the darker, cooler interior of the kitchen.

  Behind her, she heard the slam of the slider, the click of the lock and the whoosh of the curtains being jerked closed.

  Without turning around, she began, “Sorry I risked your bonus, but—” Her words were cut off when all the air left her lungs in a rush as Mercy snagged her around the neck and pinned her against the wall.

  “You think I’m fucking worried about my bonus?” came out in a roar. “You fucking not only put yourself in danger but Jazz, too. You were not to leave the fucking house. I was very clear about that.”

  “It was only for a few minutes.” Lame. Lame. Lame.

  “It only takes a split second for a sniper to put a bullet between your eyes. You’d never know he was out there.”

  Why did he assume all snipers were men? There weren’t any women snipers? Not the time, Parris, not the time.

  Her eyes slid past him toward the woods, even though she couldn’t see them through the curtains. “You think they hired snipers?”

  “I don’t know who the fuck they have looking for you. I have no way of fucking knowing because I’m stuck the fuck here with you.”

  Parris winced because he was still roaring, and his face was now only an inch from hers.

  A face that was red, twisted and his eyes burned hot.

  Oh yes, while maybe not the b
est time to notice it, this man was not all ice. Oh no, he was not.

  “Are you more worried about your bonus or the fact you can’t handle the idea of failing at a job?”

  His nostrils widened, and she swore little puffs of smoke shot out of them.

  “What you did was fucking stupid. Reckless. You texted your sister using Jazz’s phone. You not only put your sister at risk, you put Jazz in danger, too.” A muscle popped in his jaw. “That woman has been through enough shit in her life that she doesn’t need more. You compromised three people and you lied to do it.”

  “I needed to check in with my sister. I’m all she has.”

  “I don’t give a fucking shit. You’re no good to her if you’re dead. And you won’t ever forgive yourself if something happens to her when they use her as a pawn to get to you. I’ve seen shit, woman. Situations you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy, especially your sister. These fuckers aren’t playing, Rissa. They got money and resources backing them up. This isn’t a fucking game. I thought I could trust you to stay in the house when I went on my morning runs. I was wrong. Guess I can’t trust you at all.”

  Parris opened her mouth to say something, but she wasn’t sure what. She didn’t know how to fix the mistake she made. And a simple “sorry” wasn’t going to cut it. So she shut her mouth.

  His whole body heaved as he sucked in an audible breath. His fingers relaxed a little bit on her neck and he pulled his head back enough so they were no longer nose to nose.

  Some of the red in his face had dissipated, but she could still feel the tension, the anger he held onto.

  “Paranzino told me what you witnessed. Then he told me what you know. What he wanted you to know. He didn’t tell you shit. He kept things from you. Whether to protect you or to protect himself, I don’t fucking know, nor do I care. It could even be that he was afraid of what you’d think of him if you knew the complete truth. But, Rissa, this shit is way more serious than you can imagine and because of that, I’m going to tell you everything about your friend, even though I agreed not to.”

  None of this sounded good. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it all.

  “All I know is there’s a war over some sort of territory. I thought it had to do with real estate, so I didn’t question it when he glossed over it,” she admitted. “I should’ve demanded he tell me everything.”

  “Even if you did, he wouldn’t have. We need to move, but before we do, I need to tell you the complete background that I demanded from him. I needed to hear it all so I could protect your ass successfully. He does love you, Rissa, and I could see the real fear he had for you, so there’s that. But that might not be enough after I tell you the rest, so you’ll have to decide if you still love him.”

  Her head spun with everything he just said. The situation she was in was worse than she thought, even after Michael explained it to her. Or told her only the minimum. Then they had to leave this house because she’d put not only herself in jeopardy but others. Including her sister, who she was sure had no clue that she was in danger. “Where are we going?”

  “Somewhere other than here. But we need to move. You might not think what you did could come back to you, but I’ve been on the other side of the hunt. I could find you just by those three fucking texts you sent to your sister from someone else’s phone.”

  “How?” she asked surprised, feeling the blood drain from her face.

  He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter how, just know it can be done. I can do it and any of my team could, too. I’m gonna call Steel, have him bring my bike, then you and I are taking that while he takes my RPV back to the warehouse. You’re gonna pack your shit and he’ll take it with him until we settle somewhere safe.”

  “When is this going to be over?” she yelled in frustration.

  “When you’re dead or they’re dead. My preference is the latter.”

  Hers, too.

  He let her go abruptly and then pointed at one of the chairs at the kitchen table. “Sit.”

  She considered her options, then decided it was best to sit. Her gaze followed him as he went over to his cell phone on the counter, picked it up and made his call to who she assumed was Steel, giving him orders about swapping out the vehicles.

  When he was done, he threw his phone back on the counter and pinned his gray eyes back on her. “Do us both a favor and keep your mouth shut ‘til I’m done. Yeah?”

  He was dead serious about whatever he was about to tell her, so she simply nodded.

  “Prostitution is illegal in Vegas’s city limits. Know you know that. Paranzino didn’t build his fortune with casinos. That shit’s a front and a way to launder money. I’m sure it makes him some nice scratch, but that’s not where he started. Ever wonder how a practically homeless black jack dealer ended up being so fucking rich he now owns three successful casinos?”

  Was she supposed to answer that?

  Apparently not, since he continued, “Paranzino owns and runs underground brothels within the city limits.”

  She opened her mouth, but quickly shut it because of the look he gave her.

  “Some right outside of the city, too. That’s where he began to make his real money which he invested in real estate and, eventually, started a legit corporation to build those fancy casinos. His empire was built on the backs of women. Once his brothels were established, he began taking girls, who were drugged and beaten by their pimps, off the street. He got them clean and, if they chose to continue with their career, he put them to work in his brothels where they kept more of their money, had protection, free health care and financial help. Real noble, right?”

  She opened her mouth again, but quickly shut it when he cocked a brow at her.

  “He gave them the option to leave at any time and would even foot their tuition at the local community college. However, he ain’t the only game in town. Before he got into the sex business, there was someone already established in Vegas. Actually more than one, but the little guys were easy to deal with. His main competition, someone who ran a prostitution ring, not so much. A war began over, not only territory, but the fact that Paranzino was always stealing from his stable. Paranzino had, and still has, men searching the streets looking for prostitutes who are ready to ‘better their lives.’ However, ‘better’ is fucking subjective, depending on who you are and whether it’s you on your back with your fucking legs in the air letting strangers shoot their loads in your cunt or your mouth or even up your ass.”

  Parris winced.

  “That ain’t it. He didn’t just steal, or what he calls ‘save,’ women, it was males, too. By taking both in, he doubled his money by offering a nice selection to anyone who wanted it.”

  She lifted shaky fingers to her mouth. “He found his husband on the street after he’d been beaten almost to death, hooked on heroin by his pimp and was nothing but skin and bones. Michael had taken him into his home, got him healthy, drug-free and Joshua never left.”

  “Right. Now the guy only gets one dick up his ass in payment for living large.”

  “Michael loves Joshua,” she whispered. Joshua was the reason Parris met Michael in the first place. Michael had been in denial about his sexuality, until he “rescued” Joshua. She’d also met with the both of them to help Joshua to deal with his abuse at the hand of his former pimp.

  Had Joshua been used and abused by the man, or whoever it was, behind what Mercy called a war?

  “Sure he does. Just like he loves you but kept you in the dark. It wouldn’t have affected you if you hadn’t stumbled across the situation you did.”

  The situation.

  “Take a sex trafficker with a fat wad of cash in his pocket watching his assets disappear. Then those assets resurface making money for another trafficker. He’s going to get itchy fingers and start taking a fucking stand against it. Which he did after several warnings that Paranzino admittedly ignored. And worse, was too arrogant to care about, thinking he was untouchable. News flash, money don’t make you Teflo
n. Shit can stick to anything it’s thrown at. So, the three men you saw get popped were supposed to be a warning to Paranzino. Only problem was, you wore a ridiculous pair of fucking high heels, tripped and caught their attention. You witnessed the act. Of course, Paranzino’s not going to any authorities to report his men being whacked, but you? No guarantee. You’re the wild card. You could cause more trouble than Paranzino if law enforcement starts digging into a report of a triple murder, and then finds out where it stemmed from. It’s not only bad for Paranzino, but for his competition, too.”

  “How could I be so stupid? Why didn’t I know any of this?”

  “Because he didn’t want you to know. He has some sort of sense of loyalty to you. Don’t know where that comes from, he only said you helped him out and that’s how you first met. He didn’t go into details. Whatever you did for him, he’s truly grateful. He mentioned that a couple times. Doesn’t mean it’s right that you’re stuck in the middle of his shit. He was able to keep this from you because he’s got enough men under him that he doesn’t even know who’s the lowest hanging fruit at the bottom of that fucking tree. He rules from the top branches; the roots don’t dirty him. Which means at his level, it’s easy to keep any talk of business in his underground brothels to a minimum. Paying people very well makes for extremely loyal employees. Though, some of those employees may be getting a little restless since three of his work-force were popped. Some jobs ain’t worth dying over.”

  “He told you all of this?” she asked in surprise, trying to beat back the panic that was bubbling up from her churning gut. This situation was so much worse than she could ever imagine. And Michael had lied to her. Or omitted the truth. Which might as well be the same as lying.

  “Like you, he told me what he wanted me to know. Though, it was more than he told you. The rest I had my own crew dig up. I wasn’t gonna trust some man with a fuck-ton of cash and very dirty hands to tell me the truth. And I was right.”

  Mercy knew all of this and kept it from her as well. Both Michael and him kept her in the dark. For what? Her safety? If she would have known...