by Penny Dee
Taylor didn’t take her eyes off me. “Bull, meet Jean-Paul. Jean-Paul, meet Bull.”
This was Gimmel Martel’s son?
This skinny little runt with the receding hairline?
“Alex wants this done and he wants it done now. He says you’re dragging it out, so he sent me down here to check it out. I can see he had reason to be concerned.” He looked at me with dark eyes. “Best put that gun down, my friend.”
My finger itched on the trigger. I wanted to put a bullet in him. But I had to think about Noah.
“You fool, I had it under control,” Taylor said to Jean-Paul, her voice sharp and hard, and completely void of warmth. In seconds she’d changed. She swung her gun away from him, and pointed it at me. “Sorry, Bull. It’s nothing personal, I hope you understand.”
What.
The.
Fuck.
This woman made my head spin.
I glared at her. “What the fuck are you doing?”
I glanced over at Jean-Paul who was studying her.
“You were right, and I’m too tired to keep up the façade. Anyway, it kind of seems pointless now that Jean-Paul has blown my cover.” Her eyes were cold. Her beautiful face expressionless. Her words hard. Her tears dry. “But as much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. I’ve let it drag on too long.” She let out a dramatic breath, as if it felt incredible to finally let it all out. “It’s time to stop pretending.”
“You psychopathic…” my words trailed away.
Jean-Paul was smiling now.
“Where is Noah?” Taylor asked him, although her eyes remained fixed on me.
“He’s with Alex.”
“At the lake house?”
“Yes.”
I saw a small breath of relief escape from her lips.
“Is he okay?”
“Of course.”
“Good.” For the first time since she started talking about her brother, she looked at Jean-Paul. “Let’s go.”
Jean-Paul hesitated, but then lowered his gun and nodded. “I have a car parked down the street.”
“Do you have a driver?’
“No. I came alone.”
She nodded and walked over to me. Her eyes slipped away from mine as she disarmed me. “Bull, it’s time to go.”
“You’re bringing him?” Jean-Paul asked. “Why not kill him here?”
“Because I want back into the family, and me bringing Bull to your father will ensure it.”
Jean-Paul thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. “Okay. But you can do the explaining to Alex. And I’m warning you, he’s already pissed that you haven’t done it yet. He thinks you’ve lost your nerve.”
“The only thing I’ve lost is my patience. Now, let’s go.”
Our eyes met before she ushered me toward the door.
Jean-Paul went first, followed by me with Taylor’s gun pressed into my lower back. But as soon as we were out in the hallway, Taylor brushed past me and strode right up to Jean-Paul, knocking him to the ground unconscious.
Very unconscious.
“Help me with him,” she said, crouching down and grabbing his ankles.
I admit, I kind of stood there like a confused tool.
“Don’t just stand there, help me.”
I stared at the woman who only seconds earlier had a gun pressed into my spine.
She looked at me again, and when she saw the emotion on my face, she stood up. “We need to get him inside and then go and get my brother.”
“Before I do anything, I want to know what I’m walking into. Will Alex hurt Noah?” I asked.
If he did, I would hunt him down and kill him.
“Not a chance. He’s family. And if there is one cardinal rule that Alex lives by, it’s that family doesn’t hurt family. That’s the only reason I’m not dead.” Her eyes met mine. Her face stiff with emotion. At least the kid wasn’t going to be harmed. “But it doesn’t mean he won’t take him away so I can never find him.”
“Fine.” I crouched down and lifted the front of Jean-Paul’s shirt. “Let’s get this asshole inside your apartment and then pay Alex a visit.”
Inside, she disappeared into her bedroom, then returned with something in her hands.
“Here.” She threw a set of handcuffs at me. “Put these on him.”
I stared at the cuffs. “Why am I even surprised?”
While Taylor shoved a few items into a backpack, I secured the cuffs around Jean-Paul’s wrists. He was out cold.
“What are you going to do with him?” I asked.
“We’re taking him with us. Alex has my brother. But now I’ve got Martel’s son, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want him to catch a bullet in his skull.”
Her words were cold and sharp, like the edge of a knife blade. And I was still stunned that the woman I thought I knew, thought I loved, was even capable of doing such a thing.
I was no saint. But I had thought she was an angel.
Turned out she was just as dark as me.
I didn’t know if it scared the hell out of me.
Or if it turned me on.
Either way, I didn’t have the time to think about it. We had to get Noah back, and time was running out.
I rose to my feet. “That’s the best plan you’ve got? Swapsies?”
She gave me a pointed look. “It’s the only one I’ve got. Unless you have a better one?”
“Not at the moment.”
“Then that’s the one we’re going with.”
She crossed the room and removed two bulletproof vests from the closet, throwing one in my direction.
“Really?” I asked, shaking my head. “Your little secret is the gift that just keeps on giving, isn’t it?”
“Put it on,” she said, already securing hers to her torso.
I did as she said, and then picked up my gun from the table.
Taylor looked from it to me. “That thing is loaded, right?”
I cocked an eyebrow at her.
“Good,” she said. “Because you’re going to need it.”
TAYLOR
Bull drove while I sat in the passenger seat and stared out the window.
I was about to face my past, and it was about time. Because today it ended.
All the fear.
The pain.
All the looking over my shoulder.
I thought back to when the cards were put into play.
After Alex killed Jacob, he sent me to Cabo for a week with one of his bodyguards as protection. I wasn’t stupid. David wasn’t just there to look after me, he was there to keep an eye on me. And the vacation was a distraction. Alex knew I was cracking. Knew I had seen beneath his mask. He was angry at me. But he wasn’t ready to let me go, not while I was still so useful to him. He had invested a lot of time in me, so he sent me away to have a good time, hoping I would forget.
Because seeing your godfather put a bullet in your best friend’s head was so easy to forget.
So off to Cabo David and I went.
For five days I used denial as a coping mechanism. I pretended my life was different. I sank into a make-believe world where I didn’t kill people for a living, and where the people I loved didn’t die.
I lay on the beach and soaked up the sun, drinking enough tequila to make me numb.
I swam in the crystal waters and ate luscious tropical fruit at sunset, followed by more alcohol to make me even more numb.
David was a good vacation buddy. He wasn’t a robot like a lot of Alex’s men were. Away from the testosterone overload and masculine bravado of Alex’s criminal world, he was fun, adventurous, even humorous.
And the fact that he looked like a Greek god, helped me mentally separate him from the suit-wearing, fierce bodyguard he was back at home. On that beach he was someone else. Someone just like me who didn’t kill people for Alex.
We had one night together. One hot, sweaty night that meant nothing. But it was fun and exciting, and the orgasms were mind-blowing.
Back home, I felt different. David and I went our separate ways, both of us sure that our one night together could never mean more. Yet, whenever our eyes met across the room, or if we ever passed each other in the hallway or across one of the palatial rooms of Alex’s estate, our side glances would linger, and a small smile would tug at our lips. Once, his fingers brushed mine as we passed each other on the steps leading to Alex’s office, and the spark was there. A gentle promise that perhaps we were wrong, and there was more to us than just Cabo.
But we never found out.
Two weeks after we returned home, David was killed when a car bomb meant for Alex detonated.
That same night, Alex—who still hadn’t forgiven me for my betrayal—informed me I was to marry Jean-Paul the following week.
But I was reeling from David’s death, and when I fought him, Alex really let his anger reign.
He told me I had given up my rights to decide what I wanted the day I’d climbed into his car as a naïve fifteen-year-old. That he owned me. That I no longer had a choice in anything. That he made me.
“I know you made me,” I’d bit out at him through gritted teeth. “Because only a monster can make another monster.”
“You think I’m a monster?”
“The biggest.”
“Oh, Taylor, you haven’t seen anything yet. Just keep fighting me and disobeying me, and you’ll see what I am really capable of.”
Right then, I knew I had to go. And I had to take Noah with me.
By the weekend we were gone. Disappearing into the darkness and vanishing for good.
Only it wasn’t for good.
Because Alex found us.
Seven years later.
In fact, he’d always known where we were. Always knew what we were doing. What we were up to. Who we were involved with.
And he had waited for the right moment to pounce.
For seven fucking years.
When I arrived home to see him and Jean-Paul standing in my living room after so many years, my heart had almost stopped in my chest. My fears were being realized. They had found us and they were going to take Noah from me as punishment.
But he didn’t.
Instead, Alex made me an offer.
For freedom.
“You and Noah are going to move to a place called Destiny, in Mississippi. There you’ll slip into the anonymity of the town and move quietly among the community. But you will always have your eyes and ears on one man.”
He showed me a photograph of a man he called Bull.
“He is a monster, Taylor. Ruthless. Merciless. He causes a lot of pain and suffering. I need you to watch him.”
“Just keep an eye on him?” I asked. Because I was done with the other work Alex had made me do for him, and I had no desire for any more bloodletting. I was still trying to forgive myself for what I had already done.
“Yes,” he assured me.
I looked at the photo of Bull again. He looked fierce. Dangerous. “It seems like a lot of effort just to watch someone. Can I ask why?”
“He is the president of a motorcycle club. Almost untouchable and free to inflict whatever damage he likes on anyone he chooses. We need someone undercover, if you will. If we send men to watch him, he’ll know. What he won’t see coming is a feisty young woman and her brother who moved to town for a fresh start. Have fun with it. Make up your past. Be who you like. Just don’t let them know who you really are, Taylor.”
He said the last sentence with the evil cadence of Hannibal Lecter.
I wanted to vomit.
Instead, I remained painfully still as I asked, “This isn’t about hurting him, right?”
“No. It’s about keeping an eye on him and reporting back to us when we contact you.” He smiled reassuringly. But it was cold.
“We?” I asked.
“He is of particular interest to my dear friend Gimmel, who simply doesn’t want his business interests thwarted by this backwater hillbilly any further.” His expression darkened. “This biker scum is a bad man, Taylor. Bad to the bone. But we simply need you to watch him. It couldn’t be easier. There’s not even a need for you to contact us. We’ll reach out to you when we need any information.”
“And if I do this, you’ll leave me and Noah alone?”
“If you do this for me, Taylor, I will grant you your freedom. I won’t call on you again. You and your brother will be free to do as you please.”
I hated the plan, but was lured by the idea of no longer running. Of never having to look over my shoulder again. Of Noah and me being safe and free.
“How do I know I can trust you?” I had asked.
“You can’t. But you will have to.” His eyes had gleamed with the nefarious glint I remembered from long ago. “Because the alternative is much more, how do you say…painful.” He turned his back to me to study the photos on the wall, then swung around. “Remember that bodyguard who used to work for me? The good-looking one who died. Now what was his name?”
“David,” I bit out. “His name was David.”
“Yes, David. What happened to him was such a shame.”
In that moment I realized what I had failed to realize all those years ago.
He knew about me and David.
Just like he knew about everything else.
“Did you have David killed to get back at me?” I asked shakily.
His half smile lacked warmth and his eyes were dead.
Evil.
“You think I didn’t know about your little affair in Cabo? You think I didn’t see the stolen glances and little smiles when you came home from fucking him in Cabo.”
“So, you killed him to punish me?”
Our eyes locked, and I saw his hatred for me in them. I was dead to him the moment I had betrayed him.
“I trust that you and I have reached an understanding,” he said, ignoring my question, yet confirming that I was right. “That you will comply with my wishes.”
I had no choice.
Alex had me over a barrel, and he knew it.
I nodded, hating myself.
“Good!” He nodded to Jean-Paul who handed me an envelope thick with money. “Inside you’ll find ten-thousand dollars. It should be enough to help you with your relocation.”
I looked away from the envelope and raised my chin defiantly, refusing to take it from Jean-Paul.
“I don’t need your money,” I said, my pulse pounding in my ears. The only thing I was taking from Alex was my freedom.
There was a dreadful pause before Alex finally threw his head back and laughed. “Finally, there’s my feisty little girl! I’ve been waiting for her to show up.”
He indicated for Jean-Paul to put the envelope away, and stepped forward, bringing a frigid, menacing air with him. He looked at me, his dead eyes scrutinizing me for a moment, and inwardly I shook with fear. Because it felt like the devil himself was standing in front of me, reaching in and staining my soul.
But I remained poker-faced. Still as a mouse. Because it would be a cold day in hell before I let Alex see how terrified I was.
“You have my word,” he said finally. Our eyes locked and my face stiffened because I was looking into the eyes of pure evil. Then, just like that, his energy changed and he clapped his hands together. “Now, let’s go and eat. I’m famished!”
He forced Noah and me to join him and Jean-Paul for dinner at a local Italian restaurant. He introduced himself to Noah as his godfather, and entertained him with embellished stories about my teenage years, all fabricated and meant purely to win over my brother. And his performance was Oscar-worthy. By the end of the night, Noah was enraptured by him, while I was trying my best not to bring up the meal I had struggled to eat.
I was a strong woman.
But fear should never be underestimated.
It fucks with even the strongest of minds, and it had its hooks firmly lashed into mine.
Later, some people would wonder why I never went to the police. Or t
he Feds.
Or why I didn’t tell Bull.
And my answer would be the honest-to-God truth.
I was terrified of Alex and what he was capable of.
He had friends in powerful places.
Friends from the darkest, nastiest of worlds.
Friends who could inflict your worst nightmare on you with one word from him.
The only person I could trust to take care of this—to protect Noah—was me.
Alex knew I didn’t run away from him for me. He knew I ran because I wanted to protect my brother.
Worse, he knew my nightmare was losing Noah, and if I betrayed him again, he would ensure it became my reality.
He drove that point home at the end of the night when he dropped us home. As we said goodnight, he whispered in my ear. “If you breathe a word of this to anybody, especially that cock-sucking biker prick, our deal is off.” He stepped back and shifted his gaze to Noah sitting across the room watching TV. “Do we understand each other.”
I nodded. My throat knotted with fear.
“Good. I’ll be in touch when I need further information.”
But they never did reach out for information. The next time I heard from them was the morning after Maverick’s wedding. When Alex called me and told me it was time to come back to work for him.
It was the moment I knew I’d been lied to.
I was never in Destiny to keep an eye on Bull like Alex said.
And by the time I realized it, I was in way too deep. I was in love with the man Alex wanted me to destroy.
I never meant to get involved with Bull.
Never meant to run into the back of his van.
Never meant to lose my job and accept his offer of one.
Never meant to fall in love with him.
Of course, when I did, I had planned on telling him about who I was, but not until I had it all figured out in my head.
And I still hadn’t done that yet.
Now we sat beside each other like strangers.
With a ridiculous Jean-Paul in the back, dazed and confused.
While my brother was with his godfather, safe but facing an uncertain future.
And I had a mere matter of minutes to figure it all out.