by Naomi West
It was only when he opened his eyes with a jolt that he realized he’d managed to fall asleep. His dreams had been filled with realistic images of blood splatters, bullet holes, and slashing knives. Jet’s face leered behind all of it, teasing him, daring Blade to come after him. There was Venus’ face as well, her wide blue eyes innocent against the backdrop of violence.
With an angry jerk, he yanked the covers back and hit the shower. The clubhouse was quiet, and the sun was just beginning to go down. The men had probably slunk off to bed themselves at some point, finally tired of making their plans and settling down to get some rest.
He came across Gator as he made his way down to the common area. “Hey, boss. Did you get some sleep?”
Blade had, but it hadn’t improved his mood. “I’m not sure why everyone keeps coddling me around here. Yes, I got some sleep.”
Gator let the crabby tone slide. “Good. Champ said to tell you everything is planned for next week. The Skulls will be expecting us, and he said it’s best if we wear them down with impatience first. He also said you’d like that idea.”
This was both true and false. It seemed like a good tactic, and it would give his own men plenty of time to prepare. But Blade was also tired of waiting. He’d done too much of it already. “That’s fine.”
“Champ also said there was some other business you had to take care of first.”
“Yes indeed.” It’d been the only thing on his mind since he woke up. His body was stiff and sore from fighting and then from his long sleep, but he was ready to work it out again. “I’m getting a sandwich, and then we’re out of here. Meet me in the garage in fifteen minutes.”
Blade and his handpicked team of Fangs headed out toward Jet’s place as promised. He said little to his comrades. They knew how he liked to do things. This was his problem, and it was something he needed to take care of. Unless the four of them were going to bust down the front door, nobody needed to get near the house except Blade. Still, it was nice to know they were waiting for him in the shadows.
Blade watched the house carefully as he approached. There were definitely more guards than he’d seen there on all the other days combined, big men who stalked the grounds with angry faces and guns in their hands. It wasn’t going to be as simple as walking in the back door, but he’d expected that. He was eager to get to Venus, but he could be as patient as a rock if need be. Blade waited just outside the low wall, thinking with a grin that Jet would probably have it built higher and even put a moat around it if he survived this. He also wondered if Jet had any idea just how often Blade had been in his house. The idea amused him.
The timing of the guards finally worked out for him, with one man rounding the corner toward the front of the building and another rounding the back. He quickly leaped the fence and climbed up a nearby tree just as another guard came around the corner. Blade held his breath, focusing on the man and considering jumping down on top of him. But the guard passed, and Blade continued his climb.
He could’ve gone up the drain pipe, using the decorative trim around the windows and the shutters to help his ascent, but Blade knew that would be too noisy. Anyone in those rooms would hear him coming, and it was extremely important that this mission be successful. He had the distinct feeling he would only get one chance.
As he made his way along the branches to where the roof jutted out beneath Venus’ window, he criticized himself for letting her stay at all. She was the one who’d refused to come with him, but Blade could have manhandled her and made her leave. She’d been under Jet’s thumb for almost twenty-four hours now since they’d been discovered in the kitchen, and there was no telling what the man might’ve done to her
What broke his heart the most was the way that Venus seemed to accept her fate, as though she was no longer concerned about getting away from Jet. The poor girl was so heartbroken at her father’s downfall. It was something she should’ve been rejoicing in, but Blade had a feeling he knew why she wasn’t. Venus had helped plan this. No, she couldn’t have guessed that Jet would come home right as she and Blade were doing it, and she’d probably never imagined that her father would be bludgeoned with a pistol like that. But she had helped the Fangs interfere with the deal with the Broken Hearts, and everything had spun off that. The amount of guilt she was feeling wasn’t necessary, but that didn’t mean he could cure her of it.
Blade expected difficulty in opening her window, but he was surprised to find it was unlocked. His surprise was quickly erased by caution. If Jet was expecting Blade to come back for Venus, he might have laid a trap. Blade couldn’t blame him in that; he would have done the same. Still, the potential threat wasn’t enough to stop him from sliding the glass quietly aside and stepping into her room.
Blade stood still for a long moment, letting his eyes adjust. The moonlight filtered softly in through the open window, the pale carpet illuminating against the dark furniture. He could smell her, a sweet scent of jasmine, but it carried the salty smell of tears along with it. Blade moved through the room toward her bed, wondering what horrible things might have happened here in his absence, kicking himself all over again.
Venus lay in the bed. It was early yet, too early for a grown woman to have turned in, but Blade suspected Jet hadn’t given her a choice. Her dark hair was splayed out along the pillow. A blanket covered her, but it didn’t hide her curves. It was tempting to reach out and touch her, to glide his hand along her back and over her hips, under the covers to wake her up with a surprise.
But as he bent forward, Blade noticed the dark splotch against her skin. He cursed softly under his breath, but that didn’t make the bruise go away. Jet had blacked her eye again. Blade nudged back a strand of hair that had fallen over her face to reveal another bruise along her jawline. That son of a bitch. He should’ve killed Jet, no matter what Venus thought about it. If he’d had any doubts about doing so the next time he saw the man, they were gone now. Jet didn’t deserve to live.
“Venus,” he whispered, laying his hand gently on her arm. “Wake up.”
She sucked in a breath as her eyes flew open. The left one closed again quickly against the pain, and she put her arms out to shove him away.
“It’s just me,” he soothed, folding her hands neatly against his chest. “It’s Blade. I understand if you’re angry with me, but you’re in danger if you stay here. I came to get you out. We only have a few minutes.”
She opened her mouth to respond but shut it again, choosing simply to nod. Venus slipped out of bed, pulled on some clothes, and headed for the window.
He grazed her arm with his fingertips. “Is there anything you need to take with you? It can’t be much, but …”
Venus turned to look around the room. When she looked back at him, her eyes were stoic as she shook her head.
Blade didn’t know why she wasn’t talking to him, but there would be time for sorting that out later. He gave her whispered instructions of just how they were going to get down, and then he sent a text out to Gator.
Venus followed him confidently out the window, her footsteps surprisingly steady for a woman who’d just been beaten physically and probably emotionally. She let Blade hold onto her and support her, but he couldn’t help but think she didn’t really need it. Gator appeared on the ground below the tree as they made their way back to the trunk, and he held out his arms to catch Venus. The three of them quietly slipped back the waiting motorcycles.
She still didn’t speak as she straddled the bike behind him, her chest pressed into his back and her hands and arms around his waist. At times, she clutched him so tightly he thought she might squeeze him in half, but he didn’t reprimand her. It was the least he deserved.
When they reached the main road, Blade split off from the other men. He knew it would be dangerous to bring her back to the clubhouse. Jet would expect to find her there, and he knew it probably wasn’t wise to bring a Skull back to their headquarters. Instead, he headed for his house in a nice suburban neighborhood, r
umbling his bike into the garage and closing the door behind them.
“Where are we?” she finally asked as she got off the bike. She sounded tired, like she hadn’t slept for centuries.
He reached out a hand to steady her. “This is my place. I usually stay at the club.” He pocketed his keys and led her in the door to the back of the kitchen.
She barely looked around her, walking so close to him that she nearly tripped. “What if my father and his men find me? They’re good at that, you know.”
“They won’t. You’re going to stay right here until everything is over with the Skulls. After that, you can go wherever you want.” He sat her down in a kitchen chair and headed to the freezer, removing an ice pack and wrapping it in a clean towel from a nearby drawer. Blade secretly hoped she’d agree to stay with him, but he knew he couldn’t make any decisions like that for her. Venus needed to stay her of her own volition and because it was what she needed, not because someone else told her it was the right thing to do.
She cringed as he tipped her head back to apply the ice. “I’m sorry, Blade. I messed everything up.”
His mouth tightened, but only because he was angry at himself. “Venus, don’t even say that. It’s only because of you and everything you’ve done that we made it this far. You lived in that man’s house for far too long in the first place, and I was fool enough to let you stay there to gather intel.” He cursed himself all over again for letting that be his priority. There were so many things he’d go back and do differently if he had the chance.
“Yes, I’m not sure how much good that did us. And then I stopped you from killing him. I didn’t want him to die, Blade. It just didn’t seem right.” Her face crumpled, and she cringed again with the pain of disturbing her eye.
Blade stroked her hair. “Did he do this to you as repayment?”
She started to shake her head, but it must’ve hurt. “No. He had one of his men do it. Ink isn’t the biggest of them, but he was more than happy to do as Jet said.”
“And what of Jet? I take it he’s on the mend?” He hated himself for grilling her for this information, but it was important that he didn’t miss anything if they were getting ready to ambush the Skulls. The tiniest detail might make a difference.
“Mostly, yes. He’s pretty bad off, but he was well enough to bark orders.” She adjusted the ice pack on her eye, sucking air through her teeth at the pain.
Blade thought about asking her if she was ready to see him die yet. There was no doubt in his mind that Jet deserved it, and he didn’t see how Venus could disagree with him at this point. But she was a damaged woman, and it was going to take time for her to come around. He was going to have to bide his time and hope that she was ready when it did happen. Because if there was one thing he knew, it was that Jet would have to die. If Blade had it his way, it would also be a very slow and painful death.
“I’m taking this off. You can only keep the cold on it for about ten minutes every hour, or else you’ll risk more damage. Come on, I’ll give you a quick tour of the place so you can get familiar with it.” It seemed like a strangely domestic thing to do as he guided her through the kitchen, living room, office, and bedrooms. There was a nice garden in the back, but he would have to show her that later. He didn’t dare encourage her to go outside. It was going to be hard enough keeping her contained while he took care of the Skulls. What was even more strange was that Blade found himself wondering what it would be like if Venus lived here with him permanently, if they fell into the same bed every night, making love and then falling asleep in each other’s arms. It was a ridiculously romantic notion, as was the idea of them making breakfast for each other in the morning, but he allowed it. The last few weeks had been crazy, and he’d get over it soon enough.
“There’s one more thing we need to do.” Blade led her back into his office. He swung out a wooden bookshelf, pivoting it on hidden hinges to reveal the door of a large safe. His fingerprint unlocked it, and Blade removed a small pistol. “I think this one will fit your hand nicely. Do you know how to use it?”
Venus swallowed as she took the weapon from him. “My father made me learn from an early age,” she said with a small laugh. “At the time, I thought it was because he wanted to spend time with me. Now I know he was just training me for my adult life with the Skulls. I’ll bet he’s incredibly disappointed.”
Not sure how to respond to that, Blade removed a holster and handed it to her. He then locked the safe back and returned the bookcase. “Keep that with you at all times while you’re here. I won’t leave you alone, and I don’t think Jet knows about his house, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“I understand.”
As he watched her strap the holster onto her waist, he wondered if she really did. If Venus had any idea that it might come down to her shooting her own father, she’d probably never have taken the gun in the first place. It made Blade feel as though he was betraying her, even though he was only looking out for her best interests. Hopefully, she would come to see that in time.
17
Blade was sleeping soundly, hardly aware of the beeping next to his head. He opened his eyes, the thick warmth of sleep still laying like a blanket over his body. Venus was curled up asleep under his arm, her hair resting on his shoulder, and he was too comfortable to think about reality. The sun hadn’t even come up yet, the darkness of night still filling the room. But the insistent beeping wouldn’t stop. He reached over to the nightstand for his phone.
The caller ID told him it was Champ. He would be a fool to ignore a call from his second-in-command. Blade carefully extracted his other arm out from under Venus, trying hard not to wake her. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to worry her unless it was absolutely necessary.
Blade stepped out into the hallway, still naked, and closed the door behind him. By this point, the phone had finally stopped ringing only to start right back up again. “What is it?” he growled, hoping more than anything that it was all a mistake.
“You’re gonna need to get down here, boss.”
“What’s going on?” Blade didn’t like the tone in Champ’s voice. He was always a calm man, and the slight edge of nervousness in his words was enough to set Blade on high alert. “Is it the Skulls?”
“I think so. The clubhouse was just attacked, and they’ve done a lot of damage.”
Blade felt his guts twist in anger. “Wasn’t anybody on guard?” It was the early hours of the morning, and most of the brothers would’ve been in bed. A bunch of naked, sleepy men weren’t going to be nearly as much force as they would be in the evening.
“Of course they were. But they were good this time. They knocked out the power first, which meant all the security lights were off.”
“Why didn’t the backup generator kick on?” It was hard to wait for Champ to explain the situation to him. Blade wanted all the answers, all at once.
“Doesn’t work when they cut the main line,” Champ explained. “And they brought a lot more men than they normally have. My guess is that Jet used his time to hit the streets and recruit any young men looking for excitement and a little bit of money. If they’d had any idea who they were messing with, they might not’ve done it at all. But we’ve got a few men down, and there’s a hell of a lot of damage.”
“Damn it!” Blade was furious with himself for waiting to attack the Skulls. It had seemed like the right thing to do at the time because he didn’t want his own men heading into a war unprepared. But now the Skulls had caught them with their pants down, and they’d be even less equipped to fight after suffering an attack like that. “I take it all the perpetrators are gone?”
“Oh yeah. We ran them off pretty quickly, and we’ve got a few hostages we might be able to get some information out of. I called you as soon as I could, but I didn’t want to risk it until the men were out of danger.”
“No, of course not. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Blade felt an overwhelming sense of guilt wash over him. He’d
been in his nice home, sleeping luxuriously with a beautiful woman, and his men had been blitzed by the enemy. This was exactly why he normally stayed at the clubhouse, although nothing quite like this had ever happened in the past.
“What about Venus?”
“Send Gator over here to watch over her. I don’t want to bring her, just in case the Skulls come back, but I don’t think it’s a smart idea to leave her alone, either.”
“Will do, boss.”
He hung up, taking just a moment to tip his head back and sigh. If he ever managed to get these bastards off his tail, it couldn’t come too soon. He’d obliterate the Skulls for good, and he’d remember this moment in the future. Anyone who messed with the Fangs would regret it, and swiftly.
“What’s going on?” Venus asked as he walked back into the bedroom.
He’d turned the knob slowly and carefully, trying not to jar her awake, but she must’ve heard him talking in the hall. Blade glanced at her, seeing the way her dark hair fell down around her shoulders and just barely covered her breasts, the way the soft sheets clung to her body from the waist down. With her wide eyes, she looked like some sort of fairy creature, something out of a fictional tale that could never be reality. If he didn’t get rid of the Skulls, then maybe she wouldn’t be.
He crossed the room to the closet and yanked a shirt off a hanger. “The clubhouse has been attacked, and there’s a lot of damage. Champ thinks it might’ve been the Skulls. I’ve got to go check it out.”
Her eyes grew even wider as she jumped out of bed, searching for her own clothes. She hadn’t brought anything with her from Jet’s house. Blade had told her she could order everything she wanted online and they’d have it delivered, just to be safe, but most of it hadn’t arrived yet. “You can’t!”
