Steel 4: Blackthorne MC #4
Page 5
As her orgasm overtook her body, she called out my name again, and I took that as my cue to drive into her faster and faster. She gripped me tightly. My whole body tensed as I came hard.
I collapsed beside her, struggling to catch my breath, only now aware of the pain of my bruises. I hadn’t given them much thought as the pleasure had overwhelmed me.
Ella lay beside me. Her eyes were closed but she had a smile on her face.
I leaned forward to trace a kiss along her lips, and then went to the bathroom to dispose of the condom.
When I got back to the bedroom, Ella had curled up on her side and was fast asleep. I took a moment to gaze down at her before slipping into bed beside her and wrapping my arms around her warm body.
Whatever happened in the future, at least I would have this memory.
10
Ella
The next day, I reluctantly went to breakfast with Nick.
“I’m not sure I can face Victor,” I said as he practically pulled me along down the corridor.
“It’s better to get it over with,” Nick said. “Things are never as bad as they seem.”
“But how can you eat breakfast in the same room as him after everything he did to you? He could have killed you, Nick.”
Nick shrugged. “I’ve had worse beatings.”
“Don’t be flippant,” I snapped.
“This is part of the life. My life.” Nick reached for my other hand and interlocked his fingers with mine. “I have to make the best of it.”
I sighed. He was wrong. This was no kind of life. He deserved so much better than this. My anger was still simmering away inside of me. If I thought I hated Victor before, it was nothing compared to how I felt now. I swore to myself that one day I would make sure Victor Blackthorne paid for this.
As we entered the main bar area where Nancy set up the tables for breakfast, the conversation died down to a low murmur. People were gathered at different tables, but all of them lifted their heads from their breakfast to stare at us as we walked in.
My eyes zeroed in on Victor’s table.
As usual, Victor sat next to Jackson. His empty plate was in front of him, and he raised his coffee cup to us in a mocking gesture.
“Good morning,” Victor said. “Why don’t you two join us?”
That was the last thing I wanted to do, and Nick had to practically tug me towards the table.
He pulled out a chair for me, and I sat down stiffly. I didn’t even look at Victor. My whole body was trembling with a mixture of fear and anger.
Nick, on the other hand, was cool and relaxed. I didn’t know how he did it.
“Morning,” he said, smiling at Victor and Jackson, and then he reached for the coffee pot to pour us both coffee.
I stared down at the table.
“Breakfast always tastes better after you’ve cleared the air the night before, right, Nick?” Victor was determined to rub it in, but it was like water off a duck’s back to Nick.
“Best meal of the day,” Nick said.
I dared to raise my eyes from the table to look at Victor, but quickly looked down again and shuddered when I saw he was staring at me.
He smiled and looked like he was about to speak, but before he could, there was a movement at my side. When I looked up, I saw Victor’s brother, Damien Blackthorne.
He looked at us all suspiciously, and for the first time, it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen him last night. Had he been there?
“Good morning, Damien,” Jackson said.
He received a grunt from Damien in reply. It was pretty clear that Damien was jealous of Jackson’s closeness to his brother and resented him for it.
As much as I hated Damien when I first met him, I couldn’t help thinking that the Blackthorne crew might be better off if it had Damien at its helm.
Nancy bustled up to the table. “I’ve cooked more bacon. Would you like some more, Victor?” she asked, giving him a sweet smile.
Victor patted his washboard stomach. “No, thanks, sweetheart. I’m full to the brim, but it was delicious.” He gave her a charming smile.
Damien scowled.
Nancy put a fresh supply of toast in the centre of the table. “What can I get you?” she asked, looking at Nick and I in turn.
“I’ll just have some toast, thanks,” I said, reaching for a slice.
Nancy turned her attention to Nick. “The usual, Nick?”
Nick gave Nancy a smile that left Victor’s in the shade. He was so gorgeous it hurt to look at him sometimes.
“That would be lovely, thank you.”
Nancy flushed with pleasure and bustled away from the table again.
Jackson passed me the butter by sliding it across the table. I looked up at him and our gazes clashed. I wasn’t about to thank him, though. Screw being polite. I was quite able to reach for the butter on my own.
I scowled at Jackson and then looked down at my toast as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.
“I’ve got a new job for you, Nick,” Victor said.
My eyes flickered up and rested on Victor. A job? Did that mean he was sending Nick away? I didn’t think I could stand it here without him.
“What’s the job?” Nick asked casually and took a sip of his coffee.
“Collecting the donations.”
I’d heard enough over the past few days to realize that when Victor referred to donations he was actually talking about the protection money they took from various establishments in the area.
“I’d like you to go with Chad and Tom like usual, but this time, Jackson’s going to go with you, too.” Victor gave a cold smile and enjoyed Nick’s reaction.
Nick visibly tensed as his eyes flickered over to Jackson. The two men stared at each other for a moment before Nick shrugged. I could tell it was an effort for him not to protest.
“Fine,” Nick said bluntly. “Whatever you think works.”
Victor nodded slowly. “Good. It’s nice to see we’re on the same page.”
Jackson and Victor exchanged a look that made me nervous. Were they planning something?
With Nick gone, along with Chad, Tom and Jackson, I would feel lost here.
But what Victor said next surprised me, “You can take Ella with you.”
He looked at me and scowled. “I don’t want to see her miserable face moping about without you. It seems as if this thing between you two isn’t about to end, so it looks like I’m going to have to get used to it.”
Victor shifted his gaze back to Nick. “I still expect total commitment from you, though. I don’t want you getting distracted on the job. Understand?”
Nick nodded. “Of course.”
Nancy returned and set a plate of bacon and eggs in front of Nick. He thanked her and then started digging in as I picked at my toast. I didn’t understand how he could have such a healthy appetite after everything that had happened.
Damien Blackthorne cleared his throat. “I couldn’t help noticing that my name was not on the list.” He glared at his brother.
“And do you have a problem with that?” Victor snarled.
It was quite obvious that Damien did have a problem with that, a big problem. But instead of saying so, he just shrugged.
“Nothing to do with me,” Damien said. “You’re the one in charge, after all.”
I couldn’t be the only one to have picked up on the contempt in Damien’s voice.
I held my breath as I waited for Victor’s response. I expected him to explode.
He looked at his brother coldly before picking up his coffee and taking a sip.
When he set the cup back down on the table, he said, “That’s right. I’m the one in charge. And nobody should forget that, including you, Damien.”
Damien’s skin flushed hot red, and I saw a muscle jump in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. He pushed his plate away from him in disgust and stood up, scraping the chair against the floor loudly.
“I’ve lost my appetite,” he
growled and then stalked out of the bar.
After everyone had gone, leaving us alone at the table, I turned to Nick. “Is this a bad thing?”
“A bad thing?”
“The fact that Victor is sending us off somewhere to collect the donations, does that mean he’s getting us out of the way for some ulterior motive?”
Nick shook his head slowly. “No, this is back to normal for Victor. That’s how he is. One moment he’s exploding in anger, and in the next moment, everything is right as rain and business as usual. It normally takes us a couple of days to go around to all the properties. We’ll stay overnight in a couple of places. It’s not really a risky job. The guys we visit are pretty loyal to Victor and don’t put up much of a fuss.”
He smiled at me and then reached out and covered my hand with his. “I’m glad you’re coming with me, though. I would have worried if I’d had to leave you here.”
I tried to match Nick’s smile and feel positive about this. Any chance to get away from the Blackthorne club and Victor, even for a short time, had to be a good thing.
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