Sweet’s reaction was lightening fast as his eyes came back up to meet mine. They narrowed on me immediately, his anger somewhat palpable in the space between us. “I didn’t do anything with her.” His teeth were clenched together as he spoke. “I only wanted to piss you off as I left, because you kept finding ways to remind me what an asshole I am. I thought I needed to prove it further.” He shook off whatever he had been thinking and then stated, “we walked out the door, I put her in her car, and we both left separately.”
“She’s not one to leave a party alone without getting something out of it.”
“She had something, bragging rights. I told her I didn’t care what she told her friends, but that she couldn’t go back inside for the rest of the night, and she certainly wasn’t going home with me.”
I wasn’t sure I believed him. It didn’t really matter in the big scheme of things whether I did anyway. Sweet wasn’t mine. He’d made that clear long ago. “I’m going to make some coffee. Do you want any?” My brain was too foggy to get through any more conversation with Sweet without the aid of caffeine.
“Sure.” I didn’t look back. I tried to tell myself it didn’t matter if he was watching me move to the little kitchenette inside the apartment room I kept in the clubhouse. Hell, I didn’t really have private things here that screamed anything about my personality. It looked more like a sterile hotel room, aside from some of the books lying about here and there. My stuff was currently sitting in a storage shed out back though, and my last apartment was already rented out to someone else. I couldn’t stand to stay there after the debacle with my ex-boyfriend and his sidepiece in my bed. It still sent shivers down my spine.
Was I under any delusion that the asshat had been the love of my life, or something? Nope. Still, it sucked to have someone cheat on you, worse yet, was when they did it on your own turf so that you had those memories associated with that furniture, that space. Some days, I wish I could hunt my ex down and beat the shit out of him all over again. Not because I care about him, but because I loved that apartment at one time, and I missed the comfort I once felt there.
Once I had the pot of coffee brewing I turned to see Sweet checking out a book that had fallen under the coffee table the night before when Paul and I were working. Damn, that was a little embarrassing, because I knew which book it was. Of all the ones for him to find, it had to be an MC romance with a sexy alpha male tearing into the female main character. At least, that was the image depicted on the cover. He looked up from reading the back of the book description as I was studying him. The grin on his face made me turn around. Luckily, I was able to pretend I’d forgotten to take the mugs out of the cabinet, because I had.
I had both sitting on the counter, and reached back up for the sugar when I felt the warmth of his body directly behind mine. I hesitated in my motions for only a second, but it was enough for him to push forward a bit more. His front came into contact with my back as he leaned forward, breathing in my ear before he spoke. “So, you like to read about sexy bikers taking their bitches over the counter, huh?” Shit, shit, shit! That was exactly what the covered showed. A leather-clad biker had his woman bent over a counter, and here we were damn near re-enacting that scene.
“I read about a lot of stuff,” I tried to say without sounding affected by his proximity. His hand grazed down the outside of my arm, and he didn’t move back at all. He just stayed, basically plastered to my back, his breath still coming warm on my neck sending heat to that sensitive spot just beneath my ear.
“Are you sure that’s not something you were hoping for? I could help you make your dreams come true, Jamie.” The low vibrations of his voice sent chills right up my spine and I visibly shivered. There was no hiding my reaction. There was also no denying that his words were something I had wished for long ago. Now, they were just another of his teases, and I knew it. More to the point, I wasn’t going to be drawn into any more of his games. I’d fallen for that shit once before. I was about to push back on him so that I could move away when someone knocked on my door. I silently thanked whoever was on the other side of that door for the interruption.
“Shit,” Sweet cursed out, apparently feeling less thankful for the interruption than I did.
I moved, pushing Sweet back off of me as I went to answer my door. Meanwhile, he just leaned back against the counter, cool as could be, like nothing had just transpired between us. Games. Just as I’d thought. Quickshot and Spike were standing on the other side of the door with Tash and Keys. “I heard this asshole and Sweet came by to see you, and got here as fast I could before either of them could piss you off.” Quickshot was grinning.
“Too late,” I muttered.
He laughed. “So I heard. Where’s my Prez? You chopped him into little pieces yet?” They all sort of pushed past me then and invaded my little apartment.
Quickshot tipped his head at Sweet, did a quick spin around the room, and then looked back at me. “Jamie, is this your only place?”
“For now it is.”
“Huh,” he bit out.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I just remember your room at your old man’s house. It was so lively. This place is kind of bland and lifeless.”
“Well, Wallace, all of my shit happens to be in storage right now, because I gave up my apartment after shit went down there that I no longer care to remember.” I spun around quickly so no one could see my face and began to pick up some of the clothes I’d dispatched to the corner when I got changed the day before. “I just put coffee on. You guys can help yourselves.”
Keys walked over to me and leaned in close. “You okay? You looked a little flushed when you answered the door.”
“Ugh,” I groaned. “Close encounters of the game playing kind from the asshole in my kitchen.”
“Oh,” she sounded surprised.
“Yeah, we can talk about it later,” I whispered trying to remind her that there were other people sharing the small space with us and I really didn’t want to discuss shit with them here.
“Paul asked me to tell you he has security details worked out for all the girls who agreed to them. His sister wasn’t among those in agreement, but he has one worked out for her too if she leaves the clubhouse for any reason.”
I laughed. “Of course MiMi would deny the detail.” I shook my head then. “That girl doesn’t know what’s good for her.”
“Sounds like a problem within your club,” Sweet muttered. I chose to ignore the comment.
“So,” Tash started as she took a seat and sifted through the papers still on my coffee table. “Anything new to discuss since the two of you were here going over everything?” The knowing look on Tash’s face made me want to punch her.
“We didn’t go over much.” Her grin exploded into a full-bodied smile. “Because my dad called again and I had to talk to him. Then, I explained why Paul and I were focused on Curtis the Snake just before I got up to make coffee.” As if on cue, the coffee maker beeped letting me know the brewing cycle was complete. Tash’s smile fell. I knew damn well what she thought had been going on since Keys had also just called me out on my flushed appearance.
“Nothing else?” The disappointment was evident in her tone.
“Well, we did argue a bit just before Ghost called,” Sweet piped up as he lowered himself into the chair Paul had slept in last night.
“Careful,” I offered with a chuckle. “Paul may have drooled all over that chair this morning. Sweet inspected both arms of the chair and then sat back carefully with a shrug as he sipped his coffee.
“Oh look, another book,” I heard Quickshot say as I watched Sweet’s eyes glimmer with amusement. “I thought the last one with barbarians belonged to one of the girls’?” I heard him sputter out the coffee he’d just tried to ingest and knew exactly which book he’d found. The one Sweet had obviously carried to the kitchen with him and left on the counter. Quickshot dropped the book like it contained the plague. Then he looked at the
counter where he’d just prepared his coffee in horror. “Please, tell me you guys weren’t busy reenacting that scene before we showed up.”
Sweet and I spoke at once. Him with, “Well, it wasn’t exactly like that.” While I managed a semi-screechy, “oh, hell no!” We each looked at the other then.
“Come on sugar, there’s no room for lies among friends and family,” Sweet’s saccharine voice slipped over me, sending involuntary shivers through my shoulders.
“We did not…” I started.
“Well we were interrupted before things started heating up, true.”
I closed my eyes and managed to count almost all the way to ten before the most unlikely suspect interrupted my thoughts. Spike. “Hey, while this book gives me all sorts of ideas for our honeymoon, I really think we need to get down to business.” Spike tapped my shoulder and I looked up at him with a smile of gratitude before he smirked and tipped the book in my direction. “I’m just going to borrow this for a bit, honey bunny.” I couldn’t even hold back my laughter at that point.
“Help yourself, sweet cheeks.”
Quickshot groaned and then started in on business. “Business is why I popped in. One of our guys near Nashville called to let me know he saw a lot of WR activity in Knoxville when he drove through a couple days ago.”
“Knoxville?” I questioned, something niggling at the back of mind.
“Yeah. Spokes said it looked like they were on a well-organized ride. He didn’t stick around for details because he was lone-wolfing his own ride to see some piece of ass, and Aces High aren’t exactly on friendly terms with the WRs. Never have been.”
“Knoxville,” I repeated while trying to shake a memory loose that just wouldn’t budge. I sat forward and slowly sifted through the papers Paul and I had gone through last night. There wasn’t anything in them about Knoxville. “Why does that ring a bell for me?” I was talking to myself, but everyone in the room was watching me when I looked up again. “Is MiMi around?”
“Downstairs,” Keys answered.
“Can you go get her?”
“Sure.”
Everyone stayed pretty quiet until MiMi showed up, and I purposely turned Curtis the Snake’s photo so she wouldn’t have to see his sorry ass face. “What’s up Angel Girl?”
“MiMi, I hate to ask, but why is Knoxville ringing a bell for me where the WRs are concerned?”
She scrunched her face up as if trying to remember, or maybe forget, something distasteful. “The snake guy,” she moved her right hand across her left where Curtis’s snake tattoo took up residence. “I know he mentioned Knoxville. A sister or some other woman with farmland out that way. He’d been telling Baldy they could take me there to some out building instead of giving me to the slavers. He mentioned that no one would hear my screams.” Her shudder punched me in the gut.
“Fuck,” Sweet hissed at the same time Quickshot said, “shit.”
“I’m so sorry, MiMi.” She waved away my concern and ignored the guys’ reactions.
“It’s rural, somewhere on the outskirts of Knoxville.”
“Quick, can you check with your guy about exactly where he saw them?”
“I guess that gives us a better starting point than we had before,” Tash offered hopefully.
“I’ll let Paul know,” MiMi added. “Did you need anything else?” I could see how uncomfortable she was, especially with the three large biker men in the room, and I certainly didn’t want to torture the poor woman further so I simply shook my head.
“No, thanks. That was a big help.”
She only offered a small smile and turned to leave. She stopped with her hand on the door though. “Just remember, if you find him, I want my five minutes of alone time with him before any other justice is dispensed.”
“Absolutely!” With that acknowledgment she was gone. I made my way over to finally grab the coffee I had needed to function earlier, and damn if those bastards hadn’t drank every last drop. I growled then turned to see the three Aces High dumb asses grinning like loons. “Seriously? You guys suck!” I gathered my cell phone, my wallet, leather jacket, and keys.
“Where are you going?” Sweet asked.
“I’m going to grab lunch, and some fresh coffee.”
“Want some company?” He asked the question while actually looking unsure of himself for once.
“No.” It was a simple answer and I left immediately after, not caring that there were a handful of people left to witness me reject Sweet, or that I left them all in my personal space. That alone would normally be driving me nuts, but I really did need some time alone to get my thoughts in order. As I was leaving Dane Cooper was standing there beside the clubhouse door. He had been in the Army with Paul and came to work with us when he finished up his own contract.
“Ms. Murdock,” he called out and I laughed at his formal use of my last name.
“Dane,” I laughed. “What part of that greeting screams bad-ass biker bitch to you?”
Dane chuckled. “Sorry, old habits, and all. You heading out?”
“Yup.”
“Let me call someone to go with you. Paul asked me to stick around and keep an eye on MiMi, but I’d feel better making sure none of you ladies were out and about on your own right now.” I sighed.
“The whole point in me leaving by myself was to have alone time, Dane.”
“You can still have your alone time with one of the guys tailing you,” he was completely serious.
“For fuck’s sake, Dane, did the Army not teach you what words mean? Alone means by myself, solitary, independent, without other people. Any of this ringing a bell?”
Dane just grinned at me as he texted someone. “Jake will be here momentarily.”
“Remind me again who the boss in this situation is?”
“Ah, you may sign my checks, but part of the job description is to keep everyone safe. You recently gave us all a security gig to look after, and I quote, ‘the women of Sierra High Evermore Motorcycle Club’. That includes you too, Angel Girl.” His smile was genuine, even though I saw him physically brace for my argument. He didn’t get one, because he was doing his job to the letter.
I hopped on my bike, started her up, and tucked my head into my helmet as I waited for Jake to show. To my surprise he rode right up beside me on his own bike. I smiled and we took off together just as the crowd I’d left in my bedroom made their way out of the clubhouse. “You got here just in time, Jake.” I called to him as we paused for the gate to the property to open.
“Avoiding someone, are we?”
“Like the plague if I can help it.” Jake chuckled, and once the gate was open wide enough we took off.
We prepped, gathered intelligence, and had eyes on Winter’s Renegades for a week before we were set to head to Knoxville to take care of the problem instead of waiting for the problem to come looking for us. Peety, the former would-be president of the local Aces High Chapter was leading the recon mission in Knoxville, feeding us information on the group’s movements. He had two of their prospects with him plus Quickshot had sent Spokes, his friend who had first tipped us to the fact that the WR were organizing near Knoxville. Spokes was a registered nomad who didn’t belong to any one chapter of Aces High, he sort of just drifted between them all, as most nomads did.
“We get this shit taken care of and we’ll have one more thing to celebrate on Friday,” Quickshot promised everyone as we geared up for the ride to Knoxville. It was only Tuesday, and we figured we would have everything squared away and be back to Sierra High by Wednesday night or Thursday morning at the latest. According to the intel coming in from Peety, this was going to be an easy takedown. The WRs only had about 12 guys in their ranks who hadn’t gone to jail when the FBI raided their facilities, and they were all staying in one central location now as they licked their wounds in a barn on the property belonging to Curtis the Snake’s sister. Apparently, the property used to house a rather large state of the art stable for breeding and maintainin
g racehorses or some shit. It had plenty of space for them to fix a few of the larger stalls into efficiency style apartments and for the rest to toss some sleeping bags down into their own slice of barn until the rest could be fixed up. We didn’t have actual Intel on what the inside looked like yet aside from those couple shots the guys got of the construction going on there. In that respect, we were going in blind.
“Seems awful quiet down there,” I commented as we watched the video feed from the Aces High members who volunteered to scout out the barn ahead of the rest of us. We didn’t want to have our whole team charging in without a clue as to what, or who, was inside.
“Yeah, too quiet for my taste,” Sweet admitted as he cut his eyes to an increasingly nervous Peety. We’d caught him by surprise as we rolled into town three hours ahead of schedule. Since no one had heard from any of our advance team beyond Peety I started wondering if there was a reason for that. “This was a great idea,” Sweet told me as he pointed to the tablet that was streaming the live video feed for us.
“Better than sending all of us in, especially when we’re unsure of our Intel,” I muttered softly.
“I told you they’re down there. Probably napping and gearing up for the drive they’re planning to Sierra High.” Peety had obviously heard me.
“Sure,” I said. My eyes didn’t waiver from the video though. There was something odd about the door I was seeing. “Tell them to hold up.” Sweet sent the command the minute I spoke up.
“What’s up?”
“Something weird about the door. Is there another entrance, window, or something they could attempt to go through?” As I was asking Sweet communicated with whoever was on the other end of his earpiece.
“They said there are a couple windows, but more importantly that they’re not hearing anything inside. No sounds of people gearing up, snoring, or whatever else they might be doing with a dozen or more guys stuffed in that barn.”
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