“I’m your babysitter today, and there are just so many fun things I want to do with you.” He sat on my bed, a wide smile on his lips.
“Yeah… I’m not having sex with you,” I said, crossing my arms.
“As much as I dream about the day that will happen, that wasn’t quite what I had in mind. Thing is, I have to check the perimeter of the compound today and figured you might want to join me.”
“Why would I want to do that?” I asked, feeling like he was holding something back.
“Oh, did I not mention that we would have to take an ATV out across our eight hundred acres of land? Hmm, I would have guessed by your car that you had a thing for speed and adrenaline,” Cognac said with a shrug of his shoulder, getting off the bed. “But if you would rather be trapped in the garage with Sprocket for another day…”
Not that I didn’t enjoy spending time with Sprocket, but the bait for getting out and having fun was just too strong. “Fine, I’ll join you, just give me a chance to change.”
“Ah yes,” Cognac said, snapping his fingers. “Tilly dropped off a few bags of things for you downstairs. Just another incentive to get you out of bed.”
I scrunched up my face in a frown at him, irritated that I was playing right into his hand… but I really wanted to wear normal clothes that fit.
Popping out of the bed, I raced out of the room and was downstairs before he even stood up. I saw the shopping bags on the pool table and headed right for them. Digging through the bags, I grinned, seeing things that every badass chick needed for her wardrobe—distressed jeans, leather pants, sassy graphic tees that were bleached and cut up, and finally, a leather jacket.
“I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you smile that doesn’t involve food or coffee,” Void said from the kitchen.
My head snapped up in his direction, yet again pissed that these guys could sneak up on me so easily. Void walked over to me and handed over a mug full of steaming coffee.
I looked at it, then him, with a raised eyebrow. “What’s that for?”
“It’s morning and you haven’t had any yet,” Void said with a shrug. “If you don’t want it, that’s fine—I’ll just dump it out.”
“Like hell you will!” I snapped, grabbing the mug from him. “How could you even think to toss out perfectly good coffee? What kind of heathen are you?”
“I’m not a heathen, little demon, I’m just not a crazed caffeine addict like you. Most normal people can survive without needing coffee injected into their veins,” he grumbled. “By the way, don’t think I’ve forgotten about winning our little bet—you’ll be with us for the next thirty days. I already shared the news with the others at breakfast.”
Taking a huge gulp of my coffee, I glared at him over the rim. “You don’t seriously expect me to leave everything for the next month because I couldn’t beat a trained MMA fighter, do you?”
Void gave me a grin that was mostly teeth. “Been snooping around, I see. Well, that should teach you to make a bet you know you can’t win, unless Two Tricks’ enforcer isn’t a woman of her word.”
Letting out a growl, I squared up to him. “If you know anything about me from all your research, you know I never go back on my word. What I really need to do is challenge you to a rematch and kick your ass.”
Void just shook his head with a smirk on his lips. “Sorry, little demon, I don’t need a rematch. I got what I wanted the first time around.” He leaned down so we were nose to nose. “I don’t start fights I can’t win.”
Booping me on the nose, he headed out of the house.
“AHHH!” I yelled as I snatched up the bags of clothes and headed for Eagle’s room, not wanting to go all the way upstairs to mine where Cognac might be waiting for a striptease. If Void thought just because I wouldn’t go against my word on this bet it didn’t mean I wouldn’t make him change his mind. I would make the next three months hell until he sent me away himself.
Making sure the room was empty and I wasn’t going to get snuck up on, I tossed off my clothes. Rooting through the bags, I found a handful of silky and lacy underwear that I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at. I never understood why women invested in the stuff when normal underwear worked just as well. Pulling out a tank top that caught my eye, I smiled. It was all black, but on the back, the straps were made up of a collage of embroidered skulls in white. Slipping it on, I grabbed a pair of skinny jeans that had rips and alternative band patches sewn on them. I had to hand it to Tilly, she had great taste.
Dressed, I looked at the mess I made with my clothes, old and new, on the floor and all over Eagle’s bed. All too pleased with myself, I left it, knowing he would be pissed when he found it.
Back in the living room, I saw Cognac packing stuff up in a cooler, not noticing me right away. I watched as he put sandwiches, snacks, and various drinks in.
“Did I miss the part where we are going on a picnic?” I asked.
“Well, you said I couldn’t eat you, so I figured I would pack something else,” Cognac answered without missing a beat.
I couldn’t help the laughter that popped out of my mouth at his statement. Cognac was the epitome of a high school jock who thought he could get any girl he wanted with his smooth moves.
“Be honest—you’re only interested in me because you can’t have me. If I was easy, then you would be bored and move on to someone else,” I challenged.
Cognac stopped and looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Loba, does that mean you’re going to let me have my way with you so I’ll leave you alone? Because I am all for that plan.”
“Keep dreaming, buddy,” I scoffed as I grabbed the boots Sprocket gave me yesterday.
“Trust me, you are the center of all my dreams, loba. I’m just waiting for you to realize that what we had on the dance floor wasn’t fake. The connection we have can’t be denied, no matter how hard you try,” Cognac said, winking at me as he set the lid on the cooler.
“That’s cute that you think that, really, but I don’t do anything but casual hook-ups. I’ve only dated one guy, and that lasted two weeks before I caught him messing around with another girl. Things are just so much easier without the extra baggage when we both know all we want is to get off. Sex is a need. Why make it more complicated?”
Cognac just looked at me for a moment, the silence heavy between us. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a jaded woman before. Come on, open the door for me, would ya? Let’s get this day started.”
Mildly surprised that he let the subject drop, I shrugged and held open the front door for him. The more I could lull him into believing that I wasn’t a threat now that I’d supposedly agreed to stay for a month, the better. If they wanted to willingly take me out into the wilderness of their compound, that’s on them. I told them upfront that I was gonna get out of this place, and this just seemed so perfect. If I could take out Cognac and steal the ATV, then I’d be well on my way to getting free.
It worried me how often I had to remind myself that I was a prisoner here and that these men were holding me captive. They wanted to use me against Two Tricks, and I couldn’t let that happen. Not that I would ever give up any information, but it’d look bad if word got out that I had been kidnapped. My reputation was something I had worked to build and enforce for years; I couldn’t afford to let myself become so easily distracted by this biker gang.
The ATV was parked in front of the house, and I was shocked to see it wasn’t just your typical recreational vehicle. No, this was a tactical ATV like the military used in desert missions. It had two front seats and a short bed full of supplies that would be needed to repair the fence. It had a roll cage with a sun screen over the top to provide some shade while driving, but otherwise, it was open.
“Coming?” Cognac asked as he hopped into the driver’s seat.
Jogging down the porch steps, I grabbed the roll cage and jumped in. I couldn’t hold back the smile on my face at the excitement I was feeling at taking this baby out for a spin.
>
“Here, you’re gonna want these,” Cognac said, handing me a pair of aviator mirror-finish sunglasses.
“How do I look?” I asked, giving him my best duck-lips pose.
“Like the dangerously hot woman I know you are, loba,” Cognac chuckled as he started up the diesel engine.
Looking over at the garage, I saw Sprocket leaning against one of the open doors. Feeling cheeky, I blew him a kiss and waved as Cognac peeled out, kicking up rocks from the driveway. Sprocket just shook his head and went back to work without even waving back.
Rude!
Leaning forward, Cognac turned on the radio and cranked the volume so it was blasting AC/DC. He immediately started drumming on the steering wheel and singing along. I was impressed—he had a good voice with a slight growl to it that fit the feel of the song perfectly. A fan of hard rock myself, I joined in, jamming out as we headed off into the wilderness of their compound.
Being so close to the foothills of the mountains, the ground was hilly with hard soil and full of scrub brush and pine trees. I couldn’t really picture this being a cattle ranch with how barren and dried out everything was. Granted, it had been a very dry summer with hardly any rain, but still. I pictured more bright green pasture lands and open rolling hills when I thought ranch. Guess that’s what I get for being a city girl and never really traveling much out of L.A.
Cognac cut across the ground, clearly very familiar with where we were going, until we reached the tall chain link fence. It seemed they’d taken a nod from the prison system in how they designed their defenses. The fence was twelve feet tall, at least, with barbed wire over the top and motion detectors at regular intervals. This was not what I’d pictured when Cognac said we needed to check the fence, but I shouldn’t have been surprised—being the largest MC came with having enemies who wanted to take your spot in the world.
Apparently, my escape wasn’t going to be quite as easy as I hoped.
As much as she tried to hide it, Dax was angry when she saw the fence that we had put up along the inner part of our eight hundred acres. I wasn’t even going to mention that this was only the four hundred acre mark and that we had even more traps set up outside the safe zone. This was the area that we kept protected for our use as a community.
We all knew that she wasn’t going to willingly stay with us for a month, no matter what bet she made. If we had any chance of making our plan work, we needed to get her to feel like she wasn’t a prisoner so that running away fell from the top of her list. Hearing her talk about how she viewed relationships was a slap in the face, though. Most of my life I’d viewed things the same way, but sitting here next to this tiny woman that was turning our world upside down made me think differently for the first time in years.
Dax was different than any woman we had ever spent time with. She was smart, cunning, and lethal. The fact that she took on Void and only ended up with a bruised cheek was a miracle. And I knew he didn’t hold back, because he didn’t understand the concept of not giving his all in a fight. I could see the respect in his gaze when he looked at her now, and that wasn’t something he ever gave out to women. If there was anyone more closed off than Dax to relationships, it was Void.
Picasso was still keeping his distance for the most part, not completely convinced that this was the right choice, but he wouldn’t deny his brother anything. Eagle was over the moon about this girl, the likes of which I’d never seen before. At dinner last night he would have killed Void for leaving a mark on her if she hadn’t told him off. Eagle was a scary bastard, but she went toe to toe with him, and it was a sight to see. Our beautiful loba was indeed a wolf in a woman’s body, and I couldn’t wait until I got her to unleash that passion on me.
“So, what exactly are we looking for as we ‘check’ the fence?” Dax asked using air quotes.
I turned down the music since it seemed she was interested in talking. “We need to make sure there’s no damaged areas and that all the motion sensors are working. Rooster said that there was a sensor down, so I figured checking out the rest made sense.”
“Ah, so you have a security room then,” Dax ventured, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye.
“Crafty little minx. You’re going to need to try harder than that to get that kind of information out of me, loba.” I grinned.
Dax shifted in her seat to look at me easier. “What does that mean, anyway?”
“Loba?” I asked, knowing full well what she meant.
Rolling her eyes, she huffed at me. “Yes, loba. You’ve been calling me that since I got here, figured I should know what it means.”
“What do you think it means?” I asked, enjoyed pushing her buttons.
I could see her frowning at me out of the corner of my eye, but I kept my eyes on the fence as we continued along, attempting to do the job we came out here for.
“If I find out that it means something nasty or rude towards women, I will cut off your dick that you love so much,” Dax growled.
My lips twitched in a grin as I fought to keep my face blank.
“Hmm… low-bah,” Dax said, drawing the word out. “I’m gonna guess it’s some kind of endearment, like babe or something as equally awful.”
“Nope.”
In a flash, she reached over and grabbed my nipple, giving it a good twist.
“FUCK!” I cried, jerking the wheel and almost crashing us into a tree.
Thankfully we weren’t going that fast, and I swerved out of the way in time, then slammed on the brakes.
“What the hell was THAT!” I demanded, glaring down at her.
“If you weren’t being such an ass and just told me already, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Dax retorted with her arms crossed and a cocked brow.
“Mujer loca,” I muttered, rubbing my chest. “Loba means wolf, and in this moment I wish I’d gone with something more vindictive.”
Dax flashed me a blinding smile and settled back into her seat. “Now, was that so hard?”
I humphed and starting us rolling again, but inside I couldn’t be more pleased with how tenacious she was. If there was ever a chance for a woman to handle all of us, it would be this woman right here.
“I approve of your choice in nickname,” Dax announced. “I’m glad you didn’t pick anything cute and sappy.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “Even if you didn’t like the name loba, I wasn’t going to stop using it. You don’t get a choice in what I call you, no matter how much you abuse me over it. I have a feeling that the others will feel the same about their chosen nicknames.”
“We’ll see about that. Picasso tried to call me ‘sweetpea.’ There is no way in hell I’m going to let that stand.”
“Picasso, for all of his artistic talent, does not have a way with words, so I’m not surprised,” I said absently as I spotted an anomaly in the fence up ahead.
Gunning the ATV, I pulled us up to the spot and got out, seeing the chain link gaping open where it’d been cut. I looked up and noted that the motion sensors to the left and right were still active, and there was no sign that they had been tampered with. Going back to the ATV, I pulled out the remote laptop that paired with the security system and got diagnostics of the past twenty-four hours. I glanced up, seeing Dax looking at the fence and surrounding area outside, looking at something on the ground.
“Did you find something?” I questioned as the computer booted up.
She squatted down as if to get a closer look, so I gave up waiting for her to tell me and walked over to check it out myself. Peering over her shoulder, I saw footprints in the dirt, but it looked like it was only one person. Spinning around, I looked on the inside of the fence and saw the tracks heading back towards the compound. Cursing, I ran over to the ATV and grabbed the radio to alert the others that someone had broken in, but I never got the chance as I was struck from behind.
Goddamnit! I should’ve known better than to turn my back on a loba who was waiting for the perfect time to strike.
“Weston!” I gasped as Cognac crumbled to the ground.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Even though I’d only been gone for less than four days, so much had happened. Wes turned to me and scooped me up in his arms, clutching me tightly to his chest as he buried his face into my neck. Stunned, never having seen him act like this before, I didn’t fight his hold.
“I can’t believe I let them take you, shortcake,” Wes murmured into my neck.
Unsure of what else to do, I hugged him back just as tightly. “They didn’t hurt me. I’m okay, Westy.”
Setting me back down, he pulled zip ties out of his back pocket and secured Cognac’s hands and feet. Then he picked me up and set me on the bed of the ATV, kneeling down and pulling off my boot. His fingers brushed against my skin just above where the ankle monitor was, as if he was afraid to set it off.
“They’ve never used it,” I told him, giving him a small smile when he looked up at me. “Did you find a way to get it off of me?”
“Yes and no,” Wes sighed. “I can mask it long enough for us to get it off, but we need a magnetic key. Each key is custom to each ankle monitor so the person who is wearing it can’t just get ahold of any random key and use it. With the app, I can make you disappear long enough for us to figure something out. The trick was getting you and one of the leaders with the app out of here before anyone noticed, but it seems you did that for me.”
A lightbulb went off in my head. “You disabled the motion sensor!”
Wes nodded as he stood and went through Cognac’s pockets until he found his cell phone. Then he tested each of Cognac’s fingers until the right one unlocked the phone. Swiftly, he went through the apps until he found the one he needed as he pulled out a cord from the tactical vest he was wearing. Weston was never the one to be on the front lines—that was always my job—but we’d both trained to be ready for any situation, a requirement for Two Tricks. Grabbing the laptop, I watched as his fingers flew over the keyboard, bypassing the security and gaining access to their whole compound’s system.
Two Tricks (Hidden Empire Book 1) Page 11