Vendetta Road

by Christine Feehan

  “You’re a disappointment, Mr. Ice.” Soleil sounded haughty, as only a princess could.

  He wasn’t impressed. He stepped back. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Miss Confidence.”

  She laughed and watched as Alena put a twenty on the table. Ice stepped forward to put up the money for Soleil, but she put a hand on his arm and shook her head.

  “I don’t ever have someone else put up my gambling money. This is on me to win or lose. If you want to bet, that’s on you.”

  Her hand went to the inside of her jacket and she pulled out a matching twenty and set it beside Alena’s.

  “Girl’s got class,” Alena observed.

  There was a murmur of approval from the other members of the club. Immediately, the real bets began, with Code collecting the money from club members betting on each of the women. Surprisingly, Savage bet on Soleil along with Ice. They stepped back and gave the women plenty of room to maneuver.

  “You know the rules, honey?” Master asked Soleil.

  “I think so,” she replied, using her sweet, not-too-sure bullshit tone. She batted her eyelashes at him. “I’ll catch on. I’m a fast learner.”

  Ice wanted to kiss her. She didn’t have a chance in hell, but she didn’t back down from a fight either. Alena winked at him and then threw her first dart. Triple seventeen. Two went straight and one landed just outside it.

  Soleil took her turn and managed to hit one triple seventeen and two just outside it. The match went that way, with Alena just ahead by a dart or two, but Soleil was always very close. Ice was impressed. It was clear Alena was equally impressed. She hadn’t gone easy on her, and the match was very close.

  Soleil winced as her last dart was thrown. It was so close to the triple but missed by just a hair. A groan went up around the room, but Code immediately paid out.

  “I guess I’ll need a rematch,” Soleil said. “It’s been a while since I played, and Ice is right, you’re very good.”

  “I’m going to concede that you’re good as well,” Ice said, “but no one is in Alena’s league.”

  “Double down?” Alena challenged.

  Soleil hesitated. Ice put his arms around her again, his lips against her ear. “I’m serious, babe, she always wins, it’s like some kind of curse on the rest of us when we play her. I think you’re probably as good, but she’s got this luck on her side none of us can ignore.”

  “I was so close.”

  “That’s what she does to suck you in,” he cautioned.

  “Hey.” Alena glared at him. “I’m not sucking her in. She played that brilliantly. Give her credit.”

  He was, but he didn’t want her to lose a lot of money.

  “I want to play again,” Soleil decided.

  “Then let me put up the money,” Ice said. He glared right back at his sister. “I might have to take you out behind the barn,” he added.

  Soleil laughed, the sound teasing every one of his senses. “I can tell you really are brother and sister. Aside from the fact that both of you have those beautiful eyes, your hair is nearly the exact same color. And you sound affectionate, even when you’re threatening her.”

  “Pizza’s here,” Master announced.

  Torpedo Ink members weren’t shy in the least about grabbing slices out of the box. There were no plates, but they stuffed food as fast as possible into their mouths. Ice had to grab a couple of slices nearly out of Absinthe’s hands in order to get any for his woman and himself.

  “Do you all have to be fuckin’ morons all the time? Get some manners.”

  Soleil laughed again as she took the slice and ate it just like the rest of them, hands, no plate, napkin barely there. Somehow, she managed to look much more refined than his brothers. That sound, her genuine laughter bubbling up, made his gut twist into a tight knot. He hadn’t known laughter. Not real. Not like that. Her laughter was infectious. Ice looked around him and found that all the others were just as affected by her laughter as he was. Maybe not in the same way. He had to adjust his jeans a little to give him some breathing room.

  Alena leaned against the pool table, eating a slice as well, grinning at his girl. He couldn’t tell what was behind that smile. She gestured toward the dartboard, and to his consternation, Soleil nodded and put more money down. Immediately his brothers began the betting. As before, Savage and Ice bet against Alena. This time Storm and Absinthe did as well.

  Soleil stepped up to the line with confidence. Her body posture was different than it had been. She’d been a little hesitant before each throw, but not this time. The darts cooperated. Straight. True. Three triple twenties, dead center. The room went silent.

  Alena took her spot. “I can see that first game was more of a practice round for you.”

  “I haven’t played in a long while,” Soleil reiterated. She nabbed another slice of pizza and washed a bite down with her whiskey.

  Alena scored two triple twenties and one triple six. She stepped back to allow Soleil to take her place. Soleil studied the board while she finished her pizza and then she blew on the end of her dart. The room went quiet as she stepped up.

  She hit two triple seventeens and a triple twenty.

  Alena grinned. “Finally. A worthy opponent. That’s the way it’s done, boys.”

  In spite of the fact that every member of Torpedo Ink left in Vegas was in the room, there wasn’t a sound. No one drank. No one ate pizza. They were mesmerized by the two women throwing darts. Alena normally carried her own darts with her, but they were working, and she hadn’t brought them. If Soleil had her own set of darts, she wasn’t using them. Both women were playing with the bar’s darts.

  Ice had watched Alena wipe up the floor everywhere she played. He knew she could give the champions a run for their money. Soleil clearly was as good as or better than his sister. She was fast, effortless and confident. He found himself a little in awe of the two women. Alena was used to winning, but she was clearly pleased with Soleil’s abilities, and when she lost by one dart, she immediately beamed at his woman.

  “That was the best game I think I’ve ever played against someone,” she conceded and scooped up the last piece of pepperoni pizza. “You earned your money.”

  Soleil flashed a smile that matched Alena’s. “I haven’t played in a while either and certainly not with anyone who knows how to play.”

  “You as good at pool?” Alena asked.

  Ice smirked as he collected his money. Savage didn’t smirk, but he pocketed the cash as did Storm and Absinthe.

  “Teach you not to bet against my woman,” Ice said.

  “Who knew?” Master said. “She looks like she’s never been in a bar in her life.”

  “Guess you didn’t notice she was drinking whiskey,” Savage said.

  “I was too busy looking at her . . . er . . .” He hesitated when Ice glared at him.

  “Shoes,” he settled on.

  The others erupted into laughter.

  “Is something wrong with my shoes?” Soleil asked, looking down at the little booties on her feet and then back up at Ice. Her eyes were wide, lashes long and dark and tipped up at the ends. She looked back down to her feet again, frowning a little.

  The booties came to just above her ankles, making her look even more delicate and girl-next-door than Ice could almost stand. He was a little in love with her shoes whether Master had actually been looking at them or not. And then she had those eyes. He could stare into them all night long.

  Another roar of laughter went up at Soleil’s question. Ice wrapped his arm around her waist. “Pay no attention to them, princess, they’re not quite out of the caves yet.”

  “I suppose you are,” Master challenged.

  Ice wasn’t going to look at the front of his woman and the way the bodice of her little sundress hugged her tits. He would join his brethren in the cave and right now,
he was doing his best to gain his woman’s trust.

  “Seriously, Soleil, don’t even look at them. They don’t know any better. Do you need another drink?” He glanced at Maestro, indicating he wanted her glass replaced the moment she was finished with her whiskey. He thought a few more drinks would help his cause.

  Soleil laughed again, the sound brushing against his skin as if her fingers were touching him, or maybe a thousand tongues tasting him. Champagne bubbles bursting over him. Whatever the analogy, it didn’t matter. His reaction was physical. His body worked. All on its own. Without his command. It felt like fucking paradise, and she’d done that with just her laugh.

  Just like that all laughter died and the room went electric. Ice turned toward the door to watch the newcomer sauntering through. He was average height but walked like he could handle himself—like he owned the bar. There was no one behind him, no one to back him up. He was absolutely confident, and it showed. He wore his colors like his own skin.

  FOUR

  “Get behind me and stay there,” Ice ordered Soleil in a voice that brooked no argument. He swept her behind him before she could move on her own to obey. He was grateful she didn’t protest, but she did lean out to peek around him.

  “Pierce. Didn’t know you were in town,” he greeted. Storm moved to the left of Pierce. Savage slipped in on the other side. The rest of Torpedo Ink spread out behind them. They would take their cue from him. He was Alena’s older brother and he was the one calling the shots without Czar or Steele there. He would always call them for Alena or Storm.

  Pierce wore his colors with every bit of the same pride with which Torpedo Ink wore theirs. He was Diamondback, one of the largest clubs in the world. One of the strongest. Torpedo Ink resided in their territory and was technically considered a support club for the Diamondbacks.

  Pierce nodded at the others as he came right into the center of the room, but his gaze rested on Alena. She was artfully draped on the pool table looking the way only Alena could look. Her jeans fit the curve of her butt lovingly, while her tight tank barely held in her straining breasts. She stood up very slowly, a lazy, sexy move that was all Alena. Ice wanted to shake her. He sent her a look of reprimand, but she was Alena and she ignored it.

  “Heard you were in town celebrating. Where’s the happy couple?” Pierce asked Ice, but he still didn’t look at him. He looked only at Alena.

  “They took off for their honeymoon. More to the point, what are you doing in Vegas? Specifically, what are you doing here? This is a little beneath you, isn’t it? Slumming?”

  “I have business here. Or perhaps a better way to put it would be I have unfinished business, and since she’s here in this bar, so am I.”

  Ice wanted to take three steps forward and end Pierce right there. He could move with blurring speed. The moment he took that first step, his brothers would distract Pierce. He wouldn’t need that edge; he had already planned every step out and each counter Pierce might try. Pierce would drop and they’d be gone. But there was Soleil . . . He could feel her hands gripping the back of his jacket.

  Alena was sacred. She’d lived through hell, but she was alive, and that was more than any other female other than Lana could say that had attended their “school.” Ice and Storm had managed to keep her alive by bargaining with their bodies. By allowing torture and rape. By agreeing to monstrous terms.

  Pierce’s club wouldn’t welcome her, men or women. She wore another club’s colors on her back, on her skin. Just like every one of the brethren, she was Torpedo Ink. He had no idea what was really going on between his little sister and the enforcer for the Mendocino chapter of the Diamondbacks, but for Pierce to saunter alone into a bar filled with members of a club he knew were lethal, something big had to be drawing him.

  Ice swung his gaze to Alena. She looked cool. Nonchalant. As if she didn’t have a care in the world, but she had learned, just as the rest of them, to hide her true feelings behind a mask.

  “Not sure why you’re here, Pierce,” Alena said. She settled once more over the pool table, looking a little haughty.

  Ice winced. His sister sounded as sultry as hell. He sent her a reprimanding frown. The only indication that she noticed that he’d gone completely glacier was the small swallow. Her gaze hadn’t shifted from Pierce, but she’d seen his frown.

  “Just want to talk, Alena. Walk with me.”

  It was more an order than an invitation, and immediately Ice made a small movement toward Pierce. Alena’s breath hissed out. Behind him, Soleil’s hand twisted in his jacket, as if she could hold him back. Her hand trembled and he felt it right through his colors. She had no idea what was happening, but she could feel the terrible tension surrounding them.

  “You want to talk to him?” Ice asked. He waited. A heartbeat. Two. The room was so still, no one moved. No one made a sound. Waiting, just as he was for Alena’s answer.

  “Yes.”

  Ice switched to his native language. “This is a dangerous game you’re playing, Alena. It could get both of you killed. This man touches you without your consent or allows you to get hurt in any way, I will kill him. I won’t care what club he’s in or how many brothers he has. I will kill him. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”

  Alena nodded.

  “I did things to protect you. I sold my soul to protect you. No one hurts you. No one, Alena. His club will not want you.”

  “I know, Ice.” Her voice was soft. She spoke in the same language, keeping her eyes on him.

  “Let him underestimate you. Let them all underestimate you. But this man will know me. He won’t take you without seeing who I am and what I’ll do to him if anything happens to you. Do we have an understanding?”

  Alena nodded. “Yes.”

  “And you still want to go with him?”

  “I need to,” she admitted, her gaze still meeting his.

  Ice was glad she was really looking at him. She needed to see him for what he was. What they all were. She needed that reminder. She was theirs. She belonged with them and she always would. He knew if he said she couldn’t go with Pierce, she wouldn’t. She was a fully patched member of Torpedo Ink. She was a lethal assassin. She was also his little sister and his word was law.

  “Storm and Savage will shadow you. Don’t try to shake them. That will get him killed as well. Don’t go near his club. He tries to take you any place they are, walk away. You get me, Alena? You walk.”

  “I give you my word.”

  Pierce hadn’t moved during their conversation. Soleil kept her hand on his back, probably because his voice was pitched low and harsh. Ice lifted his gaze to Pierce and waited for the man to look at him.

  “You need to see what I am,” Ice said quietly. “It doesn’t matter that all of us are like me. You just need to see me. She will be safe with you, no matter what your club thinks about her.”

  Pierce took his time looking into Ice’s eyes. Seeing him. Seeing the ice-cold killer that he was. Ice didn’t hide a thing. He wanted the man to know what he would be dealing with if there was one bruise on his younger sister. Just one.

  “I get you,” Pierce replied. “And I saw you back when we first met. She’s safe with me. She always will be.” He held out his hand to Alena.

  She didn’t move until Ice gave her a barely perceptible nod. She straightened again, a slow, sensual movement that set Ice’s teeth on edge. He believed in equal rights. Well. He didn’t mind his sister hooking up as long as it was safe. There was nothing safe about Pierce or his club. Ice had no doubts that Alena could kill him. He wouldn’t ever be expecting it from her, but she had some kind of soft spot for the man, and she might hesitate. If she killed him, she’d be running for the rest of her life.

  Alena knew Ice. She knew he meant what he said. If Pierce did anything to her, if a single member of his club did, if she tripped on the sidewalk, he would hunt the enfo
rcer down and kill him—and most likely it would be a slow and very painful death, because Ice could be all about that shit when it was called for.

  He waited until Alena and Pierce had exited the game room and his gaze settled on his twin. Storm didn’t hesitate. He went out the back exit. Savage went with him.

  Soleil watched the two men go and then she looked up at Ice. “Who was that man?”

  “He belongs to a very big club and he’s bad news, especially for Alena.”

  Instantly Soleil felt guilty. She liked Alena. If she wasn’t there, wouldn’t Ice have gone after her to make certain no one hurt her? She bit down hard on her lower lip, frowning, trying to think of the right thing to do. Alena had a family and they were clearly worried about her. Soleil had never had a family, but she’d always wanted one. She’d fantasized over that very thing more times than she wanted to admit.

  She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay with Ice, with his friends. Why couldn’t she have met him a long time ago, before Winston? Just a long time ago, when she would have thrown caution to the wind and gone with every impulse she’d ever had? He was a beautiful man. Gorgeous. Sweet. He made her feel beautiful and hot as hell. When he looked at her, she wanted to strip right there and wind her body around his. She wanted to go home with him and be part of his very cool family. But she was all about doing the right thing, wasn’t she? Shouldn’t she?

  “Will she be all right?”

  Ice tucked a stray strand of her dark hair behind her ear. Just his touch made her heart accelerate. Her breasts ached. She could feel her nipples push against the material of her dress. She was worried about Alena. She wasn’t trying to be selfish, even if she did secretly want to get Ice so drunk, he’d sign the prenup she had burning in her pocket and take her to a twenty-four-hour wedding chapel. She felt guilty just at the thought slipping into her mind, but it had, and she couldn’t get it out. She could seduce him. She wanted to seduce him. She wanted him with every breath she took.