Rude (King's Harlots MC Book 4)

by J. M. Walker

  “You have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.” Zane took a step toward me, his body rigid and stiff.

  “No? You think I don’t know what it’s like to have an unhealthy relationship with your sibling?” I laughed. “At least I wasn’t related to mine.”

  His brows narrowed. “What I do with my sister is none of your damn business.”

  “It is when you come into my home uninvited.” I crossed my arms under my chest, lifting my chin defiantly. “So, tell me. What the fuck do you want?”

  “Hmmm … someone is getting a little impatient.” Zane scratched the dark scruff of his jaw. “I want you to tell whoever you work with to stop searching us out.”

  I scoffed. “Like that’s going to happen. You take innocent women, girls, and throw them into a life far worse than hell. Why would we stop?”

  “Not just women.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “We don’t take just women,” he smirked. “Not anymore.”

  “So, you take men too.” I shook my head. “What the fuck ever.”

  “We tried taking your brother.” Zane tapped the bat against the floor. “But he refused.”

  “Wait.” Blood rushed to my head, forcing me to grab hold of the chair I was sitting in before I fell over. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Your brother,” Zane repeated slowly. “He may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time—” He waved a hand in front of him “—but, really, it gave me the idea that maybe we need to up our ante. People would pay for men. Boys. You don’t hear about it often so we decided to give it a shot. Your brother would have been the first.”

  I swallowed past the lump that had formed in my throat. “Why?”

  Zane shrugged. “I was bored. I wanted a new toy to play with and my sister wouldn’t let me touch her anymore.”

  “You’re a sick fuck,” I bit out.

  “Oh, I know.” A wicked grin formed on his face. “But you know how that feels, don’t you? You see, we’re cut from the same cloth, you and I.”

  “No.” I shoved to my feet. “We are not. Now tell me what the hell my brother has to do with this.”

  “That brother of yours would give us the push we needed to make some extra cash. To reach a new clientele. But when he refused, I had to end him. I couldn’t let him go to the authorities.”

  Oh, God. “You … You killed Benny. It was you. You took him away from me.” The words left my mouth, falling on deaf ears as he continued walking back and forth in front of me.

  “He would have been a good one too. My sister could have used him up and turn him into the best little toy possible.”

  A sob escaped me and I fell to my knees. Because of their twisted games, my brother was no longer alive.

  “Why him?” I whispered.

  Zane stepped in front of me, his boots appearing in my blurry vision. “Because he had everything to lose.”

  ***

  (Coby)

  Benny Tapp stared up at me from the photo.

  Brogan’s brother. The man who had taken care of her and her siblings after losing their parents. The man who she had looked up to like a father figure. How the hell was he in on this shit?

  “Do you know anything about this?” Angel asked, stepping in front of me and tapped the photo with his finger.

  “No.” I looked up at him. “I don’t know much about her brothers. Except for Greyson, but we all know how that story ends. This doesn’t make sense. We’re not here for the trafficking.”

  “We’re never here for the trafficking, Coby,” Angel said, searching another body. “It just happens that these fuckers who hold these females, find us.”

  “But this is different,” I glanced down at Benny again. “We need to find out if he has anything to do with these bastards,” I said, kicking the boot on the foot of one of the dead bodies.

  “We need answers but we won’t find them here,” Stone said before talking into the radio. “Vice-One to base …”

  “Listen,” Angel said, his voice low enough for only me to hear. “This shit is getting too close to home and it’s not sitting well with me. If Benny was involved in the trafficking and the terrorist shit? It will destroy his siblings. I know Brogan can handle this on her own but she doesn’t need to. The same goes for you.”

  “I got this,” I muttered.

  “Yeah, I know that,” Angel cupped my nape, leaning his forehead against mine. “Remember what I told you when we first met?”

  I breathed in the musky scent of sweat, tinged with a hint of fear. “You told me that I’m not an island and I don’t need to stand on my own.”

  “We’re brothers. We fight as one. We die as one.”

  “If Benny was in on this, it will destroy her.” That was my biggest worry. I didn’t care about her brothers. They could handle it but with Brogan, she was fragile. Even though she liked to think she was invincible and could handle everything life had thrown at her, this would break her.

  “Well, let’s make sure we find out for certain before we give her any news.” Angel squeezed my nape. “Are you in this with us?”

  “Yes.”

  “You want to bring these bastards down.”

  “Yes.”

  “You want to do this for the woman you love.”

  I pulled back, staring into my brother’s dark eyes, my lips pulling into a wicked grin. “You have no fucking idea.”

  “Tell me.”

  “I want to rip off every inch of them and hear them beg for their lives.”

  “Good.” Angel grunted. “Now let’s get this fucking show on the road before I end up missing the birth of my baby.”

  Why did he leave and not take anything with him? Why spare me? Zane never gave me his name. Never told me what his sole purpose was when he came to the apartment. Was it just to fuck with my head like I had been doing to others for years? Maybe I had deserved it.

  He knew I wouldn’t call the police on him. What would I say?

  Hello, Mr. Police Officer. This man broke into my apartment but he didn’t hurt me. Oh, and I also torture people for fun.

  Gripping my hair tight in my hands, I tugged and pulled.

  My phone rang, startling me from the frustrating and confusing thoughts I was having. “Hello?”

  “Hi, little one,” a deep smooth voice purred in my ear.

  My heart stumbled over itself. “Hi, Coby.”

  “Did I wake you?”

  “No.” I squeezed the phone tight in my hand. “I miss you.”

  “I miss you too.”

  “Can we video chat?” I needed him in ways I never even knew existed.

  “No. I’m not even supposed to be calling you.”

  “Oh. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

  “I won’t.”

  I hesitated. “Is everything okay?”

  “I just needed to hear your voice.”

  “God, I miss you.” I headed into Coby’s bedroom and slid onto the bed before wrapping myself around his pillow.

  “Keep missing me, Brogan,” he demanded. “When I get home, I’m going to show you how much I’ve missed you.”

  “Yes,” I breathed. “Please show me.”

  “I will, baby,” his voice lowered. “I’m going to show every inch of you. I’m going to show your fucking soul how much I’ve missed you. Your voice. Your touch. Your smiles.”

  My eyes burned, my throat constricting past the hard lump that had been lodged there since the moment Coby left. “And I’ll show you too.”

  “Yes, you will, won’t you?”

  I laughed, wiping the tears from under my eyes that had fallen freely down my cheeks. “I love you.”

  “And I love you, little one.” He cleared his throat. “I have to go but dream of me. Dream of me so fucking hard that I feel you.”

  “I will.”

  “Good girl.”

  My heart started racing. I should have told him about Zane breaking in but he had enough to deal
with. I needed to go to my basement.

  “Everything okay, Brogan?”

  No. “Yes. I just miss you.”

  He paused. “I miss you too.”

  “Everything okay with you?” I asked, sitting up in the bed.

  “Yes.”

  He was lying. I wasn’t sure how I knew it but the way his voice lowered proved that he was hiding something. I imagined that he knew I was lying as well. And here we were, already keeping secrets from each other. I just prayed that he was trying to protect me as much as I was trying to protect him. I didn’t want him to be distracted.

  “I love you, little one. Always remember that.”

  “I love you too, and I will.”

  ***

  “Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Jay yelled, slamming her fist on the table in front of her.

  Asher had done a good job at getting the club manageable enough for us to work in. None of us would live in it for a while, but no one needed to know that. I hadn’t even bothered to go through the boxes of stuff that had been saved from the explosion.

  “You’re sitting here.” Jay pointed a finger at me. “Telling me that the head of the operation that we have been trying to bring to its knees for months just randomly shows up at Coby’s apartment and you’re only telling us this now?”

  It had been a couple days since that fucker had broken into the apartment. I had the security guard fired, finding out he had been paid off to let the guy onto the penthouse floor.

  “You have a lot of shit going on,” I reminded Jay, sitting back in the chair. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

  She laughed, shaking her head. “You have got to be kidding me right now. What the hell do you think Coby would do if he found out something happened to you and I didn’t do shit?”

  “It’s not your job to take care of me.”

  “You’re damn right it’s my job to look out for you,” she screamed.

  My heart jumped. I had never seen Jay react like this; no matter what we did, she was always cool and calm, never blowing up even when she should have. “Jay—”

  “No.” She raised a hand, stopping me. “I can’t deal with this anymore.”

  “Whoa.” I leaned forward. “Listen, I’m sorry I never said anything but I didn’t want it to slip to Angel because I don’t need Coby distracted. I don’t need any of them distracted.”

  Her eyes softened. “But—”

  “No. I mean it. I need Coby to come home to me. That’s all I want. This will be the first thing I tell him but until then, it needs to stay between you and I.”

  Jay sighed, rubbing her swollen belly. “So, you didn’t get his name.”

  “No.” I shook my head, stretching my arms up and over my head. Rising to my feet, I walked to the large bay window. “I’ve seen him at the bookstore and had coffee with him.”

  “Does Coby know?”

  “He doesn’t.” Maybe I should have felt guilty but I didn’t. Coby would understand. I had a feeling the whole time about the guy and I needed to find out more about him. I just never expected him to show up at the apartment. Coby would flip his shit and get mad over the fact that I never told him but it wasn’t something I could worry about either.

  “Shit, Brogan,” Jay cursed again. “I need this to end.”

  “We all do,” I muttered, staring out the large window.

  “Right.” Jay came up beside me. “Did you find out what that bastard wanted?”

  “He wanted to tell me that he had every intention of bringing Benny into the business but killed him after Benny said no.”

  “Brogan,” Jay gasped.

  I shrugged. “Whatever. It’s done and over with. I can’t confront Benny over it so who knows if it’s fucking true or not.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “It’s what he said.” I laughed. “I’m so stupid. I thought he was just a nice guy who wanted to talk about books. But I should have known better.”

  “It’s not your fault. We’ve all been stressed.”

  “I wanted a little normalcy in my life,” I whispered.

  Jay wrapped an arm around my shoulders, resting her chin on top of my head. “I understand, Brogan, but unfortunately for us, things will never be normal again.”

  “I know.” I cupped her forearm, reveling in the sisterly bond we shared. Having brothers was one thing. They protected and kept me safe but every now and again, a girl needed that female companionship.

  “Coby won’t be happy.” Jay gave me a squeeze before releasing me.

  “I’ll deal with it when the time comes, but for now, it stays between us.” I would make him understand why I kept it from him. And if I couldn’t, it would be a fight that would be worth having as long as it kept him safe.

  ***

  (Coby)

  Shit was getting real.

  Smoke billowed around me, burning the hairs in my nose.

  My lungs ached, trying to breathe in the oxygen I needed to survive.

  As soon as we grabbed what we needed and left the compound, someone had attacked. Shouting sounded. Voices closed in. Footsteps trampled. But what pulled me from my thoughts was hearing Dale’s name.

  Someone was frantic, shouting for him, but I couldn’t be sure who it was.

  My vision was cloudy, a ringing pierced my ears. Attempting to radio my brothers, all I got was static on the other end. “Shit.”

  Boots came into view, heavy hands lifted me onto my feet. “Coby.” Angel shook me. “We were hit.”

  “Yeah.” It was all I could get out as I wavered.

  “Don’t pass out on me now,” Angel growled, giving me another shake. “I can’t find Dale.”

  My heart jumped. Well, that woke me the fuck up. “Do we know who hit us?”

  “Negative.” Stone came toward us and banged his radio against his palm. “Still static.”

  “Keep trying.” Angel rounded up Henley and Lian, indicating for them to check out the place and make sure we wouldn’t get hit again.

  “If something happened to Dale, I’m going to kill that fucker,” Angel grumbled, leading us out of the building.

  When a pop pop sounded, I jumped in front of Angel, pushing him behind me.

  “Together,” Angel snapped at me, shoving out of my grip. “We are in this together.”

  “You have a baby coming,” I threw back at him. “Remember that.”

  Angel cupped the back of my neck, pulling me toward him. “Both of us have something to go home to. Don’t you fucking forget that.”

  I nodded, stepping out of his embrace. “Let’s find our brother.”

  Lian and Henley took that moment to come around the corner of the building. Wrinkles creased the corners of their eyes, dirt marred their faces. All of us were tired and sore but no matter what happened, we wouldn’t leave until we found Dale.

  Worry settled deep in the pit of my gut. My stomach twisted and churned over the possibility of losing my brother. My best friend. The one person who had taken me in years before when I had just joined Vice-One. We were the complete opposite in personalities but we fit and worked well together. All of us did. I didn’t know Lian and Henley well but Angel trusted them and that was all I needed.

  Lian nodded toward me. “You good, brother?”

  “I will be when Dale is found,” I said. “We need to find him.”

  Henley grunted. “Everyone has been taken out,” he told us, his eyes shimmering. “I—”

  I lifted my hand, interrupting him. And that was when I heard it again. A groan sounded close but it was far enough away that I wasn’t sure if I had heard it or not. “Did you hear that?”

  Angel and I looked at each other for a brief second before we made our way toward the noise.

  It didn’t take us long to find Dale. I wasn’t sure what I expected to see but my stomach still sank to the fucking ground when I found him lying on his back.

  “Fuck me,” Lian grumbled, rushing to Dale’s side. “He’s out but
alive,” he said, letting out a heavy breath after checking for a pulse.

  Angel and I knelt on either side of Dale and checked for injuries. He had been shot in the head but was alive.

  “Shit,” Angel whistled, calling in the attack.

  I knew going into this line of work that our lives would be on the line but never did I think that something would happen to us. We were good at what we did. It was naïve of me to think but we had been lucky thus far.

  As Dale lay unmoving in front of me, I swore that I would avenge him. I would avenge all of them. The women. The girls. The lives that were affected by this organization that had their hands in everything.

  They were the epitome of evil and it was only time before we would bring them to their knees. I would praise the day that I forced them to beg for their lives.

  “Don’t you fucking die on me, Dale.” I gripped his shoulder. “I need you. We all need you.” I prayed to whoever would listen. Keep our boy safe. Max needed him. Whether Dale cared to admit it or not, he was about to be a father as well. And the fucker would own up to that title even if I had to force him to do so.

  ***

  (Brogan)

  Something woke me up during the night. I couldn’t be sure what it was. A sound. A voice. My own body forcing me awake when really, sleep was the only thing that could get me through the tortuous wait for Coby to come home. He had been gone for weeks and it felt like even longer since I had talked to him.

  The girls were antsy as shit. Jay snapping at anyone who would listen. Max was still on bed rest and more miserable than ever. Even though her and Dale weren’t talking, he needed to be informed of what had happened and be there for her as best he could.

  The sound, much like a bang, happened again.

  I sat upright, my heart pounding hard in my ears. Pulling the covers off me, I trudged out into the hallway. No lights were on. “Hello?”

  When no reply came, I turned around to head back to bed but another thud stopped me.

  “Coby?” I called out. “Are you home?” I didn’t know when he was getting back. Maybe he had surprised me and shown up early. “Coby?”

  My stomach twisted when he didn’t respond. Guess I was wrong. Disappointment settled deep within. I missed him more than I ever thought was possible. Our relationship had come on fast and hard but it fit perfectly for us. The more I missed him, the more my mind played tricks on me, letting me think he was near.