Crushing Beauty (Harbingers of Sorrow MC): Vegas Titans Series

by Loren, Celia

  She shot a look up at Jagger, and he responded with a stunted smile. He wished he could read her mind; know exactly what she was thinking in that moment. Was she angry? Happy? Confused?

  “Sis!” Dominic threw his arms around her, squeezing her tightly.

  “Dom? How can this be?”

  “Jagger didn’t tell you I worked for him?”

  “No. No he didn’t.” She uncomfortably laughed through her words.

  “Nice. I love surprises.”

  He was such a happy kid, and she was relieved to see that her leaving didn’t take that joy away from him. She broke out of her trance with the sound of Jagger clapping.

  “Hey everyone, I’d like you to meet Britton.” He pushed her forward slightly. The crowd erupted into cheers, everyone stepped up to greet her with hugs.

  “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

  “We’ve heard so much about you.”

  “You’re even more beautiful than Jagger described you.”

  “You’re Dom’s big sister? Was he always this optimistic?”

  “We thought Jagger was just making you up!”

  As she made her way through the crowd, she was overcome with the love they all shared. The guys at the Bureau were nice, but they all had families to go back to at the end of the day. These people worked with their family. They were a single being made up of twenty or so people. With each hug, she felt her heart grow warmer. She even encountered a handful of women.

  “I’m actually happy you snagged Jagger so long ago. If he had been on the market, I wouldn’t have ever gotten any work done!” Said one biker chick, who seemed to be the youngest of the group.

  “One day I hope I find someone who loves me as much as Jagger loves you.”

  “You guys would have the most beautiful children.”

  Britton was overwhelmed. Love? Children? How long had Jagger been telling his club about her? How did he know she would eventually find her way back to him?

  “Okay, my turn.” Dominic stole his sister away from the adoring crowd and led her to a bright yellow couch in the corner. “It’s time to catch up.”

  “Dom, what? How?” She couldn’t form complete sentences.

  “How did I end up here?”

  She nodded her head, still shocked at the sight of him.

  “Well, let’s see. After you left, mom and dad started to come home even less, and with me being the oldest, I had to take care of everyone. I mean, the money you sent really helped, but I couldn’t hide it from them forever. Once they got a hold of it, I needed to find another source of income.”

  He continued on, describing the job he'd gotten at Mike’s Auto Shop. “Only being seventeen, they didn’t pay me as much as the other mechanics. I asked my boss about a raise, and instead he introduced me to the illegal chop shop he was running. It was fine for a while, but by that point, Mom and Dad had completely run out and we started getting eviction notices. So I got nervous and desperate, slipped up, and was arrested. Jagger was the one who bailed me out of jail.

  “Jagger?”

  “Yeah, and he’s been taking care of me ever since.”

  “But what about the others?”

  “Lucy, Danny, Carlos, and Rebecca?”

  Britton caught her breath. She hadn’t heard those names in so long. She had tried to push her past out of her mind since she left eight years ago, but what about her siblings? They had done nothing wrong. They were innocent kids, and she abandoned them. “Yeah.” She squeaked out, fearing his response.

  “They’re all out of here. Lucy writes for a magazine in New York, Danny owns a coffee shop in Louisiana, Carlos is a pre-med major in Philadelphia, and Rebecca is in her first year of college in Washington D.C.”

  “She’s in D.C.?”

  “Yeah, she was planning on finding you. I guess I know now why she didn’t, but she’s in school to be a social worker. She lived with me until she left for college.”

  “But how?”

  “What do you mean? Jagger pays me well. I could support her until she left.”

  “Did you pay for all of their colleges?”

  He laughed. “He doesn’t pay me that well! No. Jagger did. He didn’t tell you any of this?”

  “No.”

  Britton sunk down further into the couch. How did she have no idea any of this was going on? Why had he paid for all of her siblings' college educations? She felt weak and confused. She looked around and caught Jagger’s eye. She shot him a questioning glance, and he shrugged in return. He had to have known that Dom would tell her everything, but why hadn’t he? He would’ve had a much easier time winning her over had he started out with that bit of information. Then again, it might seem like he was buying her love. Britton couldn’t stop playing out the scenarios in her head.

  “You doing okay?” Dom asked.

  “Um, it’s just a lot to take in.”

  “I’m sorry, I thought you knew all of this. How long have you been back?”

  “Three years.”

  Dominic sat back. “Oh.”

  “I’ve just been busy.”

  “You’ve been busy for three years? Did you not even wonder about us?”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “Then what’s it like, Brit?”

  She couldn’t stop the tears from forming. He was right. She had abandoned her family in the worst possible situation. It was Jagger who came to the rescue. He had made sure her siblings had the life they deserved, and she had spent the last ten years focusing on nothing but her hatred of him. How could she have been so wrong? “I was… scared.” She moaned.

  Dominic hated to see any woman cry, let alone his older sister. He clutched her head close to his chest and ran his fingers through her hair. “It’s okay, sis. I’m not mad at you.”

  “I was just afraid that all of you had been sentenced to a lifetime in the shackles of Vegas, and I always blamed myself for you guys ending up that way...I just assumed...I couldn't deal with that truth and found it easier to just not know for sure. It was a cowardly move...I am a coward and I have no other excuse...I'm sorry Dom.” She started sobbing.

  “What did you do to her?” Jagger had dropped his conversation as soon as he saw her crying.

  “I really didn’t mean to.” Dominic mouthed over her sobs.

  Jagger placed his hand on her back and sat next to her. “Britton, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “That’s an obvious lie. Talk to me.” He pulled her off of Dominic and into his arms.

  She looked at him through her tear soaked eyes and reached up to kiss his lips. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “Taking care of my family.”

  “It was the least I could do.” He truly meant that, it was true. There was nothing in the world he could give her that would make up for leaving her broken and bloodied on that soaked pavement ten years earlier. He had spent his entire adult life trying. He peered deep into her eyes, kissed her forehead, and cradled her head, allowing her cries to subside.

  He looked over at Dom, who nodded in agreement. The first step in introducing her to his life was a success. Being reunited with her brother and finding out the truth about her other siblings had hooked her. She wouldn’t be going anywhere.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Britton asked to be alone for a short time. She needed to process, and she couldn’t do that with everything happening around her. Jagger accepted this and led her outside. He knew she wouldn’t be able to run if left alone. She had no idea how long she was out during their drive to the warehouse. He also knew she had never been to this part of Nevada.

  The door opened up to a small patch of grass and looked upon a river. The sound of the water was calming, and she instantly felt relaxed.

  “Thank you. I’ll come back in when I’m ready.”

  Jagger smiled at her, hoping that her thoughts wouldn’t lead her in the wrong direction. He wanted her to love the family that he had formed.
He wanted her to be part of it all. He wanted her to see all the good thing his life style could bring.

  Britton jumped as she heard the door slam behind her. Where was she? She didn’t recognize her surroundings at all. She walked forward, closing in on the river ahead of her. She sat down on the bank and took off her shoes. She allowed her feet to dangle, her toes touching the top of the water each time it rushed forward. She wondered if every undercover operation moved along this quickly. Were other agents just better at handling the immediate influx of information? Why was she struggling so much to remain put together? Her body was tired, and she felt the desire to cry again.

  She hadn’t cried since her third day alone at the chimney. She believed that she had cried all her tears for a lifetime. Nothing would ever be that important to her again. Now, she could do nothing but cry. The emotions that had been attacking her for the last forty-eight hours were relentless. They'd been built up over the last ten years and were making up for lost time. Or maybe it was just Jagger? His presence made her tears flow freely. It was difficult to hate and love a single person so much at the same time.

  Then there was Dominic. If she ordered a raid on the warehouse, he would certainly be caught in the crosshairs. She could try to warn him ahead of time, but she was sure his allegiance was to Jagger. Dominic would risk his own life to save the man who'd saved his. So would everyone else in that family. There was no way around it.

  If she ordered the arrest on Jagger, Dominic would almost certainly be going to jail too, or worse. Could she let that happen? His affiliation with the Harbingers of Sorrow was completely her doing. Had she not left her family and gone away to college, she could have continued to support them, and then maybe Dominic would have ended up at a college thousands of miles away. He would have a real job, and a real family and he wouldn’t be risking his life every day as a gangster. Yes, his situation was entirely her fault.

  But could she call it all off? David would never agree to that. He would take every bit of information that he could find, and put it together. He would finish the operation on his own. No. She would have to keep control of it. That way she could pull the strings and regulate the outcome. She needed to get a hold of David, but wasn’t sure how. If she called him, he’d be able to triangulate her signal and find the exact hiding spot of the motorcycle gang. She couldn’t let that happen. The location would be revealed in time, but not just yet.

  Britton needed to find a way to convince Jagger to let her alone for a short while. That way, she could sneak away to the FBI and catch them up to speed on her case. Her thoughts collected and sorted, she decided to venture back inside.

  She pulled the door open, heaving at the weight. Everyone hushed to silence as they stared in her direction.

  “Britton, come here. I want you to meet someone.” Jagger called her over, gesturing to his side.

  Britton made her way toward him, wondering who else was left to meet. “Hi, I’m Jagger’s girlfriend, Britton.” She didn’t plan on saying ‘girlfriend’, but it slipped out. Jagger clutched her tighter, obviously thrilled with her choice of words.

  “I’m Harry.” The balding, hefty man extended his hand to hers with the introduction.

  “Harry is helping us retrieve some property that was stolen from us.”

  What did that mean? Was there a rival motorcycle gang? What could they have stolen?

  “I’m sure you know we all appreciate your help.” She played the doting, naïve girlfriend well.

  “I just wanted to meet Harry in person, as I don’t care to work with someone who I haven’t seen face to face.”

  “And it’s such an honor to be part of your team. I only hope I live up to your expectations.”

  “I only hope that as well, or else…”

  Tension spread over the room, and Britton could tell that Harry had stopped breathing.

  Jagger jumped back in with a thundered laugh. “I’m just kidding. You come highly recommended, and I know you’ll live up to your reputation. Let’s just take care of this now.”

  While his threat had been cut off with a joke, Britton wasn’t sure what his own reputation had occasioned. Harry had clearly been taken aback. Had he heard of previous incidents where Jagger had dealt with issues in an undesirable fashion? How many deaths was he responsible for? Had Dominic carried any of them out? She couldn’t let her brother continue with this line of work. She would need to get him out. Would he be open to testifying in exchange for immunity?

  Jagger could see that Britton was lost in thought. He moved his hand into hers and squeezed.

  “How are you doing?” he whispered.

  “I’m okay.” She whispered back. And looking into his eyes, she was. How was she thinking of ruining this empire that Jagger had built? How was she considering spoiling the man he had become? The man, who built her a home, saved her family: the man who loved her.

  And yet, he was still a criminal, and her career was focused on taking criminals down. Why was she actually considering throwing away everything she had worked toward, and allowing him to continue to hurt people? She squeezed his hand back. Every minute that she spent with him, she felt her pain and hate toward him transform into comfort and love. What was she going to do?

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “I have some things I need to take care of. Would you mind if Dominic took you home?” Jagger said.

  “Of course not.” While she wanted to know exactly what he had to ‘take care of’, this was her perfect way out of his line of sight. Now she would be able to sneak off to the FBI to talk to David.

  “Thank you so much.” He bent down to kiss her, taking her shoulders in his hands.

  “Do I get to stay awake this time?”

  “I can allow that.” He winked at her, and her stomach tingled.

  She said her goodbyes to everyone and hopped in the car with her brother. They took off down the road as Britton looked back at the warehouse. They traveled for a while, simply making small talk, catching up on life. Britton curved her stories, the same way she had done for Jagger. She still didn’t know where they were, but she memorized every turn they took.

  “So who is David?” Dom asked her out of nowhere.

  “Jagger told you about him?”

  “He’s not that good at hiding his jealousy.”

  “Believe me, I know that all too well.” She thought of revealing her bruises to him, but decided against it. She didn’t want to seem like she was a girl who couldn’t stick up for herself. She also didn't want him picking a fight with Jagger, no matter how close they were. “He was just a boyfriend, but it’s over now.”

  “Probably better that way.”

  “Yeah.” She wanted to get out of this conversation. They had finally come to a stretch of road that looked familiar to her. Britton was sure she could find the way back to the warehouse if deemed necessary. She still needed more information though. “It’s quite an operation going on over there.”

  Dominic hesitated, unsure of her understanding of their dealings. “How much do you know?”

  “Enough.”

  “And you’re okay with it all?”

  “I don’t know, Dom. Doesn’t it worry you that this is all illegal? What happens when you get caught and thrown in jail?” She prodded, hoping that he wouldn’t be suspicious.

  “It hasn’t happened yet.”

  “But you’re just running out the clock. It will happen eventually, right?”

  “What, are you going to turn us in?”

  Britton tried to hide her nervous laughter. “Of course not, but I’m sure they have files and evidence against you.”

  “Jagger is really careful.”

  “Dom, is there nothing else you could do?”

  “There’s nothing else I want to do. I’m good at this.”

  “What is ‘this’?”

  “I’m Jagger’s second in command. I’m important to the Harbingers. I see to the day to day operations while he takes care of the big pictur
e.”

  She didn’t want to hear that. How could he be the second in command? He was so young. Then again, they were all young. Every person in that room couldn’t have been any older than their mid twenties. It was just a bunch of kids playing house.

  Dominic continued. “Brit, I just work in the office. I don’t actually do anything you might be thinking I do.”

  Her tension eased with that knowledge. It would make it easier to keep him from jail time if he simply worked in the office, and there was no blood on his hands, metaphoric or literal.

  “I just wish…”

  “What do you wish? I had a different life? Our parents didn’t abandon us? You didn’t abandon us? I wasn’t forced into a life of crime so our ten-year-old sister didn’t starve to death?” He was getting agitated. “Brit, I’ve been doing things my way for eight years. You can’t come in here now and pretend you have any say in what I do with my life.”

  She had lost the battle. “You’re right. I’m so sorry.”

  Dominic pulled into her driveway, and Britton quickly hopped out.

  “Do you want me to stay with you?”

  “No. I have some errands to run. Thank you for driving me home.”

  “Anytime.” He paused. “Hey… it’s good to have you back sis.”