by KB Winters
“Yeah?” I looked back over my shoulder.
“Call me when you need me. I’ll offer whatever help I can.”
“Thanks, Dodds. You’re all right.”
“Thanks,” he snorted. “Tell that to my precinct.”
I could only imagine what it was like for him, the guy who took down a dirty cop, in a building full of cops who strongly believed in the thin blue fucking line. “Fuck’ em. You’re a good man, Dodds.”
He nodded and I hopped on my bike, eager to get back home and see my woman and my kid.
Chapter Sixteen - Stitch
I didn’t know how many days had passed since we made the devil’s deal with Carlito, but it felt like weeks since I’d last been in my bed. My apartment. With my club. Hell, I hadn’t seen or heard one peep from Marisol since Gunnar killed one of Carlito’s men and laid Guapo out. “How long do you think it’s been, Gunnar?”
“At least a week, maybe more. Why the hell you so concerned with how long we’ve been here? You should be more worried about when we’re getting the fuck out. If we’re getting the fuck out.”
As usual, he was a grouchy fucker only this time I couldn’t blame him. We hadn’t had much to eat since we got here because Gunnar was sure Carlito was trying to poison us.
I didn’t believe it, but I wasn’t dumb enough to risk it. No matter what Gunnar thought. “I’m just fucking curious, man.”
“Sorry,” he grunted out. “We have to do something, Stitch. If I stay here another day, I’ll lose my shit and murder everyone.”
“Say the word,” I laughed, “and I’ll be your partner in crime.”
“Always, kid.” He flashed a smile in my direction and I didn’t know if that smile was Gunnar being nice because he thought we were about to die or because he actually didn’t hate me the way he seemed to all the damn time.
Carlito had made Guapo lock the door after Gunnar had gone all Rambo on their asses. The big metal door made a lot of fucking noise when it was being disengaged. It would be impossible to sneak in with that loud thing announcing their arrival, which meant it was the only reason either of us had gotten any sleep since we got here.
“Good morning!” Carlito’s chipper voice sounded, honest to fucking God, like nails on a chalkboard and the only reason I hadn’t brained the fucker was because of Marisol. “I hope you slept well.”
“A bed would’ve been real fucking nice,” Gunnar grunted out, refusing to do anything that might make Carlito think he had the upper fucking hand.
“Yes, I’m sure it would be,” he said with a giant fucking smirk that a man wore when he got laid and that thought only pissed me off. It made me see red. It made me want to get up on my feet and pound that fucker’s face until he was completely unrecognizable. “Smile boys, today is a good day!”
That false chipper shit grated on my nerves, but I kept quiet because he seemed to want to piss me off. Probably because he couldn’t stand the thought of another man being inside Marisol.
“What’s so good about it?” Gunnar rose to his full height and squared his wide shoulders, intimidating even when he wasn’t trying to be. Carlito took an unconscious step back.
With a snap of his fingers, Carlito produced Marisol who looked frail and pale. Based on the colors of her fading bruises it looked like pequeño diablo had kept his word. “I thought you might like to say goodbye to Marisol since you’re leaving today.”
I didn’t trust this fucker. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch,” he said quickly but his lips twitched and there was a gleam in his eyes that I didn’t like.
Gunnar took a step forward, anger emanating off him but I saw the smile in his eyes when Carlito slid Marisol between them. Fuckin’ pussy. “You mean see you soon, right?” Arms crossed to show off twenty-one inch biceps, Gunnar took another step forward at Carlito’s confused expression. “You said goodbye but that would indicate we wouldn’t see her again. So you meant to say see you soon, didn’t you?”
He swallowed, eyes wide with fear and trying hard not to show it. For the boss of a huge cartel, he sure was wimpy. But whatever this place was, it wasn’t his main base of operations because he didn’t replace the man Gunnar killed and the other one was still walking with a limp from the bullet that went through his leg. “Of course. Just a slip of the tongue.”
“Fine. What time do we leave?” Gunnar barked the question at him, his tone said he wasn’t in the mood for a bullshit answer.
“Soon.” That was all Carlito said and Gunnar nodded, drawing a smile from the tiny fucker.
“Good. Leave her with us until we go.” Carlito sucked in a breath, ready to argue but Gunnar held up a hand. “We just want to make sure she’s all right. Unless you’re planning to back out of our deal?”
“No, of course not.” Carlito shook his head a little too quickly and Gunnar noticed it too but stood still as a stone. His face emotionless. Blank and scary as hell. “She can stay but don’t think of doing anything to her.”
Gunnar scoffed and arched a brow. “That’s your style, not mine.”
“Jefe.” Guapo stood in the doorway glaring at Gunnar with a gun in his hands as he waited for Carlito to answer.
“What?” he snapped and whirled around on those fancy boots with the heels on them.
“It’s time to get the truck loaded.”
Carlito nodded and turned back to Gunnar. “Fine, you can keep her for now. I’ll be back.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Carlito.”
“Watch your fuckin’ mouth,” Guapo snapped at him and Gunnar smiled.
“Ready for ass kicking number two, fat boy?” Angry, Guapo took a step forward but that was it before Carlito put a hand to his chest.
“We don’t have time for this. Go load the truck and I’ll come check on it. Now.” He turned again with a smile. “Remember who she belongs to.”
When the door locked, Gunnar groaned. “Are you really fucking that guy because I’m getting strong feminine vibes from him.”
Marisol still shook with fear but her lips twitched. “You don’t have to do this,” she said, her voice so damn small that if I wasn’t looking I wouldn’t believe it was her.
“I know I don’t, sweetheart. But I also don’t let innocent women get caught up in shit they don’t deserve.” His gaze hardened. “You don’t deserve this, do you?”
She sighed and her legs wobbled, sending me up on my feet and charging towards her, but Gunnar was closer and he scooped her in his arms first and set her on the chair he’d been sitting in. “Thanks. No, I don’t deserve it. At least I don’t think so.”
“Of course you don’t Marisol, don’t even think that shit. Fuck that guy,” I told her and wrapped my arms around her. When she closed her eyes and leaned into me, I noticed her soft curves had faded a little. She’d lost some weight and that just pissed me off. “Are you okay?” I cupped her cheeks and looked deep into big coffee brown eyes that had lost their spark. Seeing those dark brown eyes with ribbons of caramel and amber in them without their signature spark pissed me off and I knew I’d find a way to kill that asshole.
“A little sore but I’ll be fine, Stitch. Don’t worry about me.” She looked from me to Gunnar and back to me with a sigh. “You can’t trust Carlito,” she whispered. “He won’t keep his word, not about anything. Ever.”
“Don’t worry about us,” Gunnar told her and crouched down in front of her. “Tell me the truth, did that asshole keep his word about hurting you?”
Marisol stared at Gunnar for a long time, brown eyes taking in every detail to see if he was someone she could trust. Not that I blamed her, his words were firm and not even a little fucking nice so she had a right to question him. “He didn’t touch me. Kept me in the room next door. Alone except when someone brought food.”
“Good. That means he gives a shit about whatever this shipment is. Sorry to tell you, but he cares more about that shipment than you.”
“Gunnar, what the fuck man?”
“I already know that,” she sighed with exhaustion. But her shoulders squared, showing signs that she was coming back to life. “I don’t love him, but whatever you think of me, I’m stuck with him. Every time I’ve tried to leave, he would sabotage my job. My apartment. My friends.” Her hands fisted around the hem of her shirt, eyes focused on some faraway time in the past. “I didn’t know he was married at first and by the time I found out, there was no fucking leaving.”
Gunnar placed one big hand over hers, the other stroking his beard, which by now was in need of a thorough washing. “I’m not judging you, honey.”
She snorted. “I may be a mistress, but I am not an idiot. And I do hear and comprehend English.”
“Jesus. What do you want me to do, tell him I’m willing to die to protect you? That’s not how you bargain Marisol, or didn’t you learn that at accounting college?”
“You really are a grouchy bastard.”
Gunnar barked out a laugh and looked up at me. “So you told her about us but you didn’t tell anyone about her?” He shook his head like I was some precocious fucking kid who needed the guiding hand of an adult and I wanted to smack him. “If you had, maybe we’d have gotten some help by now.”
“Help? We don’t even know where the fuck we are other than Mexico, which is a big fucking country Gunnar!”
He smiled at Marisol. “He gets worked up so easy. Must be love.” Before I could say another word, Gunnar stood and moved away. “Have your talk but if I hear anything interesting, I’m lettin’ you know now that I will be watching.”
I wanted to smash his face for that last comment but the sweet sound of Marisol’s laugh stole my attention. Robbed me of my focus and when she smiled, heat bloomed inside of me. “Don’t mind Gunnar, he hasn’t had a decent meal in however long we’ve been here.”
“It’s been awhile, maybe two weeks.” She paused to let her words sink in and she sighed. “I had a TV in there and even though its all in Spanish, we’re close enough to the border that a few American news stations came through.”
“Shit. I thought it had been a few days not a couple weeks.” I bet Cross and the rest of the MC were worried as fuck. Like Gunnar said, because no one knew about her, they wouldn’t even know where to start looking for us. “Sorry about the mess at your apartment.”
“It’s not mine.”
“I know you’re scared, but we got this, Marisol. I got you. Gunnar is a man of his word and he wouldn’t leave you to that fucking psycho. Trust me.”
She shook her head, leaning her face against my palm. The sight of her bruises, pale green and yellow, made it hard to keep my composure at the thought of the pain she must’ve gone through. The horror she’d had to endure at the hands of man she had, at one time, had feelings for. “Things are never that easy with Carlito.” She was worried about me as much as herself.
“Don’t worry babe, we specialize in shit that ain’t easy. Next time I see you will be in Reno.”
She smiled and leaned further into my hand, pressing a kiss to my palm. “Thank you, Stitch. But really, don’t mess around with Carlito on my behalf. He’ll never let me go.”
I pressed my forehead to hers and inhaled deeply because I knew my words would put hurt in her eyes and that was the last damn thing I wanted to do. “He will, Marisol. He will because Gunnar is right. Whatever he needs us to get to Reno is important to him, that’s why he hasn’t killed any of us. Enough that he doesn’t want to use his regular channels to make it happen. It means he can’t afford for Gunnar to make good on his threat. More important to him than you.”
She sucked in a breath. A gasp of surprise I assumed but a slow smile crept across her tear-stained face. “God, I hope you’re right.”
The sound of the lock tore through the relative silence in the room and I took my chance, pressing a hard kiss to her lips before Carlito appeared. Her lips were salty but there was still that hint of cinnamon and sugar and spice that was unmistakably Marisol. “I’ll be seeing you again real soon, pretty girl. Just let me get this bullshit handled and I’ll be there.”
“If not, I get it Stitch. Really.” I could see in her eyes that she did. That she expected this would be the last time we’d ever lay eyes on each other.
I knew then that I had to prove her wrong. “See you soon. And when I do, I expect a big sloppy kiss. On my cock.”
Her laughter rang out, making Carlito frown. “Time to go boys. I hope you’ve enjoyed your goodbye?” One dark brow arched in question but all three of us stared at him blankly. “Right well, off you go.”
I sent Marisol one last, longing glance and I hoped that nothing would happen that would make a liar out of me. I would get her away from Carlito, no matter what.
I just hoped to have the backing of my MC if it came to that.
Gunnar looked to Marisol with a wink. “See you soon.” He pulled her into a hug and whispered something to her I couldn’t hear. Normally it would have pissed me off but I knew he wasn’t trying to steal my girl, even though she wasn’t technically mine. But dammit, I wanted to know what he’d said that made her shoulders sag with relief. Hell, who the fuck was I kidding? I wanted to be the man to say the words that righted her world.
Next time, I promised myself.
“Go before I change my mind!” Carlito’s voice grew deep with anger, the phony heavily accented thing he did was nowhere to be heard. “Now,” he urged.
“So much for good ol’ Mexican hospitality,” Gunnar said as he walked by, shoulder checking that bastard hard as he followed Guapo and another man out the door that had held us captive for weeks. Fucking weeks.
Following Gunnar out, I looked around as we turned through several dark corridors and noting all the paintings of alleged saints and so-called Gods and I knew where we were. A church. Specifically the basement of a church. “A fucking church,” I mumbled, drawing the attention of Guapo and the other man.
“Watch your mouth,” he spat out with a dark frown, his finger itching to touch the trigger.
Gunnar barked out a laugh as we climbed a narrow, dark staircase. “Beating the fuck out of a woman and two men is allowed inside these hallowed fucking walls, but not coarse language? Fucking idiot.”
The sunlight hit us both hard, nearly sending me to my knees under the force of her shine. “Fuck me, it’s bright out.” I could barely keep my eyes open and I had to stop to shield my eyes even as the others kept moving forward. Looking around I noticed the church was run down but the marquee looked updated and cared for.
“Let’s go, Stitch!”
I blinked and turned to where Gunnar stood, arms crossed with a frown on his face. “Right.” I cast the church one last look before jogging to catch up. “Where’s our ride?”
Guapo smirked. “No ride. I have your wallets,” he handed one to each of us and kept talking. “The border is an hour’s walk that way. Your phones are broken, so I suggest you start walking. It’s a long way to El Paso.”
I didn’t know much about the geography of Texas, but I knew enough to know it was a border town. “El Paso?”
Guapo nodded, his sleazy fucking smirk growing bigger by the second. “That’s where you’ll relieve the driver. El Paso.”
“You motherfucker,” Gunnar growled, his voice low and menacing. “If I see you again, I’m gonna rip your fucking brain out through your nose.”
Guapo’s laughter sounded behind us but neither of us looked back or acknowledged the bastard. We had a long damn walk ahead of us, to the border and then cross over to fucking El Paso. “You got any cash?”
Gunnar sighed and pulled out his wallet. “You loo
kin’ to get some pussy before crossing the border?”
“No, asshole. We need to blend in which means we need a backpack, regular clothes and some goddamn sunglasses.”
He flashed a smile at me. “We’re gonna make a true Reckless Bastard out of you yet, kid.”
Chapter Seventeen - Max
“Seriously, babe? Is this really fucking necessary?” I loved my wife with all my heart. She brought me back to life and had given me two beautiful children whose laughter reminded me of what I once fought for. What I now lived for. But this costume. “This is bullshit. I love you but it is.”
Jana laughed from where she was perched on the bed looking sexy as hell dressed up as Velma from Scooby-Doo. “Oh Max, it is so not bullshit. You look so good that I’m thinking about saying screw the deposit and keeping this costume. I always had a thing for Superman.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” I grumbled since she always drooled over the damn English dude in the cape. “Halloween is for the kids, not the grownups.”
She stood and smoothed down the plaid skirt that gave me pause. Maybe I’d been too hard on Velma as a kid. Those sexy little glasses and that tight fitting sweater definitely made an impression on me. One I couldn’t hide in these fucking tights. “Yeah but Halloween night is for grownups and like I said,” she leaned in close and pressed her plump tits against my chest as her hands slid up and down my torso with a hungry look in her eyes, “Superman is my favorite.”
I groaned out loud when she nibbled my bottom lip, my hands went straight to her ass and pulled her close. “You don’t play fair, sweetheart.”
“When it comes to having my wicked ways with you? Nevah!” She kissed me again, slow and hard until I was hard and aching everywhere. She pulled back with a sleepy heavy-lidded grin. “Besides, I think this will be more fun than our naked art sessions.”