by Nina Levine
Hyde stilled for a moment in a way I’d never seen him still. His eyes ran all over her. He took so long to answer her that I cut into whatever thoughts were running through his mind.
“Hyde. You break the door, brother?”
His gaze snapped to mine. “No.” Glancing back at Monroe, he said, “Your door is in one piece.”
Relief filled her features. “Thank fuck. That’d be an expense I could do without at the moment.”
I eyed the guy sitting at her kitchen table. Jerking my chin at him, I said, “What happened?”
Before he could reply, Monroe jumped in. “This is what that asshole did. Fox drove me home from work and stayed for dinner. The asshole must have followed us from work. We’d just finished when the guy knocks on the front door and barges his way in when I open it. He looked so damn friendly when I checked who it was in the window. And he held up one of those—” She snapped her fingers as she searched for the word.
Fox volunteered the information when she couldn’t. “He had religious shit with him.”
“Yes!” Monroe explained. “That’s the only reason I opened the door at this time of night. I wanted to say thanks but fuck off. In a nice way, of course. I mean, those guys are only trying to help the world, right? But I’ve got no need for religion in my life.”
Hyde stood staring at Monroe in silence. I could never get a good read on him, but he appeared a little bewildered by her. Understandable, though, because she was always like a wild rush of energy every time I saw her. He’d never met her. Not that I knew of, so I guessed he was still getting his bearings with her.
Turning back to Fox, I said, “Okay, so why the fuck did he cut your face up like that?” Fox’s face was a nasty mess of cuts and blood. By the looks of the first aid box on the table, Monroe had been attempting to clean him up, but he was still a mess.
“I owe a guy for some coke.”
“And?” I said.
“And he sent the motherfucker around to collect.”
I frowned. “Monroe, I’m not sure how this is of interest to us.”
“Well,” she started, “the guy said that we should remember his boss’s name—Wesley Marx—because he was about to become the main supplier in Sydney. And that Storm didn’t know what was about to hit them.”
Wesley fucking Marx. The asshole who was using our supplier.
“Why would he mention us?” Hyde finally joined the conversation.
Monroe glanced at him. “I told him he should be more careful about who he threatens, because I have Storm on speed dial. That’s when he mentioned your club. He seemed pissed off that I even mentioned you.”
“Really?” I said. “Storm on speed dial?” I tried not to laugh. I had no idea where women came up with some shit.
She waved her hands in the air dismissively. “Well, I’ve got Nitro. By default. That counts, right?”
Hyde’s lips twitched in amusement. Fuck, I’d never seen that in my life. The only emotions I knew from him were anger or begrudging acceptance. “Yeah, sugar, that counts.”
Sugar?
Jesus.
Monroe hit him with a smile that could have blasted light to Antarctica. I watched in fascination as her entire body language switched from alert to soft. She’d come a long way since I’d met her when Nitro first took up with Tatum. Monroe had been wary with me at first. Trusting a biker, she told me, was like trusting a teenage boy with your virginity—you hoped for the best, but would most likely end up fucked over and wishing you’d not put your faith in them. And after all that, there she was looking at Hyde like he was the only other person in this room.
I took charge. “Okay, so if you’re okay and don’t need us, I’m gonna report this back to Nitro and then go finish what I was doing before he called.”
Monroe nodded her agreement. Staring at Hyde, she said, “Thanks for coming. I’ll let you boys know if we see that asshole again.”
As I was about to leave, something struck me. Turning back to Fox, I said, “This guy? You ever seen him before?”
Fox shook his head. “Nope.”
“You been buying off Marx for long?”
“I’ve never met Marx. The dude I buy from is a scrawny teenager I met when his brother came to get a tattoo.”
“So he works for Marx, too?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know how Marx is about to become so big in Sydney when he’s only ever been some two-bit operation.”
“Thanks for the info, man,” I said.
As we exited Monroe’s home, I said to Hyde, “Seems to me that someone is backing Marx. And we need to find out who that is.”
14
Hailee
I drank half the martini Devil bought me before stopping and placing the glass on the table we sat at in the busy Italian restaurant he’d brought me to for dinner. “It was a long shitty day.”
And a long crappy week. Work used to be my happy place. Not so much anymore. Thank God for Friday.
The thing that had kept me going during the days was the time I spent with Devil at night. He made good on his promise to pick me up after work every day, and I looked forward to that each day. Not to mention the long nights of sex. After locking us away at his house for a couple of nights, though, he’d insisted we go out for dinner that night.
“Any luck finding jobs to apply for?” I’d told him how and why Rachel was being a bitch, and he had encouraged me to search for a new job.
I shrugged. “I’ve found a couple, but none of them really excite me. Plus, none are as close to home as Rachel’s.”
“How was she today?”
I rolled my eyes. “She was still going on about me needing to work out my priorities. If I have to sit through another week of that next week, I may just stab her in the eye with a pointy stick. I mean, I’ve worked for her for two years and never once given her any reason to treat my badly. I’ve tried pointing out that the free massages don’t hurt her business, but she seems to have it in for my project.” I drank some more of my cocktail and added, “I just don’t get it.”
“Have any more of your volunteers pulled out?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve lost four in total now. So I had to spend my lunch hour reworking the schedule for the next week. I think I’ve got it sorted. So long as no more leave me. It just means that I’m going to be busy a few nights next week and all day next Saturday doing massages.”
He grinned. “I tell you what, darlin’, I’ll massage your tired body afterwards.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Devil had a knack for making me laugh when I didn’t think it possible. He’d made this week bearable. “Let me guess, you’ll pay special attention to certain parts of my tired, weary body… like, my feet and hands.”
His grin broadened. “Definitely your hands. We don’t need them to get too sore and tired. I have plans for those hands.”
“And do I need to pay you for these massages? Or are you doing it from the goodness of your heart?”
“I do everything from the goodness of my heart, but a blow job wouldn’t be a bad form of payment.”
My body relaxed as all the tension Rachel had caused seeped away. I lifted my glass to my mouth and said, “If you play your cards right, you may just score one of those tonight.”
I drank the last of my cocktail after that, enjoying the way he responded to what I’d said. Just watching Devil was something I could spend all my time doing, but watching him while pleasure and satisfaction danced across his face took my enjoyment to a whole new level.
It was while we sat in silence simply gazing at each other that my brother slid into the booth next to me, joining us.
“Aaron, uh, what are you doing here?” I faltered on my words because he’d caught me by surprise.
He gave me a tight smile. Glancing back and forth between Devil and me, he said, “I’m here for dinner with a friend and just happened to see you as the waiter took us to our table. Figured I’d come and say hi to my little sister and see what she’
s up to since I haven’t heard from her for a week.” He zeroed in on Devil when he added, “And since she never told me she’d started dating a new guy.”
His gaze met Devil’s as he said that, and I didn’t miss the look that passed between them. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but I guessed it was some male thing that we women would never understand. I suspected Aaron’s eyes were saying, “Don’t fuck with my sister or I’ll slice your dick off before I feed you to the sharks,” while Devil’s eyes said, “We’re cool, man, no need to threaten death to my dick.”
“Since when do I have to report in with you every time I go out with a man?” His attitude annoyed me. It seemed to be way worse than ever before, too. I figured that maybe they knew each other, but wasn’t sure. I never had spoken to Devil about that day in the back of Aaron’s car. We’d had other things on our minds.
Aaron didn’t respond to that, but rather, said, “You two meet that day at the animal protest and then just decide to start seeing each other?”
Devil ignored the attitude blazing from Aaron. “No, man. We met again after that at the pub Hailee’s band plays at.”
“How long do you intend to date Hailee?” Aaron’s voice took that hard edge he often reserved for when he was working. I hated that he used it on Devil.
Devil didn’t appear surprised in the least that Aaron was being an asshole. “For as long as she’ll have me.”
Aaron’s body tensed next to me. He was built, so we were crammed into my side of the booth, sides touching, and I felt his turn rock hard. “I don’t see it going anywhere.”
I spun sideways to face him. “Aaron!” I chastised. “Do you mind? How dare you come here and be so damn rude.”
He hardly even acknowledged me. Instead, he kept his focus completely on Devil and said, “Hailee’s been through enough shit with men to last her a lifetime. She sure as fuck doesn’t need you coming along and breaking her heart when you decide to show her who you really are.” Anger was practically rolling off him, and I couldn’t figure out where it came from.
“Right, I think that’s enough,” I snapped. “You need to leave.”
Devil cut in with a shake of his head. “Darlin’, why don’t you give your brother and me a moment to have a chat?”
“Really? You wanna sit here and listen to more of that?”
“Yeah, I do.”
I stared at him, wondering what he thought he could achieve with Aaron. It was then that I decided he didn’t know Aaron at all, because if he did, he’d know there was no talking my brother around when he’d made up his mind.
“Okay,” I said. “Good luck.”
Aaron let me out of the booth, and I left them to it. I headed to the ladies room to freshen up and prayed like hell they didn’t take each other’s heads off.
15
Devil
If Bronze thought I would give Hailee up, he was seriously mistaken. As we sat watching each other, his eyes full of mistrust, mine with determination, I knew I was in for a hell of a fight.
He rested his arms on the table and leant forward, his nostrils flaring. “Get the fuck up and walk the fuck out of this restaurant now.”
My hands clenched by my side. Because he was Hailee’s brother and a club ally, I gave him the space to be an asshole. “Bronze—”
He cut me off without hearing a word I planned to say. “I don’t want to hear it, Devil.”
“And what the fuck did you think I was about to say?”
“Some bullshit about how you don’t plan to hurt her, or how you’re different to other guys, or some other fucking lie about how much you care about her. I’ve heard it all before from the other motherfuckers she’s dated, and I’ve seen the proof of it being nothing but bull.” He leant forward even more. “Tell me, Devil, you have a sister?”
“I do. And—”
“And you ever had to fly across the fucking world to save her from a man who wanted to beat her until she agreed to stay with him? You ever seen your sister’s face so bruised and swollen you hardly recognised her?”
“No.” I knew better by that point to just answer his question and let him continue. He’d only cut me off if I tried to get a word in.
“Yeah, well let me tell you, it’s something I never plan to do or see again.” He took a breath. His chest was pumping up and down rapidly as he worked himself up. “The last fucking thing Hailee needs is to get mixed up with Storm. I know the kind of men your club deals with, and like fuck will I sit back and watch my sister get involved with something or someone who could bring harm her way. You get me?”
I met his gaze as I rested my arms on the table, too. “I get you, Bronze. Completely. But there’s no way in hell I’d allow any harm to come to Hailee. It’d be over my dead fucking body.”
He stood. “I’m not interested in hearing it. I’m telling you now, walk the fuck away from my sister.”
As he took a few steps away, I called out, “I’m not leaving her, Bronze.”
He stopped and turned back to face me. Steam practically billowed out of his head. “I’m warning you, Devil. The consequences of you not doing what I’ve asked won’t be pretty.” Without another word exchanged, he stalked to his table.
I stared after him, pissed off. He could threaten me all he liked, but no fucking way would I walk away from his sister. Not unless she told me to. And even then, she’d have a fucking fight on her hands. I wasn’t a man who gave up easily. I’d been a fighter since I was a kid, my dad had made sure of that, and I wasn’t changing that anytime soon.
Just over an hour later, we arrived at King’s home after I received a call from Jen towards the end of dinner. She’d been distraught and rambling on about Shannon. I couldn’t make sense of what she said so I told her to calm down and I’d come over on my way home.
“I’ll just wait out here,” Hailee said when we pulled up outside King’s place.
“Like fuck you will. I’m not having you standing out here in the dark on your own at this time of night.”
Her hand curled around my neck and she pulled me close so she could kiss me. “This protective side of yours gets me so damn excited, bossman. I hope this doesn’t take too long because I really need you to get me naked.”
I groaned and slapped her ass. “This better not take long. Jen’s been highly fucking emotional this week while King’s been away, so she probably just needs someone to tell her everything’s gonna work out. Shouldn’t take too long.”
Hailee frowned. “Is something wrong with her?”
I hadn’t told her anything about Jen, and wouldn’t share much. That was Jen’s and King’s story to tell. “She’s been sick while he’s been away. I’ve been checking in on her, making sure she’s doing okay.”
Her frown shifted to a smile. “You’re a good guy, Devil.”
I wavered between wanting to let her keep thinking that and telling her she was far off base. In the end, I went with, “Okay, let’s do this so I can get you back to my place and get inside you.”
I led the way to the front door, surprised to hear King’s voice inside as we approached. I knew he was on his way back to Sydney, but wasn’t aware he’d arrived.
“Fuck,” I muttered as I made out what was being said. They were arguing over Shannon. I hesitated to knock on the door, not wanting to interrupt them, but when Jen screeched out something about knowing King would never change, and him retaliating with rage, I decided they might need me. Even if only to give King a moment to blow off some steam. I hadn’t heard that level of anger from him in a long time and wondered what the hell had inspired it.
Lifting my knuckles to the door, I knocked loud enough to be heard over their shouts. A couple of moments later, King yanked the door open, his wild eyes meeting mine. I sucked in a sharp breath at the madness I saw in him. Not only had his anger come out to play that night, so had his crazy.
Fuck.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up and apprehension prickled over my skin.
&n
bsp; I shouldn’t have brought Hailee here.
“Devil,” King barked, his attention solely on me. It didn’t appear that he’d even noticed Hailee standing behind me. “What are you doing here?”
I’d never faltered around King. Had never felt the fear of him that so many did. However, I did in that moment. Not for me, but for Hailee. I couldn’t put my finger on the reason, because I didn’t believe he’d hurt her, but the need to protect her from him nevertheless churned deep in my gut.
“Jen called me. She seemed upset and confused, so I told her I’d come over. I didn’t realise you were home.”
“I called him when you took off,” Jen said, coming into view behind King. Her tear-stained face was painted with mascara streaks and puffiness. But as much as he’d upset her, the old Jen I’d known seemed to have made an appearance again. I hadn’t had a glimpse of her all week when I’d visited. She’d been soft and welcoming, seemingly happy to have my help. The Jen standing in front of me now had the hard glint in her eyes and the don’t-fuck-with-me stance that I associated with her from years ago.
King’s chest rose and he held his breath for a beat, as if he was working hard not to lose his shit with her. When he finally exhaled a long breath, he said, “Come in, we’ve got shit to discuss anyway.” Stepping aside, he motioned for me to enter.
I hesitated for a split second. King never missed anything and didn’t miss this. And he was as fucking perceptive as he always was when he said, “For fuck’s sake, Devil, bring her in with you. I’m not gonna hurt her.”
With that, he stalked back inside his house.
Jen’s eyes met mine, a fraction softer. “I’m sorry to get you involved in this, but he came home just before I called you and went completely psycho on me. He—”
King’s voice bellowed from another room. “Jen, get your ass in here and stop fucking bitching.”
She stiffened. “I don’t know why the fuck I came back to him. I should have known things would never change.”
