I gave him a tight smile. Of course I appreciated that he was looking out for me. But at the same time, I was worried about what my neighbors would think. Long after this whole mess was over, I was still going to have to live there. Still going to have to see them day in and day out. And the last thing I wanted or needed was for any of them to think I was running with a biker gang.
But it was what it was. Like Damian said, nothing he could do about it.
“Prospects,” he said. “Grab your bedrolls. You're camping on the floor out here until this is over.”
I should have been mad that he'd made that unilateral decision without even asking me, but given the fact that they were putting their lives at risk to save mine, I really couldn't say anything.
The brothers nodded, and without a word, went out the front door to their bikes. Damian walked over and knelt down in front of me. He took my hands gently in his and looked deeply into my eyes.
“I'm sorry for all of this, Cara,” he said. “I can't even begin to imagine what this is doing to you.”
I sniffed as the tears welled in my eyes. I scrubbed them away with one hand, irritated that I was letting myself get so emotional about it all. I was tougher than this. Stronger.
“I know this isn't your fault, Damian,” I said. “You haven't done anything wrong. Nothing.”
He gave me a rueful smile. “Maybe not. But you're caught in the middle of something you shouldn't be caught in. And I need to get you out of this.”
A tear rolled down my cheek, and he used his thumb to wipe it away. “I'd appreciate if you could.”
He nodded as the door opened and the prospects came back in with their bedrolls. “Everything seems pretty clear out there right now,” James reported.
Jack nodded his agreement and dropped his bedroll on the floor next to the door.
“Are you both strapped?” Damian asked.
The brothers moved in unison, holding open their kuttes to reveal the two handguns tucked into shoulder harnesses.
“Wonderful,” I said. “Please try to avoid turning my house into the OK Corral if you can. I'd really appreciate it.”
The two men smirked but said nothing. “Make sure your weapons are loaded and ready,” Damian said. “And be sure the safety is on when you're in the house, knuckleheads.”
“I still owe you guys a home-cooked meal, but I think we need to take a rain check on that,” I said. “Will coffee do for now?”
“Coffee would be great,” James said. “Thank you.”
I nodded and stood up from the couch, heading into the kitchen. Damian followed me in and watched as I got a pot of coffee going. He said nothing, but when I looked at him, I could see the worry in his eyes – along with something else I couldn't identify.
“What is it?” I asked.
“We need to end this,” he said. “Sooner, rather than later.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
“I'm going to have to draw Mendoza out. Put a stop to this bullshit. I'm going to have to go talk to Mills first thing in the morning.”
“You said that's not going to be easy,” I reminded him.
“It's not,” he admitted. “I'm going to have to roll the dice and ask Mills for help.”
I sighed. “I'm still willing to act as bait.”
Damian shook his head. “Not gonna happen.”
“If it brings this whole fiasco to an end sooner rather than later, I'll do whatever it takes.”
Damian nodded, the expression on his face grim. “I'll keep that in the playbook. Just in case we need to throw a Hail Mary.”
I gave him a small smile. “Hopefully, you can come up with a better plan, but that's always in your hip pocket for safe keeping.”
Damian reached out and pulled me to him, wrapping me up in a tight embrace. I held on to him, letting my body be engulfed by his. Being so close to him made me feel safer and far more secure than I had been in quite some time.
And it was a feeling every girl could get used to.
Chapter Twenty Five
Damian
“There's got to be another way,” I said. “A better way.”
“If you can think of something, I'm all ears,” Mills replied.
We sat in the clubhouse's meeting room, the long table empty, save for the two of us. He sat in his usual seat at the head of the table while I paced the room.
I sighed and dropped down into the seat at the opposite end of the table from him. Mills was watching me closely and looked like he was… excited. He was doing his best to keep himself under control, but I couldn't help but notice a certain gleam in his eyes I could only interpret as excitement. What in the hell was going through his head?
“Damian, I hate to say it,” Mills said, “but she's the only piece of leverage we have. She's the only thing we've got that Mendoza wants. She is probably the only thing that's going to make that snake stick his head out of his fuckin' hole, man. And you know that.”
I sighed and ran my hand across my face, the stubble on my chin making a dry, scratchy noise. He was right. And I knew he was right. But that didn't mean I had to like it. Nor did it mean I couldn't stop trying to find another way through this mess.
“I just don't want to put her in the crossfire, man,” I said. “She's been through enough, and I don't want to put her in danger.”
Mills nodded. “I get that, man. I really do. But we've got to face reality here. For whatever reason, Mendoza is fixated on this chick. The only thing we can do is dangle her out there and let him walk into some shit.”
I shook my head. “There has to be another way. I can't ask that of her, man.”
“You're not asking me,” Cara's voice came from behind me. “I'm volunteering.”
I turned in my seat and found Cara standing in the doorway. She walked into the room and dropped down into the seat on my left. She looked at me and gave me a small smile, but I could see the fear in her eyes.
“What are you doing here?” I asked softly.
“Trying to help put an end to this once and for all,” she replied.
“I'm gonna give you guys a few minutes to talk,” Mills said and then looked at Cara. “Beer? Coke?”
“Coke, please,” she said and smiled.
I watched Mills walk out of the room and close the door behind him. He was being awfully solicitous and gentle with her. Kind, even. Which told me that he had an ulterior motive in play. That wasn't Mills – not unless he wanted something.
And I had a feeling I knew what it was he wanted.
“Cara, you shouldn't be here,” I said. “You shouldn't be doing this. This is gonna get bad. Probably real bad.”
“I can't live the rest of my life worrying about whether or not today's the day Mendoza snatches me up.”
I gave her a grim smile but nodded. I understood where she was coming from and no, she couldn't live her life that way. But there was also the chance that if we used her as bait, she might not even make it out of the confrontation alive.
“Where's Austin?” I asked, pitching my voice low.
“He's safe,” she replied. “With friends.”
I nodded. “This is nuts, you know. Dangerous.”
“I know,” she said as she took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “But so is not putting an end to that miserable son of a bitch.”
I sighed. Exposing her to this part of my world was not what I wanted. And I knew it wasn't what she wanted. This was a world she'd done her best to avoid getting entangled in altogether. And I hated like hell that she was caught up in it.
“You know what this means, don't you?” I asked her gently. “You know how this is all going to go down?”
A dark look crossed her face – something I hadn't seen before from her. “I know what's going to happen to Mendoza. I'm not naive.”
“I didn't think you were. I just—”
“I should feel bad about it. I know I should,” she said. “And yeah, there's some small part of me that fee
ls a little bit guilty. But Mendoza – he's a threat to me, but more importantly, he's a threat to Austin. I won't ever feel comfortable knowing he's walking around alive – mainly because he could come for me at any moment. I feel like a monster, but I don't care that Mendoza is going to die.”
I gave her a small smile. “You're no monster. Not even close.”
Mills came back into the room and set a cold bottle of soda down in front of Cara. She thanked him and twisted off the top and took a long drink. It was minor, and she was doing her best to cover it up, but I could see her hand trembling. She was scared – and right to be so.
“So,” Mills said, dropping back down into his seat. “Are we good to go?”
I looked over at Cara who looked back at me. “Good to go,” she said.
“Excellent,” Mills said, clapping his hands together. “And don't worry, Cara. We're going to keep you safe and out of harm's way when all this goes down.”
Yeah, except that we couldn't really promise anything. When the bullets started flying, all bets were off. Oh, we'd do our best to keep her down and out of the way, but stray bullets hit innocent people all the time. But I didn't want to scare her any more than she already was. Cara had chosen her path, and I'd gotten to know her well enough to know that when her mind was made up, it was made up.
“So, what's the plan?” I asked. “Because I assume you have one since you had Cara brought to the clubhouse.”
Mills grinned. “As a matter of fact, I do have something in mind.”
“And?” I asked.
“Well, since I doubt that Mendoza is going to be taking your calls,” Mills started, “I figure I'll give him a call and offer to make a trade. I'm gonna offer Cara up for certain… concessions.”
“What sort of concessions?”
Mills looked at Cara and then back at me. “Something probably best discussed later,” he said. “No offense, Cara.”
She shook her head. “None taken.”
As I looked at Mills, the missing piece of the puzzle fell into place, and I knew exactly why he was so eager to help me with the Cara situation. By taking out Mendoza under the pretense of protecting her and Austin, we'd break the back of the Fantasmas and wipe out their MC. With them out of the way, Mills would be free to let the Kings fill the void in the drug and gun trade in the area.
It was the same play he'd tried by having Mendoza take me out – give him an excuse to declare war on the Fantasmas. Except this time, he was going to use an innocent woman and her child as his pretext.
A woman and a child I cared about.
The thought came to me out of nowhere, and it caught me off guard. I looked over at Cara who was looking back at me with wide eyes that were filled with fear – but also with determination. And as I looked at her, I felt something stirring within me – deep within me. Something I wasn't sure I'd ever felt before. Something I didn't know that I was even capable of feeling.
I don't know that it was love. But then, I wasn't familiar enough with the emotion to know one way or the other. My life hadn't been filled with sunshine and roses, and love was a luxury I'd never afforded myself. Women had always been disposable to me. I was sure a shrink would tell me it was a reflection of how I felt about myself – in fact, a shrink back in the military had said just that. But, whatever. I just never had the desire to let anybody to get too close to me.
Until now.
And all I knew was that if anything happened to her, it would tear a hole in me deeper than anything on this planet. It would leave me feeling empty. Hollowed out.
I needed to protect her. I needed to make sure she got through what was to come. And I would do everything in my power to see that she did.
This wasn't the fight I wanted. This wasn't the battleground I would have chosen. But I would stand, and I would fight. I would fight for Cara. For Austin. I didn't know how she felt about me with any certainty, but I wanted to know. Wanted to explore the possibilities with her.
Which was why I would stand and fight – for a possible life beyond anything I'd ever allowed myself to imagine.
Chapter Twenty Six
Damian
The plan was far from elegant. It was crude, simple, and could very well be effective. Mills had set the meet in an old barn that was well off the beaten path. It was a place we often used to conduct our business.
I was concealed inside a van that was parked inside the barn. Mills and three of his guys were outside and would talk to Mendoza when he arrived. We had a dozen guys hidden in the woods right outside the back door of the barn, and one of the prospects was stationed up the road a bit to act as a spotter.
Assuming all went according to plan, it would be a simple operation. We would supposedly have the numbers. We'd take out Mendoza and his guys, smash the power base of the Fantasmas, and Cara could go on with her life without having to look over her shoulder every day.
That was, of course, assuming that everything went according to plan. Something that in my experience, rarely happened. Not only that, but there was something tickling the back of my mind – something that just felt wrong about this whole thing.
“You okay?” Cara whispered to me.
She was in the back of the van with me and would only be taken out to show Mendoza that Mills had her. The interior of the van was dim and gloomy, and though I would have loved to have seen her face, to look into those big doe eyes of hers, we had to remain in the dark. If Mendoza got tipped that I was there, he'd know something was up – and the bullets would likely start flying.
“Yeah, fine,” I said. “Just wishing like hell you weren't here.”
She reached out and fumbled around for a moment before finding my hand, taking it in hers and giving it a squeeze.
“It's going to be okay,” she said, her voice surprisingly strong and confident.
“I really hope so.”
“It will be. Have a little faith.”
“Faith in what?”
Her grip tightened on my hand a bit, and though I couldn't see her, I knew she was smiling.
“Faith that once this is all over,” she said, “you are going to take me out for a nice dinner.”
I laughed softly. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
“No. I'm asking you to ask me out on a date.”
I put my other hand over the top of hers. “I thought you didn't want my kind in your life.”
“Maybe I've been a little too hasty and judgmental,” she said. “You're a good man, Damian Hawke. A little rough around the edges, but I've seen your heart, and it is a beautiful thing. Austin adores you, and you're so good with him. And you're even better with me. So yeah, maybe we need to work a few things out, but I think that whatever this thing between us is, it might be worth exploring.”
The way she phrased that last bit sounded more like a question – a hopeful one at that. And hearing that filled my heart and made me smile. I knew how I felt about her, and knowing that Cara might feel something for me – it filled me with a happiness I'd never known before.
“I think it's definitely worth exploring,” I said.
I raised her hand to my lips and planted a soft kiss. I heard her moving, and before I knew it, she had taken my face in her hands and planted her lips against mine. The kiss was soft and chaste, but it imparted a lot. She sat back on the bench across from me and took my hand again.
“There's something troubling you,” she said.
I shrugged. “Something just doesn't seem right to me.”
“Like what?”
“Like this meet. It's too easy,” I replied. “That Mendoza would willingly come onto our turf and agree to bring only a small number of his guys – something seems off about that. It's not like we have a great relationship with the Fantasmas to begin with – and the whole mess with that run only made it worse.”
“So, what are you thinking?”
“I don't know. Maybe I'm jumping at shadows again,” I admitted. “But to me, this all sounds like Mendo
za and Mills might have a tighter relationship than any of us know.”
“Which would lend credence to your idea that Mills had Mendoza try to take you out.”
“Exactly,” I said. “But again, I have no proof to back that up. Just a gut feeling.”
“Well, once we get out of this, we'll do what we can to dig up that proof,” Cara said. “And then you'll have to decide what you're going to do with it.”
I nodded, though I doubted she could see me in the dark. A moment later, somebody pounded on the outside of the van, and I felt Cara jump.
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