by Voss, Deja
“She does this sometimes. She’s not a spring chicken anymore,” he claimed.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Is that some kind of trick?” she asked, digging her fingers into my hand. “I’m Sabine Steele, and if you don’t get the fuck away from me, I’ll have you forcibly ejected, kind sir.”
She pushed herself up off the floor and gave me a glare of death. I didn’t care if she spat on me. Knowing she was alright was enough to make that risk worth it. I didn’t do anything to blow her cover. I might’ve ruffled a few feathers, but these assholes will get over it.
I watched as she walked up the spiral staircase, my eyes focused on her movement more than the thin strips of fabric covering her luscious body.
“Would you like some cash, sir?” Kevin asked. “I appreciate you looking after her, but I assure you we have a medical team on site to take care of any incidents. We had no way of knowing what Sabine had ingested this evening prior to her arrival, but I will make sure she is seen by a professional immediately.”
“Keep your fucking cash,” I muttered. I knew he was full of shit. Sage wouldn’t willingly drug herself. He knew exactly what she ingested.
“Well alright. Seeing as your work here is done, I think it’s time for you to call it a night, Law, is it?” he asked, running his finger over the patch on my cut. I should’ve broken that finger clean off. “You and your men are good to go. Take the rest of the evening and do whatever it is you do in your spare time.”
I bit my tongue, knowing if I made another move this wasn’t going to end well for anyone. My work here was done, at least done enough. I already overstepped Sage’s wishes and I knew she was probably up in the bedroom destroying shit and cursing my name.
Kevin reached out his hand to Colt to shake it, but Colt just walked away, shaking his head at him. We followed him out the front door and into the driveway.
Everyone’s bikes were parked in the adjoining garage. “I don’t blame you one bit for what you did, brother,” Colt said. “Wish you would’ve trusted us, but there’s no way in hell I could’ve sat around and watched my old lady get dragged around like that no matter how bad she wanted it.”
“She didn’t fucking want it,” I stammered.
“You know what I mean. Still not letting you ride on the back of my bike,” he said, straddling his Harley.
“I’m good,” I growled. I needed the walk anyway. Needed to clear my head. I knew I fucked things up in a big way. All the reasons I left the agency to begin with came rushing back to me thinking about her laying there face down on the marble floor.
The only thing that kept me moving forward was knowing she was alright.
She might not ever speak to me again, but she was alright.
Chapter Thirty-One
Sage:
“What the fuck?!” I screamed. I was sitting on the edge of the bed. I had ripped my mask off. There was blood trickling down my nose and my neck had choke marks all over it from that stupid chain he insisted I wore.
“Right?” he asked. “Who the fuck is that guy and why does he keep sticking his nose in your business. Is he like some creepy stalker or something?”
Oh this was rich. I was absolutely pissed at Landon for thinking he needed to come to my rescue. What he did was downright dangerous and stupid, and as soon as I felt like I was going to be able to speak to him again without ripping his fucking face off, I was going to make sure he knew exactly how he felt.
Landon wasn’t the main source of my rage right now, though. There was only one person’s face who I wanted to rip off and it was the little limp dicked piece of shit standing right in front of me.
“What the hell did you give me?” I asked. “I trusted you. You made a complete asshole out of me in front of all those people. What the fuck was your goal there?”
He sat down on the bed next to me and I slid as far away from him as I possibly could. I had taken a lot of drugs in my day. The agency exposed us to pretty much everything under the sun, and for the most part I could handle myself under any circumstance. This time was different, though. Whatever he gave me didn’t react well with my body at all. I don’t remember even walking down those steps to begin with, only waking up flat on the floor bleeding from my head with Law hovering over me.
“It must’ve been a bad batch,” he said. “I didn’t make an asshole out of you, though. You were perfectly fine. We have a medic on sight, and nobody in the crowd was disturbed by what happened. Well, not until your little stalker friend decided to make a scene.”
“He’s not my stalker. He’s not my friend. I don’t know who the hell he is,” I said.
I got up from the bed and grabbed my bathrobe wrapping it around my nearly naked body. Whatever drugs he gave me must’ve been good good because I know I would’ve pushed back against this outfit in my right mind, as sexy as it was. I sat in front of the vanity and dabbed at my nose, trying to get the blood to stop. My face was bruised and tender, but there was nothing on me that needed stitches.
“You sure about that?” he asked. “Seems like you two always seem to end up at the same place at the same time. I’m not judging you. I know you’re here to work, but if you’re attracted to him, I can’t stop you.”
“I don’t know him. I’m not attracted to him. I don’t give a fuck about him,” I said, lying through my teeth. As mad as I was at him, I wasn’t going to throw him under the bus. “I never want to see him again. None of those guys. I told you I didn’t trust them. They have no business being in this house.”
“You want me to dispose of them?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Just fucking fire them. Rip up that damn contract, effective immediately. And if you ever try to feed me a fucking pill again, I’ll staple your dick to the wall and call the police on you. I can put up with a lot of shit, but when you put my brain at risk, I don’t fuck around.”
He rested his hands on my shoulders and looked back at me in the mirror with an apologetic smile.
“You almost blew my fucking cover,” I said, unpinching my nose for a second, hoping the blood was done flowing. “What if he would’ve ripped off my mask? In front of all those people?”
He grabbed my shoulders tighter, his eyes staring right into mine in the mirror, his grim smile slightly chilling. “You know, I was wondering the same thing myself. Why wouldn’t someone treating a facial injury go right for the mask?”
I gulped and his grip grew hard enough to send a chill down my spine. He was still skeptical. “Beats the hell out of me,” I said with a shrug. I placed my hand over his and squeezed it softly. “Now tell me, Kevin, in spite of all the chaos, are we going to need to move up a tax bracket after tonight?”
I raised my eyebrows and smiled.
“Hell no,” he said with a haughty laugh. “Everything we make off this is cash money, babe. We don’t need the IRS poking around now, do we?”
I smiled and nodded, knowing my voice recorder had been running this whole time. I might not have caught him on a murder charge, but at least he was stacking up other sizable charges in the meanwhile. That’s what he gets for pumping me with drugs.
“You promise me I don’t have to see the MC anymore?” I asked, a surge of confidence flowing through me. I might have lost control earlier, but I was back on top. I batted my eyelashes and pouted my lips.
“I promise, Sabine. No more bikers around here.”
“Good. And no more Athena?” I pleaded.
If I was in a position to ask for favors, I was going to bleed him fucking dry.
“I guess so. If it means that much to you.”
“Perfect. Now tell the girls Sabine took a private flight home to recover and get me some ice packs for my face.”
“You sure you don’t want to take some time away from the house? I can get you out of here for a week. Send you somewhere sunny to relax for a little bit.”
Just when things were starting to get good?
“I want to make sure Fawn
gets off alright. Maybe once we get paid we can all go on a nice long vacation together.”
He nodded. He stood in the doorway a little longer than I would’ve liked, watching me as I used make-up wipes to clean the blood from my face. I didn’t care. As far as I was concerned I had him wrapped around my finger. I wasn’t afraid anymore. Everything was falling into place. I’d make sure Fawn got off alright, and then I was out of here for good.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Law:
“Sorry chief,” Colt said, nodding to Kevin as he loomed in the doorway of the office. “Appears our boy Law here has a soft spot for the ladies.”
I could barely look at that slimy bastard. After the way he manhandled Sage in front of all those people, he was lucky he didn’t have two black eyes. Lucky he didn’t have a fractured skull. Lucky he wasn’t on life support. He was lucky I was trying to protect Sage’s cover as much as I was trying to protect her, otherwise, I’d be wearing a necklace made out of his teeth right now.
“Yeah, my bad,” I said with a grunt.
“His momma was a porn star. He gets PTSD when he sees em getting roughed up.”
I was fixing to add a few more teeth to that necklace. He knew my momma was a saint, and joking about PTSD in front of a guy who went to war wasn’t even kind of cool. I knew I had it coming, though. Everyone in the club agreed I was way out of line last night. I put us all in danger because of my own stupid issues.
I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant knowing she was alright.
“Is that so?” Kevin asked, raising his eyebrows. “Anybody I would know?”
Keep your fist in your pocket, son.
“Actually, I was coming back to talk to you, Law, is it?”
“Look man, I’m sorry,” I said. “Won’t happen again.”
“Honestly, Sabine was very thankful for your attention. She wanted me to pass the message along. We’d been drinking and there were some drugs involved, I will be the first to admit I wasn’t in my right mind. I appreciate you stepping in and keeping things from getting out of control.”
Colt slapped his hand over his mouth to try and hold back his chuckle.
“I wanted to see if you’d be willing to do me a favor. I have a woman who needs a ride to the Warren airport today. We need to keep it as discreet as possible.”
“I got shit to do today. I’m not a taxi driver,” I said. “Besides, don’t ya’ll have a private jet of your own?”
“It’s kind of complicated,” he said. “Sabine was actually the one who suggested you take her, though. I don’t know why, but the girls seem to really like you. Is there something I don’t know about?”
Why would Sage suggest that I take this girl to the airport? Was she trying to tell me something? Was this some part of the investigation. I hadn’t heard from her, even though I’d sent her a bunch of texts since last night basically groveling for her forgiveness, but maybe she was just trying to lay low. If she needed me, though, I’d do whatever she asked. No hesitation.
“Supposedly, his dick is the size of a soda can,” Colt said. “Supposedly. I never seen it. Just word on the street.” This fucking joker. I didn’t care if he was the president, when I got back from the airport I was going to take him out back and whoop his ass.
“You ever think about following in your mom’s footsteps?” Kevin asked. “I could probably put you to work as soon as we got some blood tests done.”
“We’ll talk about that later. What time does this girl need to be at the airport?”
“I have her in a car out front right now. Should be about a three hour drive? I’ll pay you a grand,” he said.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said with a shrug. How hard could it be? Get this broad to the bumblefuck airport in one piece, and hopefully by the time I got back, Sage would be waiting on my doorstep.
“You want me to ride along?” he asked.
The way Kevin was sneering made the hairs stand up on my arm. I was probably just still tense from last night. He was doing that same sneer when he walked her down the steps. The only comfort I had was knowing he’d never have that chance again.
“Nah,” I said. “I could use the peace and quiet.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Sage:
“I still haven’t got the rest of your transfer, Mr. Alundar.” I was standing outside of the doorway of Kevin’s office. The door was cracked slightly, so I didn’t feel like I was eavesdropping per say, but I stayed out of his line of sight on purpose. Whoever he was talking to, it sounded like he was pissed. “Yes, she’s on the way to the airport right now, but I can arrange to have that stopped. Do you know who you’re dealing with?”
I knew Fawn had left less than an hour ago, and saying goodbye to her was bittersweet. While I was glad she no longer had to live in this house and she was free to go live the life of her dreams, something wasn’t sitting right with me. She might be sitting on a pile of cash, but the amount of time she was going to have to spend in therapy to get over the trauma, even implied, that she went through was probably not worth it. It wasn’t my life though. Fawn was free now, and here I was chasing around something I couldn’t define anymore. I’d achieved my career goals. After this mission, I was going to need a long time to bounce back. Even harder to admit was the fact that I didn’t really want to bounce back. I had everything I was looking for in the form of a gorgeous man who I loved more than anything in the world less than a mile away. I was hoping I could have a moment with Kevin to put in my letter of resignation and then go straight over there to talk about our future together.
My hopes were being dashed by the conversation I was overhearing, though.
“You only sent me enough to transfer the distribution rights of the video to you. It was very clear in the contract. If you want the girl, I expect the rest of the money in the next two hours. No money, and her ass does not go on that plane.”
What the fuck was he talking about?
I tried to remember the few people Kevin introduced me to before I completely blacked out last night. Alundar, Alundar, I chanted over and over in my head. Yes, I cheered to myself, remembering the wrinkled face of a gentleman with an accent that sounded like South Carolina and old money.
“Like I assured you, if this deal goes smoothly, I will secure Sabine for you, whatever it takes.”
My blood ran cold. I pressed my body to the wall, knowing I definitely wasn’t meant to hear that. It was all starting to make sense in my mind. The CGI snuff films were just the tip of the iceberg. The company was getting away with making them because they weren’t distributing them, instead selling them to the kind of rich men who were at the party last night. Nothing was being traced back to Femme Fatales, because technically they never distributed the films from any of their servers. The disappearing women, well, apparently they were a part of the deal. I needed to call Omar, and I needed to do it now. If Fawn got on that plane, it might be too late for her.
I ran into the garage to see what vehicles were missing. Kevin’s convertible was parked, along with the black limo that took everyone around when we traveled together. The Black Range Rover was gone. I wondered who was in the driver’s seat.
“Omar,” I whispered into the phone. “I need you to pick up a Black Range Rover, license plate A7428. One known female, redhead, goes by Fawn Ferris, one unknown driver, heading to the Warren airport like via route 249. Suspected human trafficking.”
“Well that escalated quickly,” he said with that dry laugh I hadn’t heard in a long time. “Guess it was well worth the wait.”
“I’ll send everything I got over to you as soon as possible.”
“Get yourself somewhere safe before shit starts hitting the fan,” he warned.
“Agreed,” I said. As much as it would’ve been fun to stick around and see Kevin get exactly what he deserved, I’d have my day in court. For now, I needed to get somewhere safe. I needed to go notify the club what was going on and make sure everyone knew to steer c
lear. I needed to see Landon.
I had enough saving the world for now.
It was time for me to go let him grovel for my forgiveness a little bit before I started moving my stuff into his house. Our house. I’d accomplished exactly what I came here to do, and now it was time to go claim my prize.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Law:
“I really wasn’t supposed to tell you any of that, but you seem alright,” Fawn said. She had climbed from the backseat into the front seat within the first fifteen minutes of the drive. The young redhead was in for a rough road ahead if she couldn’t figure out how to keep her mouth shut. I hadn’t known her for more than a half hour and already she’d gone off about the filming of the fake snuff film, her payout, her NDA, and her ten year vacation overseas. I had a feeling this was going to blow up spectacularly in Kevin’s face at some point soon, but I didn’t realize how soon.
“I guess you could say that,” I muttered. It would’ve been easier if this chick would just shut the hell up and let me drive, but there was still that off chance that she had some information that she wasn’t telling Sage. I resisted my urge to turn up the radio and let her run at the mouth. I wouldn’t have known how to turn on the radio if I tried in this monstrosity of a vehicle anyway. I considered myself a pretty tech savvy guy but this Range Rover looked like some sort of alien spaceship dashboard on the inside.
“That was nice what you did for Sabine yesterday. The girls in the house are lucky to have somebody around that gives a shit about them. Kevin acts like he does, but we all know he’s just about the money. Guess I can’t be too mad about that. It’s the only reason why any of us are around too,” she said with a shrug. “Never thought I was going to end up being a porn star. I always wanted to be a figure skater. Or work at the carnival. Or maybe be a preschool teacher. I don’t know. Definitely didn’t see myself fucking on camera.”
