Die For Her (Steele Raiders MC)

by RB Hilliard

  “Come on,” she whispered. The need to get out of this place, to get away from that man and his horrid girlfriend, stirred her into a state of panicked frenzy. In a fit of temper, she flipped her purse upside down and watched the contents spill onto the bed—everything but her keys. That ass! He’d taken her keys, and she couldn’t go after them without getting an eyeful of him with that woman. Visions of the two of them naked in the kitchen danced through her head, and she wanted to throw something. Her gaze hit on the bright-yellow stress ball—a gift from Meg when she took the college counseling position—and she scooped it off the bed and hurled it against the wall, never dreaming it would bounce back and hit her in the face.

  “Shit!” she shouted, grabbing her burning cheek. Eyes watering from the pain, she danced around the room holding her face. Damn, that hurt. It took a minute for the pain to dull enough for her to be able to think straight. As she put her things back inside her purse, she came across her phone. What was she thinking? She didn’t need her keys; Meg would come and get her!

  Meg answered on the third ring. “LuLu, is that you?”

  “Meg, I need you to come and get me. I lied about the vacation. It’s a long story that I promise to explain in the car.” Meg didn’t respond. “Hello? Meg, are you there?” Jerking the phone from her ear, LuLu glanced at a very dark, very blank phone screen. “Are you fucking kidding me?” she shouted. Talk about her worst nightmare. She was stuck in a house with the man she was in love with, his skanky girlfriend, no friends, no phone, and no keys. Could this get any worse? On that thought, she dropped back onto the bed and busted into tears.

  Chapter Ten

  A BANGING NOISE in the hallway outside LuLu’s room woke her. It took a moment for the cobwebs to clear and for her to realize where she was. What time is it? She rolled sideways and nearly fell off the bed as she reached for her phone. Shit, she’d forgotten about the damn dead battery. Her fingers lightly grazed across her bruised cheek as she considered her options. Last night she’d made the mistake of letting Arlan get to her. No, of letting Steele get to her. Arlan no longer existed. Once Steele returned her keys, she was out of here. She would stop by her house to grab some clothes and her passport. Thanks to her dad, she had some money socked away, at least enough to get her settled somewhere. She could call Meg on the way out of town. That thought got her up and moving.

  The bathroom wasn’t much bigger than a coat closet. When she sat on the toilet, her leg rubbed against the shower door. She gazed at the dirty yellow water spots decorating the walls and tried to picture the place as a whorehouse but couldn’t. More like a frat house, she thought as she inspected the purple bruise on her cheek. At least the bathroom was clean. After giving her teeth a quick brush—the spare toothbrush courtesy of Montana—she washed off the smeared mascara, pulled her hair up into a loose bun, shoved her dead phone inside her purse, and went on the hunt for Arlan and her keys. Steele, she corrected. She needed to stop calling him Arlan.

  She found him in his office with the guy she thought was Ax and a man she’d never seen before.

  “Good, you’re up,” he said when he saw her standing in his doorway.

  Normally, she would ask to talk in private, but after last night, she no longer gave a damn, so she just said it. “I want my keys.”

  His eyes narrowed in on her cheek. “What happened to your face?”

  “Nothing.” She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. “My keys?”

  “That’s not a nothing bruise, darlin’.”

  “Don’t call me that.” His jaw tensed at her harsh response. Good, she’d struck a nerve. “Now, would you please give me my keys?”

  A long moment passed before he responded. “No can do. I’m gonna need to hang onto those for a while longer.”

  God, he was frustrating! “Why?”

  His gaze shifted to Ax. “This is my cousin, Ax.”

  Her eyes flitted to Ax, and she nodded. “Nice to meet you.” Ax with his dark as night hair, twinkling blue eyes, and cute-boy smile, grinned at her. Glancing back at Steele, she repeated, “Why can’t I have my keys?”

  “And that’s Ink,” he said, blatantly ignoring her question.

  Sighing, she looked over at Ink. By the number of tattoos on his body, he was appropriately named. His light-brown hair was mostly covered by a baseball cap, but curled at his collar. High cheekbones, piercing green eyes, and full lips made him a very attractive man. Neither of them could hold a candle to Arlan, though. Steele! she screamed in her head. Steele’s salt and pepper hair made him look distinguished. His gray-blue eyes, more gray than blue, were a color she’d never seen before. When he was happy, they were the color of the sky right after it rained. If he was angry, they reminded her of thunderclouds. He had a chiseled jaw and a striking face—a face that women stopped to stare at. Add that to his lean, muscular body, and he was pretty damn near perfect. The object of her thoughts smirked at her, and she realized she was staring at him.

  Cursing him for getting to her once again, she shifted her gaze back to Ink. “Nice to meet you,” she murmured.

  “You, too, sweetheart.”

  “They picked up your things for you,” Steele said, glaring at Ink.

  She thanked both guys, before turning back to the rude-ass sitting behind his desk. “Look, Steele, I appreciate all you’ve done, but it turns out that I won’t be needing your help after all. Now, if you’ll give me my keys, I’ll get out of your hair, and you’ll never have to see me again.”

  The air went tense, so tense that she had to struggle to suck in her next breath. She’d clearly hit a few hundred nerves this time. Eyes the color of thunderclouds leveled on her, his jaw flexing in anger. “You call me Arlan.”

  His raspy tone struck like an arrow, and LuLu was nearly bowled over by a crashing wave of desire. Her traitorous nipples poked through her blouse, and she had to cross her arms to hide them. She thought about arguing with him, but what would be the point?

  “Give me my keys,” she ordered through gritted teeth.

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because Dario trashed your place and is waiting for you to return so he can finish what he started.”

  The impact of his words hit, and her eyes widened in shock. Fear coated the back of her throat at the thought of Dario waiting at her house to kill her, and she completely lost her cool. “I need to get out of here. I can leave town. I have money my dad left me. I can hole up somewhere. I—”

  Suddenly Arlan was in front of her. As she found herself folded into his arms, she was taken back to when they were together, and how safe he always made her feel. Forgetting her anger, she nestled into the warmth of his chest and breathed in his masculine scent, letting it calm her.

  “You’re safe,” he whispered. “We’re going to keep you safe. Do you hear me?”

  “I shouldn’t have come here,” she replied, her voice muffled against his chest.

  “I disagree. Coming here is the smartest thing you could’ve done. I can keep you safe here. You need to let me do that, babe, okay?”

  “Breakfast!” a familiar voice called from the doorway. Arlan’s body tensed, and LuLu quickly jerked back. What was she doing?

  “We’ll be there in a minute,” Ax said.

  Hannah’s gaze jumped from Arlan to LuLu, her lips curling into a catty smile, a challenging smile. “Great, Aimee wanted me to tell you to come and get it before it gets cold,” she offered in an overly cheery voice. Ink thanked her, and she slithered back into the kitchen.

  Arlan moved back to his desk and dropped to his chair. Scrubbing his hands through his hair—which she noted had grown longer since she’d last seen him—he let out a tired sounding sigh. “Until we know what we’re dealing with, I need you to stay here where we can protect you. I know it’s not ideal, but you came here for a reason. You wanted my protection, and I’m offering it, plus the protection of my club. I know you don’t understand what that means but tr
ust me when I say that no one will touch you here. Not Dario and sure as hell not some dirty, fucking cop. Do you understand what I’m offering? You have our protection if you stay, but if you leave, you’re on your own.”

  She didn’t have to think very long. It was pretty simple. If she left, she was dead. As much as she didn’t want to be stuck here with him, she trusted he would protect her. “Fine, I’ll stay for now.”

  His eyes flashed with relief. “Good. Ax is going to be your new best friend. I would put Ink on you, but I don’t trust that he won’t try to get into your panties, so Ax it is. Where you go, he goes.”

  “What? Why?” Surely, he’s joking.

  “Because I fucking said so.”

  LuLu’s gaze darted to Ax, and he smiled. “I’m sorry to say it, but you were fresh out of Preparation H. I’m sure if you ask around, someone probably has some.” Her face turned five shades of red as she glared at a smiling Arlan. Ax and Ink both busted into laughter as she stormed from the room.

  “Wait for me!” Ax called after her.

  _______________

  Steele’s mother, Vicky, started the Sunday morning brunch tradition at the club when Grizz took over as president. She wanted one morning a week where families came together to break bread and commune with each other. When Steele stepped up as president, he added in the bonfire and cookout, making it an all-day event. Because of this, it was an unspoken rule that business was not conducted on Sundays. Much to his regret, he was going to have to break that rule today. His brothers weren’t going to be happy, their Ol’ ladies even less so, but it couldn’t be avoided. They needed to get a jump on Luciana’s situation before Dario discovered she was under their protection.

  Ax and Luciana were already at the table when he arrived. Irritated by their close proximity, he did his best to choke down his food. Ax didn’t make it easy with his cheese-dick comments. Steele pretended not to notice, not to care, when what he wanted was to reach across the table and beat the smarmy smile off his cousin’s pretty-boy face. He wasn’t the only one bothered by Ax’s shameless flirting. Sage looked like she was about to explode.

  Sage’s story was a sad one. Her man, Gibby, was riding with Grizz the night of the ambush. Gibby was a hero who died while trying to protect Steele’s father, and for that, his Ol’ lady would forever hold a special place in Steele’s heart. Petal, Gibby and Sage’s daughter, was barely a year old at the time of his death. Being that Ax and Gibby were tight, he stepped up and did right by his friend. Maybe a little too right, because Petal, who’d just turned five, viewed Ax as a father figure. Steele felt bad for Sage. Anyone with eyes could see that she was in love with the guy. He’d spoken to Ax about it on more than one occasion, but Ax always said the same thing—Sage was his best friend’s Ol’ lady. She was sacred ground, and to go there would betray his brother’s memory. Steele could tell that it was killing them both, but Ax refused to budge, and Steele was afraid it was about to cost him. Rumor had it that Sage was involved with someone and the relationship was getting serious. Steele was planning on talking to her about it tonight, but with things going down with Luciana, it would have to wait.

  Luciana’s burst of laughter interrupted his thoughts. He’d had enough. With a tight smile on his face, he pushed back from the table and stood. His men rose with him, all but Jake, who was still busy shoveling food into his mouth. The room went silent as his eyes touched on Luciana. A flicker of emotion danced across her face and he wondered what she was thinking.

  “What? I’m still eating,” Jake growled in response to all the stares.

  “Meeting in five. Don’t be late,” Steele ordered. He thanked the women for brunch and walked out of the room. He was going to have to do something about Jake.

  Loco appeared beside him. As if reading his mind, he murmured, “He’s getting worse,” in a low tone that only Steele could hear. Loco was a few years older than Steele and part of the old guard. He’d seen Jake weasel his way to the top and knew he didn’t belong there. If anyone deserved to be VP, it was the man standing next to him.

  “We need him right now,” Steele commented. Once this was over, however, things were going to change. The sound of their boots hitting the stairs killed the rest of the conversation, which was good because he wasn’t ready to play his hand just yet.

  Chapter Eleven

  EVERYONE BUT JAKE took their places around the table. Ten minutes later, the insolent fucker strolled in with a sly grin on his face.

  Steele stared blankly at his VP. “Glad you could make it.” Jake’s grin faded at the sound of his cold tone, and he quickly took his seat, while grumbling an apology. “Meeting called to order,” Steele said, and proceeded to catch them up to speed on the Luciana, Dario situation.

  “I knew Dario was gonna be trouble,” Loco claimed when Steele was done explaining.

  “Is she sure the cop’s the shooter? He was out of uniform when she saw him the first time. Maybe the guy just looked like the shooter,” Sledge commented.

  Steele opened his mouth to answer when Ax jumped in, “She’s positive it’s the same guy.” He gave Ax a hard glare, and the fucker returned it with a smile of amusement. The feeling that he’d made a mistake by pairing Ax with Luciana was becoming clear to him, but who else could he trust to watch her back? Me, he thought.

  “Is it just me, or have we turned into a rescue mission for wayward bitches?” Jake clipped. Heads snapped in his direction, and the room went electric.

  “Did you really just say that?” Buck asked. Steele knew that tone; it was the tone Buck used before kicking ass. He would love to see Jake taken down a few pegs, but then he’d have to punish Buck. Still, it might be worth it.

  Several other comments flew around the room, and Jake rolled his eyes. “Don’t get all defensive. I’m just saying that we barely made it through this last disaster. Are we really looking for another one? I mean, who is this bitch anyway?”

  Steele’s temper flared. As usual, the jackhole didn’t know when to quit. “Call her a bitch again, and we’re gonna have a problem, brother.”

  Jake’s hands shot into the air. “Jesus, sorry. If I’d known she was your woman, I never would have said anything.” The energy in the room stilled as all eyes turned to Steele. The corners of Jake’s mouth turned up. The fucker was trying to press his hand, to get him to claim Luciana in front of his brothers, just like he did to Buck. Fuck him.

  Dampening his inner rage, he calmly replied, “As I stated earlier, Luciana is a friend. Grizz knew her old man, and she’s in trouble. This is why we’re here. I offered her the club’s protection before talking to you about it. That was wrong of me. Jake wants to rescind that protection, which is his right, but it means we’ll need to vote. All in favor of offering our protection, say aye.”

  “Aye,” everyone but Jake responded in unison.

  “All against, say nay.”

  “Nay,” Jake grumbled.

  Steele tried not to smile. “The protection stands.” He pounded his fist on the table. Buck gave him a nod, telling him he had his back, and Steele returned it.

  “What are we going to do about Dario?” Taz asked. Taz was an enforcer and also a member of the old guard. He kept his thoughts and opinions close to the vest; therefore, Steele never knew how to read him.

  “As I said before, we’ll need to act fast.” His eyes flicked to Jake. “You’ve got an in with Dario. I want you to use it.”

  Jake huffed. “I knew Dario years ago when we were kids. We weren’t exactly friends. Plus, we killed his brother and everyone in their club, so I kind of doubt he’s going to open up to me now.” His sarcastic tone made Steele want to grab his fat head and slam it into the side of the fucking table.

  “You seemed eager to pay him a visit when we needed it before,” Buck accused.

  Jake scowled at him. “That was different. A person was dead, and I was just doing my part.”

  Tired of Jake’s bullshit, Steele snapped, “And we’re asking you to do
your part again. Tell him someone’s selling bad shit and blaming us for it, that the word on the street says it’s him and we think he’s being framed or something. Make him think you’re on his side. If you don’t like that, then think of something better. But make it believable.”

  “Blow smoke up his ass. Say you know he would never betray us, because then we’d have to retaliate, and we all know how that’ll end. See how he reacts. If he’s scared, push him. If not, back off,” Ink added. Steele couldn’t decipher the look on Jake’s face, which made him wary. The guy was a loose cannon.

  Steele was starting to consider a change in plan when Loco chimed in, “I’ll go with him.” Steele trusted Loco implicitly. He would make sure the job got done.

  Relieved to have Loco on board, he drew in a breath and slowly let it out. Step one accomplished. Now for the hard part. “I want to bring Carver in on this.”

  The room erupted with noise, but Jake’s, “Fuck no!” was by far the loudest. Steele’s brow shot up. He expected Buck and Ax to protest, but to find Jake so adamantly against it surprised him. Even Loco looked unsure. Unless he did some fast talking, he wasn’t going to win this one.

  He held up his hand, and the room went silent. “Just hear me out. Carver has an inside track. If the cop really is dirty, he’ll be able to dig into places we can’t.”