Ruthless: Book 2 of the Shattered Chronicles

by Ciana Stone

  “No, please.” She held up her hand to ward him off. ‘I appreciate all you’ve done for me and I hope I haven’t placed you in an awkward position or threatened your job. You’re a nice man and I know I’ve taken advantage. For that I’m sorry.”

  “I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to do. And I don’t want you feeling bad for me or for him. You’re the victim here.”

  “Victim?” She gave a short laugh. “Funny, I don’t feel like a victim.”

  “Then what do you feel?”

  She looked up at him with the saddest eyes he had ever seen. “Empty.”

  Mark reached out for her, but Morgan stepped back. “I’m sorry, Mark. I know you mean well, and I do thank you, but right now I just need to be alone.”

  Mark’s hand fell to his side. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  “Okay.” He pulled a card from his pocket and scribbled a number on it. “Here. If you need anything.”

  Morgan accepted the card. “Thanks.”

  Mark hesitated for a moment then without another word left the house. As he got into his car, he looked back at the house. He didn’t know if he was doing the right thing by leaving her alone or making the biggest mistake of his life.

  Odessa, Texas

  Cord stepped into the hot steam of the shower and sighed as the water poured down over this body. His sleep–heavy eyes stung under the bright light and the dream still lingered in his mind.

  Cassie ran her hands on his naked skin, working them up his torso to his chest where she lingered for a moment, letting her fingers trace patterns on his skin. Moving higher, she massaged the tight muscles of his neck.

  With a teasing smile, she took the soap and lathered him, playfully cleaning him as she took her time exploring his body and finding all the places that her touch brought him pleasure.

  Cord lowered himself to the seat built into the side of the shower as Cassie soaped his stiff erection, bringing him close to the point of climax. She poised with one foot on the seat behind him, teasing the sensitive tip against her own wetness, slightly inserting inside her then pulling away.

  As his need grew beyond his control, she slid down on him, taking him inside her. Cord's orgasm buckled his knees with its force and causing him to reach out to regain his balance. The fantasy gave way to reality. Was it wrong to be masturbating to thoughts of another woman? Maybe. The question bothered him, so he shoved it from his mind.

  As he dressed, he wondered if he would see Cassie again. That immediately made him feel guilty. What had happened to his certainty and faithfulness of last night? With a mental curse, he let himself out of his room. There seemed to be a lot of noise. He dismissed it and headed toward the hotel dining room. The sounds of pandemonium grew louder as he got closer.

  When Cord turned the corner into the dining room, the source of all the commotion was revealed. More than fifty loud and rowdy bikers were demanding the entire room. Thoughts of Cassie vanished as Cord surveyed the scene. Only one man could cause such a hubbub.

  "Big Jeff!” He made his way through the crowd of unfamiliar faces to an enormous man who was in the process of picking up a waitress. The man turned and a grin split his face.

  "Hey!" he shouted happily, "Cord, my man!” He put the waitress down and held his hand up for a high five. Cord popped his hand against the big man's, almost having to jump up off the floor to make contact.

  Jeff grabbed Cord around the neck with one massive arm and raised his other arm to bring order to the room. The action caused an immediate hush to fall as all eyes looked toward him.

  "Hey, everybody!" Big Jeff yelled. "I want you to meet the man that's paying for your breakfast! My main man, Cord Alexander!"

  A collective roar of hoots and hollers went up from the crowd as the bikers surged through the room of linen draped tables and made themselves comfortable.

  "Excuse me, excuse me!” A voice came from somewhere within the rabble.

  Cord looked around and spotted the hotel manager peeking around from behind a very large woman in black leather.

  "Excuse me! Mr. Alexander! You know these people?”

  "Sure, Simon.” Cord answered as he scanned the room for Trevor. "Just put it on my tab."

  *****

  Cassie applied her makeup very carefully. The night of drinking combined with the awful bruises she had from her fight with Morgan made her face look old and worn.

  When the finishing touches were complete, she surveyed herself in the mirror. You had to look close to be able to see the faint dark tinge on her skin. She had to admit that she was an artist with a makeup brush.

  Satisfied with that aspect of her appearance, she turned her attention to selecting the right outfit. She shrugged off the bathrobe, shimmied into a pair of sheer panty hose, and then stepped into a tight white leather skirt, wiggling it up over her hips. She pulled on a sheer lace top and turned to the mirror. "Perfect!" She smiled at her own reflection. A pair of very high spiked heels completed her outfit. Ready to conquer, she grabbed her keys and purse and left the room.

  Cord’s door beckoned. She stopped and knocked lightly. After a few seconds, she tapped again. Finally, she tried the doorknob. It was locked. Just at that moment, she heard someone coming down the hall.

  A tall, athletic young man with long black hair walked toward her. She released the doorknob and started toward him, letting her eyes rake over his lean body appreciatively.

  "Hi there.” She greeted him as they drew near each other, her voice pitched low and sultry.

  "Hey.” The young man answered, half raising his hand.

  Cassie turned as they passed, admiring the way the jeans fit his lean form. A tasty morsel. She was tempted to turn and follow him, but she had bigger fish to fry .

  The young man stopped in front of the door the good-looking redhead came from. A puzzled look crossed his handsome features. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, turned and headed back the way he had come.

  Cotton Creek, Texas

  Morgan turned away from the computer. She’d gone through every file in Cord’s appointment directory for the last five years and had found nothing that would indicate a clandestine meeting with a woman.

  How was it possible that he’d been able to maintain an affair without her even suspecting? Was she that blind or that out of touch with the man she loved?

  Questions piled up in her mind until she felt her head would explode. There was nowhere to go for answers. Each time she called Cord’s hotel and asked for him she was told he wasn’t in. She’d even resorted to putting in a call to Tom. He seemed to be under the impression that Cord was in Andrews at the facility. A call to the facility had informed her that Cord wasn’t there

  With no one else to call for leads, she was quickly reaching a level of panic that was unmanageable. There was only one option. She had to escape. If she remained home alone with her thoughts one more minute, she would surely go insane.

  On an impulse, she sprang up and rushed to her bathroom to take a shower. Once clean, she chose a clean pair of jeans, her favorite boots and a button-up shirt. Within minutes she was dressed and climbing into Cord’s black sports car.

  Morgan hit the remote garage door button, revving the engine as the door raised. The car cleared the opening before the door was fully raised. She shifted into gear and pressed the accelerator petal to the floor. The car shot forward, fishtailing. She slowed long enough to open the electronic gate with her remote, and then threw the car in low gear. The tires spun as she accelerated and rapidly shifted gears.

  She raced along the narrow winding country roads, her hands gripped the wheel tightly; white knuckled with strain. She turned on the radio and jacked the volume up. As though racing against the setting sun, she drove with reckless abandon, the pounding rhythm of the music blasting from the speakers. Lost in her own grief she didn’t notice the headlights that followed behind her as she raced toward the city.

  When she rea
ched her destination, she pulled into the parking lot of the Honky Tonk Angels Bar and Grille and cut the engine, trying to decide if she really wanted to go in after all. She wasn’t all that comfortable being out by herself and tonight she was feeling especially insecure. But she couldn't face the idea of being alone in the house with that video. She almost wished Samuels hadn’t returned it.

  Finally, she decided that she might as well go in and get something to eat since she had made the long drive. Morgan slid out of her car and walked to the entrance. Cody Sweet was working tonight, and Morgan hadn’t seen her in several months. Cody was talking to Riley Morgan who sat on a stool at the bar. There weren’t many people here tonight which suited Morgan just fine.

  “Well, hey stranger,” Cody greeted her.

  “Hey yourself,” Morgan replied with a smile and then one for Riley when he turned to look at her. “Hey, Riley. How’s it going?”

  “If Annie would get home from New York, it’d be just peachy.”

  “He’s lonely,” Cody teased. “And lazy. This is the second time in two days he’s come here to order up dinner.”

  “Forgot how to cook?” Morgan asked.

  “More like have no desire to do it,” he replied. “How are things with you and Cord?”

  “He’s off on business,” she glossed over Cord’s status.

  “And you?”

  “Same as always, busy as a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest.”

  “I don’t know how you do it, running the ranch and your vet business.”

  Morgan shrugged. “I like staying busy.”

  “Speaking of busy, I’d like to get you out to check a couple of horses, if I can get on your schedule.”

  “Of course, you can. Could you give me a call tomorrow when I have my schedule handy?”

  “Sure thing.” He stood as one of the servers walked from the kitchen, carrying a take-out bag. “That looks like me.”

  “Yep,” Cody thanked the server and slid the bag across the bar to Riley. “Put it on your tab?”

  “Please.” He picked up the bag. “I’ll give you a call, Morgan.”

  “Okay, have a good night.”

  “You too.” He looked at Cody. “See ya.”

  “Yep.” She smiled and turned her attention to Morgan. “Want something to drink?”

  “Sure. Let’s see. How about an iced tea? Sweet, with lemon.”

  Cody yelled into the kitchen for Morgan’s drink then looked at her again. “So, what’s up?”

  “Nothing much. Does Annie have to go to New York much?”

  “Not really, but this new book she’s working on is a little different and her editor wanted to talk to her about it. You know, she usually writes romance and romantic suspense, but she had this idea about a new series that has an angel in it.”

  “An angel. As in halo and wings?”

  “More like plaid shirt and blue jeans.”

  “Oookay.”

  Cody laughed and leaned her forearms on the bar. “Between you and me it sounds like she’s basing her angel on Joe.”

  “Joe?”

  “Yeah, you’ve heard about Joe, haven’t you?”

  The only Joes Morgan knew were Joe Johnson who used to run a garage and her Joe. “No, I don’t think so?”

  “Are you serious? Damn Morgan, Joe’s been around for a few years.”

  “He has?”

  “Yeah. Remember when the tornado tore this place down and those mobsters were here? Girl, it was a nightmare. Those mobsters were threatening to shoot people and Annie’s estranged husband was here, I think working for the mobsters.

  “The tornado was headed straight for us and suddenly the bar just shrieked. That’s the only way I can describe it. It shrieked a split second before a section of the roof above the stage was ripped away. The end section of the bar that housed the stage suddenly was sucked away into what looked like a nightmare of swirling black air and the entire roof sagged in toward the opening.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it, and I can tell you I was terrified. Tables and chairs and bottles and glasses were sucked into the maelstrom. And everything became projectiles that buffeted the remaining walls and the people lying on the floor, hanging onto anything they could to try and prevent being sucked into the twister.

  “Riley had one wrapped around Annie and the other around the corner post of the bar. She was clinging to him and screaming to her son David, who had a gun on him by one of the mobsters. And they were being pulled closer to the funnel.

  “The mobster guy lost his grip and Annie screamed as David was literally lifted up off the floor. Well, what happened next was beyond anything anyone could have imagined. Joe was suddenly there. He wrapped his arms around David and suddenly David was on his feet again, standing in the middle of a hell of debris that jetted around him.

  “The mobster managed to raise his arm and point his gun at David. Annie’s ex, Rodrick was clinging to a post, his body being pulled away from it. Then he let go with one arm and fired at Moretti. Moretti fell, clutching his chest and some woman with Rodrick turned on him with her hands drawn into claws.

  “He grabbed the woman and released his hold on the post and both of them were pulled out into that churning nightmare. No more than a few seconds later, the twister roared away, leaving an eerie silence in its wake.

  “David stood in the middle of all that destruction and just before the twister roared away, more than a few of us saw Joe holding him. He had his arms and his wings wrapped around David. Before most of us could grapple with that sight there was a deafening groan. Joe looked up and threw his arms and wings out wide.

  “And the roof came down. How we survived is a miracle and a mystery. At least that’s what the emergency crews said. But I know what happened.”

  “What?” Morgan was agog at the story. Cody had always been such a grounded person. Did she really believe this tale?

  “Joe. He saved us.”

  “You truly believe that? That he’s an angel? And what? Sent from heaven to guard Cotton Creek?”

  “Heck, I don’t know. But I saw those wings and there’ve been a lot of people who’ve been helped or saved by Joe. I try not to think about what he is, because to be honest, I have a hard time wrapping my brain around it, but I know what I know.”

  “So, what does an angel look like?”

  “I don’t know what others look like, but ours is tall, about six-three and on the stocky side. He looks like he’s in his 60s, and he favors plaid shirts and blue jeans, has gray hair that he wears pulled back in a ponytail and the kindest blue eyes you’ve ever seen in your life.”

  Morgan felt the hair on her arms and back of her neck stand at attention. Cody had just described Joe. Her Joe. Myrtle’s Joe. It couldn’t be. Joe wasn’t an angel. He was – well, he was Joe.

  Just then the bar phone rang and the server who answered called for Cody. “You want something besides tea?” Cody asked.

  “No, I’m good. I’m just going to grab a booth.”

  “Okay, I’ll send the server over. Good talking with you Morgan. Stop being so scarce, okay?”

  “I’ll try. Thanks, Cody.”

  She took her tea and found an empty booth. It was only seconds before the server came to take her order. After that, she just sat and looked around the bar. Tears threatened as she saw a couple across the way, kiss and smile at one another.

  Thoughts of Cord weighed heavily on her mind. She felt like her world was steadily coming apart at the seams and had no idea what to do. As far as she was concerned, without Cord she had nothing.

  Odessa, Texas

  Cord listened as Jeff told him how great their ride down had been and how Max had put out the word to get in touch with them. He and Trevor were both very curious about what Cord was cooking up.

  Cord was only paying partial attention. He’d seen no sign of Trevor and was beginning to get a little anxious.

  "Looking for me?” A husky but young voice came from behind
him.

  "Trevor!" Cord turned in the direction of the voice. He wanted to reach out and give his son a big hug but felt it would embarrass him, so he clasped his hand firmly.

  Trevor returned the shake and to Cord's great surprise, wrapped his arms around him, giving him a rough hug. "Good to see you, Dad."

  They made their way to an empty table in the middle of the room. Trevor was wide–eyed with curiosity, excitement, and a measure of concern. "Mom’s message said it was important for me to get up with you. What’s up?"

  Cord's jovial demeanor vanished. He scratched the back of his neck and looked from Trevor to Big Jeff. "Well," he began uncertainly, trying to find a place to begin. "It's a long story."

  Cord omitted certain personal details as he filled Big Jeff and Trevor in on the highlights of the past few days. He ended his tale with, "And here we are."

  Big Jeff sat quietly throughout the story, not saying a word, shoveling food into his face as fast as he could chew. He polished off his fourth plate of food as Cord finished the story, pushed himself back from the table, and lit a cigarette.

  “You can’t smoke in here, Buddy,” Cord said mildly.

  “Oh sorry.” Jeff stubbed the cigarette out on a plate, leaned back in his chair, exhaled contentedly, and belched. "What you want us to do, Boss?” He asked point blank, staring at Cord without expression on his big homely face.

  Cord hesitated for a moment, trying to weigh the consequences of getting Big Jeff and Trevor involved. If anything happened, Morgan would have a fit and he sure didn't want to face that. However, as he saw it, it was too late. They were here and his story was told. The only logical thing to do was to proceed.

  Trevor, meanwhile, had been sitting with his eyes wide. "CIA? FBI? Those are some pretty fucking heavy-duty dudes, Pop."

  "They're just people." Cord shot back at him in a sudden flare of irritation. "Just like you and me. No more, no less."

  "Yeah, but they got guns.” Big Jeff interjected.

  "Like we don't?” Cord fired at Jeff. He knew he had to make Jeff understand that this was very serious. "Besides," he calmed his voice. "All I want you to do is poke around a little. But I want you to be prepared, just in case."