by Jagger Cole
“Guess that answers my earlier question,” Joaquin murmurs. I glare at him, but he just grins back. “Hey boss, I’m happy for you. I think she’s good for you.”
“Thanks,” I nod. “I think so too.”
“She’s young,” Carter says quietly as he chambers the rifle in his hands. I glare at him, but he just shrugs. Carter’s always been one to just tell it like it is. “I’m not wrong, man. What is she, eighteen?”
“Nineteen.”
“And you’re thirty.”
“Your point?”
He shakes his head. “I just don’t want to see you get twisted up with this girl and then get shit on for it. She know about your service record?”
“Most of it, yeah.”
Carter looks surprised. He and Joaquin both know I’m not one to tell people about my Marine days. I hate it when people start blubbering to me about “my service” or some shit about kicking terrorist ass or protecting America. I served because I felt it was my duty to serve my country. End of story. And I saw enough hell over there that I’ve never felt the urge to broadcast it. So, Carter’s right to look surprised that I told Annabelle.
“Interesting,” he says curiously. “And she’s okay with it?”
“She’s here, isn’t she?”
He smiles. “Alright, fuck it. I’m done with my questioning it. I just want you to be happy, bro.”
“And I am.”
“Good,” he grins as he snaps a magazine into a forty-five.
“Thanks for showing up, by the way.”
Joaquin grins. “Like we’d let you have all the fun?”
“I’m not sure what kind of ‘fun’ we’re about to get into, you know.” I frown. “These guys are mob connected.”
“Well, I hope they’re packing for elephant,” Carter grunts. “Because we’re going to rip them new assholes.” He frowns. “Hey, where’s the kid?”
As if on cue, there’s a knock on one of the closed garage doors. I glance at my buddies and grab a gun before I walk over. “We’re closed.”
“Hey, Rowan, it’s me,” Levi calls through. Joaquin nods and hits the button to open the door, letting Levi in. He closes it behind him as the blond guy strolls in carrying two enormous duffle bags over his shoulders. The three of us glance at each other.
“You going on a fucking cruise, man?” Joaquin says.
Levi grins as he drops both bags heavily onto the table. “Nah, just wanted to bring a few of my favorites from my collection.”
I’m still confused, until he unzips them. And suddenly, we’re staring at a fucking arsenal.
“Jesus Christ, man,” Carter mutters. There’s easily twenty-odd assault rifles and shotguns in the bags. “These are a few of your favorites?”
Levi shrugs. “Yeah?”
“Are those fucking grenades?”
He grins at Joaquin. “Sure are.”
I’ve never really questioned where Levi came from too much, even though I’ve always had a hunch he was running from something. But I’m suddenly real fucking curious.
“Levi, this is Annabelle. Annabelle, meet the kid.” She smiles and comes over to shake his hand.
“You’re with this guy?” I glare at Levi sharply, and he grins. “Good. He’s a good guy.”
“He has to say that. Rowan’s his boss,” Joaquin jokes, and Anna laughs as I slide an arm around her.
“Look, I don’t know what we’re going to be up against here. I don’t even know if they’ll come crawling back. There are three of them, and I think I at least nicked one of them at my place.” There were drops of blood outside my bedroom door leading out to the drive. Not a lot, but I definitely hit something squishy. “But they also might have backup. You guys really don’t have to be here…”
“Yeah we do, boss,” Levi says with a shrug. My other two friends nod in agreement, and I grin.
“Thanks, guys.”
My arm tightens around Anna, and I look down at her. Whatever happens, I know fucking nothing is going to hurt her. I’ll lay down my life before I let that happen.
“Hold on,” Carter grunts, tapping his ear. We go silent, and I hear the sound of a car pulling up outside the garage. And then another car. When we hear the sound of three more, I glance at the rest of the guys.
“Shit.”
“Let’s fuck these pricks up,” Levi growls. He slams a magazine into an assault rifle and slings two shotguns over his shoulders.
“I need you to stay down, baby,” I grunt, pulling Anna close. She nods as I lead her into the back of the garage. I pull some metal shelving units away from the concrete walls and help her crouch behind them. “Whatever happens…”
“Don’t you dare get hurt,” she hisses. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Stay down, Anna,” I say gently as I kiss her. “Whatever happens, just stay down.”
I pull away from her and stride back to the table. I shove two handguns into my belt, and Levi hands me one of his Rambo guns. “You guys ready?”
“Let’s fucking do this,” Joaquin grunts.
Carter’s peering through a peephole in one of the garage doors, and he swears. “Fuck, man. There’s a lot of guys out there. All this for one girl?” He frowns. “Who the fuck is she?”
I want to answer, “she’s mine,” but I know what he means. “Her dad’s running for Senate, and he’s big on anti-organized-crime stuff.”
“Shit,” Joaquin mutters. “She worth all this?” I snarl, and he laughs. “You know I just had to check one last time, man.”
“She’s worth it all,” I growl. “She’s worth everything to me. So you can stay or you can get the fuck out right now.”
Joaquin just grins at me as he cocks a shotgun. “You know I’m in, bro.”
“Hey asshole!” The voice comes from outside, and we all turn towards the doors. He obviously doesn’t know it’s more than just me in here, but there being four of us won’t matter much against what sounds like the small army outside. “You don’t gotta die here! Hand over the girl, and we’re out of this shit town.”
“Where the fuck is Creesh and his guys?” Carter grunts.
He’s right. After I called these guys, I obviously called the cops. Silvervales’s a small town, but it’s insane that no one’s been picking up at the police station. I’ve left fucking voicemails for him letting him know what’s going on, but there’s still be no word. And it feels very, very off to me.
“Last chance before we knock this fucking garage in two!” The guy yells. “Give us the chick, or we’re going to put you in the ground.”
My hand tenses on the gun, and I take a breath. I look over at Anna, and when her eyes meet mine, I know without a doubt that I really would lay down my life for hers. And I know something else too, something that I’ve been feeling since the moment I laid eyes on her. But now, it’s crystal clear in front of my face: I love her.
“Alright, that’s it!” The guy outside yell. “We’re coming in!”
The four of us crouch down behind the Bronco I’ve been working on. We raise our guns and aim at the garage doors. I can feel the adrenaline start to flood my veins, when suddenly, I hear helicopters. Soon after that, we hear sirens, and the guys outside start to freak out. But just then, a voice comes booming out of a loudspeaker.
“Lower your guns! Attention everyone outside! Drop your guns right now! We’ve got snipers on the roof, and you’re entirely surrounded. Drop your guns immediately or we’ll fire!”
I glance at my friends. “What the fuck is that?”
“Who the fuck is that, Joaquin mutters.
“Fuck you!” The guy outside yells. But suddenly, a shot rings out, and he goes silent. I run to the peephole, and I grin as I look through. There’s a body on the ground, but suddenly, the forty or fifty other guys outside start to drop their guns and raise their hands up high. State trooper SUVs roar around corners and come flying down the street to come to a stop in front of my shop. Dozens of cops rush the mob guys and slam th
em to the ground. I watch dumbstruck as every single one of the mob guys are put into handcuffs.
“Annabelle Chisholm!”
At the sound of her name through the loudspeaker, Anna stands from behind the barricade. I frown in confusion as she runs over to me and hugs me close.
“Annabelle! If you’re in the garage, we’re out here for you! Anyone in the garage with Annabelle, come out now unarmed with your hands in the air or we will come in!”
I glance through the keyhole again. There has to be a hundred cops out there. I turn back to my friends. “Put ‘em down, guys.”
“Yeah, no shit,” Joaquin mutters. All four of us disarm, but Levi frowns.
“You okay?”
“Those are cops out there?” I nod, and he swears. “Not all of these guns are… uh…”
“Legal?” He nods, and I shake my head. “Alright, go ahead and lock them in the tool locker.”
We quickly stash Levi’s arsenal, and Joaquin hits the button for the garage door. The four of us hold our hands up, but Anna holds onto my hand with hers, raising hers up too. The doors open, and suddenly, the cops rush in. I yell as they rip me away from her, and Anna screams as me and my friends are slammed to the ground.
“Annabelle!”
Her eyes widen, and she whips around at the sound of her name. “Dad?”
A tall, good-looking guy with silver at his temples wearing a tailored suit strides for the garage, surrounded by guys who look like a security detail. “Annabelle!” He yells again. He breaks into a run, and when he gets to her, he hugs her hard. “God, I was worried about you, honey.”
“How did you know to come?!”
“Because I know enough people in Los Angeles to know that your phone checked into a hotel room without you, that’s why. So I got my tech guys to triangulate your car’s anti-theft tracker.” He looks past her at the four of us, and his look turns furious. “Hang on, are these them!?” He roars. “You fuckers with the Carbone family?!”
“What? No! Dad! These guys were going to protect me!”
He scowls. “What?”
“They’re not with the mob. Dad. This is Rowan,” she says quietly. She blushes as she looks at me. “He saved me. A few times, actually.”
Her father looks at me for a second before he nods to the state troopers and cops. “Let them up.” When they all instantly do as he says, my brows perk up. Shit, this guy definitely has connections.
“You saved my daughter?”
“Rowan, sir.” I stick my hand out, but he eyes me.
“Daddy, he saved me yesterday when some of these guys found out where I was staying in the local hotel.”
Her father nods. “You law enforcement, son?”
“No, sir.”
“Then what?”
“Mechanic.” I glance around the garage. “This is my place.”
“I see,” Mr. Chisholm says tersely. “And these are your… acquaintances?” he nods at Joaquin, Levi, and Carter.
“That they are.”
“And you were in here ready to go up against the entire Carbone family for my daughter?”
I answer instantly. “Absolutely.”
He nods, but his eyes dart between us. I see the recognition in his eyes. He’s not an idiot, he can see what’s going on between us. And it doesn’t exactly look like he’s happy about it. But it’s also clear he’s impressed by the four of us willing to stand up to the forty guys being handcuffed outside.
“You protected my daughter, Mr…”
“O’Neil.”
“Well, Mr. O’Neil, for that I thank you.” He glances at Anna. “Honey, can I have a minute alone with your friend?”
She frowns, but I reach out and take her hand and give it a squeeze. Her dad definitely spots it, and he frowns. But Annabelle just turns to me and smiles. “Yeah, of course. Just don’t keep him too long.”
“My office is this way, Mr. Chisholm.” I lead her dad though the garage to the office and shut the door after he steps inside.
“I’m going to level with you, Rowan,” he mutters. “I can see you’re more than a good Samaritan to my daughter.”
“And she’s more than just a damsel in distress to me.”
He frowns. “How much more.”
“A lot more,” I growl.
“I’m a powerful man, Mr. O’ Neil.”
“And I’m not scared of you.”
He slowly grins at my words. “Well that’s a pretty damn good answer. Annabelle means a lot to me, Rowan.”
“Of course, sir. And to me.”
His eyes narrow. “She’s nineteen.”
“I know.”
“Well, she needs to go back to college.”
“I agree.”
He glances around. “Is there an Ivy League out here I missed on the ride in?”
I smile. “Where she goes, I’ll go, sir. Always.”
His frown loosens a little bit as he sizes me up. “You a vet, Rowan? I’m getting a military vibe from you.”
“Marines,” I growl.
He grins. “Thought so. Navy here.”
“Yeah? My dad was Navy.”
Anna’s dad smiles. “I can see taking her from here without you would be a losing battle.”
I laugh. “She’s certainly headstrong. Sir, I do mean what I said. Wherever she goes, I’ll be there. And I’ll protect her with my life if I have to.”
He nods slowly. “That’s admirable.”
“It’s the truth.”
He smiles. “Well, I did not see a man like you coming.”
“I never saw a woman like her coming either. Mr. Chisholm, I love your daughter with all that I am. And I can swear on my life that I’ll never hurt her, and always protect and care for her.”
Her dad sizes me up again as he sighs and rubs his temples. “Rowan, I’m not just going to suddenly decide I’m fine with my daughter taking up with a… what are you, thirty?” I nod, and he grunts. “A thirty-year-old mechanic from the middle of nowhere. I may get there, but right now, you don’t have my blessing for whatever this is. But,” he grunts. “But you do have my respect, and my thanks.”
I grin. “I can take that for now. Maybe I can work my way up to the blessing part.”
“You a whiskey man, Rowan?”
“Only if it’s real bourbon.”
He chuckles. “I think we might just get to the blessing part, son. Listen Rowan, I’ll be peeking back in on my daughter. Frequently.”
“And I’ll be watching and protecting her, always.’
“Good man,” he smiles. “I don’t love this situation, but I can accept it.”
We shake hands and head back out to where Annabelle is waiting with my friends. Her dad walks over and wraps her in a hug. “I thought about demanding that you come with me right now.”
“And then you realized I wouldn’t?”
He chuckles. “Something like that, yes. Anna, you can stay here.”
“Well, I’m nineteen, dad.”
I clear my throat and give her a “careful” look, and she grins.
“You can stay here,” Mr. Chisholm says again. “But we’ll be speaking soon. And you are certainly going back to college in the fall. Is that understood?”
“Dad, I’ll think about it.”
“He’s right,” I growl. “You’re definitely going back to school.”
She pouts. “Are you taking his side?”
I laugh. “On this? Yeah, you better believe I am. But wherever you go, I’m gonna be there.”
She smiles widely, and her dad leans down to kiss her forehead. “Here.” He passes her her real phone. “I’ll be checking in on you, and I’ll be back to hopefully get to know Mr. O’Neil here better.”
“I’d like that, sir,” I grin. “I’ll have the bourbon ready.”
“He’s a grill cook, too.”
Mr. Chisholm laughs. “You butter me up with steak and bourbon and we’ll be well on our way to what we talked about, Rowan.”
; After we shake hands, and after he kisses Anna again, he’s off to his helicopter. The cops stick around for a while longer packing all the Carbone guys away in vans, but eventually they’re gone too. The guys help me clean up a little, and then they head out too. And finally, it’s just Anna and me.
“Come on,” I whisper. We climb onto one of my bikes, and I roar us out into the night back to my place. When we get back, we fall into bed together, her in my arms as the moonlight streams in through the windows. And finally, I know it’s going to be okay. With her? Of course, it is.
Part of me wants to slide between her legs and make her come for me, but I can tell we’re both about to pass the hell out from the wildness of the night. Her breath is steady on my chest as she snuggles against me, and I lean down to kiss her and brush her hair from her face.
“I love you, Anna,” I whisper.
“I love you, too,” she whispers back in a sleepy voice but with a huge smile on her face. My lips brush hers, and I kiss her slowly before we both sink into the bed and fade to sleep.
Epilogue
Annabelle
“So, you going to that party tonight?”
I shake my head and take a sip of my iced coffee. “Nah.”
Ella rolls her eyes. “So lame.”
I know she’s just razzing me, and I laugh. “I would, but Rowan’s driving me out to Arizona for the weekend.”
“Ahh, right. Your mystery older boyfriend,” Callie giggles. She and Ella share a look and crack up, and now it’s my turn to roll my eyes.
My two new friends at college are honestly great. L.A. is fantastic, too. It’s just different from my old life. The girls I was “friends” with before were just so vapid and all about that stupid “how everyone else sees you” fake life. Maybe I was too, to a certain degree. But I’m over it now. Rowan opened my eyes to the real world. Or maybe he’s right when he teases me about having been such a brat. Maybe it just took a guy like him to tame the wildness inside of me a little.
I’ve only been here in L.A. a month, but I’m loving it. And so is Rowan. When I transferred colleges here, I was insistent that he stay in his life. I mean don’t get me wrong, I want him with me always, desperately. And the idea of being away from him, and those hands, and that mouth, and that cock, was depressing. I really, really didn’t want to drag him from his life, but Rowan insisted, and it’s actually working out great for him. He’s got a new garage opening here in L.A., and Levi and Joaquin are really taking on more responsibilities back at Iron Horse Bikes in Silvervale. But we still get back there whenever we can, even if it’s just to staycation in at his desert house, which he’s basically done building now.
