Flame

by Chelle Bliss

  “I won’t tell them about your spring break activities, but they will know what happened tonight and the world of shit surrounding Pike.”

  “You won’t tell them that we were making out tonight, will you?”

  When her eyes widen, I slap my hand over my mouth, realizing I hadn’t told her about that and she had no way of knowing. Fuck. Good going, dumbass.

  “I won’t tell them about that either if you want Pike to still be breathing, but they’re going to have questions, and you’re going to have to woman up and answer them.”

  “Fine.”

  “But there will be lots of questions—especially now that Pike’s worried about your safety.”

  Sounds like a fan-fucking-tastic time. I’ve always wanted to tell my dad about the lies I’ve told him and the guys—even though they’ve been limited—that I’ve banged. I’m totally looking forward to the most uncomfortable situation of my life. Not.

  I would rather have my hair pulled out strand by strand while being tied to a chair of nails sticking in my ass than talk about any of this shit with the men in my family, especially my father.

  “Speak of the devil,” Izzy says as the door creaks behind me.

  My eyes widen and I freeze, unable to move as if somehow I’ll disappear and won’t have to have this talk now instead of later.

  “Giovanna,” my father says, his voice washing over me like I’m a little kid again, waiting to be punished for my stupid shit.

  I don’t turn around because Joe Gallo is a sweet man, but every guy, even my dad, has his breaking point. I’m pretty sure I’ve punched right through that ceiling without even trying. “Hey, Daddy.”

  “You and me, outside.”

  “Just talk here and grab a cup of coffee. I’ll go see what’s taking Pike and James so long.” Izzy catches my eye, giving me a small wink before she sashays right the fuck out of there, not even worried that my dad’s going to blow a fucking gasket.

  “Daddy…”

  “Save it, baby girl.”

  I bow my head, staring at my coffee, and ready myself for the biggest ass-chewing of my life.

  16

  Pike

  “We have a problem,” James says into the phone, staring at me from across the desk with his lips set in a firm line. “You’re the only man I could think to come to about the situation.”

  I bite the inside of my cheek, rubbing my hands against the wood of the chair my ass has been planted in for hours, taking James’s questions in rapid-fire succession.

  “I know what fucking time it is, but I couldn’t wait until your old ass decided to get out of bed.”

  My mouth falls open. No one has ever talked to Tiny, the President of the Disciples MC, that way. At least, I’d never heard them do it, because Tiny would’ve pounded their face in until they were black and blue, sucking their food through a straw for the next two months.

  James laughs. “You never were an early bird, ya old fuck.”

  I blink a few times, wondering who the fuck James is to Tiny, and how they know each other well enough that they can laugh while insulting the hell out of each other.

  “I have your kid Pike here.” James pauses, eyes sweeping over my face. “Yeah, he’s in one piece, alive and breathing, sitting right in front of me.”

  I begged James not to call Tiny. Pleaded with him not to get the Disciples MC involved, but he told me not to be a fucking moron and picked up the phone like it meant nothing to call in a favor.

  “Just sit there and keep your mouth shut,” James told me before he dialed Tiny’s number from memory, surprising the fuck out of me.

  So, here I sit, watching James as he takes my business into his own hands, giving help where I didn’t ask. But this isn’t just about me; this is about his niece and the pile of shit she landed in just by being near me.

  “He has an issue with DiSantis and needs somewhere to lie low.” James taps the pen he’s holding against the pad of paper he’d been taking notes on like he was working my case too. “Couldn’t think of anyone with enough manpower and weapons, outside of law enforcement, who would look after the kids except you and the boys.”

  I shake my head, surprised James is asking Tiny for help. Not just Tiny, but a motorcycle club that has many wearing the badge shaking in their fancy, polished boots.

  “It’s serious. Pike’s mom ain’t breathing no more because of the shit his father’s in with DiSantis.”

  I close my eyes, rubbing my fingers into the corners, wondering where the fuck my normal life has gone. Now, my mother’s dead, lying somewhere cold with a bullet lodged in the back of her head. My brother’s God knows where, hopefully with my grandmother, and my dad’s gone missing because he’s a fucking coward and a criminal.

  “My niece is involved too, Tiny. She’ll need safe haven and a guarantee you’ll protect her with your life. I’m trusting you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone who isn’t blood by asking you for this favor.”

  That shit ain’t no lie.

  Gigi said her uncle worked for the DEA but had since retired, now owning a private investigation firm. But from the sounds of it, he’s not entirely out of the game.

  “I’ll owe you, and you know I always pay my debts,” James tells him, still staring at me with a look I can’t quite place, and I’m not sure I’d want to even if I could.

  “I’ll drive them over after nightfall. You’re going to have to keep them out of sight until this shit blows over. I don’t want them traceable. No eyes can fall on them. The FBI has already questioned Pike, and I don’t want them getting their hands on him again. No man, no matter how much he hates his father, should be put in this position. Just keep them safe, and I’ll come for them when shit blows over.”

  “James.” I want to argue with him because I’m not sure hiding out with a badass biker crew at their compound is the best idea.

  He covers the phone with his hand, mouthing, “Not now. Just keep quiet.”

  I raise my eyebrows and twist my lips, biting back the words I want to say so badly.

  “We’ll be there around one. Be ready for us. I’m dropping them off at our meeting place and heading out. I’ll have two cars following, making sure no one is on our tail. I want them untraceable.”

  James leans back, laughing with Tiny before he presses his finger to the phone screen, ending the call. “Go get some sleep. You have a long day and night ahead of you,” he tells me, not even wanting to discuss the plans he made on my behalf.

  I don’t move because I’m not ready and I’m sure as fuck not used to being ordered around. “How exactly do you know Tiny? Because from what I can tell, neither of you run in the same circles.”

  “You know I worked for the DEA, yeah?”

  I nod.

  “We most certainly weren’t friends back in the day, but there was a mutual respect because I wasn’t out to pop him or his club for the dumb bullshit they were pulling back then. The Sun Devils were our target, and they were the mortal enemy of the Disciples. Let’s just say Tiny was happy to see that MC put behind bars.”

  “Wait, he helped you?”

  James shakes his head. “Fuck no. He’s not a narc, but when I started my own company and needed information, I went to Tiny, made peace, and paid him for intel I couldn’t get through any legal channels.”

  “That’s it? You paid him for information, and now you’re sending us there, thinking Tiny’s going to protect us?”

  James studies me as he leans forward, putting his palms together, elbows on the desk, and his mouth resting on the tips of his fingers. “When I went to Tiny about you because Izzy asked me to look into your past before she took you on, I’d never heard the man speak so highly about someone who wasn’t a brother.” He drops his hands to his desk, squaring his shoulders, eyes still on me. “He talked about you like you were his own kid. A man like Tiny doesn’t do that unless you crawled under his skin and made him feel shit he hasn’t felt in years. You’re up to your neck in shit, and by
default, so is my niece. You need to hide out, lie low until shit with your father and DiSantis blows over. I can’t think of a better place to put you than a spot that has enough brute force and an arsenal to handle an attack if the man is stupid enough to go after you inside their compound.”

  “I’d think a man like you would have us under FBI protection instead of the Disciples.”

  James gives a slow shake of his head. “Even though I worked for the government back in the day, I know how corrupt the system is and how easily people can be bought. I’m not putting my niece somewhere unless I know they can handle the blowback.”

  I’ve got nothing left to say. What he’s saying is true. If DiSantis wants me dead, I’m a sitting duck unless I hide out, and there’s no better place to disappear from radar than at the Disciples’ compound.

  “Now the sun’s up, the day’s already fucked because I’ve been up for hours, and I’ll have to listen to Izzy for an eternity as she tears me a new asshole. We’ll roll out just after sunset. You tell no one where you’re headed, and I mean no one. Not even your grandmother, Pike.”

  I nod. “I won’t tell a soul. Gigi’s safety is all that matters.”

  “If DiSantis’s men come…”

  “I’d throw myself in front of a bullet if it meant she’d be okay.”

  She wouldn’t be in this shit if it weren’t for me.

  “I’ll hold you to that. If you don’t, I’ll make you wish you had taken that bullet instead of what I’d do to you.”

  I stand, rubbing my hands down the front of my jeans, feeling the day’s events finally starting to wash over me. “Understood, James.”

  “Now, go. I have shit to do,” he says, not moving from his chair and lifting his chin toward the door.

  I turn the knob, swinging open the door, and come face-to-face with Gigi’s father. Our eyes lock, and I wait for his fist to make a beeline for my jaw, but he just stands there, staring at me. “We’ll have words when this is done,” he says, all joy gone from his voice.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Now, get gone so I can talk to my brother-in-law.” He ticks his head toward the empty hallway. “It’s best if I’m not around you right now.”

  By the hardness in his jaw and the coldness in his stare, I’m guessing he knows what went down with Gigi and me in Daytona. This isn’t a conversation I want to have with him after being up all night. It’s actually not a conversation I want to have with him anytime, but it’s one that’s going to come whether I like it or not. It’s also not a conversation I’ve ever had to have with a woman’s father because relationships weren’t really my thing and the women I’ve slept with were usually older and not so attached to their fathers.

  “Got it.”

  “Izzy’s waiting for you in the kitchen,” he says, brushing past me and stalking into James’s office before slamming the door right in my face.

  I expected nothing less. If Gigi were my kid and I were face-to-face with a guy who’d done the shit I did to her, I’d want to rip his fucking throat out with my bare hands. I couldn’t fault the man.

  I make my way down the long hallway and head toward Izzy’s voice. If she weren’t talking, I’m not sure I ever would’ve found the kitchen because the house is probably the biggest one I’ve ever stepped foot inside.

  “There you are,” Izzy says as soon as she sees me rounding the corner. “I was beginning to think James was never going to let you out of that room.”

  Gigi’s sitting at the kitchen table, quickly running her fingertips over her cheeks. “I’ll show him to his room,” Gigi says to Izzy with her back to me.

  Izzy raises an eyebrow, eyes moving from me to Gigi. “Your dad is still here. Watch your step, little girl. If you want Pike to still be breathing when the sun sets, don’t get cute and try to crawl into his bed, curling yourself around the man for comfort.”

  So, Gigi did spill our entire sordid, although brief, history together. I’m surprised she kept her shit together this long, even though it’s only been two days. I’m sure it was impossible for her to maintain the lie about not knowing me, especially after she lost her shit tonight once I was taken in for questioning. Even more, she was probably shaken up after hearing the shit James and I said in the car. All that together was just enough to have Gigi blabbing every last detail.

  “Got it, Auntie.” Gigi finds her footing before turning around, showing me her tear-stained cheeks and red, puffy eyes.

  “You okay?” I ask as my eyes sweep across her face, knowing I’d caused her tears.

  She nods. “Let me show you to your room,” she says, ignoring the look I’m giving her and the fact that she’s been crying. She dips her head toward another hallway, adding to the maze that is James and Izzy’s house. “We’ll talk after we get some sleep. I want to know that you’re okay.”

  I walk inches behind her, following her wherever she’s taking me because I don’t care if it’s a closet, as long as there’s enough space for me to stretch my legs and close my eyes. “I don’t know how I feel just yet. Shit’s pretty fucked up, and now you’ve been pulled into the same mess.”

  She stops near an open doorway, leaning against the wall, staring up at me with glassy, bloodshot eyes. “I’m sure Uncle James has a plan.”

  Reaching out, I wipe away a tear that’s resting near the edge of her lashes, ready to fall. “Do you know what his plan is, darlin’?”

  She shakes her head, not moving away from my touch when I let my hand linger.

  “He’s sending us to the Disciples’ compound to lie low.”

  Her eyes grow big as saucers. “He’s what?”

  I nod, just as fucking shocked by that reality as she is. “He said it’s the safest place. Can’t say I disagree with him either, but the compound isn’t a place for a girl like you.”

  She wrinkles her nose. “A girl like me?”

  I sweep my thumb just under her cheekbone, loving the softness against my skin. “You’re good, Gigi. Pure, even. The Disciples’ compound is no place for a lady.”

  Gigi’s eyes sparkle, and she snorts in the most unladylike way. “I’ve been around bikers my entire life, Pike. I think I can handle whatever happens at their compound without losing my shit and rockin’ myself in a corner.”

  “These aren’t recreational bikers, Gigi. They’re hard-core. They live the life. All full of violence, mayhem, booze, drugs, and so much pussy, it’ll make your head spin.”

  She wraps her hand around my wrist and pulls my arm away from her. “You used to live there, yeah?”

  I nod.

  “We’ll be safe there. And right about now, I could use a big fucking drink, so the compound sounds like a good place to get lost and forget all this shit.”

  “I don’t think James is sending us there to party, babe.”

  She draws her lower lip between her teeth, biting the tender flesh gently. “Then he should send us to a convent. I’m not going into that compound to sit in a dark room day and night, playing the role of a scared little girl. I’m letting my hair down, immersing myself in whatever they have to offer for however long they’re offering it. You don’t like it? Then you can sit in that dark room alone.”

  Oh fuckin’ boy. This girl is clueless about so much. She’s probably binged every motorcycle show available online, thinking she knows how bikers are. But even Hollywood glorifies the life. If she thinks she can handle watching a guy do blow off some chick’s ass while she’s stretched out on the pool table for everyone to watch, so be it. She’s going to get a hard lesson in the real MC life, and it may be eye-opening if not entertaining.

  “Just know I’m not leaving your side. You’re out of your room, I’m on you like glue.”

  She grins. “I’m counting on that, Pike.”

  “But first, we gotta live long enough to get to that compound.” I grab her by the shoulder, moving her away from my doorway. “Now, you need to get gone so I can get some sleep before your father finds you outside my room and I end
up next to my mother.”

  Gigi stares up at me, eyes glistening in the bright light. “You want to talk about her?”

  I shake my head. “Another time. Maybe once we’re settled, but not tonight.”

  “Okay, but I’m always here to talk,” she says sweetly, and I want to wrap my body around hers, surrounding myself with the goodness and warmth only she can offer.

  “Night, darlin’.” I fight the urge to plant my lips on hers, letting all the day’s shit leak out into that kiss.

  “Night, Pike,” she whispers and takes a step back, staring at me like she’s pleading with me to give her what I want to, but I can’t because I want to live to breathe another day. “I’ll be right next door.”

  “Got it.” I dip my chin, waiting for her to disappear through her doorway before I take a step inside the bedroom, ready for this day to be fucking over with.

  Tomorrow starts a whole new shitshow. One filled with Gigi’s family, Tiny and the Disciples, and us running for our lives, ducking for cover in a den of sin.

  17

  Gigi

  “Don’t you think this is excessive?” I ask Uncle Thomas, which earns me a hard stare in the rearview mirror. “I mean, seven cars behind us is a bit extreme. Even you have to agree with me.” I turn to Pike, but he doesn’t say a word because he’s not rocking any boat, especially not after the way my uncles and father gave him shit before we left Izzy’s house.

  “Seven cars and twenty men is not excessive when you’re dealing with a man like DiSantis,” Uncle James says as he sits beside Uncle Thomas in the front seat of the car.

  Pike’s hand finds mine in the darkness, and he squeezes my fingers. “They’re just being safe.”

  “Don’t give me no shit, little girl,” James barks.

  That’s my new name…little girl. I thought I’d grown out of it about the time I started to grow tits, but now it’s back, and I have a feeling it’s not going anywhere either.

  “If I get word that you try to leave that compound…”