by Danika Fox
It was a shame there were men coming to kill me.
I opened my eyes as that thought passed through my brain, idly floating by like it had nowhere crucial better to be—like the urgency of that stray idea had no meaning. But then I remembered the pain in my head, my sudden descent into oblivion, and then all the horrifying memories of what had happened at Earthly Delights slammed into me like an out of control semi.
The light burned and I had to shut my eyes against it, the sting soon accompanied by a sudden throb right behind my forehead. I couldn’t help but let out a whimper of distress, instinctively turning onto my side and curling into a fetal position.
My throat was as dry as the Mojave, and despite the dull pain radiating through my skull, my head felt like it was stuffed with cotton—the kind you find in bottles of medicine to keep the pills from rattling around too much.
I let out a groan, cupping my hands over my eyes as I tried to push through the fog that was obfuscating my thoughts, chasing after every trail of memory I could.
Where the hell am I? I wondered, feeling the soft press of what could only be a mattress beneath me—which meant we definitely weren’t in the lot behind the motel.
We? I asked myself. I knew there was a we, that I’d been there with someone else—someone I knew I ought to remember.
I know their name, I thought. But there was so much pressure in my head. I felt like I was being...
“Crush!” I said aloud, sitting bolt upright, the world spinning dangerously as I tried to bring him into my field of view.
But I had no idea where I was, let alone where the man who was supposed to be protecting me might have gone. From the look of it, we were in another motel, though one that was a shade nicer than the last one we’d been holed up in. But there was no Crush, no sign of the man I’d been fucking like my life depended on it.
I touched the side of my head, the memory of that sudden sting coming back to me as I allowed my mind to dwell on those final moments before I’d fallen into unconsciousness.
“Crush?” I called again, moving toward the edge of the bed to investigate the room. But before my feet even hit the floor I heard the bathroom door click open.
“Hey, you’re up,” he said, a smile dawning across his handsome face. I wanted to slap him. How could he be so calm after what had just happened? “You’ve been asleep for awhile…”
“Where are we?” I asked, “And how did we get away? I don’t remember anything after—”
I let my voice trail off. All my mind could conjure was the sting in my neck and then… nothingness.
“I passed out,” I said. “Why did I pass out?”
“You hit your head,” Crush admitted, sitting down beside me on the bed. “I tried to follow you out the window and you just sort of… collapsed.” Try as I might, Crush refused to meet my gaze as he spoke, dodging me every time. “I grabbed you off the ground and hid until the coast was clear.”
“But how did we get here? This isn’t our room,” I said, my chest getting tight. “Where are we?”
“Farther outside of the city,” he said, glancing toward the window. “We should be all right here for now. I haven’t told anyone where we are yet, so that should buy us some time.”
“This is starting to get out of control, Crush,” I said, my face in my hands. “I’m scared that no matter where we go, these assholes are just going to keep finding us.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” he said in an attempt to sound comforting. “I’ll keep us safe. This should all be over soon.”
“How could you know that?” I asked, looking up at him, fighting back tears. “They just keep finding us, and sooner or later, you’re not going to be able to protect me.”
“I—” he paused and frowned, chewing his words before looking me in the eye. “I’m going to make sure that they never get to you, Chrissy. I can’t tell you how I know. I just do.”
“So all of a sudden, we’re keeping secrets?” I said. If he knew something that could keep me safe, I deserved to know.
“It’s not a secret,” he said, turning his gaze away from mine one more time. I could feel my stomach tighten. I’d learned a long time ago what someone looked like when they were lying. “I just… I can’t explain it now.”
“That sounds like a bunch of bullshit,” I muttered, shaking my head. “If you know something, then tell me.”
“It’s just a feeling, I swear. We’ll be okay.”
I got up from the edge of the bed. I wasn’t in the mood to be jerked around, especially not by someone who had given me the cold shoulder right after he’d been inside of me—but now suddenly he was playing the knight in shining armor. My headache was getting worse.
“I don’t need someone else lying to me, Crush,” I said, looking into his eyes and thinking of all the lies and deception my father had ever inflicted on me. “That’s not what I want in my life.”
I felt his hand slide around mine, pulling me in close. It was a reminder of just how strong Crush was that he seemed to barely exert any effort to pull me, and it made my heart flutter.
“I would never do anything to put you in danger, Chrissy,” he said, his voice a low whisper as he looked up into my eyes. “I want you to stay safe.”
“Then be honest with me,” I urged him, my voice thinning as I became aware that I was so very close to him. “My father wanted to keep me safe too, but he lied to me to do it—I don’t need that from you, too.”
“I swear, I’m not hiding anything from you. I’ll tell you everything, soon…” he said, reaching up to stroke my cheek with the tips of his callused fingers. And for a moment, I believed him.
Before I knew it, his lips we on mine, his hands running down my body and underneath my blouse. My breath caught as he pulled me onto him, and suddenly I was floating again.
He stripped me bare once more, this time lying me down on my back amid a much softer, luxurious set of sheets and pillows. He was already so hard for me, so ready, and by the time he was aligning his body with mine he found me open and ready, too.
I bit down hard on my lip as he thrust into me, instilling me with the sensation of utter completion I’d never felt with anyone else. “Crush,” I whined, fingers in his hair as he began to move on top of me, pushing almost all the way in on each closing of the circuit, then punctuating with a dirty grind.
“It’s okay, Chrissy,” he murmured into my mouth, fingers coming up to brush away tears I didn’t even know I’d shed. “I’ve got you.”
That was when I knew that what I felt for Crush wasn’t just going to go away, and that it would take more than a few good fucks to get him out of my system. I wanted him—totally and completely. I wanted him in all the ways a woman could want a man.
Most of all right then, I wanted him to make me safe, just like he promised.
18
Crush
The motel room damn near silent after Chrissy had finally drifted off to sleep, and it seemed almost a shame to risk waking her up. She looked so peaceful, and part of me wondered how someone might get used to a sight like that beside them, waking up to someone holding them in their arms…
But no matter how much part of me wanted something like that for myself, I knew it wouldn’t happen—especially not with a girl like Chrissy Falcone.
Things weren’t going to be getting any easier from that moment on, and I had to ask myself as I looked down at her if dragging her through it was right, if she deserved to have to stay at my side when I could just end all of this now and save us both the heartbreak. She and I were from two different worlds, and those worlds just didn’t mix.
I glanced over to the other bed, my eyes catching on the slight lift beneath the mattress where I’d stuck the file that Agents Smith and Donaldson had given me in exchange for turning a blind eye to what might be the last illegal act the Hounds of Hell were set to engage in. Just the idea that after all this time the MC would be going straight still rocked my world, which made things al
l the more complicated when it came to fucking a crime lord’s daughter. I wanted to keep both my hands, and the Hounds sure as fuck didn’t need a war with the Falcone family.
I got up slowly from the bed and slipped on my jeans, still trying my best to remain as quiet as I could while Chrissy slept. I crossed over to the second bed and extracted the file from its hiding place, sitting down as I put the manila folder across my lap. My hands were trembling at the weight of what was in here—the sheer burden of the thought that I might just have a man’s life in my hands if Falcone took this evidence seriously. Like he’d said on the phone, loyalty was everything to a man like him, and if you ever betrayed that…
I knew it was a cliché, but if I handed this over to Falcone, I might be sending Lonnie Caputo to sleep with the fishes, or to end up buried out in the Mojave somewhere with a slug stuck in his skull. But on the other hand, did I really have a choice in the matter? If Lonnie was going after Chrissy because of what she’d seen, did I really have the option to just sit on this when I could end it right then and there? And with the Russians on our heels…
I opened the folder and began to examine everything the spooks have given me to try and convince Falcone of his right hand man’s betrayal—and it was a lot. There were pictures of Lonnie and that bastard Sergei meeting together at a club somewhere on the strip called the Mohican, one that, according to a few photocopied deeds and a meticulously written report, was owned by Sergei himself. In total, there had apparently been fourteen instances of the two of them getting together, and even more conversations over the phone that the spooks had been listening in on, and from what they talked about, it didn’t sound like they were dancing around when it came to planning.
The longer I read, the more I became convinced that Lonnie had been plotting this since before Chrissy had even left her dad’s place, which had apparently been the big sign to move forward with their plan. With Don Falcone distracted by issues with his daughter, Caputo and Sergei could start pushing their machinations forward in earnest.
I lifted my gaze from the file to look back at Chrissy, who had taken to hugging a pillow in my stead, her face half-buried in it. I had to wonder whether any of this would have happened—or could have been delayed—if she’d stayed with her dad even just a little while longer. Or had all of this come together at just the right time so that we could come together?
I was always the first person to call bullshit on the idea of “fate” and “destiny,” but even guys like me tend to wax poetic from time to time—feelings for a woman would do that to you. But how would Chrissy react if she found out that her leaving had set all of this in motion? I knew right then that I couldn’t tell her what was going on, and that hopefully I would never have to.
I also knew right then that this was going to be the end for the two of us, the end for everything that I had hoped, just for the briefest, stupidest second, that we could have had together. We were too different, and once this was over, I knew where I would be needed. I wasn’t about to abandon the Hounds of Hell, especially now that we were on the verge of starting a new chapter in our history. They were my family, and I couldn’t even imagine abandoning them for some girl I barely knew.
Even thinking of Chrissy in those terms stung my heart, because I knew that she was more than that—more than just some girl I was being forced to babysit. She had become someone I actually cared for even in the short time we’d been together. But even then I had to wonder how much the two of us would really get along after all of this was over and we weren’t fighting for our lives. Was it just the thrill of it all that was drawing us together, or was there really something there?
Either way, I knew where I belonged, and it certainly wasn’t in Vegas.
I turned my attention back to the file in my lap, its entire payload of information splayed out before me. This was what it would take to end this little rat race for good and get me what I wanted—maybe. The truth was I had no clue whether or not Falcone would believe me or any of this. He was a man driven by his emotions, and if he was mad enough, he could ignore as many facts as he liked.
Maybe he deserves to get taken out, I thought with a bitter shake of my head. People who refuse to change are destined to be forgotten; that was the whole point of what the Hounds were doing now—getting with the times. It was more profitable to be legit than it was living on the outskirts of society, and even with how much Falcone and people like him postured, he knew that people like him wouldn’t be far behind people like the Hounds of Hell. We were just ahead of the curve.
The sound of Chrissy shifting in the bed across from me made me turn my head, reminding that Falcone wasn’t just some mobster, that he didn’t exist in a vacuum. If he got taken out, then that would mean Chrissy would lose her dad, and God only knew how that would affect her.
I wasn’t about to let her lose her father because of a choice I made, which meant that I was going to have to bring this to Falcone himself in person.
The burner phone buzzed in my pocket. I flipped it open. I apparently had a text message.
Caputo just left Falcone’s. Now or never, the message read. It was from a blocked number, and I could only assume it was my new federal friends. I looked back over at Chrissy a moment, swallowing hard.
I couldn’t take her with me, but I knew that if I didn’t act fast and get this to Falcone before Caputo actually made his move, then there probably wouldn’t be another chance. I needed to get over there as quickly as I could.
I glanced out the window, my gaze fixed on my bike. I was weighing whether I could get away with leaving her here while she slept—just long enough to get the information to her dad. But the longer I thought about it, the worse the idea felt. I needed to make sure she was looked after, even in my absence.
But how?
I needed someone I could trust. Somebody I could count on not to sell me out, but here in Vegas, I had no one.
Well, maybe not no one.
I opened the burner and started to dial, hoping that I’d be able to get an answer this late at night. The Hounds usually kept late hours, but even this was cutting it.
It took me a few tries, but eventually I managed to get a hold of one of the Hounds, who put me in touch with another one, and then another.
“I think Teddy’s in Reno,” one of my brothers, Mike, informed me. “He’s visiting family, but I think he’d be willing to make the drive if you give him a call.”
Teddy answered the phone immediately, and before I knew it, he was on his way. Now all I had to do was wait. The drive from Reno to Vegas wasn’t terribly long, and the motel the spooks from the CIA had dropped us off at was almost outside the city limits.
I sat down on the bed opposite Chrissy one more time—possibly for the last time—as I gathered up all the dirt that I’d been given on Caputo and his Russian friend. I couldn’t help stare at her as she slept, the way her lips parted just so, her breasts rising and falling and making the sheets slip down with each of her breaths. It was the first time I’d seen her sleep, and already I knew I was going to miss it.
Sometimes shit just doesn’t work out, I reminded myself as closed the folder and waited for Teddy to arrive. And besides, Chrissy isn’t the kind of girl who’d be satisfied being some biker’s “old lady.” You barely even know her—she probably just thinks that this has all been some wild fling. And maybe that’s true and I’m just letting my emotions get the better of me.
I sighed and leaned back against the headboard, closing my eyes as I waited for the familiar sound of a motorcycle engine to herald my fellow Hound’s arrival.
This was never supposed to be anything more than business, Crush, and you know it. It’s bad enough you might get on Falcone’s shit list if he lives through all of this shit, but on top of that you put the future of your brothers at risk. And all for a few rounds with some girl you only just met.
If there was one thing I was good at, it was making myself feel like a prick. But better to feel like a pri
ck than to let my family down, and besides, it would be easier with a clean break. Once I delivered all of this to Falcone, I was going to be out of Vegas as fast as I could grab the fat stacks of cash he had to offer.
I had to remind myself again and again that this had only ever been about the money—about the MC. I couldn’t let anything get in the way of that, not when it was more than just my life on the line. This was going to be our new start.
This was just business, I thought again as I heard the rumble of Teddy’s bike growing closer.
So why did it feel so goddamn personal?
19
Chrissy
“I cannot fucking believe you.”
I had never been so angry in my life, not even at my father. But, then again, my father had never whispered promises of honesty into my ear pre-coitus.
I felt soiled, made dirty by the lies he’d told me just before we made love, the warm rush of fondness and satisfaction I’d awoken with replaced by a cold sense of betrayal as I stood in our motel room, my fists clenched.
“You said you were going to keep me safe, Crush,” I said, pushing his shoulder. “But it hasn’t even been three hours since then, and you’re just running off and leaving me with some guy I don’t even know?”
“I’m some guy you barely know,” Crush said, reminding me that we truly didn’t know one another. Shit. Maybe I was kidding myself on this one. Maybe I’d fallen for just another liar. “But you can trust my friend, he’s good people.”
“Right,” I scoffed, “another biker. Because the first biker has been so damn trustworthy.”
“Listen, I’m doing this for you,” he snapped, batting my hand away as I went to push him a second time. “So what if I didn’t tell you everything? I did it to keep you safe!”