Harm's Way: Riot MC Biloxi

by Karen Renee

  Har let his facial expression fly, and he suspected his brothers did, too. “You mean, Layla’s dead?”

  Dennizen nodded.

  “Was it an accident?” Block asked, his good ol’ boy attitude still in place but far more somber.

  The detective gave him a hard look. “If it was an accident, I wouldn’t be wasting taxpayer dollars talking to you three.”

  From the corner of his eye, Har saw Block hang his head before he murmured. “Sorry, sir.”

  Dennizen focused on Har. “Either of those two men show up here, call me. I might be spittin’ in the wind sayin’ that, but a woman’s dead. The least you and your club can do is let the law handle it.”

  Har dipped his chin. “You have a card, Detective? I’m not sure you’re in my phone.”

  Dennizen gave all three of them his business card and left.

  Har let out a sigh. “Fuck.”

  “Want me to round everyone up?” Block asked.

  “Yeah,” he said staring at the front door. “Ro, were you serious? We’re the only brothers here?”

  Roman chuckled. “Fuck, no. Glad to hear I’m convincing. Tiny stayed last night, Cynic’s here, so are Mensa and Gamble. Hell, I think the only brothers who left last night were Brute and Two-Times.”

  Har snorted. Two-Times got his name because of his actual name, Samuel Samuels. It wasn’t just the double names but also because Brute was already a member, and his given name was Samuel Vaillant. Two-Times hardly ever spent the night at the clubhouse. If he got soused during a patch-in, he called for a ride. It puzzled the hell out of all the brothers because most of them lived to be on their bikes, but Two-Times was all about being with the brothers. He had his bike, but having it as his primary mode of transport wasn’t required. He was as close to an enigma as the chapter allowed and Har wondered why the hell he wanted anything to do with them. Yet, the man could not only take care of himself in a fight, but he could often take out other fighters because he was damn cunning.

  He looked at Block. “Tell Two-Times to get his ass over here, yesterday. We’re having church in twenty minutes. He’s late, it’s five hundred to him.”

  “Jesus,” Roman muttered.

  Har looked at him. “Gotta him ’em where it hurts, brother.”

  Stephanie

  IF EVER THERE WAS A time to stay in the casino, the night before an eight a.m.-to-four p.m. shift seemed to be it. I woke up at five-thirty and went down to the workout room, since that was part of my stay.

  Even though swimming was my exercise of choice and I had told Har running was not my thing, I could put in quite some time on the elliptical. Still, being on the elliptical wasn’t the same as actual running. For one thing, I never hit that so-called runner’s high most runners raved about, and for another I could take it or leave it. If time on a machine were equivalent to running, I figured I should be addicted, but I wasn’t.

  Back in my room, I took a fast shower so I could attempt to blow-dry my wavy hair straight. My work with the roller brush and the hairdryer, which vacillated between scorching heat and no heat, led to lackluster results, so I gave up after ten minutes. Then again, Turk’s words from last night wouldn’t leave me alone even over the screech of the travel-size hairdryer.

  Hate to say it, honey, but he wants even more space away from you.

  My mother’s voice resounded in my head. “That’s the price you’ve got to pay, Stephanie. The moment you put your faith in any man, you’re gonna pay the price. Period. The sooner you learn that the better off you’ll be.”

  I sighed and dug out my eye makeup. My every instinct told me I would need all the help I could get for tips since it was hard to say how business would be in the middle of the week.

  Plus, I’d booked the room last night, but even employees were obligated to a two-night minimum stay. That outlay of cheddar set me back a fair amount, but I considered it an emergency expense.

  When I reported for duty at eight, my manager had me train a new dealer at an empty table. I didn’t move into rotation on the floor until closer to eleven. The second table I reported to, there were two players, but there were stacks of chips in front of seven other seats. As I took stock of the state of my chips and cash on hand, I sensed the players returning to their seats.

  I looked up to find seven Riot MC brothers seated across from me.

  My every instinct warred against itself. I wanted to laugh, I wanted to scream, and I wanted to cry.

  With a deep breath, I took in the big blind button sitting in front of Roman. Lifting my eyes to meet his, my words died on my tongue.

  I heard chips hitting the table from his vicinity. “Got my blind posted, Stephanie. So does Brute.”

  I nodded at his words and retrieved the new deck from the shuffler. Knowing there were multiple men who could distract me from doing my best at my job, I paid close attention to what I did. Everyone folded to the blinds, Brute and Roman. Then to my surprise, Brute folded.

  “Guess everyone gets a walk every once in a while,” Brute muttered.

  I shoved the miniscule pot to Roman and shifted the buttons.

  As I swapped out the decks of cards, Roman murmured, so low I wasn’t sure anyone else could hear him, “Could be wrong, but even Har might deserve a walk. Whatever you said, it pissed him off. And he isn’t known to lose his temper to a woman.”

  I kept my eyes trained on the cards and the players at the table. As hands were folded, I collected them, and when it came back around to Roman to call or fold, I smiled at him. “Thank you for the information. I’ll keep it in mind. Action is to you, sir. Forty to call.”

  He looked to the man on his left, then back to me with a grin. “I raise. Two hundred on top.”

  I waited for him to put the chips in before I looked to the next player. “Two hundred to you, sir.”

  He silently folded and before I could look to the other three players, they had all folded. I pulled the required amount of chips for the house rake before I collected the chips and shoved them Roman’s way.

  Roman looked at Brute gave him a shrug and a grin. Then he pulled a fifty-dollar chip from his stack and tossed it my way. My eyes widened, but I looked at him when he spoke.

  “I’m a man who always tips my dealer. And believe me, I tipped you in more ways than one, Stephanie.”

  I didn’t understand why he emphasized my name like he did, but Brute’s frown while he watched Roman saunter away said it had to do with more than cards.

  With a thunk on the tip box, I slid the chip into the slot and listened to it clink to the bottom. The sound gained me Brute’s eyes.

  “You might think about calling your old man.”

  My brows knit together.

  Brute shook his head. “He ain’t put a cut on you, but the way you two are together, he’s as good as your old man.” My face fell and he smiled. “Yeah. See you don’t realize how serious he is about you.”

  After a curt nod, I said, “If he were serious, he’d understand where I was coming from rather than reacting the way he did. But, that’s neither here nor there.” I looked to the other players at the table. “Blinds, please, gentlemen.”

  Chapter 24

  Winning Trifecta

  Har

  BY THREE-FORTY-FIVE, Har let himself into Stephanie’s hotel room using the key Delmas gave him. The room was clean and empty, as he knew it would be because Charlie had told him she wouldn’t get off work until four.

  It had been a day from hell with damn little to show for it. Nobody had seen Wreck or Massive. Block and Har had decided to keep it to themselves that Wreck had a cookhouse. After church, Roman broke into Massive’s apartment. While he was there, the phone rang – couldn’t believe the man had a landline – and a boss left a message that Massive had been fired due to his three day absence.

  That was the extent of their intel.

  Making matters worse, Turk had emailed over the parking lot footage from Suzy’s job, but there was no trace of Wycliffe. S
urveillance cameras had him walking out of the gym, but he walked to the end of the sidewalk, crossed the street, and kept walking until the camera couldn’t track him any further. That left them with nothing to go on, and Har couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so powerless.

  His every instinct was to take a hot shower, but he had to wait until Stephanie arrived.

  They had both made mistakes, but his mistake was bigger, though her reaction to it needed addressing. While he contemplated all this, he paced the room. On a trek away from the door, he heard the electronic lock beep and the door opened.

  He turned in time to watch her jump.

  “Who the—” She took a deep breath. “Har? Seriously? I’d ask how, but I don’t really want to know.”

  He sighed. “Can you close the door, Stephanie?”

  The crafty look on her face told him she wondered if she should turn around and leave, but she closed the door behind her.

  He twisted his lips as he debated how to start, and he remembered it was always best to bite the bullet. “I’m sorry for overreacting yesterday. It was uncalled for, and I damn sure knew better after everything you told me.”

  Her eyes widened and her head reared back. “Wow. I’m surprised. Thank you for that.”

  He turned his head a touch and shot an expectant look her way.

  She shook her head once. “What’s with the look?”

  He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. After he let the air out slowly, he said, “I meant my apology, but we both fucked up, babe.”

  She did a half head-shake. “I fucked up?” she asked, pointing her finger between her breasts.

  “You had every right to be angry, but storming out like you did and as fucking fast as you did wasn’t right.”

  Her hand dropped to her side. “So glad I had the ‘right to be angry,’ Michael. That’s very big of you to admit.”

  “Tone it down,” he said in a low, but angry tone.

  Her eyes narrowed. “No. I can’t tone it down. That very morning, the jackass who violated me – okay, my privacy – but it’s still a violation of the worst kind, showed up at my sister’s workplace! Then you get hot and bothered, but when I share my concerns you act like it doesn’t matter.”

  His jaw clenched, but he released it before he ground his molars to dust. “I didn’t act like it doesn’t matter.”

  Her glare argued that he did, but he couldn’t believe the next words out of her mouth.

  “Fine. I accept your apology, now you can leave. Being with you was great, but this all made me realize I’m not cut out for a long-term relationship. Know you never said anything about a relationship, but whatever we were, it’s over. I don’t need any added shit in my life from any man.”

  He fought against the crimson rage blurring his vision. “Dammit Stephanie! People who love you aren’t going to add shit to your life, they do everything they can to take the shit away!”

  She stared at him with her mouth hanging open, and he wondered why until his words replayed in his head.

  He’d let it out of the bag, he might as well go with it.

  “Yeah. You can pick up your jaw, Steph, because I love you.”

  “Well, uh,” she stammered, and he ignored the pang in his chest. Then again, he hadn’t buttered it up for her, but he wasn’t a man who would do that.

  He shook his head.

  “You don’t need to say it back. Gonna get this shit taken care of, and whatever your decision is when it’s finished, that’ll be your decision. I won’t hold you up or hold you back.”

  She closed her eyes for a long moment. “I love you too, Michael, but I don’t trust myself.”

  Her words washed over him like a balm. Many a sweet-butt or one-night-stand would claim to love him or love his ways in bed, but the insincerity shone through like a beam from the Biloxi lighthouse. Stephanie’s gentle and semi-reluctant admission was all the sweeter because of the strength of her sincerity.

  She kept speaking. “The last person I loved did me wrong in the worst ways, and I know you would never do that to me, but it doesn’t change the fact I have to get beyond my own issues.”

  He gave her a sideways glance. “You think you have to do that shit all by yourself?”

  A cautiously skeptical look took over her face. “Yeah. I mean, they are my issues, after all.”

  He sighed. “Is your sister comin’ to town? Maybe I can ask her if you’re always this much of a pain in the ass.”

  Her mouth fell open again with a gasp. “You did not just say that!”

  He chuckled. “Damn sure did. And I meant it. Get the fuck over here.”

  “Thought you were leaving?”

  “I’m staying to fight through these issues with you, now that I know you love me. Not just that you could love me. Get over here.”

  Her eyes widened and they were heated. “If I don’t?”

  He exhaled a short chuckle. “Then I punish you for it, Miss Priss.”

  She shook her head while she walked the three feet to him. Her hands slid under his cut to stroke his upper abs and up his chest.

  He loved having her hands on him. Seeing her turn those beautiful hazel eyes up to him was even better.

  “I shouldn’t admit this, but I’ve gotten used to sleeping with you next to me, Michael.”

  He wrapped an arm around her waist while his other hand went into the hair at the back of her head. With a gentle grip, he tilted her head back.

  “Don’t know if I should admit this, but I sleep like shit without you, Combes.”

  Her lips were curling into a smile, but he kissed it away. She opened her mouth and his tongue delved inside. They stood adjacent to the bed and his legs shuffled to move them, but he recalled his urge to shower.

  He broke the kiss. “You shower after work?”

  She chuckled. “I’m in a hotel room, baby. I’ll shower twice, maybe even three times a day, if I have time.”

  With a devious smile, he said, “Then get naked. I might rip your uniform with the state I’m in right now.”

  Stephanie

  HAR AND I HAD HAD SHOWER sex once before and it had been utterly fantastic. But this was the winning trifecta of shower-sex plus make-up sex plus I’ve-declared-my-love-for-you sex, and we were lucky we hadn’t broken any limbs with Har’s exuberant fucking.

  I had come down from my third orgasm when he roared with his climax. Feeling him pulsing inside me made me horny all over again, so I cupped his face and planted my lips on his. Our kiss was open-mouthed and almost vicious. Shower spray came in between our faces and he tried to pull away, but I wouldn’t let him. We kissed for another moment before he moved his lips toward my ear where he nipped my earlobe.

  “What’s got you so damn excited, baby?” he murmured.

  “You. Feeling you, tasting you, everything about you. And maybe the fact you said you love me.”

  He chuckled. “Good. Hate to say it, but I can’t go any longer. Besides, this water’s good and hot, but I don’t trust it to keep up with us.”

  I laughed. “You’re so pragmatic.”

  He squeezed my ass. “I aim to please.”

  I smiled. “Just to let you know, your aim is true, baby.”

  That got me a distinct eye flare before he kissed me hard. Almost as though he predicted it, the water temperature dropped dramatically and we hustled out of the shower.

  With a towel wrapped around my body, I moved to the door, but Har stopped tousling his hair to wrap an arm around my waist. “Don’t you dare get dressed. Not even dinner time yet. Turn down the bed, I wanna snuggle.”

  I looked over my shoulder at him with a wide grin. “You’re a biker. You’re not allowed to snuggle!”

  He laughed. Then he leaned down to suck on my neck for a moment, luckily not long enough to leave a mark. At my ear he said, “I am a biker. Which means I do whatever the fuck I want, because I live and let live, Stephanie.”

  I shook my head. “I was joking!”


  He swatted my ass. “Go warm up the bed, woman.”

  My eyes narrowed on him. “Why do I have to warm it up? Just out of curiosity.”

  A slow grin developed on his face. “Because you said you get hot at night and wouldn’t need a heavy blanket. I’ve found that’s the truth, so you’re more than able to warm up the bed, baby.”

  Fifteen minutes later, we were tangled with one another so thoroughly we should have formed a knot. I liked it, though.

  No.

  I loved it.

  I hadn’t been so tightly pressed to another person since Suzy and I were little girls and we’d learned Mom and Dad were getting divorced. I had been four, and Suzy six. It was one of my worst memories overall, but the fact we were able to comfort one another like we had put a different perspective on it. Funny that being with Har brought that to mind.

  I traced the Riot tattoo on his chest. “You never did finish telling me about Diana and her brother. And for the love of heaven, you damn sure left out her pissing all over my room!”

  His chest moved rhythmically and I leaned up.

  “You can’t find that funny, Michael!”

  He turned his head enough to look me in my eyes. “I don’t. I promise you that. But I find it humorous that I overlooked telling you about it. Thinking I might’ve pushed it from my mind. I mean, did you see the manure she left in my room?”

  I shook my head. “No. But still. What’s happening with her now?”

  He rubbed my back and I fought arching into it. Sometimes I swore I was a cat in a past life. His eyes glimmered at me as if he knew I wanted to move with his strokes. “She’s... restrained. So is her brother. Seems she talked a prospect into letting her into my place, saying she had a surprise for me or some bullshit.”

  I scoffed. “And he bought that?”

  He chuckled. “Yeah. I was surprised too, but it turns out she isn’t the only person who’s duped this guy, if that’s what happened.”

  His cell rang from the pocket of his jeans on the floor, and he disentangled from me to get out of bed and answer it.