by Blair Grey
We held each other on my bed, enjoying the moment. There wasn’t any need to hurry to get out of there. There wasn’t any need to pretend this wasn’t something. I enjoyed it, I enjoyed the time I spent with her, and I knew she felt the same way. I wanted there to be more between us, and I wanted to keep this going, long after Roman’s case was settled.
And for the first time since we started hooking up, I was getting the impression she might want the same thing. At least, I was hoping she did. More than anything, I wanted that from her. But, I was going to let her be the one to make the move.
Well, almost.
After we had gotten dressed and headed back out to the living room, I gave her a GPS that I’d had.
“What’s this for?” she asked as she looked at it.
“It’s so I know where you are,” I told her with a shrug.
“I don’t need you tracking me!” she snapped. “You realize this makes you seem like a stalker, right?”
“It’s not meant to stalk you,” I told her. “It’s so I know where you are in case something goes wrong. I want you to be safe, and if you’re going to insist on being part of the investigation we were talking about tonight, then I’m not going to let you go into it without some form of protection.”
Amelia looked down at the GPS, but I could see she still wasn’t convinced. She wasn’t used to having someone take care of her, and I knew she wasn’t entirely comfortable with it. But she wasn’t going to argue with me, and I wasn’t going to back down from the idea even if she tried.
I didn’t care what she thought of the idea, I knew how things could get on these missions, and I knew she was risking a lot by being part of the investigation process. I would rather she was safe and sound in her office and let us do this part, but that wasn’t going to happen.
“I’m not going to use it, you know,” she said flippantly as she put it in her purse.
“You say that, but trust me – when the time comes that you need it, you’re going to be happy that you have it,” I told her. She shrugged, and I knew she wasn’t going to thank me, but that was okay. I didn’t need her to.
I knew this was dangerous, and I admired her courage being part of it. But, that didn’t mean I was going to change how I protected her. She was my woman now, and that meant she was my top priority.
This wasn’t going to be easy, and we were going to be involved with some dangerous men, so if she was going to insist she know what was going on, then I would also insist that I did, too.
Nothing would change my mind on that; I didn’t care how stubborn she had to be in the process. I was going to get my way with this.
I knew how to get what I wanted in a situation, and I knew how to compromise. I had a feeling she would want to use it, even if she was being difficult about it now.
Either way, I would know where she was.
And, that’s all that mattered.
Chapter 18
Amelia
As annoyed as I was with the fact Rocco gave me a tracker, I knew he wasn’t going to be happy unless I took it with me. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to feel like I was being watched. But, I didn’t have much of a choice.
He wanted to know where I was, and if I was going to keep him happy, I had to keep it on me. I tried to convince myself it was just because he cared about me, but there was still something about it that felt a little invasive. I didn’t want it on me, and there it was.
But, I shoved it out of my mind as I prepared to do a bit of investigating of my own. I knew we could get the police involved, and it might be smarter to do that, but then, that would take time, and I wanted to get my client out of jail soon.
He didn’t have a lot of time in there, it was clear by the way he kept getting relentlessly beat up. No, we had to work out a way to get him out of there fast; to do that, I was going to need more evidence.
So, I decided the best thing to do would be to go to Enchanted Rose.
It was a bar that was a few blocks from Echo Mori where the Steel Wings MC hung out. It was nice enough of a place. Nicer than most of the biker bars, anyway. But, it was still in town so I felt safe enough going there alone.
At least, I thought I was alone.
It wasn’t long after I arrived that Rocco himself showed up. At first, I was a little offended to see him, but he seemed genuinely surprised to see me there.
“What? Did you think you were going to take your new little toy out for a spin?” I asked.
“What?” he looked down at me, and I pointed to my purse.
“Did you think that you would just conveniently find me with the GPS?” I pressed.
“No, I was here to see if I could talk to some of the guys. Like we talked about the other night at the bar?”
I sighed. That was the reason I was there, too, but I didn’t want to admit that he and I thought that much alike. But, he didn’t ask – he already knew that was why I was there, and he wasn’t going to play guessing games with me.
“So you want to do this together, or do you think we’ll get more results if we split up?” he asked.
“Do you know these people?” I replied. “If we go in there as a couple and we don’t know anyone, they might not want to break up what we’re doing, you know?”
“I don’t think you’re going to have to worry about that sort of thing in a place like this,” he said with a shrug. “Clearly, you haven’t hung out in places like this enough.”
“I haven’t hung out in places like this at all,” I told him. He laughed, but I didn’t see the humor in it. We walked toward the door together, but I had to admit, as nervous as I was with him right there, there was another part of me that was glad to have him.
I wanted to have him around, and I liked the safety I felt when he was. It was as though I could take a deep breath and know no one was going to hurt me. Not that I wanted to admit I was afraid of that sort of thing, but it was true. There was a chance I could get hurt, especially if there had been a case I handled that didn’t end the way they wanted it to end.
I had to look over my shoulder much of the time, that was for sure, and I didn’t enjoy the feeling in places like this. But with Rocco there, things were different. I knew no one would try to mess with me. Not even with more whiskey in them than what anyone should drink at one time.
We sat at the bar, but it wasn’t long before we picked out the people we had to talk to. I recognized them from the papers Rocco had brought, but I still wasn’t sure how he had gotten a hold of them in the first place. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
We saw the men about the same time, and he led the way, making sure they saw where we were and inviting them over for a drink.
“What’re you doing over here?” one of the men asked without introducing himself. I knew he was Smith, but I didn’t betray myself.
“We came out for a drink, is there a problem with that?” Rocco snapped.
“I would think if you were taking a girl out you would want to do it in your own territory,” Smith said as he looked me over from head to toe.
“She didn’t want to go to the biker bar,” he said with a shrug. “So, I brought her here. It’s a free country, so why don’t you cool it.”
“What’s a pretty little thing like you wanting to do with a guy like this?” Smith turned his attention to me, and immediately, I was glad I wasn’t alone. I didn’t want to deal with this sort of situation by myself, but I could sense the attention was getting under Rocco’s skin.
“You better watch how you handle yourself,” he warned Smith.
“Or what? Do you really think it’s going to go over very well for you to come in here and just throw your weight around? This isn’t your turf, and even if it is in Devil Hills, you know you have to keep your head down when you’re not on your own land,” he spoke over his shoulders, and I felt a chill run through my spine.
“I was actually hoping you might be able to tell me something,” I piped up, and Smith turned his attention to me.
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“You wanted to talk to me? Is your date aware of that?” he asked with a laugh.
“I wanted to talk to you, yes,” I said. “But it doesn’t matter what my date is aware. You see, I’m working on a case right now – about that man who was stabbed – and I was wondering if you had any idea who might have done it.”
“You’re coming here in front of this guy who’s part of the gang that was accused, and you want me to tell you who really did it?” he asked.
I laughed, keeping my cool. This guy didn’t know I was a lawyer. At least, I hoped he didn’t, and I hoped I would be able to get the information out of him that I wanted. It was harder with Rocco right there, and I was glad when he didn’t say anything about Roman.
“I’m a reporter,” I lied. “I was hoping that I might get both sides of the story. Since I was talking to Rocco already, I was hoping that you might be able to tell me what you think about it. There are rumors on the street that the Steel Wings is just going to take the fall because of a scapegoat sort of thing.”
“You better watch what you say,” Smith snarled. I was taken by surprise. I didn’t know what I was saying would get him so riled up, but it appeared that I had struck a chord.
“You better watch what you say to her,” Rocco said, stepping in. “I don’t care what your opinion is, you’re not going to get in her face. She just wants to hear what you have to say about it. If you have nothing to say, then tell her that.”
Smith looked from Rocco to me and back again. I knew he wasn’t sure how to take the situation. For starters, it seemed as though the two of us were together, which would mean I was on Rocco’s side. But now, it appeared as though the two of us were just having an interview, and that’s why we were here.
So, he was left to determine not only what we were doing there, but why we were together, and how he wanted to answer the question in the process. It was a game, that was for sure, but I knew how to keep the upper hand.
That is, if Rocco could calm down.
The last thing I wanted was for him to get in a fight with the man I was trying to get information out of, and I felt we were on thin ice. With the tension between the two of them, it didn’t seem like it would be hard for either one to blow up at the other, and I didn’t want to get caught in the middle.
It didn’t help that the two of them were already picking a fight, and neither were too interested in what I had to say. As much as I wanted to keep it calm and just have the attention of Smith, I could see it wasn’t going to happen with Rocco at my side.
Finally, when I was sure it was going to come to actual blows between them, I stepped in.
“Rocco, thank you for your time and support in helping me with this, but you’re going to have to leave now. I appreciate all the help, but I’m going to have to get the other side of the story. I’m afraid with all the distractions present, that’s not going to happen.”
The look of shock he gave me told me he didn’t agree with what I was doing, but I wasn’t going to budge. I had made up my mind, and I was sticking with it.
“I need to talk about this alone; if you will please give me the time to do that, I will give you a call later,” I said with another smile. Rocco considered arguing with me. I could see it in his face that he was tempted, but he didn’t pursue it. He shoved the stool back from the rest of the bar, and glared at Smith as he did so.
He wasn’t leaving because he had lost the fight or because Smith wanted him to. He was leaving merely because I had asked him to, and he wanted to give me what I wanted. That was good enough for me
Just as long as we went, things were going to be okay.
I could take a deep breath and move on with the rest of the interview. At least, I was going to try. I had a feeling Smith was analyzing me in every way possible, and when I was alone with him, I almost wished Rocco was still there.
But, I was doing this for my client. At the end of the day, I had to focus on him and getting him out of jail. Sure, I had gotten involved in this because of Rocco, but I had to consider Roman when I was going through the investigation and do what was right by him.
And right now, I had to get the evidence that he wasn’t the one who had committed the crime. I had to clear his name and get him out of there. And from the sounds of things, Smith could give me the answers I was looking for.
I just had to figure out how to get him to talk.
Chapter 19
Rocco
I wasn’t at all happy when Amelia told me to leave. I had been surprised to see her at Enchanted Rose in the first place, then even more surprised when she pretended she was a journalist and I was the other person she was interviewing.
Sure, it wasn’t a terrible plan, I could give her give her that much, but it was still a plan that could use a lot of work. After all, I knew Smith. He wasn’t part of any MC – he was a mobster. He enjoyed laundering money, and he enjoyed living the high life.
If he didn’t already know she was a lawyer, it wasn’t going to take him long to find out, and I knew all Hell was likely to break loose when that happened. I didn’t want to see her on the receiving end of his fury, and I knew that was a possibility.
Still, I wasn’t going to stalk her. She was an adult, and she was free to do things as she pleased. If she didn’t want me there, then I wasn’t going to force my presence on her or force her to hold my hand.
She could handle herself…or she was going to figure out how hard it was to do that with mobsters and come back to me for help.
My initial plan when I left was to go home and calm down. After all, she told me that’s where she wanted me to go, and since she wasn’t telling me much of her plan that night, I almost wondered if she was going to come over to my place after she got what she wanted out of Smith.
But then, with the way she was dressed, I could only imagine she was going to do more than just talk to Smith that night. No, if there was one thing I had learned about Amelia through the weeks she and I had been hanging out, it was that she wasn’t about to do something halfway.
She was going to see this through to the end, there was no doubt in my mind about that. But, what did that mean? What did she have up her sleeve, and what was she going to do after her meeting with the guys in Enchanted Rose? I wondered.
With a sigh, I knew the best thing to do would be to wait in the parking lot and make sure nothing bad happened. But, if she came out and found me waiting there, I knew it wouldn’t go over well. So, I decided to make a compromise in my own way.
I would head a few blocks over and hang out at Echo Mori. That was close enough to the Enchanted Rose I could keep a short eye on what was going on over there, but it was still far enough away from the bar she wouldn’t know where I was or what I was doing.
It would be a good way to stay involved without being overly involved, and I was happy with the idea in my own mind, so that’s what I was going to do. I was used to making my own plans and seeing them through. I didn’t need as much support from the rest of the MC as Jett or Blade did, and I knew I still had them on my side if I were to need anything.
I would go over to the bar and find them, and I would fill them in on what was going on with Amelia. Jett already knew she was a bolder lawyer than anyone we had dealt with in the past, so I knew this wasn’t going to come as a surprise. But, I hoped he was in the mood to go chasing after her if that’s what went down.
Because with the way thing had gone in the bar, and with the way she had all but brushed me off so she could focus on her own plan, I had a feeling there was a good chance we were going to have to go to her rescue.
The only hope I had was that she didn’t turn off the GPS I had given her. She had indicated it was in her purse when we arrived at the bar, so perhaps she was using it even if she didn’t want to.
I could only hope.
“See? The dot’s going down by the warehouses,” I said. I had the screen up on my phone, and Knox and I were both looking at the GPS tracker I had on Amelia.
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I had gone to Echo Mori and let the guys know what was going on with her and the other mobsters, and no one was thrilled with her plan. No one was happy to know she was getting tangled up with them, and no one was happy to know she was doing this alone.
We all knew how things could go wrong when Smith was involved, and it didn’t matter to him whether he was dealing with a man or a woman. He was just as likely to kill a woman in cold blood as he was a man, and we all knew Amelia wasn’t going to be any exception to the rule.
“Do you think there’s a chance he’s going to figure out who she is?” Jett asked as he ran his hand through his hair. “There’s a lot more riding on this now than just getting Roman out of jail.”
“I can say again how much I wish he was here to deal with this,” Ares said from his corner of the table. “I would rather he was here for when this all goes to Hell than us having to deal with it on our own.”
“We’re going to be fine,” Jett said. “But, Blade, why don’t you get the boys together. We can ride over there and make sure things are going okay.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea with her down there?” Blade asked. “If she’s investigating, we don’t want to blow her cover. You know that could put her in more danger than if she’s just down there being an idiot on her own right now.”
“I know,” I said before Jett had the chance to reply. “Which is part of the reason I came up here to get you guys on board with this before I went down there myself. I’m not sure if she went alone or if she’s with the mobsters. They might have told her they would give her the evidence she needs if she cooperated.”
“Do you think she would go along with that?” Jett asked, and all I could do was shrug. I wanted to believe she was smarter than that, but at the same time, if she got caught up in her plan and thought they were buying it, I wasn’t sure how she would get through this.
I didn’t want her to wind up caught in the middle of their own plan – being the one they could kill and get rid of to make sure no one found out the truth. I was all but certain they were the people responsible for the stabbing in the first place, so why would anyone think they were going to hold back now?