by KB Winters
“I got moved around the east coast for a while, New York. That’s where they made sure I knew…who was boss. It took a couple months, a few busted ribs and a concussion to learn, but I did. Then I spent some time in Chicago. It was really bad there, but I couldn’t let myself succumb to the drugs like the other girls. As long as I did what I was told, they didn’t force them into me. Then there was Denver, Albuquerque, Vegas and Portland. When Magnus found me in the back of that truck I was headed to Mexico.”
She fell silent for so long, and I felt like a jackass because I had no clue what to say to her. It explained so much about her quirks, but fuck, it also broke my heart for her. Made me angry enough to use my military skills to exact revenge for her. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, baby.”
“Yeah, me, too,” she sighed, and then rested her chin on the hand over my heart so she could look at me. “Do you know you’re the only person I’ve ever had sex with that I wanted to? Ever?”
Damn, there was nothing else she could have said to get to me. Fuck. I felt honored that she’d given herself to me, but I didn’t want her to stay in that dark place. Not for me. “It’s because I’m so irresistible,” I joked and tightened my grip on her, smacking a kiss on her forehead. “I can’t say I’m not glad you chose me, but fuck, I want to kill the pieces of shit who did this to you.”
She gave a wistful smile. “Good luck. That’s all I dreamed about my first year out. But I don’t know anyone’s real names or addresses, so I gave up. I guess the shit today just brought it all to the surface.” She blew out a long, shaky breath and pushed off me before sliding from the bed. “Now you know my story,” she said, and moments later I heard her in the kitchen. She stayed there for a few minutes and I let her, gave her the distance she needed after that.
“Thank you for telling me,” I told her when she returned to bed with two glasses of water in her hands.
“Thanks for coming to check on me.” She flashed a smile and placed her head on my chest again, this time right over my heart.
I opened my mouth to say something, hell to say anything. To tell her I would always check on her, but I didn’t. I didn’t know what she needed—wanted—to hear. By the time I found the words, her breathing was slow and deep. She’d fallen asleep. I gently tucked us under the blankets and held her tight through a restless, fitful sleep.
She cried out, kicked, and twitched in her sleep, and I realized why she never let me stay the night. And suddenly it all became so fucking clear I could have kicked myself for not realizing it sooner. Why she didn’t have food delivered and why this little cottage had a tricked out surveillance system.
Yeah, it made sense, but what the fuck was I supposed to do with it?
***
“You haven’t heard from her at all?”
I shook my head, pissed off and confused as hell about Minx’s disappearance. In the passenger seat of Mick’s old ass truck, I sulked as we headed to a town just over the border for our meeting with Lazarus. “Nope, she was quiet but fine the last time I saw her.” Which was the morning after she revealed her past to me. We made love on and off throughout the night, and she made me breakfast before kicking me out with a kiss that I could still feel on my lips. “I blame myself,” I told Mick. I was too fucking focused on whether or not I could handle what she had said that I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have. She couldn’t have been fine after reliving all that.
And I’d done fuck all to help her.
“Talon said she left a note.”
“Yeah.” It just said, “Thanks for everything. I need to clear my mind for a while. That was it. No promise to fucking return or check in. Nothing. Just peace out, see ya when I fucking see ya. Adios, motherfucker.”
“Can you handle it? I think you better figure that out before she comes back.”
If she comes back. “I can handle a lot. What I can’t fucking handle is running.”
Mick’s sigh said he thought I was a dumb shit. “Her parents never found her, and as far as she knows never even looked for her. No one saved her until Magnus, and even he left.”
Well shit. I hadn’t thought of it like that. “Eyes up.” I didn’t have time to worry about it now that we closed in on our destination. I didn’t fucking trust Lazarus as far as I could throw his little Mexican ass, and if he wanted to try some shit, we would be ready. Lazarus and four of his men leaned against a black SUV, smoking and laughing when we pulled up in front of the meeting spot. It was near a crowded market which made it difficult to watch our backs, but the objective here was simple. Keep an eye on Roddick and Lazarus.
We stepped from the truck, and the man’s face lit up. “Gentlemen, to what do I owe this pleasure?”
Before we could say a word, Roddick rode up on his bike and dismounted, slowly ambling to where we stood with Lazarus just inches from us. “Lazarus. We got some news you might want to hear, amigo.”
“I’m listening,” he said in that deep heavily accented voice that was just a touch girly.
“Word on the street is that your new transport is selling your shit on the side.”
“Not possible,” Lazarus laughed and rolled his eyes. Lazarus stood tall and brushed his way too long hair from his eyes, but the lines around his eyes were tight.
“Tell that to the Black Bastards and Grim Reapers. Hell, you can even ask the Dragons.” He named a few of the other clubs in the area, and I saw the lines around Lazarus’ mouth tighten.
His eyes flared at the last name because they’d gone to war two years ago with the Dragons over the synthetic drugs the Chinese were selling. The war killed Lazarus’ young brother, Julio. “The fuck you say?”
“You heard me,” Roddick told him. “You did me a solid recently, so I’m returning the favor. That’s all.” He walked away and hopped on his bike.
“Gracias,” he called out, laughing when Roddick only waved in return.
Mick and I jumped back in the truck and followed Rod, along with the other guys we had nearby, back to Brently. We didn’t even have time to get comfortable before I spotted it. “Burning rubber, two o’clock,” I said, and Mick went on alert as I knew he would. In the desert, the enemies always staged a distraction right before an attack.
Mick groaned and flashed his lights up ahead to signal the rest of them that trouble was brewing. “Fucking fuck!” He smacked the steering wheel when Roddick fell off his bike a quarter mile up the road. “Shit!”
We caught up to them quickly, all the guys surrounding Roddick to protect him from the bullets flying across the highway. I jumped out and went around to the driver’s side with my gun in hand, opening fire and shielding the guys so they could get Roddick to the truck without being hit. I heard an anguished grunt and knew one of them had been hit. I emptied my clip just to be sure then hopped in the back with Roddick while Mick raced back to the clubhouse.
The truck came to a screeching halt outside the clubhouse, and we carried Roddick inside. We had a medical room in the back and put him on the bed, cutting off his jeans and getting him some water. We all knew the fucking drill, but it didn’t mean we weren’t worried about our Prez. “Go get Cherie,” I yelled. She was a nurse and Baz’s older sister which meant she knew how to be discreet. We paid for discreet.
“She’s on her way already,” Baz said as he rushed in with towels, an IV drip, and Jack Daniels. “How you holdin’ up, Prez?”
“Just fucking great, Baz,” he said, smiling around a grimace. “Don’t I look it?”
“Pretty as ever, bro. Just a tad bloody for my taste,” he said as blood soaked through Roddick’s shirt.
Roddick laughed and pulled the cap off the bottle of Jack. “Ah, thanks.” He offered a smile and smacked his lips, chugging back a heavy swig. “Bullet went out, so I’ll be good,” he said after Jack started to work his legendary magic.
“All right, Roddick, what have you got for me?” Cherie rushed in all soft blonde curls and no nonsense attitude.
“You
finally get a peek at these sexy legs,” he joked, making her do the impossible. Smile.
“Easier ways to show off, you know?” She had her gloves on and bent low to examine the wound.
“We’re going back for your bike, Rod. You’re in good hands,” Mick told him with an amused smile.
“Be careful,” he told us, but his gaze stayed on me. “Get my bike and then go deal with your shit because you know what this means.”
I knew what he was saying, and I nodded before I spoke the word we were all thinking but no one had said. “War.”
Chapter Seven
Minx
I spent a week walking along the beach from early in the morning until late at night, and it hadn’t been nearly enough. I rented a surfboard and just sat in the water letting the waves toss me around while I tried to sort my shit out. I needed more time because my head was nowhere near clear, and the nightmares were back. But I had a life to get back to, or more accurately, I had a house and a small business that I couldn’t abandon if I wanted to keep food in my belly and gas in my car.
I rolled back into Brently in the early afternoon and kept my promise to stop at Talon’s first thing. “Hey,” I said when she pulled open the door with a wide-eyed smile.
“Minx! I’m so glad to see you.” She yanked me inside and wrapped me as close as her belly would allow in a choking hug. “I was so worried about you.”
“You don’t need to worry. I’m always fine.”
“That’s what worries me,” she said and poured two glasses of iced tea. “No one is always fine, girl, not even you. That means you’re internalizing it.”
“It’s how I deal, T, but I’m trying.” She opened her mouth to argue, but I held up the box I carried in to stop her. “Now we can talk about that, or we can talk about the wedding gifts I found while I was away.”
She smiled, and when her gaze slid to the box for the third time, I shoved it across the table. She pulled out the vintage twenties style veil and gasped. “I love it!” When she spotted the light blue gothic style garter the waterworks began. “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome” I said, chuckling a little. “How have you been?” The hairs on the back of my neck stood, and my spine went stock still the longer it took her to talk.
“Well, Cash has been worried sick about you.” She gave me an admonishing look, but I willed my entire being to stay still.
“I figured he would be, but I just needed to get away.” I wouldn’t apologize for that, not even to Talon. I listened with a sickness I couldn’t name in my stomach as she told me about Roddick. “Is he okay?”
She shrugged. “Mick says he will be, but tensions are high in town, and they’re talking war.”
“Looks like my timing is spot on, as usual. Great.” I stood and hugged Talon, letting her squeeze me tight because I knew she worried about me. “I probably have a lot of stuff waiting for me at home, so I’d better get going. Gotta make that money.”
“Come back tomorrow for dinner,” she ordered in that tone that told me that arguing would be pointless, so I waved and started the engine. I stopped at the store and picked up a few things before stopping at the club.
“Hey, Roddick, how are you?” He looked like shit, pale with red-rimmed eyes.
“I’ve been better, kid. What are you doing here?”
“Talon told me you were hurt, so I came to bring you a few things.” I unloaded the box of his favorite snacks and the tablet he kept hidden behind the bar. “Might make recovery less boring.”
He laughed and looked at everything. “Thanks, Minx.” He tore open a box of Suzy-Q’s and bit into one of the chocolatey cakes with a loud moan. “I’m sure Talon told you what’s been going on, so you know why I’m going to have the prospects man the bar this week?”
It was clear I was no longer needed, and that was just fine with me. These guys had become like a weird, horny family to me, but they weren’t the first family I lost. If I was smart—and I liked to think I was—they’d be my last. “Fine. I need to go so, feel better.”
“Minx wait—”
“It’s fine, I get it. Take care of yourself,” I told him and rushed from the room, through the club and back to my car. I knew what had to be done now, and it made me glad I’d picked up a few bags of groceries for myself. I spent the next few days holed up at the cottage, sewing and studying, studying and sewing. In between I would eat and sleep while music played constantly. I was always busy and it was always loud, just how I wanted it.
By day three my mind began to wander to Cash, wondering if he was okay or how pissed off he was. But I knew the truth was he’d already given up on me like everyone else had, only this time I couldn’t blame him. I pushed and pushed and in the end, he realized what I’d always known—I just wasn’t worth the effort.
Keeping weird hours and an impossible workload had taken its toll, and I fell asleep in the middle of the fourth day of confinement. I woke up to someone pounding on the door with the strength of ten men and instantly I went on alert, running to check the surveillance before pulling the door open. “Yes?”
He looked at me, green eyes furious yet relieved, and pushed his way inside, slamming and locking the door behind him. I wasn’t worried because I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, but still I took a step back. “Don’t run away from me.”
“I didn’t run—”
He cut me off. “You did. You fucking did.” He toed off his boots and pulled me into the living room where he wrapped me in his arms. “You told me about your past, freaked out, and ran.”
Okay, now he was pissing me off. “So what if I did, Cash? I’m not your responsibility just because we had sex a few times.”
“I refuse to even respond to that bullshit, Minx. Lie to yourself, sweetheart, but don’t ever fucking lie to me.” His voice was low and daunting as he brushed a whisper-soft kiss against my lips, so achingly tender I felt my eyes begin to sting.
“What are you doing here?”
“As soon as I found out you were back in town I came to check on you. Though it would have been nice to get a call or a text. Maybe a smoke signal.” He leaned in and kissed me again and this time it was all hungry and frantic, demanding and desperate. I couldn’t resist his kisses if I wanted to, and I didn’t want to. I missed him, and I told him so with my mouth. My tongue. “I’m glad you’re okay, Minx, but goddammit I want to paddle your ass for making me worry so long.”
I rolled my eyes up at him and smiled. “Promises, promises.”
He tossed me over his shoulder and carried me to the bedroom where he tossed me on the bed and kept his promise. “I told you, Minx, I’m a man of my word.
I was starting to see that.
***
Willingly sharing my body with someone was an act of trust and intimacy that scared the hell out of me. I just wish I’d realized it before now—before another earth-shattering night spent with Cash’s big body wrapped around mine. The man was a master lover, using his entire body to bring mine to unspeakable heights. And he made the most delicious noises when I explored his big, strong body. I woke up and turned to him, and only one word came to mind. More. I wanted—no I needed—more of this man. My body buzzed with need like I just couldn’t get enough of him, and that scared the shit out of me.
Yesterday morning after he kissed me until I was on the verge of begging him to stay, I gave him my number. A way to get in touch with me when he was worried or wanted to come by. Now that he knew why it was a big deal, I knew he’d call even if it was to tell me he was on my doorstep waiting.
I smiled as I thought about how grumpy he got when he was worried because an alpha like him didn’t do vulnerability. It was nice to have someone in my life who seemed to give a damn about me, but it would take some time to get used to. Probably a long time.
Or maybe I was fooling myself, thinking I could have anything that resembled normal after what I’d been through. A guy like Cash would probably want someone with less baggage, less damage. Eve
ntually the nightmares, my hang ups about security and visitors, all of it would grow tiresome. He’d get sick of it just when I was getting used to having him around, and then he would leave. I sighed. Why did the thought of losing him make my heart feel hollow with a dull ache? I didn’t like that shit. Not at all.
I couldn’t get used to this, I had to back away.
No more sleepovers.
No more sex.
No more Cash.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck! “No. More. Cash!” I said out loud just to get it through my thick skull.
Yet when he called later that afternoon, I answered halfway through the second ring. Weak, that’s what I was. Fucking weak. “Yeah?”
“What do you want for dinner?”
“I’m already cooking so if you want, you can stop by.” He went silent because apparently, I surprised him as much as I’d surprised myself.
“I’ll be there in ten. Wear something sexy,” he chuckled and disconnected the call.
“Fucking weak, that’s what you are.” I told myself that at least three times before I put the chicken, potatoes, and vegetables in the oven to roast. And though I wouldn’t change my clothes—a girl had to have some pride, after all—the cook time would allow for one more taste of that sweet man.
Fifteen minutes later a knock sounded and I went to the door, ready to give him crap for being late. I paused a fraction of a second before turning the knob as a weird sensation skittered down my spine. But it was too late. I groaned. “What are you doing here, Wagman? And how the fuck do you even know where I live?
“Why, sweetheart, Minxy baby, I came for you,” he said with that smarmy smile that made my stomach turn. “Ain’t you happy to see me?”
I didn’t get the chance to answer because a meaty fist flew at my face too fast to move, and then shit went black.
Chapter Eight
Cash
Minx’s invitation surprised the hell out of me, but I wasn’t one to ask why she had a change of heart. I grabbed a bottle of tequila and her favorite pistachio ice cream and made my way to the small cottage. I climbed the stairs with a smile already splitting my face, ready to kiss the hell out of her, but that all quickly faded away as I caught the door partially open. And was that…blood on the floor?