by Levine, Nina
“Hi,” she said, hesitantly.
I wasn’t sure what the hesitation was all about but chose to ignore it for now. “You sleep well?”
“Yes, thanks,” she replied in a quiet voice.
Fuck, it was like the Harlow who’d screamed my name last night was gone and had been replaced with someone who wasn’t familiar with my cock. I was about to find out what the fuck was going on when my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket to see who it was. Shit, it was Griff.
“Sorry, I need to take this,” I apologised, holding up my phone.
She nodded and I left the room to talk to Griff. “What’s up, Griff?” This had better be important because it was dragging me away from the sweetest pussy I’d ever had in my life.
“The meeting with Bullet is in an hour. I just got word.”
“At Gerry’s?”
“Yeah, brother. I’ll see you there,” he said, and disconnected the call.
I walked back down the hall and into my bedroom. Harlow was no longer in my bed. Figuring she was in the bathroom, I headed into the kitchen and put the kettle on to make her a coffee. She joined me about five minutes later, dressed in shorts that barely covered her ass and the tightest fuckin’ tank top I’d ever seen. I was instantly hard.
“Fuck, babe. You’re killing me here,” I said as I handed her a coffee.
“Why?” she asked as she reached up and pulled her hair into a ponytail. I wasn’t interested in her hair as much as her tits that jiggled with her arm movements.
“Seriously? You come out here wearing that and you don’t know what it does to a man?” And that right fucking there was what turned me on the most about her. If I had the time, I’d rip those shorts off and show her just what the fuck she was doing to me.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said as she winked at me. Then she took a sip of coffee and asked me, “Can you drop me off at the café?”
That wink almost tipped me over the edge but I managed to keep my shit together. “Yeah. What time do you need to be there?”
“As soon as you can. I want to help Mum with the morning rush.”
I picked my keys up off the bench. “Let’s go,” I said as I shrugged my cut over my shoulders.
She followed me out to the garage and I led her to my car. As I opened her door for her, I followed her gaze to my bike. She stared at it for a moment and then turned to me. “Can we take your bike instead?”
I shook my head. “Not gonna happen while you’re wearing what you’re wearing. You cover up some skin and we’ll discuss it again,” I said as I indicated for her to get in the car.
She looked down at what she had on and then back at me with a confused look. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“We come off the bike, how do you think you’ll hold up wearing that?”
It only took her a moment but she got it. Nodding she agreed, “Okay, I get it.” She ducked her head and sat in the car but placed a hand on the door to stop me closing it and looked up at me. “But will you take me for a ride one day?”
I stared down at her; listening to her words and hearing that hesitation again. With one arm resting on the top of the car door, I leant into the car and invaded her space. “Just to be crystal fuckin’ clear, you’ll be on the back of my bike, for any kind of ride you want. You get me?”
She sucked in a breath and her face flushed. Fuck. “Time to rock and roll babe, before I pull you back out of the fuckin’ car and let you wrap that mouth around my cock,” I said as I closed her door. Christ, I needed to get her as far away from me as possible. My concentration was shot to shit and I really needed it to be clear today.
***
The first thing I noticed when we pulled up outside the café was the bike parked across the road. The second thing I noticed was that it wasn’t a Storm member. And the third thing I noticed was that the motherfucker was leaning against it grinning at me.
I checked my anger and got Harlow safely inside. Stoney had pulled up down the road; thank fuck I’d called him this morning and arranged for him to keep an eye on Harlow.
“What time are you working till?” I asked her.
Cheryl was behind the counter and piped up. “I only need her for a couple of hours. Should be finished by eleven.”
“I’m not leaving you by yourself, Mum,” Harlow scowled at her mother.
“Rubbish. You’re running yourself ragged working two jobs so I’m sending you home at eleven for some sleep.”
Before Harlow could argue anymore, I interjected, “I’ll pick you up at eleven and take you home so you can get some rest.”
Cheryl sent me a thankful smile and mouthed a thank you to me. I nodded at her and then curled my arm around Harlow’s waist and pulled her close so our faces were close. “If you need me, you call me. For anything. Okay?” I didn’t want to alarm her by sharing my concerns for her safety with her but I needed her to know she could call me.
“Okay, but I don’t think I’ll be needing you,” she replied.
I roughly pulled her even closer and brushed my lips across hers. “Just make sure you call me if something comes up,” I said, gruffly. Christ, would she ever stop arguing with me? Even as I was thinking this I knew that the day she stopped challenging me would be the day I lost interest in her and I fuckin’ prayed that she never changed her ways.
***
I exited the café and called Stoney as I walked to my car. “Harlow’s here until about eleven, at which point I’ll be back to get her. You stay on her till then, and Stoney, guard her like your fuckin’ life depends on it. Am I clear?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Also, that bike parked across from the café belongs to one of Bullet’s guys. Keep your eye out for trouble from him. And, call me with any problems.” I disconnected the call and shoved my phone back into my pocket.
Without giving Bullet’s guy my attention, I got in my car and took off to Gerry’s for the meeting. Shit was about to go down and I was ready for whatever Bullet threw our way. Storm wasn’t a club that you fucked with and Bullet had done just that.
***
I barreled into the back room of Gerry’s Café, ready to go to war if fucking necessary. Bullet had succeeded in pissing me off by crossing the line when he sent his boy to my house the other day and again this morning by sending him to the café. He’d jumped the gun and now I’d shove that gun in his face if necessary.
Gerry’s Café was where we did most of our meetings and transactions. Gerry had been a member of Storm until his death a few years ago in a deal that had gone south. The motherfuckers had shot him. He’d died too fucking young at fifty and had left behind a family. We made sure his family was looked after and in return his wife let us use the back room when needed. I’d also taken care of the crew that had shot him; they no longer bothered anyone.
Dad and Griff had already arrived, as had Bullet and two of his men. I scowled at them; Bullet didn’t look surprised.
Standing, he said, “I see that Spider found you this morning.”
I exploded. “Yeah, he fucking did. This shit between you and Blade had nothing to do with us but you’ve changed that. And there’s a world of fucking hurt that comes with that. You want to fuck with my family and with my boys, well have at it, motherfucker, because it’ll be the last time you ever try.”
“Heard you got a nice piece on the side there,” Bullet sneered.
Blood roared to my head and my muscles flexed, ready to lash out. “Like I told Spider, you fucking touch her, I’ll kill you.”
Bullet stepped into my space, his nostrils flaring and his eyes blazing. “Careful what you threaten there, Scott. Empty threats still get the same response from me as real ones.”
“That wasn’t an empty threat, Bullet. You should know by now that I don’t fuck around.”
A moment passed as we glared at each other. The room was silent; waiting. With one last search of my face, Bullet responded, “I’ll give you forty eight h
ours to get Blade to see some sense but after that, all bets are off.” He moved back, away from me.
“The way I’m feeling it, you’ve signaled that all bets are already off.”
Dad agreed with me, “I’d agree with Scott. I think you’ve made yourself perfectly fucking clear, Bullet.” The anger was rolling off him too. Bullet was fucked now; he just didn’t know it.
Bullet signaled to his men to leave. “I’ll be in touch,” he rumbled, and then they were gone.
Fucking hell,” Griff muttered. He was pacing the room now; his standard response when shit went down.
“They’re watching Harlow’s café now,” I said to Griff.
“Who the fuck is Harlow?” Dad demanded to know.
“She’s a fucking innocent bystander in all of this. And she’s a good person who doesn’t deserve to be dragged into it.”
Griff cut in. “Scott, you need to lock her down. Bullet will come after her now.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“You’ve got Stoney watching her at the moment?”
I nodded. “I’ll head over there now and take her to the clubhouse.”
“We’ll meet this afternoon and start working on a plan to take Bullet down,” Dad said.
We wrapped things up and then I drove over to the café. This was going to be tricky. Harlow had no clue as to the shit I dealt with; getting her to realise the severity of this situation was going to take some work.
***
Spider was still outside the café but I ignored him. There were no customers inside and Harlow and Cheryl were nowhere in sight. I rang the bell on the front counter and waited. When Harlow appeared, I muttered, “You really need to put a bell on the door. Anyone could have robbed you by now.”
“Well hello to you too,” she came back with. “Why’d you put your cranky pants on?”
She had a way of slowing me down when I was angry. I knew I had a bad temper and most of the time I couldn’t control it, but with Harlow it was different. She’d say something like she just did, and it would surprise the shit out of me and make me stop and think.
“There’s some shit going on that I need to talk to you about. You able to leave now?”
“It’s only ten o’clock, Scott. I’m supposed to be here to help Mum for another hour.”
“Yeah, I know, babe. I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t important.”
She thought about it for a moment and then said, “Okay, let me go and see if she’ll be alright without me.”
She went out the back and I waited patiently until she returned with her bag. “Mum’s okay on her own so let’s go.”
Thank Christ for that.
Chapter 22
Harlow
I put my bag down on the kitchen table and then began opening windows to let some fresh air in the house. It was a warm September day and the house was stuffy. I was a little nervous about what Scott wanted to talk to me about. After last night, I didn’t know where we stood. He’d made it clear that he wasn’t looking for anything other than one night and from everything that Madison had told me about him, I’d believed that it would only ever be one night. But he’d surprised me this morning, especially when he’d promised me a ride on his bike. And I’d understood his meaning perfectly when he said I could have any kind of ride I wanted. So to say that I was a little confused by it all was an understatement.
I finished opening windows and came back into the kitchen were Scott was leaning against the kitchen bench, arms and legs crossed, a determined look on his face.
“What were you thinking last night when Nash and I cleaned up those three guys at the club?”
Okaay, didn’t see that question coming.
“That I’d hate to really piss you off.”
He chuckled and it was good to see the serious look disappear for a moment. I liked it better when he let his guard down. I wanted those crinkled eyes again. They didn’t make an appearance often enough as far as I was concerned.
“So it didn’t turn you off me?”
“Where is this coming from Scott? No, it didn’t turn me off you. I think that the fact I spent the night with you proves that.”
The serious look was back on his face and his eyes bore into mine. “I want you. I want you in my bed, on the back of my bike and in my life. But my life is a hard one and completely different to anything you’ve ever known. What you saw last night is just the tip of the iceberg and I need to know that you can handle that shit.”
The mood in the room burned with an intensity that I was fast associating with Scott. His words stunned me and I was speechless for a moment. My brain raced to process what he’d said because it was not even in the ballpark of what I’d ever expected to hear from him. If you’d told me that Scott would tell me he wanted me in his life, I would have laughed at you.
Everything I knew about Scott jostled for attention; his temper, his honesty; his compassion, his loyalty to those he loved, his fierceness, his bossiness, his protective streak, and I knew without hesitation that I wanted him too. He wasn’t perfect, and I had no idea where we’d end up but I wanted to take a chance on something that could be beautiful.
I walked over to where he was and took his face in my hands. “I can handle that shit.”
He groaned and his mouth smashed down onto mine in a rough, passionate kiss. His hands pulled my hips into his and I felt his erection. I ran my hands through his hair and inched my body as close to his as I could get. Being with Scott was thrilling and I knew that I could handle any of his shit so long as I had him in my life.
I could have stayed like that forever but Scott broke the kiss and pulled away from me. “I’m counting on it, babe, because we’re about to hit a shit storm.”
“Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
He blew out a breath before continuing. “My club has some enemies and one of them saw me with you the other day and then again this morning. They haven’t come out and made threats against you but I take their actions alone as a threat. I can keep you safe while we deal with this but I can only do that if you drop out of sight for awhile.”
“What does all of that really mean?” Drop out of sight for a while? I wasn’t sure where he was heading with this.
“Babe, it means exactly what you think it means. The guy that’s made this threat is a nasty motherfucker and I take everything he says and does seriously. Deadly fucking seriously. What I want you to do is stay at the clubhouse until this is dealt with. You good with that?”
“How long do you think I’d be staying at the clubhouse? Because I can’t leave my mum to deal with the café by herself.”
“I don’t know how long this will take. Could be a couple of days or more.”
“Then I’m not okay with staying there. I can’t just put my life on hold like that.”
“I’m not asking you to put your life on hold; just to drop out of sight for a little while so we can keep you safe. I can organise help for your mum at the café.”
“No, Scott, she needs someone who knows the café.”
He was getting agitated. I could tell by the vein popping in his neck and the way he was rubbing the back of his neck. It was too bad though; I wasn’t bailing on my mum when she needed me.
“I know I said I wanted you, and I fuckin’ do, but Christ, you’ll be the fuckin’ death of me, woman.”
I stood my ground. “I’ve laid down and let too many men walk all over me in the past, Scott. I won’t do it again. Maybe you need to be the one to decide whether you can handle that shit.”
He didn’t even think about it; he just growled, “Babe, I can handle that shit and more.”
Butterflies took over my stomach and his growly voice set my nerves alight with excitement. I smiled at him. “Good, because there’s a lot of baggage for you to sort through.”
As we stood watching each other, we were interrupted by a knock at my front door. I moved to go and answer it but Scott put his hand on my arm and shook his head. “Wait he
re, I’ll get it.”
I didn’t say anything but on the inside I was rolling my eyes. Seriously, if someone was coming to get me, why would they knock on the door? I moved out of the way and let him go and be my caveman. A moment later I heard Cassie’s voice and laughed out loud. “Thanks for saving my ass, Scott. You’ve got to watch out for Cassie cause you never know when she’s going to pull her ninja moves out and try and hurt you,” I yelled out.
He came back into the room with a scowl on his face. “I can tell that you’re taking this seriously.”
I took pity on him because he really did look annoyed and I knew that he was just trying to look out for me. “Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood,” I apologised, and then ignoring the surprised look on his face, I waved my hand between the two of them and said, “Scott, meet my best friend, Cassie. Cassie, meet my caveman, Scott.”
Her eyes widened. I hadn’t had a chance to fill her in on anything that had happened the last few days. She was a good friend though; she didn’t quiz me on it in front of Scott. That would be girl catch up time conversation. Instead she asked, “What have I missed here? What’s Scott saving you from?”
“Just some biker stuff that’s going on. Now tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” I was trying to give her the hint that I wanted to talk to her about this in private.
She picked up on my message and smiled at me in that knowing friend way. “I haven’t heard from you in a little while so I thought I’d drop in and see how you are. Your mum told me you had the day off.”
Scott broke into our conversation. “Ladies, as much as I’d love to shoot the shit with you, I’ve got business to get back to. Harlow, this conversation is to be continued but for the moment, I’ve got one of my boys watching you so you’ll be safe.”
“What do you mean, you’ve got one of your boys watching me?” I was so not used to the way Scott did things and I was struggling to get my head around it.
“I mean, if you look outside, you’ll see one of my men on his bike guarding you. Anyone tries to get to you, they’ve got to go through him first and he’s not an easy fucker to get past. You go out anywhere, he’ll be following you.”