“What the hell are you doing here?” Her heart pounded as she demanded her answer. How had he gotten into her apartment? How had he found her in the first place?
“Waiting for you.” He turned his phone around to show her the screen. There was an image of her taken the night Tyler had been arrested. She was crying, her face bruised and swollen on one side where he’d hit her. No amount of Photoshopping could fix the genuine distress on her face in that moment. She’d been terrified for her life. “You want to explain this?” The man looked at her like it was her fault.
Rose was taken aback. “No. Not really. Besides, it’s none of your business.”
“It’s my business when the fucker keeps harassing you.”
“He’s in jail, Mr. Ferguson. He doesn’t harass me. And that still doesn’t make it your business.”
“Oh, really.” He stood and stalked toward her, each step more menacing than the last. If she had any sense about her, she’d turn and run as hard and fast as she could. It probably wouldn’t do her any good, but she just couldn’t make herself. She was tired of being pushed around by men who thought they were better than her. Though Gavin Ferguson hadn’t suggested such, why wouldn’t he? The man was obviously rich. No one stayed in the penthouse at the Breakers unless they had money. She was a nobody. Not even the hired help since she’d been fired. “His father got you fired today. From your last two jobs and kicked out of one apartment as well.”
Rose shut her mouth tight to keep from retorting a denial, but she’d suspected Richmond had had a hand in at least the apartment. Figured about the jobs. He was trying to break her spirit. Shrugging, she replied, “So what if he did? I’m good now. I have this apartment paid for two months. I can get a job in a fast-food restaurant to feed myself and save everything else until I get kicked out of here. By then, I can get a bus ticket to LA or Seattle. Far away from Richmond and Tyler.”
“Maybe. Or maybe you’d ride right into trouble. As long as you’re by yourself, you’re vulnerable.”
“OK. Fine. You’re right. Still doesn’t explain why you broke into my apartment or why you hunted me down in the first place.” She crossed her arms. “Kinda looks like I’m in more danger from you than Richmond at the moment.”
Unexpectedly, he broke into a grin, chuckling softly. “I’d say you have good instincts, but anyone would come up with that assumption given the circumstances.” He came to stand in front of her. So close she could almost feel the heat from his body. She could certainly smell the clean, woodsy scent of his skin. He wore a suit, but didn’t look completely comfortable. It was more as if he thought that was what he should wear. It didn’t really matter, though. In Rose’s mind, he was as naked as the first moment she’d laid eyes on him.
He wasn’t conventionally handsome, but there was something about him that made Rose certain he could handle himself in any situation. Also, she got the feeling he saw everything. Those hazel eyes of his seemed to look straight into her soul. It was uncomfortable, but also something of a relief. She didn’t have to pretend with him because he would know. There’d be no deceiving him.
Rose considered herself a sensible person. Until Tyler, she’d thought herself a good judge of character. Actually, she still thought she was, because she’d known from the beginning Tyler wasn’t a good person. She’d just been caught up in him. The attention of someone as good-looking and rich as him. He could have any woman he wanted, but he’d wanted her. So she’d thought. Though this guy should have come across creepy in the extreme, he didn’t. Did she trust him entirely? No. But she was willing to see what happened next.
“You’re not my enemy,” she said.
He raised one dark brow. “So sure?”
“If you’d wanted to harm me, you could have done it already. You were here waiting on me, and I didn’t even notice until I turned on the light.” Rose dropped her purse on the chair. “I’m tired, Mr. Ferguson. It’s been a bitch of a day. You’ll pardon me if I don’t feel like company tonight.”
“Fine. We’ll continue our conversation in the morning.” He picked up a beer bottle sitting on her coffee table and took a long pull before crossing the short distance to the kitchenette and disposing of the bottle in the glass recycling container. Instead of leaving, however, he plopped back down on the recliner and raised the footrest, going back to his phone.
“What are you doing?”
He didn’t even glance at her. “Settling in for the night. I have some reading on you to catch up on. I imagine I’ll have many more questions for you when you wake up.”
“You’re not staying here tonight. I don’t want a strange man in my home while I sleep.”
He threw her a quick grin. “Then stay up and talk with me. Then I won’t be a stranger to you, and I’ll have my answers. We both can rest easy.”
Rose was at a loss. She was bone tired, and her head was beginning to ache with all the stress of the day. The man in front of her was anything but safe, but she found she wasn’t willing to call the police to have him thrown out. She sighed, resigning herself to a long night. “What do you want from me, Mr. Ferguson?”
He looked at her a long moment before answering her. “I want you to get ready for bed. You need sleep.”
She shook her head. “Not happening with you here.”
“Your other alternative is to come back to the hotel with me. I’m not leaving without you.”
“You have to know they’ll kick me out if I even try to go back there.”
He grinned. “They can try.”
“Will you leave me alone and let me rest if I go with you?” As perverse as it sounded, she kind of hoped they’d run into her boss. She was curious how this man would handle such a situation.
“You have my word.”
“Fine. But if you rape and murder me in my sleep, know that I will come back and haunt you.”
Rose expected him to laugh at her or, at the very least, scoff at her remark. Instead, he put the footrest down and stood, coming to stand in front of her. He framed her face with his hands and forced her to look him in the eye.
“Understand me, Rose. I’d never do anything to hurt you. Especially not like that. You have a man of means and resources who’s fixated on you because his son was taken from him. I happen to believe you’re not safe here.” He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip gently. “Do I have ulterior motives for wanting to keep you close to me? Unquestionably. You’re a beautiful woman. Any man would beg to get you into his bed. I’ll rely on my own charm to get what I want and do my best to coax you there, but I’d never take what you didn’t freely give me.” He was completely sober in his response to her. He wasn’t angry and didn’t take offense. Instead, he simply addressed what he obviously knew were very real concerns of hers. “Now,” he held out his hand to her, “will you come with me?”
Before she could stop herself, Rose placed her hand in his. “I need to get some things.”
He shrugged. “Pack it all if you want. I have no intention of ever bringing you back here except to pick up anything else you need.”
“Don’t push your luck, Mr. Ferguson.”
“Gavin,” he said smoothly.
“Fine. Gavin.”
He grinned at her. “You’ve got ten minutes, then, if you ain’t ready, I’m carrying you out.”
Chapter Three
If there was one thing Torpedo hated it was having to wear a suit. The damned thing was hot, and the collar and tie were too tight. He wanted a T-shirt and his colors. The only thing that had stopped him from putting them on to go after that intriguing girl was him not wanting to scare her. At least, not yet. Time enough for that later.
He did as he said. Gave her ten minutes to pack a bag. She wasn’t ready, so he made good on his word. Tossed her over his shoulder, picked up her bag, and left her apartment. Thing was too small for her anyway. She was a woman who deserved a large, beautiful house. Not this shitty, overpriced, two-room apartment. Well, he was about to pamper her li
ke she’d never been pampered. Torpedo wasn’t sure exactly where he was going with this, but he knew it was something he needed to do. Along the way, he’d slay her dragons just because it pleased him to do so.
“You’re an ape, Gavin Ferguson!” She’d fumed all the way to the hotel, her arms crossed under her breasts and her lovely copper eyes flashing like new pennies in the sun. “The whole block probably saw us!”
“Only because you make a hell of a lot of noise when you want to.” Torpedo had her in the back seat of the limo provided by the hotel for use by whomever was staying in the penthouse. He grinned and winked at her. “Could be fun.”
“Oh! You’re such a cad!”
He laughed. “Never said I wasn’t.” They pulled into the large, circular drive of the hotel. He thought about going in the private entrance but decided against it. If there was anyone who worked in that fucking place, he wanted them to know she was with him. Let ‘em come after her. Taking on Richmond Foley wasn’t something he could do alone simply because he couldn’t kill the man outright, but he could definitely take care of hotel staff. Welcomed it, even.
When he took her hand to help her out of the limo, she tried to ignore him, but he forced the issue with a smirk. “Go ahead. Make a scene.”
“You’d probably love it,” she bit out. She didn’t look put out or angry. On the contrary, she looked like she was expecting someone to jump out and order her off the property. She was fully expecting to be embarrassed and shamed into leaving.
“You know I’m not going to let anyone harm you in any way. Right?” It was important to him for her to know he would protect her. He wanted her confident, like she had been when he’d opened that fucking door naked as the day he was born.
“You probably have a great deal of influence, but if you’re right and Richmond wants me gone from here, it’s going to take a lot more than a playboy in the penthouse to keep management from calling the law to escort me out.”
“You leave that to me, honey.” And he meant every single word. There was something inside him that needed to protect Rose. Probably because, as a soldier, that was what he did. He protected.
“Whatever,” she groused. She followed him out of the limo and only tugged her hand once when he took it to walk into the hotel.
Torpedo made the walk across the lobby to the private elevator like a leisurely stroll. He wanted someone to call her out because, perversely, he was spoiling for a confrontation. The only things he’d had to fight with for over a month were one spoiled brat he hoped to never see again because he couldn’t throw her a beating, and one fucking big-ass mountain. He needed a real fight, even if it was only a good cussing out. Anyone trying to stop Rose from accompanying him would do nicely.
As his gaze shifted around the room, Torpedo caught sight of two security guards on opposite sides. One seemed bored -- the other was flirting with one of the girls at the host desk. No one seemed overly interested in Rose or, more importantly, in preventing her from going with him.
“Torpedo!”
He winced. “Fuuuck,” he muttered. He looked around until he found the man who’d called to him. Shadow raised a hand while Vicious just gave him a puzzled look. No doubt the suit was throwing them. Knowing there was about to be more of a scene than he’d originally wanted, and that he couldn’t fight anybody or even give a verbal tongue lashing, he gripped Rose’s hand tighter and quickened his pace. The two men weren’t deterred.
“What the fuck, man?” Shadow sounded both amused and puzzled. “A suit and a girl? I thought you had your fill on the fuckin’ mountain.”
“Shut the fuck up, Shadow,” Torpedo bit out.
“Look, the girl I can understand. She’s pretty and seems to have a much better disposition than that last bitch, but Cain will never forgive the suit. If he finds out, Arkham or Bohannon will be the next vice president, and I’m not sure any of us would survive them.” There was laughter in Shadow’s voice. When Torpedo glanced at him, he could see amusement on his face as well.
“Can we not do this here?” Though he could really give two shits about their topic of conversation in the hotel lobby, Rose had started to struggle, trying to get her hand out of his iron grip. “Stop struggling, Rose. Unless you want a repeat of what happened at your apartment.”
“You can’t make me go with all of you.”
“Relax, sweetheart,” Shadow said, his voice soft now. “We’re just fuckin’ with Torpedo. No one’s gonna hurt you.”
Torpedo herded her into the elevator and stabbed the button to the penthouse. He kept his grip on Rose, keeping her just that little bit behind him. Shadow raised his hands in surrender and moved until his back was against the wall. Vicious rolled his eyes and muttered something Torpedo couldn’t catch, but he moved back against the wall as well.
He could feel Rose trembling where he crowded her body, forcing hers to touch his. “It’s OK. You’re fine. Just take a breath.”
“I’ve never done anything to anybody,” she whimpered. “Why do people keep trying to hurt me?”
The door slid open and Torpedo urged her out, letting go of her hand and sliding his arm around her waist as he went. “No one is going to hurt you, Rose. No one’s even gonna to try to hurt you. You’re safe with me.” He looked down at her bowed head. If she cried, he might have to kill someone. Starting with Shadow for scaring her. “I’ve read the police reports and the court documents. I also know Richmond Foley can’t accept the fact that he raised a monster and is trying to blame you for his son, Tyler’s, incarceration.”
She looked up at him, her expression blank. “Why am I here, Mr. Ferguson?”
“Because you need help and I can give it to you.”
“How do you know that? And when, exactly, did you find out?” She took a step back. “Who are you?”
“Does it matter?” Torpedo took the two steps separating them and, without him deciding to move, his hand just reached down and brushed an errant curl from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “You’ve got a problem and we can solve it. Why not let us?”
“You kidnapped me from my home. Why should I trust you? For all I know, you could have been sent by Richmond to remove me permanently.”
Something inside Torpedo threatened to rip free. It was ugly and violent and so fast and sharp he wasn’t sure he could contain it. He must have said or done something to spook Rose, because she gave a little gasp and sank down the wall to the floor.
“Hey, Torpedo.” Shadow was at his shoulder, laying a calming hand on him. “Ease up, brother. She’s spooked enough. You’re always the calm one, and she needs you to be calm.”
“If he really kidnapped her, ain’t nothin’ gonna ease her mind ‘bout this,” Vicious offered. Torpedo turned his head and saw a little smirk on the other man’s face. “No wonder she’s spooked.”
“You’re not helping, Vicious.” Torpedo gritted his teeth and backed up a step, out of her personal space. He held out a hand to her, willing her to take it. She didn’t, but she did stand. Probably thinking she could bolt. “Guys, back the hell off, OK?” Torpedo turned to Shadow and Vicious. “You’re scaring her.”
“Really?” Shadow said, massive arms crossed over his equally massive chest. “‘Cause I’m pretty sure it was your growly meanie face, little bro.” He stepped forward and took Rose’s hand. “I’m Shadow,” he said, grinning like an ape. The bastard gave him a shit-eating grin over his shoulder as he shook Rose’s hand. “Don’t pay much attention to Torpedo here. He’s one step out of the cave. Cain only lets him out on the weekends.”
“They call me Vicious.” The man from Salvation’s Bane stepped forward to take her hand as well. “No idea why. I’m a real pussycat.” He winked at her.
“What are you guys? And why the funky names?”
Great. The whole reason Torpedo had put on the fucking suit was to keep her from knowing he was a biker. She could have that information after she got to know him. He wasn’t acknowledging to himself why that
had been a priority. The boys would have too much fun over that.
“It’s kind of a long story,” Torpedo said, trying to cut the guys off. He knew without a doubt he’d get no help there.
“We’re bikers.” Vicious offered, looking all innocent and shit. “They’re Bones MC. I’m Salvation’s Bane. My club is here in Palm Beach while these hicks hail from Kentucky.” When she just blinked at him like it didn’t compute, he continued. “We’re also mercenaries. Work for a company called ExFil. We specialize in protection and getting people out of difficult situations. Paramilitary and all that shit.” His grin widened. “Real badasses and all.”
“Why would you take an interest in my situation?” She still looked confused, but not as scared as she had. “I’m nothing to you.”
“Why indeed?” Shadow said with a smirk thrown Torpedo’s way. “You’ll have to ask that one, little miss. We got the call to break out of jail and come help his sorry ass so here we are.”
“Jail?!” Her eyes were wide again, her skin going pale.
“Relax,” Vicious said. “He was speaking metaphorically, or some shit. We were in the hospital. Last mission took us to a mountain near Mount Everest, and our charge insisted on trying to summit. She had no business being there, and neither did we.” He nodded to Torpedo. “Your savior there was the only one of us to get home without a lengthy hospital stay.”
“My savior?”
“Yeah. He’s gonna save you from your big bad wolf.” Vicious chuckled, obviously enjoying the whole situation. “I thought he was in trouble from… err… a rival club, but instead, we find him with a beautiful woman. Figures he’d need some encouragement from his brothers. He’s not got nearly the self-confidence, or the equipment, of me and Shadow here.”
Shadow guffawed. In that moment, Torpedo could have happily throttled the younger man.
“Not sure why Data sent you clowns here, but you’re definitely not helping,” he muttered. Torpedo couldn’t be angry at them, though. Rose actually grinned before she could stop herself, and it seemed to break the tension in her. “Look,” he said, stepping back even farther, trying his best not to crowd her. “Let’s me and you sit down at the table. I’ll show you what I’ve got, and you can fill in the gaps. We’ll see what’s going on and take care of business. You’re safe, Rose. I swear it.”
Torpedo (Bones MC 7) Page 3