This Ain't Love: MC Romance (BDMC: Second Generation Book 1)

by A. M. Myers

  He shakes his head. “You dying is not something I am ever going to joke about, Mama. It’s not fucking funny.”

  “Sure, it is… depending on how you look at it.”

  “Was it funny,” he asks, a certain warning in his voice that makes my nipples pebble against the t-shirt I stole from him this morning, “when I was willing to sacrifice my life for you?”

  Fuck.

  “No. It wasn’t funny,” I grumble, crossing my arms over my chest and he nods, kissing my neck again as I glare out at the driveway.

  “That’s what I thought.”

  The sound of an engine and gravel crunching interrupts my thoughts and I glance over my shoulder at Diego. “Expecting someone?”

  “Yeah. Smith needed to show us something.”

  My stomach drops like a rock at his words and I peel myself out of his embrace as I watch Smith’s truck pull up in front of the house. As he parks, I move to one of the deck chairs and sink into it, mentally preparing myself for whatever news he has to share with us. It feels like I swallowed a handful of sand as he walks up the stairs to the deck and I grab my lemonade off the table, taking a sip of it.

  “Hey.”

  Diego claps him on the shoulder before walking over to me and sinking in the chair next to mine. Smith follows behind him and sits across from us.

  “How are you doing, Iz?” Smith asks and I narrow my eyes as I study him. He doesn’t look too concerned so that’s something but I’m having trouble believing that he’s got good news to impart. Shit. I’m not even sure what good news would look like at this point unless he’s here to tell us that out of the goodness of his heart, Dominic has decided to just let this little issue go and I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

  What the hell happened to my positive attitude from minutes ago?

  Was I just being naive and sticking my head in the sand?

  “I guess that depends on what you have to tell us.”

  He nods, leaning forward and clasping his hands together. “Well… honestly, I don’t know if it’s good news or bad but I got a call from Fuzz early yesterday morning to tell me that Gio was at Luca’s apartment. Apparently they left together about twenty minutes later. I’ve been surveilling Dominic’s place and the two of them showed up there about an hour later. Another ninety minutes after that, Gio left and Luca hasn’t been seen since.”

  “Okay,” I say, dragging the word out as I watch him. “What does that mean?”

  “We don’t know, for sure, but I would say there is a very good chance that Dominic killed Luca.”

  I nod, my mind racing. It’s not like I feel bad for Luca since he clearly got himself into this mess but I’m still not sure if it’s good news or not. Is Dominic coming after me himself now? Did he get Luca out of the way so he could make a deal with me like we’ve asked him to? Are the two things not related at all?

  “Has Dominic reached out to Tate or Maverick yet?” Diego asks and Smith shakes his head.

  “Not that I’m aware of.”

  I suck in a breath. “So, we have no idea what this means for me?”

  “No,” Smith answers, mashing his lips together as he gazes past us into the trees for a moment. Finally, he sighs. “Personally, I think Luca royally fucked up this whole thing and his number was up no matter what Dominic decides to do about you.”

  “But it does mean that whatever happens going forward, Dominic is the one calling the shots now,” Diego supplies and Smith nods. I turn to look at him as he stares down at the deck, his eyes narrowing, and I can see the wheels turning in his mind.

  “Just keep in mind that we don’t have a confirmation of death on Luca so this is all just conjecture.”

  I nod, my mind snapping to the missing police reports from the night Luca attacked me. “Yeah, but you probably won’t ever get confirmation either. He’ll just be missing like the guy from the alley.”

  Smith sighs, nodding his head as he leans back in his seat. “Yeah.”

  “Everyone else know about this yet?” Diego asks.

  “No.”

  He shoves out of his chair. “We should call Storm and meet up at the clubhouse so we can fill all of them in. Maybe someone else will see something we haven’t.”

  “Sure,” Smith answers, standing up and pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Meet you there?”

  Diego says that he’ll be right behind him and we watch him climb into his truck and pull out of the driveway before he turns to me.

  “You want to come with me or stay here?”

  The thought of going to the clubhouse right now and socializing with everyone sounds exhausting. I would much rather just sit here in my comfy chair and think about this new information for a little while. Glancing up, I meet his gaze and shake my head.

  “I think I’m going to hang out here. You won’t be long, right?”

  He walks over to me and grabs the arms of my chair before leaning down to press a quick kiss to my lips. “No, I don’t think so. Want me to go grab some food and bring it back here for dinner after we wrap things up?”

  “Ooh, yes. I want fried chicken like you would not believe,” I tell him and he laughs, leaning down to kiss me again. This one lasts longer than the other and I let out a little moan as I grab his face and lose myself in the feel of him. God, when he kisses me like his whole world revolves around me, I can’t understand how I lived so much of my life without it. Had I known that he was out there waiting for me, that it could be this good, I would have been laser focused on finding him instead of running for so long. When he pulls away, his eyes are hooded and his chest heaves with labored breaths. Something about the hungry way he stares at me makes a shiver race down my spine.

  “I won’t be long.”

  I grin as I reach up and drag my finger over his bottom lip. “Is that a promise?”

  “You bet your fucking ass it is, baby.” He leans in again, getting close to my lips but he doesn’t claim another kiss like I need him to. “When I get back, you’re going to sit your sexy little ass in my lap and I’m going to play with your clit until you give me at least three orgasms.”

  “Is that all?” I tease, locking eyes with him in a challenge I know he’ll meet every single time. He shakes his head with a hint of a grin on his lips.

  “No, Isabelle. That’s just the beginning…” He pulls away suddenly and I gasp, reaching out for him as he laughs. My pussy is throbbing and my skin aches for his hands. “But why don’t you let your mind marinate that while I’m gone.”

  “Wait,” I protest as he backs away from me, his brown eyes sparkling with humor. Oh, this son of a bitch thinks he’s so funny, does he?

  “Can’t. Got to go.”

  I cross my arms over my chest and pin him with a glare. “You know what works really well to relieve this ache?”

  “What?” he asks, coming to a dead stop as he watches me. I barely contain my smile as I shift in the seat and let out a breathy moan.

  “That massaging shower head in your bathroom,” I breathe, ecstatic when his eyes widen and he takes one single step toward me. Keeping my eyes on his, I drag my hand up my body, over my breasts and to my neck as another moan bubbles out of me. “I just turn it to the second setting and let the water pound against my… clit.”

  The last word comes out as a gasp and he swallows the distance separating us with two long strides, leaning over me again as he wraps his fingers loosely around my throat.

  “You don’t play fair.”

  I grin. “Neither do you.”

  He lets out a groan when his phone beeps in his pocket. Despite what we both want to do right now, getting information on Dominic is more important and we both know it. Shifting up from the chair, I steal a quick kiss and pull away just enough to press my forehead to his.

  “Hurry back. I’ll be waiting for you.”

  “Naked,” he whispers as he leans in and steals another kiss. “You’ll be waiting naked.”

  I grab his cut as I nod. “Yes,
sir.”

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” he hisses, ripping himself away from me with a look of agony on his face that makes me feel like a damn goddess. I know he wants to stay so badly but we can have our fun later. Besides, one of my favorite things with Diego is the build-up because when we finally do come together, it’s that much more explosive. With a sigh, he turns toward the stairs and walks down them before he can talk himself out of it. At the bottom, he spins back to me.

  “Call me if you need anything, baby,” he orders and I nod. “I’m serious. I’ll have my phone and I’m literally five minutes away.”

  I roll my eyes. “I know how far the clubhouse is, Diego, and I’ll be just fine. Now go so you can come back.”

  He relents, nodding before he jogs over to his truck and climbs behind the wheel. Gravel spits out from under his tires as he peels out of the driveway and once he is out of sight, I lean back and close my eyes, soaking up the sun’s warmth again. But my mind quickly turns back to the news Smith brought us. There is a part of me that feels bad for Luca if he truly has met his end at the hands of Dominic King. I never really got to know anything about him the few times we went out so I have no clue who he really was or what led him down this path but I can’t help but think that at some point in his life, he was innocent and pure, just like the little boy in my belly. And then the world got its hooks into him and made him into the man who would have gladly killed me to save his own life. So much lately I’ve been thinking about, the immense task of raising this child laid out before me and, more than anything, I don’t want to fuck it up.

  I’m sure every parent feels that way though. Luca’s mother probably thought she was doing everything she could for her son and look how he turned out. Diego is going to be an amazing father, I already know that, but what about me? My mother did her best to raise me but she was even more broken than I was after suffering the abuse of my father and there were so many days when just getting out of bed was too hard for her. Which left me to fend for myself, a lot. Once Ria came along, I was responsible for her as well but I was only three when she was born so it’s not like I had any idea what I was doing and it doesn’t feel like I have any more of a clue now.

  The sound of gravel crunching echoes through the air and I open my eyes, looking out at the driveway as a red sedan pulls up in front of the house. I stand up, inching my way toward the door as a man steps out of the vehicle.

  “Hey, Izzy.”

  I squint against the late afternoon sunlight and let out a sigh when I recognize the face walking up the front steps. He’s the newest prospect brought on by the club a little over a year ago and I think his name is John or Joe… something like that.

  “Hey,” I answer, scanning the yard like there is going to be some hidden threat. I know we’re safe on the compound but you can’t be too careful. My gaze falls to the large yellow envelope in his hand and I arch a brow. “What’s up?”

  “Got some mail for you.” He holds the envelope up as he stops in front of me and I offer him a smile as I take it. My full name is printed across the front in large, clean letters as well as the address of the clubhouse. Back when my house was burnt to the ground, I had the post office start sending all my mail here and John/Joe is in charge of delivering all the mail to each house since the club doesn’t let the postal service come onto their land.

  “Thanks.”

  He smiles. “No problem. I gotta get back to the clubhouse though.”

  “Sure,” I say, holding the envelope at my side as I look up at him and return his smile. “See you around.”

  I watch him walk back to his car and drive off before I head back to my chair and sit down, turning the envelope over in my hand. Diego and I went a little crazy, ordering stuff for the baby online over the past three weeks but I don’t remember getting anything this small. Maybe Diego did though. There is a brief moment of guilt as I start to open the package but I’m too damn curious to wait for him to get back with dinner to open it. Once it’s open, I turn it upside down and dump the contents out, frowning at the basic cell phone that falls into my hand.

  “What the hell?”

  The screen on the phone comes to life and it starts ringing, scaring the hell out of me. My heart climbs into my throat as I stare at the phone, debating with myself on whether or not I should answer it. Thoughts freeze inside my mind and my body refuses to move as I try to process it all. Who sent me a phone? And why? Sucking in a breath, I blink and finally, my thumb moves over to the button to accept the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Isabelle,” a voice responds, full of a warmth that surprises me. “I was beginning to wonder if you were going to answer.”

  I glance around the yard as I sit forward in my chair. “Who is this?”

  “Dominic King. I believe you wanted to speak to me.”

  I can’t breathe.

  My lungs refuse to work and my heart is thrashing in my ears, drowning out everything else as my mind struggles to catch up.

  I’m not prepared to handle this and I have no clue what to say to him. For fuck’s sake, he’s a criminal mastermind and I desperately need to convince him not to kill me.

  “I…uh…” I whisper, spots dancing in my vision and I squeeze my eyes shut, pressing my fingertips to my forehead as I finally draw air into my lungs. “Yes, we did.”

  He hums in response. “About?”

  Okay, that just pisses me off. If he wants to kill me, fine, but him pulling this power move and having a phone delivered to me so he can call and taunt me is crossing a fucking line. I didn’t do anything to this man. I was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time so I don’t deserve to be tortured. As much as I might want to though, I can’t go off on him like I normally would and that only pisses me off more. My hands shake as I flatten one to my belly and take a deep breath.

  “We want you to forget about this whole thing and let me go.”

  “Ah, yes,” he answers, chuckling to himself. “I believe the messages from my children mentioned making some kind of deal and I’m feeling generous today so I called to offer you just that.”

  I wrap my free arm around myself. “What kind of deal?”

  “Once your baby is born,” he says and I gasp. How in the hell does he know about the baby? I was still tiny the last time I spoke to Luca and when he shot up the radio station, things were moving too fast for him to notice my bump. At least I think they were. “You will turn yourself over to me and in return, I won’t kill you.”

  My mind goes blank and a tremor wracks my body as I huddle in my chair.

  “What are you going to do to me then?” I ask, my voice so damn weak and full of fear. I hate that he’s hearing just how vulnerable I am right now and I wish, more than anything, that Diego was here to hold me. Dominic laughs again in response to my question and I grit my teeth.

  “Don’t worry about that. All you need to know at the moment is you will survive.”

  No.

  No way in hell am I agreeing to this sham of a deal.

  I’ve learned enough about him to know that whatever he intends to do with me would be hellacious and I refuse to turn myself over to him and live in pain for however long he permits me to continue breathing. From the things I read, I knew Dominic King was a monster but the way he’s playing with me now and the pleasure in his voice makes me fucking sick.

  “No deal,” I answer and he sighs.

  “Here I was hoping we could be reasonable,” he grumbles, still too much levity in his voice for the situation. Rage and fear twist through my body, linking together and each feeding the other as I gasp for air. My own phone pings with a text message from the table and I turn to look at it. I’d honestly forgotten it was there and maybe if I can keep Dominic on the phone long enough, Diego can get back here. Unlocking my phone, I find a message from the man himself and click on it.

  Diego:

  Heading out to get food.

  Be back soon.

  “Let me spell this out fo
r you a little more clearly, Isabelle,” Dominic says in my ear and I shudder. Unlike when Diego says my full name, hearing it come out of this man’s mouth makes me want to vomit. “If you do not turn yourself over to me, I will come after everyone you love - Diego, Ali, Logan, Carly, Chance, Alexandria… your baby.”

  I gasp, not able to stop myself. Pain blooms in my chest as I think about my sweet baby falling victim to this psychopath, all because of me, and I shake my head.

  “We could get started right now, if you like,” he offers and my heart seizes. What the hell does he mean by that? “Diego’s leaving the compound right now and he’s all alone. It would be too fucking easy for me to kill the father of your child.”

  “Deal!” I scream out. “I’ll take your deal.”

  There was no rational thought behind it, no plan of action beyond saving the life of the man I love so I can’t bring myself to regret it. All of this started because of me, my actions led me to the hell I am in now and I won’t let Diego get hurt because of me. I have to atone for my mistakes and God knows there are a lot of them. It kills me that I won’t be here to build the life I so desperately want with Diego or watch our baby grow but as long as they’re safe and they’re together, I’ll endure whatever Dominic intends to do to me.

  “I thought you’d see reason and as a sign of my generosity, I’ll even give you five days to spend with your baby but when that time is up, you will come to me. The day before, I will send instructions to a meeting point and I expect you there at midnight. If you’re late or you don’t show, I will take immediate action.”

  I nod, the broken pieces of me that were beginning to knit themselves back together scatter on the ground around me. “I understand.”

  “Good,” he answers. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”

  He hangs up without another word and I pull the phone away from my ear as I stare down at the deck, trying to process what just happened. It’s impossible though. Tears sting my eyes and all of the dreams I’ve let myself buy into over the past three weeks shatter right in front of me. My heart aches and a sob rips itself from my throat as pain rages through my chest.