by J. L. Drake
“Morgan doesn’t have that authority,” I grunted.
She wiggled out of my hold only because we were both wet. I groaned when I fell out of her with a heavy thud. Her hands slipped over my shoulders into my hair.
“You taking my day away from me?” Her teeth grabbed my bottom lip as her smile spread. “Surely you’re not that mean.”
I am.
“Please.” Her lips were at my neck, and my hands were on her ass. “Please,” she repeated between kisses. “Just one day.”
I growled, hating the idea of her not being here.
“Where are you going?”
“Beach.” She moved up my jaw to my lips.
“With who?”
“A boy with dark brown eyes.”
Both hands grabbed her hips, and I pulled her back to stare at her face.
She started to laugh. “My book. I just want a few hours to tan, read, and not have to deal with anyone.”
“Take a prospect.”
She won’t be going alone.
“No.” Her head dropped forward. “Trigger, please, women need alone time. You asked me to move in here, and I did. But now you want me to take one of them with me? I’d rather take Loose.”
She jerked back when she realized what she had said. Anger burned through me; I hated that fucker.
“I just mean he looks in my eyes when he speaks to me. Jace and Ty, they…don’t.” She reached over and turned off the water. “He doesn’t ask too many questions either. It’s just easy.”
Tess stepped out and wrapped a towel around her body. She handed one to me before she went out to my room.
“You going to the pier?” I asked, not wanting to fight. The hammer in my head had finally left, and my body felt back to normal.
“Yeah.” Her eyes narrowed in on mine.
“Where’s your phone?” She pointed to the phone on my bed, stepped over, and unlocked it. I entered my number and handed it back. “Keep it on you at all times.”
“Okay.” She fought a smile.
“What?” I shrugged on a t-shirt and jeans and reached for my cut from the back of the chair.
“It’s just nice.”
I sat on the couch to tie my boots. “What is?”
“You talking to me rather than at me.”
Standing, I checked my gun clip. “You fight me less this way.”
She went quiet, so I glanced over, flipping the hair out of my face. She had on ripped jean shorts and a tank with hot pink straps underneath that peeked out on the sides of her shoulders.
“You kinda like me feisty.” She winked before she tucked her phone in her bag and headed for the door.
I came up behind her and slammed the door closed again. She turned and grabbed my face and kissed me hard. Before I could think, she slipped under my arm and out the door.
Well, shit…
“Where are you going?” I heard Brick yell from somewhere.
“It’s my day off.”
“That didn’t answer my question!”
“I know.”
I smiled at her sass. Damn, that chick was—
“You talk to her about the trip?” Rail’s question stopped my thought.
“We ready for the meeting?” I avoided answering him. I wanted Tess to have her day off before I told her about our plan.
Gus, Rail, Brick, and Morgan sat around the table, all mulling over the information Mike dropped off. Seemed we had a zig-zag in our cocaine route. Not to mention we had a fucking mole.
It was time to change things up. I pointed my next comment to Rail.
“Send some San Diego men to travel the route with the next shipment. Have them check in at each stop. I want to know everything.”
“I’ll make a call.” He downed his beer.
Brick looked around then glanced at me. “What’s with the knee?”
I looked down and saw my knee bounced around like mad.
“You okay today?”
I hate to be questioned.
“Where’s Tammy?” Rail cut in, and I shot him a look.
“You all want to talk about feelings and pussy?” Gus pulled the attention to himself. His arms were folded, and he looked like I felt. Fucking annoyed. “Or can we discuss the fact that we have a mole?”
“Truthfully, boss, I haven’t heard a thing.” Morgan tugged on his beard. “Not sure how I’m gonna feel when that brother gets ousted.”
“Agreed.” Gus nodded.
I leaned back and ran through all the men we had living here—fifteen. But that didn’t count the other ten who lived outside of the clubhouse. Then the two prospects and the hangarounds.
“Look.” Rail cleared his throat. “Not trying to be a dick, but there’s always our newest bartender.”
The sound of my neck snapping made him glance over. I did the other side to relieve some of the tension that had instantly built in my chest.
“Are you kidding?” Brick began to stand, but I held up a hand. If anyone was about to snap, it was going to be me.
“No.”
Rail let out a heavy breath, and I knew he wasn’t done. “It’s just that she was inside the Serpents’ clubhouse.”
“Yeah, and got her ass beat.”
“Did she?”
“Enough.” I slammed my fist on the table. “We killed the brother before Tess even started. There is no way she had a part in this.”
“Then who?” Rail tossed his gun on the table, more to make a point. “’Cause it sure ain’t me.”
“You sure about that?” Brick hissed under his breath.
“This is what he would have wanted.” I almost flinched at my own words. I never spoke about my father. Even Gus’s face fell at the mere mention of him. “We watch for anything. We listen for everything.”
I dismissed the guys and took a moment to calm down. This shit was unreal.
“Trig, you know where Tess is?” Brick asked with his head down in his phone.
“The pier.”
He looked over. “Neutral ground.”
“Jace is watching her.”
His face didn’t change expression when he looked out the door. “Then why is Jace right there?”
Chapter Ten
Tess
“Seriously?” I tossed the paperback aside. Warning or not, that was a dick cliffhanger.
I watched as people splashed around the freezing cold water. You know you’re a tourist, when?
Curious to know what Brick was up to, I grabbed my phone and started to text him.
“What?” I shaded the screen. “No, no, no! Dammit!” I swore as I chucked my dead phone in my purse and flopped on my stomach with a huff. First a cliffhanger, now my phone. Awesome.
My nap was short-lived as a kid decided to build a sandcastle next to me. She was cute, but hummed the same tune for about thirty minutes, and I wished I had brought headphones. Her bright orange mermaid swimsuit was blinding, and I wondered if her parents secretly let her wear it so that no matter where the hell she was on the beach, they’d be able to find her. She was like a frickin’ beacon next to me.
“What up, Tessa?” I jerked around to find Jace standing by me. “Don’t get mad, but I guess there was some miscom…commui…”
“Miscommunication?” I tried to fill in the blank.
“Yeah, that. Anyway, I was supposed to stay, but I didn’t, so now he’s here.” He pointed with his head.
Who?
There was Trigger in the parking lot next to his bike.
“He wants to talk.”
“Wait, you’ve been here watching me?”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. Seriously?
“Yeah, but, Tess.” He moved closer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Sometimes the orders go in and get all fuzzy. Can you try and—”
“Don’t worry, Jace.” I squeezed his shoulder. I knew how hard it was for him. I headed in the very large man’s direction.
His sunglasses made his look that much more intense. He pushed off his bike
and unfolded his arms as I got closer.
“Checking up on me?”
“Yeah.” He smiled slightly. Damn, he was sexy. “Your phone is off.”
“It died.”
He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, and I could tell he was stressed about something.
“I’m fine, Trigger. Just been here reading. I sent Jace home because he didn’t need to be here.”
I knew he saw through my lie, but they were always talking about looking after their own. Well, this was me doing that.
“I thought you said I could have the day off.”
He eased back down on his bike. “This is neutral territory.”
“The beach is crowded today. I’m pretty hard to spot.”
“No, you’re not.”
I rolled my eyes and moved my hands to my hips. “You do this for all the girls in the club?”
“No.” He again looked unapologetic.
Then it hit me.
“Ah, right. Brick.”
“Look…” He stopped for a moment, almost as if to listen for something. “We are heading out to the desert for our annual party. All the crews will be there, and I need your help on some stuff.”
“Like serving drinks?” I joked.
“I need you to listen for anything strange within my club. You know, keep your eyes and ears open.”
That caught my attention. “Okay, I can do that.”
He rubbed his beard. “We’ve extended our invite to some of the Serpents.”
My face dropped, and I turned away from him and looked back over to Jace, who was now on my towel. A few of the people around him shifted back. They seemed uncomfortable with him being there. Perhaps it was the Reaper shoving a skull in their faces.
A wave of nausea washed over me when I thought of Tiago being that close again.
“Why?” I whispered more to myself.
“He won’t get close to you.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Hey.” He tugged my wrist and pulled me between his legs. He flipped his glasses up and cupped my cheek with his huge, colorful hand. “Not gonna let shit happen to you.”
“This would imply that you care, here, Trigger.”
“I care enough that I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat and knew he was right.
“We need them there, for a few reasons.”
“Care to share some of them?”
His face twisted and his teeth sank into his lip. I could tell it went against his nature to let a woman in on anything. But, Christ, I wanted to know.
To my surprise, he answered me. “We need to see who they interact with in our club. We need them in case the Stripe Backs come. They like you, Tess. I hoped you could help me.”
“I won’t sleep with them,” came flying out of my mouth without a thought.
His tongue swiped his teeth before he chuckled darkly. “Even if you wanted to, that would not happen.”
I shook off a heavy sigh and nodded. “Fine, when do we lea—”
Trigger suddenly stood and pulled me closer as we heard the rumble of a bike. It was low and deep, and when I saw who was on the bike, I held my breath. Two Serpents rode side by side and stopped on the side of the road. Even though they had a deal with our club, I didn’t trust them, and apparently, neither did Trigger.
“Trigger?” I somehow whispered. My grip on his arm tightened as he slid me behind him. “Should we leave?”
They were maybe thirty feet from me, but they might as well have been right next to us.
“No.”
Awesome. Classic Trigger and his one word answers. It gave me no sense of comfort when he did that.
One of the men flicked his head before he roared off, followed by the other.
My head hit Trigger’s back as I sagged with relief.
“Go get your stuff.” His muscles flexed as he moved to his bike.
I didn’t move because that was intense, and my heart was still pounding.
“Tess, go get your shit so I can get you back to the clubhouse.”
“Were they watching you or watching me?”
“Do you ever listen?”
“Sorry,” I shot back in frustration. “Believe it or not, that was a little scary. Not that I expect you to understand, given that you don’t have a fear gene.”
His chest fell, and I saw he understood I sometimes did get scared. That sometimes this life could be a little much for me.
“Okay,” he whispered softy.
I shook off my nerves. “Your one word answers are stellar at times like this.”
Trigger motioned at Jace, who had moved up when the bikes appeared and was standing not far from us.
“Head back.”
A man of few words.
The clubhouse was quiet, with only a few members playing pool off in the back corner. Morgan was drying glasses and shot me a smile when he saw me.
“How was your day off?”
“Eventful. Yours?”
“I had the privilege off watching Minnie tell off Peggy.” He chuckled. “Gotta love a cat fight.”
I dropped my stuff at the side of the bar and took a seat.
“Drink?” he asked.
I shook my head. Too much sun and liquor would make me pass out. Besides, I was more interested in what happened.
“Why did Minnie tell her off?”
He lit a cigarette and leaned forward on the bar top. “Peggy was running her mouth about you, and she stepped in.” He started to laugh. “I believe the phrase I’m going to slap you in the vagina was used.”
“Classy,” I mumbled. “What the hell did I do to Peggy, anyway?”
“It wasn’t what you did to Peggy that’s got her tits in a twist. It’s who you’re doing.” His gaze shifted over my shoulder to Trigger, who was with Big Joe.
Oh.
“We’re not dating.”
“Don’t care if you are.” He raised his hands. “Don’t do drama, but the fight was pretty hysterical.”
Men.
I picked up my bag. “So, who won?”
“Brick got involved, but I’d say Minnie.”
Oh, shit, poor Brick. I should go find him and see how he was.
“Thanks for the heads-up, Morgan. You still okay for tonight?”
“Yup.” He winked and went back to what he was doing.
His room was next to Trigger’s. I felt a sense of warmth when I saw he had carved a small wooden square around the handle.
That’s right, Brick, you’re safe here.
After I knocked a few times, I let myself in. I liked his room. I guessed because he always wanted a place that was his, but also a family. Now he had it, and the happy pictures on the wall proved that to me. I found the one of the two of us at the mall photo booth. Someone had left a credit in the machine, so we jumped inside and were total losers making funny faces. We split them in half. I forgot how goofy we looked at seventeen.
Curling up on his bed, I closed my eyes and remembered the few good times.
“Oh! I thought you were Brick.” I jumped at Minnie’s voice. Where the hell had she come—
Oh, my God!
I started to laugh. I laughed so hard I didn’t make any noise. I fell forward on his bed, heaving as my lungs begged me for air. Tears streamed down my face and Minnie started to grin. She tossed a pillow at me, and I finally was able to take a deep breath of sweet oxygen.
“You’re an ass.” She totally ignored the fact that she was the one who presently wore a whipped cream bikini.
I held up a hand to try to regain my composure. “Sorry.” I wiped my cheeks dry. “But you caught me in a moment, and that outfit is just priceless.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t expect you to be on his bed either.” She shrugged on a robe and took a seat next to me. “Where is Brick, anyway?”
“That’s who I was looking for too. Just thought I’d wait him out. As much fun as this was, I’m actua
lly glad you’re here. I wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me?” She swiped her finger along her leg and licked her finger. “For what?”
“Morgan told me about Peggy running her mouth. Thanks for having my back.”
“Peggy’s a dick. She’s just jealous. She’s wanted Trigger for years, but he’s not having her. I wouldn’t either. She’s opened her legs so many times, I doubt they can even close anymore. They just flop around for whoever, whenever.”
“Thanks for that graphic image.” I moved up to lean against the headboard, and Minnie shifted so we both stared at his mirror on his dresser. “Confident place for a mirror,” I joked.
“Yeah, well, Brick is a bit crazy in bed.”
“Oh,” I groaned, “I really didn’t need to know that. He may not be blood, but he’s still my brother.”
She leaned over, grabbed a bottle of champagne from somewhere, and started to fill two glasses. She handed one to me. “Sometimes I just want a girly drink.” She clinked my glass. The taste was refreshing, and I downed it quickly. She did the same and refilled them. “I’m glad to hear he’s your brother.” She gave me a small shrug. “I was worried when he told me you were coming. You know, the best friend shows up, and then they fall in love after finally realizing their feelings for one another.”
I laughed. “I love Brick more than anyone in the world, but we’ve never been attracted to each other like that. We’ve been through too much at an early age. I know he likes you, though.” I smiled when her eyes lit up, and went on. “He mentioned you to me. He’s never been like that before. That’s a good sign you’re more than just some girl.”
She let out a big sigh. “You have no idea how much I needed to hear that. Especially with what’s coming this weekend.”
She filled my glass again, and I started to relax. “What’s this weekend?”
“The annual party at the camp.” She made a face, and I remembered Trigger had mentioned the desert. “Hence, why I’m doing this.” She waved her hand over her body. “Women are a dime a dozen here. Even if you think you are in the perfect relationship with your man, I promise you when you turn your back, another hoe will be on her knees offering up her mouth.” She ditched her glass and took the bottle. “It sucks, plus some like to share, and you don’t ever want to refuse because you’ll be replaced real fast.”