by Wilder, L.
“Un-fucking-believable.”
He grumbled something under his breath, then turned from me and charged out of the kitchen. He was about to head outside when I shouted, “Noah, wait, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.” I walked over to him and tried to dig myself out of the hole I’d put myself in. “I’m just tired of not knowing what’s really going on. This is my life, and it feels like I’ve got no say in it.”
“I told you before, there are things that happen in the club that I can’t and won’t discuss with you.” His tone softened as he continued, “I know you don’t like it, but this is one of those things I just can’t discuss.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. It’s just so frustrating having to rely on you and your brothers for everything.” I lowered my head as I tried to swallow back my tears. “I know I’m a burden, and I just—”
Before I could finish my thought, Noah reached up and placed his hand on my chin, gently lifting my head so I was forced to look at him. “You’re not a burden, Remington. You’re far from it.”
“Well, it certainly feels that way.” I held his gaze as I muttered, “I just want this to be over. I’m sick of being afraid.”
“I won’t let anything happen to you. Not now. Not ever.”
His words caught me by surprise, but it was what he did next that shocked me even more. I was standing there looking back at him when he slowly started to lean over to me. Every single nerve in my body came alive as I watched him slowly lower his mouth to mine. The man who’d done everything in his power to keep me at arm’s length finally gave in and kissed me long and hard. I’d never felt anything so incredible.
I lifted my hand up to his face, inching my body closer to him as his tongue delved deeper into my mouth. The bristles of his beard were rough against my palm, but his lips were soft and warm, luring me in for more. He threaded his fingers through my hair and tugged me closer. Unbelievable. My heart was racing, my entire body itching for more, as I whimpered into his mouth. His hand drifted to the nape of my neck, then snaked down to the small of my back. He felt so good, smelled so good, and it was all I could do to keep myself from completely losing myself in him. I couldn’t believe how my body reacted. In such a short time, this man had taken my world by storm. He’d made me feel things I never dreamed I could, and as much as it scared me, I couldn’t imagine wanting anything more.
I thought he was enjoying the kiss just as much as I was until he quickly jerked back, breaking our embrace. He growled under his breath as he ran his hand over his face and grumbled, “Fuck.”
“What’s wrong?”
“This.” He motioned his hand between us. “This can’t happen.”
“But—”
“No, Remington. This isn’t up for discussion.” He brushed past me like a raging bull as he started out the front door. As he charged outside, I heard him grumble, “Goddamn it. She’s gonna fucking ruin me.”
Damn. That was not the reaction I was hoping for. In fact, it was enough to break a girl’s heart, but I wasn’t giving up—not just yet.
Shotgun
Damn. Things had gotten totally fucked up, and it was all my fault. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. I’d meant to keep Remington at a distance. I tried to ignore the insane pull I’d felt towards her, but seeing her with Rafe fucked with my head. I could still remember the way he was looking at her, like he intended to make her his next conquest; I nearly came unglued and Rafe knew it. When we stepped out on the porch, he looked completely confused when he said, “You wanna tell me what that was all about?”
“You didn’t do what you were fucking told.”
“That’s a crock of shit, and you know it.” His eyes narrowed as he asked, “You got something going on with Remington or what?”
“You know better than that.”
“Can’t say that I do, especially after the way you freaked out in there.” Rafe was being overly dramatic, especially when he added, “Hell, the way you were glaring me down, I got the feeling that my life was on the line. I was seriously starting to wonder if I was gonna have to start sleeping with one eye open or some shit like that.”
“Wouldn’t have to worry if you’d just done what you were told.”
“I don’t know. I got the feeling it’s more than that, and if it is, I totally get it. Remington’s a knockout. If I had my eye on her, I wouldn’t want anybody getting in the fucking way.” A smirk crossed his face. “Hell, I’d show my ass just like you did.”
“Didn’t show my ass.”
“Um-hmm. Whatever you say, brother.” He gave me a quick shrug, then changed the subject. “Find out anything on the guy?”
“Yeah. Menace was able to use the picture I sent him and found out the guy’s name—Colby Michaels. After he had a name, he was able to track his phone and check all his records.”
“And?”
I leaned back on the porch’s hand-railing. “Apparently, he was meeting up with his baby momma to return their kids.”
“So, what were they fightin’ about?”
“Motherfucker hadn’t paid his child support in over a year, and the poor girl was struggling to make ends meet while he was partying it up in his new pad downtown.”
“Fucking asshole. Y’all decide to just leave it or what?”
“No, we didn’t leave shit. The Punishers are good as dead. Each and every one of them.” I thought about the look on the motherfucker’s face when he saw the barrel of my gun pointed at his head. “Now we just have one less to contend with, and that momma finally has the money she’s been asking for. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a win for both of us.”
“Can’t say I disagree.” Rafe nodded his head over to Ada. “You got things covered here?”
“Yeah, we’re good.”
“All right then.” Rafe gave me a pat on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you to it.”
With that, he went down the steps and got on his bike. I stood there on the porch, watching as he pulled through the gate. Even after he was long gone, I was still standing there—trying to prepare myself to face Remington again. I finally pulled it together to go back in, or so I thought.
The second I walked into that kitchen, I knew I’d gone back in too soon. I was still wound up from my conversation with Rafe. I couldn’t seem to think straight, and it didn’t help matters that Remington was staring a hole through me. She was looking for answers I wasn’t prepared to give. Instead of talking about it, I chose to ignore it altogether and didn’t say a word through dinner. Apparently, that didn’t sit well with Remington.
As soon as the dishes were cleared, she started in on me with one question after the next. I’d already told her that I couldn’t discuss club business, but clearly that didn’t matter. It wasn’t as if I didn’t understand why she wanted to know what was going on with the Michaels guy we’d seen across the street. Anyone would be curious about how it had all played out, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t talk about that with her.
I could’ve ended the conversation there, but then she came at me with her bullshit about the Punishers finishing her off, and I lost it. I started thinking about what it would do to me if something happened to her, and the next thing I knew, I was reaching for her, pulling her against my chest as I planted my mouth on hers.
I should’ve pulled back, forced myself to stop, but I simply didn’t have the strength. She felt too fucking good in my arms for me to let go. When her tongue met mine, it sent a shock straight to my cock, making it difficult to restrain my need for her. I’d never felt anything like it. With a simple touch, she had me twisted in knots, and I wanted nothing more than to stay right there in her arms. Damn. When I finally realized what the fuck I was doing, I forced myself to pull back, freeing her from my hold. As soon as I saw that look in her eyes, I knew I’d fucked up. I had to get the hell out of there, and fast, so without any delay, I headed outside to do another perimeter check.
I’d only been outside a few minutes when my burner started to ring. I
grabbed it out of my pocket, and as soon as I saw that it was Viper, I answered, “Tell me you have some good news.”
“Sorry, brother. Just more of the same.” I could hear the frustration in Viper’s voice. “Menace and Hawk have been at it for days. They’ve been able to locate most of the Punishers, but forging a plan to get forty or more members in one location has been problematic at best.”
“I have no doubt. Have you come up with any possibilities?”
“None that are worth mentioning. I’d say we just take them out one by one and be done with it, but with the cops breathing down our backs, we can’t take any chances.”
“They been around again?”
“Just the same old bullshit. They’ve been driving by the clubhouse and Stilettos every hour on the hour, and even followed Country and Hawk home last night.” Viper growled under his breath. “Fucking harassment if you ask me, but not a fucking thing I can do about it right now.”
“Menace find anything more on Detective Mathews?”
“Word is the motherfucker just got promoted to the lead DEA agent.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Serious as a fucking heart attack,” Viper snarled. “Seems he has everyone fooled.”
“Or everyone in that fucking precinct’s on the take.”
“Maybe. Either way, we need to put an end to this shit before it costs us more than it already has.”
“Give me an hour, and I’ll see what I can come up with.”
“I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”
As soon as I hung up the phone, I started towards the main office. When the club first took over the storage lot, we remodeled one of the climate-control units into a full office with an added restroom and small sofa. After the cops came snooping around, I wasn’t ready to let go of McKinney, at least not yet, so I moved him into the office. Every time I did a perimeter check, I’d be sure to stop by and check on him. I didn’t have to worry about him running off or doing anything stupid. Not only did I have him restrained, the guy had nowhere to go—not after he rolled on his crew. So, he was basically waiting out his days in our makeshift office, praying that I would put an end to his misery.
When I got to the office, I unlocked the door and found McKinney sitting at the end of the sofa with a solemn expression. He never took his eyes off the small TV screen as he asked, “You forget something?”
“Need a word with you.”
“Oh, yeah?” Noting the seriousness in my voice, he turned to look at me. “What about?”
“The Punishers.”
“Figured that much.” He shifted back in his seat as he adjusted his restraint on his foot. “What do you need to know?”
“How to kill ’em.”
“Okay, which ones?”
His shocked eyes never left mine. “All of them.”
“You gotta be shittin’ me, man.” McKinney shook his head with disbelief. “There’s almost twenty members. You have to be crazy to try something like that.”
“Consider us crazy then.” I walked over and leaned back on the desk. “There’s only one way to resolve this shit with them, and that’s ending them once and for all.”
“It’s not gonna be easy to pull that shit off.”
“Maybe not, but with your help...”
I raised my eyebrow and waited for him to finish my thought. As soon as he realized what I was asking, his eyes widened and his voice rose three octaves higher as he asked, “You seriously want me to help you come up with a way to kill off the Punishers?”
“That’s exactly what I want you to do.” He dropped his head in his hands, and for a moment, I thought the man was gonna have a breakdown. Seeing that he was struggling with the concept, I stepped over to him and asked, “Am I wrong, or did they not kill your wife during some fucking raid?”
“They did.”
“Did they or did they not inadvertently kill your son. And not only cost you a kidney, but fifteen years behind bars?”
“Yeah,” he answered, his head still in his hands. “That too.”
“And didn’t you tell me that you wanted to put this life behind you?”
“I did.” He finally looked up at me, and the second I saw the spark of vengeance in his eyes, I knew I had him. “I’ve got one question first.”
“All right.”
“Whatcha gonna do about the runners? You gonna go after them too?” I could hear the concern in his voice as he said, “’Cause they’re not members, they’re just kids, man. Some twelve or thirteen years old. They’re just out there selling so they can survive. You and I both know they don’t make much, but what they do puts food on the table.”
“We’re not in the business of killing kids, brother.”
“Then, I’m good with you killing every last one of them.” He leaned back with a satisfied expression. “They have a meet with the Widow Maker in about a week.”
“Who the fuck is the Widow Maker?”
“He’s in charge of collecting the month’s take. Once he has the dough, he distributes the next month’s goods.”
“Gonna need more than that, Alfonzo,” I pushed. “I need a real name and an address?”
“Look, man. I been at this thing for a long time. One of the reasons why I’m still breathing is the fact that I keep my head down and mind my business. I’m sorry, but I don’t know shit about the guy.”
“Then, tell me what the fuck you do know.”
“Just know that we’re supposed to meet up with him at the old Turner plant on the last Sunday of every month.” He shrugged. “Used to be that we’d grab our shit and go, but the Widow likes to run his fucking mouth and do what he can to shake us up or whatever.”
“And everyone is there?”
“Everyone ’cept Scar and Mathews, but they’re always watching. You can bet your ass on that one.” His tone was full of warning. “You need to really think about this, man. This isn’t a game you can win.”
“The Sinners don’t play games, but if we did, we’d win every fucking time.”
I stayed there for another half hour, making sure I had everything I needed to know about the Punishers’ upcoming meet with the man they called the Widow Maker. Once I was confident, I called Viper and let him in on what I’d learned. While I wanted to be at the clubhouse to add in my own input, I had no doubt that he and Menace would be able to work together to figure out the best plan of action. By the time I started walking back to Ada’s, it was well after ten. I figured Ada and Remington had already gone to bed, so I grabbed me a drink from the fridge and headed into the living room to watch the news.
When I walked in, I found the TV on and Remington curled up on the sofa. Fuck. I didn’t know how long I stood there staring at her, marveling at how beautiful she looked lying there with the glow of the TV illuminating her angelic face before I finally walked over and picked up the remote. I turned off the TV and was surprised when Remington fussed, “Hey, I was watching that.”
“You were sleeping.”
“No, I was resting my eyes.” She pulled her blanket up to her chin with a huff. “So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to finish watching my movie.”
“Suit yourself.”
It was clear that she was pissed about earlier, and I couldn’t really blame her. I kissed her, then stormed out without any explanation. I could’ve taken the time to sort things out with her, but instead, I simply turned on the TV and sat down in the recliner. Neither of us said a word as we stared blankly at the television screen, pretending to listen to the rumbling of the characters in the movie. I didn’t care what they were saying. I had other things on my mind.
I should’ve been thinking about the conversation I’d had earlier with Viper, and how he and my brothers were planning to end this shit-storm we had going with the Punishers, but there was only one thing consuming my thoughts–the woman lying across from me on the sofa.
I was at a loss. I didn’t know what the hell to do about her. A part of me wanted
to grab her up and carry her to my room, devour her, claim her body as my own. I wanted to show her how she’d been driving me wild, but I couldn’t move. Doubts were creeping into the crevices of my mind, making me wonder how I was going to survive this thing with her. I looked at her and all I saw was good. She was just so very fucking good, strong and determined with no idea just how fucked up I really was. Anyone could see that she deserved someone who could take care of her, love her, and treat her as the incredible woman she was. I knew deep down I couldn’t be the man she needed me to be, and yet I hadn’t gotten up and left the room. I was still sitting there just so I could be close to her. Damn.
Several long minutes went by before Remington finally lifted her head and turned to look back at me. “Have you seen this movie before?”
“Can’t say that I have.”
“Me neither.” She rested her head back down on the sofa cushion. “I’m a little lost. I think I might’ve missed something.”
“Probably when you were sleeping.”
“I wasn’t sleeping, jack-nut. I was just—”
“I know.” I chuckled. “You were resting your eyes.”
“Exactly. Regardless, I still missed something.” She sat up on the sofa, and I knew the second I saw that mischievous look in her eye that she was up to no good. “Is there a back way out of here?”
“Not sure what you mean.”
“Is there a way for us to leave without anyone seeing us?”
“Yeah.” Curious to know what she was thinking, I asked, “Why?”
“When I was outside earlier, I saw your motorcycle. I’ve never ridden before, and I...I thought you might take me for a quick ride.”
“It’s not a good idea.”
“Why?”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“But it’s dark out, and I’d be wearing a helmet. It’s not like anyone would see me.” She studied me for a moment, and when she saw that she was getting to me, she pushed a little harder. “Come on, Noah. I’ve been couped up for days, and I just want to get out of here for a little while. It’d really mean a lot to me.”
