Undercover Lover (BWWM Romance Book 1)

by Theresa McGhee

  “Are you serious?” Willow asked, less skeptical. She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “So, where is she?”

  “I’ll take you there. Want to go now?”

  Willow stared at him in silence until he looked into her eyes. The coldness, the lack of any emotion, startled her. He wasn’t the same man she’d known for five years. She looked away from him quickly and thought of an excuse.

  “Cameron is waiting for me at his apartment,” she said too quickly. “We’re having dinner.”

  “I think you should go with me now. Jody needs a friend,” Bogey said, rising from his chair and moving towards her.

  “I’m not really her friend, Bogey.” Willow felt fear slip down her spine, a shiver of dread like she’d never felt.

  “You’re coming with me, girl, whether you want to or not.” Bogey advanced on her and snagged her arms in his big paws. “I need to have a conversation with your father, and you should be there.”

  Willow tried to jerk her arm out of his grasp, but he tightened it to bruising capacity. “My father?”

  “You know who that is. Don’t play stupid,” Bogey growled as he dragged her towards the front door, which he pushed open and walked through.

  As he locked the door, Willow thought about jerking away and running to her car, but she didn’t think she’d make it. “My father?” she repeated.

  He looked at her as he jerked her to her car. “Give me your keys. Pablo.”

  “Why do I have to be there for a conversation with him?” she asked, more confused than concerned at this point. Bogey was scary, but her father, she hoped, wouldn’t let anything happen to her. If she could hold Bogey off until they reached Pablo, she should be fine.

  “Leverage.” Bogey pushed her into the driver’s seat, then shoved her over so she was in the passenger seat. She reached for the door handle, but her grabbed her hair and jerked her back as he shoved the seat back far enough to sit down.

  Willow let out a screech. “Bogey! Stop!”

  “Don’t try to run again, Willow. I really don’t want to hurt you, but I will.” He jerked her hair for good measure and insisted, “Close the God damned door.”

  Willow pulled it closed, tears in her eyes. She blinked hard when he released her so she wouldn’t cry in front of him. “Asshole,” she murmured at him as she rubbed the back of her hair. A sudden thought struck her. “Where’s Jody?”

  Bogey didn’t answer as he left the parking lot faster than was necessary, scraping the bottom of her car on the curb. “Dammit, Bogey! Be careful! I have to drive this car after you’ve finished losing your mind!”

  Bogey snorted. After several minutes of silence, Bogey said, “Jody’s dead.”

  Willow gasped in surprise, and she couldn’t stop the tears. She whispered, “Did you kill her?”

  “Kind of,” Bogey answered, shifting uncomfortably under her stare.

  “Are you going to kill me?” she asked, letting her tears fall and cloud her voice. When he was silence, she yelled, “Bogey!”

  “I don’t want to, girl, but I guess we’ll have to see what happens,” Bogey answered with less emotion than a snake has.

  Her phone rang in her pocket. She jumped in surprise and reached for it out of habit. As soon as it was in sight, Bogey grabbed it out of her hand and tossed it out the window.

  *****

  Cameron had been home for almost an hour when he started to worry about Willow. He didn’t want to bother her, especially if she and Bogey were solving their argument. But when the hour passed and fifteen minutes was added, he called her phone. No answer. He left a quick voicemail and debated with himself about going back to the tattoo parlor.

  When another fifteen minutes passed, his worry made the decision for him. He grabbed his keys and hurried down to his car. It started with the push of a button, ready as soon as he sat down. He threw the car into gear and sped out of his gated driveway, leaving his ranch style home behind. The home he hoped to share with Willow soon, if she agreed after they talked this evening.

  His phone rang, and he hit the Bluetooth button. “Hello?”

  “Cameron, we’ve got a problem.” Coleman’s booming voice was frighteningly loud over the car’s speakers.

  Cameron turned the sound down. “What’s the problem?”

  “Two Hispanics were caught transporting the body of that girl from the tattoo parlor.”

  “Are you sure it’s her?” Cameron asked as fear exploded in his body.

  “Positive ID. I waited until they were sure,” Coleman answered with a sigh. “She’s been dead for several days, at least a week.”

  “So, they were transporting her dead body. Where?”

  “They aren’t saying, though both are well-known associates of Pablo’s,” Coleman said. “Your girl may actually be in trouble.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Cameron hissed. “I can’t get a hold of her.”

  “Does she know Pablo is her father?”

  “I don’t think so, but she was acting weird. That could have to do with Jody’s disappearance though.”

  “Cameron, you need to find her quickly. I’d bet money Bogey killed that girl and when the stink started, he asked Pablo to handle it,” Coleman opined.

  “I agree. I’m on the way to the shop now. She and Bogey had an argument earlier, and she stayed behind to talk to him about it.” His heart was beating so fast it hurt. What if Bogey hurt her before he could get to her? “Coleman, can you track her phone?” He recited her number as he sped through a red light, eliciting honks and screeching of tires.

  “It’s not moving, Cameron.” He told him the location of the phone. “Sounds like he threw it out while traveling.”

  Cameron’s gut clenched as he raced into the tattoo parking lot. “Her car is gone, Coleman.”

  Coleman, who rarely showed feelings and who seemed to hate everyone, said, “Okay, Cameron, stay calm. Let me see if I can track her car. I’ve got the license plate in front of me.”

  Through the silence while Coleman searched the toll road cameras, Cameron tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, wanting to speed off but knowing that would be stupid. He had no idea where to go. In his mind, he spun through the known hang outs of Pablo, focusing on a bar owned by his gang that had turned up in one of the searches he’d down about Pablo.

  When too many minutes had passed in silence, Cameron yelled, “Dammit, Coleman! Come on!”

  “Sorry, man, sorry,” Coleman murmured. “Okay, they showed up in her car on the toll road south of town headed west. This is a long shot, but Pablo owns a couple warehouses in that direction.”

  “What about the bar his gang owns?” Cameron asked. He heard the clicking of computer keys and waited as patiently as he could.

  “Yes! There is a bar in that direction. And, good news, Pablo has been seen there several times over the last month,” Coleman said in triumph.

  “Give me the exact address.” Coleman rattled it off. “I’m heading there now. Let me scout out the area, see what’s what, and I’ll keep in touch.”

  “Cameron, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Let me send a team over there,” Coleman offered.

  “Send them, but keep them back until I say so. If they move in too quickly, Bogey or Pablo might kill Willow.”

  “Utmost care, Cameron. Be careful yourself,” Coleman said sincerely.

  Cameron couldn’t help but break the tension. “I knew you always like me, Coleman.”

  “Fuck you.” His voice was friendly, and the click of the end call sounded immediately after his words.

  Cameron put the car in drive and raced in the direction of the bar. He put it in his GPS: a twenty-minute drive. If they were going to the bar, which he sincerely hoped, they were already there.

  He cursed as he pushed down on the gas pedal, praying he didn’t meet a cop on the way.

  *****

  Willow had expected to be taken out to the middle of the desert and shot in the back of the head like in th
e movies. When they pulled into the parking lot of a bar, she frowned as if confused.

  “Where are we?”

  “Pablo’s bar. He’ll want to see his baby girl,” Bogey jeered.

  She looked at him, her face scrunched in a you’re an asshole face. “Why are you being like this? I thought we were close.”

  “We are, Willow. But I have to look out for number one, and that’s me. If you’re causing me problems, I have to handle it,” Bogey said apologetically. “It’s nothing personal.”

  “Killing me is kinda personal, Bogey,” she huffed and mumbled, “Dick.”

  Bogey chuckled. “Even in the face of death, you are still a bitch.”

  “Hmm. I don’t think you’ll kill me, Bogey.” Her voice was so sure, her eye contact so dead on straight at him, he had to look away. “See. You can’t even maintain eye contact.”

  “Shut up and get the fuck out of the car,” he growled. When he walked around to her side, her grabbed her arm and jerked her toward the building. Upon entering, several men turned and wolf whistled, calling out to Bogey.

  “Who’s your chick, Bogey?”

  “You planning on sharing that fine piece of ass?”

  Willow’s heart beat faster as real fear shook her. Bogey didn’t defend her, didn’t answer their catcalls. He led her through them, leering at them. One reached out to touch her, but she slapped his hand away. The men laughed and made fun of him, and he yelled after them that he had first dibs when Bogey and Pablo were through with her.

  “Fuck you,” she said to him, and he slapped her across the face, bloodying her lip, before she could react.

  “Get away from her, dick,” Bogey yelled. The man fell back, but his eyes never left Willow.

  “What the hell kind of people are you hanging with, Bogey?” Willow hissed, wiping at her lip.

  “The kind that will make you wish I’d killed you if I decide to let them have you,” her told her. “Come on.”

  He led her into a back room and through to an office door. He shoved it open without knocking and shoved her inside so hard she hit the desk and nearly fell over it. As she righted herself, she saw Pablo, who had leapt up from his seat and backed up a step.

  “What the hell are you doing, Bogey?” Pablo yelled before looking down at who lay across his desk. “Willow?”

  “Hi, Dad,” Willow grumbled as she plopped down in a chair in front of his desk.

  Pablo’s eyes moved from her and her bleeding lip to Bogey. “What did you do to her?”

  “Nothing. One of your dicks out there slapped her when she rejected his advances.”

  “Which one?”

  Bogey shrugged. “Jose.”

  Pablo left the room, and a moment later Willow heard a loud ruckus from the bar area. Screams followed, and a loud pop after that. Willow sat frozen in the chair, her eyes as big as saucers. She stared at Bogey for answers, but he only shrugged at her.

  “What you think happened just happened,” Bogey said.

  Willow began to shake. When Pablo walked back in, he carried a gun and was breathing hard. He lifted her chin with his hand and looked at her lip.

  “You might bruise. Would you like some ice?” Willow shook her head, pulling her chin from his grasp. Pablo smiled. “Welcome, Willow. And how do you know I’m your dad?”

  Willow looked at him again. He wasn’t looking at her; he was glaring at Bogey. Quick to defend, she said, “Bogey didn’t tell me. I heard the two of you talking at the shop.”

  Pablo turned his eyes on his daughter, a small smile. “Loyal to the end. Bogey brought you here to use you as leverage. You know that?”

  “I guess so,” Willow said, her expression confused. “I don’t know why.”

  “Jody.” Pablo smirked. “He tried to kill her, was unsuccessful, and my men had to finish the job. Her body has been found, and he’s scared he’ll be blamed.”

  Bogey snickered, an unmanly sound coming from such a big man. “Pablo, I’m leaving town. I brought your daughter here to warn you.”

  Willow turned her head in time to see Bogey pull out a gun and point it at her head. Her eyes widened, and she threw herself to the side, landing hard on the floor, possibly breaking her wrist. A gunshot rang through the office, and Willow screamed, bracing herself for the pain of a bullet entering her body.

  Bogey hit the floor next to her, blood pooling on his shirt front. Willow screamed his name and moved to him, putting her hand over the wound. Voices surrounded her, yelling words she couldn’t understand. Her eyes stayed on Bogey.

  “Oh my God, Bogey!” she exclaimed, holding onto him. “Bogey, please don’t die.” Arms circled her, and she fought them. “Let me go! Bogey!”

  “Willow, it’s me! Willow!” Cameron’s voice entered her mind. “Willow, he’s dead. He was dead before he hit the floor.”

  She couldn’t take her eyes off Bogey, the man she’d thought of as her father. Finally, she turned her head and looked at her real father. Pablo was in cuffs, yelling in Spanish, as two men held him in place. When he saw her staring at him, he called out to her.

  “Willow, I’m sorry! I’ve always loved you. Always will,” he called as two men dragged him out.

  Willow didn’t know what to say, how to reply. She sank into Cameron’s arms and dragged him to the floor with her, sobs wracking her body so hard she’d be sore the next morning.

  *****

  After arguing with both Cameron and the paramedic, Willow allowed herself to be taken to the emergency room, just in case. She had no injuries, just bumps and bruises, which she had tried to explain. Cameron had insisted, and she didn’t have the will power to fight him.

  She had been waiting for twenty minutes behind a curtain, and under normal circumstances she would have been irritated. But her mind wouldn’t release the image of Bogey on the floor, his chest covered in blood. He’d died quickly, but his eyes hadn’t left hers until the light had died. Tears began to slide down her face slowly, the only sign of her emotions. She was frozen, inside and out.

  Cameron had hurried to the cafeteria to get her a coffee and hadn’t returned. A nurse with a sympathetic smile stepped behind the curtain. She carried a clipboard and moved directly to the computer.

  “Hi, Willow. First, I’m so sorry about what happened to you tonight,” she said. Willow nodded but didn’t speak. The nurse turned to the computer. “Okay, I have a few standard questions. Think you can answer them?” Willow nodded again. The nurse rattled off questions that Willow answered with the fewest words possible.

  “Are you pregnant?”

  “Um, I don’t think so.”

  “Is there a chance?” the nurse asked, looking away from the computer. Willow shrugged, and the nurse nodded. “Okay, we should probably check just in case.” From a cabinet, she pulled out a pregnancy test. “While you’re in the bathroom, I’ll tell the doctor you’re ready.”

  “Thanks.” Willow stared at the pregnancy test and thought she’d be wasting it. She and Cameron had enjoyed each other several times over the last few weeks, but they’d used protection. Most of the time, she reminded herself, grimacing. With a curse, she rose off the bed and walked to the bathroom.

  Cameron walked in a moment later and called out. “Willow?”

  “Bathroom.”

  Her voice didn’t sound right, so he knocked quietly on the door. “You okay?”

  She cracked the door open, frowning out at him. “They made me take a pregnancy test.”

  “Why?” Cameron asked, his stomach clenching with nerves.

  “Standard procedure, I guess, since I don’t know if I am or not,” Willow explained. She glanced over her shoulder into the bathroom. “It’s probably ready.”

  They stared into each other’s eyes, and a slow smile spread over Cameron’s face. “You know, if you are, it wouldn’t bother me so much.”

  Willow, her sadness slipping, returned his smile. “Honestly, I don’t think it would bother me either. Look at it together?”


  “Yes.”

  They stepped through the door to the bathroom. Before looking, they clasped hands and squeezed simultaneously. The test was on the sink, and they glanced at it. Willow let out a little squeal, and Cameron barked a laugh.

  “We’re having a baby!” Cameron exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her and spinning.

  “Um, excuse me?” the nurse interrupted.

  “We’re pregnant,” Willow informed her, the sadness from before overpowered at the moment by her excitement.

  *****

  Two weeks, several interviews with the police, and a shocking surprise from Bogey’s lawyer later, Willow was stretched out in Cameron’s house, where she stayed almost every night, lost in thoughts.

  Cameron watched her, she could feel it, as he had watched over her since ‘the incident,’ as she preferred to think of it. Her nightmares had ceased after a few days, though she didn’t sleep as well as she should. The pregnancy had begun to affect her a few days before, bombarding her with morning sickness every morning. She hadn’t reopened the tattoo parlor yet. She wasn’t ready to be there. And she had decisions to make. The shop was hers now, according to Bogey’s lawyer.

  That’s why she was sure Bogey would never have killed her. He had loved her. He’d needed something from Pablo and used her as a pawn to get it. Low, but he wouldn’t have killed her, Willow was positive. Her heart hurt because she couldn’t share the news of her baby with him. He would have been so excited, like a new grandpa.

  “Babe, how about some orange juice?” Cameron offered with a smile. He’d made it already, so held it out to her. She took it with a smile as he sat next to her. “Your mother called again.”

  “I don’t care,” Willow insisted. She wanted nothing to do with her mother.

  Cameron nodded. “I know you don’t right now, but you will later.”

  She hummed without words. A moment later, after some thought, she said, “You’re probably right, but I don’t want to talk to her now.”

  “Don’t you think she’ll want to know about the baby?” Cameron asked carefully.

  “I’ll tell her when I’m ready,” she murmured quietly before sipping her juice. Her hand rested on her stomach, which churned as the juice hit it. “Maybe the juice is a bad idea.”