Craving Rose (The Aces' Sons)

by Nicole Jacquelyn

  I was tired and irritated and watching the clock when Mack strode through the front door, his eyes immediately finding me behind the bar. I should have known that dodging his calls wouldn’t last forever, but I’d been under the mistaken impression that he’d eventually give up. Clearly, I was wrong.

  I fidgeted with the towel in my hand as he strode toward me, barely noticing the men who followed him inside or the customers standing at the bar waiting for my attention. I couldn’t see anything but Mack. His dark flannel fit snug under his cut, and he was wearing a black beanie that I’d never seen before. I wondered if it was new, and my stomach twisted at the thought of not knowing that he’d bought something as insignificant as a hat.

  “You got a break comin’ up?” he asked as he reached the opposite edge of the bar top.

  “I just took one,” I replied, glancing over at my boss.

  “Take another one,” Mack ordered.

  I glanced at the crowded bar. “I can’t just—”

  “Rose,” Mack cut me off. “Take another one.”

  We stared at each other, neither of us willing to concede.

  I broke first. Of course I did. I wanted any time I could have with him, even if it was only fifteen minutes in the middle of my shift.

  “Matt,” I called, setting down the towel that I’d wrung into a wrinkled ball. “I’m taking a break.”

  “You just—” Matt looked over at Mack. “Uh, okay. I’ll hold down the fort.”

  I walked to the end of the bar and slipped through the opening where the counter was on a hinge, barely making it two steps before Mack was in front of me, his hand held out, palm up. I met his eyes as I laid my hand on his, and my heart beat wildly as he laced his fingers with mine.

  “Come on,” he said quietly, pulling me out the front door. He didn’t slow until we’d rounded the building and stood in the dark alley along the side.

  “What are we doing?” I asked, keeping my voice low. The darkness reminded me of that first night he’d kissed me, and even though I’d seen and touched every inch of his body, my stomach still exploded in butterflies when he crowded me up against the wall.

  “Can’t do this anymore,” he said. “I don’t wanna live a life without you in it.” He dropped his forehead against mine and his hands came up so he could thread his fingers through my hair. My breath caught. “Jesus, Rose, how much weight have you lost? You’re so fuckin’ skinny, baby. What the fuck?”

  His fingers tightened. “We gotta figure this out.”

  “We already did,” I replied sadly. It was hard to remember all of the reasons we didn’t work when he was so close I could almost taste him.

  “We don’t have to decide anythin’ now,” he said roughly, his thumbs brushing gently over my cheeks. “We got time, baby.”

  “I’m not going to change my mind,” I said, gripping his cut in my fists. “I want a family, Mack. I’ve always wanted one.”

  “I get it,” he replied. “So lets see where this goes.”

  “What are you saying?”

  Mack let out a huff of breath. “That I’ll do whatever it takes,” he said with a shrug. “You want ’em, I’ll give ’em to you.”

  “I don’t want you to agree with me so that we can get back together,” I ground out, my eyes watering. “I want you to want to make a family with me. I want you to trust me enough that you don’t have any reservations letting me help raise Kara.”

  “I couldn’t keep you from Kara if I tried,” he said, his hands tightening in my hair. “You think I don’t know you’re seein’ her still?”

  “I wasn’t trying to go behind your back—”

  Mack let out a deep chuckle. “Baby, you think I care about that? Shit, you know how stupid I felt when I found out you were still goin’ to hang with her after all that shit I said when you left?”

  “I just wanted her to know that I hadn’t abandoned her,” I whispered, my throat getting tight. “Our disagreement didn’t have anything to do with her.”

  “Jesus, I love you,” he breathed. He tipped his head down to kiss me, but he never made contact.

  Everything inside me went still when I looked behind him.

  We hadn’t noticed the men who’d followed us out of the bar.

  Chapter 14

  Mack

  I stared into Rose’s gorgeous brown eyes as my blood turned to ice in my veins.

  I’d been distracted. So caught up in getting my woman back that I hadn’t paid attention to my surroundings. I hoped she saw the apology in my eyes as I tilted my head slightly to the side, lessening the cold pressure of the gun against the underside of my jaw.

  “Don’t do anything stupid,” the guy behind me ordered.

  “Not doin’ anythin,’ man,” I said calmly, tightening my hands on Rose before slowly sliding them away from her. “You want my wallet? Back pocket.”

  The man laughed. “Nah, I’m good.”

  Rose parted her lips to speak, but the look on my face had her snapping her mouth closed again. Thank Christ.

  “What’re you after?” I asked.

  My pistol was tucked into the back of my jeans, and as I lowered my hands to my sides, I contemplated how fast I could pull it.

  Rose’s lips began to tremble.

  I wouldn’t be fast enough.

  Even if by some chance I got my hand on it, the man behind me would blow my head off before I could kill him.

  “Let’s go,” he ordered, grabbing a hold of the back of my cut. I tasted bile as he used it to pull me backward.

  “Let her leave,” I said as Rose’s arms dropped from around my waist. “Whatever problem you got with me ain’t got nothin’ to do with her.”

  “Not happening,” he man muttered.

  That’s when a second man stepped out of the darkness and grabbed Rose by the arm. Shit. No way could I take both of them without Rose getting caught in the middle.

  “Hey,” I snapped, jerking forward.

  “No,” the man with the gun to my throat said calmly, pressing the barrel harder against the underside of my jaw.

  “Don’t touch me,” Rose snapped, trying to pull her arm from the man’s grip.

  I swear to Christ, the next few seconds happened in slow motion as her captor pulled a gun and pointed it just inches from her face.

  “Stop,” I said quickly.

  “Bitch,” he said quietly, ignoring me. “Gimme a reason.”

  I was going to kill him.

  “Okay,” Rose whispered, her eyes black with shock. “I’m going.”

  I lost sight of Rose as I was pushed toward an older, rusted-out Buick, and my mind raced as I tried to figure out how the fuck I was going to get us out of this. I couldn’t believe some motherfuckers got the jump on me. As we reached the edge of the lighted parking lot, I swept my eyes back and forth, looking for anything I could use.

  “In,” the guy behind me ordered. He reached for the back door of the Buick, and I knew I didn’t have a choice. I had to do something, because the minute we got in their car, we were pretty much fucked.

  I grabbed the guy’s arm as I lurched to the side, and his gun dropped as I jerked him in front of me and slammed his head against the roof of the car. It took less than a second for me to grab the pistol from the back of my jeans and spin, but in that time, the one holding Rose had jammed his gun against her eye and stood there watching me, expressionless.

  “Let her leave,” I ground out. I knew at this distance that I could blow a hole the size of Rhode Island in his head. He knew it, too. But as Rose quietly cried, her eyes squeezed shut in horror, the man holding her gave me a small smile.

  He knew that I was fucked. I could kill him, but before he dropped, he’d take Rose with him.

  I slowly lowered my weapon, and as soon as it dangled from my fingertips, the guy I’d fucked up hit me on the back of the head with something hard and heavy. Goddammit. Everything went blurry as I dropped to my knees.

  “Check him, you fucking moron,�
�� one of the men ordered. “I don’t want any more surprises.”

  I struggled to stay conscious as they loaded me and Rose into the backseat of the car and my stomach churned as Rose’s hand found mine.

  “You move, I shoot her,” the guy who’d held his gun to Rose’s head said conversationally.

  I squeezed my hand around Rose’s and nodded, committing the man’s face to memory. He was a dead man, no matter how things played out.

  They brought us to a little, run down house that was surrounded by a large field, and I inwardly cursed. There were no neighbors, and even if by some chance I could get Rose to run, there was nowhere for her to hide.

  As they shoved us down into the basement, I felt all emotion fade. If I was going to get us out of there, my mind had to be clear.

  “On your knees,” one of the men ordered.

  My gaze found Rose as we lowered ourselves. Her face was as emotionless as mine, but her eyes said everything.

  Chapter 15

  Trix

  I strode quickly through the clubhouse and knocked on the door to the war room, or church as the boys called it. I’d never been allowed inside and I didn’t see that changing anytime soon, but I wasn’t going to wait for the men inside to stop scratching their balls and leave. Still, it felt weird interrupting them.

  “What?” Tommy barked, throwing open the door. His eyebrows shot up when he saw me standing outside. “Oh, hey, Trix. Everything okay?”

  “They’re fine,” I said, looking around him. “Have you seen Mack?”

  Tommy shook his head, leaning a little to the side so I could see the room more clearly. My dad, Grease, and Will sat around, their eyes on me.

  “Have any of you seen Mack today?”

  “Not answerin’ his phone,” Will replied.

  “Shit,” I muttered, pushing at the headache that was starting between my eyes.

  “What’s goin’ on, Little Warrior?” my dad asked, getting to his feet.

  “None of you have seen him?” I asked again.

  Something wasn’t right. My stomach twisted with anxiety.

  “Start talkin’,” my dad ordered.

  “Kara’s at our place,” I said as the men left their seats and herded me to the main room. “She stayed the night last night.”

  “Okay?” Grease replied.

  “Mack said he’d pick her up around nine,” I said, “but he never showed up.”

  “Slept in, maybe?” Tommy said with a shrug.

  “It’s noon,” I replied, shaking my head. “Mack’s never late.”

  “He isn’t,” Will said, backing me up. “He’s uptight as fuck about it. If he’s not sure, he doesn’t tell Kara when he’ll be there, but if he gives her a time, he doesn’t miss it. Maybe he’s with Rose?”

  Grease’s head jerked toward his son. “They back on?”

  “Don’t know,” Will replied. “But I figured it was only a matter of time.”

  “I’ve already called her,” I cut in. “She didn’t answer, either.”

  “Maybe they’re in bed,” Tommy said with a disgusted scowl.

  “No,” Will said, shaking his head. “No way Mack lets the phone ring when Kara’s not with him.”

  “What?” my dad asked when he saw the look on my face.

  “Something’s not right, Pop,” I said quietly. “I can feel it.”

  “Will,” Grease barked. “Head over to Rose’s. I’ll go to Mack’s.”

  “You keep tryin’ to call,” my dad ordered, wrapping his hand around the back of my head. He leaned forward and kissed my brow. “Let us know if you get either of them.”

  “I will.”

  As the men strode quickly to the front door, I pulled out my phone and dialed Rose again.

  * * *

  “Where the fuck is my daughter?” Grease barked, slamming his hand down on the table.

  We’d been searching for hours, but we hadn’t found anything good. After the men had no luck at Rose and Mack’s houses, they’d met up at Rose’s work and found Mack’s bike in the parking lot. Rose’s boss had met them at the front door, holding her purse and mad as fuck that she’d bailed on him during the middle of her shift.

  The couple had vanished and we had no fucking clue where they could’ve gone.

  “She wouldn’t just leave her purse,” Callie said, her fingers shaking as she picked at her lips nervously.

  “Mack wouldn’t leave Kara, either,” I said, a knot in my throat. God, I wished that Cam was here instead of down in San Diego, bailing his pain in the ass sister out of whatever jam she’d gotten herself in. “Not without asking me at least four times if it was okay and letting his daughter know.”

  “What do we know?” my dad asked, looking around.

  “Mack showed up around ten last night,” my little brother Leo said, going over what we already knew. “Rose went on break and they left through the front door. They never came back in. Rose left her shit in the back, and they didn’t take the bike. No cameras at the bar because Rose’s boss is a cheap piece of shit.”

  “Poet,” Dad said, turning to my gramps. “You got anything?”

  “Nothin’,” Gramps replied in disgust. “No one knows shit.”

  “Everyone’s reachin’ out,” Will said, his jaw tight. “We’re hittin’ dead end after dead end.”

  “Someone’s gotta know somethin’,” Grease replied.

  “If they do, no one’s talkin’,” Leo said. His arm was wrapped around Lily, who looked like she was going to lose it at any second.

  “Fuck,” Tommy yelled, throwing a chair across the room. Hawk didn’t even try to calm him down as he paced, his hands gripping his skull.

  “Find her, Asa,” Callie said quietly, staring at her husband.

  Grease’s nostrils flared as he looked back at his wife. He swallowed hard and nodded.

  My eyes stung as I looked away.

  * * *

  I crept into my house late that night, tired to my bones. We’d searched all day, and we hadn’t found a single thing that pointed us in the direction of Mack and Rose. Tempers were high and nerves were completely frayed.

  It didn’t help the situation that Casper, Farrah and Cam were all out of town. Casper was the one with all the connections. He had his little spies everywhere.

  “Trix?” Kara said quietly from the dark living room, making me jump. “Do you know where my dad is?”

  “Hey, kiddo,” I whispered back. “What are you doing awake?”

  “Something’s wrong,” she said tightly, stepping over Charlie’s sleeping form. “I can tell. My dad’s not answering his phone, and he hasn’t called me back all day.”

  “I’m not sure where he is,” I replied carefully as she stopped a couple feet from me. “We haven’t been able to get ahold of him or Rose all day.”

  “He’s with Rose?” she asked in surprise. Her shoulders slumped in relief. “That’s okay, then. They’re probably just making up.”

  “Yeah,” I said, giving her a small smile. “I bet that’s exactly what they’re doing.”

  I watched her as she rubbed her eyes tiredly, my chest aching. Sometimes when I looked at my boys, or Kara and Charlie, I was surprised at how mature they seemed. Things were so different from when I was a kid. Children grow up faster and know so much more. Then, out of nowhere, I caught a glimpse of the naiveté that they worked so hard to hide.

  “Go back to sleep, honey,” I said. “Or you’re going to be wiped tomorrow.”

  “Alright.”

  I waited until she’d climbed into her spot on the floor between Charlie and the couch, then quietly made my way upstairs. The boys were passed out when I checked on them, and I took a minute to throw Draco’s blanket back onto his bed, even though I knew he’d kick it off before morning.

  “Mom?” Curtis called as I turned to leave the room. “Is everything okay?”

  “It’s fine, bud,” I lied.

  “Something happened, didn’t it?” he asked, his voice sol
emn. “That’s why Nan stayed with us today.”

  I crossed the room and sat down on the edge of his bed, ducking a little so I wouldn’t hit my head on the top bunk.

  “Yeah,” I said, brushing his hair back from his face. “But don’t worry, the boys’ll figure it out.”

  “Is Dad okay?” he asked, swallowing hard.

  “Your dad’s fine,” I assured him.

  His dad was fine, but Kara’s might not be. It took everything I had to keep a neutral expression on my face when I wanted to start bawling.

  “It’s Kara’s dad, isn’t it?” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “That’s why he didn’t pick her up today.”

  My boy noticed everything.

  “We’re trying to figure out why he didn’t,” I replied calmly.

  “Oh,” he replied, his eyes darkening as he glanced toward his bedroom door. “I won’t say anything to Kara.”

  “Thanks, bud,” I choked out, nodding. “I’ll talk to her when we have news.”

  “No need to freak her out,” he said wisely, his voice cracking. He bit the inside of his cheek as his chin quivered.

  “It’s going to be okay, son,” I said, leaning forward to kiss his head. “Try and get some sleep.”

  I left the room and hurried down the hallway, barely getting my bedroom door shut behind me before the first sob left my mouth. Where the fuck were Mack and Rose?

  Chapter 16

  Will

  “Still nothing,” Molly told me, dropping her phone onto the table between us. She sighed in frustration. “I’ve checked every goddamn hospital in a fifty mile radius. No one matching Mack’s or Rose’s descriptions have been admitted in the past three days.”

  “This doesn’t make any fucking sense,” I muttered.

  It was like my sister had just disappeared off the face of the planet. We’d contacted every person we knew, brought in support from other chapters and allies along the west coast, called in every favor we had—and we still knew nothing.