He had sculpted muscles, a hard jaw and a rugged handsomeness that made me think of a Viking. He was the sexiest man I’d ever met. Too damn bad he was one of them.
I just needed to focus on how much he pissed me off. He was sexy, but when he opened his mouth, he drove me crazy with his arrogant, high-handed nature.
We turned down a residential street and into an apartment complex. It was nicer than the one where I lived. Who did he know in Vegas?
“Why are we here?” I hated the way he’d just taken over. Sure, I needed his help but that didn’t mean he could decide everything without me.
Although he probably thought so. The Brotherhood bikers weren’t big communicators—their talents lay elsewhere. Primarily between the sheets, at least that had been my experience.
“I have keys for a place here—a friend of a friend.” He startled me when he spoke. I hadn’t expected him to answer. “I use the apartment when I’m here for long stays or when I’m tracking a bounty.”
I glanced down at the fingertip-sized bruises that mottled my arms. A fresh wave of anger washed over me and built to an impotent rage that made me want to scream forever.
I knew Rebel had started a bounty hunting business but that’s all Avery had said. “Were you the one who caught Avery’s bastard of a father?”
He lifted an eyebrow in question. “I was there.”
“Good.” A vicious sense of satisfaction tore through me. That bastard had put my best friend, his own daughter, in the hospital, and he deserved to rot in jail.
“Dammit.” It hit me that the three of us—Avery, Lila and now me had all been physically violated.
He parked in a numbered spot in a carport. “Stay there.” Then he was out the door and coming around to my side.
I didn’t protest because getting out of this thing would hurt my bruised ribs. He opened the passenger side door and scooped me out, but he didn’t put me down on the ground.
He loped up an outdoor staircase. And gracefully managed to hold me, unlock the door and carry me inside. If we were married, then this moment would mean something. We hadn’t done the Vegas drunk-married deal, but walking over that threshold still sent a cold prickle of awareness shooting through me.
With a gentleness I hadn’t expected, he set me on the living room sofa. Then strode back through the door, leaving me alone in the apartment. The living area was clean but sterile with its planned neutrality, as if whoever decorated was afraid of offending someone. I liked color and boldness—this place had none of that. But it wasn’t the fleabag motel I’d expected, so he received points for that.
The door opened and he packed in a few bags and compact duffel. He didn’t dump the stuff inside the door but kept going toward the back where I assumed the bedroom, or bedrooms, were located. Thumps and the crinkle of sacks carried from the back, but I was too sore to investigate. He intrigued me with his aura of badass mixed with the sexiness I still craved. He was everything I wanted and despised rolled into one.
I closed my eyes and tried to center myself, preparing for what came next. I’d rather pluck out my eyeball with a spoon than tell my story. He returned, scooting me over on the couch before he sat gently beside me.
He caressed my ankle, then peered at me with that all-seeing stare—it was as if he dissected me. “We have to talk about that night.” Calm and distant, he continued to hold my gaze.
Panic skittered through my middle but I dismissed it. We Atkinses were made of sterner stuff.
His grip tightened, comforting me. “Start from the beginning. This is the job Bear arranged?”
Oh shit, I didn’t want to admit the magnitude of my mistake. But I would in order to get retribution—fuck justice.
“I changed jobs from the Starlord to the Remington recently.”
“Why?” He scowled at me.
“I wasn’t getting promoted, and Frankie was there all the time. He made a real pest of himself after I ended it with him.”
“So you went to his place?” The scorn was clear.
“I didn’t know it was his place. My roommate convinced me to go there to ‘get away’ from the prick. She had to be working with him.”
He texted something.
“What the hell are you doing?” I tried to lean forward but my ribs protested.
“Texting Bear—he thought you were hurt because of the Starlord.”
“Damn, is he pissed?”
“He was planning on coming out in a couple days.” Delta kept typing on his phone.
Shit. That was scary—the idea of Bear pissed off. Delta had to be lethal but no one carried the menace of Bear, a tall, lean black man who was in charge of the Brotherhood’s porn business. He’d helped me find the job in Vegas, and now I knew why he hadn’t sent me to the Remington.
“Keep going.” His fingers rested on my calf, then began moving in slow, comforting circles.
I focused on the beige wall and let the story flow out. “At the Remington, you not only dance but have to hostess—it’s where we met.” I’d hated that duty. “And I was choosy in the jobs I took.” Not that it had mattered in the end. “Anyway, I was like fifty shades of stupid when I chose the Remington. I dated Frankie, not realizing he was part of the mob or however you say that. I was warned but I believed the crap Frankie fed me.” I’d never learn how to pick a good man. “Anyway, eventually it was clear that he wasn’t exactly right in the head. Possessive, bad temper and just plain mean sometimes. So I broke up with him, and the trouble started.”
“What kind of trouble? Be specific.”
“Notes in my dressing room, dead roses on my car and on my doorstep. That’s how it started.” I remembered thinking it was a crazy admirer at first. I had dismissed it. “Then he caught me alone after a show one night and made my choices clear. I could go back to him or quit working in Vegas. So I took my roommate’s advice and went to the Remington.”
A tick in his jaw became more pronounced as he clenched his jaw tight.
“I’m stupid. I guess you can’t take the country out of the girl.” I shrugged. “I thought DeLuca owned the Starlord and that’s why Frankie had such good access.” I rolled my eyes. “He was there all the time and could go anywhere, so I went to a new casino, thinking I was leaving my trouble behind me.”
“It’s not something a lot of people know.”
“Well, there I was working for DeLuca—signed and sealed—before I knew any better.” Frankie had been so damn superior when he’d told me about it. “And he wasn’t the pest he’d been at the Starlord, but he made it clear my future was in his hands, but I refused to take him back.”
“So no more flowers and notes?”
“No.” I gave a dry laugh. “He had me where he wanted me.” With a sigh, I met Delta’s gaze. “We were playing cat and mouse the past month or so. He’d show up when I was working with another girl or by himself. He’d ask me to go out with them both sometimes, but I always said no. And that’s where we were when he came to that poker game—another first.”
“And I made it all worse.” Delta erupted from couch and knocked a lamp off the end table.
The explosion of violence startled me and I curled up tighter, making my bruised ribs ache more. “I think he’d planned it for a showdown of sorts—I was going to be his that weekend. So you didn’t make it worse, at all.”
“Not how I see it.” He paced in front of the couch. “What happened after I left?”
“Nothing the first day or two, then I started getting shit from managers, and that night—” I couldn’t get the words past the tightness in my chest. “The night they beat me.” Shivers shook me and tears welled in my eyes. “Jerry, the same guy at the poker game, he called me to his office, and took all my dances, which meant income, away. I should have just quit and walked out.”
“He wouldn’t have let you—not if Frankie wan
ted his pound of flesh.”
“Instead I tried to salvage my job until I could find a new one. He said he’d let me dance if I showed him I was a team player and directed me to go up to Suite 700. Celeste had warned me away from those parties. Not that she turned out to be much of a friend.
“I walked into the suite and it was all nightmare stuff from there. They led me to a room where they were making porn, and the girls, who were other dancers, were hopped up on something.” The feeling of panic raced through me.
“Angel DeLuca was in there with Frankie and the director and all these drugged women. I started planning my escape.” I’d hated those moments feeling so trapped. My breathing became fast and shallow and I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself. I could feel the anxiety Jason had talked about building. If I didn’t control it, I’d end up in a full panic attack.
“Anyway, that failed! They came at me with a needle and it was try and escape or end up like the other girls. I wasn’t going down like that, so I kicked Frankie in the balls and he smashed his fist into my cheek.” I held my finger up to the line of stitches on my face. “I don’t remember anything else—I woke up in the hospital.” I had never felt so helpless in my life. Alone and in pain in that hospital had been horrible. Thank God for Laura.
His pulse beat a fast tick in his clenched jaw and his fists clenched and unclenched. “I will make them regret every single bruise.”
Chapter 10: Delta
The anguish in her voice drove me fucking crazy and I crashed my fist into the wall, denting the drywall. She flinched and a scream escaped. Immediately she looked away embarrassed.
Fuck me. I had to control myself. Trauma. She had suffered serious trauma, and my indulgence in anger wasn’t helping anyone. A tear streaked down her face.
I knelt on the carpet before her. “Sorry, Queen, I lost my cool. You don’t need to see that, and I won’t make the mistake again.”
She sniffed and met my gaze with a cold glare. “You’re a prick.”
“Yeah, but I’m your prick, the one who’s going to get you revenge.”
A hint of a smile showed on her face. “I hope so. And I want to help.” She trembled, then breathed in and stilled herself.
I smirked up at her and resisted the urge to claim her bowed lips. “Not happening, Queenie.” I traced my finger down her unbruised chin.
“I need to—”
“You asked for help?”
She frowned down at me. “Well, help isn’t—”
“You want revenge.” I knew her that well.
“Of course I do, look at me. Those bastards didn’t need to—”
“You want to go home or stay here after this is over?” She was used to ruling over men, but that wasn’t happening with me. I yearned for her fire but I wasn’t ever handing her my fucking balls.
Her highness turned frosty. “Stay, but that—”
“Then you do what I say and quit being a brat,” I teased, although I meant every word.
“I am not a brat,” she groused.
“You are too, and I bet you always have been.”
She sighed. “I hate this. I am not a victim.”
“No, you’re not. You are a badass queen.”
Her breasts heaved as she sucked in quick breaths. She had a damn fine rack. I stretched up and kissed her with a gentleness I didn’t feel, gingerly wrapping my arms around her. I wanted to squeeze her tight to me but I wouldn’t damage her more.
And she pulled me under just like before. I was a drowning man and I surrendered to her, letting her control our kiss. She tangled fists in my shirt and held me close. So fierce and passionate.
Fuck, I am in trouble.
Her tongue flicked and caressed then she bit my lower lip and I moaned.
Her moan wasn’t from pleasure this time. I moved back with a curse. Fuck, I kept forgetting myself. “Shit! I’m so sorry.”
She jutted her chin with extra attitude but I saw the pain in her baby blue eyes. “I’m fine.”
I needed distance before I screwed this up worse. “You should rest,” I threw over my shoulder as I hurried to the back bedroom. I had to get myself under control and that meant no more kisses. Hell, I didn’t even like her so why did I want to taste her again so damn bad?
I lay in the bed and fumed over my stupidity, over the unfairness of Glory’s injury, and all the ways I would exact vengeance for her. I tried to sleep but it wouldn’t come. Instead Glory’s expressions flitted through my head over and again. Fear. Loathing. Pride. Those had been her go-to emotions as she’d told me her story. She’d been naïve and she’d paid for it. I would be repaying those bastards tenfold.
My phone pinged. Thorn texted he was here.
Come on in. I texted back.
I sat up and moved down the hall.
“You?” I heard Glory yelp.
Thorn dominated the room, staring down at Glory, who sat shaking on the couch.
“Why...why are you here?” She pressed back into the corner of the couch.
I glanced from her to Thorn, not knowing they’d met before. Eagle stepped in behind Thorn.
“You know Thorn?” I scowled.
Thorn stepped forward. “You’re Mama and Pixie’s friend.”
That’s right. She would’ve hung out with her friends at the club.
“You stay away from me.” She pointed at Thorn with a shaky finger.
“I won’t hurt you.”
“Like you didn’t hurt Lila.” She glared at me. “Why is he here?”
Shame made Thorn look away. I’d totally forgotten about his incident with Mama, Dare’s old lady and Glory’s friend. Thorn had lost his shit and hit Mama when she’d turned him down for some fun. The brother had been in a dark place then and that mistake had made him get some help. He was much more stable now, but that was by no means normal. After the torture he’d been exposed to when he’d been in the black op world, I doubted he’d ever approach even the club’s definition of normal.
“I don’t need another fist to the face.” Anger had replaced the fear. “If I don’t fuck him will he beat me up too? I think I’ve had enough of that shit for now.” Tears threatened to spill and she covered her face.
“Thorn isn’t a threat.” I made my voice calm as possible. I felt for Thorn. I knew what it was like for a mistake to keep shadowing you.
“Leave her be,” Thorn rumbled.
I joined her on the couch and moved her stiff body from the corner of the couch, out and onto my lap. She trembled and came willingly. I hated to see her afraid. “Thorn is here to help me get revenge. So is Eagle, the one beside Thorn. We’re all on your side.”
Her body sagged into me and she buried her face in my neck. “I understand, it’s just—”
“I didn’t think about you even knowing Thorn. I should have.” I soothed her. “He and Dare’s old lady are good. You good?”
She gave a small nod and then sat up and met Thorn’s gaze. “I’m sorry.” She gave him a weak smile. “It’s been—”
“We’re good.” Thorn cut her off. “You have a right to be jumpy given the shit you been through.”
Thorn turned to Eagle, who lounged against a wall by the front door. “This is Eagle.” Thorn nodded at the guy. “He’s in our security detail, been guarding people for years, so he’ll be here with you.”
Glory nodded, relief clear on her face.
“Delta and I will be tracking down Frankie. He needs a few lessons in manners.”
Glory grinned. “He does, give him an extra lesson from me.”
Thorn nodded and he and Eagle headed to the back bedrooms.
I understood she was under stress. Trauma fucked with your mind in many ways, but even before she ended up in the hospital, she had a thing against the Brotherhood. I needed to understand her issue because I couldn’t have
her going off every time one of us showed up. Hell, she’d asked for our help, after all.
I touched her chin. “What’s your problem with the club?”
She turned her head away from me. “I don’t have a problem.”
“Bullshit. From the moment you knew I was from Barden, you gave me and my club serious shade.”
“You guys are all rah-rah-live-and-die-by-the-club. I don’t get it, and your club has caused my family and the town lots of grief over the years.” Her cheeks reddened with temper and she stood, wobbly, and then hobbled away from me. “I don’t understand why you need a cult—a boy’s only cult—to feel like men.”
Anger flared in my chest and I stood and stalked toward her. “Don’t dis me or my club like that again.”
“Or what? You’ll walk away? Just as well walk because you and I both know I’ll do it again. You can’t make me drink the Kool-Aid. I see it straight.” She glared at me with all the ferocity of a cornered wolf.
I grinned, couldn’t help myself when she went all defiant like that. “No, your highness, I will bend you over my knee and spank you like the damn brat you are. So watch the temper, yeah?”
“You will not,” she commanded with the affronted dignity worthy of any royal.
“Try me, Queenie.” I smirked, knowing it would piss her off more. I heard Thorn’s footsteps in the hall. “This is done. I expect a little more respect—you called us in to help you.”
She fisted hands on hips and opened her mouth, then snapped it shut.
“We gotta jet,” Thorn said. “We have a location on Ricci.”
Glory turned to him. “Already?”
“You’ll have your justice today,” I said over my shoulder as I walked out the front door.
Why the hell did I let her provoke me? Now I’d have to spank her bare ass because there was no way she’d ever mind me. And for my efforts, all I’d end up with was a raging hard-on and a sore hand.
Get Away Page 9
