She set her cup beside his on the counter, stared at it, then yelled, “Goddamn it!”
“Rebel,” he called.
She turned to him, eyes flashing.
And there was his firebrand.
“That bitch has been playing me,” she snapped.
“You give her money?”
She closed her mouth.
“Fuckin’ shit,” he hissed.
“You can say that again.”
“Baby, so far, everyone thought you were playin’ this smart. Or as smart as someone like you could play it.”
“I have been,” she spat.
“Not if you gave Harrietta Turnbull money,” he told her.
“Except for that,” she shot back. “I didn’t think she was a woman of God, but I swear, Rush, she gave no indication she felt anything for that man but pure hatred. I think she hates him even more than me.”
“She can hate him and bleed anyone dry who wants to take him down until she feels she’s pushed that as far as it’ll go, and then she’ll sell him to the highest bidder.”
“Which would be Chaos,” she stated.
“I don’t know. He did Valenzuela dirty and the man is pissed. He’s been fucking with Chaos for years. Chew maneuvered him out, set up his own player in Valenzuela’s business as a takeover, that player being Harrietta’s daughter, but Chew was being his usual fucking stupid and didn’t make sure that out meant out. So Valenzuela came back, and did it pissed enough to offer to ally with Chaos to see the end of him. Valenzuela is also loaded. If it comes to a bidding war, we might be outbid. And that can’t happen because Chew should pay by rotting while breathing, not doing it dead and in an unmarked grave therefore it’d be painless.”
“Word on that,” she bit out.
“Well, fuck, honey, we agree on something.”
She glared at him.
He wished like fuck this was not a totally inappropriate time to kiss her.
Unfortunately, it was.
“Are you gonna drink your coffee? Because that’s a shit-hot roast, it costs some cabbage, and it’d suck I have to pour it down the drain.”
He narrowed his eyes on her. “How much you been giving Turnbull?”
“Too much,” she snapped.
“You hurting?”
“No, ’cause, you see, directing porn pays well,” she forced out like it tasted bad. “The thing is, I refuse to use any of that money except to give some of it to Harrietta, and since I haven’t had any paying gigs where the money isn’t dirty for six months, the gold in my coffers is running low.”
“We gotta get you out,” he growled.
“I gotta find Harrietta and slap some sense into the bitch to get her to get a fuckin’ move on with this shit,” she countered.
“Rebel, first, Chew might be in Mexico by now. And second, and more importantly, she can’t know you had any conversations with me or anyone Chaos,” he warned. “Chew used to be Chaos. He renounced the Club. It’s a long-ass story, but all this shit cycles around to him having some vendetta against my brothers, thankfully screwing that pooch, but directly and indirectly landing dead bodies all over the place that continue to drag Chaos in.”
Her pretty blue eyes got big as he talked and her voice was shrill when she asked, “That fuck used to be Chaos?”
“Sweetheart,” he murmured soothingly, smoothing a hand over her hip.
“How deep are you boys in this?” she demanded to know.
“Deeper than you. Deeper than Diane. Maybe even deeper than Harrietta.”
“Explain that.”
“I can’t. I can just tell you we’re diggin’ ourselves out and that’d be a whole lot easier if we didn’t have to worry about a beautiful redhead starring in an unfilmed snuff movie along the way. Or worse, knowing Valenzuela and how much he digs money no matter how he can make it, a filmed one.”
Her lips twisted on an, “Ugh.”
He lifted his brows. “No shit?”
“I’m not gonna star in a snuff film, Rush.”
“Let’s make sure of that, yeah?”
She gave him a glare then a demand in the form of, “You’re not drinking your coffee.”
He left his hand on her hip and used his other one to nab the mug and take a sip.
She was right. Whatever that roast was, it was shit hot.
He used his hand on her hip to pull her closer and he was pretty fucking pleased she didn’t fight it.
“You’re right, babe. This coffee is fuckin’ great.”
Her hand landed on his chest telling him she was close as she was going to get.
But she left it on his chest.
“I know.”
“Now about us connecting,” he muttered into his mug before taking another sip, but his eyes were on her.
“You can’t jump from snuff films to us connecting, stud.”
He dropped the mug, swallowed and grinned.
Then he asked, “What’s with ‘stud?’”
“My original thought was ‘stud muffin,’” she shared. “I shortened it.”
“Obliged.”
“Alternate was ‘dreamboat,’ but at the time I nicknamed you, I felt the need to sound badass.”
He started chuckling and pulled her closer.
She didn’t press into his chest to indicate he stop until her hips hit his.
He’d had a point to make, but at this juncture he was regretting his mention of snuff films.
“I wanna take you out,” he whispered.
“Do bikers date?” she whispered back.
“Let me rephrase. I wanna take you to my place, feed you, then spend however long it takes for us to pass out seeing how many times I can make you come.”
It was delicate, but he felt her shiver.
He took that as a yes to his proposal.
“When are we gonna do that?” he asked.
“I have a scheming bitch who’s been playing me to slap into submission. So sometime after that.”
“Rebel,” he said low.
“Uh . . .” she mumbled as her eyes trailed away.
“Babe,” he called.
She looked back at him. “I’m uncertain I can . . . perform considering recently I’ve watched so much performing. I mean, I start my workday walking through a sea of fluffers fluffing.”
“Are you serious?” he asked.
“It’s kinda gross, Rush,” she whispered.
“Baby,” he murmured, sliding his hand to the small of her back.
“I demand that they be, well . . . lucid. You know, professionals. And it knocked me back when we did our first casting, there were serious folks in this biz who are serious about what they do. And kinda, you know, genuinely get off on it, outside basic biology for the dudes. And they’re super hip that Benito’s pouring money into it to make it more class. Still, I’ve lost track of the amount of fellatio and cunnilingus I’ve not only witnessed . . . but directed.”
He grinned at her and pulled her closer. “You gonna boss me while I got my mouth between your legs?”
Another shiver, this one less delicate, even though she replied, “It could happen.”
“Baby, trust me, it’s not gonna happen.”
She stared into his eyes and asked quietly, “How do you know?”
“I just know.”
“You are full of yourself.”
“Honey, don’t say that kind of thing if you don’t want the appropriate comeback.”
She grinned up at him. “Appropriate says you.”
He grinned back. “Yeah. Appropriate says me.”
“Are we gonna strategize my exit from the porn industry?” she asked.
“It never even crossed my mind I’d say this, but I’m gonna talk to my dad about the woman I intend to see’s exit from the porn industry.” He gave her a squeeze through her amused smile and assured, “He’s a sharp guy, knows all the players in this mess, babe. Between us, we’ll find you a way out.”
She nodded.
&
nbsp; Just nodded, no pushback, no denial.
Thank fuck.
Time to move on.
“Have we distanced ourselves enough from talk of snuff films for me to kiss you?” he asked.
“No,” she answered.
He watched her mouth form that word.
“You’re gonna kiss me anyway, aren’t you?” those pink lips breathed.
“Yeah.”
“Rush,” she whispered.
He took her mouth on his name.
She was ready for it, didn’t even make him work, just parted her lips, fuck, so goddamn sweet.
He slid his tongue inside.
And there it was.
Sweeter.
Christ.
Better than he expected, and he expected her to be damn good.
She slid her hand up his chest to his neck and curled it around tight, pressing close.
He wrapped both of his arms around her, pulling her in deep, and took the kiss deeper.
He did that until she made a little noise he liked too much, that noise filling his mouth and he liked that even more, before he broke the kiss.
Her eyes came open slowly.
He liked that too much too.
“Tomorrow night, I’ll pick you up. Six. Dinner at my place. Pack a bag.”
“Full of yourself,” she said softly.
He grinned.
She was in his arms. She knew good coffee. She’d agreed to get out from under Valenzuela. She had a crazy landlady she clearly loved. She dressed great. Her oven was big, but not big enough to roast children. Cats sensed her as their queen. She would be in his bed the next night.
And she had a sweet mouth.
Last, it was worth a repeat, she was in his arms and she felt good there.
He could ignore the meditation.
So there was only one answer to her question.
“Yeah.”
An Adventure
Rush
The next day . . .
“Yo, you wanted to talk?”
Rush turned his head from the engine he was working on to see his dad moving toward him in the bay he was in at the garage at Ride.
So he pulled his body out from under the hood and reached for the rag he had draped on the fender.
Tack stopped at his son and looked down at the car.
“Nice.”
Rush looked down at the Hemi ’Cuda next to him.
The last owner should have all his fingers broken for how he treated that baby.
But Rush was gonna make her all better.
He looked back to his dad.
“Yeah,” he agreed then asked, “You got a few minutes?”
Tack settled in, arms crossed on his chest and answered, “Always.”
That was his old man.
He always had a few minutes. For Rush. Tabitha. Ty-Ty. Rider. Cutter. Any of his brothers. Any of their women. Any of their kids.
Anyone in his heart.
Rush had no idea how the man did it. It was like there were ten of him to give all he gave to the people in his life at the same time running a Club, being the operations manager of a huge business and dealing with all the extraneous shit that was pure shit.
But he still managed to find time to throw back a few with his brothers in the Compound and make it so his woman looked at him like she wanted to rip his clothes off.
Yeah, even after all these years.
It was his dad and stepmom, but Rush couldn’t find it in him to think that was gross seeing as it also was what it was. It was the way of life, if your life was good and you’d made the right choices.
Rush might have his name because he’d always been in a rush to get what he wanted or get where he wanted to go.
But that didn’t mean he didn’t pay attention.
Especially to his dad.
You had to know what you wanted to get it. You had to know it was right before you went for it. You had to pull out all the stops to make it yours. And you had to treat it right when you got it.
Tack had taught him all of that.
And on those thoughts . . .
“I had another conversation with Rebel Stapleton, this time one on one,” he told his father.
Tack’s lips in his ragged goatee quirked before he muttered, “Why does that not surprise me.”
Rush ignored that.
“She’s ready to get out.”
Tack got serious and his tone was the same when he said, “Good.”
“But she doesn’t know how.”
Tack leaned a thigh against the fender of the ’Cuda and drew in a breath before he replied, “I see her concerns. Word is, that line of porn is doin’ well. Valenzuela won’t want to lose her.”
“Yeah.”
“But as far as we know, she’s not been made, Rush. She’s an employee. She can just quit.”
He’d never known anyone who “just quit” Valenzuela.
“You think it’ll be that easy?” he asked.
“Valenzuela’s a criminal and a sick fuck, but he’s also a businessman. This isn’t about dope and it isn’t about whores. This is a legit business. He whacks a director because she wants to bail, he’ll find it hard to hire another director. Far as he knows, she’s got nothin’ on him to give to a competitor or the cops that might make him wanna keep her under his thumb or take her out to keep himself safe. It’s a professional relationship that can be severed.” He shrugged. “She gives notice, plays that part, it’ll suck she’ll have to work out that notice and stay close before she’s fully out.” Another twitch of his goatee. “But I reckon you’ll have her covered.”
He’d have that.
“So just resign,” Rush said.
“Might not be that easy, but she can start with that. We’ll keep watch. That goes south for some reason, we’ll have her back.”
Rush nodded.
They’d start with that.
“Talked with Shy,” Tack noted. “He said she’s a spitfire.”
Rush quit rubbing his hands on the rag and tossed it on the fender. “She’s a spitfire all right.”
“I read Hawk’s file too, Rush,” his father said quietly. “It’ll take a certain kind of man to take on a woman like that.”
He looked into his dad’s eyes. “Wanna explain that?”
Tack did because he didn’t hesitate.
“Went balls to the wall for a dead friend. Drew a line in the sand with her family to take her brother’s back. This is a woman who goes all in, son. Those situations are extreme, and for her, I hope she never has to face somethin’ like them again. But a woman like that, it could be anything. A kid she meets who isn’t bein’ treated right. A dog on the street foraging for food.”
Tack slid closer to his son and kept talking.
“A woman who can love that deep, who’s got that kinda steel in her spine, the man who gets it, it’ll feel good to earn that love, keep it and have it. But he’ll have to understand what makes her and that he’ll have a lifetime of puttin’ out fires, dealin’ with emotional fallout, and proppin’ her up when the loads she takes on get too heavy.”
“You warnin’ me off a woman I haven’t even taken out yet?”
“You gonna take her out?”
“Makin’ her dinner at my place tonight.”
Tack nodded. “Just wanna make sure you know what you’re gettin’ into.”
“She’s funny.”
“Good to know she’s got that as well as bein’ easy to look at.”
“And she’s more.”
Tack stared in his eyes. “I know, Rush. She’s a lot more.”
“Right. So what I wanna know, Dad, is would you want me to have anything less?”
“Absolutely not.”
At the clarity of his father’s response, Rush’s back straightened.
Tack kept talking.
“You got years on you, son, and you got experience. But you’re still young. And it wouldn’t take a father who loves and knows his son to see this one is dif
ferent. Straight up, if I could plan out your life, both you and your sister, I would want you to have more time and more experience before you settled in. That way did not happen for your sister. She knew what she wanted, landed it, and she’s all kinds of happy. So I’m good. But I see where this is goin’, Rush, and I just want you to be prepared.”
“We haven’t even had a date yet, Dad.”
His father’s head snapped to the side. “Am I readin’ this wrong?”
He never read anything wrong.
“No,” Rush told him.
Tack righted his neck. “Not tellin’ you what to do. Just wanna make sure your eyes are open.”
“I want a handful.”
Tack said nothing.
“It’s just the way, and it’s a good way, and you know what I mean, Dad. I want a handful,” Rush went on. “I wanna wake up and not know what the day is gonna bring, mostly because she’s gonna make it an adventure. I want kids, and I want the woman I choose to make them with to be about them. To have all the love in the world for them. To make it so they know that and never doubt it. And you know why I want that.”
“Yeah,” Tack whispered, and Rush knew he knew all about making babies with a woman who did not give that to her children.
“And I want her to have more. I want her to have kids and me and a life. Drinks with her girls or making movies, or I don’t know and I don’t give a fuck, just as long as she’s the kind of woman who needs it and goes after it and gets it. I wanna get pissed and I wanna be challenged and I wanna be surprised and I want my balls busted and I want my mind blown and I wanna laugh a lot. I want it all, Dad. I want what you got, but I want it my way and I want it to be all mine.”
“Not thinkin’ Rebel Stapleton’s not gonna be an adventure,” Tack murmured.
“Exactly,” Rush replied.
Tack got intense.
And even though Rush was used to it, he braced.
“Your stepmother got kidnapped, twice. Once gettin’ stabbed nearly to death, lookin’ after her friend and hookin’ her star to me.”
“I haven’t forgotten that, Dad. And I’d erase that for you and Tyra if I could, but I can’t. That said, bottom line with that, if she washed her hands of Lanie when Lanie made stupid choices, or you because what she felt for you couldn’t survive the life you lead, you wouldn’t have wanted her and obviously you wouldn’t have gone on to build the life you have with her. In other words, you wouldn’t have it any other way and you went in knowin’ just that. I don’t know what’s gonna go down with Rebel. We haven’t even had a date yet. But just so you know, I’m goin’ in knowin’ what I’m getting into. And if the promise of her is real, heads up. Because I already know I want just that.”
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