Blackjack Bears

by Amelia Jade

  “Why not?” he asked, dejected and confused. “I know you feel things for me, Mila. You’ve tried to hold back, to take it slowly, but there’s only so much you can do.”

  Mila thought about denying it, but the truth was, he was right. She had fallen for him, hard and fast. It terrified her, both for the reasons he’d mentioned, and some he’d not. Rubbing her hands on her face, she turned away from him and walked across the room, snatching some clothes and moving into the en suite bathroom to dress herself.

  While she was in there, she tried to decide what to do.

  Five minutes later, having accomplished exactly nothing, she walked back into the bedroom, clad now in jeans and a black T-shirt. Pierce was still there, leaning against the doorframe, looking like a lost puppy.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know this is coming at you out of nowhere after…” she gestured helplessly at the ruffled bedsheets all in a disarray from their lovemaking.

  “True,” he said. “But the worst part is, you’re not telling me the truth.”

  She froze.

  Pierce shrugged his shoulders slightly as he continued, blissfully unaware of her reaction. “There’s obviously something you think I won’t like.”

  Her blood turned to ice.

  “I know it’s not your obsession with unicorns,” he said, shooting her a weirded-out look. “I can deal with that. It won’t be easy, but I promise you, we can make that work.”

  Mila couldn’t help but smile, though she still felt sick to her stomach.

  “I know it’s not the fact that you’re embarrassed about your job.”

  She did her best not to flinch as he spoke.

  “So, I’m left with one conclusion to make,” he said. “It’s me.”

  Mila wanted to cry.

  “Pierce, it’s not that,” she began, but he waved her off.

  “Clearly it’s something. At first I thought you couldn’t stomach the way my culture is much more okay with the idea of violence. But I don’t think that’s it. I think it’s me, specifically. There’s something about me that you can’t accept. Something about me that’s just not good enough for you.”

  “Pierce, stop,” she said firmly.

  “No.” He ignored her, and continued on. “Look, I know I’m not perfect. I have my flaws. Some you know about and,” he hesitated, “some you don’t. But I promise you, Mila, whatever it is you may think you can’t deal with, I will fix it. I will change, whatever it is. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life besides the fact that I want to be with you.”

  He looked her right in the eye. “Mila, I lo—”

  “Pierce, I swear by the nine Hells of Hades, if you finish that sentence…” she said in exasperation, leaving it open-ended for him to imagine what might happen if he did.

  Now was not the time for him to be professing his feelings for her. She needed to leave, to have some space and to—

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  Everything about Pierce had changed. He stood up straight, his body language changing from one of resignation and sadness, to the tense, muscle-flexing aggressive nature of anger. His face was clouding over, the puppy dog-like eyes wiped away, replaced by cerulean eyes that glinted with rage.

  “What did you just say?” he asked, his voice deadly quiet, cutting through her thoughts and words like a laser.

  Mila hesitated.

  Chapter Twenty

  Pierce

  I swear by the nine Hells of Hades.

  His icy tone sent the temperature in the room plunging, eliminating any heat that may have remained from their earlier coupling.

  Pierce had heard that expression before. Once before. Just before he’d passed out when he and his brothers had been taken. It was one of the last things he remembered hearing before waking up in the forest.

  Where Mila had come to him. Innocent Mila, just a woman out for a morning run without any clue as to what was going to happen to her, that she would stumble upon a shifter that might change her life forever.

  Mila, who had a job title and description that was necessarily vague. He’d assumed, because of her suggestion, that she was embarrassed about what she did. Acquisitions. What an interesting way to phrase kidnapping. Technically accurate, he supposed.

  “What are you on about?” Mila asked, and he could see it then.

  She didn’t know! Mila had no idea that she’d just given herself away by repeating the phrase.

  The phrase that he’d latched on to, that he’d heard repeated over and over again, muffled by the breathing mask the person had worn. Looking at her now, he tried to picture her with a tactical suit on, body armor, the works, and her face covered by a mask. The proportions were about right.

  “Pierce? You’re scaring me,” Mila said cautiously.

  “I am, am I?’ he asked, his voice detached in a sort of calm, professional manner as he regarded Mila. “Good.”

  Her eyes widened slightly at the threat in his tone. “W-What?”

  He smiled, the expression false, as evidenced by the way it didn’t carry through to his eyes. Eyes that remained locked on a woman he’d thought...

  No, it didn’t matter what he’d thought of her before. Not anymore. She’d changed that by revealing herself to him.

  “I said good,” he repeated. “You should be scared. Very, very scared.”

  More blood drained from her face as he laughed menacingly, taking a step toward her.

  “No wonder you reacted the way you did earlier,” he said, laughing again. “It all makes sense now. You didn’t freak out because I said I was going to kill someone. You freaked out because I said I was going to kill you.”

  “I—”

  “Don’t even fucking try it,” he growled. “I heard you say that same phrase to two of your men. Two of the men you lead. A team that kidnapped my brothers and me.”

  He shook his head, tossing it violently from side to side. “How could I have been so stupid? To believe the whole story that you just happened to stumble upon me in the middle of the forest. What a crock of shit. I guess I was just blinded by your good looks.”

  “Pierce, listen, I can explain this.”

  He waved her into silence, surprised that he hadn’t already begun destroying the room around him. “I said, don’t try it. I know who you are, Mila, if that’s even your real name.”

  “It is,” she whispered, looking up at him, her eyes pleading with him.

  “You’re the woman who broke into my home. Who took me and my brothers without warning. You…” he trailed off as words failed him.

  “Your home?” Mila snapped, and he saw defiance rise in her as she accepted her fate and decided to strike back the only way she knew how. Verbally. “You were in jail, Pierce! When were you going to tell me that little tidbit, hmm? Or were you just thinking you were going to lie to me until it was too late, until I’d fallen in love with you?”

  He laughed. “We both know you wouldn’t have actually been in love with me. So don’t act all hurt.”

  To his surprise, tears welled up in her eyes, but Pierce just laughed some more, impressed by her acting skills. “You think crying is going to save you?” he asked, the rage inside him beginning to spill forth.

  “How could you Mila? How could you do that? And then lie to me about it? I avoided telling you everything, yes. But I never lied to your face. You flat out said you didn’t know where my brothers are.”

  She opened her mouth to protest.

  “YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TOOK THEM!” he roared, casually reaching out to the side of the door and sending her dresser through the wall and into room next to them.

  Mila looked at him in horror as she realized what she’d awakened within him.

  “You’re not so tough now, without your gas and your guns,” he barked, his vision becoming tinged with red as he worked himself into a frenzy, all the anger, hatred, and fear for his family coming to a head as he direct
ed it at her.

  “Pierce,” Mila said, her voice trembling as he approached.

  “ENOUGH!” he bellowed, kicking her bed clear across the room.

  Mila turned and darted for the bathroom, but he reached up, ripped the ceiling fan from its mount, and hurled it to shatter against the doorjamb before she got there. She skidded to a stop and threw up an arm to block herself from the debris that ricocheted off of her body before hitting the ground.

  Next she ran for the end table, but he moved to intercept, sending his foot out in a kick that smashed the drawer and all its contents into tiny pieces. The lamp and rest of the night table crashed to the floor, leaving Mila stunned.

  “It was you, Mila. All this time, it was you,” he repeated.

  Realizing she had no choice, Mila stood her ground. He had to give her credit; she was braver than he’d expected of her.

  “Yeah, it was me, okay?” she said, throwing her arms up in the air. “I admit it. I led the raid that took you. There, are you happy?”

  “This whole innocent thing, not knowing who I am, that was a sham then, wasn’t it?”

  Mila rolled her eyes. “Yes and no, you big idiot.”

  He frowned. “What?”

  “I mean, of course I knew a bit about you. After all, I raided the jail and took you with me. I’d been briefed roughly on who you and your brothers were. So in that sense, yes, I knew who you were.” She looked at him then, and the anger faded from her eyes. “But I didn’t know you, Pierce. The person. I had a name, a photo. That was about it. The discovering of who you were, that was all genuine.” She looked down and away from him. “My feelings for you were genuine too, not that it matters now, or that you’d believe me.”

  “You’re right, I don’t believe you,” he snarled. “Why should I, when all of this has just been a sham to begin with?”

  Tears were running freely down Mila’s face as she shook her head, though no words emerged from her mouth.

  “Stop crying,” he ordered. “You knew what you were doing getting into this. You knew how it would turn out. So stop acting upset.”

  “Fuck you, Pierce Koche!” she shouted. “Just fuck you. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  He reared back in surprise.

  “No? Did you, or did you not take my brothers and me from Cadia?” he snarled, leaning forward until his face was inches away from hers.

  She didn’t respond.

  “DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT?” he shouted directly in her face.

  Mila didn’t crumble, but she did nod. “Yes, I did. I already told you that, Pierce. But listen, you—”

  “Where are they, Mila?” he asked, cutting her off, his voice full of molten steel. “Are they alive?”

  She hesitated.

  “ARE THEY ALIVE?” he roared.

  “As far as I’m aware, yes,” she said. “They are alive.”

  Pierce’s hand punched through the wall to the left of her, leaving a clean hole from her bedroom outside. “Where are they?” he repeated quietly.

  Mila was shaking so hard she couldn’t respond.

  He pulled his hand out from the wall and turned, heading for the door downstairs. “I knew this whole thing smelled fishy. What kind of woman is okay not going to the police after finding someone unconscious in a forest who can’t recall how they got there?” Pierce shrugged helplessly. “I must have been the biggest laughingstock to you and your friends, trying to pull myself together while you just laughed, knowing all along what was going on.”

  When she didn’t respond, he pushed through the doorway and headed downstairs. There were a few beers in her fridge. They weren’t shifter strength or laced with any tranquilizer, but it was just the act of having a beer that he needed right then. There was no way Mila could get out of the house without him intercepting her, so he wasn’t worried about that.

  Right now he needed for her to calm down, so that she could tell him where his brothers were. Then he would go and get them himself, and damn her, and damn the consequences.

  He nearly ripped the door of the fridge right off as he violently pulled it open by the handle. The entire stainless steel appliance shook back and forth, tipping things over inside, though nothing seemed to spill. Pierce reached in and grabbed the nearest beer, twisting the cap off.

  The entire neck of the opaque brown glass bottle shattered in his hand, glass cutting him in a dozen spots.

  “Fuck!” he cursed, slamming the bottle down on the counter in frustration.

  This only amplified things, causing the rest of the bottle to simply explode from the force, drenching him, the counter, the walls, and anything nearby in beer.

  Pierce roared, letting his anger surge through him as he prepared to level the entire house. His anger wouldn’t be sated by his actions, but it would go part of the way to mollifying it—especially because it belonged to Mila, who had betrayed him and hurt him so thoroughly.

  He reached for the granite countertop, intending to send that flying across the room.

  “Enough.”

  The single word reached out and slapped him across the face like it was a physical object. The sheer force and command behind it caused his head to whip around as Mila appeared in the entranceway, having made her way downstairs. She stood in the doorway, her hands held calmly behind her back.

  “Who do you—”

  “I said that’s enough,” she said, advancing on him once more, her eyes focused and full of anger as she ground him to a halt with nothing but her words and her expression. “You are done acting like a child having a temper tantrum because you didn’t get your way, and you will listen to me.”

  “Or what?” he sneered.

  Without saying a word Mila’s right hand whipped out and she shot him in the stomach.

  ***

  Pierce awoke, growling angrily as he surged to his feet, his eyes darting around wildly.

  “Calm. Down.”

  He spun, locating Mila at last as she spoke. He had been lying on the kitchen floor in the same spot where her tranquilizer dart had sent him down. This time though light was streaming in through the windows. It was morning.

  “Fuck you,” he spat and charged.

  ***

  He came to again, this time face-first on the ground from where he must have collapsed.

  Groaning, Pierce rolled to his side, his hand reaching for the sharp pain in his stomach. He felt around until his fingers encountered a roughly inch-long piece of metal.

  “Oh come on,” he said, his voice pained. Fingers clamped around the end of the metal and he pulled. “Arghh,” he said as the six-inch-long metal dart emerged from his insides where it had plunged as he fell upon it.

  “Are you ready to fucking listen yet?” Mila’s voice said, this time from off to the side, leaving the counters between him and her.

  They weren’t nearly the obstacle Mila thought they were, and Pierce knew he could simply lunge up and smash through them. They would effectively act as a shield until he got close. In effect, she’d made it worse for herself.

  But then his brain kicked in.

  Twice now, she could have shot him full of tranquilizer and had him transported somewhere, or killed him, for that matter. But she hadn’t. She’d stuck around because she wanted to talk.

  “Okay,” he said, wincing as he had to use a punctured muscle in his abdomen to sit up, leaning his back against the counter.

  “Let’s talk.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Mila

  “Finally,” she sighed, rolling her eyes in relief.

  “You act like we’re in a rush.”

  “We are in a rush, you idiot. If you would just let me talk, I could have told you that!”

  “I…what?” Pierce said, stumbling to a halt as her words sunk in. “Why? How?”

  “I’m going to come around the counter now,” she said instead. “I want your word that you won’t attack me.�
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  “My word?” he said, laughing at her. “Why would you trust that?”

  “Because you’ve yet to give me reason not to,” she said. “Look, Pierce. I know about your past. I know that you’re one of the Blackjack Bears, yadda yadda yadda. But you haven’t been that person with me.” She paused. “Well, not until recently, but that’s understandable of course. I lied to you. You have every right to be angry.”

  There was no response.

  “So, can I come out from hiding?”

  She wasn’t really hiding. Not at all, to be fair. She was simply on the far side of the kitchen, with the counter between her and Pierce. She could see his leg sticking out, but that was about it. Mila wanted to be able to look him in the eye as she told him about his brothers.

  “Yes,” Pierce replied. “I give you my word that I won’t do anything rash, like try to attack you and get tranq’d. Again.”

  She smiled and moved to her right, though she still stayed a distance away from him, the tranquilizer gun pointed at him. Eventually Pierce came into view, though he was partially obscured by the kitchen table that ended up between them. Mila kept moving to her right, until she could see him fully at last.

  Right hand leveled at him, she used her left to pull a chair from the table for her to sit in. The gun never wavered the entire time, and she saw Pierce eyeing it.

  “You played the part well,” he said with a nod as she sat, her eyes never once leaving him.

  Mila’s nostril flared at the backhanded compliment. “You know, I’m not some cold-blooded murderer,” she snapped.

  “Then what are you?” he replied equally tightly.

  “I guess you could call me a mercenary.”

  Pierce snorted. “Just tell me the story, will you? Stop trying to defend yourself. Give me the details, and let me judge you.”

  “Trust me,” she muttered. “I’ve already judged myself.”

  He arched an eyebrow at that, but remained silent.

  “So yes, I was part of the team that took you,” she said without preamble. “I infiltrated the team and took charge. We came and got you. I arranged for you to be put in my vehicle. Just you.”