But Crow didn't want my help. And I completely understood. I wouldn't trust me either. After all, I was a cop. An undercover one, at that. I had been sent into his world to spy on him, to catch him doing something wrong. But I hadn't discovered anything like that.
In fact, I had discovered the complete opposite. Crow was a rugged, rough around the edges guy, but he was so much more than that. He was strong, and his character was noble. He was sensitive and sexy, and filled with a raw sensuality that seemed to seep out of him. And that is what I had fallen in love with. That, and the way his rough hands felt scratching across my hips. Fuck, I missed him.
Because of all these wonderful things about him, I had to respect the fact that he wanted nothing to do with me, whether I could get the club out of this mess or not. I did. I didn't like it, but I understood it.
So, I gave up. Nights were spent with a few bottles of wine and watching old movies curled up in my bed, alone and frustrated. Tommy tried to pull me out of my isolation, but outside of short conversations on the phone to ask for updates on the case, I had little contact with him. A month passed and there still was no news either way. If there was, it was being kept from us.
Late one night after a run to the corner store for more wine, I pulled up in front of my apartment to a sight that terrified me and filled me with hope all at once. My heart soared as I spotted first Crow's bike parked in my parking spot, and then his silhouette in my doorway. With shaking hands I parked my bike, removed my helmet, shook out my hair and looked around.
No other bikes or people were in sight. The only sound was my heart pounding so hard I thought it might escape from my chest. I had imagined the moment I would see him again, but I certainly had never entertained the thought that it would be a surprise visit to my house. As far as I knew, he didn't even know my real name, let alone where I lived.
I walked up to the door of my apartment, as he turned and looked at me. Those eyes were still blazing, still slaying me, just as I had imagined they would. I laid in my bed every night thinking about them, and here they were.
“Hi.” I said, quietly, meeting his gaze.
“Hi.” His hair curled around the top edge of his cut, and I found myself biting my lip as I watched him run his hand through his hair, his chin tucked as he gazed through his lashes at me. His movie star good looks never ceased to affect me and today was no exception. My palms were sweating and my breath quickened as I watched him.
“Can we talk inside?” he asked.
Such a simple question. And yet a hopeful doorway to a future. I nodded, not trusting my voice just yet, unlocked my door and led him inside. He strolled in slowly, taking in the pictures of my past scattered on the walls silently. He headed straight to my couch, and sat down. Crossing his left leg over his right, he leaned back and stared at me. I couldn't place what I saw in those eyes, but it wasn't nearly as angry as it was when I had last seen him. I sat down next to him, waiting for him to speak first.
“I've been following you for a few days, sorry for the unexpected visit. You came to me saying you can help, and I'm not sure what you meant by that, but I have to do whatever is necessary to save my club, and if you have the key to that, then I'm ready to listen. I have reason to believe there is another cop in my MC.”
His words sank in slowly, and I contemplated where to start. There was so much to share with him, so much to explain. I took a deep breath, and began the only place I knew how.
The beginning.
“My name is Olivia LaVelle. My father was the president of the Blackheart's Motorcycle Club.....”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
By the time I was finished, he was left with confusion in his eyes, and a thousand questions. We stayed up all night, and I answered them all.
I told him about my parents, about my life after they died, about Tommy saving me and how grateful I was for that. I explained my decision to become a cop, and how shocked I was that my first assignment was breaking into his circle. And then I told him about Pete. About how he had recognized me, how I saw him in the office with the coke and his demeanor towards me as soon as Crow left the room.
His eyes clouded over with anger as we came to the mutual suspicion around four in the morning that Pete had to be the guy. It was apparent that the DA and Pete were working together to exact the DA's long held grudge against Crow, and the fact that he had stooped to the level of planting evidence didn't surprise either one of us. But what was Pete's connection to the DA?
By dawn, a plan had formed in my head and it seemed the only way to go. It was simple. I would simply confront Pete, and wear a wire. I would get him to confess to everything and we would use the evidence against him to bring the DA and their shady dealings to light.
“There's just one thing I don't understand, Crow. Why would Pete break into my apartment and leave my badge exposed for you to see? Why did they want you to know?”
“Isn't that obvious to you, Liv?” It was the first time he has used my real name, and the gentleness with which he said it now brought that familiar feeling back ten-fold.
“No, it's not.”
“He wanted me to kill you.” His eyes darkened with his words.
“Oh,” I said. “Of course.”
I thought about that for a few minutes, everything becoming clear now.
“They just wanted me to distract you. That's why he sent me there, not to find anything. They knew you weren't doing anything illegal. They needed you focused on something else so that Pete could get in and plant the evidence.”
“Well, I guess it worked.” His looked over my body, hunger and lust filling his eyes as we once again seemed to be on the same team.
“Why didn't you kill me, Crow?” I asked, staring directly into the depths of his eyes.
“Didn't I already answer that question?” He asked, his voice gruff and low.
I smiled softly at him and reached over and brushed my lips against his cheek.
“I have a plan.” I stood up, and walked over to the kitchen to make coffee for us. We had been up all night talking and I felt closer to him than ever. Sleep was the last thing on my mind.
“Let's hear it.” Crow watched my every move, his eyes trailing me as I walked around the open kitchen.
“I'll confront him. He doesn't know you're here. They don't know I've told you everything. I will just simply confront him, wear a wire, and get him to tell me everything and record it.”
“No. I am not putting you in danger like that, Liv.”
“He's not a smart guy, Crow. If I can get him to talk, it will solve all of our problems, the DA will be exposed, and you can finally go on with your life.”
“No, Liv. No way.”
“Why not?”
“Just no.” He looked away, hurt and anger clouding his eyes.
“Crow.” I walked over and stood in front of him. “It's okay. I can do this. I'll be fine.”
“No, dammit!” He stood up, pushing me aside in anger as he headed for the front door.
“Wait!” I jumped in front of him, blocking him from opening the door and leaving. “Don't go. Let's talk this out. It might be a little dangerous, but I doubt he would do anything to hurt me himself.”
“You don't understand, Liv.”
“I don't? What is it that I don't understand?”
His sigh of exasperation ended with his head nodding back and forth, his hair flowing around his head handsomely. When his eyes finally met mine, the heat between us was electric. My breasts heaved, shallowly taking in the air around me as I waited for his next move. Peering deep into my eyes, when he spoke, his voice was gruff, deliberate and clearly full of pain.
“I fucked up. I was angry. I let those guys put their hands on you, and throw you on the pool table in the club. I let them rip your clothes off. Not only did I let them, I told them to do it. I'm a complete prick, and I know that, okay?”
“No, Crow -”
“Why didn't I kill you? I'll tell you why I didn't kill
you. Because I can't fucking stop thinking about you, and I haven't been able to get you out of my head since the first time I saw you walk up to our table like a tough woman who doesn't take any shit. Since we drove to Dog Mountain, and I first kissed you - I can't stop thinking about your fucking lips!” His voice was raising, his words echoing through my entryway.
“Every morning when I wake up, I'm assaulted by images of you running through my head. No matter how much I drink at night, I can't get you out of my head. You're in my goddamned dreams, Liv! I can't even take a long ride on my bike without you haunting me - I see you riding next to me and then I remember that it's just a ghost, that I fucked everything up by hurting you and I will never have you riding next to me again!” He was yelling now, and I placed my hand on my chest, searching my brains for the right words to calm him.
“Crow -”
“No! There's no excuse for my behavior, I get that. But the reason we can't go through with this plan is that I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt. Not after what I've already done to you. I can't let you get hurt, Liv. You asked why I didn't kill you and the reason I didn't fucking kill you is because I'm fucking in love with you!”
His mouth smashed into mine, and the chemistry that had been building between us the entire night exploded in a massive fire of passion and painful yearning. He pulled me into him roughly, his desire pressing against my thigh, undulating against me as he kissed me deeply.
Giving up on any sufficient words that might come to mind, I used my hands to speak. Gripping his tight, denim-clad ass, I pulled him into me, moaning into his ear. Reaching up, I pushed his leather from his shoulders and began pulling off his t-shirt.
Smooth and hot, his skin slid under my fingers like silk, and I caressed his dancing muscles over and over, kissing him with complete abandon with all of the built up hunger that had tortured me for weeks. His full lips were devouring me, his hot tongue deep inside my mouth, searching for something we couldn't communicate with words.
He broke away reluctantly, ripping my clothes from my body in mere seconds, until I was pushed up against the doorway once again, and before I could even attempt to catch my breath, he was naked himself, his hard sex buried inside me, the needs of his body dominating anything else in our world. His hungry mouth found mine once again and as we kissed passionately, I opened myself to him, my legs wrapping around his hips and allowing his short, quick, violent thrusts as he fucked into me relentlessly, harder and harder until his cock swelled inside of my soaked pussy, his seed spilling into me in an explosion of pleasure and pain that washed over us blissfully. Our moans and cries mingled together inside our kiss, his tongue exploring my mouth slowly as we quietly came back to Earth.
I pulled away from him, once again peering into his blue depths. He was back. The sensitive, sweet man that I had first met, the man that had opened up to me on the mountain, the strong, silent, gentleman that hid behind his rough exterior and image - he was back. And he was mine.
“I love you, too, Crow.”
Hunger and lust darkened in his eyes as he swept me up in his arms and carried me into the bedroom. As his slick cock slid into me again, the first rays of sunlight burst through my window.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Two days later, I sat inside my apartment going over the plan in my head. Crow had finally given in the next morning. I smiled to myself when I recalled the blissful day we had spent together, our limbs tangled together making love and then wrapping ourselves around each other to sleep for a few hours before we woke and began formulating our plan. In the end, he had agreed to try it my way, but only after determining strict rules and methods of communicating to him if I was in trouble.
I didn't tell Tommy about it, because I knew he wouldn't allow it. It was a huge risk I was taking, more so than I was letting on to Crow, but I needed to do this for him. And he was worth it to me. His new protectiveness towards me was comforting, and I didn't mind it one bit.
It wasn't the same as in the movies, therefore no wires were involved, but I had obtained all the equipment I needed so that I could record my conversation with Pete. Crow was going to send him on an errand to deliver some papers to someone at an office downtown, and I was going to follow him and confront him at the bar afterward.
It was all going down tomorrow, and I spent the evening making sure all the equipment worked perfectly and taking it easy at home. Crow was planning on stopping by later that night after he was done with some club business. He had said he had to go out of town briefly, and although he didn't know what time he would get back exactly, he would definitely show up at some point tonight.
I was so pleased with the way things had worked out between us, and I desperately wanted this thing with Pete to go down as planned. If I could help get the club out of this mess - this misguided mission of revenge - I could redeem myself in Crow's eyes. The possibility of having him in my life on a regular basis thrilled me to my very core. And if having him with me meant not being a cop, I was just fine with that. I would turn my back on my newly begun career in a second if I had to.
I was hoping that wouldn't happen, but I was a realist and I knew it could go down a number of ways, and that was definitely one of them. My wine bottle slowly emptied as I contemplated all the possibilities of my future and stared out of my living room window, watching the sunset in the distance. Pink and purple hued light spilled into my apartment as the day ended peacefully.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The roar of Crow's bike outside woke me up. The apartment was dark and I had fallen asleep on the couch. After turning on the kitchen light, I bounced over to the front door excitedly, grateful to have another night with him before the uncertainty of tomorrow. Opening the door, I smiled wide as I heard him knock.
“I thought you'd never get here -”
The volt of electricity shot through my body like lightening. My body fell to the floor in a spasming seizure of pain and shock. Pete's boot hit me square in the stomach as I lay there, gasping for air.
My front door slammed and I heard the deadbolt slide into place. My first thought was of my gun, which was safely tucked away, yet loaded and ready to go, in my night table next to my bed. Mustering every bit of strength, I pulled my legs up under me, trying desperately to gain traction to crawl into my bedroom.
Pete's fingers dug into my hair, ripping strands from my head as he violently pulled me back from the hallway and into the living room. He picked me up and threw me on the couch. The ripping sounds of duct tape filled the room as he began taping my ankles together. Despite the massive weakness that had torn through my muscles, I vainly attempted to kick him. His laughter filled the room as he easily caught my legs in one hand and successfully taped them together.
“Stop fighting, bitch. It's no use.” His rancid breath burned my eyes as he caught my flailing hands in his and taped them together. I tried to bring my knees up to hit him in the groin, but with my ankles taped so tightly I couldn't reach him.
“Stop it! Let me go, Pete! What the fuck do you think you're doing?” My speech was slurred and I could hardly move, the pain of the voltage that had run through my body still lingering.
“I know exactly what I'm doing, you cunt. Just shut the fuck up.” He taped my screaming mouth and I winced as the tape pulled at the sensitive skin of my lips.
After looking me over and determining that I was restrained to his satisfaction, Pete left me there and began slowly walking around my apartment. He looked at the picture over my mantle of my parents on their bikes, a small little girl sitting behind her Daddy in pig tails and a miniature leather Blackhearts MC vest of her very own, smiling happy and proud. He picked up the picture next to it, one of me, Tommy and Mabel taken on my 16th birthday when Tommy had given me a bike of my own. Two of the happiest moments of my life, and this scum bag was intruding upon them. I glared at him, fighting against my restraints with every ounce of strength I had left, which wasn't much.
I had never been tazed befo
re, but the jolts were still stinging me, and my muscles were cramping from being tied up. The pain was excruciating, and while I was doing my best to ignore it, fighting back was becoming less and less of a possible way of getting out of this.
I would have to talk him out of it somehow.
He turned to me, his eyes rimming with evil.
“Olivia LaVelle. Darling of the Blackhearts. And look at you now...” his voice trailed off as he approached me, reaching out and fingering one of my long, black curls. “You're all grown up now, aren't you?”
My stomach churned as he reached down and pinched one of my nipples through my shirt. Once a creep, always a creep. This guy hadn't changed one bit, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on my gun so I could rip a bullet right through his prick. Anger welled up in me, replacing any fleeting fears I might have had. I thought of Crow showing up at any moment, and I knew he would help get me out of this.
“I know you don't like me. That's okay.” He leaned in close again, his eyes staring into mine as he spoke. “I never liked you either. Or your fucking father, for that matter. The only thing I wanted was to be a prospect for the Blackhearts, and he was the only one that wouldn't let me in. It wasn't because of my age. He wasn't having it. No matter what I did to try to please him, to show him I could be loyal. Every time I asked, he would tell me that he could see right through me. Said he saw the evil in me, that he didn't trust me one bit. For no fucking reason at all. He just had a 'feeling'. Well, fuck his feelings! He's dead now, isn't he?”
I narrowed my eyes as he spoke of my father, my rage settling deeper with his every word.
“And I'm still alive,” he continued, his eyes intense with rage. “Only now, I'm part of an even bigger gang, aren't I, sweet Liv? We both are. We're a part of the police force. The biggest, baddest gang in any city. Corrupt, powerful, insanely armed, and completely protected by the almighty law! We can do anything we want to do, no matter how vile.”
RECKLESS AND WILD: MOTORCYCLE CLUB ROMANCE BOX SET Page 16