In those two weeks they had grown fonder of her, but still couldn’t seem to get her to divulge information about the gunshot wound, her past, her family if she had any, or her plans of remaining in Treasure Town.
“I think so. I mean tonight she asked that we come over for dinner. The house is still under construction but that hasn’t stopped us from seeing her.”
“I’m looking forward to it. I miss her during the day. Isn’t that crazy?” Billy admitted.
Hal smiled. “I do, too. I think it’s because this is the real deal. No bullshit. I’ll feel a hundred percent better about the four of us once I know for sure that she’s not lying about anything. I know she has the right to keep her own secrets, or to not share everything about herself, but after Lisa, I need that reassurance.”
“Me, too. Maybe we’ll make some progress tonight.”
They headed downstairs and Jake was there.
“You two ready or what?”
“Let’s go,” Billy said and they headed over to Michaela’s.
* * * *
“His name is Clyde Duvall. He’s a tracker, Michaela, and he may have been hired by Solomon,” Alonso stated over the phone.
“A tracker? You mean to help find me?”
“Yes. He was last seen in Jersey City. Do you remember that little apartment you stayed at until you discovered Treasure Town? Well, he located it, questioned the landlord at the place you stayed.”
“Oh God. Does this mean I should leave? Relocate?”
“I don’t think so. The Feds are close to finding Dipero. He’s the shooter. He was sighted in New York City. There’s a good chance that they’ll catch him.”
“So what do you think Solomon and this tracker want?”
“Either to find you before Dipero does, or to help finish the job the killer didn’t accomplish. But I can’t see why he would help Dipero when Dipero was sent to collect money owed and to kill Solomon. There’s more to this situation. The Feds think so, too. I can’t get into all the leads we’re working on, but I’m hoping something pans out quickly. I may not have a choice, Michaela. I may need to contact that sheriff friend of yours sooner than later.”
“Oh God, I don’t want them to know. I was just beginning to feel safe with them and here in this town.” Alonso was the closest thing she had that could be considered a friend and someone she sort of trusted. Well, she did trust him because she’d just informed him about Jake, Billy, and Hal and the ménage thing. He wasn’t as shocked as she thought he would be. Then he told her about his sister, Maria, and her three husbands. They lived out in Texas.
“I still think that you need to be careful. Have you told them anything about New York, and about Carlucci and Solomon?”
“Of course I haven’t told them. It’s not an easy conversation to have. I’m still not sure if I should get involved with them. Besides, I might have to leave in a hurry, so it may be better to remain friends and nothing more. Especially with the information you just shared with me. I’m scared.”
“Michaela, if what you’ve told me about them is all true, what they’ve done, the empathy, the compassion, I’d say you were crazy not to take a chance. Hell, you deserve happiness.”
“I appreciate that, Alonso, but how can I take that risk when there’s still a bull’s-eye on my forehead? When there’s another man, a tracker, trying to find me?”
She heard the floor creak and looked back toward the kitchen door of the house and saw Jake standing there. Billy and Hal were right behind him.
She swallowed hard as she closed up the grill she was cooking on.
“I need to go. Please keep me posted, and I’ll call you if I think it’s time to move. Bye.”
Michaela put down the phone.
“Hi, I didn’t even hear you come in.” She turned back toward the grill. The chicken she’d made was all finished. She just needed to baste it one more time with BBQ sauce.
She was doing that as the guys walked onto the deck.
She felt the hand on her shoulder, move under her hair, and she turned up toward Jake as he cupped her face between his hands.
He just stared down into her eyes as she placed her hands over his wrists.
“What’s wrong?”
Billy took the brush and continued to baste the chickens. “I’ll do this.”
“They’re done. I can take them off.”
“Let Billy,” Jake said and then pulled her into an embrace.
She hugged him back and knew that they heard her conversation. Perhaps subconsciously she called Alonso and had this conversation and hoped that the guys arrived. Maybe if they heard more about it this way than through her having to explain, it would be easier. But somehow it wasn’t easier. It was harder.
Billy removed the chickens and then closed up the grill. Hal covered the chicken with foil as they turned off the gas.
Jake walked her over toward the set of wicker furniture that Jake helped her pick up and deliver to the house yesterday. It was slightly damaged and people were giving it away, but she fixed it up, spray-painted it brown to look like real rattan, and then made some cushions for them as well.
They sat down on the love seat, and Billy and Hal joined them.
“Okay, it’s been two weeks since we talked about patience, commitment, and trust. I admit that my patience is growing slim, but now there’s no more left. Not when I hear you talking on the phone and saying that you may be leaving, especially with a bull’s-eye on your forehead.”
She started to speak, but he gave her one of his stern expressions, and with Billy and Hal as backup, she knew to choose her battles wisely. They were intimidating.
“No more stalling. No more secrets, just God’s honest truth, Michaela. It’s all we’re asking for. The truth.”
She took a deep breath and looked at the three of them. “Okay. The truth.” She stood up and Jake turned as if prepared to grab her to stop her if he needed to. But he wouldn’t have to. She wanted to tell them. She wanted them to hear the truth.
“You heard right. The whole bull’s-eye thing is true. Someone may be looking for me.”
Billy and Hal began to ask questions but Jake cut them off. His firm voice and authoritative personality came through and took over.
“Who?” he asked.
“The same man who shot me in the chest.”
* * * *
Jake stood up and ran his fingers through his hair while his brothers sat there in shock.
“Who’s the guy? What’s his name? Who is Alonso?” Jake asked.
She shook her head as she clasped her hands on her lap.
He stepped toward her with his hands on his waist, trying to remain calm when all he wanted to do was demand that she tell him every single detail so he could protect her.
“I don’t want you involved. I already told the detective. If this guy or guys come looking for me and start getting closer, then I’m gone.”
“Bullshit! This is the same guy that fucking shot you in the chest? Who the hell is he? An ex-boyfriend, someone you did business with? Who?” Billy demanded.
“Calm down, Billy,” Jake stated.
Michaela leaned back against the porch railing.
“It’s not like that. It’s a long story.”
“We have all night. You’re not getting off with saying you don’t want us involved. I’m the goddamn sheriff of this town. If there’s trouble headed this way, I have the right to know. If someone wants to hurt my woman, our woman, then we have the right to know so that we can protect you.”
She shook her head and turned toward him. “No, Jake. Let the detectives and the Feds handle it. I won’t let anyone get hurt because of me. It’s fine like this. I can leave and move somewhere else. I don’t have any family left. I’m used to going solo.”
He grabbed her by her arms and held her firmly. “Your days of going solo are over, Michaela. Don’t you realize that you’re already a part of us, a part of Treasure Town? I can protect you and so can the othe
r men around here.”
She shook her head and he could feel her body shaking, too.
“I survived the first time. I won’t survive the second. He’ll make certain.”
“Michaela, you’ve never lived in this type of town, not one like Treasure Town. These men, these people who live around here, are resilient and they’re special. A lot of retired military and some still active. I want you to sit down, and tell us everything. And when I say everything. I mean the entire story, and you’re not to leave any detail out. This is not a negotiation. You’re going to do it, simply because we care about you, we want you in our lives, and you survived that gunshot wound so that we could meet and be together. Now sit down, get comfortable, and get at it,” Billy said.
Jake had to hide his chuckle. This was so not Billy. He was never confrontational or demanding. It was part of the reason he was called Bear besides his obvious size. He was calm and gentle, but if you messed with him, he was a force to reckon with.
Michaela must have taken him seriously, because she walked over to the couch and sat down.
* * * *
Billy was shocked, and Michaela didn’t leave anything out. From her tough childhood, her issues with abandonment, and her need to try and hold on to the only family she had, her sister, she was a fighter. That was obvious by her multiple attempts at trying to secure a relationship with her sister, her last living relative. It was also apparent in her surviving a bullet wound to her chest initiated by a man who was hired by someone to kill her sister’s boyfriend.
“So why are they still after you? You survived, there was evidence left at the scene, the cops know this guy did it, and your sister’s boyfriend was part of it. Why go after you?”
“I guess because the guy who hired the hit man will be afraid that the hit man might turn on him to save his ass. I don’t know. Don Dipero is ruthless. He’s wanted by the Feds anyway, and it seems to Alonso that he could be involved with some other things. Political stuff. Who knows? And Solomon owed Carlucci money, so maybe if Solomon found me first and brought me to the hit man then his debt may be lessened? I really don’t know, but I’m not planning on meeting any of them to find out.”
“Wait, you said Dipero?”
She nodded her head.
“Shit, the mug shot and picture were sent to the department.”
She stood up.
“Oh God, they think he’s come this far?”
“No, I don’t know, baby, it’s standard protocol when someone is on the run from authority. Especially if the Feds are involved, too. I read the case file. This guy is bad news.”
“How did you survive getting shot?” Hal asked.
She told them about surprise visiting her sister, Annette, and how they were talking when the hit man arrived.
“She didn’t want me there. She was basically telling me to leave her alone and to never contact her again.”
“Do you think she may have been trying to protect you? Maybe she knew that her boyfriend was in trouble?” Jake asked.
She shook her head and swallowed hard, as if her emotions were getting in the way of speaking.
“She didn’t care. She didn’t want me there when Solomon arrived. She thought that I would tell him about her past, her dealings with drugs and prostitution.”
“Prostitution?” Billy asked.
“She was a screwed-up kid. Like I explained, our childhoods weren’t good. She took off and I was left handling the leftover crap. I really don’t need to rehash that, Billy. It’s done and over with. It’s in the past. When I refused to leave and made one last attempt at trying to save our relationship, Annette told me she wanted nothing to do with me and that Solomon was all she cared about. She told me that I didn’t exist in her eyes and that I needed to leave and never contact her again.
“The hit man showed up, and she didn’t even try to protect me or put herself in front of me. She defended Solomon and refused to say where he was. He pointed the gun at her and shot her twice, right in front of me. I should have died there, too, but the door opened, Solomon was there, saw the guy with the gun, and took off. The gunman pointed and shot as he ran from the room, but I turned left to duck down instead of right, so the bullet hit me in the right chest bone instead of the left and through my heart. Somehow I survived surgery. This guy, this hit man, would have killed anyone in his path to get to Solomon.”
“Jesus. What else do you have on this guy, Jake?” Hal asked.
“He’s got a long rap sheet, from what information I got through the department. He’s a ruthless killer and is wanted in questioning in numerous murder cases. “
“He’s relentless. He ransacked my place out in Chicago. After I got out of the hospital, Alonso had the local department check it out first. That’s what got me to remain in New York and train before moving on my own. This tracker guy, Duvall, apparently just found the place I stayed for a week in Jersey City.”
“Shit. What does Alonso think? Does he want to move you again?”
She shook her head. “He said they were working with the Feds on some leads that he hoped panned out. I’m not sure though. I mean, I moved back into the city for a month to train, so if he is tracking me, that would be the next place he would go. Eventually he’ll come here.”
“Train?” Hal asked.
“The self-defense stuff? Who taught you?” Jake asked.
“Alonso. We became good friends. Without him I wouldn’t have survived the psychological trauma, never mind the physical. He’s been keeping me abreast of any sightings and is in close contact with the Feds working the case.”
Billy caressed her cheek. “Just a friend, or was there more between you two?”
She held his gaze. “Just friends, Billy. You heard about my life. Do you really think I could handle a boyfriend or getting intimate with anyone with such trust issues?”
He squinted his eyes at her. “What are you saying?” he asked.
She shyly looked down and then back up. “What do you think I’m saying?”
Billy’s eyes widened and then he leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips.
As he parted his lips from hers he smiled. “We’re going to take good care of you. You’re going to be our woman, and the convincing starts right now.”
* * * *
Billy took Michaela’s hand and pulled her onto his lap. Wearing the pretty skirt and blouse, he lifted her so she would straddle his waist. As he drew her in for a kiss, he ran his palms up her thighs and under the skirt. He moved them back down and then caressed along her waist to her neck. He held her neck and head beneath her hair and kissed her deeply, allowing his emotions and desires to show. He held nothing back, and neither did Michaela.
She kissed him back and their make-out session began. He maneuvered his palms along her thighs, under the skirt to her panties. From the feel of them, they were thin, barely there and instantly his cock was hard and aroused. She must have been, too, as she lifted up, giving him better access to her body. Cupping her ass cheek in one hand while maneuvering the other to draw her even snugger against him, he heard her moan. She rocked her hips on his lap until he released his hold on her and began to unbutton the buttons on the blouse.
She didn’t stop him, but instead began to undo the buttons on his shirt, and then caress her palms over his bare chest while she hungrily kissed him.
In a flash he was pulling off her blouse and then her camisole below. Behind her, Jake undid the clasp of her bra and she eased her arms out before grabbing back onto Billy to continue to kiss him. But Billy had another plan, as he caressed his palms from her waist to her ribs and breasts, absorbing the feel of her half-naked in his arms.
He eased his mouth off her lips and trailed his tongue and teeth along her collarbone and neck. As he cupped one luscious breast, he made his way toward the other with lips and tongue. She moaned and tiled her head back as he attempted to suckle as much of her breast as he could into his mouth.
“Oh, Billy. That feels
so good.” She thrust her hips up and down on his lap.
He released her breast with a plop. “I don’t want to stop. I want all of you.”
She held his gaze, and then Jake reached under her hair, gripped it, and turned her head up toward him. Her lips parted as she knelt upward so she could reach him better.
“We want you, together.” Before she could answer, Jake kissed her deeply, so Billy used the opportunity to reach under her skirt. He maneuvered between her legs under her panties and pushed them aside. Before he could thrust a finger into her cunt, Michaela was lowering onto his digit, trying to ride it.
“Holy shit, baby, you’re so sexy,” Billy said as he thrust his fingers up into her.
Jake was devouring her moans, and now Hal joined in. He moved in behind Michaela and lifted her skirt. Billy assumed that he began playing with her ass, because suddenly she shot forward, pulled from Jake’s mouth, and cried out an orgasm.
“Oh, Hal. Oh my God, what are you doing to me?”
“Getting this ass ready for cock. That’s what you want, don’t you, baby? Me, Billy, and Jake, inside you at the same time?”
“Oh God, I don’t think I can. I don’t know.” She started panting between breaths. She was so aroused, and her nipples were incredibly hard.
“We need more room. Let’s get her to the bedroom,” Jake said. Billy stood up, still holding her in his arms as if she weighed nothing at all.
* * * *
She wanted to make love to them. She trusted them, she felt safe with them, and hell, she was in love with them already, so what did anything else matter? But her nerves were beginning to challenge her free spirit as Billy, Jake, and Hal removed their clothing.
She stared at Hal, as he undressed the quickest. His blue eyes sparkled as he curled one finger toward her asking her to come closer. She eased slowly toward his naked body, her eyes widening at the sight of his thick, hard cock.
She gulped as he stepped right in front of her and eased the rest of her skirt off of her.
Hearts on Fire 2: Michaela (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 10