RIDING DIRTY (Steel Titans MC Book 4)

by Franca Storm

  He collapsed to his knees, grasping the wound, blood oozing over his fingers.

  Willa came into view, her gun aimed his way, her eyes hard and unforgiving.

  She didn’t look at me, keeping her focus solely on Freeman as she strode toward him.

  Moving around to his front, she kicked him in the face, knocking him onto his back.

  “You twisted bastard,” she snarled. “Who the fuck do you think you’re dealing with?” She drove her boot into his wounded side, making him scream. “You think you can come after somebody like me and survive it?” She pistol-whipped him. “Blackmail me, try to wield me as a weapon against people I care about?” Another kick to his wounded side had him coughing up blood. “All for money and power?

  With him choking and writhing on the ground, it was real hard to notice that he weren’t just taking what she was dealing out, because he was wounded. But I had a better vantage point than she did, on ground level with him, unlike her as she stood above him. So, that was why I was able to see him reach for one of the pockets in the right leg of his tactical pants.

  I had no doubt it was a weapon of some kind.

  “Willa!” I called.

  She didn’t hear me. She didn’t want to.

  I’d been right on before about her taking Freeman’s actions toward her personally. He’d made her into a victim and Willa Rose didn’t do well with that on any level. So, now she was on a mission to erase that by erasing him.

  She just kept screaming at him and punishing him with blow after blow.

  Fucking shit!

  Groaning, I forced myself across the floor, straining to reach his dropped gun, just out of reach.

  I saw the glint of a blade emerging from his pocket.

  “Bitch,” he rasped. He tried to snag her arm, to bring her closer so he could use it, but she jumped back out of his reach.

  It was my window.

  My fingers closed around the gun.

  Grunting, I managed to flip it into position and take aim.

  I fired.

  And I blew the fucker away with a bullet to the brain.

  Willa jolted and spun toward me, her eyes wide.

  “It’s over,” I breathed, dropping the gun and collapsing onto my back.

  I heard her rushed footsteps and in the next second she was kneeling down beside me. I could barely make her out, I was fading fast.

  An intense, searing pressure on my wound had me growling.

  She was compressing it. I saw her pull her phone out with her free hand.

  “Jammer,” I croaked.

  “I know. I realized when I tried to call you when I heard commotion out here. I took care of it, overrode Freeman’s bullshit jammer with my military-grade tech.”

  I smiled. Of course she had.

  I heard her calling for a medevac, then a cleanup. Damn, those contacts of hers really came in handy. This was probably the last time she’d be able to use them, though. Then again, we wouldn’t be in a fucked-up situation like this again.

  It really was over.

  I reached out a grasped her hand. “We’re free.”

  She smiled back at me, but I saw the strain there for her. “Yeah, we are, so don’t quit on me now. Hang in there, baby.” She tightened her grip, pain all over her face. “Swear it to me, Slade.”

  “Always,” I croaked out.

  The worry in her eyes was the last thing I saw before everything slipped away.

  36

  ~Willa~

  “THAT’S IT?”

  I eyed the boxes and bags piled neatly in the corner of Slade’s office.

  Two gym bags and four packing boxes. That was it.

  He shrugged. “I don’t hoard shit.”

  “It’s not about hoarding. I mean, this club has been twenty-odd years of your life, and this is… it?” Meanwhile, I was coordinating with several different teams of movers, real estate agents, financial advisors, and a hell of a lot more, in order to close up the chapter of my life.

  “Never liked anything weighing me down, I guess.” He came to me and took my hands, holding them between us. “Being Prez of Titans has been extremely fast-paced and uncertain. I was always in the mindset of being able to move quick, to move the boys quick too.”

  “I hear you. I mean, I have several properties scattered all over to facilitate the same thing.”

  “We just had different ways of going about it.”

  “It’s going to be a hell of a thing actually settling into one place.”

  “I know.” He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, then moved away, striding over to his belongings. He slung a bag over either shoulder, then went to hoist the four boxes all at once. He grunted and winced.

  I hurried over. “Slade! How many times have I told you?”

  He put the boxes down with an exasperated sigh. “I got it.”

  “No, you don’t. It’s only been a little while since you sustained that chest wound. You need to take it easy.”

  When I made a move to reach for them, he batted my hands away. “No fucking way.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Not this again.”

  “Yeah, this. You’re pregnant. No heavy lifting. Actually, no lifting. Period.”

  As much as it pissed me off, I knew he wouldn’t back down on it. He was as stubborn as me. I also knew that it wasn’t coming from a bad place. It was all concern and love from him. I knew Slade Mitchell well enough to understand the difference. Besides, I could stand to be a little more careful and mindful of my wellbeing. After all, I had precious cargo to consider now, and a hopeful, exciting future full of possibility and peace to look forward to. I didn’t need to be so intense and on guard anymore. It would take some time to get beyond living in survival mode, but I wanted to move beyond it. I wanted to experience a life without that, an actual life. I needed to make up for everything I’d missed over these crazy, intense, and tumultuous years operating as Shadow.

  “Okay,” I said, holding up my hands in an exaggerated gesture of surrender, and stepping back. “Whatever you say.”

  “Whatever I say?” he said, his eyes hooding. He dropped the bags and started toward me. “Never thought I’d hear those words out of your mouth.” He grasped my hips and jerked me against him.

  “It was just a figure of speech, baby.”

  “Well, I’m gonna run with it.” He brushed his lips over my neck, making me tremble. “Can’t be passing up this opportunity, can I?” He grazed the sensitive skin with his teeth, then soothed it with his tongue, making me moan out. In a low, sexy growl, he said, “How about I rip your panties off, eat out your sweet ass, then fuck you raw, and fill you with my cum? As it’s spilling out down your legs, I’m gonna make you rub it in and keep it all over you for the rest of the day.”

  My blood heated and my pulse kicked up several notches. Wetness pooled between my legs. God, his dirty words were something else.

  A throat cleared loudly over by the door, jolting the both of us, and shattering the mood.

  We broke apart and spun around to see Liam leaning against the doorframe, arms folded, with a smirk on his face. He eyed Slade. “You do that and sanitizing this place isn’t gonna be enough. Forget about me moving into this office as Prez. I’ll have to burn the place down.”

  Slade laughed.

  I told Liam, “Just think of it as another priceless memory that he’s leaving you with.”

  Liam laughed. “Damn, you two are a match made in hell, for sure.”

  Slade wrapped his arm around me and gave me a squeeze. “Fucking right.”

  Liam gestured down the corridor. “So, I barged on in here, because there’s a situation I need your help with.” He held up his hands. “Last one, before you head out.” His gaze went to Slade’s bags and boxes and he winced. “For good.”

  The two of them exchanged a pained look.

  I couldn’t even begin to imagine what a transition it would be, how hard it would be for the both of them not being linked by the club, not seein
g one another day in and day out. It was even worse because Slade and I were going to ground, so any contact wouldn’t be easy.

  I’d noticed the somber mood around the club for the last few days since we’d disposed of the threats in Freeman and Nolan. God, the Nolan thing had hit Slade hard. For so long, he’d been hellbent on being the one to end that piece of trash, but then Freeman had snapped and done it instead. It had actually taken a lot of effort on Slade’s part to see beyond that and recognize it for the win that it was.

  Both of those maniacs were neutralized. The dark and dirty of our worlds was coming to an end. We were about to embark on something completely different. A life of peace and… normality.

  Slade dropped his hand to mine and we followed Liam out of the office, letting him lead us to wherever this situation was inside the clubhouse. I could feel my usual reaction coming into play, my body tensing and muscles locking, going on high-alert to prepare for whatever the issue might be.

  Liam cleared the entire corridor, then stopped outside the door that led into the lounge area.

  “What’s going on?” Slade asked, and I felt his hand tensing in mine.

  Liam merely grinned.

  He opened the door wide, then stepped inside.

  Oh my God.

  A chorus of cheers erupted and we looked out to see the entire club gathered in the lounge, clapping and wolf-whistling.

  Streamers, balloons, and a slew of decorations filled the space. A hell of a slab cake sat on a table in the center. It had an edible, extremely detailed copy of Slade’s cut on it. Abi, the baker extraordinaire, as I understood it, was gesturing to it happily. Liam went to her and wrapped his arm around her. “Looks amazing,” he told her sweetly.

  “Well, shit,” Slade said, looking around in open-mouthed wonder.

  Cole stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Couldn’t let you go out without a hell of a party.”

  Slade smiled and brought him in for a brotherly hug. Well, in their case, it was more like fatherly. I could see the two of them fighting to bite back their emotion when they pulled apart.

  Mason made his way through the crowd to the front carrying two glasses. He handed a whiskey glass to Slade, and winked as he handed what looked like an orange juice to me. “Let’s do this thing.”

  Slade raised his glass. “One more for the road!”

  ***

  Damn, these guys could drink.

  As I looked around the room from the table I’d been chilling at in the corner, I couldn’t see one of them that wasn’t smashed beyond belief.

  Well, except Slade.

  He hadn’t even finished the glass Mason had first handed him at the start of the party. It was because he needed to be sober for what was to come sooner than any of them knew.

  He’d done the rounds and said a personal goodbye to every club member. It had been more than a little emotional to watch, even for someone as classically stoic as me. I understood the weight of it.

  But it was time.

  The pregnancy was really doing a number on me. I was exhausted. I’d spent the last hour or so lounging back in a chair, unable to even think about moving, just finalizing a few things on my phone for the big move, and liquidating all my assets for Will Decker. It was a major undertaking, but I worked with the best, so efficiency and speed was a guarantee thankfully.

  “Sweetheart.”

  I looked up to see Ricky approaching.

  I smiled up at him. “How did you get passage into the inner sanctum again?” I jested.

  “Well, saving the Prez’s ass helped out in a big way.”

  He took a seat beside me, emotion welling in his eyes. “Can’t believe it’s over.”

  “I know. For a while there, I wasn’t sure we were all going to make it out alive.”

  “We had a good team.”

  I reached out a grasped his hand on the tabletop. “You were the first member of mine.”

  “A hell of an honor, sweetheart.”

  “Right back at you.”

  Emotion took him over and he pulled away, scrubbing his hand over his face.

  “It’s not over for us, remember?” I reminded him softly, trying to keep my own fluctuating emotions in check, before I turned into a blubbering mess. That kind of thing really wasn’t my scene.

  He got himself together and managed a smile, a spark actually lighting his eyes, as he said, “Yeah, I know, and I love the business plan we’ve got in the works. Just… not being in-person and all that… it ain’t easy to accept.” He ruffled my hair. “I’m gonna fucking miss you, Willa “Shadow” Rose.”

  “I’m going to miss you too.”

  “Darlin’?”

  We both looked up to see Slade returning to the table. He gave Ricky a chin lift. They’d already said their goodbyes, but Ricky went to him and gave him a brotherly handshake that quickly turned into an emotional hug. They exchanged some whispered, unintelligible words, then Ricky took off.

  Slade held out his hand and helped my weary body up. He wrapped his arm around me and supported my weight, getting how exhausted and out of sorts I was. He whispered in my ear. “Don’t worry, you can sleep in the truck.”

  I kept my voice low as I responded, “Is everything packed? Your office stuff?”

  “Yeah. I took it one box at a time, for your peace of mind.”

  Smiling, I leaned into him, loving the feel of him against me.

  He paused for a few moments, then sucked in a breath, and led us out of the lounge area and back down the corridor.

  Usually, we’d take a right to get to his office.

  But this time was different.

  We weren’t headed there. In fact, we never would be again.

  We veered left and went out through the emergency exit door that led to a dirt road around the side of the clubhouse. It was a little known throughway toward the highway. The truck that he’d moved around from the main lot just before the party had gotten underway was there, ready and waiting for us.

  “Are you sure you want to do it this way?” I asked, looking up at him.

  He nodded. “It’s gonna be easier on them. A long, dragged-out goodbye will hurt worse.”

  “All right.”

  He walked me around to the passenger side, hauled open the door, then basically lifted me in.

  Surprising me, he then hopped up into the cab and buckled my seatbelt for me. The next thing I knew, he was snatching up a blanket from behind the seat and draping it over me, even tucking me in.

  “Slade, you don’t have to—”

  “Shh. I’m taking care of my woman and our baby whether they like it or not. Deal with it.”

  I grinned. “I actually kind of like it.”

  “Yeah?”

  I stroked his cheek. “It makes me feel warm and loved.”

  “That’s how it’s gonna be from now on. For the both of us. For our family.”

  He kissed the top of my head, then jumped down from the cab, shut the door, and rounded the hood. In the next second, he was climbing into the driver’s side.

  He slammed the door shut and buckled up. “Let’s do this.”

  As he started up the truck, he took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  EPILOGUE

  ~Slade~

  Fifteen Months Later

  “WILLA.”

  She groaned, keeping her eyes closed.

  “Come on, darlin’,” I pressed.

  “No,” she murmured, turning her head away from me. “I’m fine. Just resting my eyes for a little while longer.”

  I smiled to myself. She was so fucking cute when she was all sleepy and out of it.

  She wasn’t the only one.

  So was the swaddled bundle sleeping soundly against her chest in the rocking chair of the nursery.

  Dawn Mitchell-Rose.

  Our six-month-old daughter.

  The name meant the first sign of light,
which was exactly what she was for us. It fit better than anything.

  I reached out and wrapped my arms around her, gently pulling her from Willa’s hold.

  She didn’t stir even a bit. She’d been milk-drunk ten minutes ago when Willa had given her the bottle and she’d crashed hard. It was late evening, time for her longest stretch of sleep, about six hours.

  I’d just stepped away from the rocking chair, when Willa’s eyes snapped open, going wide when she realized Dawn weren’t still tucked against her. When she moved to speak, to give me shit, I held up my free hand, signaling her to keep quiet so she didn’t wake our daughter.

  I settled Dawn into her crib, then took Willa’s hand and helped her out of the chair, leading her out of the nursery.

  I closed the door quietly, then brought Willa down the hall and into the living room, far enough away out of earshot. Into the safe zone, as we’d come to call it, where we could talk at a normal level without worrying about waking the baby.

  Willa pulled her hand from mine and gave me that look that let me know she weren’t happy with me. “She was cozy against me.”

  “I know, darlin’, but we agreed that she needs to get used to sleeping in her crib at night.”

  Having Dawn had really brought out a soft, sweet side of Willa that neither of us had been prepared for. It’d also gotten her real unsure of herself, doubting her abilities as a mother, which had her overcompensating a lot and feeling guilty for any second she weren’t right there next to Dawn, or doing anything that weren’t directly related to taking care of her.

  That included the new career she’d started up since we’d left everything behind.

  She designed hi-tech, top-of-the-line, and hella expensive security systems, putting her technical skills and all that coding know-how into good use, rather than the other set of skills she’d been using as Shadow all those months ago. Because we had to be careful and keep off the grid in order to keep the peace and freedom we’d worked so hard to achieve, she couldn’t contact, or work with, the clients directly. So, she’d employed somebody she trusted as the middleman to take care of that side of things. Rick Vale had become her business partner. I’d been wary of his intentions when it came to Willa at first. But after everything we’d suffered through, I’d come to see the lengths he’d gone to for her. He had her back, no question. And she needed it. She needed a purpose beyond me and Dawn. She always had to be working toward something professionally. It was just how she was wired.