Smash: A Stepbrother MMA Romance (Includes bonus novel Rock Hard!)

by Hamel, B. B.

  I gripped the steering wheel.

  I was almost there.

  Chapter Twenty-Three: Rebecca

  I was running through the woods. Men were chasing me, or maybe they weren’t men, I couldn’t tell. But I knew they could smell me and could follow me anywhere I went. I breathed in deep, my lungs burning as I jumped over thick roots and fallen trunks.

  The woods were dark and there weren’t any stars in the sky. My pulse was hammering. I knew I had stolen something from them and they wanted it back, but I couldn’t remember what I had taken. I was desperate and terrified.

  But I knew they’d kill me if they caught me.

  Up ahead, I saw Reid’s van. It was like an oasis in the desert. It was safety. I ran as fast as I could, but they were gaining on me.

  Fifty feet. Twenty. I could hear their jaws snapping on my heels.

  I slammed into the van, trying to rip open the door, but it was stuck. I couldn’t get it open. I couldn’t do it no matter how hard I tried. I banged and screamed but nobody answered, nobody was coming.

  I turned around. The men weren’t men. They were more like wolves, but not exactly. Saliva dripped onto the ground. Their eyes were glowing.

  I don’t have it,

  I said over and over.

  They lunged.

  I woke up with a start.

  I was sweating slightly and it took me a second to realize why I had woken up. My phone was vibrating like crazy on the table.

  My clock said it was five in the morning as I grabbed my phone.

  “Hello?” I said groggily.

  “Hey, it’s me.”

  I sat bolt upright. “Reid? Are you okay?”

  He laughed. “I’m totally fine. You’d be getting a call from prison if the cops had me. Or no call at all if the mobsters caught me.”

  “What happened?”

  “I got it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He laughed again. “I got it, all of it.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m at the van. Remember how to get there?”

  I sighed. “No, not at all.”

  “Okay. I’ll text you the GPS. Plug that into your phone.”

  “You want me to come there now?”

  “Yeah, please. I also need a few things for my hike. I’ll text that to you, too.”

  “Okay, okay. Are you sure you’re fine?”

  “Totally fine, Becca. See you soon.”

  He hung up.

  The dream was still lingering in my mind. The idea of hiking through the forest in the early morning darkness sent my heart fluttering.

  My phone buzzed a few seconds later. I checked the text and saw a list of things to bring and the coordinates.

  Still barely awake, I climbed out of bed. Reid had sounded happier and more excited than I had heard him sound since coming home. I didn’t know what I was walking into, but part of me didn’t care.

  I was in deep and there was no getting out.

  His pack weighed a million pounds.

  Not literally, I mean that would be impossible, but still. I had no clue how that boy carried all that weight on his back and still could make it up to Canada and back in a day or two. Plus the weight of whatever he was smuggling on the way back. I was having a hard time hiking for an hour, let alone hiking all day for two days.

  But I had to do it. For some reason he didn’t want to come back to the house, and he couldn’t make his trip without gear. So I was stuck lugging it through the forest at the ass crack of dawn.

  At least there were no weird man-wolf dream monsters trying to murder me.

  The sun was slowly rising as I finally crested a hill and saw the van up ahead. I turned off my phone and slipped it back into my pocket, thankful that my long, arduous journey was coming to an end.

  I didn’t see him around anywhere. The van was quiet, but that didn’t mean anything.

  “Reid?” I called out as I got closer.

  The door to the van slipped open.

  “Took you long enough.”

  Reid got out and grinned at me.

  “Next time, pack this before you leave to rob a store, and leave me out of it.”

  He laughed. “Was it a little heavy?”

  “A little? How do you even carry this?”

  I took it off my back and dropped it on the ground.

  “It only takes some muscle,” he said, and wrapped his arms around me. I laughed as he picked me up and kissed me.

  “Put me down, ass,” I giggled.

  He set me down, his arms still wrapped around me. “Fuck, I’m glad to see you,” he said.

  “I was worried sick.”

  “You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll always come through.”

  “I believe you,” I said softly.

  “Want to see something awesome?”

  “Always.”

  He led me by the hand into the back of the van. Inside was a large duffle bag.

  “Is that it?”

  He grinned at me as he unzipped it. Inside there were rolls upon rolls of hundred dollar bills.

  “Holy fucking shit,” I said.

  He laughed at my shock. “Guess how much it is.”

  “I don’t know. Twenty thousand?”

  “Forty. Forty fucking grand. Which means they had almost sixty-five.”

  “What happened to the other fifteen?”

  “Taxes.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work that way.”

  “It does when you hire professional thieves.”

  “Do I want to know?”

  “Nope, you definitely don’t.”

  I looked back at the bag and took a roll, weighing it in my hand. I had never held that much money at once before.

  “This is absolutely insane, Reid.”

  “I know. Want to fuck on it?”

  “What?”

  He inched closer. “Do you want to spread it all out and have the biggest orgasm of your life on top of it?”

  I laughed. “I mean, a little bit, yeah.”

  He grabbed me and pulled me on top of him, kissing my mouth. “Too bad. It all goes to our friendly neighbors to the north, and I don’t think they’d appreciate the cum smells.”

  “I don’t smell!”

  “All cum smells like something.”

  “Not mine,” I said, blushing.

  “Your cum smells like roses, that’s true, but I’m a little harsher.”

  I shook my head and kissed him again. “So that’s the plan, then? You hike up there and give them the money back you originally stole from them?”

  “Basically, yeah.”

  “Don’t you think they’ll be pissed?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they’re in a war. And I think money is probably the main reason.”

  “But it’s still theirs, right? I mean, they’re all in the same mob.”

  “I don’t think so, actually.”

  “Why?”

  “I was thinking about that. Why would they bother laundering the money down in the U.S. if most of the mob was up in Canada?”

  “Better tax rate?”

  He laughed. “Maybe. But there was no mention of anybody other than the American guys on any of the documents, though.”

  “So you’re banking on the Canadians not knowing about this money?”

  “Pretty much, yeah.”

  I paused, thinking it through. “What if you’re wrong?”

  He just shook his head. “I’m not wrong.”

  “Reid, this is dangerous. You have to have another plan?”

  He sighed. “I’m sorry, Becca, I don’t. This is pretty much all or nothing, now.”

  I stayed quiet for a minute, my body pressed up against his. I could hear his heart beating a slow, steady rhythm in his chest, and I knew that everything hinged on what happened up north.

  “What if they kill you?” I whispered.

&
nbsp; “Then you won’t have to worry anymore.”

  I looked up at him. “Don’t you dare say that again.”

  “I’m sorry, but it’s true. If I’m dead, the mob has no reason to bother you guys.”

  “You’re not sacrificing yourself for us.”

  “No,” he said, smiling softly. “I’m not.”

  “Don’t die up there.”

  “I’m not going to.”

  I threw myself at him then, kissing him with everything I had. It wasn’t a last kiss, couldn’t be a last kiss. I needed him to come back; otherwise, I’d be losing more than just a stepbrother.

  I’d be losing a part of myself.

  After a minute, he slowly pulled away.

  “I have to get going,” he said quietly.

  “No. Just stay here a little longer.”

  “Fuck, Becca. You don’t think I want to stay right here and fuck you senseless all day long?”

  “Then do it.”

  “I can’t miss this drop.”

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  “I’d rather take this money and run away with you, but we’d be looking over our shoulders forever. Plus, our parents would be fucked.”

  “But it doesn’t have to be you.”

  “There’s nobody else.” He kissed me again gently. “I’m sorry, Becca. I have to go.”

  He rolled over and moved out of the van. I sat there staring out at him for a second, imagining what my life would be like if he were gone.

  Reid had always been a part of everything I did. Even when I was at school and we didn’t see each other, the memory of him still lingered. For years I wondered what it would be like to finally give in and let myself be taken by him, consumed by him.

  And finally I did it. Finally I let him in and it was more than I had bargained for. I was spiraling into him and I never wanted to look back.

  Suddenly, that was threatened. Suddenly, I had to potentially lose him forever.

  I climbed out of the van. He shrugged on his pack and grabbed the duffle bag from the back. I watched as he prepared himself, putting on his boots and double-checking everything.

  Finally, he looked at me. “This is it,” he said.

  “Okay.” I wasn’t going to cry.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Text me, okay? I can’t wait that long.”

  “If I have a signal, I will.”

  I nodded. “Okay.” I walked over and pressed myself against him. “You have to come back.”

  “I will.”

  One more kiss and then he turned and walked away.

  I watched as he disappeared into the forest. I watched as the leaves blew across his path, covering his tracks. The sun rose higher in the sky.

  He never looked back.

  I felt like a part of my heart was marching away with him.

  Chapter Twenty-Four: Reid

  I had never smuggled anything into Canada before. Usually, I was only smuggling stuff back into America.

  As it turned out, smuggling in was the same as smuggling out, only in reverse.

  The money wasn’t too heavy. At least it wasn’t as heavy as the last drug shipment I had carried the week before. Still, by the time I found and crossed the river, I was drenched in sweat. The cold, fast-moving water felt good as I got past without incident.

  I made my way through the woods toward the campsite. I was a half hour early, which meant that I would have plenty of time to set up and to dry out my socks.

  Mostly to dry out my socks. Nobody likes walking around with wet socks.

  As I sat down on the bench and peeled off my shoes and socks, my mind wandered over the course of events of the past few days. My biggest wonder was whether or not I would have gone through with any of it had I not started seeing Becca.

  The answer was probably no. I would have put in my time, like normal, and suffered under the increasing demand from all sides.

  But with Becca in my life, I suddenly had a reason to get out. Other than protecting my family, I finally had a reason to live. Climbing sometimes took me beyond the usual day-to-day difficulties, but I was beginning to feel like that wasn’t enough.

  And besides, I couldn’t exactly have a serious career if I was smuggling drugs for the mob.

  What was I going to do once it was all over? I realized I had been running drugs for so long that I didn’t know anything else. I could still climb, and wanted to get back into it, but it almost felt strange to have the freedom to get back out there.

  Fortunately, I didn’t have much time to follow that train of thought. I looked up as I heard a car winding its way down the road toward the campsite.

  It was the same car as the last two times. It parked, waited a minute, and then Rigley climbed out of the front seat.

  I stood and went to meet him halfway through, the black duffel held tightly in my fist.

  It was the moment I was both dreading and excited for. A mix of adrenaline and fear spiked through me and all I wanted to do was throw the money at his feet and leave. But it wasn’t going to be that easy.

  I had to make my case. I had to give him a reason not to kill me on the spot.

  “Hello, Mister Smuggler.”

  I nodded to him. “Rigley.”

  “Uneventful trip?”

  “Easy as always.”

  He stood staring at me for a second, his arms crossed. I could see the unmistakable bulge of a gun in the front of his waistband, barely concealed by his tight white T-shirt.

  “What’s in there?” he said, nodding at the bag.

  I dropped it onto the ground. “It’s full of fifteen thousand dollars.”

  His eyebrow shot up. “And why did you bring that today?”

  “I wanted to give it back to you.”

  He took a moment to absorb that. “Give it back to me?” he said slowly.

  “Yes. It’s your money.”

  “I’m afraid I do not understand.”

  “I’ve heard some rumors about your organization,” I said.

  “My organization is none of your concern.”

  “But it is, actually. I heard you and Jacques don’t get along very well.”

  He studied me for a moment. “It is true that there are certain disagreements between us and the people in your country.”

  “I heard it called a war.”

  “My patience is not unlimited, Mister Smuggler.”

  I nodded, getting to the point. “I learned some things about your people in my country. I learned where they’ve been hiding and laundering all of the money they’ve been making off your drugs.”

  “That’s a very dangerous thing to say to me.”

  “But it’s true. And I learned exactly how to get ahold of that money. Do you know a diner called the Blue?”

  “I have not heard of this diner.”

  “It’s the business they run. It’s the place they use to filter their money.”

  “Where did you get the money in that bag?”

  He looked agitated, annoyed. He was glancing around him like there was something about to happen. I realized I was making him much more paranoid than I needed to by beating around the bush and coming at it slowly.

  “I stole this money from the Blue.”

  His eyes widened. “You must be stupid.”

  “I stole it from them to give to you.”

  “You stole from me.”

  I shook my head. “No. I’m giving it back to you. So that you can win your war.”

  He suddenly pulled the gun out from his waistband and held it out at me. My heart skipped a beat and I took a step back. In all my time running drugs, I had never had a gun pointed at me, and it was terrifying.

  “I think you’re mistaken. That money is our money.”

  “You’re telling me that you wanted them to have this much cash on hand? Even in the middle of a war?”

  He stepped closer, his eyes narrowed. “Even in the middle of a fucking war. That money was meant to stay where
they had it.”

  “But you didn’t even know about the diner.”

  “Because I didn’t need to know. But once laundered, the money would have come back to us through other legitimate ways.”

  Fear jolted through me, fear I never imagined. “I want to help you pay for your war.”

  “You stupid boy. You robbed us.”

  “I’m giving it back.”

  “I do not want it back. The American dollar is stronger than the Canadian dollar. We make more money in your country.”

  “This is only half,” I blurted out.

  He stopped in his tracks. “There’s more?”

  “Yes. This is only half.”

  “Thirty thousand dollars?”

  After we took our cut

  , I thought.

  “Yes, thirty thousand.”

  “Interesting.” He seemed to relax. He lowered the gun slightly. “And it was all in cash, in that diner?”

  “They had it in a safe in the back room.”

  He didn’t respond and began to stroke his chin thoughtfully. I stood completely still, like a deer in headlights, terrified that I would spook him if I moved.

  I had completely miscalculated. The Canadians had wanted the American group to launder the money in America. Of course they did. The money was better served in America where they could expand and invest.

  They didn’t want it back. In his eyes, I had robbed him as much as I had robbed the southerners.

  “You are a very, very lucky boy,” he said finally, putting the gun away.

  I let out a breath. “Why?”

  “Because there was only supposed to be ten thousand in that diner.”

  I blinked. There had been a lot more than ten. “What did you think this extra five was?”

  He shrugged. “If they had a little extra cash, who’s to complain? But an extra twenty thousand, well, that’s a lot of money.”

  I nodded. “It’s yours. All of it.”

  “And what do you want in return for this money?”

  “Two things.”

  He laughed. “You’ll be lucky if I don’t murder you here and take this money.”

  “You’ll never get the rest.”

  “Which is why you aren’t dead yet. Go ahead, tell me your two things.”

  “First, I want my debt erased.”

  “Okay. And?”

  “I want you to completely destroy Jacques and his men.”