by Sierra Rose
She ignored me and walked to the closet, only to return a few minutes later in a sexy little black dress that covered her thighs and boots that ended right below it. Running her fingers through her dark messy hair, she stopped and finally put her attention where it needed to be -- on me.
"What? You're watching me like I might disappear." She smiled and continued to fuss with her hair.
"You better not. I got all future bets placed on you." I leaned back and licked at my lips. "You look good. Gorgeous, as a matter of fact. I don't like it. I'm coming with you."
"Alright. Do what you want to do, but when people start dropping like flies; don't say that I didn't tell you so." She shrugged and walked out of the bedroom, leaving the door open and shaking her hips for me more than she needed to.
The whistles and catcalls had me getting my ass in gear and getting dressed as quickly as I could. I jogged out in time to see her sit down at the table with half the guys from the MC drooling over her.
I grabbed a plate of food and plopped down across from her. My phone buzzed and I pulled it from my pocket, seeing that it was Dane.
Letting out a sigh, I got up and put the phone to my ear as I shoved half a biscuit in my mouth. "What's up man?"
"What? Fucking swallow that shit you're eating." He growled in my ear, and I grabbed a beer from the counter beside me, popped the top and drank half of it in a few gulps.
"Alright. Sorry. I just got up and was starving. What's up?"
"Lots of shit. I'm headed out there. I know Lena's headed back to the house, but we need to get cameras up today. We're just going to have to dress like painters or maintenance men or something."
"Alright. I'm good with that. I'm about to take her--" I glanced back to see her gone and moved the phone from my mouth. "Where's my girl?"
Blade glanced up. "She's getting your bike for you. She said you--"
I didn't hear another word as I tucked my phone in my pocket, grabbed the biscuit and beer and took off for the door. I could hear Dane hollering for me to get back on the phone, but I ignored him. He would hang up in a minute and I could call him back. Lena was a tricky little tart sometimes, and I wouldn't have put it past her to leave me. I stopped on the porch just outside the front door as she drove down the road with my bike.
"I love you!" She yelled loudly as I growled.
"With my bike... always fucking with my bike." I leaned against the front door and pulled the phone out. "Come get me. She took my bike and headed that way. She's feeling ballsy."
"Obviously." Dane chuckled. "Glad you came back. I was getting a little worried there for a minute."
"No, we're good, just her acting up." I turned and walked back into the lodge as some of the guys chuckled at me. "Laugh it up, mother fuckers. She's worth every bit of pain and suffering I have to do over her." I grabbed my dick and shook it. "Every last bit of it."
That shut them up.
"That's mature." Dane snorted. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Bring me some food out when you come."
"Alright. You bring the costumes."
"I got them, and they aren't costumes, dummy. They're work clothes."
"Whatever. Get your own damn food."
"Costumes it is! I got us costumes."
We shared a laugh and I dropped the call before heading in to the kitchen and sweet talking the pretty girl who made all of our meals. She forced me to give her Dane's number in exchange for a plate, but he wouldn't mind. She was easy on the eyes, and from what one of the guys told me, she was a tiger in the bedroom.
Dane needed to find a girl, and this one might just be for the night, but it was a start.
"Shit always starts with a night." I walked out as he drove up and got in the truck. "One plate of steaming hot breakfast, and all I had to do was give her your number."
He paled visibly and I laughed. "What? You did not."
"I did, but she's cute. I promise. This one isn't a dude. It was a mistake, Dane. Shit." I shrugged as my smile burned my cheeks.
"Fucker." He opened the container and smiled. "This is worth a night."
"Right? Told you. Let's get out there and get everything set up. I don't want to worry about my girl any more than I have to."
He shoved half a biscuit in his mouth and turned to me, talking around it and spitting small bits of it out toward me.
I swatted at him and contorted my face. "Come on, man. Fucking swallow that shit you're eating."
He did and gave me a cocky smile. "See? It's gross."
"So are you." I turned away.
"So are you." He popped me in the chest.
I didn't care that he was driving... a much needed wrestling match was overdue. I came across the seat as he pulled over and screamed like a girl.
"Not now, Luck! Fuck."
"Yep. Now."
***
We parked across the road at a tiny run-down gas station that hadn't been open the whole time Lena and I had been dating. Dane turned off the truck off; pulling it deep into the trees that surrounded the property.
"So here's what I'm thinking," he turned to me, “we change, get the cameras up and set up shop here in the gas station. I would have said the flower shop, but seeing as how the lunatic burnt the damn thing down..."
My whole body tightened at the mention of the fire. Lena almost died in it, and she still didn't seem to be truly over it, not that I expected her to be for a long while. It had to have been traumatizing. That she was holding up at all after losing Grandma and then the fire bullshit was a miracle.
"I like it. We stay out here or maybe take shifts?" I grabbed one of the bags from his hands and walked toward the old gas station.
"Yeah. I'm off for the next few days. I'm thinking Rafael will get sick of waiting and head this way soon. You know he's not known for patience." Dane gave me a sideways look.
"This is true. Let's change and get over to the house. I want to get out of sight by the time lunch hits." I opened the door at the back of the small building and kicked a few tires out of the way as critters scurried about.
"Fuck. I hate bugs and mice." Dane groaned.
"It's all good, dude. It's just spiders and snakes. No worries." I chuckled and dropped the bags on the counter before digging out the uniforms.
"Fuck you, Lucky. Just because you're fearless doesn't mean that all of us are. I have a healthy respect for things that can kill me." He grabbed one of the shirts and pulled it on over his t-shirt.
"Yeah. Those roaches are insanely deadly. One bite and they can take off a toe, or so I've heard." I laughed as he turned and stared at me. "Alright. I'm kidding. Let's do this and then we can both make fun of you later tonight."
"Sounds like the last twenty years of our lives." He tugged the blue jumpsuit over his pants and zipped up the front before putting on the hat and smiling. "How do I look?"
"Ridiculous. Like a cop trying to dress like an electrician." I finished getting into mine and lifted my hands to my side. "Well?"
"That's probably going to get you laid. That's about the way things work around here." He smirked and grabbed the bag with the cameras in it. "Is she already out here? Did you see your bike?"
"No, but I wasn't looking." I walked out the front door and moved along the edge of the woods, walking out from the side yard and realizing that we should have brought a van with us. We looked like idiots. What electrician walked from the woods?
"There it is. She's here. I'll start looking for a ladder, and you let her know that we're here. You don't want to scare her. She's liable to pull a weapon." Dane snorted and turned to head to the back.
"Give me the bag, idiot." I grabbed it from him and walked to the front, setting it down and knocking.
Lena opened the door, her tank top tight and shorts short. She had discarded the dress, and her long hair was in a ponytail with strands dancing around her shoulders.
"Can I help you with something, sir?" She wiped her hands on a white cloth and lifted her eyebrow, playing a game. S
he was always ready to have a bit of fun.
I dropped the bag and crossed my arms over my chest.
"I'm here to clean out your appliances. They gotta be properly serviced, or they'll get to tight and you got real issues. Then they can't be used without extreme force." I wagged my eyebrows as she reached out and grabbed the front of my shirt, pulling me inside and closing the door.
"How is it that I find this outfit impossibly hot?" She pressed herself to the front of me and smiled wickedly.
I slid my hands over her hips and played with the soft skin at the bottom of her ass. "I need to get these cameras up for real, though. Dane's looking for a ladder."
"Good. He'll knock when he gets back." She lifted to her toes and pressed her lips to mine, leaving me breathless and hungry for a lot more than I'd be getting.
I broke the kiss. "Alright, naughty girl... you okay here for now?"
"Yes. I'm cleaning up." She moved back and turned to walk back down toward the kitchen. "Knock if you need a cool drink of water. I have a fountain I think you'd like to watch spew."
"Fuck me." I opened the door and walked out to find Dane with his hands on his hips. "What?"
"You know what. You guys are in the middle of the hornets’ nest and were having fun being horny together. I swear, you're impossible. Almost die ten times in a week and you're still smiling and having fun together." He sighed and positioned the ladder on the front porch. "Lucky bastard."
"I am that." I reached for the ladder, holding it until he was positioned at the top.
"Hand me the first camera and don't let the pieces attached to it fall off." He reached down and I extended it up to him.
"I need to tell her that we're across the road, but I'll make sure to whisper it in her ear or something." I glanced across the yard and let my eyes scan the yard. Nothing out of the ordinary, but something tugged at me.
"Yeah, and tell her we'll be watching all night. We'll sneak in around one or two in the morning and see if we can figure out what Rafael's hiding." Dane moved back down the ladder and moved it to another spot on the side of the house. "Did I tell you that all those fucking tapes from that nasty sex room in the warehouse were wiped clean?"
"No fucking way." I held the ladder and looked up at him. "How is that possible?"
He chuckled. "We're dealing with a criminal mastermind and acting like he's a chump. We're the ones left holding the bag. We need whatever he's protecting. It's gotta be good."
"What about the blood?" I grabbed another camera and lifted it up to him.
"Paint. Fucking paint."
"No. That was blood. I know it." I shook my head, not quite able to swallow the shit Dane was throwing at me.
"Well, it might have been blood at one time, but someone painted that floor with a strong chemical compound that ate every ounce of what might have been there away."
"Fuck," I growled and wiped my hand across my face. This should wasn't going to get any easier, and something told me that it was about to much worse before we even approached 'better'.
Chapter 11
Selene
The house was beyond disgusting, and there was no way in hell I was staying out there without bleaching every inch of it. Lucky showing up at the door lightened my mood a little, but I knew he would. I was more surprised by him not lighting into me over taking the bike than over him wearing the silly electrician outfit. Did he really think my father wouldn't be able to tell that it was him and Dane?
I was too tired to fight them over it. I could only pray that whoever my father had watching me and the house wouldn't be paying attention for a little while. If someone from my family showed up, I would tell them that I had cameras installed. The last thing I wanted was to wake up with some crazy mother fucker standing over me. They could understand it or not. My give-a-damn was busted and I was growing increasingly weary of the life my father had shoved me into living, especially this new one.
After bagging up all of the rotten food and cleaning up the kitchen and dining room, I took three loads out to the dumpster, but didn't see Dane or Lucky.
"Must be in the back of the house." I closed the front door and paused, wondering if Dante had actually taken the safe with him the other day. He'd be a fucking idiot not to, but stranger things had happened.
I jolted up the stairs and walked into his office before pausing and letting my thoughts settle a little. Fear rushed across me at the remembrance of feeling of his knife against my lips and throat a few days before.
"Crazy bastard." I walked into the office and moved to the open hole in the floor, surprised to find the box. I pulled it out and sat it on the desk, working to get it opened and getting nowhere. "Ugh. Nothing!"
"Need help?” A deep voice scared the shit out of me, and I whipped around and pulled my knife from the back of my shorts, ready to stab the guy behind me.
"You almost got yourself stabbed!" Realizing it was Dane, I put the knife back up and growled.
"I see that." He smiled and moved into the office. "Lucky is working on making sure we can see everything from the feed."
He tapped my shoulder and I turned my full attention on him. "What?"
His lips moved, but no sound came out, and I realized that he was worried that the house was bugged.
'We're across the street at the old gas station'. He mouthed and nodded in that direction.
I returned the gesture. "Thank you for your help today with the lights. I can get this. Thanks."
He smiled and turned, walking out of the room and leaving me as he'd found me.
After wrestling with the box for a few more minutes, I walked down to the kitchen with it and pulled out a butter knife, trying unsuccessfully once again to get into the box. Whatever my father had tucked away in the house wasn't going to be found in something as small as the heavy safe sitting on the kitchen island before me, but I wanted to know what it was.
I let out a long sigh and walked out of the house and into the warehouse out back. The sun had started to settle, and I was surprised that Lucky hadn't come back in to at least kiss me goodbye. It irked me, but I'd chew his ear for it later.
"I fucking hate this place." I opened the large doors to the shed and walked into the darkness. It only took me a few minutes to find the light switch, but when I did, I regretted it. It was almost less scary with the lights off. "So creepy."
The shadows that played against the walls left chill bumps dancing along my exposed skin, and a shiver that ran down my whole body stopped me in my tracks.
Someone moved behind me, and I screamed, pulling my weapon again and turning.
"Dane said you were in the mood to cut someone, and that I should be careful. He wasn't kidding." Lucky moved toward me, pressing his hand to mine and pulling me to him.
I snuggled in and let out a shaky breath. "I'm seriously thinking this is a bad idea. I can't shake the feeling that things are not going to go our way. I keep seeing Grandma in that church just before--"
"Lena. Stop it." He moved back and touched the side of my face as he leaned down and kissed me softly. "Let it go for now. You don't need anything else on you."
"I need you on me." I licked at his mouth and pulled him in tighter. "Sneak in my bedroom window tonight like you used to do. I don't want to be alone."
"Of course." He kissed me again and smoothed my hair back. "We’ll work on that baby boy you want."
I chuckled. "That sounds like one way to stave off the fear of the bogey monster." I turned and moved deeper into the warehouse. "I need to find a crowbar. I'm trying to get into a box in the house."
"Something you think might be of help to Dane's investigation?" Lucky sounded hopeful.
"I'm thinking so, but we'll see. I’ll share the secrets I find when you come back later tonight." I walked into the tool room and flipped on the light. "Here we go."
Reaching up, I grabbed a crowbar and turned, almost hitting him.
"Fuck, Lena. Trying to kill me, baby? I'm on your side, remember?" He
pulled me against him again and leaned down, pressing his forehead to mine. "I'm teasing, but seriously... be safe. No playing hero should something happen. I have my eyes on this place. All over this place. Just bide your time however you need to and know that I'll be here any minute. Okay?"
"Alright." I kissed him and moved back. "Without my phone it's going to be impossible to communicate."
"I know, but like I said, I'll be back up here in a couple of hours." He kissed me once more. "No more coming back out here. It's creepy as fuck."
"Tell me about it." I walked toward the door, but he didn't follow me. "You coming?"
"I'll leave a little bit after you. I'm not underestimating your father again. I keep getting my ass handed to me. I'm over it." He rolled his shoulders before winking at me. "Take your fine ass back to the house, and lock the doors. Promise?"
"Yeah, yeah." I walked out, shaking my hips a little for him. Warmth engulfed me as I let the last three years infuse my thoughts. I'd been so damn lonely before graduation day. No one wanted anything to do with me because of my family, because of my name. I'd tried to make friends, tried to date, tried to fit in, and... nothing. All because of my father.
But now I did. I was Lucky's girl, and soon to be his wife, the mother to his children. We had a great future ahead of us. Now we just needed to survive the present so we could get to it. My father wasn't going to stop until he had power once more, but that would mean he would not only have to take out me and Lucky, but Dane and all the Stone Wolves. He was a smart man and knew that.
"What are you up to, dad?" I walked into the kitchen from the back door and paused as the sound of something fluttering caused my heart to skip a beat. "Who's there?"
I locked the door behind me and tightened my grip on the crow bar before walking slowly from the empty kitchen toward the dining room. It was my least favorite room in the whole house, but that was because everyone belonged in there but me. I was the only girl left in the family, and no one appreciated the attention my father showered on me.
"Or did," I whispered and walked into the large ornate room and flipped on the light, half expecting to find one of my cousins, or Dante.