Luck of the Devil (A Raven Ruin Novel Book 3)

by Marie James

  I clear my throat, looking off in the distance, unable to see the pain playing on her beautiful face.

  “I know you do bad things, but you do those to bad people. You don’t hurt innocent people. I know you won’t hurt me.”

  “The last woman I fucked, died.”

  She gasps, and my heart skips several beats before pounding out an uneven staccato so loud in my ears, I miss the first part of her next words.

  “—loved her then? Was it a car crash? Did you make someone mad and they hurt her to get back at you?”

  “I’ve said too much.” I climb to my feet, ignoring the hard plastic of the swing as it rocks back, hitting me in the legs. “You don’t need that shit in your head. It doesn’t serve a purpose other than proof that we can’t be more than what we are. We can’t sneak away. We can’t live some happy life on the other side of the world. My demons won’t allow it.”

  “We can,” she pleads, standing and gripping my arm to keep me from walking away. “I can make you happy, Briar. I can be anything you want.”

  Jesus, if only life were that simple. My jaw snaps closed before I tell her that she’s perfect exactly how she is.

  “Please. I love you.”

  “You shouldn’t,” I insist, but her fingers only dig harder in my flesh.

  I revel in the pain, wishing she would cut me wide open, that way I’d have a reason to bleed all over the ground at our feet. I need to walk away but she’s relentless, clinging to me, begging with her eyes to give her exactly what she needs, but she’s misinformed because giving her what she needs will be her ultimate demise.

  “Just picture it,” she pushes further with a sniffle. “We could get a small house in Ireland or something, make love all day and all night, and only get fresh air when we run out of food.”

  She’s living in a fairy tale I can’t let myself imagine. I convinced myself I could have a normal happy life once, and it ended the exact same way I knew it would.

  “We can’t have that!” I roar and spin around, facing her. Stubbornly, she glares at me, not intimidated in the slightest at my rage.

  “We can!” she yells back.

  “It’s not fucking possible, Molly! I murder every woman I fuck, and killing you would be my signature in blood on my own suicide note.” My hands are trembling with rage and the urge to prove to her just exactly what my demons feed on. On trembling legs, I walk away from her, the sobs escaping from her throat aren’t even enough to get me to turn back and comfort her.

  Chapter 13

  Molly

  “No thanks.” I wave my hand when Xena pushes a full shot in my direction.

  “Are you pregnant?” she whisper-hisses.

  “What? No!” I look around the room logging where TJ and Lynch are. Briar has been AWOL since his outburst in the park last night, so I don’t have to worry about him hearing. Once I realize neither of my brothers heard her absurd question, I turn back around and glare at her. “Why would you ask me that?”

  “That’s the only reason I wouldn’t be drinking,” Legs replies with bitterness in her voice before tossing back another shot.

  Xena nods in Legs’s direction as if it’s sound reasoning.

  “I just don’t feel like drinking,” I mutter, tracing the scars on the table with my fingers.

  I can’t talk to them about Briar. I love these girls, but each one of them has a big-ass mouth when they’re naked and under various club members. The last damn thing I need is any rumors getting back to Lynch, especially after Briar’s disclosure.

  He wouldn’t hurt me. I know that down in the marrow of my bones, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me pause and reevaluate exactly what the hell is going on. I spent all damn night mulling over the new information, and I’m no closer to understanding than I was when he deserted me last night.

  The front door opens, only it’s Minx stumbling in with a laughing hangaround rather than Briar. I need to talk to him, but I’m not brave enough to text him. The new guy Virus was introduced earlier as the best thing in tech.

  “A genius and an amazing asset to the club,” Lynch had praised before he settled on the couch where he’ll watch Zoe until she’s ready to show him some attention. The dynamic they have is weird, but they seem happy so who the hell am I to judge?

  I’m not going to risk sending something that could be monitored, but I don’t think he’ll respond anyway. With him being gone nearly twenty-four hours, I’m beginning to worry that he may be gone for good.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  I shake my head, answering Zoe’s whispered question when the other girls are busy toasting with yet another shot.

  My phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out slowly, in no hurry to answer yet another text from Owen.

  Owen: Are you mad? I swear, had I known you didn’t like sushi, I would’ve taken you somewhere else.

  I grin at his concern. I’ve assured him multiple times that the kid’s meal cheeseburger and fries I had last night, rather than the raw fish I couldn’t stomach, was fine. I can’t blame him. It wasn’t until we were seated and the appetizer he ordered was brought to the table that I even remembered I despise fish. Just the smell makes me gag. I wonder if he kissed my forehead last night rather than my lips because he was worried about his fish breath.

  I chuckle as the thought hits me.

  Me: Not mad. I swear. Just distracted at a party.

  “Is that your vet?” Zoe asks with a grin on her face.

  I know she’s playing up the enthusiasm because we discussed the date earlier. Well, I gave her simple details and one-word answers. She knows how I feel about Briar, and she also knows that he isn’t someone I can get over after one evening with another handsome guy.

  Owen: A party? Nice. Want some company? I’m awesome at beer pong.

  I snort another laugh.

  Me: You’re full of shit.

  Owen: Okay. You caught me. I’ve never played, but I have surgeon's hands, so I imagine that would translate well with aim.

  “What is his damn problem?” Legs bitches, pulling my attention from my phone and in her direction.

  Following her line of sight, I see TJ sitting on the couch. A girl he would normally be all over frowns as she walks away from him. Ronan saves the day, grabbing her by the hips and lowering her onto his lap.

  “What’s he looking at on his phone?” Zoe asks as we all watch him.

  “I peeked over his shoulder one day last week,” Xena says as she pours another row of shots. “It’s just a little red dot moving slowly on the screen.”

  “He hasn’t fucked me in days,” Legs complains.

  “I haven’t seen his dick in weeks,” Vixen adds as she reaches for one of the filled shot glasses.

  “I’ve never had the pleasure,” Kai joins in with a sigh, also reaching for a shot glass.

  We all laugh at his antics.

  Kai has been an amazing addition to the clubhouse. He’s feisty, super funny, and has the hands of an angel when it comes to waxing eyebrows.

  A loud whistle echoes around the room when Kai lifts a shot glass to his lips. It stops, suspended in the air, before a drop even touches his mouth.

  “Later ladies,” he says with a grin as he drops to his hands and knees. “Daddy doesn’t like it when his pet drinks.”

  “You did that just to get a fucking spanking,” Xena teases as he crawls away and in the direction of Professor.

  Kai gives an exaggerated shake of his ass, making the now famous foxtail butt plug swish against the backs of his thighs.

  “I honestly thought TJ was going to make me his old lady,” Legs whines. “Whoever he’s fucking outside of this club can go to hell.”

  Frowning when Xena snorts across the table, I turn in Legs’s direction. I open my mouth to let her down easy, but Xena opens her trap before I can even form words.

  “You can’t claim him,” Xena begins, but she draws in a long breath as if she’s about to climb on her soapbo
x. It’s a favorite place for her to stand, especially when the new girls come in and think they can piss a circle of ownership around any of the guys.

  Zoe is the only woman in this club that has any form of claim on a man, and even with as much as she loves my brother, that claim would mean nothing if he didn’t claim her first.

  “Look!” Legs snaps, pointing her finger across the room before Xena can speak again. “He does this all of the time. First, it’s the damn phone, and then he’s out the door. I’m going to get the phone from him and find out just what the fuck is going on.”

  “Listen to me.” Xena digs her nails into Legs’s arm until she squeals and turns to face her. Legs tries to pull her arm away, but Xena’s grip is unrelenting. I take a step back, not even interested in getting in the middle of a club whore fight.

  “You’re hurting me,” Legs whimpers.

  “When he wants to fuck you, he’ll fuck you. Until then, you spend your time with the other men around here who want your attention. That’s how it goes.” Xena gives her a little shake when Legs’s lip turns up into a snarl. “You go snooping around for shit that’s none of your business in this clubhouse, and a couple of scratches on your arm will seem like fucking child’s play.”

  Legs swallows, but she’s being stubborn and refuses to acknowledge Xena’s warning.

  “Am I clear?” Legs nods quickly before ripping her arm from Xena’s and storming out of the room. “Where the fuck is Piper? I shouldn’t be responsible for parenting the baby whores. That one’s liable to poison my food.”

  “Maybe you need to tell her about Wendi?” Vixen says with a shrug on the other side of the table. “She won’t try to go after that phone again.”

  “Who’s Wendi?” Zoe asks.

  “Wendi,” I begin with a heavy sigh, “was a girl that managed to infiltrate the club. She was sent to get information by someone that wasn’t very happy with my father.”

  “Okay,” Zoe says. “And your dad was mad when he found out?”

  “He wasn’t as upset as the man who got his wife back in eight different boxes,” Xena says.

  “No,” Zoe gasps, covering her mouth with her hand. “The guys wouldn’t hurt a woman.”

  “You know better than most what can happen to anyone who betrays the club.” I raise an eyebrow, shocked that I have to remind her what her fate almost was when the man she loves thought she was a traitor.

  “Well, this has been fun, ladies.” Xena tosses back one more shot before she makes to leave.

  “Where are you going?” Vixen whines, clearly not wanting to drink alone. “I thought we were going to tag team Smalls for his birthday?”

  “Give me an hour,” Xena says with a wicked grin. “I’ve got to go take care of the baby whore. When I’m done with her, she won’t even remember TJ’s fucking name.”

  She makes a lude gesture, licking her tongue between two spread fingers before disappearing down the hallway.

  “How is this my life?” I ask good-heartedly as I turn back to my best friend. “Wanna go to my room and watch a horror movie or something?”

  Her eyes dart from me back to my brother twice before she nods. “Maybe a romantic comedy instead?”

  I know what Zoe is capable of when she’s in the moment, but talking about Wendi’s betrayal seems to upset her.

  “Give me a minute,” she says as she crosses the room to Lynch.

  “If you go over there, you know he’s going to end up sticking his fingers in your—”

  I turn away from my friend when my brother grips her leg, running a hand up the back of her thigh. Just as I predicted, his hand disappears under her skirt. I chat with the other girls at the table for twenty minutes before Zoe comes back. Her face is flushed from her orgasm as we walk through the kitchen to head to our house. She has no idea how lucky she is to be able to love her man out in the open.

  Chapter 14

  Briar

  “Did you have any trouble in Pittsburgh?” Lynch’s question pulls me from my own thoughts.

  I’ve been distracted for days. My confession to Molly in the park has been playing on repeat in my head, and the details of getting off while my hands choke the life out the random girls I’ve fucked have already begun to invade my sleep. They play in vivid 4K Ultra HD on my eyelids, and I know I haven’t been redeemed or cured because I wake up stone solid and ready to fuck each and every damn time. I’m just as bad as her sick, demented father. A realization once again brought to the forefront after what happened with Frances Jiménez not long ago. My celibacy is the only thing keeping it from happening again.

  Until I straddled my bike last night and made the nine-hour trip back to the clubhouse, I wasn’t even sure if I’d return to this damn place. It wasn’t until recently that the pull to even ride out of the gate hit me. Before Molly showed up with Zoe a couple of months ago, it took an act of Congress, or more specifically a presidential order, to get me to leave. Now, I jump at every damn opportunity.

  “Brother?” My eyes meet Lynch’s. “Something else on your mind?”

  TJ snorts at the other end of the table but otherwise keeps quiet.

  “No trouble. Things are running just fine,” I answer. “They’ve all been informed of the new standards, and everyone is confident that they can move the newly required amounts.”

  “Good.” Finally, he pulls his scrutinizing gaze from me and addresses the entire group. “We’re going down to Richmond for the handoff tomorrow. When we ride back, we’ll split apart into teams of two to get the product to the four corners. Boston and Smalls will take Baltimore. TJ and Ronan, you guys are responsible for New York. Hornet and Chains, you’ll head to Pittsburgh. Briar, you’re with me in Detroit.”

  “What about the computer nerd and me?” Professor asks.

  Virus snorts at the designation.

  “He’s got a project he’s working on,” Lynch answers in relation to Virus.

  My eyes narrow. There isn’t much that goes on in the clubhouse that Lynch doesn’t discuss with me first, but something must’ve come up while I was gone over the weekend. I’m sure I’ll hear about it sooner or later.

  “As for you, Professor, I need you here to keep an eye on the property.”

  “You mean babysit the girls?” he corrects.

  “However you want to see it,” Lynch says with exhaustion in his voice. “Now, I’m not one to put a curfew on you assholes, but we have a hard ride tomorrow, and I need each and every one of you able to keep your bikes upright.”

  A couple of chuckles filter around the table.

  “TJ?” The enforcer’s eyes snap up from his cell phone. “I don’t know what kind of creepy shit you’ve been involved in recently, but I need you to stay here tonight. No fucking sneaking off in the middle of the night.”

  TJ’s jaw clenches at the command from his president, but he doesn’t argue. He also doesn’t acknowledge his agreement, but you get what you get with TJ.

  “Prez?” Ronan raises his hand like he’s in fucking school.

  Another round of chuckles fills the room.

  “What?” Lynch snaps but doesn’t pull his eyes from his brother for a few seconds longer.

  “Those cartel fuckers scare the shit out of me.”

  No one laughs this time. We all have a healthy dose of fear where the Colombians are concerned.

  “I wouldn’t cross Luis. I know I’m the rookie here, but they have some crazy shit going on,” Ronan continues.

  “You’re going to have to give me more than that, kid.”

  “Did you see the collars on the women? I think they’re sex slaves.”

  “Didn’t keep you from dipping your dick in two of them,” TJ mutters.

  Ronan’s eyes widen. “They both told me they wanted to fuck, Prez. I swear it.”

  Chains smiles wide. He took all that was offered to him and never batted an eyelash.

  “Lots of people have sex slaves.” Lynch sounds agitated for even having to have this conversation
. “We don’t deal in skin, but you’re ignorant if you think other organizations don’t.”

  “I…umm,” Ronan wipes sweat from his forehead. “I opened a door I shouldn’t have, Prez.”

  “He looks legitimately terrified,” TJ says finally putting his phone down and fully joining the conversation.

  “I heard screaming, and not like sexy screaming when you’re fucking a girl so hard she doesn’t know if she wants more or wants you to stop. They were horrible screams.”

  “Are you going to spit it out, or do I need to pop some fucking popcorn?” TJ asks.

  “I heard the screaming, too,” Hornet adds. “But I wasn’t fucking dumb enough to go looking for the source.”

  “We all heard the screaming,” Lynch adds.

  The guys around the table nod their heads in agreement.

  “What did you see?” our president asks.

  “That big guy.” He looks in my direction. “The one you told me to keep an eye on?”

  “The massive one with the tattoo above his eye?” Professor asks. Ronan nods and swallows. “That fucker even gave me the creeps, and I’ve seen some pretty crazy shit in prison.”

  “The screams stopped before I opened the door, but I went in anyway. That guy was fucking a gash he had cut into some chick.”

  “Really?” TJ sounds more intrigued than disgusted.

  “She was already dead,” Ronan assures everyone. “I would’ve tried to stop him if she was still alive, but by the time I got there, she was gray and completely limp.”

  “How are you still alive?” Hornet asks with clear confusion in his voice.

  “He didn’t see me,” Ronan answers. “He was too into it to even notice the door had opened.”

  “Prez?” I address Lynch when he doesn’t respond.

  “We’re already in bed with them. There’s nothing we can fucking do.” I knew that before he spoke, but that’s some brutal shit.

  I can’t think about Molly, Zoe, or any of the other girls here at the clubhouse going through something like that. I’d never get another minute of sleep, but doing nothing doesn’t exactly seem right, either.