Family Ties

by KB Winters

  “And shut off that damn alarm,” he called behind me. “I’m surprised your neighbors haven’t called the cops yet.” The words had barely left Cross’ mouth before a patrol car pulled up.

  The officer jumped out of the car and hung his hand on his holster and he walked up the lawn. “This your house, sir?” He scanned the wreckage and gave me a worried look as his partner came up behind him.

  “It is. I just got home.”

  “Any idea who might’ve done this?” The cops didn’t follow me into the house, and I was grateful.

  I knew exactly who had done it and why. “No idea, officers. Probably just some stupid kids seeing as they didn’t get inside. Got one of those smart alarm systems.” I flashed a friendly grin while they eyed me warily, backing up to return to their squad car.

  “We’ll circle around in ten if you want to report anything missing or property damage.”

  “Thanks, officers. I’ll be sure to document what I find.” Everything but the woman locked inside because there was no damn way to explain that. “Thanks for your concern.”

  They gave me a skeptical once over and then got back in their car and pulled away.

  “Thank fuck,” I groaned and made a beeline for the house. It took me too damn long to unlock the front door and race up the stairs, heart racing as I checked all three bedrooms, the bathroom and the linen closet. Where the fuck was she?

  I heard a muffled groan coming from the closet in the guest room that tore at my heart. I yanked the door open to find Savannah curled into a ball, rocking back and forth on the floor of the closet.

  “Savannah?” I said, kneeling down in front of her. I worried after all she’d been through, she slipped into some bad PTSD type of shock from which she might not return.

  She looked up at me, big blue eyes red and filled with tears.

  When she murmured, “Charlie?” I gave a silent prayer of thanks. At least she sounded like herself. I held out my hand as her gaze landed on Cross. He stood behind me, taking in everything.

  “Are you all right?” I asked gently.

  “I’m fine,” she said in a voice surprisingly strong now. She slid back, putting distance between us that I didn’t understand. Since she was so shaken up, I stood and stepped back as she rose from the closet floor.

  “A little shaken up. Okay, a lot shaken, but that was mostly your stupid alarm.” She wiped at her eyes and took in several slow, deep breaths before she stepped out of the closet. “Two guys wearing Black Jacks patches walked up, knocked and rang the bell, and broke almost every window in the house.”

  “Did they see you? Did you say anything to them?”

  “Hell no! I heard a bottle break about a minute before the chaos started. The door alarm started and then the window alarm, and the way they beat the door, it was too much so I came upstairs. I thought they were coming to get me.”

  “Did they say anything?” Cross stood behind me, hands on his hips, a suspicious look on his face.

  She nodded. “Something about a missing guy, but between the howling and laughing, I didn’t get all of it. Oh, and one of them was named Memphis.”

  No matter how strong Savannah was, and she was without a fucking doubt, she couldn’t hide the tremble of her bottom lip or the way her hands shook with fear.

  I took her hand and tugged her down the stairs, fully aware of Cross right behind us. I led her into the kitchen and sat her on a chair, then I went to the cupboard for a bottle and poured a shot of whiskey into a rocks glass.

  “Take this,” I said, handing her the tumbler.

  She frowned. “Why?”

  “You’re in shock. This will help.”

  Savannah took it, hand shaking as it brought the whiskey to her lips.

  “Thanks.” Her voice trembled, and she didn’t look up, a testament to how much they had scared her.

  “No problem. I need to talk to Cross, and then I’ll figure out dinner.”

  She barked out a laugh. “I cooked. Meatballs and mashed potatoes. Put it in the oven to warm just before the crazies showed up.”

  She cooked? I nodded for Cross to follow me outside because I knew he had ten thousand questions that I wasn’t ready to answer.

  “She cooked dinner?” he said with a smirk. “Cozy.”

  I shrugged. “What else is she gonna do stuck in the fucking house all day?”

  “You sure she’s as stuck as you think? Those Black Jacks could have gotten in if they wanted to. Why didn’t they?”

  I sighed and raked a hand through my hair. “Sending a message. You should know that. They want to make sure I knew that they knew it was me who fucked with them.”

  “By keeping her?”

  “No. Savannah gave me some useful intel. I sent Lasso and Dallas Jr. to check it out. They confirmed the intel was accurate and made the guy a better offer.”

  Golden Boy was the only other person looped in because I had to be sure the information was solid before presenting it to the Club.

  “How can you be sure that’s what it was about?”

  I smiled. “The missing guy? She told me their drug connect was a surfer dude from Mexico. He was easier to find than you’d think, and pretty easy to persuade that his association with the Black Jacks was bad for his health.”

  “But how do you know he fell for it?”

  “Dallas gave him a better option. Jasper Ashby.”

  Cross whistled. “Impressive. Good job, Charlie.” He let out a sigh and shook his head. “I’m heading home to Moon. You should probably get back to your girl, she seems pretty fucked up.”

  “Not my girl,” I shot back instinctively.

  He chuckled. “Whatever you say, man.”

  “It’s true.”

  Cross’ laughter deepened. “Well, she made you dinner, and she needs you right now. Go to her.”

  It was exactly what I’d been trying to do for the past four hours, so I didn’t have to be told again.

  “Hey.”

  Savannah looked up at the sound of my voice, a half-smile on her face as she poured another three fingers into the glass.

  “Hey, back atcha. I’m fine, Charlie, so you can save that sorrowful look for someone else.”

  She was lying, and whether or not Savannah realized it, I knew it. I went to her, turning her chair as I took the one beside her. I cupped her face and ran my thumbs along the smooth skin of her jawline.

  “I don’t believe you, Savannah.”

  She sighed. “Believe what you want. It sucked, but it wasn’t the worse thing I’ve been through. I’m alive, and I’m not hurt. In my book that’s a good day.” Her smile trembled, and I just wanted to hold her.

  So, I did, surprising the hell out of both of us when I pulled her from her chair to my lap.

  “It’s okay that they scared you, Savannah.”

  “I wasn’t scared,” she insisted with a defiant tilt of her head.

  “You were, and that’s okay. I was worried too when I realized what had happened.” I shared the news of the fire with her and watched as her blue eyes went wider and wider. “I thought you were the target.”

  “They didn’t even try to get in Charlie. Why?”

  “They were sending me a message.” I didn’t tell her I used her information to get to them, but I used it. “So you made me dinner?”

  She nodded. “I tried. I can’t verify that it’s edible, though.”

  I laughed and cupped her face a little tighter so she couldn’t look away from me. “Thank you, Savannah.” Before she could tell me it wasn’t a big deal when it was, I brushed a kiss against her lips to shut her up.

  It worked like a dream. One minute she was insisting she was fine and the next, Savannah had her arms flung around me and her tongue dancing with mine. She moaned and bucked her hips against mine, and then she moaned louder when she realized I was already rock hard for her. She slid off my lap and stood right in front of me.

  “Okay, maybe I’m not as fine as I thought.” The words rus
hed out of her as she stepped out of her shorts and panties before gripping the hem of her tank top. “I could use a little carnal therapy.”

  “A little?”

  She shrugged and tossed the tank behind her, staring at me with heat smoldering in her blue eyes.

  “Nothing little about you,” she grunted and unfastened my belt and jeans. “Nothing at all,” she panted and pulled me to my feet and loosened my jeans to free my cock. She leaned over, taking my cock in her hand, swiping her tongue along the slit with a closed-eye moan.

  “Savannah,” I groaned and bucked my hips up so my cock went down her throat.

  “Not now,” I growled. I was too worried and too happy that she was untouched, that she was safe, to bother with foreplay tonight.

  “You’re not in the mood?” Disappointment darkened her eyes as she took a step back.

  I reached out and hooked an arm around her waist, bringing her curves flush against my body. “I am beyond the fucking mood, Savannah. I want, no I need you, now. Right fucking now.”

  “Oh, thank fuck,” she panted and shoved my pants down around my ankles before she pushed me back down on the kitchen chair and straddled my hips. “This is all I’ve wanted all day.” She gripped my cock and squeezed hard as she lowered herself onto me. “Fuck. Yes.”

  Was there a more beautiful sight in the world than a woman unafraid to chase her own fucking pleasure? With every inch that entered her body, Savannah’s body relaxed. Her nipples beaded within mouth’s reach as her slick cunt pulsed around me. I took that nipple, sucking and biting as her hips began to move, slowly at first until my whole length was coated with her excitement.

  “Charlie,” she breathed out and leaned back so her hands were on my knees as she fucked my cock, hard and fast so her tits bounced hypnotically in front of me. “Oh, fuck, yes, Charlie!”

  She needed this as much as I did, and that was such a fucking turn on. I gripped her hips, hard, and slid her even faster up and down the length of my cock, enjoying the wild cries and screams of pleasure that spilled out of her mouth. She moved too fast, too wild, for me to get another taste of her tits and then, as if she could read my thoughts, Savannah sat up and wrapped her arms around me. The move was intimate, almost as intense as her blue eyes searing into mine as she ground on my cock.

  Her hips circled and bounced; she screamed out when my teeth scraped her nipple.

  “Oh, fuck!” she said in the throes of ecstasy. Her movements sped up, and I held her hips tighter, helping her move in quick, deep strokes that sent her over the edge, hard and fast.

  “Charlie, yes! Oh fuck, yes! Yes!” Her body relaxed, and she gripped my face, kissing me hard and deep, her tongue plunging into my mouth hungrily.

  My hands never left her hips, moving her up and down my cock as my own orgasm flooded to the surface. My hips bucked up and my cock surged deep enough to pull another orgasm out of her, a violent burst of pleasure that milked my cock dry. I collapsed against the uncomfortable kitchen chair and groaned. “Holy shit, Vannah.”

  She pulled back with a satisfied smile. “Holy shit, Charlie.”

  That smile was more than I could take and I stood with Savannah in my arms, my cock still buried in her clenching pussy, and took her upstairs where I could fuck her again, slower and deeper. I laid her out and tasted every inch of her. She begged and pleaded for more. I squeezed her tits while I fucked her mouth, pulled her hair while I fucked her from behind. After her fifth orgasm, the result squirting out of her, she passed out in my arms.

  I lay there staring up at the ceiling. I was in more trouble than I realized. Cross was right. No matter what I said or how tried to convince myself, Savannah was my woman. When I thought she was hurt, and the fear I felt, visceral and deep, told me as much. But Savannah wasn’t my only concern.

  There was a strong possibility I had a traitor in my clubhouse. I didn’t want to believe it, but I had to at least consider it, especially since I’d pissed everyone off with my decision to protect Savannah. I didn’t have a list of suspects, not yet, so I worked on it for a few hours while Savannah slept, curled up against my side.

  By the time I turned and wrapped my arms around her, I had a list. A short, targeted list of who would dare help the Black Jacks against me. It was my last waking thought before drifting off into a light, restless sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Savannah

  Sitting inside Charlie’s living room, now permanently dim thanks to the boarded up windows from yesterday’s adventures, that post-orgasmic high I’d been surviving on had left me exhausted. I’d slipped downstairs, leaving Charlie asleep in the bed. He’d be up and awake and off on his bike soon enough. But my high was draining away, and now I was feeling sad. And pissed the fuck off.

  No, not just pissed off, fired up. I couldn’t live like this, not for the rest of my life. Hell, I didn’t even want to live like this for the rest of my time in Mayhem. Those guys were nothing but bullies, and I had my fucking fill of bullies, using their size or the size of their bank account, their wallet, to force others into submission. I stood from the chair that used to have a nice view of the neighbor’s vibrant green lawn with a growl for the neatly lined planks of wood that only allowed a few strips of light to enter.

  Fuck the darkness.

  Fuck it straight to hell.

  The sound of a fist pounding on the door startled a gasp out of me, because for all my tough talk, that shit yesterday still had me rattled. The doors were no longer double-locked from the outside. A sign of trust from Charlie that I was determined not to betray, so I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Twice. I looked down at myself to make sure I was decent. Jeans and a light orange tunic were about as decent as a former junkie whore could get, so I smoothed the fabric and looked through the peephole.

  A youngish redhead stood off to one side of the door, trying like hell to peek through the slits in the boarded up windows. She wore a cheap black suit with a cheaper looking white Oxford shirt underneath, but it was the ugly yet functional black shoes that pegged her as law enforcement.

  No way would I open the door. I dashed upstairs to wake Charlie.

  He raised his head from the pillow as soon as I opened the door, but I had to lift his hands from my ass when sat on the bed.

  “Somebody’s here,” I said, and told him what I saw through the slit in the window. As we spoke, I was suddenly grateful for the security screen door Charlie’s dad had insisted on adding early this morning.

  “Open the door and tell her I’ll be right down before she has all the neighbors on my front lawn taking selfies.”

  That had me nervous, but I did what I was told and ran back down to open the front door.

  “Yes?” I said, delighting in the confusion in her eyes when Charlie didn’t come to the door. I saw her quickly check the house number. For a minute she thought she had the wrong address.

  The woman flashed a badge too quickly to be useful and introduced herself.

  “Agent Beck, FBI. I’d like to speak to Mr. Ellison. I have a few questions.” A moment later, recognition flashed in her eyes. “Savannah Rhymer?”

  Like I would fall for that trick. “I’m gonna need to see that badge for longer than half a second.” With an annoyed sigh, Agent Beck held the badge up beside her face, but too far away to be seen through the screen door.

  “Hang on, let me just call your field office to verify you work there.”

  Those words produced another groan, and she smacked the badge up against the security door. “Better?” For some reason she didn’t want the FBI to know she was here, and that only intrigued me more.

  “Good enough.” I folded my arms and planted my feet in a wide stance to let her know this was as close to inside as she would get.

  “Questions about what, Agent?”

  Agent Beck nodded slowly, her big blue eyes bouncing up and down the block. “Mind if I come inside?”

  “Yes, in fact I do.” At that moment, I he
ard Charlie close the door in the bathroom upstairs. He turned on the shower, leaving me to entertain his guest for a few minutes more.

  “I’m sorry to hear about your brother.”

  “Yeah, thanks.” I felt only a hint of sadness at my brother’s demise. Finding out he was the reason for the last six months or more of my brutalization and torture was still hard to accept, but it was just in line with who he was. Who Ronan had trained him to be. Ruthless. Evil.

  “I haven’t seen Brendan in a long time, so I have no information to offer you. Sorry.”

  “Right,” she said, disbelief thick in her voice. I decided then and there that I didn’t like or trust this woman. “Your brother is dead, any information you have on him would be irrelevant at this point, wouldn’t it?” She arched a fiery red brow and folded her arms.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Were you expecting me to break down just now? You’ll have to try harder than that, Agent Beck.”

  “I’m looking for information on someone else. Dietrich Mueller. It’s why I’m here. I have a few questions for Mr. Ellison. You know him, right? Father Mueller? Maybe you can help me.”

  She knew damn well I knew the man. He was practically the right hand to Ronan, but she didn’t know much else. The bitch was fishing.

  I shrugged casually and gave a short nod. “I know of him. Why?”

  “Because I am an officer of the law, and I’m asking you a direct question.”

  “Oh. Then no, I know that he’s a business associate of my father’s and that’s it.” If she wanted to be a bitch, I could be a bigger bitch.

  “Step outside, ma’am.”

  “No, I don’t think I will. Have a good day, Agent Beck.” I took a step back and gripped the knob tight just in case she tried to pull some sneaky shit and started to close the door. Slowly. I might have been out of the game for a long time, but I still knew how it was played.

  “Okay. Fine. Wait!”

  I stopped the door and stood with a wide-eyed, innocent expression on my face. “Was there something else?”