by Jamie Begley
Seeing the stares of the brothers, he could tell they were thinking it was from her, too.
Going to the trashcan beside the bar, he threw the box inside.
“Don’t throw it away. If you don’t want it, I’ll take it.” Cash strode to the trashcan, taking it out. “I can give it to Greer for his birthday.”
Train snatched it back from Cash. He had overreacted. He would keep it until he found out who sent it. If it was Killyama, he would give it back to her. Greer Porter wasn’t getting it.
“I changed my mind. Willa could have sent it to me.” Train hadn’t considered Willa before, but she liked giving presents out, so did Lily. Until he knew for sure, he would put it in his dresser.
“If you change your mind again, let me know. Greer’s birthday is next week.”
“You give Greer a wallet with my name, you’re practically begging Rachel to divorce you.”
“I don’t know why. It’s not like Greer can spell.” Cash laughed as he went back to the pool table.
“Greer might not be able to, but Rachel can.”
“Dinner’s ready!” Stori poked her head around the kitchen door to yell. Seeing Train, she came further into the room as the brothers nearly ran him down to get into the kitchen. “I saved you a big pork chop, and I put plenty of potatoes on it, just the way you like.”
Stori eagerly anticipated his praise for fixing his favorite meal. However, fatigue hit him and what appetite he’d had disappeared. The thought of spending the next hour gushing over how good the food was soured his stomach.
“Go ahead. I need to take a shower and get some sleep. Save my plate, and I’ll reheat it when I wake up.”
Stori’s face fell in disappointment. “Want me to join you? I snacked while I was cooking. I can—”
Train shook his head. “There’s no need for you to wait around for me to wake. Go keep Cash company. He’s probably missing Rachel.”
“Okay. Call me when you wake up, and I’ll warm the food for you.”
Nodding, he then went upstairs, trying to shake off the thought that Killyama had sent the wallet. Was it her way of saying she was sorry? Or had she ordered it before she had decided to bust Sasha? Either way, he placed it in his dresser before he showered, so he wouldn’t see it.
Train let the cold water run down his head, wetting his long hair. He needed to cut it. He liked to keep the length to his shoulders, but slicking it back, he realized it was down his back.
Naked, he stepped out of the shower then searched through the drawers until he found his scissors. Pulling his hair back, he braided it. Then he cut it at the length he wanted, dropping the end into the trash. Going back inside the shower, he finished washing off.
Wrapping a towel around his waist, he went to his bedroom, closing and locking the door before turning the light off and lying down on the empty bed. The silence struck him. Usually, one or more of the women stayed in his room at night. Well, they had before he had been an idiot and talked to Killyama that night at Rosie’s.
“Fuck.” Train raised his arm to cover his eyes. He had never been affected by a woman so much that he couldn’t fuck another to take his mind off her. That Killyama had accomplished the impossible feat filled him with self-loathing.
He would grab a couple hours sleep. When he woke up, he would fuck Stori, Jewell, and Ember. By morning, he wouldn’t remember Killyama’s name. If that didn’t work, he had a couple of the new recruits he hadn’t given his vote to yet. One way or another, he was going to forget she had ever shared his bed.
Unable to doze off with her on his mind, he reached for his cell phone. Viper answered on the first ring.
“I want to go to Ohio. A few days is all I’m asking.”
“Go then. Check with Jewell to make sure your shifts are covered.”
“I will. Thanks, brother.”
“Train … it’s not your fault that Sasha is sitting in jail.”
“I made it possible. You tried to warn me about Killyama, and I didn’t listen. Now Sasha is paying the price.”
Train could hear Viper’s sigh through the phone. “You didn’t let Sasha down, you didn’t let your mother down, and you didn’t let Gavin down. You don’t know how to let anyone down. That’s why I didn’t promote you to VP, even though you deserve it. It’s why I chose you to protect Winter and Aisha if anything happens to me. You were born a soldier; you don’t give up, no matter what hell is waiting.”
15
“Shade’s here.” Hammer turned to stare at her in the backseat. “You want me to give it to him?”
“No, we all will.” Killyama reached for the door handle.
“You can wait here. Me and Hammer will go.”
She ignored Jonas’s gruff offer, stiffly getting out of the car and heading toward Shade, who had his motorcycle parked at the back of convenience store, out of sight of The Last Riders’ clubhouse.
“We need to quit meeting like this,” Killyama joked, tossing Kane’s burner phone to him.
Shade deftly caught it. “How did it go? I was getting worried. You’re an hour late.”
“I stopped for a hamburger. Jonas checked the phone out. There’re a couple of pictures of Kane and several of the women at the massage parlor. He must have paid extra to let them take it. Sick fuck likes to strangle them as he fucks them. When you talk to Yates, tell him he should check and see if there are any unsolved murders in town. He gets off on it too much for there not to be a skeleton in his closet.”
“If not more.”
Hammer’s sickened agreement had Shade’s discerning gaze moving from one to the other.
“You have any problem finding the jewelry?” Hammer asked.
“No. You could have warned me about the guard dog, though.”
“I couldn’t make it too easy for you. A little dog shouldn’t have been a problem for you.”
Shade’s gaze settled on Hammer. “There wasn’t anything little about that Doberman. He ripped my favorite pair of jeans. It was a trained attack dog. If I hadn’t worked with them in the military, it would have had me for lunch.”
“Couldn’t have been too bad; I don’t see a mark on you.” Hammer drew Shade’s gaze back to him as it had once again wandered to Killyama.
“We were best friends by the time I left him tied to a tree outside.” His eyes cut back to Killyama. “I’ve never seen you with a scarf. Maybe you should get a thicker jacket.”
Killyama shrugged. “I’m cold-natured. You should know that by now. If we’re done here, I’m ready to head back to Jamestown … unless you need me to dig you fuckers the rest of the way out of the hole you dug for yourselves?”
“No, I think we have it.” Shade’s eyes were like blue lasers as she turned to walk back to the Escalade.
Killyama counted the steps, breaking out in a cold sweat. “Is he still watching?” she whispered hoarsely so Shade couldn’t hear. The son of a bitch hadn’t started his motor. He was waiting for them to leave.
“Yes.”
She didn’t know what she wanted to do more: faint or vomit.
Jonas hurried to open the door for her, blocking Killyama from sight, and Hammer climbed in beside her.
She watched as Jonas waved at Shade as he got inside to start the SUV. Jonas slowly drove past The Last Riders’ clubhouse, maintaining the speed limit until he turned down a dark street where he accelerated, the streets passing in a blur.
Dropping her head onto Hammer’s shoulder, she unzipped the tight leather jacket and let him help her out of it before sinking against him, seeking comfort she would never accept if she weren’t hurting so badly.
“Get me to the hospital.”
“We’re almost there.”
“Do you think we fooled him?” She weakly tried to reach for the blood-soaked bandage that was wound around her neck, but Hammer pulled her hand away, holding it tightly in his hand.
“He bought it, hook, line, and sinker. Now, will you quit worrying about Shade and let us take car
e of you?”
She didn’t talk the rest of the way to the hospital.
When Jonas brought the SUV to a screeching halt, Hammer was already jumping out, reaching inside to lift her out then carrying her into the emergency room. Thankfully, she passed out before the electronic door could close behind them.
She awoke in the dark, not remembering where she was. She tried to speak, but the fire in her throat prevented anything but a guttural sound to escape.
Feverish, she imagined Train was in bed with her and sleeping, so he couldn’t hear her. She had to wake him up. She needed his help.
Afraid she was being held down by mysterious hands in the dark, she needed him to get them off so she could breathe.
“Tr-Train … help me.”
The light came on, but Train wasn’t staring down at her.
It was Hammer who drew her out of the nightmare.
“Jonas and I are here. Go back to sleep.”
“It wasn’t a nightmare, was it?”
“No, it wasn’t a nightmare.”
The plan had gone to shit when they had been sneaked into the massage parlor by the mama-san through the back door.
“You have my money?” the woman had asked.
Killyama had felt a tingling warning at the back of her neck as Hammer had given the mama-san the envelope of cash.
“This isn’t what we agreed.” She shoved the envelope back at him. “You go.”
“You get half now and the other half when we leave.” Hammer pulled the cash out of the envelope, letting her see the amount of money she was walking away from.
“How do I know you’re not the cops?”
Killyama pretended to give her an embarrassed look. “We only want to watch. My boyfriend wants me to learn how you make your customers so happy.”
The mama-san’s doubts didn’t vanish, but her greed won out.
“Kane only pays for thirty minutes. He cheats me out of fifteen minutes. If he goes happiness-ess longer, you pay?”
“Yes. It will make my man happy.” She should think of another line of work.
The mama-san snatched the money back before leading them to a hallway that had several doors. She was chubby, but she moved fluidly along the hallway, the white coat giving her a business-like appearance.
The parlor wasn’t what Killyama had expected. It was clean and looked professional. She was reminded of the spa days Sex Piston had treated them to whenever Stud had sold a bike.
The mama-san opened a door at the end of the hallway, and Killyama looked around, seeing a massage table with a towel folded at the end. It was clean and had a fresh odor.
They all stepped inside, closing the door behind them.
“You go in there.” The mama-san motioned to a black curtain. “And stay until I come and get you when he leaves.” The mama-san pointed at Hammer. “He comes with me.”
Killyama and Hammer shook their heads. “That’s not the deal. He wants to watch, too—”
“The lesson for you, not him. If Kane sees you, my business over.” She snapped her fingers in front of their faces. “Your choice. You stay. He goes.”
“I’m not leaving you alone.” Hammer tried to take her arm, but Killyama shook him off.
“I’ll be fine. Go with her. Pretty boy won’t even know I’m here. You know I can handle myself. If I can beat your ass, Kane won’t give me trouble if something goes wrong.”
“Kane good customer. You cause trouble, you deal with me.”
“No trouble, only happiness,” Killyama assured the woman.
She hid behind the curtain as Hammer reluctantly left with the mama-san. Jonas was going to kick her ass for this. Hammer was protective of her, but Jonas didn’t share the same confidence in her abilities. The two men had always been by her side for as long as she could remember, unless they were deployed, usually making sure a girlfriend was left to keep watch of her.
Killyama stayed to the side of the curtain, not sure if Kane would be able to see her outline through the thin material.
Stiffening, she heard someone enter the room. A charming voice was greeting the mama-san. When their voices began arguing over money because Kane wanted to use a coupon, Killyama became so frustrated she wanted to shout she would pay for the fucking hand job. Thankfully, the mama-san was satisfied with the money and left the room.
The sound of Kane undressing had her waiting tensely, worried he would look behind the curtain. When the room then went quiet, Killyama bravely peeked through a gap in the material, seeing Kane lying on his back, the white towel tenting his hard-on.
Killyama nearly screamed as the minutes ticked by before the door opened again, and a tiny Asian woman’s high heels tapped on the floor. She was wearing a tiny black dress that was so short Killyama could see she wasn’t wearing anything underneath when she bent over to light the candles. Then she dimmed the overhead lights.
Killyama watched as the petite woman oiled her hands. Then she looked toward Kane’s clothes. They were sitting on a table a foot from her.
Dammit, she had expected him to be on his back. Kane would be able to easily see her if she moved from her hiding spot. That meant she was forced to watch the woman slide her oiled hands over Kane’s body before giving him a blowjob that put the one Killyama had given Train to shame. She was furious at herself for letting the erotically charged atmosphere excite her.
There were no emotions between the two adults, other than lust from Kane. The woman looked positively bored. At least, she did until Kane grabbed the fragile wrist stroking his cock.
“No touch,” the small woman protested to no avail.
Kane slid himself out from her hands, using the grip he had on her wrist to twist her arm behind her back as he hopped off the table, forcing her to lean her upper body over the table.
“No,” the woman objected, whimpering in fear.
Killyama’s grip tightened on the curtain, unable to decide if this was part of the services the parlor offered.
The frightened cries escalated when Kane pulled the woman’s dress to her waist, about to sink his dick into the struggling masseuse.
Dammit, Killyama couldn’t watch the woman get raped.
When she started gasping at the forced weight of his hand that circled her throat, Killyama darted out from behind the curtain, pushing Kane off the crying woman.
“Who the hell are you?” Kane yelled as she helped the woman rise. “MAMA-SAN!”
Killyama held the woman as the mama-san ran into the room, Hammer rushing in behind her, restraining Kane. She couldn’t catch many of the words the mama-san spat at the terrified worker.
When she would have backhanded her, Killyama caught her hand.
“What’s going on in here?”
Kane’s yells had doors opening and closing as customers from other rooms fled.
“Is this a shake down? If you want my money, take it,” some stupide asshole asked.
“We don’t want your money,” Hammer barked at him before turning toward Killyama. “What happened?” His calm voice broke through all the other voices.
Seeing Kane’s diverted attention, Killyama used the opportunity to grab the cell phone, barely missing getting caught as Kane started dressing. Sliding it into her pocket, she quickly moved toward the door.
“Tell her this is too much happiness-ess for me. I’ll wait outside.” She turned her glare on Kane. “Fucker, next time you want something off the menu, ask first.” Bolting out of the room, Killyama ran down the hallway and through the back door.
Jonas, seeing her coming, got out of the Escalade. But before he could ask what happened, she told him to go help Hammer.
“Shit.” Jonas took off running inside the back of the parlor. She wanted to go back inside with him, but she didn’t want to be there when Kane discovered his cell phone was missing.
She was climbing into the backseat when she was hit from behind. Falling forward, she twisted over to see Kane was over her, the bastard’s face filled wit
h fury.
He didn’t give her a chance to react before wrapping a coat hanger wire around her neck.
“Why watch me fuck someone when you can experience it for yourself, cunt?”
She tried to shove him off her, forcing herself to disconnect from the pain around her throat. However, she didn’t stand a chance of breaking his hold, and she would run out of air if she concentrated on breaking his grip.
Every lesson Hammer and Jonas had taught her flashed through her mind. Arching her body, she tried to shove Kane off her. When that didn’t work, she crossed her arms, reaching for his wrists. Managing to get her feet on the seat, she used her thighs to push Kane over her head. It didn’t work. The Escalade was big, but there wasn’t enough room for her to successfully perform the maneuver.
The wire around her neck twisted tighter, making her almost black out. Using her last chance at survival, she tried to hit him in the nose with the palm of her hand, but he blocked her, which meant he released the coat hanger.
Killyama couldn’t see what he was doing. By the time she saw the flash of a knife, she didn’t have time to respond. The searing pain in the same spot she had been shot two months ago filled her with agonizing pain.
Digging her nails into his wrist, she was able to keep him from plunging it any deeper, but her grip was becoming slippery from the blood oozing out of the wound.
He was ripping her pants off when Hammer jerked him off her, flinging him back. Then Kane ran as Jonas unwound the coat hanger, Hammer on his heels.
“Hammer! Get back here!” Jonas yelled, trying to help her sit up. “You need to drive us to the hospital!”
Seconds later, Hammer slammed the back door shut then jumped behind the wheel. “You okay, Rae?”
Gasping, she held her burning throat.
“Stop, let me see.” Jonas cussed when he saw the wound then asked Hammer to hand him the first-aid case out of the glove box.