Bronze (Blackwings MC - Devil Springs Book 5)

by Teagan Brooks

“Water would be great,” I said with too much enthusiasm. “Sorry, I didn’t realize I was so thirsty until you mentioned it.”

  With my thirst quenched, I wrote down my new idea for a story—The Federal Agent and the Protected Witness. As usual, the ideas kept coming, faster than I could write, and I longed for my laptop. Or any of my electronic devices since all of my files were saved in cloud storage.

  Feeling somewhat secure in my current location, I let myself get lost in my new story until a familiar coo interrupted my thoughts. Carelessly tossing the notebook to the side, I jumped to my feet and ran toward Bronze and Blue with my arms wide open. “You made it! Thank goodness!”

  Bronze caught me with the arm not holding Blue and pulled me against his chest. “You okay?”

  I wasn’t prepared for the relief I felt when he held me to his body. It was that moment that I knew with one hundred percent certainty that he would do anything to protect me or die trying. It was a sense of security I hadn’t known I was missing.

  Exhaling slowly, I rested my cheek against his chest while I reached up and ran my fingers over Blue’s cheek. She immediately reached for me, and I secretly wanted to beam with pride every time she did it. “I am now,” I breathed.

  “Everything’s going to be okay,” he assured.

  “What’s going to happen now?”

  “I can answer that,” Tatum announced as she entered the room with a file folder in her hand. She cleared her throat and seemed unsure of herself, and in the short time I’d known her, even I knew that was out of character for her. “We’re still working on identifying the caller and pinpointing their location. I’ve since listened to the phone call numerous times and heard nothing that would help us in the search. What that means is we’re shutting down all operations for this office and diverting any incoming traffic to other areas until this has been resolved. Since we can’t rule out that this is related to Sloane, we need to move her to a different location as well.”

  “Where’re you thinking? Badger’s cabin?” Bronze asked.

  “Say what now?” I interrupted. “I can’t just up and disappear to a safe house in an undisclosed location. I’m leaving for my next event a week from today.”

  Tatum cut her eyes to Bronze. I watched in awe as they seemed to have an entire conversation silently, though I almost cracked up laughing at the weird faces they were making with widened eyes and twisted lips.

  “I can’t decide if what you two are doing is fascinating or extremely rude,” I observed. “Either way, whatever you were discussing is a moot point if it pertains to me.”

  “How so?” Bronze asked with a hint of challenge in his voice.

  Blue wrinkled her nose and made an unhappy face at her father. She had no idea what was going on, but her timing was perfect. “See, even she agrees with me.”

  “You haven’t said anything.”

  “Neither did you or Tatum,” I countered.

  “Sloane,” Bronze said slowly.

  “Fine,” I huffed. “There’s no need to arrange anything for me. My mother’s estate is gated and guarded. Over the years, there were times when we needed to temporarily increase security for one reason or another. I’ll can call the company and have them add more guards to our plan until further notice.”

  “And what about the event? It’s not safe for you to attend. Not unless this threat wasn’t related to you.”

  I rubbed my hands over my face in frustration. He was right, and I knew it, but I couldn’t back out of the event. It was the biggest one of the year for my genre, and I knew of several readers who were making the trip specifically to see me. I was as much for safety as the next person, but I couldn’t rationalize allowing an unknown entity that possibly didn’t even exist to have any impact on my career decisions.

  “Listen, I see where you’re coming from, and I agree with you. It’s not safe. But I have to go,” I said and held up my hands. “Let me finish before you start arguing with me. I have to at least attend the signing, but I’m willing to skip all of the pre-event activities on Thursday and Friday. I would really like to attend the party after the signing for at least the first hour, but I’m willing to skip that too if you think it’s too risky.”

  He studied my face for a few seconds, seeming to realize I wasn’t going to budge on my stance and agreed, but with his own stipulations. “That should work, but you and Frankie need to make all new travel plans. And I mean everything from the time you leave to the place you stay. All of it needs to be different. Also, you need to ditch your usual aliases and use one you’ve never used before. Better yet, we’ll make the reservations under my name.”

  Tatum cleared her throat and wiggled her fingers in the air. “Hello,” she said slowly. “I’m sure your local FBI agent can make those secure travel arrangements for you. What city is the signing in?”

  “Cedar Valley.”

  “Okay, and what about Frankie? What’re her plans?”

  “She’s going to drive there and meet me at the hotel Thursday afternoon,” I explained.

  “Does she live in Cherryfield?”

  “Oh, no, she lives in Tuckersville. It’s about two hours from me.”

  “Let’s have Frankie drive to your mother’s place instead of going to Cedar Valley. The sooner she can arrive, the better. I’ll arrange transportation to an undisclosed location on Friday, where you’ll stay until the time you leave to set up for the event. I’ll take care of transportation to and from the venue, additional security, and…” she drew out and paused for a few moments, “whatever else needs to be taken care of so that you and Frankie can do your jobs as safely as possible.”

  “Should she come now? Or wait until closer to Thursday?”

  “The sooner the better. Now being the best.”

  “When can I call and tell her?” I asked anxiously. On more than one occasion, Frankie had driven to Cherryfield and spent the week working from my house, so I knew it wouldn’t be a problem for her—particularly because I allowed her to bring Brat.

  “You can’t,” Tatum said pointedly. “But I can.”

  “She won’t believe you unless you give her our secret password. Well, it’s actually a phrase, or technically, it’s a sentence. I really should know this.”

  “I don’t care if it’s a comma splice with tautology that ends in a preposition. I’ve already paid my debt to grammar. Just give me the secret password/phrase/sentence.”

  I leaned forward and lowered my voice. “I like anal,” I mumbled.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch that.” I knew damn good and well that she heard me. “What did you say?”

  “I like anal,” I said a bit louder with a touch of frustration.

  “I,” she said slowly as she made a show of writing it down. “Like.” She paused before drawing out each sound in the last word. “Anal. Correct?”

  I sighed in exasperation and slapped my hand over my face. “Yes, that’s correct. I mean, the phrase is correct. Wait, no. I mean, that is the correct passphrase.” I pretended to wipe sweat from my forehead. “It was funny when we never thought we’d have to use it,” I tried but cracked a smile. “Okay, it’s still funny.”

  Tatum clapped me on the shoulder. “You totally fit in around here.

  After discussing the details and finalizing the plans, all of my belongings, along with everything Bronze and Blue would need for their stay, magically appeared at the safe house. Then, the three of us and all of our luggage were loaded into a behemoth of a vehicle provided by Tatum and sent on our way.

  I waited until we were on the highway before I turned to Bronze and said, “Well, this was an unexpected turn of events.”

  He snorted. “Yeah, it was. You okay?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, I think so. The whole thing shook me up for sure. But, based on what Tatum said and the things I saw, the chances of the threat having anything to do with me are slim to none.”

  I glanced at Blue’s sleeping face in the mirror mounted in front of her car
seat. “You’re sure we’re not putting her in harm’s way?”

  He reached over and squeezed my hand. “She wouldn’t be here if I thought otherwise. The safest place for her is with me at your mom’s place. Speaking of, how is it still your mother’s place?”

  “Technically, it’s not. My brothers and I inherited it. Kian and Declan wanted to sell, but Tiernan and I didn’t. So, we bought them out and split the property between ourselves, though he acts like it’s my home. Shit!” I cursed when I realized I couldn’t use my phone. “Tiernan’s home until the end of next week; he doesn’t know Frankie is on her way. She’ll probably get there before we will.”

  “Is that a problem?”

  “No, not a problem, per se. It’s just that Tiernan has been so good about letting me know when he’s coming and going and, well,” I paused and finally admitted something I’d refused to acknowledge for years. “Frankie and Tiernan don’t get along. At all.”

  Bronze chuckled. “What about the pig?”

  “Shit,” I groaned and covered my face with my hands. “That’s why he and Frankie don’t get along. He’s never even met Brat, and he already hates him. And you know how Brat loves men. Oh, this is going to be a disaster.”

  “Why does he already hate him?”

  “The last time Frankie came to visit; Brat was a piglet. She’d only had him for a few weeks. Anyway, she set up this portable contraption for him in the guest room they were using. She put a litter box in there and promised me the pig would use it. Well, while we were asleep, Brat used his nose to tip the enclosure over and set himself free. And then he went straight to Tiernan’s room where he tugged the blankets off the bed and made himself a love nest. But when his love didn’t come home, he shit on the blankets and turned over every potted plant on Tiernan’s side of the house.”

  He laughed. “What’s with the potted plants?”

  I shrugged. “He wallowed in each pile of dirt, but no one knows why he did. Frankie thinks it was nothing more than a pig wanting to wallow in dirt, but I think he did it because it ground that dark, rich soil into his plush white carpet, ruining it forever.”

  “I’m surprised he didn’t roast that pig for dinner.”

  “He tried. And he probably will if they get there before we do,” I said, not at all joking.

  As luck would have it, Tiernan wasn’t home when we arrived, and Frankie was still over an hour away, which gave me plenty of time to prevent a disastrous meeting between the two. In other words, it gave me plenty of time to hide Brat and threaten Frankie with revealing the secret we never speak of.

  However, I still needed to find out when Tiernan would be back so we could plan accordingly. I also wanted to give him a heads-up about my guests, and I wasn’t sure which one I was more concerned about—Bronze or Brat. But after calling his cell phone and texting him with no response, I called the front gate and asked Dickerson if he knew where Tiernan was.

  “He left the day before yesterday on an unexpected business trip. He did mention he had a mess to clean up and didn’t know how long he’d be gone. I’ll be sure to let you know if I hear from him,” he explained.

  “Thanks, Dickerson. I’ll do the same for you.”

  Knowing I would have plenty of warning before Tiernan came home allowed me to relax. With that potential disaster avoided, I returned to the kitchen to find Bronze making a bottle for Blue.

  “Can I feed her?” I asked.

  He glanced at me over his shoulder with his little girl cradled in his arms and grinned. I damn near died right there in the middle of the kitchen. “You can do anything you want, Sweet Sloane.”

  “Behave, dirty biker man, and give me the baby,” I teased.

  He easily passed her to me, and I giggled at the confused look on her face. She was still in the process of waking up from her long nap in the car, which Bronze explained was the equivalent of a much-needed, deep, hard sleep for an adult.

  “Peek-a-boo, Blue. It’s Aunt Sloane,” I sang cheerfully, and promptly froze, wishing my hands were free so I could slap my hand over my mouth. “I’m sorry. Some of my friends’ kids call me Aunt Sloane, and I guess it just came out.”

  He looked up from where he was testing the temperature of the bottle. “Doesn’t bother me as long as you know I’m not your friend.”

  “You’re not?” I asked in mock surprise.

  Leaning close, he placed his lips against the shell of my ear. “We’ll talk about this later. When I’ve got your naked body underneath me, and I’m balls deep in your tight cunt.” He punctuated his words with a pinch to my ass before he held out Blue’s bottle for me.

  When I reached for it, he pulled it back slightly, in a way that made me think he wasn’t comfortable letting me feed her. “If you’re not okay with this, just tell me.”

  He shook his head and handed me the bottle. “It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. She choked when she was a few days old, and it scared the ever-loving shit out of me. It hasn’t happened again, but I still hesitate every time someone new feeds her for the first time.”

  I paused with the bottle in my hand, unsure of what to do. Blue made the decision for me when she reached for it and pulled the nipple to her mouth.

  “If it makes you feel any better, I know CPR and the Heimlich maneuver, or whatever it’s called now, though I’ve never had to actually perform either one,” I told him, keeping my eyes on Blue as she drank her bottle with fervor.

  “I hope you never do,” he murmured, and by his tone, I knew he was speaking from experience. Though, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was the one on the giving or receiving end.

  Before I could ask, Blue finished her bottle and looked at me expectantly. “Here’s the deal, little missy. I’ll burp you if you promise not to spray milk down my back. Or maybe we should let Daddy do it.”

  As if she understood my words and was playing along, Blue reached for me and pulled herself impossibly closer. “Okey dokey, I’m trusting you here, so don’t let me down.” After a few pats on her back, Blue let out the cutest little burb followed by a contented sigh. “That’s my girl!” I cheered, careful not to jostle her too much.

  “Yoo-hoo!” Frankie called from the other side of the kitchen window. I flinched, Blue started crying, and suddenly there were only two panes of glass separating Bronze’s gun from Frankie’s forehead.

  To her credit, Frankie didn’t so much as bat an eyelash. Instead, her eyes crossed as she tried to study the weapon without moving. “That’s a pretty one. Can I touch it when it’s not pointed at me?”

  “For fuck’s sake, Frankie! I could’ve killed you in front of Sloane and my daughter. How in the hell did you get past the gate without us knowing?”

  She completely ignored everything he said after she heard the word baby. “There’s a baby in there. Let me in! Let me in! Let me in!” Her outburst startled Brat and caused him to start squealing. And let me tell you, when a pig starts squealing in fear, there’s no stopping it.

  Even with the baby crying and the pig practically screaming, I couldn’t help but smile at Frankie’s arrival because it meant we were all safe.

  The week passed much faster than I expected. Frankie and I were even more productive than usual, which was quite a surprise to me since I had my boyfriend and his baby in my house.

  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but he never once asked me to watch Blue. Not even for a few minutes while he took a shower or used the bathroom. During the day, she stayed with him while he worked out in the gym located in the main house. Meanwhile, Frankie and I made use of my home office, the kitchen, and the upstairs balcony. But, we spent the most time working by the pool.

  Frankie knew the water had always been a source of inspiration for me, and since I was having trouble finding the right words for my work in progress, she suggested working by the pool, which turned into working in the pool after I tossed her a waterproof case for her tablet.

  I don’t know how much time had pass
ed when a deep laugh pulled me from my fictional world. Raising my sunglasses, I blinked up to find Bronze snapping photos with his phone. “What are you doing?” I shrieked and started frantically paddling to turn my pool float away from him.

  He continued to laugh hysterically. “You and Frankie have your noses glued to tablets while floating around on a giant inflatable cloud, complete with a rainbow arching over it, and you expect me not to take pictures?”

  That’s when Brat made his presence known and started swimming for the sausage. “Oh, fuck, I didn’t see the little ham hock,” he groaned and took a few steps back. “Is he supposed to be in there?”

  “Pigs love to swim, and it’s safe for him because it’s a saltwater pool,” Frankie explained.

  Bronze watched warily as Brat busted his chops to get to him. “Can he get out on his own?”

  Frankie clutched her stomach and fell over laughing, almost capsizing our cloud. “He hasn’t been in your pool before, has he?”

  “No, I haven’t,” Bronze huffed. “Why?”

  Frankie pointed and managed to get the words out right before Brat made his exit. “It’s a walk-in. As soon as his hooves touch the bottom, you better run.”

  “If that pig so much as gets one drop of water on me, you better run,” Bronze returned and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Fuck,” I groaned and covered my mouth with my hands while Frankie launched herself off the float and went after her pig, causing the float to tip over and plunge me into the water.

  I thought I was only under for a few seconds, but when I surfaced, Frankie had a pissed-off Brat wrapped in a towel, and Bronze was holding Blue while she fixated on the pig and giggled.

  “Come on, you big ham, let’s get you inside for a treat.”

  I gasped. Frankie only bribed him with treats when it was an absolute necessity. And I guess she thought my biker was serious when he threatened to burn her bacon.

  “Would you two like to go for a swim?” I asked. I wasn’t ready to go inside. It was such a nice day, and I wanted to enjoy it a little longer. “We could have something for dinner delivered and eat by the pool,” I suggested.