by Tate James
So when Cass stirred on the other side of me, I opened my lids to meet his sleepy gaze.
"That's a view I'd happily wake up to every morning," he mumbled, his cheek smooshed into the pillow just inches away.
Lucas made a sleepy sound of annoyance, burying his face in my hair like he was still desperately clinging to sleep. Except his body had other ideas, as his hand shifted to my breast and his erection pressed into my back.
"What's that?" I teased Cass in a whisper. "Your girl being groped by another man?"
Cass gave a huff of a laugh, then reached up to gently stroke some hair from my face. "My girl," he clarified.
Before our wake-up could turn heated, Zed came rushing back into the room with his phone to his ear and a stricken look on his face. He went straight to the wall-mounted TV facing the bed and flicked it on while Cass and I watched him with curiosity.
"Zed, what—" I started to ask, but he shushed me with a gesture, flicking through the channels until he reached a news report.
"Yep, I found it," he said in a grim voice to whoever he was speaking to. "Hades is here too. Give us a second." Shooting me a pained glance, he turned his attention back to the TV and to the news report playing out on the screen about a break-in at an apartment in West Shadow Grove in the early hours of the morning.
As the story developed, I sat up in shock, jostling Lucas awake in the process. The pretty brunette reporter was detailing the crime, describing how the female resident had been asleep at the time of the break-in. She was thought to have surprised the intruder, who then beat the girl so badly the first responders had called the coroner before realizing she was still breathing.
"Zed," I breathed, dread clawing at my chest. "Please don't tell me this is another of your exes..."
The look in his eyes was pure guilt when he turned to look at me. "It's Maxine. She's been taken to Shadow Grove Memorial, but they don't think she'll make it. Her parents are there now, talking about taking her off life support."
On the TV they were interviewing the neighbor who'd called the police after hearing screams. "...never seen anything like it," the haunted man was saying. "There was so much blood, all over the place. She was dead. I was sure of it. No one can survive that..."
"Turn it off," I barked, clambering out of bed and grabbing clothes from my dresser, not really paying attention to what I grabbed. "Shadow Grove Memorial?"
Zed nodded, his eyes sad.
"Fine. I'll be ready in five. We need to get over there." I started out of the bedroom, heading for the shower so I wasn't turning up to the ICU covered in dried semen.
"There's nothing we can do for her now," Zed called after me, making my shoulder blades tighten.
I paused a moment, my teeth grinding together, before spinning around once more. All three of them watched me with cautious expressions bordering on pitying.
"Maxine wasn't hurt because she's your ex, Zed," I told him in a hollow voice. "She was hurt because she’s my friend. I have to go and see her... even just to... I don't know."
"I get it," Lucas offered. "I'll go with you." He hopped up and grabbed his pants, heading for his own bedroom to get dressed.
I hurried through a shower, scrubbing my skin red and mentally cursing myself out for spending the night getting my brains screwed right out of my head while Maxine was being beaten to death. There was no question in my mind Chase was responsible. Again.
When I got downstairs, I found Zed and Lucas already waiting beside the car for me, and Cass decked out in his nondescript, black bike leathers.
"What's the plan?" I asked with a small frown. I was wracked with guilt about Maxine, but I didn't need to risk Cass just to hold my hand.
He crossed over to me in three long strides and cupped a hand around the back of my head as he kissed me. "I got the tip I was waiting for. I'm not sure when I'll be back."
My stomach dropped and a cold shiver ran down my spine, but I nodded my understanding. Before he could turn away, I grabbed the front of his jacket and yanked him back to me for another searing-hot kiss.
"Stay safe," I whispered, my voice rough with emotion. "Come back to me."
"Always," he responded. He kissed me again, then released me and headed for Zed's motorcycle that he'd claimed. "You two fuckup's better keep my girl safe, or I'll gut you both with my hunting knife. Clear?"
"Our girl," Lucas corrected in a drawl as Cass tugged his helmet over his head. Not a single inch of skin showed to reveal his identity, but his attitude was still there as he flipped Lucas off with a gloved hand.
He tore out of the driveway at high speed, and I slid into the passenger seat of Zed's car. Just as soon as my butt hit the seat, I groaned and ran my hand through my hair.
"I need to talk to Rex," I muttered, looking reluctantly back to the house. "He's moving Seph into his place today so his boys can guard her around the clock."
"Uh, is that a good idea?" Lucas asked from the backseat. "Not about trusting Rex. If you say he's loyal, then I believe you. But Seph... doesn't have amazing judgment or life experience."
I blew out a long breath, agreeing with him. "What other options do we have? None good. I need her protected, twenty-four seven, and we can't do that ourselves. I don't trust other gangs. I don't trust the Guild anymore."
Zed drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "She'll be fine. Rex knows he's already on thin ice, so he's the best guy for the job. Worst thing that happens, Seph develops a couple of innocent school-girl crushes."
I scoffed. "Or gets pregnant." Then I cringed at my own statement. "Fuck, I'm glad she already has an IUD."
"I'll drop you at the hospital, then call Rex to sort everything out," Zed decided. "You don't need to see him personally. Better, even, for me to handle it. Can't have him thinking you want a relationship with the old bear."
I wrinkled my nose but buckled my seat belt. "Good point. Let's go."
Zed pulled us out of the garage and headed down the driveway as I glanced back at Lucas.
"Aren't you supposed to visit with your mom today?" I asked, noticing how tired he looked. Not that it was surprising; we were all wrecked today after all the group activities that had happened last night. Who knew there were so many different ways one woman could fuck three men?
"Yeah," he replied with a shrug, "but she won't notice. I texted her nurse and let her know I'd stop by later."
We slowed to wait for the gate, then Zed let out a soft curse when we exited the driveway. Standing right out in the middle of the road, flagging us down, was my eye-patch wearing, sociopathic nemesis.
"What the fuck do you want, asshole?" Zed snarled, rolling his window down.
Chase grinned wide, coming around to his side to peer into the car.
"Good morning neighbors," he leered, giving me one hell of an eye-fucking before switching his attention to Zed. "You know what's odd? I could have sworn I just saw you leave a couple of minutes ago on your motorcycle."
Shit on a pancake. Seriously?
"But here you are," Chase continued, licking his lower lip like he could taste a secret. "And there's pretty little Lucas in the back and my gorgeous, delectable Darling too. So who was on the bike, hmm?"
Zed gave a brittle smile in response. "Eat shit, Chasey." He gunned the engine and ripped away from our creepy fucking neighbor without entertaining his crap any longer. It was a smart choice, but goddamn if I wasn't mentally kicking myself for letting my paranoia slip. Of course he was watching—he was always watching. I just had to hope he assumed it was Alexi or someone else. Anyone but Cass.
"It'll be okay," Lucas reassured from the backseat. I flicked him a grateful look and reached my hand back to tangle with his fingers. Just touching him sometimes could calm the wild storm of my emotions.
This wasn't one of those times. But I still liked to touch him anyway. Zed said nothing, but his hand found my knee while he drove. None of us really spoke again for the rest of the drive to the hospital.
When we a
rrived, the attending nurse wasn't all too happy about letting us in to see Maxine. Apparently, my friend had been in surgery since she was brought in at three in the morning, but the doctors had done all they could. She'd been brought out for her parents to say their goodbyes before switching off life-support.
It was only when a more senior nurse recognized Zed and I that we were given access but warned sternly to turn our phones off and respect Maxine's understandably distraught family.
I paused outside the room they had Maxine in. Her parents were both in there, along with a younger girl who looked so much like Maxine she had to be her sister. They were utterly devastated, gathered around the hospital bed that Maxine lay totally lifeless in. A breathing tube covered her lower face, and her neck and forehead were strapped into a type of brace that indicated spinal damage. What little could be seen of her face and arms was so covered in bruises and lacerations she didn't even look human.
"Hayden," Lucas said softly, his hand gentle on the small of my back. "Do you want to go in?"
Swallowing hard, I shook my head. "No." Because I'd seen enough. I didn't need to intrude on her family's goodbyes. That wasn't my place, nor was it my right. It was only guilt that had brought me to the hospital, but I wasn't selfish enough to push it any further.
Zed looked through the window, his face creased with pain, but he nodded his agreement. "You're right. Let's go."
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and walked with me back to the nurses’ station, where I paused to speak to the nurse who'd let us in to see Maxine.
"Do you know when they plan to switch her off?" I asked, forcing my voice to be level and calm once more.
The nurse gave a sympathetic smile and shrugged. "When they're ready. Could be now, could be tomorrow, could be never. Every family deals with loss differently."
"Got it," I replied, then let Zed and Lucas lead me back outside. When we passed through the hospital doors, I switched my phone back on. I needed to get my head back into work mode. My hardest shell was always in place when I was dealing with business. No one cracked Hades.
I trailed slightly behind Lucas and Zed as I checked my messages, noticing a voicemail from Alexi. I tapped the button to listen and brought the phone to my ear, pausing to wait for an ambulance to pass while Alexi's voice started.
"Boss," he said in a hushed whisper. "I need to speak with you, urgently. Some shit has gone down... I'd feel better speaking with you in person." There was an awkward pause, then he sighed. "Preferably alone. I'll be at Club 22."
That was the end of the message, and I frowned at my phone as I hurried to catch up with Zed and Lucas.
"What's up?" Zed asked when I reached the car.
I climbed into my seat and relayed Alexi's message, adding that he had sounded strange.
"Sounds like a setup," Lucas offered, meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror. "You're not going to 22 alone, right?"
I gave him a smile. "Of course not. But Alexi wouldn't set me up. It's probably just—"
"Him shooting his shot at joining Team Hades?" Zed suggested, giving me a knowing smirk. "He's probably decided to go all in and declare his undying love or some crap, like he's totally forgotten how many times you've subtly rejected his attention over the years."
Lucas snickered. "Well, it worked for you."
"Dare never rejected me," Zed replied, "she just didn't notice I was flirting in the first place."
I gave a small, embarrassed groan and raked my fingers through my hair. "Whatever. Just... let's go to 22 and see what he wants. Then we can deal with Rex and Seph."
"Yes, sir," Zed teased, starting his car.
As we drove away from the hospital, I let my gaze drift out the window. Silently, I told Maxine how sorry I was and how badly I would make Chase pay for her brutally painful death. Because he would. Sooner or later.
48
Alexi wasn't at Club 22 when we got there, and the cleaning crew said they hadn't seen him either. Rodney and the rest of the staff wouldn't start until later in the day, so Zed called Rex and sorted out the details for Seph's move while I drove Lucas over to his mom's house.
"Do you want to come in?" he asked when I pulled into the driveway.
I shook my head. "Nah, not today. I've got some shit to do; I'll come back and pick you up in a couple of hours. Or if you want to stay, we can get you on our way back from Timber tonight." Zed and I had some meetings onsite at Timber to look over the finished bar and check off with our inspector, and it was one of those meetings we couldn't miss—especially given the trouble we'd landed with Anarchy.
"I'll come to Timber with you," Lucas replied with a smile. "I'm dying to see it all." He opened his door but leaned over to kiss me soundly before he got out. "Don't worry, babe. I've got my gun, and I won't open the door to strangers. Besides, I just spotted Big Sal inside chatting up Claudette."
I rolled my eyes. Big Sal—short for Salamander, of all fucking things—had taken quite a shine to Sandra's live-in nurse and was actively requesting to be assigned guard duty here.
Lucas headed up the steps to the house and turned to wave before disappearing safely inside. Even so, I waited another minute in the driveway, just to be sure. Then I swung back past Club 22 to pick up Zed before reluctantly heading over to my Copper Wolf office.
Hannah was at her desk when I arrived, greeting me with a tear-stained face. No doubt she'd heard about Maxine.
"Hannah, I'm trying to track down Alexi," I told her, making it clear I didn't want to discuss feelings. "Can you get him on the phone for me?"
She dabbed her eyes, then gave me a tight smile. "Yes, sir. On it."
Zed brought his laptop into my office, and for a few hours we worked in relative silence across the desk from one another. Hannah popped in at some point to let me know Alexi wasn't answering his phone but that she'd left a message for him to call back. When he hadn't called back by the time Zed and I needed to leave, I asked Hannah to check his phone’s GPS location.
It simply wasn't like Alexi to drop off the radar like that. Especially after leaving me that cryptic voicemail.
"Got him," Hannah announced, looking up from her computer. "He's at Timber."
Zed and I exchanged a quick look, but I thanked Hannah and told her to take the afternoon off. She worked too damn hard, anyway, and I knew she was keen to go and check on Nadia and the girls before the first of them started her journey home.
"Why would Alexi be at Timber?" Zed mused aloud as we rode the elevator down to his car. "The build finished yesterday, and if there were any issues, they'd have called me."
I had no damn clue. "I guess we're about to find out," I commented. "But I did tell Lucas we would pick him up now, so Alexi can wait."
Zed huffed a laugh. "Damn, there goes my plan to nail you against the bar at Timber. You did promise we could christen it properly."
I smirked back at him. "Why would Lucas stop you from doing that?"
He gave a quiet groan, his gaze heating as we stepped out into the parking lot. "Fine, but he has to sit and watch. First fuck in our venues has to be just us, Dare. You and me." He paused when we reached his car, pinning me to the door with his hips and his hard-on. "Deal?"
My pulse raced as he dipped his face to kiss me softly. "Deal," I breathed against his lips. "But can we do it on the VIP poker table?"
Zed hummed a thoughtful sound, grinding against me and making me gasp with desire. "I think we can make that work." He kissed me again, deeper this time, then released me to open the car door.
I heaved a frustrated sigh as I got in, waiting for him to take his seat before I pouted at him. "Now I'm going to be doing this building inspection with wet panties. Thanks a lot."
Zed barked a laugh. "Better than doing it with an aching boner." He shot me a quick look as he drove us out of the parking lot and into the road. "Just take them off."
My lips parted in surprise. "So I can talk to our building inspector with damp thighs instead? How does that so
lve the problem?"
Zed's smile was pure evil. "Just trust me, it would." Then he shrugged. "Or maybe it wouldn't, but goddamn, it'd be hot knowing you weren't wearing anything under your skirt."
With logic like that, who was I to disagree? So I hitched my skirt up a bit and wiggled my panties down until I could take them off completely. Zed gaped at me like he hadn't actually expected me to do it, then when I dangled my underwear from a finger, he snatched it to stuff in his pocket.
"No takebacks," he told me with a triumphant grin, "you're committed now."
"You're such a fucking child," I replied with an eye roll.
A couple of minutes into our drive, it became all too clear what his plan had been. His hand had been resting on my knee, like it often did, but after a while, he started shifting it higher. Inch by inch.
"Zed," I warned as his fingers stroked over my pussy, "you're driving."
"I'm a good multitasker, Dare." A fact he demonstrated by sinking his fingers inside me while overtaking a truck on the freeway.
The danger of it had me all kinds of turned on, so instead of pushing his hand away and demanding my panties back, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer. He sucked in a sharp breath of surprise but didn't hesitate to give me what I was asking for.
For the rest of the drive to Lucas's mom's house, Zed navigated the roads and my pussy with skillful mastery, making me writhe in the passenger seat as I came on his hand right before we turned onto Lucas's street.
After we stopped in the driveway, I needed a moment to catch my breath before tugging my skirt back into place and glaring at Zed. "Can I have my panties back now?"
He scoffed, then sucked his fingers in an overly sexual way. "Hell no," he purred. "Go get your Gumdrop. I want this meeting with Timber over with as fast as possible."
Lucas was already jogging down the front steps, though, and climbed into the backseat with a grin that quickly morphed into a suspicious scowl.
