“Hey, good catch, Tess.” She parks the car, and I remove my belt and open the door.
Before I can get out, Lu holds me back with her hand on mine. Her eyes are shining brightly. “I mean it, Tess. If there’s ever a time you need to talk, I’m all ears.”
I lean in and hug her. “Thanks, Lu, but I’m good.”
She looks at me for a while, her gaze questioning, but she doesn’t push me. Instead she opens her door, saying, “Okay then, let’s get our shop on.”
I laugh out loud and reply, “Let’s do it.”
* * *
After three hours of shopping, our hands full of bags, I suggest it’s time for a coffee break. Luisa agrees, so we walk back to the car and stow all our bags in the trunk. I wasn’t expecting to buy anything, but when I saw there were sales, I couldn’t help myself. I picked up some new tops for work, a few pairs of jeans, and a dress that looked hot on—and not to mention some killer heels that went with the dress.
Luisa said that there’s no way Blaze could resist me in it, and she’s right, although I could be wearing a sack and Blaze would still want to fuck me. I love that about him. He says he gets hard just from watching me from across a room. I won’t lie, when I see him working on his bike with sweat travelling down his bare chest and engine grease smeared all over his skin, it does things to me. Blaze showered and dressed in jeans and his cut is hot, too. I mean, the man is simply sex on legs.
I feel sorry for all the women who throw themselves at him, and they don’t care that I’m by his side, it doesn’t stop them from suggestively touching him. Any excuse really to get their hands on him. It only makes me want him more. He usually pulls me to his side, grasps my face in his palms and kisses me hard, to prove to them that I’m his woman. The glares I receive when he tells them I’m all the woman he can handle makes me laugh. These days, it seems some women have no shame. I mean, can’t they see that I’m with him? The guy has his arm draped around my lower back, is nuzzling into my neck and looking at me with love in his eyes, and they still try to pick him up. I should be jealous, but I’m not. I trust Blaze because I know how much he loves me. But will my lie ruin what he and I have?
Placing my last bag in the trunk, a cold shiver runs down my spine, like someone is watching me. I quickly look around and shut the trunk when Luisa finishes adding her bags to the pile in there. “Hey, you okay? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost,” Luisa says, putting her hand on my arm.
I keep looking around at the busy streets. I feel eyes on me, but I can’t see anyone who looks suspicious. “I’m okay, I think someone just walked over my grave,” I explain. “Come on, let’s go to that café.” I point to one on a nearby corner.
We walk in and take a seat at the nearest table. A waitress brings over a menu and pours us both a glass of cold water. I hand back the menu to her. “Thanks, it all looks good, but just a coffee for me, with cream and sugar.”
“And for you, miss?”
“Is it bad that I’m craving french fries right now?” Lu blurts.
I laugh, she was just telling me back in the changing room how she started a diet this week, eating healthier to try to get back into her prebaby size. “Just have them, Lu. I’m sure you’ve already worked off the calories with all the walking we’ve done today.”
“Now that’s true! French fries, please, and black coffee.”
“Sure thing, I’ll just place that order for you,” the waitress says cheerfully, grabbing Luisa’s menu and walking away.
“How do you do it?”
I sit back in my chair, curious about what she means. “Do what?”
“Stay thin and gorgeous.”
I shake my head. “I’m not thin, Lu.”
“You’re hot, Tess. You’re so lucky you have a body like that,” she says, waving her hand at me.
I feel my cheeks heat, embarrassed at her compliments. “Oh please”—I roll my eyes—“my butt’s too big and my hips are huge,” I complain.
“No way. Men love a woman with curves.”
“If that’s the case, then why are you trying to lose weight?”
“Because, silly, I have a belly now, and I need to get rid of it.” She looks around, cautious of people listening in, then ducks her head a little and whispers, “Before the twins, I used to love riding Hawke.”
I choke on the water I just took a sip of. I also look around to make sure no one is listening in on our conversation. “And now?”
“And now, I’m too worried that he can see my belly. I feel self-conscious every time. So I tell him I like him on top.”
I frown. “Oh, Lu, you’re just plain crazy. Hawke loves you, even if you do have a belly. You’re a mom now, so be proud of that belly—it homed twins.”
She smiles then. “Yeah, it did,” she agrees, and we both burst out laughing.
Our coffees and fries get delivered, and we sit there chatting about the twins, and how Trigger’s soon to be a married man. She brings up Blaze now and then, but I change the subject, not wanting to think or talk about him; it just hurts too much, and I’m worried I’ll burst out crying.
“I’m just going to the ladies’ room, I’ll be right back,” I say, needing some quick alone time.
I smile then get out of my seat, leaving my purse but taking my phone, and walk around the corner to the restrooms. Washing my hands, I stare at myself in the mirror, wondering if Blaze has finished church. I grab my phone out from the back pocket of my jeans and see I still have no texts. Sighing, I place it back in my pocket and ignore the ache in my heart. The whole time Blaze and I have been together, we’ve never really fought, so this feels so unlike us.
I fix my hair a little before I open the restroom door, but when I do, I’m faced with someone I hoped I would never see again. Panic and fear fills me, and a cold sweat covers my body.
“Hello there, Teresa, did you miss me? Because I sure as hell missed you.”
I open my mouth to scream, but I’m soon muted when Viper’s hand slams over my mouth while his other holds on to the back of my head. He roughly pushes me back into the restroom and up against the tiled wall. I groan at the pain of my skull smashing against the tiles, the force causing my vision to blur. Viper then leans over and locks the restroom door while his hand still covers my mouth. I panic. Oh my God, he’s going to kill me…. This is it. I’m going to die in a restroom.
Viper snarls then leans in toward my ear, whispering, “You scream and I’m gonna bash your head against this wall till you’re out cold. You got me?”
Tears fall from my eyes and I nod my head at him, not able to use my voice. His dark eyes, wild and popping with red veins, tell me that he’s high, and the stench of alcohol from his breath proves he’s been drinking. A very bad combination when it comes to Viper.
“That’s a good girl.”
He removes his hand and I inhale, trying to control my racing heart. He used such force on me that he cut my lip. Both his hands cup my cheeks and he rubs his hard cock against my thigh. I cringe and try to look away, but his force has me unable to do anything but keep still.
“Baby, I missed you,” he says, rubbing his cock against me again while leaning in and licking the side of my face with his disgusting tongue. Stale beer and cigarettes on his breath has me tasting bile at the back of my throat and combined with the stench of sweat and leather wafting off him, it has me close to leaning over and throwing up all over his boots.
Squeezing my cheeks a little too hard with one hand, he leans in further, his lips now just above mine.
“I’ve been looking fucking everywhere for you, wifey. Did you really think you could leave me? Noooo,” he says in answer to his own question, shaking his head and grinning like a fucking psycho. “No fucking way. I’ve been looking for you for a while. Your old man said you weren’t worth my time, but I knew I would find you. And here you are.” His tone turns bitter and he steps back, looking me up and down. “You look good… good enough to eat.”
I press m
y palms against the wall, down by my sides, my knees threatening to give way. But then, with no warning, he tightens his hand around my throat, and once again my head smashes against the hard tiles. My breath is caught in the back of my throat, and all attempts at getting air seem to vanish. Both my hands grasp at his arms, my nails cutting into his skin as I try desperately to pull them off from around my neck. One of his hands falls away, loosening his hold on me slightly.
“I’ve been watching you, baby. I see you with that biker,” he says, his tone still bitter, eyes flashing wild. “Does he think he can have what is mine?” I groan and thrash around when he roughly cups me between my legs and pushes his thumb hard against my clit from the outside of my jeans.
“He’s been here, hasn’t he, whore,” he snarls, his spit landing on my face and making my stomach roll over. But I don’t respond, and tears just keep rolling down my face.
Suddenly a knock sounds at the door, then someone tries to turn the locked handle. “Tess? Are you in there, babe?”
I go to scream but Viper covers my mouth again roughly, and whispers in my ear, “Now, you tell her that you’re fine and you’ll be right out, or else, baby. I’ll let her in and slice her open if you do anything else. Nod if you understand me.”
My heart beats wildly with the fear of what he’s going to do to me. Not wanting Luisa to get hurt, I nod, and he removes his hand slowly, his intent stare warning me that if I do scream, he will hurt me and Luisa.
My voice comes out husky when I say, “I’ll be right out, Lu.”
“You sure you’re okay? Let me in.” The handle turns again, and I look at Viper with wide eyes.
“Get rid of her, or I’ll kill her,” he growls, opening his cut and showing me his blade.
Oh fuck….
I inhale, then say, “Lu, hon, you’re not gonna want to come in here, that coffee went straight through me. I’ll be out soon, I promise.”
“Okay, I’ll wait for you at the table. Want me to get you something else? Maybe some water?”
I don’t know how, but I manage to steady my voice. “No, I’m fine, babe. I’ll be out in a minute.” The sound of her walking away has me sighing in relief that she’s going to be okay. My gaze lands on Viper, wondering what he’s going to do next. “What do you want from me?” I cry.
His eyes narrow on me. “What do I want from you?” he repeats. “Hmm, let me think.” He rubs his scruffy jaw then steps closer. “You leave in the middle of the night with no note or indication where you’re going. You are my wife, Teresa, do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?” Another step closer, and once again he squeezes my cheeks together with one hand. “Too fucking long. I’ve spent days, months, years looking everywhere, yet here you are in New York playing house with another man.” He rubs his nose against my neck and then licks at the seam of my lips with his tongue. I squeeze my eyes shut, praying that this will soon be over, but then he sucks on my bottom lip. “Fucking another man,” he hisses. “Well, not anymore, you’re coming home with me, back to the Forseekers clubhouse, where you will once again obey me and do as I say.”
I snap my eyes open, and with all the confidence I can muster, I shout as loud as I can around his hand, “There’s no way I’m coming back there with you, you will have to kill me first!”
Before I can say another thing, Viper’s hand lets go of my face and smacks me across my cheek, causing my head to hit the side of the wall once again. The heat of his palm burns my skin, and the taste of copper floods my mouth. I cover my cheek with my hand and turn to face him; his eyes are wild, as if he gets off on hurting me. I don’t know how but I get the courage to spit in his face. Blood-stained saliva lands on his lips, and before I can do or say another thing, he grabs me by my neck and smashes my head against the wall—once, two times. My vision blurs again, but he doesn’t stop.
The last thing I hear before I fall to the floor is, “You will learn, Teresa.”
Blaze
I walk into the clubhouse, anxious to find Tracker. I know Prez has called church, but I gotta get this outta the way before I can even think of anything else.
“Hey, Blaze, we’re all waiting on you.”
Not having realized that Rhyder was already standing by the church door, I nod my head in response. It’s gonna have to wait till afterward. I know Tess is out shopping with Lu, because I did read her messages, I just wasn’t ready to answer any of her calls or hear her sweet, husky voice. I’m still pissed and just can’t deal with it all right now. But one thing I know is, I’m gonna get to the bottom of what’s going on in that mind of hers.
“Blaze, get your ass on the chair,” Prez yells from the head of the table as I walk into the room. I look around and spot Tracker in his normal seat. Content for now, I remove my leather jacket and place it on the back of my chair, then take a seat and turn to face Prez. I’m the sergeant-at-arms, the protector, and always go in first to protect my club from whatever we’re fighting against.
Prez eyes me, his expression clearly questioning my mood. Prez, who’s usually clean-shaven, has now got a scruffy jaw. He looks older, mature, and even more like a man you don’t want to mess with.
“I’ve called church today, boys, because I’ve received some intel that I can’t seem to swallow.”
“What is it, Prez?” Trigger mumbles from beside me, and we all listen intently, wondering the same thing.
“Brothers, we’ve always agreed that as an MC, we weren’t going to get involved in any other biker club shit, especially after all that shit that went down with my old man and the cartel, but this is different. There’s a club that’s stealing women from the streets and selling them to rich assholes. Our streets, boys, no one else’s.”
“Selling them?” I spit out, not fully understanding Prez’s statement. “What the hell for?”
Hawke looks over at me. “For sex slaves, dumbass, what else?”
“Sex slaves? You can’t be serious?” I murmur, feeling my stomach turn as the reality of what Hawke just said sinks in.
“Dead serious,” Prez growls, his jaw set in stone.
“These girls are as young as twelve, brothers—that’s my Rose one day not too far away, other people’s young daughters. Are these the sort of people we want around our town?”
“Fuck no!” Hawke grunts, and all of us follow in agreement. Sure, Prez and Hawke have daughters, and Trigger’s about to have his own child, but even if I don’t have any kids, there’s no fucking way I’m allowing this shit to happen, especially in our town.
“What’s the name of the club who’s involved?” Gunner questions, his fists tightening in front of him on the table. Yup, he’s pissed.
“That’s the thing, we’re not a hundred percent sure.”
I sit back in my chair and rest my head on the back. “So how do you know this shit is happening?”
Prez gives me his full attention. “Tate called Tracker last night, said Luke’s sister has vanished. He’s been looking everywhere for her. Last he spoke to her, she was down in New York with a friend, and she just never returned. He’s tried to call her, but it goes to voicemail.”
Tate is Tracker’s brother, blood brother that is; he’s a member of the Sinners MC, and the spitting image of Tracker. Tate’s club helped us out when shit went down with the cartel. He’s a good man, and Luke is too. Tate is the Sinners’ sergeant-at-arms, and it’s his duty to find out what the fuck is going on. He’s their protector.
My attention focuses back on Prez.
“He found out that his sister was last seen Monday night, being dragged by two men into an SUV. Someone was smart enough to get the number plate, and when Tracker ran the plates for him, they led to another biker club.”
Biker club? I growl. “Which club has the balls to come here without a word?” I spit out, pissed that this is happening right under our noses.
“My thoughts exactly,” Prez agrees. “That’s why I asked Tracker to dig further. It seems it’s a club called the Forse
ekers.”
“The Forseekers? Why does that sound familiar?” I ask.
Prez’s eyebrows draw together. “They were on the news not long ago. They were suspected, by the police, of the death of that girl. What was her name again…?”
“Rachel,” Hawke answers.
“That’s it, Rachel.”
My mind travels back to a couple of months ago. They’d mentioned on the news that a girl had been missing who was later found dead in LA. Rachel was fifteen years old and had her whole life ahead of her. She was raped and choked to death, the news reported. The police had investigated the Forseekers because a member was seen hanging around the school she’d been attending at the time. Unfortunately, the FBI had no proof that they’d been involved, and as far as I know, the case still remains unsolved.
They had no proof, or maybe they were paid off….
“This ain’t good, Prez. What’s our part in all of this?”
He sighs and scratches his jaw. “I told Tate that we’d help his club find this girl. I’ve got Tracker working his magic on finding out exactly who the Forseekers are, and let me tell you, from what I know so far, they’re not a club you want to mess with. Their VP, Viper, is crazy as shit, just got out of jail five months ago for stabbing a guy because he hit his bike when he was parking his truck. It was an accident, but Viper lost his shit and pulled the guy from his truck and stabbed him.”
”Fuck!” I grunt, the word blowing out of my mouth. I sit up in my chair. “And the president?”
“Mean fucker,” Tracker interrupts. “Not much better than the VP. In fact, the VP runs the show these days—the prez is not in good shape, had a heart attack a few months back, and ever since Viper’s been out of jail, he’s been acting president.”
I widen my eyes. A crazy fucker as president? That’s all we need.
“Anything else?” I ask. “He married?”
Tess Property of Blaze: Book #5 in the Blood Brothers MC Series Page 5