Ransom: Dead Ringers MC Book 2

by Deja Voss

  Ransom shakes his head, and there’s a sadness on his face I’ve never seen before. It breaks my heart. It’s something much bigger than just feeling rejected, something much sadder than just jealousy.

  “I don’t mean it like that. I don’t love him like a man and a woman kind of love if that’s what you mean. He is my dear friend. He’s like a brother to me. If you think there’s something going on there, you’re mistaken,” I say. I squeeze his hand a little tighter. “I trust you, Ransom. Do you trust me?”

  “I’ve been hurt before by my brothers,” he says. “I’ve been down this road.”

  “You’ve been down this exact road?” I ask with a laugh, trying to lighten the situation. “What kind of people are you surrounding yourself with?”

  He doesn’t laugh back. It isn’t a joke to him.

  “I’m not making light of your pain, Ransom. I promise there is nothing going on with Kid and me. Someday I’ll tell you everything, but I promise, what you see is what you get with me. Just a vagrant murderer and her dirty mutt.”

  “Alright,” he says. “Fair enough. We better hurry.”

  He locks the door behind us and holds my hand all the way to the truck. The cold wet air of the night is enough to hide the tears on my face, but this feeling in my body, like I’m about to stick my finger in an electrical socket even though I know it’s a bad idea, is obvious in the way I’m shivering. This could be the best decision I ever made. It could be the worst.

  I hate the idea of dragging him down with me, but there’s nobody else in this world I’d rather be on this adventure with.

  Juniper jumps in the back seat and wags her tail. At least somebody here is certain about the choice we’re about to make.

  He pulls out of the driveway and my heart beats wildly as we pass the taxi I was supposed to be getting in. I reach over and grab his knee.

  “Did you tell them you killed me?” I ask, knowing that’s how the meeting today was supposed to go down. “Do they think I’m dead?”

  “Was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, Annabella. Took everything in me not to tell them how much I love you, but if they found out, I’d be a dead man. Then they’d come for you.”

  I feel like I want to laugh, cry, throw myself from this moving vehicle, and stop time forever all in one breath.

  “You love me?” I ask, the words sounding so weird on my tongue.

  He looks at me like I’m crazy, like I just asked him if water is wet.

  “What’s so hard to believe about that?” he asks.

  “I’m making you ruin your life,” I say. “How can you love me?”

  “You’re not making me do anything.”

  I slide closer to him, resting my head on his shoulder. “There’s nothing you could do to make me stop loving you. You could leave me right here on the side of the road and I’ll still be thankful for the best days of my life. There’s nobody in the world who makes me feel like you do. Nobody that ever made me feel so safe. Not my mom, not Kid, not even Juniper.”

  “It’s gonna get better from here,” he says, turning to kiss my forehead. He strokes my hair and I stare out the window at the road ahead, not knowing where I’m going, and not really caring, either.

  “So everybody thinks I’m dead?” I ask.

  “Hopefully.”

  “Is there anybody you want to fuck with? I could pretend to be a ghost.”

  He cups my chin and laughs. I guess in some twisted way, I got exactly what I wanted. Annabella no longer exists. I can be anybody or anything I want, and right this moment the only thing I want to be is his. The truck lulls me to sleep before we even make it to the edge of town. The nightmares never come, though. It’s like my entire past has been erased. I never existed. I am a ghost.

  26

  Annabella

  “Do you want room service or would you rather go out?” he asks. I have my head rested on his stomach and I can feel it rumbling as I pull my eyes away from the TV. We’ve been doing a whole lot of nothing besides fucking, watching the Sopranos, and eating for the last few days.

  They’ve been the best days of my life.

  I know we can’t live like this forever. His phone has been ringing off the hook, and it’s only a matter of time before somebody spots us here and tells the club. By now I’m sure they’re looking for him, but in this instant, he is mine and only mine.

  I groan as I push myself up from the couch, walking over to the window and pulling the curtains open. I screech dramatically as sunlight fills the room, blinding my eyes. I sniff my armpit and grimace. The people at the front desk probably think we’re a couple junkies on a bender, but the only thing we’ve been getting high on is each other.

  He looks so sexy with his beard growing in just a little bit. As if he could get any more irresistible to me.

  Juniper runs to the door and starts making circles, like she needs to go outside.

  I throw on a baggy hoodie and grab her leash.

  “You sure you don’t want me to take her?” he asks. Truth is, I could go for some fresh air. The only thing I miss about my old life is being out in the country, out in the woods, being able to go for a run if I felt like it, or lay out in the sun and let it bake my face. The hotel is just a place we’re staying until we can find a place of our own, and I would stay in a jail cell if it meant I could spend the rest of my days with him, but I need to go stretch my legs.

  “I’ll be fine. Why don’t you hop in the shower while I’m gone?”

  “You trying to say I stink?” He sticks his tongue out at me.

  “We both stink,” I say, pressing my lips to his. “I love it.”

  “And I love you,” he says, grabbing my ass. “Don’t go too far. I don’t want anybody to snatch you up.”

  I hold up my armpit and wink. “One whiff of this and they’ll toss me right out of the van.”

  “I love you,” he says. Every time he says those words it feels like the first time all over again. If Juniper wasn’t scratching the shit out of the door, I’d probably jump him right now. I never got to be a boy crazy teenager, but I think the way he makes me feel is exactly what it’s like.

  I grab a pair of sunglasses just to be on the safe side and pull the hood of my sweatshirt up. We walk down the long hallway to the set of stairs that leads to the courtyard behind the hotel. As soon as we get outside I look up to the window of our room, and sure enough he’s standing there watching. He waves and my heart melts.

  “Your mama’s lost her damn mind, Juniper,” I say. “You don’t care, though, do ya? You like takeout food every day.”

  She trots through the courtyard sniffing at some trash on the ground before doing her business. The sun feels good on my face. We walk around the rectangular sidewalk, doing our usual laps, and I softly remind her it’s going to be so worth it when we finally find a place of our own. Being extra careful now will make sure our future is secure.

  I look over my shoulder, and a cold chill runs down my spine. There’s a motorcycle parked in the parking lot, and I know it’s probably just a pure coincidence because millions of people ride motorcycles. Still, I grip Juniper’s leash a little tighter, cutting our walk short as I pull open the door to the fire escape and head back up the steps.

  I run down the hallway back to the bedroom and slide my key in the door. I’m sweating and panting and I throw open the door and run into the room, hitting all the deadbolts behind me.

  “Ransom!” I scream.

  I run back to the bathroom where he’s taking a shower. Even in my state of distress I can’t help but admire his tattooed body, the way the bubbles of soap stick to his abs, the smell of his spicy body wash heavy in the air.

  “Girl, you look like you saw a ghost,” he says.

  “There’s a motorcycle outside,” I stammer.

  He looks at me with confusion in his eyes and I look at how absolutely crazy I look in the mirror and start to laugh at how paranoid I’m being.

  “What did it look
like?” he asks, and I know he’s just trying to humor me, but I find it incredibly sweet.

  I slide my fingers under my sweatshirt and pull it up over my head. “It was black, I think…” I say. “I don’t know, I’m not a motorcycle expert or anything.”

  “Not yet,” he says. He pushes open the glass door on the shower and beckons me to join him in the shower. I can’t resist him. It’s like letting him inside me is one of the few reassurances I have. Every time I think something is about to go wrong, I know if I go to him, he’ll make it alright.

  I step out of my sweatpants and he takes my hand, pulling me into the shower stall. He puts me directly under the water and holds my shoulders, staring me in the eye.

  “Nobody can find us here, love,” he says. “If they do, I’m gonna take care of it. Everything is going to be okay. I won’t let anybody hurt you.”

  “I know,” I say, leaning my head back to meet his lips for a kiss. “I don’t care if anybody hurts me, Ransom. I care about somebody coming and hurting us. I don’t want anybody to take away what we have. I don’t want anybody to separate us.”

  He presses his lips to my forehead, pulling me close to him, the warm water running over us. His skin feels so good under my fingers, slippery and hard. Warm and comforting. His hands travel down my back to my ass, giving it a firm squeeze.

  “It’s gonna be ok,” he says, pressing his lips to my ear, kissing it softly. “Nobody in the world is going to come between us. I love you. That’s all that matters.”

  I can feel his erection come to life, pushing into my thigh. His body seems to just crave mine all the time, even when I’m just standing there, even when I’m laying on the couch, even when I’m half asleep. I know by the way he makes me wet between my thighs I feel the same way.

  He turns me around and presses me up against the shower wall.

  “You’re mine forever now, you know that?” he says, pinning my wrist over my head with his hands. “Mine to protect. Mine to keep safe. Mine to love.”

  “You have a family, Ransom. You have a club who loves you.”

  “You’re my family now, Annabella,” he says. “Mine forever.”

  His cock finds his way inside me without any hesitation, and he takes me rough, pushing me up against the wall of the shower so I can’t move. His fingers travel between my legs, working at my clit until my knees are weak.

  “Who’s pussy is this?” he asks.

  “It’s yours,” I groan, as he bucks his hips and drives his dick deep inside me. His fingers tangle in my wet hair, pulling at it, pulling my lips to his for a kiss, driving his tongue deep into my mouth so I can barely breathe.

  He’s so strong, so overpowering, but I want it all. I want to let him fuck me so hard my brain goes to mush and all this starts making sense. I want to shut off my survival brain and just give in to him.

  “Our lives will never be normal, Ransom,” I say. “Being in hiding, it’s not easy. It’s not fun.”

  “We’re not gonna be in hiding. That’s where your boy Kid failed you,” he growls. “You know that right? He used you as a pawn. Now he’s trying to brush you under the rug so he can pull the strings when he gets out of jail.”

  It breaks my heart a little bit, but I know he’s right. I owe my life to Kid, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his own skeletons. Between the strange nature of him and Riley’s relationship and the fact he went out of his way to make sure he couldn’t defend me when shit hit the fan, something isn’t adding up.

  Ransom, on the other hand, has been loyal to me since he met me.

  It’s a privilege I don’t know if I actually deserve. It brings tears to my eyes.

  “We’re gonna be you and me. And it doesn’t matter who comes for us. I don’t care if there’s a thousand motorcycles chasing us down. Nothing’s ever going to come between us.”

  He smashes his fingers into my clit in the way that makes me crazy, pulling a strong orgasm out of me as I shatter against the shower wall. He bites into my neck as he finishes inside me with a grunt, then turns me around to face him.

  When I look in his eyes, I know he believes everything he says to me. I know this love is real. I know this love is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. I know no matter what the future brings, we’re in it together.

  He smooths soap over my skin, caressing every inch of me, showering me in kisses as he goes. The way he cares for me like I’m a prized possession is overwhelming and strange but I’m learning to enjoy it. I see the joy it brings him and I realize that’s the only thing I want, to make him happy.

  As we rinse off, my stomach starts to growl. “Did you decide on food?” he asks.

  “Let’s go out,” I suggest, squeezing his hand. “I feel like putting on makeup and doing my hair.”

  “I like your hair like this,” he says, wrapping it around his fist.

  “I know you do,” I say. “But I think we both need some fresh air. It’s gorgeous out. Let’s take a walk around town. We can play tourist.”

  “It’s not gonna be like this forever,” he says with confidence as he turns off the faucet. “Soon you and Juniper will have a yard of your own to run around in whenever you want.”

  “And you’ll have your very own bike shop,” I say, letting myself indulge in the fantasy that once we get to Colorado everything will be okay. We’ll be two very normal people living two very normal lives together, free from the past, free from everything. Nobody will ever come looking for us again.

  It all sounds too good to be true. Because it is. Because if I know anything at all, it’s that for whatever reason, I am very valuable to a lot of people. And not because they love me like he does.

  It might take a minute, it might take years, but they’re going to find me. The MC. My original captors. Kid. Who knows who else has it out for me. But I’ll indulge in this fantasy for a little bit longer if it means I can spend another night with him.

  I feel a cool breeze coming from the other room as I dry off, but I brush it off as maybe he opened a window while I was out. I love watching him as he steps into his jeans, the way all his muscles flex and stretch his tattoos. Knowing that a man like this is mine makes me feel like a fucking queen.

  I wrap myself up in a towel and walk out into the other room to find something to wear, but stop immediately in my steps when I realize we aren’t alone.

  27

  Ransom:

  I pop my toothbrush in my mouth and laugh at the scruff on my face as I look in the mirror. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing with my life, but I know unless Annabella is a part of it, it’s the right thing. I shifted some money around. I called up my college roommate in Colorado and he’s gonna set us up with a rental property for awhile. We’re just hanging out here until he can clear one of his places out.

  But it’s fun. It’s exciting. It’s just the two of us and she’s all mine all the time. No distractions, no drama, and in these moments of quiet, it makes me love her even more.

  I don’t like that I left the club on bad terms. I don’t like I had to turn my back on my best friend Driller without a word, or that I didn’t get to say goodbye to my sponsor Romeo, but all I have to do is make her laugh and I realize I did the right thing.

  I’m gonna miss the brotherhood. Gonna miss the old shop. Gonna miss the lifestyle. But even though Stoney was a dirt bag, it doesn’t mean everybody else shared my point of view. Annabella’s crimes would never be forgiven.

  Her shriek from the other room turns my blood cold.

  I step out of the bathroom and Romeo is sitting on the couch, Juniper sprawled across his lap. He’s stroking his liver spotted fingers through her fur, a demented grin on his face.

  “I ain’t gonna hurt you, girl,” he says. “I’m just here to talk to your man. Go put some clothes on.”

  She walks slowly across the room, gripping her towel to her chest with one hand, the other one up in the air. I don’t like his eyes on her body.

  “What do you
want, Romeo?” I ask.

  “What the fuck, man?” He stands up from the couch and wraps his arms around me in a fatherly hug. I’ve known this man for ten years now. He took me in when I had nothing. Taught me everything I know. Turned me into the man I am today. All that comes washing over me in an instant.

  “Everything’s fucked,” I blurt out. “The club. Stoney. I can’t do it anymore.”

  Annabella comes out of the bedroom with a pistol in her hand pointing it right at Romeo’s head.

  “Hey now,” he says with a laugh. “I didn’t realize I was on your hit list, too. It’s a privilege, girl.”

  “Put the gun down, Annabella.”

  “How the fuck did you find us?” she asks, still holding the gun in her trembling hands.

  I step in between Annabella and Romeo. The pain in her eyes damn near kills me, but he just laughs.

  “You got yourself a feisty one on your hands, Ran. You always did like those crazy ones.”

  “I’m gonna take this,” I whisper, grabbing for my gun and sliding it into my jeans pocket. “Relax, babe.”

  I can tell she’s conflicted by the way she crosses her arms over her chest and just stares. She doesn’t look afraid of him, just mad.

  “How the fuck did you find us, though?” I ask.

  “Our good friend Riley put a tracking chip in the dog.” He pulls a bottle of pills out of his pocket and shakes them, and Juniper jumps up from the couch and runs over to him, wagging her tail. “Apparently the vet said she needs two of these a day, too. Riley was very concerned.”

  He feeds Juniper two pills and she takes them without hesitation and licks his hand.

  “I figured I’d let you two have your little honey moon phase before I came and shit all over it,” he says. “You gotta come back. Both of you.”