Ruthless Sentinel

by Burke, Lynn

  Beyond done.

  Fucking obliterated.

  Chapter Five

  Stone

  My dick spurted one last time inside heaven, and before two seconds passed, I cursed myself. My lack of control. My giving into temptation like a goddamn horny punk who couldn’t keep his dick inside his pants.

  I fucking knew better.

  Even though my usual spidey-sense lay quiet in the back of my brain, promising safety to the one I’d been hired to protect, I couldn’t help but feel like a damn failure.

  Warden was going to kill me.

  So was Giada’s dad—if the judge ever found out I’d stuck my finger up his daughter’s ass and fucked her young pussy.

  No way to hide the lust between us, though. Yeah, we’d slaked it for a time, I knew while lifting my head to study the gorgeous face inches from mine, but I’d be back on her like a front snap kick given the shot.

  Her dark lashes fluttered and lifted, her satisfied, sleepy green eyes knifing my gut.

  I’d known Giada less than twenty-four hours, and I was dead gone on the woman.

  The fuck have I done?

  “Don’t shut down on me,” she whispered while tightening her legs around my waist and grasping my face in her hands. “Don’t you dare shut me out, Logan Stone.”

  “Kinda hard to do with my dick buried inside your tight pussy.”

  Fuck, I needed to lift her off me and get her back to her parents.

  “I like your dick buried inside me.”

  I groaned and tipped my forehead against hers. “What I just did shouldn’t have happened.”

  “What we just did certainly should have,” she countered, her tone biting. “I wanted you, you wanted me. How can that be wrong?”

  “Because you’re my job, Giada.”

  She pushed my face away from hers, a scowl denting her brow and fire lighting in her eyes. “I’m more than a fucking job.”

  “Shit.” Her fire turned me the fuck on, and my semi took an interest in the warmth still cradling it. “Goddamn right you are—and that’s the problem.”

  One of her eyebrows arched. “How so?”

  I studied her eyes, the smooth skin above her brows, achingly gorgeous high cheekbones on either side of a perfectly straight nose. Full fuckable lips swollen and red from my mouth.

  I didn’t do relationships. Didn’t allow anyone inside where they might manipulate and destroy the fortress I’d built up after years of laboring to rid my head and heart of the abuse my father had laid on me.

  Would she understand?

  “You’re scared.” Her words hit the goddamn nail on the head before I could vocalize my thoughts.

  “Yeah.”

  Her slow smile soothed me as much as the tender caress of her thumbs along my jaw as she continued to cradle my face in her hands. “I don’t let anyone inside, either, Logan. Life’s easier that way, isn’t it?”

  I leaned in and kissed her, showing her what I felt had sprouted inside my soul, the connection I felt between us. She sighed and melted into me.

  My mind warred as the water spitting from the shower head grew cold, and neither of us spoke while finally climbing out and drying off.

  While I’d have loved to collapse on her bed and pass the fuck out, I still had a job to do—and Devil to meet back at the judge’s house to amp-up the security system.

  Giada followed me into the living room where I grabbed my cell and glanced out her windows again.

  Greed had texted to let me know all was quiet.

  Devil had also sent a message he was on his way—earlier than I’d expected.

  “Shit.” I grabbed my jeans off the floor.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “We gotta get back.”

  She let out a sigh, but turned away.

  I watched her go while tugging up my jeans over still-damp legs. A fluffy towel was wrapped around her body, but it couldn’t hide the curves I knew would haunt me for the rest of my goddamn life.

  ****

  We should have talked on the way back to her parents, but I couldn’t find the fucking words. Giada peered out the passenger window, her brow slightly furrowed as though deep in thought.

  I told myself fucking her had been a mistake since it went against the lines I drew about getting involved with people I protected. I told myself I knew better, that I should have been stronger.

  Pop’s voice echoed in my ear, something I hadn’t heard for a long fucking time. Failure. Letting people down. Not good enough. A loser. One wrong choice brought it all back to fuck with my head.

  The only reason I’d caved beyond her being too much of a temptation was the fact we’d been closed up in her condo, secure, away from the man whose life had been threatened. While whoever it was wanted the judge out of the race “or else”, not once was the Burtonelli family itself mentioned.

  But I’d been a patched member of the Vipers long enough to know that when an ultimatum got slapped down onto the table, it didn’t matter who stood in the way. Innocent casualties happened. Manipulation by hurting loved ones occurred.

  Bad men would do anything to get what they wanted—to win.

  While I didn’t necessarily put myself in that category like some of my brothers, I strove to excel—in all things, beyond the physical as well. And allowing my guard to lower to enjoy a piece of ass...

  She’s more than a piece of ass, you stupid fuck.

  I knew it—she had to know it. The damn connection between us popped and sizzled from close proximity alone. Just the scent of her filling the cab of my truck, the energy radiating off her soft skin mere feet away kept my dick in a constant state of chub.

  Unable to help myself, I glanced her way while slowing at the Burtonelli residence gate. Her shoulders wilted in on themselves, and she let out a sigh.

  “Giada.”

  She turned. “Yeah?”

  “Don’t let him get to you.”

  “He will. Always does.”

  A muscle in my jaw ticked and I stopped in front of the gate. Rather than put the window down to buzz us in, I turned fully to look at her.

  “I’m going to have one hell of a time keeping my mouth shut whenever he starts in on you,” I said.

  “You have to, otherwise you’ll be gone. Father doesn’t take lightly to people telling him what to do.”

  I nodded. “Can’t do that to Warden. He’s my brother.”

  “I thought you only had a sister?”

  “Brother as in Viper brother. Not blood.”

  One of her eyebrows arched. “Viper as in the vicious ones?”

  “Yep. Been a patched member for over ten years.”

  “Shit.” She snickered. “No wonder you’re an alpha asshole.”

  I frowned. “I’m not an asshole.”

  “Not really.” Her dimples kicked me in the gut. “It’s an MC romance thing—all readers are hot for that shit.”

  My turn to arch a brow. “MC romance thing?”

  She winked. “You’re better than the stories, Logan Stone, and we’re nowhere near done with our own.”

  Our own … as though we had a story, a future ahead of us. “We can’t continue this, Giada.”

  “Like hell we can’t.” She straightened, the fire lighting in her eyes, giving her the backbone she’d been missing minutes earlier. “I’m not about to give up the first man to look at me like you do.”

  “How’s that?”

  Her scowl faded, and the sincerity growing in her eyes meant more to me than happiness in that moment. “Like I have worth.”

  I felt the need to swallow against the sudden emotion that came out of left fucking field. “You do have worth—don’t let that fucker of a father tell you any different. You’re strong. Independent. You’ve got enough spunk to fuel ten women. Don’t let him kill it, don’t let him beat you down. In eleven months, he’ll either be Senator or not. You’ll be free to move on with your life—for good.”

  “Will you be there?” Zero tr
ace of manipulation lay in her tone, just pure inquiry and hope.

  I stood on a fucking cliff, wanting to leap off yet wanting to shield myself from the unknown, the spooky as shit possibilities of a future I couldn’t see.

  “I’ll be there.” A three-worded answer, fucking loaded.

  A glint lit in her eye as she smirked. “Then let’s go face the fire. I can take it if you can.”

  Stomach in knots, I put down my window and buzzed the intercom. I had no doubts she could take it—but the desire to protect not just her body but her mind would test me beyond what I’d ever known.

  Of that, I had zero fucking doubt.

  Chapter Six

  Giada

  Logan’s Viper brother Adrian, aka Devil, waited in the foyer when we arrived, a computer bag over his shoulder. He was handsome as a devil, too, all clean-shaven with brown bedroom eyes and lashes to kill for.

  His quick once over down my body and back up brought a growl to Logan’s chest, and I bit back a smirk.

  “Like that, is it?” Devil asked, not bothering to hide his amusement while meeting Logan’s stare.

  “Yep.”

  “Gotcha, brother.” Devil didn’t spare me another glance, but started in on computer lingo, security cameras, and stuff I had no interest in.

  A shiver licked over my skin as every motorcycle gang romance I’d ever read with similar happenings over a woman and a patched member’s response trickled through my head.

  Unspoken claiming?

  Holy shit, yes, and then some please.

  Butterflies jammed to the bass thump of my heart as I stared up at Logan. I could fall for him—hard. The L word and all, given the opportunity and time. He said he would be there, and I knew I sure as hell wanted it.

  And Father would be livid. I would once again be labeled the disappointment of the family. The selfish girl who always put herself above the needs and best interests of the family.

  My throat tightened—and Logan diverted his attention to me for a brief second as though he felt my sudden pain, his brow furrowing.

  “You alright?”

  Unable to speak, I nodded and tried to smile.

  One of the house’s staff came from outside, two of my bags in hand, bringing along with him a blast of cold air—and reality.

  I was back in prison, and the tantalizing man I decided I wanted more than oxygen had to protect the one man who could easily ruin me for life. Father could kick me out on my ass, keep the rest of my family from seeing me. His threats would easily keep Cristian, Marisa, and Mother in line.

  He would rule them with fear.

  And while I could care less about the inheritance I would miss out on, I would be without family.

  Cristian had to make an appearance at that second, sauntering in from the living room. His face flushed as he noticed Logan first, but he ripped his attention off him and caught my eye.

  “Hey, Sis.”

  My smile came easier. “Hey, kiddo.”

  “I ate the last cinnamon roll.”

  “Jerk.”

  His grin and double dimples made him the cutest damn thing in the world. My baby brother, pretty much the love of my life. I grabbed him and hugged him hard, never wanting to let go.

  “Love you,” I whispered, knowing I could never cross father—couldn’t ever lose my loved ones.

  “Tell me you got a taste.”

  I pulled back, my face hot. “Cristian Burtonelli!”

  “Well?” He quirked a brow, and glanced at Logan who had gone back to conversing with Devil as they moved farther into the house.

  I bit my lip, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to hurt my brother’s feelings.

  He turned his focus back on me as Logan and Devil disappeared down the hallway. “I’ll only ever live the life I want vicariously, Giada, so don’t hold back the truth if you think it’ll hurt,” he whispered.

  I grasped his face in my hands, too overcome for words. A kiss to his forehead and another hug came easy. Getting out a description about my time with Logan proved impossible through the tightness in my throat.

  “He hurt you?” Cristian asked, his Italian temper peeking through as I pulled back, my pain probably obvious on my face.

  “No,” I managed with a wobbly smile.

  Cristian’s eyes lightened as his dimples appeared again. “You’re head over heels. Damn.” He whistled. “Never thought I’d see the day a man would wrap the ‘variety is the spice of life’ girl around his little finger.”

  I shrugged, huffing with a bit of laughter.

  “That good, huh?”

  “Better than good.”

  “Damn. You gotta tell it all, Sis. Every last damn detail—I want it all. Merry Christmas to me.”

  “You’re too young and innocent to hear it all.”

  “Bullshit.” He grasped my hand and pulled me toward the stairs. “I might hide in the closet,” he whispered back at me, “but there’s others in there with me sometimes.”

  I laughed outright at his wink. “You little sneak!”

  “You have no idea.”

  “Do tell.”

  “You first.”

  A newfound connection between me and the love of my life—like hell would I ever jeopardize that. Heart aching but mind set in granite, I locked myself in my old childhood bedroom and unpacked while spilling secrets with my baby brother who I accepted wasn’t so little anymore.

  Chapter Seven

  Stone

  I sat brooding at a table surrounded by my Viper brothers, nursing a beer, my mind battling against the craziness in the club around me. Christmas music blasted, rug rats shrieked while playing tag around us, and dozens of conversations buzzed from one end of the club to the other.

  A huge ass tree lit up one corner, wrapping paper and toys littering the area around it. The scent of turkey and ham still clung to the air, the leftovers I’d devoured from the early afternoon meal settled pleasantly in my stomach.

  I couldn’t get Giada out of my head. I’d been able to avoid her and the possibility of a run-in with her father, every minute of the afternoon and early evening taken up by Devil and updating their security system. Feeling ten times better about what we’d set into place, I’d slipped away like a true asshole she’d claimed me to be, no goodbye, no see ya later.

  Warden sat beside me, Shaun straddling him, their faces close while they smiled and chatted in their own little world.

  Ryker, our sergeant at arms, sat across from me, arms crossed and scowling as always, his hazel eyes cold as fuck, the dome of his shaved head lit by an overhead light. Vigil, our president, sat to his right, elbows on the table as he peered around him to chat with Sin, aka Dustin Murphy, whose arm was still tucked tight to his body with a sling.

  Vigil’s brother and our VP Ricky, who, like Ryker, preferred his own name, lounged between me and his brother. The two could easily pass for twins with their auburn-tinted hair, clipped beards, and pale eyes. But unlike Vigil with his booming voice, Ricky was a quiet one and scowled just as much as Ryker. Broody bastards, both of them.

  While Devil would have normally sat with us, he’d stayed behind at the Burtonelli’s with Greed to teach him the system we’d set up that afternoon.

  Darkness had long since fallen as we bullshitted rather than focus on any club business.

  The married patched members with kids were the first to head out, their kids still on a sugar high and loud as hell. Other couples slowly disappeared, leaving a handful of prospects, our table, and a few other Vipers who didn’t have families of their own to head off with.

  Two club whores still hung around, trying to lighten the moods of those soured by holiday festivities but must not have anything else or any other place to be.

  “Turn the fucking music down!” Vigil hollered to the prospect behind the bar once the last kid’s ass disappeared through the door. “Fucking same Christmas shit over and over,” he continued to grumble while turning back to our table. “Thank fuck it’s
over.”

  “Grinch,” his brother muttered before sipping his whiskey.

  “Fuck off, Ricky.” Vigil sat back and crossed his arms, his frown on Warden and the hot little number grinding on his lap. “Why don’t you go get us all a round of drinks, little girl?” he told Shaun.

  “Sure thing.” She hopped off Warden’s lap, and he slapped her ass while adjusting his dick.

  Jealousy—and loneliness—snaked through me, and I focused on my president rather than Warden who watched Shaun saunter away, so much damn emotion in his eyes even my heart ached.

  They hadn’t been together long, but there was no question they belonged together. He’d known Shaun since she’d been born—literally having been in the hospital with her father and mother when she’d given birth.

  Warden had been her father’s best friend, her protector, and even though tragedy and blame tore the friends apart, Shaun’s father had trusted Warden to watch over her when he decided to take on the cartel in retaliation for attempting to take him out.

  Ben Thode, one of Boston’s kingpins found his demise, but his daughter and heir found the love of her life. She also had gone a bit overboard with Christmas, buying every single one of the members’ kids gifts as well as gifting something to the men sitting at the table with me.

  She’d joked when handing out the envelopes with a few, crisp Franklins each, that she wanted us to use the cash to wine and dine the next woman to snag our attention. Since she’d made Warden the happiest man on the earth—which he’d agreed to when she’d winked at him—she hoped we all would find the same.

  Well, I’d found a woman I sure as fuck wanted to claim, but I wasn’t about to share that shit with my brothers and reap the consequences. I enjoyed my job working for my best friend—even though I didn’t really need it. The dojo kept my head above water just fine.

  My cell vibrated in my back pocket, and I fished it out.

  Devil: Got the answer we’ve been waiting on.

  I waited, watching the dots blink.

  Devil: Arturo. Just like we’d expected.