I started down the hall toward the kitchen for a snack.
Delta came out of his room. “Thorn.” His low voice was barely above a whisper.
I turned to see the giant in the doorway of a third bedroom.
Delta pointed to my room and mouthed. “Stay there.”
What was going on? I had no idea why they were freaking out.
Then I heard it. A step, then two outside the door on the landing. Shit. Were we about to be attacked? I moved quickly to my bedroom and Thorn followed.
“Stay here until one of us comes for you.” He thrust a gun in my hand. “Anyone but Delta or me comes through that door, just point and shoot.” He winked. “Try not to shoot us.”
I waited a minute, then peeked around the corner of my doorway so I could see the entrance to the apartment. I had to know what was going on.
Delta was on one side of the door and Thorn stood on the other, right where the door would swing to, but I didn’t think even a door slamming into Thorn would slow him down.
Both of their gazes had homed in on the knob that was twitching.
“Fuck this.” I heard the muffled expletive moments before a large crash of the door being knocked in deafened me.
Thorn stopped the door’s momentum and shoved it back into the first guy through the door.
Delta whipped around and kicked the guy in the throat, I think. Anyway he dropped and Delta did something to the second guy and then I couldn’t see, but I heard the crunch of broken bone and the wet smack of skin hitting skin. Thorn stepped over the fallen guy, peered outside, then turned back to me.
He picked up the bag in my room and grabbed two in Delta’s but nothing from his, which I found strange. But this was no time for questions. I followed after him, staying a few steps back for good measure. He held up a hand to stop me, then turned the corner. Delta popped up and scared me because I was expecting Thorn to round the corner.
Delta gave me a quick grin and motioned me forward, clasping his hand in mine. I was freaking crazy because I smiled too. Why wasn’t I freaking out? I stepped over another guy laid out flat. All in all, they had taken care of the men in seconds, really.
We made it to the parking lot and climbed into Delta’s SUV. Thorn was smooshed up in the back although I’d offered to ride there. He muttered something about a clown car and folded himself into the back.
“You should have kept one awake,” Thorn said.
“Bring one with us,” Delta ground out. “I wasn’t taking chances with Glory there.”
“Fuck,” Thorn grunted and pried himself out of the truck.
“Is he bringing one of the mob guys?” I frowned. “That’s not a good idea.”
Delta grinned with a scary smile that sent a chill down my arms. “We need intel, and between the two of us we’ll extract all he knows.”
“That’s downright wrong.”
The smile vanished. “This is your life, and I don’t fuck around when it comes to people close to me. Get me, Queenie?”
I swallowed. “I didn’t mean to criticize.” But I had. “Sorry, this is just all scary.”
Thorn opened the back hatch and threw in a bound man. This night was surreal.
Chapter 12: Delta
I drove north determined to put distance between us and the mob. Once I left the Vegas city limits behind I breathed easier. I took the exit for highway 95, and while it was busy, I could still spot a tail. And the mob wasn’t known to leave Vegas without thinking twice. I hoped by leaving the city, it’d buy us some time to figure out how they’d found us and what I needed to do next.
The woman beside me was one hundred percent trouble. And I wasn’t talking about the people chasing her. She was the dangerous kind of woman. It was easy to fuck and forget a simple woman, but a complicated queen with a bit of sweet underneath was a different matter entirely. She could snare any of us, and I didn’t want it to be me, for a ton of reasons, not least of which was that she hated me as much as she wanted me. That love-hate vibe was really doing it for me and that was so fucking wrong.
To distract myself, I made a to-do list in my mind.
New wheels topped my list. I had a place in mind to question our guy and take stock of the situation. Then I needed to ship Queenie away from me before I did something totally stupid. Or maybe right after I did something totally stupid. I was me after all.
My ringing phone stopped me from further dangerous thoughts. “Go, Eagle.”
“You need to evac, now.” Eagle’s voice echoed through the Bluetooth in the radio.
“Warning’s too late, brother,” Thorn boomed from the back.
“So you heard about Ricci?”
“What?” the three of us said at once.
“What are you talking about?”
“A team attacked the apartment a half hour ago.”
“Fuck,” Eagle grumbled. “Ricci is dead—just heard it. They’d been keeping it hush-hush the last couple hours.”
“How? We left him alive?”
“Spleen damage—he died in surgery.”
Fuck, that was bad news. An unease spread through me—we hadn’t meant for this to turn lethal. I hadn’t wanted to kill anyone. This shit just got a hundred times more complicated.
“You guys whole?”
“We’re good. We left several of DeLuca’s guys down at the apartment,” I said, while trying to figure out how the fuck they found us.
“How’d they track us?” Thorn asked the question I’d been thinking.
“I don’t fucking know, and I’m already heading out of town. We’ll have to figure it out, though,” Eagle said.
“See ya at the rendezvous.” I punched End.
Glory looked at me. “We’re fucked.”
“We’re fine,” I said, although she was right. We were fucked.
Five hours later, I drove into Reno and headed straight to the Crow’s Nest—a place owned by the Ravens. The Nest was a bar, casino and restaurant with a row of rooms out behind the main building. A bastard clubhouse and business in one, but it was as safe as anywhere could be. I could purchase additional firepower here before I headed back to Vegas. I had a lot of questions, but I knew one thing—I’d be back in Vegas fixing this mess. Ricci was dead. And that took this to a war—a war where we were way outnumbered.
I pulled up front. “Wait here, hide your face if someone comes looking.”
“What the hell—”
I was gone and didn’t hear the rest of her lip—she was too damn sassy, sexy and sweet. I hurried inside and grabbed a key from Mouse, the kid who worked the front desk for the club. After a quick exchange, I told him to have their prez find me when he had a few minutes.
Back in the car, I drove around back to the last one in the line—it was my preferred spot. I’d spent quite a stretch of time here three years ago, and I stopped in at least every other trip to Vegas to stay a night or two.
“Let’s go.” I opened the door to the room and Glory strolled inside. Maybe I should have gotten two since we’d be questioning this guy to figure out how much he knew. But I didn’t like the vulnerability of having us in two locations, not until I had more reinforcements and intel.
Thorn carried the restrained guy inside and dropped him on the floor between the wall and first bed. “Going for a run.” He turned and ghosted out the door. He didn’t do enclosed spaces well, so for him the back of the SUV had been a prison.
Glory whipped her head between me and where Thorn had been. “I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to, Queenie.” I chucked her chin, then went to retrieve the desk chair. “Go get the bags from the car.”
She opened her mouth to sass me.
“Or stay here with the bad guy.”
She snapped her jaw shut and walked out the door with only a slight limp and returned a f
ew seconds later with our bags.
“Good girl.”
“Don’t do that Dom stuff with me.” She fisted hands on her hips.
“Do you want me to be your Daddy?”
She turned pink, then darker red before settling on crimson. “Don’t even think...” she spluttered and stomped her foot. “Men.” She threw her hands in the air.
I threw my head back and laughed.
“Are you like the others?”
“A biker?”
“Duh.” She rolled her eyes. “I meant trained at the sex club—into all that kinky shit.”
“You have to be more specific.” I loved revving her up. “Which kinky shit?”
“Domination, submission, pain—kinky shit!” Totally pissed off now, she almost vibrated with anger.
“Well, I am not into any of the kinky shit you named, but that wasn’t a thorough list.”
Confusion battled with pissed-off on her face. Queenie was an innocent in all the ways that mattered. That should make me want to stay far away, but instead I had a hankering to educate her in my kind of pleasure. She bit her lip, so damn sexy, and wrinkled her brow. “What else is there?”
I swallowed the laugh because Queenie wasn’t the kind of girl to laugh at, and she’d likely hand me my balls if I cracked a smile. “If you’re brave enough, I’ll show you.”
She crossed her legs with a huff, but I wasn’t sure that was a no.
I hated to change the subject but we needed to talk about the coming interrogation. “The guy there.” I pointed to where the man lay struggling. “We’re going to question him, hurt him most likely, until we know everything he knows.”
She glanced down at the man, then away. “Why?”
“They shouldn’t have been able to find us.”
“Then this is because of me, and I’d be the worst kind of stupid to say don’t hurt him. Do what you need to.” She stared at the wall, not making eye contact with any of us. She was damn adorable. “Would it be a bad thing if I were to shower while it was going on?”
“I’d prefer it that way.”
She didn’t need to see either of us like that.
Thorn walked in and ended our discussion. Glory grabbed her bag of clothing and hurried into the bathroom. The snick of the lock was the only sound in the room.
“You going to wake him up?” I rolled the desk chair over and picked him up. Thorn scooted past me to the sink next to the bathroom and filled the small plastic ice bucket with water. I grabbed the duct tape from my go bag and secured the guy’s arms to the chair supports.
Thorn threw the water in his face and he woke up. “This will be painful.”
I crossed my arms and stared down at him. “We already know a lot, and pain will be dished out for false answers.”
“Who do you work for?” Thorn bellowed.
The man turned his head but Thorn slapped him when he didn’t answer fast enough. A slap from Thorn was like my punch, and the guy’s head whipped from side to side.
“We need the knives.” I rummaged through my go bag and pulled out a set of three razor-sharp knives. I could create pain with them. “Grab his shoes,” I told Thorn as I unrolled the plastic sheathing. Three thin stainless-steel blades in increasing lengths lay in their protective case.
Despite what others advocated, I preferred working over the feet with knives. Thorn liked the stomach, but it was easy to go too far there.
I turned with my shortest of the three knives, pricking the tip of my finger with the point.
“DeLuca family, so don’t fuck with me.” He tried to sound tough but his eyes were so wide I could see lots of the white orbs. He was so scared right now.
“We’re going to do worse than fuck with you.” I let the threat hang there. “What’s your name again?”
“Jimmy. Jimmy Ricci—Angel DeLuca is my uncle.” He puffed out his chest as if this knowledge would save him. It wouldn’t.
“Was Frankie related to you?”
The guy gulped and sat up straighter. “You know nothing! You killed Angel’s son. You boys are dead even if you don’t kill me.” Satisfaction gleamed in the kid’s wideset eyes. He wanted us to be scared of what was coming, but he should be more scared of us.
I drove the knife tip through the fleshy part of his shoulder under the shoulder blade. The idiot screamed loud and then louder still when I pulled it out.
“Explain that.”
His head dropped but Thorn jerked him up by the hair.
“You killed his son.”
“Frank Ricci is Angel’s nephew?”
“Nah, I am a nephew. Frankie is the bastard son—Angel’s favorite.”
Fuck me. We’d screwed the pooch bad. I’d sensed something off with the intel, but I’d gone ahead. Now the club was in deep. And unless we got creative fast, we’d be in a bloody war that lasted years.
Thorn punched him and the prick was out cold.
“Goddammit Thorn, he was just starting to talk. We still don’t know how the fuckers found us.”
Glory sauntered out just then in shorts and a T-shirt all fresh smelling with damp hair. I wanted to push her against the wall and fuck her right then. I managed to restrain myself. She stared at the guy duct-taped to the chair. “He spill it all?”
“Only about half of it before Thorn knocked him out.” I pulled her to me, inhaling the scent of her shampoo. Not as great as the peach. I sat on the bed and pulled her onto my lap.
“What did you find out?” she asked again.
“That you need to be out of Nevada.” Thorn had his phone in his hand. “Zero will be here in two hours and he’s taking you back to Barden.”
“What the fuck?” Glory shot up from my lap.
I just stared at Thorn.
He gave me that intense scowl he wore most of the time. “You can go back and protect her or take care of shit here.”
He was giving me a choice? I always rode into danger. Protecting assets was someone else’s job. And it would be this time. “You sending Eagle with them?”
“Nah, he’ll stick with us. I have him on recon now.” Thorn nodded at Glory. “You need clear of this until we make peace here. Frankie was DeLuca’s son.”
“Fuck me.” She stumbled. “I ain’t ever coming back here.”
“Yeah, Queenie, you will reign in Vegas if that’s what you want.” I stepped in and tilted her chin up until she met my gaze. “I promised you that.”
“That was before you...before we knew—”
“I keep my promises. The club keeps their promises. Get me?” I spoke too harsh but the woman was under my skin.
“I get it.” She rolled her eyes. “So you guys do manly stuff while I stay safe.”
“Let’s get food.”
Thorn glared at the guy in the chair.
“I think we can let him sleep it off until after Zero gets Glory.”
Thorn gave a nod and headed out the door. I waited for Glory to put on shoes and then we walked across the parking lot to the restaurant.
“The chicken fried steak is damn good.” I expected some shit about her figure because she had a tiny waist.
“Sounds good.” She sashayed that heart-shaped ass right past me and into the restaurant.
Before we’d ordered, we’d attracted half the Renegades to our table. They said it was to see me and Thorn but it was Glory who brought them over.
I might end up breaking heads before this meal was done. I had never been jealous, wasn’t jealous now, but the way the Renegades eyed her just rubbed me wrong. She wasn’t theirs—she belonged to the Brotherhood, whether she wanted to or not.
Chapter 13: Glory
The guys in the Renegades were sweet enough, but I was done with them before I even finished the delicious chicken fried steak.
“I got some business,
you hang here.” Delta nodded to one of the bikers and they left together. Thorn had already disappeared.
I was sick of being left behind—the guys had left me with the other bikers while they did secret club shit. God, I hated the Brotherhood and the way everyone kept picking it over me. Petty much? Hell yeah, I was. Mark, Avery, Delta and MJ all those years ago. She’d started the war with the Brotherhood when she’d torn our family apart. My mama had told me nightmare stories of the drama back in the late seventies when Oliver Jericho had ridden into town and swooped up my aunt, MJ, stealing her from Avery’s dad, creating a scandal that still rocked Barden. MJ had been engaged to marry Avery’s dad, and had left him days before the wedding to shack up with Oliver Jericho. The two of them had formed the Jericho Brotherhood. And MJ’s betrayal had turned the town against the club. Forty-five years later, there were still ripples from those decisions. When Rebel joined the club, his family abandoned him. Avery’s dad had put her in the hospital for marrying a biker, and the dissension continued to grow. My mama had made me swear to never join them, and I had, but that wasn’t what really stopped me from falling for a biker. Bikers loved the club most, and I wasn’t ever going to be second.
“Baby doll, you should come on over to my lap.”
“I’m so thirsty.” I cleared my throat. “If it isn’t any trouble.” Two bikers scurried away, and I was off the hook for sitting on a lap. I wasn’t the approachable girl next door like my friend Lila. No, I was Cleopatra or Marilyn Monroe. Lonely women who ended up killing themselves. Overdramatic? Yeah. But I was ready for someone who saw deeper than the package I came in.
The guys brought me a beer and set a pitcher on the table. “Thank you, sweetie.” I patted the one guy’s face before I took a sip.
“You know, we’d love to have you stay with us until you can make it back to Vegas.” Crow, the Renegades’ leader, winked at me.
“I’ll think about it, handsome, but I do miss home.” A blatant lie. I never wanted to return to Barden, but I didn’t want to be claimed by these guys either. Bikers were worse than cavemen.
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