by Shayla Black
“No, I didn’t want to bloody scare her.”
“That’s valid,” Hammer conceded. “Stupid but valid. How long did you think you could keep them a secret?”
Liam wanted to be annoyed, but now that Raine wasn’t breathing fury at him, he saw the humor.
“Honestly, I didn’t think about it at all. I certainly didn’t think she’d lose the plot when she found out. But I mentioned the nieces and nephews and that two of my sisters are twins…and her head spun like a top. I should have shut up then, but I got a case of verbal diarrhea and confessed that more than one had taken a fancy to you years ago. After she turned three shades of red, I thought I’d give her some time to cool off, so I told her I’d find that picture of the two of us. You know, the one she took the first night I arrived in LA. She wants it framed.”
“So you escaped here?” Hammer chortled. “Jesus. I would have paid money to see you run.”
“Stop laughing, you wanker. It’s not that funny.”
“You’re right. It’s fucking hilarious.”
“To you, maybe. But I’ve grown rather attached to my balls, and I’d like to keep them. I think you should stay home with Raine tonight and put her in a good mood. I’ll mind the club.”
Hammer sent him a rueful smile. “Are you afraid of our girl?”
“When she’s this feisty, I might be. She stomped her foot at me.”
“Oh, that’s when you know she’s good and mad. I’m a little afraid of her then, too,” he confided. “She’ll forgive you…eventually. Don’t worry. Once she has, you can sneak into her purse and retrieve your penis.”
“Bite me, you bastard.” Liam flipped him off for good measure. “This is a serious problem. She wants to meet the family.”
Hammer’s smile froze in place. “Oh, shit.”
“Precisely. I know I should have said something sooner, but I wanted the three of us to be more settled before I called the family.”
“The whole family?”
Had he gone mad? “I don’t think she’s ready for that.”
But Liam knew he’d have to say something soon.
“If she finds out before you cough all the details up, you’ll need a backhoe to shovel yourself off her shit list. How long do you think you’re going to hold them off?”
Liam winced. “It’s not as if I have a choice now.”
“Nope. I’m not surprised Raine wants to meet them. Unless River turns up and proves he’s not butt-fuck crazy, she doesn’t have any family.”
“God, I must love that woman. All right. I’ll ease her into the family.” Liam gave a long-suffering sigh. “You’re enjoying my problem, aren’t you?”
“Yep.” Macen gave him an unrepentant grin. “What’s your next step?”
“I have to give our little hellcat time to calm down. Whatever I say now will only overwhelm her.”
“Especially after everything that happened this morning.” Hammer sighed. “It didn’t go well.”
“No. We can’t go on this way, Macen.”
Hammer wasn’t laughing now. “I know. And I need to handle my shit. I just don’t know how to do it any faster.”
As frustrating as waiting was, Macen’s admission gave Liam hope. It was a step forward. Hopefully, he and Raine could break through the stubborn man’s walls.
“I’ll help you any way I can.”
“Thanks. If you and Raine weren’t everything to me, I wouldn’t bother.”
He wouldn’t. As much as Liam had wanted to throttle the man earlier, he finally had hope that Macen was trying to resolve his issues, maybe for the first time ever.
“Just don’t give up. We need you.”
Somewhere between grim and resigned, Hammer nodded. “How about we find that photo? I can think of a few others stashed in her old room she might want around the house. Maybe that will make her smile.”
“I’m thinking it would, along with some of those chocolate donuts she’s been craving.”
“You’re bribing her. And you called me a coward?”
Liam shrugged and grinned wryly. “I have to make peace with her somehow.”
“Good point.” Hammer stood. “I’ll help you look through the pictures. We’ll call Seth together, then you can pick up your sugary offering.”
Behind him, Liam scraped out of his chair and followed. “Good thinking. But let’s not make it too quick, mind.”
Macen withdrew the club’s keys from his pocket as they headed toward Raine’s old room. But when they reached the door that should have been locked, it stood ajar.
Worry danced up Liam’s spine. “Are you remodeling her room, as well?”
Hammer shook his head and frowned.
They both went on alert, shoulders squared, jaws set. If someone uninvited was poking around Raine’s space, they would make it clear the place was off-limits.
Macen flung the door open, hurtling it against the wall. Together, they rushed through the doorway. Senses heightened, Liam scanned the room.
A tall man in a construction vest had invaded Raine’s private space, glaring as he clutched a handful of photos. He zipped around to meet them.
The man looked familiar—about thirty years old, brown hair, blue eyes, firm jaw. He wore an expression filled with hate.
“Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?” Hammer demanded.
“I’m here for Raine.” He sneered. “I assume you’re Master Pervert, her pimp…” Then he growled at Liam. “That would make you her john and her baby daddy, right?”
Chapter 4
Hammer had seen this guy before but he couldn’t recall where. The tall, square-faced menace had broad shoulders and wore a glare that pelted him with fury. He’d used the same slur Bill Kendall always had. And Macen definitely knew those eyes.
They mirrored Raine’s.
Son of a bitch. This must be River.
And Hammer remembered now where he’d seen this scum sucker before. The morning Raine had been attacked, he’d been the guy in the emergency room hiding behind a damn magazine, watching him and Liam so closely.
“I am not her pimp any more than you’re a construction worker.”
“Nor am I her john,” Liam growled. “River Kendall, I presume?”
“Yeah. Where the fuck is my sister? Do you degenerates have her chained up on her knees somewhere?”
Hammer lunged into Kendall’s face, barely managing not to pulverize the prick—and only because Raine would be pissed. Besides, if River pressed charges, he’d leave her short one protector. “Not today.”
“But you admit you have?” Kendall grabbed a picture from the dresser and slapped it into Hammer’s chest. “I’m not surprised. The news called her a sex worker. I know you’ve been fucking her since she was a minor.”
“Your daddy tell you that? Sounds like you listened to every line of shit he fed you.”
“Don’t lie to me. You been pimping her out all this time? Yeah, especially to your buddy O’Neill.”
“He hasn’t,” Liam insisted. “Hold on. There’s been a misunder—”
“I’m not misunderstanding anything. This picture proves he’s a disgusting pedophile.” River turned back to Hammer, his voice full of contempt. “How old was my sister here? Fifteen? Maybe sixteen?”
Macen snatched the picture from the front of his shirt and studied it. Raine’s eighteenth birthday. The two of them standing in the dungeon, her wearing the sexy red dress that had knocked him on his ass and made him realize she was all woman. He stood close, arm curled around her possessively, while Raine sent him a sideways glance full of hunger.
Beside him, Liam studied the photo, then swore.
“She was eighteen, you cocksucker,” Macen bit out. “You have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I do. I’ve spent two months researching you pricks. I know everything, including the fact that she’s lived with you in this cesspool of sex offenders since she was a minor. I bet you popped her cherry the first night, too. But then, I knew
what a quality guy you were when I found out you’d driven your wife to suicide.”
A white-hot rage roared through Hammer’s veins, shutting down his ability to speak. The urge to snap River in half thundered through him. He lunged at the son of a bitch, fists raised.
Liam all but tackled him, managing to pull him back. “Stop!”
“You don’t want to end this fucker now?” Hammer snapped.
“Oh, I do. But Raine will never forgive us if we kill him. I think we can break the maggot a bit, though.”
“Give it your best shot,” River challenged.
Hammer clenched a fist. “He goddamn deserves to die.”
“I know. The feckin’ gobshite is as thick as a plank.” Cold fury rolled off Liam. “I was ready to reserve judgment, but now… I’ve made up my mind.”
When his friend’s inner Irish came out, Hammer knew the gloves were off. It reassured him. He and Liam might have had their differences, but they were always on the same page when it came to protecting Raine.
“Good. She hasn’t really missed her brother all these years,” Hammer assured. “Let’s end him. And make it hurt.”
“You can die trying,” River shot back.
“This is mental. You’ve no mind to hear the truth, only run off at the mouth and point fingers,” Liam barked. “You should be grateful to this man, you fuckwit. Be kissing his bloody feet! He’s watched over and protected your sister for years, especially from that pitiful excuse you called a father. Where the hell were you when he tried to rape and murder her, the way he did your mother and Rowan?”
“Yeah, you’re a little late to Raine’s rescue party,” Hammer sneered.
Contempt glowed in River’s eyes. “Fuck you. I was dodging bullets and defending freedom so perverts like you could stick your worthless dicks in my sister and get her pregnant. You let your buddy here watch? You proud of your big accomplishment?”
Liam scoffed. “You’ve got all the answers, don’t you?”
“I do. I know your society whore of an ex-wife fucked every other man while you were married. You must be a real Casanova in bed. Maybe that’s why you like to force my little sister. Hold her down and crawl all over her like a disease. That make you feel like a real man?”
“Christ, you’re a festering lunatic like your father,” Liam growled.
River glared. “Don’t you fucking com—”
“We don’t force Raine to do anything,” Hammer cut in, his stare icy. “She begs and moans for it.”
His words struck a nerve in River. The soldier sucked in an angry breath, chest puffing out. “You’re going to be sorry when I’m through with you. Where’s Raine? I want to see my sister right now.”
Hammer seethed. No way would he even hint that Raine no longer lived at Shadows. It would only motivate River to search for her somewhere else.
But if he had to look at this asswipe for another minute, Hammer would rip his head off. “Liam, it’s time to take out the trash.”
“Couldn’t agree more. But I’d be even happier to see him hauled out in cuffs. He is trespassing, after all.”
River raised a brow. “You want to call the cops? Please do. I’ll even hold the phone for you. I’m sure they’d love to hear how your pal here repeatedly violated my sister. I have proof of the terrible shit you’ve done to her. So here’s the deal: If you give Raine back to me and disappear from her life, I won’t tell the cops everything I know. I’ll take care of her from now on.”
Hammer got up in his face, pressing nose to nose. “Over my dead body.”
“Mine, too,” Liam snarled. “Go fuck yourself.”
River shook his head and backed away. “Stupid bastards. I’ll make you sorry.”
“Get the hell out of my club and forget Raine ever existed. She’s finally happy, and no one—especially not some dickless pus-bubble like you—is going to screw that up for her.” Hammer unleashed all the menace churning inside him. “You’ve got ten seconds to disappear. If I see you again, I’ll kill you.”
“I am not leaving without Raine.” River planted himself in the middle of the room, daring Hammer and Liam to forcibly remove him.
Since he and Liam were both volcanically angry, Hammer was pretty sure he’d enjoy that.
“You’re sure as hell not leaving with her, either,” Liam vowed.
Together, they seized the jackass. Raine’s brother resisted, fists flying, arms flailing. He braced against doorjambs and walls—anything to remain inside Shadows.
Damn, the fucker was strong—but outnumbered. Hammer and Liam hauled a cursing River out of Raine’s room, down the hall, past startled construction workers and the wide-eyed club members who’d spent the night.
With a chorus of grunts, a vicious struggle, and more than a few insults, he and Liam shoved River out the back and into the alley.
As the door slammed behind the bastard, Hammer turned and glared at the foreman, who stood gaping in shock. “River Kendall might work for you, but if that piece of shit ever shows up at my club with your crew again, you’re all out the fucking door.”
“I’ve never seen the guy in my life,” the foreman assured. “One of my employees called in sick today. Maybe that guy took his vest and—”
Hammer didn’t stay and listen to the rest.
Turning on his heel, he followed Liam back to Raine’s room. Her photos lay scattered over the dresser, smudged with the man’s huge fingerprints. Macen’s fury bubbled at River’s violation of his property and her privacy.
“You know he’s no intention of giving up, right?” Lines of worry bracketed Liam’s face.
“He’s just getting started. Seth needs to give us some usable info on that sack of shit now.”
“And the bastard’s been gathering information on us. He’s got a two-month head start.”
Hammer whirled, paced, cursed. “If he’s been poking into our lives for that long, how can he be so wrong?”
“Because he’s a spanner.”
“What the hell is that?”
“A gowl. A gimp.” When Macen still didn’t understand, Liam sighed impatiently. “A fucking idiot.”
“Yeah.” Hammer couldn’t agree more.
Problem was, River wasn’t just an idiot. He was a potentially dangerous one.
Suddenly, Liam stiffened. “Fuck me. We’ve got to go. I put the house in Raine’s name. If River looks into property records—”
“It won’t be long before he finds her.” Hammer’s blood turned to ice. “Let’s go.”
As they zipped around to leave, Liam snatched the photo he’d come for, then they both raced toward the parking lot. As they cut through the dungeon, Beck strutted out of the kitchen, coffee cup in hand.
“What the hell was all that shouting about? You two fighting over a box of tampons?”
“No time to explain,” Hammer barked. “If we don’t get back here tonight, keep an eye on the club or find someone who can.”
“Sure,” Beck called, his brows furrowed in concern. “I’m off today.”
“Thanks,” he shouted over his shoulder. “And if a man with Raine’s eyes shows up, don’t let him in.”
“Actually, skin the bastard,” Liam growled.
Beck smiled. “Sounds like fun! I’ll go sharpen my knives.”
Once outside, they raced to Hammer’s sedan. A scan of the parking lot proved Raine’s brother had gone—for now. He made a mental note to see if his tech, Lewis, could pull footage and come up with a license plate to trace.
Liam piled into Macen’s car, leaving his SUV at the club. With a screech of tires and a burst of gas through the first yellow light, they wove through traffic. Hammer honked and cursed, swerving past slower cars. Desperation to get home and lay eyes on Raine gnawed at him. Beside him, Liam looked equally tense. If River figured out where they lived and tried to take her, medical examiners would be hauling his corpse to the morgue. In fact, Bill’s death would look downright pleasant by comparison.
Hammer t
ried not to think that he might already be too late. He could not fail her again.
“Call her!” He gestured to Liam with an impatient hand. “Tell her we’re on our way home and to make sure the doors are locked. Fuck!” He laid on the horn at the slow-moving car in front of him, then bypassed the vehicle and stomped on the gas. “Get off the road, asshole!”
Liam jerked and gripped the armrest. “Slow down, will you? Christ. We won’t be able to protect our girl if we’re belly up in a heap of twisted metal.”
“Just call her,” he bit out, not bothering to ease off the accelerator.
Liam dug into his pocket and dialed Raine, looking decidedly nervous. “It’s ringing. Since River thinks she’s just a sex worker, maybe he won’t check property records.”
Maybe. But Hammer refused to leave anything to chance. Fear had him by the balls. Guilt for all the ways he’d been failing her and Liam squeezed his throat.
“She’s not answering.” Liam clutched the phone in a white-knuckled grip. “Her voice mail picked up. I’m worried.”
“Try again.”
Liam was already on it, intently focused on the device in his hand. With another tap, he raised it to his ear, his expression turning bleaker with every second.
Ahead, the light turned red. Hammer swore. Urgency pounded through his veins. “C’mon. C’mon!” He turned to Liam. “Anything?”
“Voice mail again. Macen… Fuck, I’m bloody shaking.”
Fear ate at his composure, too. “Damn it. Keep trying. She’s got to pick up. Maybe she’s in the shower. Or has her head in a recipe. Or she’s with the contractor.”
Liam redialed again. “Let’s be logical. River thinks he’s protecting his sister. I don’t think he’s planning to hurt her.”
“I don’t fucking trust that son of a bitch. What if he’s Bill reincarnated? Hell, River may actually be worse.”
Besides being younger, stronger, and clearly capable, Raine’s brother hadn’t bothered to discuss, negotiate, or placate. He hadn’t listened at all. He’d come with terms and demands and a whole lot of fuck you. “Not knowing his next move scares the hell out of me. We can’t let him hurt—”
“I know. Don’t go there. As long as we reach Raine in time, we’ll protect her. He can’t get past us both,” Liam assured. “But I’m gut sick with worry that he’ll twist the truth and somehow convince her she’s better off with him.”