by Brook Wilder
I held up my hand to Sydney.
“I can handle it.”
“Fine,” Amy said quietly. “At least let us help you bait your rogue caller then. We can come up with a plan. Syd? What should we do?”
Sydney’s gaze narrowed on me, clearly not happy that I wasn’t going to let her protect me. I couldn’t. She and Zack had just found each other again and if anything happened to her, he would go insane. He already hated the fact that she was on this task force. She didn’t need any more stress.
Besides, I had Neil.
“Fine,” Sydney echoed, her hands on her hips. “We just need to trap him somehow. Next time he calls, we will set up a place to meet. That way I can arrest him on site.”
I pondered that for a moment. It sounded horribly dangerous, but I was ready to get this over and done with. I was tired of being targeted.
“Alright, but we tell Neil.”
“What if he tries to stop us?” Amy asked.
She had a point there. Neil would try to stop us, thinking that we could be putting ourselves in danger.
“Maybe I will tell him later, then.”
Sydney grinned, looking over at Amy.
“Well then, I really should be completely against this, but I’m so in! Whoever is making these calls might lead us to Grayson Barnes, and then – bam! – this will all be over with.”
I blew out a breath, giving her a faint smile. That was what I was hoping for. I wanted my salon back. I wanted to have a happy life with Neil. I wanted my brother back, but that was the one thing I couldn’t have.
But clearing his name would be the ultimate closure for me and his death. I needed to get in that box, to see what was in there and what I could take to Grant to prove to him that Leo had not been a traitor.
The door opened, and Neil stuck his head in.
“I hate to break this up, ladies, but I need to ride out. Rox, you ready?”
I felt my heart flutter in my chest as I gave him a nod, looking at my friends.
“Time to close up.”
“In more ways than one,” Amy remarked as Neil held the door open for her and Syd. “See you.”
I waved them goodbye, glad that I did have someone in my life I could count on.
And that number was rapidly growing.
Chapter Sixteen
Neil
I jerked awake, my rapid breathing causing me to gasp for air as I oriented myself to my surroundings. I was in my house, in my bed, not in the middle of the desert.
Though I was sweating like I was.
Rubbing a hand over my face just to make sure I really was here, I stared at the ceiling for a moment, willing myself to calm the fuck down. It was rare that I had dreams like that, ones that affected me so deeply that I thought they were real life.
But they had started right after Rox had come into my life.
I looked over in the bed and found Rox curled up on her side, her arm stuck behind her head as she typically slept. There was no blood on her face, there was no bullet-hole in her head.
She was safe.
In my dream, or nightmare, Rox had been lying in the hot sand, blood pooling behind her head, a bullet between her eyes.
It had been my bullet, and I had been looking through my scope as she’d fallen to the ground, the smell of gunpowder filling my nostrils. I had shot Rox. I had killed her.
What a scary fucking dream.
Carefully throwing the covers aside, I climbed out of bed and stared down at her, my heart constricting in my chest. I would kill myself before I ever laid one finger on her, though I imagined the dream had a deeper meaning than me literally shooting her in the head.
And I believed I knew why I had dreamed that.
Turning away from her sleeping form, I walked out of the room and into the living room, where the box from Leo’s house sat on the coffee table. Rox had messed with it tonight before bed, fiddling with the code lock, trying every possible number combination she could think of. The letter hadn’t helped her out that much either, and finally I had pulled her away, distracting her in a different way to keep her mind off the box.
It had been selfish of me to pull her away, but I had good reason.
Picking up the box, I walked over to the table that had a few picture frames on it, something Rox had done the first time we had gotten together. I chuckled as I remembered her agonizing over what pictures to put on the table, settling on a few of me and my mom and of me and Leo. I had joked with her about putting a picture of her on that table as well, but she had brushed me off, saying we hadn’t taken a formal picture together.
Now I wished we had at least framed something of us together.
I picked up a picture of me and Leo, staring at it for a moment. Rox had taken the picture, naturally, and it wasn’t too long before all hell had broken loose. Leo was grinning, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, his arm casually thrown over my shoulder with the clubhouse in the background. It was some party we had all attended and, looking back, I should have spent more time with him that night. I should have been a better friend, a better brother to him, then maybe he would still be here.
Instead, I had been the biggest asshole known to man when he needed me the most, and I would spend the rest of my life regretting that I had not been there for him.
If Rox knew that I had been the last person that could have saved Leo, she would hate me.
Pulling the back off, I let the key fall into the palm of my hand, wrapping my fingers around it. The night was ingrained in my memory, leaving a horrible taste in my mouth of what I had done or hadn’t done in respect of it.
I hated myself for it.
***
Scrubbing my hand through my hair, I grumbled all the way to the door, wondering who the hell would be out in this weather. The rain was coming down in buckets, ruining a night bike-ride I had planned with Rox and causing us both to stay home. My truck was in the damn shop, so I couldn’t go get her unless I wanted to look like a drowned rat in the process.
So, I had cancelled our date, keeping up with her through texts. The last picture she had sent… damn I might just have to go over there.
The assault continued on my front door, and I slid the deadbolt back, throwing it open.
“Leo?”
Leo pushed me out of the way and stepped inside without so much as acknowledging me, his eyes darting around the dark living room.
“Are you alone? Is anyone here?”
I narrowed my gaze as I shut the door, ignoring the fact he was making puddles in my living room.
“No, no one is here. Are you high on something? What’s going on?”
He ran a hand over his face, blowing out a breath.
“Shit, man, I- I don’t know what to do!”
I crossed my arms over my chest, staring at him.
“You know I should shoot you where you stand.”
The rumors surrounding my best friend had been brutal, and I had been told in no certain terms to shoot the bastard the moment I laid eyes on him.
But there was something about Leo that made me pause. He looked scared shitless, and a piece of me hesitated. It was the piece that Rox was latched onto. This was her brother, and if I killed him, she would hunt me down and do the same.
I couldn’t lose her, not like this.
“You need to leave,” I said to him, keeping my voice even.
He looked at me, surprise flickering across his face.
“You think I am a traitor.”
It wasn’t a question, but a simple, quiet realization on his part.
I cleared my throat, keeping the emotion out of my words.
“The case against you is pretty strong man.”
Leo burst into laughter, the sound harsh to my ears.
“You have known me all your damn life, Neil. That club… it is my family. I would never jeopardize that!”
I shrugged halfheartedly.
“Many a good man has been swayed by Grayson Barnes.”
/> I should know. I had seen many of them in the crosshairs of my scope. Grayson had promised them complete control of the Horsemen and of the drug runs in Cibolo and beyond.
In reality, all they had gotten was a bullet to the brain.
Leo stared at me, his eyes narrowing.
“So, I guess you are going to kill me now then, huh?”
Oh, I should. Those were my orders. I was to take out any traitor to the club without hesitation, so that Grant could clean this shit up and put who was left back together. Leo had been on that list, and when Grant had tried to send someone else after him, I had told him ‘no’. Everyone knew what kind of relationship we had together, but that had been thrown out the window the day he had gone to the other side.
“No, I’m not.”
Leo clenched his jaw.
“Maybe I should kill you, then. After all, I’m a traitor.”
I inwardly flinched at his biting words, the first seed of doubt creeping into my mind. I had seen the pics, I had witnessed Leo shaking hands with Grayson and the Muertos. There was no explanation. That meeting had not been sanctioned by Grant, which made it one thing and one thing only.
My best friend was a traitor.
“I’m gonna let you walk this time,” I growled, stepping away from the door. “For Rox.”
She was going to be the one that got hurt in the end if I shot her brother, and I would lose her.
I couldn’t lose her.
Leo shook his head, sending a spray of droplets into the room.
“I never thought it would come to this. I always thought… well I guess it doesn’t matter now, does it?”
“I can’t help you,” I bit out, angry that we were in this position in the first place.
If only he had stayed loyal to Grant. If only I had been more vigilant about who he was hanging out with.
So many ifs.
Leo chuckled as he reached into his pocket, pulling out something before sitting it on the table.
“Take care of this, will ya? If for some reason I don’t come back, give it to Roxy. She can help clear my name.”
I wanted to say more, but there was nothing more to say. Leo winked at me, though I could see the hurt in his expression as he walked past and back out into the rain, leaving me to stare after him and wonder if I had just made a huge mistake.
***
I shook out of the memory, staring at the key in my hands. That night, I had been convinced Leo was a traitor. I had never told another soul that he had been here, nor had I shared the information about the key, choosing to hide it with the intentions of giving it to Rox at the right moment.
Then all hell had blown up and, until last night, I had forgotten about it.
Now I held the key to her unlocking her brother’s mysterious death, yet I didn’t want to give it to her. If it did prove that Leo was a traitor, then everything that had happened up until now would feel vindicated. It would break Rox’s heart, but I could go about with a clear conscience, knowing I had not betrayed my best friend.
But if it revealed something else, then I had let Leo walk out that door and to his death. I had let down the one person that I was supposed to be loyal to. Hell, the entire club would feel the same. We had shut him out, hunted him down like a dog, thinking we were doing the right thing.
I sucked in a breath, my mind racing. I could open the box once and for all, prepare myself for what I might find and what the consequence would be.
Or I could forget I had this damn key to begin with. I had Roxanne back in my life, and for now Leo’s death was on the back burner. I could go on attempting to keep the peace and Rox on my side until we couldn’t pretend anymore.
That is, if we ever caught up to Grayson and his band of men.
I had everything and could lose it all again, just like that, with the turn of a key. Leo had wanted Rox to have it, but I couldn’t let her. She might find out that she had been right all along, and if she realized I had kept the key from her, the last words of her brother, all this time, she would flat-out shoot me where I stood.
And that would be the end of us. She would rip out my heart, and I would be nothing.
Picking up the picture, I shoved the key back into its hiding place as best I could, setting it down gently. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go through with this.
If I wanted Roxanne to forget about the box, I needed to hide it. Walking over to the coffee table, I picked it up again, moved to the hall closet, and tucked it behind some towels. I would have to distract Roxanne enough to forget about the box and its contents. If I had my way, she wouldn’t get her hands on that key.
And I felt shitty for it.
Chapter Seventeen
Rox
I awoke to Neil kissing my shoulder, his hard body covering mine. I didn’t know what time it was, but the bedroom was still dark.
“Neil?” I asked sleepily, attempting to push through the haze of exhaustion.
“Shh,” he said against my skin. “Let me love you, Rox.”
Well I wasn’t going to say no to that. Closing my eyes, I felt his lips roam over my breast, teasing the taut nipple that was begging for his attention. My entire body felt like pure liquid, Neil’s hands roaming over the surface lightly, almost hesitantly.
When his lips moved over my stomach, I gasped, moving my hands into his hair to urge him on. He chuckled, a sound that crawled over my skin like a warm blanket. I loved that sound. I loved everything about the man.
“I love you,” he whispered as he moved lower. “I love your body. I love your spirit. I love you, Rox.”
My heart lurched in my chest as his words, knowing that he wasn’t the type of man who threw around his feelings often. Something was up.
“Neil?”
His lips found my clit, and his name died on my lips, the warmth growing by leaps and bounds as he teased it to submission. My hands fisted in his hair as I felt the pressure start to build, my body tensing with what was about to come.
Neil growled low in his throat as his strokes intensified, sliding a finger into my warmth.
“Fuck,” he whispered. “You are so wet.”
I whimpered, bucking against his hand as he lowered his mouth to the pulsating mound, holding him in place until I was sobbing from my orgasm.
When is body covered mine, I was still trembling, my hands grasping at his back. Neil rose above me as I opened my eyes, a slight grin on his face.
“That good?”
“More,” I begged, feeling his hardness pressing against my center. “Please.”
“I love it when you beg for my cock,” he replied, slamming into me.
I arched against the intrusion, my hands tightening on his shoulders. For a moment he remained still, staring down at me with a clenched jaw.
“I love you,” I whispered, reaching to touch that steel jaw, grazing it with my fingers.
There was something bothering him. I knew him well enough to know that something was off, his eyes betraying what his body was doing.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he grasped my hips and moved inside me, taking me to another orgasm that had me screaming his name.
God, he knew exactly what he was doing with my body.
“You like that?” he asked, angling my hips to bury himself deep inside of me.
I whimpered, unable to find the words to express how I was feeling. Neil was taking me to new heights with his love. and I was in awe of how he made me feel, the trust I had for him. Neil was not the enemy.
He started his lazy stroking of my body, his fingers brushing over my breasts, down my stomach and over my thighs, sending goosebumps in their wake. I knew he was making me wait, but he was driving my crazy by doing so.
I reached up and pulled him down to my level, devouring his lips with my own, my fingers threaded in his hair.
“What you do to me,” he whispered against my lips, before taking my lower one between his and sucking gently.
I could echo the sentiment.
<
br /> “Make me cum, Neil,” I groaned, shifting my hips. “Make me yours.”
Neil growled and thrust hard into me, the bed rocking with his movement as I screamed out his name, clutching his biceps as he took me over the edge again and again.