“You always did see me, didn’t you, sugar?” he rasped, and I wasn’t even surprised that he knew where my mind had wandered.
“Didn’t you always see me too?” I replied, my voice low and husky as my heart eventually calmed, my breathing returning to normal like he’d intended in the first place.
“Yeah, I did.” He reached down and pressed a kiss to my mouth. It was soft, gentle. Unlike him. He kissed me with a tenderness I’d never experienced before, with a love that I felt in my very marrow.
When his cock slid into me, he didn’t pump away or rut on me like a stallion in heat. And though I loved that, had needed Axe and Wolfe to fuck me that way to remind me who I was to them, I needed this now.
They’d destroyed me.
Razed me to the ground until I was nothing but ashes and ember.
Flame was going to build me up again.
The orgasm, when it came, was sweet and slow burn. It warmed me through, had an exquisite joy surging inside me as he told me, with his body, his kiss, and his cock, that he loved me.
Flame was bad with the words. Not as bad as Dagger, but almost. Today, though, he told me he loved me and there wasn’t a sweeter way for him to reveal that truth to me.
No sweeter way at all.
8
Wolfe
As the gates creaked open, I peered out the window to see who was coming in.
Not having heard the roar of motorcycle engines, I was surprised when a cage rattled down the drive.
It was a sleek import, and not something you often saw in these parts.
Rutherford was home to just under a thousand people. The income came from rearing cattle, so most of those thousand folks drove a truck or an SUV, not this fancy sedan that spoke of the city.
As I got to my feet, I saw the others’ attention switch to me and then over to the window.
“What is it?”
I jerked my chin at the window. “We have a visitor.”
When Axe whistled, I knew he was just as impressed by the caliber of vehicle. Then, when we saw the slicked-back head of the driver as he climbed out, I grunted.
“What the fuck is Ramon doing here?”
I wasn’t surprised when a few moments later, Jodie-May came barreling out of the clubhouse with a squeal. Ramon laughed as he hugged her close, then kissed her on the cheek. She didn’t let him get away with that though. Instead, she slipped him some tongue that had my brows rising as their kiss surged from freezing temps to boiling.
It was Dagger’s turn to whistle. “Always was a great kisser.”
I snorted out a laugh. “You’re the only one who’d dare go near her. Aaron’s fourteen and she still wants a daddy for him.”
He grunted, but I saw him hide his laugh. “Wonder what he’s doing here.”
“Haven’t seen him in years. That’s probably why she’s tongue-fucking him right this second,” Flame pointed out drily.
I hummed under my breath as I contemplated why the cartel foot soldier was here, and calculated very fucking quickly that it probably wouldn’t be for a good reason.
Ramon patted Jodie-May on the ass and she led him inside. I turned to the others and murmured, “What are the odds he just wants to fuck Jodie-May?”
“Slim to none?” Axe retorted with a laugh.
“Fuck,” I grumbled, and braced myself for the knock on the door.
When it came a few moments later, I trudged over and opened it myself.
Jodie-May had made herself scarce, and Ramon was standing there alone.
“Good to see you, bro,” I told him, and I meant it. Ramon had always been a cool fucker. He didn’t ride a bike, but he had the spirit of a biker. That didn’t take away from the fact he was mean as shit and had more blood on his hands than even Flame, and fuck, Flame could probably swim around in the blood he’d shed.
Ramon held out his hand for me to shake, then he hauled me in for a bro hug. As he slapped me on the back, he murmured, “Same here, muchacho.”
“How’s the family?” I asked, as I invited him in then took a seat behind the desk.
“All’s good. Same on this end?”
I smirked at him as he took a seat opposite me. He was a few inches shorter than me, but the guy had presence. Unlike me, who wore a pair of jeans, a wifebeater, and my cut, he wore a slick suit that he had to be miserable in in this hot weather. With his greased back hair and goatee, he looked like Lou Diamond Philips.
“Yeah, all’s great. Lots in the works.”
“Good to hear it. I always was sad that we broke ways.” He rubbed his chin. “I always could be assured a warm welcome.”
I snorted as I reached into my desk drawer and drew out a bottle of Scotch. Behind him, Dagger grabbed a few tumblers and he set them on the desk as he clapped Ramon on the back.
“Good to see you,” Dag told him too, with Flame and Axe echoing the sentiment.
As I poured us all some drinks, I said around a laugh, “We saw Jodie-May’s greeting. Warm ain’t the word.”
Ramon grinned and waggled his brow. “Hot as fuck that one.” He smacked his lips, but in his eyes, I saw something that put me on edge.
“Everything all right, man?” I queried carefully, pushing a Scotch his way.
“You’d been VP for how long before you became Prez?”
I blinked, surprised by the question. “Two years. I was Road Captain before that.”
“Got arrested too.”
Nodding, I told him, “Nothing too bad. They couldn’t pin shit on me for smuggling though. Got me on evading arrest.” I shrugged. “Had to try to get away from the pigs, didn’t I?”
“Shame it didn’t work,” he retorted drily. “I only ask because I wondered if you were in the know about why I’m here today.”
I shook my head. “No. In the dark. Was this an arrangement or something with Bomber?”
“No. Not exactly.” He sighed. “I was hoping it would end with Bomber, but Carlos is a mean bastard. His grudges don’t die, and when he heard that Lucie Steeler was back in Rutherford?” He clucked his tongue. “Shit hit the fan and heads rolled. Thankfully not mine, but it was a close call. Especially since I was the one he set to find her all those years ago.”
I gaped at him, while Dagger had the wherewithal to demand, “What the fuck?”
“I wouldn’t worry. I knew where she was all along, but Bomber and I had a deal.” His mouth tightened. “Her safety for Aaron’s. He might only be a bastard, but he’s mine and his mama gave me some good times. No need to waste a life when I wasn’t that interested in finding Lucie anyway.”
Axe rasped, “I think you need to start from the beginning.”
“Maybe I should, but the end? You’re not going to like it, but it’s either do as I say or he’ll send someone else after her.”
There was a finality to his tone that had my heart sinking to my stomach. “What did Bomber do?” I demanded.
“I don’t know all the details. Just know that word got back to the cartel that you were missing a kilo of coke. Whispers surged about the fact that Lucie had stolen them. Carlos was mad. He’d already decided to stop working with you because Bomber was certifiable, but something like that was an outrage.
“He sent me and somehow, on yet another grapevine, Bomber figured I was the one who’d been sent on the hit. The irony is, of course, that I would have helped him without his threats, but…” He shrugged. “His loss.”
“Carlos still wants her?” I frowned at him. “That doesn’t make any sense, Ramon. She didn’t take it.”
“She did. Or, at least, someone did and was content for her to take the fall. The shipment, when it turned up to be processed, was down a kilo.”
I felt sweat break out of every single one of my goddamn pores at his blasé remark. Even though I knew why, I had to ask anyway. “Why are you here?”
“Officially, to kill Lucie. Unofficially? I never did have a problem with you guys. Bomber was a prick, but I knew everyone was pretty decen
t. Carlos wants his revenge, however, and I need to give it to him.”
I didn’t reach for my gun, didn’t even settle my hand on my knife. Ramon, if he’d wanted, could have snuck into the compound and found a way to get to Lucie. He hadn’t. For a reason.
“How do you want to do this?”
“Carlos likes to collect his enemy’s pinkie finger. If I show him a burial site, as well as a picture of her body, that should be enough to convince him of proof of death.”
My nostrils flared. “This a joke?”
“No. I wish it was,” he replied with a grunt. “Fucking freak with his pinkie fingers.” He reached up and rubbed his temple. “I know it’s not ideal, but let’s be grateful he doesn’t collect hands. The sick fuck is weird enough to graduate to that at some point.
“But look, she can live without a pinkie finger, Wolfe. Some makeup, false blood…” He shrugged. “Isn’t the first time I’ve staged a crime scene.”
“And when she’s spotted in town? When she goes back to living her life?” Flame growled. “He’ll be back.”
Ramon shrugged. “Not saying it’s a perfect solution, but it’s the only option we got if you don’t want her dead. If we do this, it gets the cartel off your back and Carlos off mine.”
I blinked at him. “Why? This doesn’t make any sense.”
Ramon gritted his teeth. “Nothing about this fucked up situation does, but while Bomber is dead and these threats to Aaron should be too, someone picked up the phone and contacted me today.” He grabbed his cell, tapped the screen a few times, and shoved it across the desk to me. “Someone’s following him.”
I scrolled through the images and saw that Aaron was being followed. It wasn’t a lie. There were different camera angles, shots at multiple locations.
My nostrils flared as I held it out to Flame. “Look at this fucked up shit.”
Flame’s lighter hissed as he got to his feet and headed over to the desk. When he reached for the phone, his brow furrowed as he scrolled through the photos too. “I’ll deal with it.”
I dipped my chin at him as he left.
“Deal with what?” Ramon demanded, surging forward as the door slammed closed behind my brother.
“The motherfucker who’s threatening one of our own. Aaron might be your son, but he’s a Rebel first. No one threatens him.” My jaw clenched. “No one.”
Ramon’s head tilted to the side. “You’ll keep him safe?”
“You have no reason to believe me when the old Prez was behind this, but yeah, I’ll keep him safe.”
“You’ll lose your leverage against me with Lucie,” he pointed out.
I shook my head, and cut Axe a look. Within seconds, Ramon’s voice flooded the office. The recording of his admission that he thought Carlos Rodriguez, the head of the Guerrera Cartel, was a ‘psycho’ and how he’d been holding out on Lucie’s location to him for years.
Ramon rolled his eyes. “Rookie mistake on my part,” he admitted.
Shrugging, I told him, “I’d prefer to hold this against you than your boy, that’s all.”
Though I sensed Ramon was pissed, it was aimed more at himself than me. He dropped into his seat and slunk down. “Now that you mention it, I’d prefer that too.” He rubbed his chin. “But even if you hold this against me, I can’t save Lucie’s ass. Rodriguez wants blood. He always does.”
“She never took the drugs, man,” Dagger told him, coming as close to pleading as I’d ever heard him.
“Doesn’t matter. Your father said she did. Sold her down the line to Carlos to stop any blowback on the MC. Carlos never forgives and he never forgets.”
“What are his links in the area?” I questioned, starting to think about semantics here.
“Limited. He changed delivery routes when you guys let him down.” He dragged his hand over his jaw.
“How did he find out she was here?”
“Got a tip.”
“So, someone’s watching?” I demanded, my heart starting to pound.
“I think so.”
I cut Axe and Dagger a look as terror surged in my veins. “Where’s she supposed to go after her ‘murder?’”
“I wouldn’t worry about that. Carlos is in the middle of a turf war with the Colombians in New York. That’s pissing him off more than anything.”
“He was aware enough to send you.”
“To clean up shit. After she’s gone and I give him proof? Things should be okay.”
There were so many ways this could go wrong, but fuck, what choice did we have?
No fucking choice, that’s what.
❖
Flame
“Baby, we need to talk.”
When she tilted her head to the side at Dagger’s words, I wasn’t surprised when she headed over to him and pressed herself into his lap.
I always liked watching their relationship unfold. It was forged on touch, on a physical connection that went deeper than just sex.
She could, I knew, sit on Dagger’s lap for a lifetime and that would be her home.
It amused me how that hadn’t changed.
Wherever Dagger was, didn’t matter if it was an armchair in the common room, a dining chair at the table, or a sofa—she’d sit on him. The only place she didn’t? The barstools at the bar. Even then, though, she’d usually stand between his legs and let him prop her up.
As I raised the bottle to my lips and sank some beer, I watched as Wolfe moved around his desk and hauled the armchair in the office closer to her. Axe was leaning against the desk, but me? I was beside the windows, tilted so I could see out but I could also see what was happening in the room.
“What’s going on?” she asked, eyeing Wolfe’s movements with concern.
She’d been out all day, and when I hadn’t been able to find her after Ramon’s visit, my mind had immediately sunk into despair. I’d called her, not stopping until she answered with a huff.
Turned out she was on her way to Jonsson, and she hadn’t left the car or stopped once. I’d pleaded with her to come home and to go straight to the clubhouse.
She had, for once, obeyed.
Maybe because she wasn’t used to hearing that much feeling in my voice? Or maybe because I’d scared her? I wasn’t sure, I was just grateful that she’d literally been on the highway from the second she’d left the compound.
Something she wouldn’t be doing for the foreseeable future.
Fuck, Lucie was not going to be happy about any of this.
When Wolfe had suggested us not telling her what Ramon had said, Dagger, Axe, and I had slammed him down. Lucie was not the shy and retiring type. She faced her problems headfirst, and I loved her for that. Still, now that the time had come to share, I was dreading it as much as Dagger was—he looked like he’d been shoved into a vat of pickle brine.
When he blew out a breath and began to tell her the whole sordid mess, Lucie’s lack of reaction didn’t surprise me.
She was pretty rational. Not as much as me, but she had a level head and I could see the cogs working as she ran through what Ramon had shared with us.
Her brow puckered at the news we’d need to lop off her fucking finger, but by the end, her question was, “What happens after? If he found out I’m here—”
“We’re trying to weed out the snitch,” I rasped, and when her eyes cut to mine, I didn’t bother offering her a reassuring smile, just gave her all my focus.
When she nodded, I knew she’d received the message—I’d find the bastard and make him fucking pay on her behalf.
“Still, news could get back. I can’t live here until things have blown over,” she whispered, and the starkness in her words hit me hard. Hard enough to make me surge forward and away from the windows to crouch down in front of her.
“You already said you didn’t want to live at the clubhouse, baby,” I reassured her.
“I don’t want to live here, Flame, but move away? No! I’ve already done that, and I hated it,” she whispered, and I heard
her misery. Heard it and felt it.
“You’re not moving anywhere. We’ll make an example out of the motherfucking rat, and once that’s done, no one will dare utter a word about you,” Wolfe promised.
“So, what? I’m stuck in here for the next few months?” she ground out. “You know that will drive me insane, don’t you?”
He shrugged. “I was thinking about converting that space at the east corner of our land into a barn. You’ll have plenty of time to set up the factory—”
“She isn’t a slave,” Axe ground out.
“Never said she was. But she’ll be focusing on that and Amaryllis—”
“Amaryllis will start school in August,” Lucie retorted. “She’s bound to talk about her mommy.”
Wolfe rubbed his jaw. “She’ll need to know a part of the truth. She’ll have to say you went away for a while. People will just think you’re dead.”
“That’s reassuring,” she snarled. “Fuck, Wolfe, you want to tell our daughter, the daughter who’s already grieving her father, who’s been moved nearly a thousand miles, that she needs to tell everyone her mother has gone away for a while?”
He shrugged. “Why not? She knows it’s a lie. You’ll be with her at night after school, for fuck’s sake.”
I winced because he had a point.
She reached up and rubbed her temples. “We’re going to mess with her head more than we already have.”
“We don’t have a choice,” Wolfe told her carefully, and I cut him a look and saw he was trying to be strong, but was feeling just how fucked up this was as much as Lucie.
“There’s always a choice,” she whispered.
“Yeah, and in this instance, it’s either you being killed by Ramon or letting him work to set you up,” he countered. “This really is the best of two evils.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’ve already decided on this, haven’t you?”
“You came to us, Lucie,” I reminded her, “because you know we’ll do whatever we have to, to keep you safe.”
“And letting a cartel foot soldier lop off my fucking finger is keeping me safe?” she growled, lunging forward, but Dagger hauled her back onto his lap and kept his arms threaded about her waist.
All Sinner No Saint Page 16