“There’s nothing else, Valentina,” he says, sounding tired. “If anything, this shows how much I wanted you right from the start. I kept you completely away from the club because I wanted you to know me, Ardan, and not just Irish. But you also have Jess as a friend now, someone you can turn to if you have any questions you want to ask a woman, or, I don’t know . . . I just thought it would make bringing you into my world a little easier, because I plan on you staying here.”
Softening a little, I scoot next to him and lay my head on his chest, on the spot where he was injured. “You plan on me staying here?”
“I wouldn’t put so much effort in with you if I didn’t,” he says, closing his eyes. “I want you as my old lady. What did you think we were doing here?”
“Ardan,” I say when his rant is over.
“Yeah?”
“I love you too.”
Although Ardan can be controlling, it’s completely different from Darren. I get it now. The two men are nothing alike, nothing. It’s the thoughts and the reasons behind why Ardan does things, and the fact that even if I don’t listen to him, he won’t hurt me in any way. He has a good heart, and I can deal with his alpha tendencies. He just wants to take care of me, but there are no conditions behind it. He just loves me and wants the best for me.
His eyes spring open. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I say, half lying on top of him and kissing his lips. “I love you.”
“Finally,” he growls, kissing me deeply.
When he pulls away, I say to him, “But no more secrets.”
“Do I get make-up sex now?” he asks, making me grin.
“This was our first fight, wasn’t it?”
“There’ll be lots more where that came from,” he says, sucking on my bottom lip. “But if we keep our fights clean and our sex dirty, I think we’ll make it through each one.”
I think he’s right.
TWELVE
THE next night at dinner, I meet the rest of his brothers, including Vinnie, the club’s youngest member, and the club president, Sin. I remember Vinnie from seeing him briefly with Rake, but don’t mention that to either of them. I also meet all their old ladies and like them right away. They’re all beautiful, smart, witty women, and I can see why any man would be drawn to them. Faye is hilarious, and I can tell she cares for everyone under this roof, taking the time to talk with each member of the family. When Jess comes and sits next to me where we’re hanging outside, I don’t really know what to say to her, instantly feeling a little awkward.
“I wasn’t allowed to say anything to you about Irish or the club,” she says, wincing. “I’m sorry. I like you, Tina, and you’re an amazing hairdresser, so I hope our friendship doesn’t change because of this. I’m glad Irish told me to hire you, because you’re the perfect fit. For him and for the salon.”
“I guess I felt stupid that everyone knew except me,” I try to explain. “But I know it wasn’t your fault; it was his. Of course we’re still friends.”
She hugs me. “Good. I meant what I said—I’m happy Irish brought you into our lives.”
“Me too,” I admit, smiling at her.
“The men will do what they want to get what they want,” she says, shaking her head. “But they’re good men. Worth the alpha bullshit we have to put up with.”
“It’s pretty hot,” I admit, the feminist in me screaming.
“I know.” She laughs. “Trust me, I know.”
“So you forgive Jess straightaway but you’re still giving me shit?” Ardan jokes as he joins us.
“It wasn’t her diabolical plan,” I tell him with a raised brow. “What are you eating?”
“There’s some chicken wings and ribs up there. Do you want me to bring you some?”
“Yes, please,” I say, and my stomach growls in agreement.
He disappears into the kitchen, and I see Jess staring at me with an odd expression.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing,” she says, shrugging. “Just never seen him wait on a woman before. In my years and years of knowing him.”
I don’t know how to react to that, so I just shrug and stay quiet.
She continues, “I’ve never seen him go out of his way to do something for one either, unless one of his brothers asked it of him, of course.”
Ardan returns with a plate of food, which he hands to me. I thank him and offer some to Jess, who politely declines. He sits next to me as I eat, and Lana and Tracker join us.
“Your hair is so beautiful,” Lana says to me, her brown eyes focused on me. “I don’t think I’ve seen hair like that before.”
“Thank you,” I tell her, touching the ends. “Ardan tells me you write books?”
She looks confused for a moment, but then her eyes widen. “Oh, Irish, right. Yes, I do. Romance novels. Are you a reader?”
I nod. “I am, but mainly nonfiction, especially biographies. I’d love to give your books a try, though—I’m sure I’ll love them.”
“Maybe my next heroine will have hair like yours.”
“Maybe I’d like that,” I reply, smiling at her.
She returns it and says, “We’re going out to Rift this weekend. Do you want to come with us?”
“Rift?” I ask, never having heard of the place.
“Okay, that’s enough of that,” Ardan says, shooting Lana a look of disapproval. “Valentina is busy this weekend.”
“I am?” I ask, feeling amused.
“You are,” he says, not offering any kind of explanation.
“Let the woman breathe, Irish,” Lana says, not put out one bit by his words. “You have to let her bond with us. We’ll look after her, you know we will.”
“Fuck, I know you will; it’s not that. I’m not being a possessive asshole,” he explains to her. “She’s got some shit going on right now, and until it’s taken care of, she needs to be careful—and getting drunk and dancing on tables with you lot is pretty much the opposite of careful.”
“That only happened twice.” Lana pouts, then says, “If there’s anything we can do to help, let us know.”
“We’ve got this,” Tracker says to his woman, wrapping his arm around her. “We just need everyone to stay out of trouble for a little while. We don’t need any fuckin’ cops on our asses for any reason.”
I never thought about the fact that the cops could decide to hassle the MC because of Darren. Feeling worse than I already did, I throw Ardan a look that says, This is exactly what I didn’t want.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he says, taking a chicken wing off my plate. “We’re just looking at the situation from every angle. We don’t know what shit he’s going to pull, or how much power he holds here, but we need to lay low until we figure it all out.”
I look at Lana and say, “I’d love to come out with you as soon as I can.”
She grins. “It’s a date.”
Tracker looks at me and says, “Now onto the important stuff. Lana doesn’t want me to cut my hair, so will you cut it for me behind her back?”
Lana elbows him in the stomach. “The man bun looks so damn sexy on you! Don’t cut it!”
“Man bun,” Ardan snickers from beside me. “Fuck’s sake, Tracker.”
“Hey,” Tracker says, sounding offended. “It gets all the bi—” As if just remembering his company, he clears his throat and tries again. “It got me this beautiful woman by my side.”
“Nice try,” Lana mutters, then runs her hand through his hair. “It’s always been like this ever since I met you. If you cut it off, that’s like false advertising. You made it seem like I’d always have this, and now you’re just going to take it away? You need to keep yourself how you were when I fell in love with you.”
“Where do you come up with this shit?” he asks, his lips twitching. He looks to Ardan. “She
comes up with shit on the spot like that all the time. No wonder she’s so good at her job.”
Lana grins at me. “Lucky he’s cute, right?”
I laugh at their banter. The two of them obviously love each other so much.
“I’m more than cute. I’m a cover model,” he boasts, lifting up his T-shirt to show off a set of rock-hard abs. “I’m a god. And I’m practically famous.”
“Because you’re my man,” Lana adds, raising her eyebrows. Jess laughs and stands to leave the room. “See, you’re chasing everyone away now.”
“Including us,” Ardan says, smirking. He stands and offers me his hand, taking the now-empty plate from me. “Let’s go inside.”
We mingle with everyone for another two hours before we go back to my apartment. All I can think of after meeting everyone is that I really hope my being in their lives doesn’t bring them any trouble.
That, and that Ardan is a very lucky man to have such great people at his back.
The next morning, I wake Ardan with my mouth on him. I watch as he slowly awakens, his dark eyes pinned on me as my tongue works its magic. Keeping our gazes connected, I take as much of him as I can into my mouth, pulling back when I start to gag a little, bobbing my head as I pleasure him.
“Fuck, Valentina,” he growls, his hands gripping the white sheets. He lets go and brings them to tangle in my hair. He tugs on it a little, turning me on even more.
“Just like that,” he groans, sinking his teeth into his bottom lip.
I give it to him just how I know he likes it, swiping my tongue over him and sucking with just the right pressure. It’s not long before he comes, and I swallow every drop, loving the almost growling sounds he makes as he finishes. I sit back and smile at him and say, “Good morning.”
“It is, isn’t it,” he says, his eyes warm on me. “Fuck, I’d die a happy man if you woke me up every morning like that. I’m going to be cheery as shit all day.”
I laugh and crawl up the bed next to him, lying on my back.
He flips me over, rolls on top of me, and says, “Now it’s your turn.”
Yeah, today is going to be a good day indeed.
THIRTEEN
I’M walking to the fridge in nothing but my black nightie when I hear a banging on the front door.
“Police! Open up!”
I don’t recognize the voice, so it’s not Darren.
Ardan quickly emerges from our room in nothing but a pair of black track pants. He looks at me, rushes back to the room, and returns holding one of his T-shirts in his hand.
“Put this over your nightie, now,” he says in a no-nonsense tone.
I do as I’m told, his T-shirt hitting my knees and covering my breasts, and stand back as he opens the front door.
Two cops stand there.
And one is him.
Fuck.
He’s really here. He’s doing this. He hates me that much, that he’s going completely out of his way to make my life miserable. He came from across the country, dead set on what—revenge? Against the only woman who once loved him, the woman who tried to save him from drugs, the one who gave him everything she had?
The one he tried to destroy.
After he manipulated me, cheated on me, and verbally and emotionally abused me, he still wants more from me.
There’s a fine line between love and hate, but now we are well into hate, way past the line.
It’s sad it has come to this, and it breaks my heart, but sometimes people change, and there’s nothing you can do. Sometimes when you keep taking the high road, you just get tired of it. I can’t keep forgiving his actions; I’m just done with it all. He’s nothing to me. I stand there looking at him, and I feel nothing.
Our good memories are tainted by the bad ones. The man standing in front of me, I don’t know. What I do know is, he’s the enemy.
And the man at my side—he’s my savior.
I try to school my expression into blankness as the two men stare down Ardan.
“We got called in for a disturbance here,” Darren says, his gaze touching me from head to toe. “Did the two of you have a fight or something?”
“No,” Ardan replies, tone full of steel. “There must be a mistake, Officer. Nothing going on here except a couple unwinding after a long day of work.”
He says officer with something dark and bitter in his tone, and the cops don’t miss it.
“We’ll just take a look around,” the other officer says, and Ardan’s body posture instantly becomes a little more menacing; he stands up straighter and his hands clench.
“Pretty sure you need some kind of warrant to do that. How about I call my lawyer first and see what she says about it?”
Darren’s face scrunches up in distaste. “We can do whatever the fuck we want. Now step aside before we arrest you and take you in.”
“For what? Knowing my rights?” Ardan says, sounding incredulous. I notice he speaks to the other officer, not Darren. “I’m going to call my lawyer. She will be here in ten minutes, and I’m sure she’s going to love hearing about exactly what the fuck is going on.”
He steps away from the door and stands next to me, pulling out his phone. Darren steps inside, but I notice the other officer hesitate, maybe wanting to follow protocol. Darren has no such hesitations, however, looking around and checking each room.
“Everything seems fine here,” the officer says to Darren, then looks to me. “Is there anything I can help you with, ma’am?”
I shake my head and step closer to Ardan. “I’m fine, sir. Just a little confused as to why this is happening right now.”
He nods and glances around one more time before exiting and heading toward the police vehicle. Darren looks straight at me, making my heart race and my chest tighten.
I can’t bear to even look at him; it makes me feel sick. Makes me feel dirty.
“I’ll see you soon,” he says.
A threat.
And then, he makes a mistake.
He reaches his hand out to touch me.
In a move so quick that I almost miss it, Ardan reaches his hand out and pushes Darren’s arm away before his fingers can touch my face.
“I don’t give a fuck who you are,” Ardan growls, his voice so full of anger. “You do not lay a hand on her.”
Darren drops the pretense of not knowing who we are and snarls, “Shacked up with a biker, Tina? Think that’s going to save you?”
“Think being a cop is going to save you?” Ardan fires back, pulling me closer to his side. “This is my city, you fucker. Enjoy it while you’re here, because if you come near Valentina again, you won’t make it out alive.”
Darren swallows and then looks at me. “This is the man you chose?”
I shrug and say, “At least he’s never called me names or belittled me or left bruises on me. I definitely traded up.”
Ardan goes still beside me, and I regret letting the words fall out of my mouth.
“I will fuckin’ make you regret any harm you’ve done to her,” he growls, making me sigh and tug on his arm. Before Darren can reply, the other officer returns and asks what’s going on here. Darren quickly backs off. The two of them leave, and I stand there a moment, replaying the situation in my head. What was the point of that?
“I think he was testing his cop buddy,” Ardan says, obviously analyzing what happened as well. “That cop’s not dirty, though. He wouldn’t have allowed Darren to do anything. Although Darren could have arrested me by saying I attacked him or some other bullshit.”
He starts to pace. “What fuckin’ game is he playing at?”
He stops and looks at me, comes to me, and kisses me softly. “I’m going to call Faye. Do you think you can try to get some rest?”
I nod, even though I know it’s a lie. There’s no way I’ll sleep now,
especially with him not in the bed with me. Another kiss, and then I leave him to his phone call. I lie in bed, staring up at the ceiling.
I stay like that for an hour until Ardan returns to bed. Once he wraps me in his embrace, only then does sleep come.
“You know Irish wants to kill Darren, right? Not like a metaphor—he actually wants to kill him,” Faye says boldly, sipping on her cocktail.
I look into my martini and nod. “Yeah, I think I got that last night when he threatened him.”
“And how do you feel about that? There’s another way we can go about it, you know. We could find him guilty of all the shit he’s been doing, but we’ll have to find evidence to put him in prison. I was thinking about this last night, and I actually came up with an idea,” she says, an evil glint in her eye. “I need to talk to Irish, of course, but I could totally get his ass behind bars.”
“I think I’d prefer Darren behind bars to Ardan having to kill someone,” I say, grimacing. “I don’t know how I’d handle that, to be completely honest. It feels like him doing my dirty work for me, and I don’t like that.” I pause. “Not that I’d ever kill anyone, but you know what I mean. I want to help if we’re going to do the prison thing. Maybe I can play bait in some way? Get him to admit shit while we have a camera recording everything? There’s a big spotlight on dirty cops right now, and I think he’ll get what he deserves. It actually makes me sad, because there are some amazing cops out there, working their asses off and doing the right thing, and then there’s someone like Darren who makes them look bad.”
“I’m still stuck on bait,” Faye says, grinning. “I think you’re onto something, Tina. Irish is going to hate it, though. In fact, what’s the bet he thinks I came up with the idea in the first place? Although I have to admit, the thought did cross my mind.
“You’re the only one who can get him to talk; you know him; you can manipulate him, I think. Dex also spoke to his brother, Eric, who was seen with Darren, and Eric said he met him through a friend but thinks he’s a douche and is willing to help us take his ass down.”
Dirty Ride Page 7