by Nicola Jane
Cree
I look down at Eva, pressed face down and bent over the couch. Fuck, I didn’t mean to do that. Watching her with that geek made me crazy, and when she walked in all pissed and shit, I lost my head. I had to mark her as mine. I pull away from her, wincing, and head straight upstairs to the bathroom to clean up.
I spend way too long in the bathroom hiding out. I’m being a pussy, but I can’t face questions of what happens between us next. I text Chains and ask him to call me in exactly five minutes and say I’m needed urgently at the club. It’s a shit move, but I need an excuse to get the fuck outta here so I can get my head straight.
I find Eva in the kitchen washing dishes. I stand awkwardly in the doorway. She glances over and then goes back to washing up. “You okay?” I eventually ask.
She nods her head. “You’d better get out of here,” she says quietly.
“I had?” I ask, hardly believing my luck. No chat, no dissection of feelings, or going over what happened?
Eva dries her hands and turns to me. “Yeah. What just happened can’t happen again. I’m really sorry, Cree. I should never have let it happen in the first place.”
I stare at her with my mouth half-open in shock. She’s actually blowing me off. “Let me get this straight. You want me to leave? You regret what just happened?”
“I don’t want it to be awkward between us. Let’s just stay out of each other’s way from now on.” She turns back to the sink and continues with the washing up. My cell rings, bringing me from my frozen state. I press it to my ear.
“Hey, man, Pres needs you back at the club now,” Chains lies just like I asked him to.
“Forget it. I’m busy,” I mutter, disconnecting the call. “You regret it!” I repeat. “Why?”
Eva takes a deep breath and releases it slowly. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m done with this conversation. I’d really like you to leave now.”
“Are you fucking shitting me!” I suddenly yell. She jumps slightly. “You’d rather fuck that geeky piece of shit than me?”
“Cree,” she starts, then sighs. “It’s not a competition but if I’m honest . . . ” She shrugs her shoulders. “Yeah.” My eyes almost bug out of my head. “He’s kind,” she continues. “And thoughtful. He doesn’t boss me around.”
“Because he’s a pussy,” I mumble.
“Because he likes me,” she counters.
“I never said I didn’t like you,” I argue and she scoffs.
“You can’t even stand me to touch you, Cree.”
I shuffle uncomfortably. “I can’t stand anyone to touch me,” I confess. Sadness fills her eyes, and maybe a touch of pity.
“Is that why you turned me away from you just then?” she asks, pointing to the living room, where we’ve just had sex. I keep my eyes fixed to the ground. I want to talk to her. I want to say why I hate being touched and why I can’t take her for myself even though I want to, but the words are clogged in my throat.
“I have to go. That was Chains. He said Pres needs me at the club.”
She doesn’t believe me, I see it in her eyes. Instead of calling me out, she nods and smiles. “Well, as long as we’re clear, Cree,” she says, and I look at her for an explanation. “Let’s stay out of each other’s way from now on. No more turning up here. No more bringing me lunch. You got it out of your system, leave it there.”
“Got what out of my system?” I snap.
“Me,” she says simply. “I want you to leave now.” She keeps her back to me, and after a few seconds of silence, I turn and leave.
When I get back to the club, Riggs is pissed. He glares at me. “Where the fuck have you been?”
“Why?” I ask.
“Because you’re my fuckin’ VP and you went off radar. I told you about Callum Myles and then you disappear. I bet my ass you weren’t looking into that for me though.”
I shake my head. “I was with Eva,” I say.
“Right, well, now you’re back, let’s call church and discuss some real shit.” He stomps into the large room we use for church and I whistle to the brothers who are standing around idly.
We file into the room one by one and take our seats. “The mayor is worried. There’s kids being trafficked in and out of London right under our noses and we knew nothing about it. He’s given me some names. We need to stick to these guys and watch what the hell is going on.” He throws a piece of paper on the table and Callum is the first name on the list.
“I can watch Callum Myles,” I say.
“You sure about that, VP?” snaps Riggs. “I wouldn’t want to keep you from the pussy you’re chasing.”
A few of the brothers whistle, but I feel Lake’s eyes boring into me. I stare back. “You got a problem, brother?” I spit out. He shakes his head. “That’s what I thought,” I add.
“Cree will watch Myles. Lake, you take the second name. Chains, the third, and Blade, the fourth. Spend the week on them and then we’ll meet back up and compare movements. I know this is gonna be hard, but you see them with a kid, you call it in. No heroics. We don’t know what we’re dealing with and the mayor just wants intel.”
“Can’t the boys in blue do this?” asks Blade.
“The fourth man on the list is a cop, Blade. We don’t know how deep this goes.”
Riggs dismisses us and the brothers leave the room. “Not you,” he says to me, so I sit back down while we wait for the room to clear out. “You sure you’re in the right headspace to deal with this?”
“Of course, I am,” I snap. “She’s outta my system now.”
He arches a brow. “You fucked her?”
I nod. “And then she practically kicked me out of there.”
Riggs laughs. “She what?”
I nod. “Told me to stay outta her way and she’d do the same. Can you believe that?”
“Man, I know you. If you wanted her, really wanted her, there ain’t no way you’d have left just because she told you to.”
“Fuck women,” I mutter as I stand. “I’m done. It’s why I don’t get involved. Too complicated.”
That night, I lay in bed wide awake. I’m not sure why I’m so pissed at Eva. I didn’t want it to go anywhere and she made it easy. That’s a good thing. But I can’t get her outta my head.
Chapter Seven
Eva
By Friday lunchtime, my mood is not good. I know I told Cree to stay away, but now that he actually is, I’m pissed. How dare he fuck me like a club whore and then walk out like it was nothing? “Kyle, let’s get drunk tonight,” I sigh.
“You know you don’t have to ask me twice, baby girl.”
Next, I send off a text message to Anna. She asks if she can bring Leia. The more the merrier as far as I’m concerned.
Michelle saunters out of her office followed by her husband. I haven’t seen him since I kneed him in the balls, but it did the trick because he didn’t even look in my direction when he arrived ten minutes ago to collect Michelle. “Eva, the contracts you emailed over for me to sign are littered with mistakes,” she sneers. I checked and double-checked because I know I’m not on the ball just lately. “It’s like you’re trying to lose my important clients.”
“I’ll take another look, but I checked them over before I sent them.”
“Clearly not well enough,” Callum cuts in coldly. “You’re lucky my wife is so forgiving. I’ve fired staff for less,” he sneers.
“I apologise, Michelle. I’ll start going over them again.”
“And you can forget your early finish. Friday is still a workday, especially when you have so much to do,” she says. “Kyle, I’m out of the office for the rest of the day. Make sure she keeps my diary clear,” she adds as they leave. Callum throws a cold glare over his shoulder.
“Fuck,” mutters Kyle. “Do you think she knows about the whole knee to balls incident?”
“If she does, then I want to be the one to explain why the hell I did it. He totally hit on me.”
“Some w
omen don’t mind that. Oh my god, what if she goes to the sex club? What if they’re swingers!” says Kyle, and I screw my face up in distaste.
“Then she really can’t behave like this just because I turned them down. There are laws in place for shit like that,” I huff.
“Send me a couple of the contracts and I’ll help. I want an early finish if we’re out partying tonight.” I smile gratefully. ”Do you think her boyfriend dumped her? Maybe the lack of extra sex is sending her into bitch mode,” adds Kyle.
Thinking about Cree and Michelle makes me shudder. Why did I let him have sex with me after what I saw him doing to her?
It takes us the rest of the afternoon to go over the contracts. I found one spelling error out of all five contracts, so they were hardly littered with mistakes. I’m wound up, to say the least, when I send them back over to her knowing she’s clearly targeting me for whatever reason. The trouble is, I don’t know if that reason is because of Callum or because Cree’s told her about us.
Anna managed to convince Riggs to let her go further afield, and so tonight, we’re hitting up central London. “This beats Queen’s Road’s bars,” smiles Leia.
“I’m shocked you convinced Riggs to let you both leave Queen’s Road,” I say.
“Um, I’m pretty sure he’ll have someone keeping an eye on us from a distance,” says Leia, and Anna nods in agreement.
The wine bar is bright and full of optics that give it an upmarket feel. The furniture is white shiny plastic and the bar is made of white marble. The first round of drinks costs enough for me to suck in a shocked breath, but luckily, I have my credit card because I have every intention of forgetting this week in a cloud of alcohol.
We stand around a tall table because this kind of place doesn’t have many normal size tables with chairs. I fill Anna and Leia in briefly about my week from hell with Michelle. “She sounds like a complete bitch!” says Leia.
“She’s a dragon,” Kyle chimes in. “She swans around with her nose in the air and her bouncy blond hair perfectly styled. Her husband is a complete ass. You know just by looking at him that he’s a cheat and a liar.”
“It doesn’t excuse the way she’s behaving with you, Eva. Have you told Cree?”
I glare at her, having not told Kyle about Cree. His eyes burn into me. “What am I missing?”
I groan. “The guy that Michelle is seeing is Cree.”
“Cree that you slept with!” he screeches, and then Anna and Leia stare at me in shock.
“Okay, so maybe I’ve not divulged everything about my week,” I mutter. “This is what happens when you move, Anna. I don’t have anywhere to go at night and offload.”
“I’m a fifteen-minute walk away,” she laughs. “Now, spill the juice.”
I go over the Sunday I spent with Cree and his insistence at spending the day with me. I tell them about his odd behaviour and his hot and cold moods. “And then I went on a date with Chris,” I say. “Because I thought, why the hell am I letting Cree rule my life. He doesn’t really want me in that way, so I had dinner with Chris.”
“And Cree knew?” says Leia. I nod. “I’m shocked Chris is still walking. I’ve seen how crazy Cree can be,” she adds.
“Cree broke into my house. He was there when I got home and I was yelling at him and then he . . . ” I trail off and bite my lip.
Anna gasps. “He hate fucked you?”
“What the hell is that?” asks Leia.
“Mad sex, like they don’t really want to, but emotion is running high and they give in to the urge,” explains Anna.
“Well, then yes, I was hate fucked. It was terrible,” I groan. “There was no emotion or anything nice actually. It was just sex. Hard and cold and . . . ” I shudder. “Then he hid in the bathroom for ages. Like if that doesn’t scream regret, then I don’t know what does.”
“Oh god,” groans Anna, taking my hand. “It sounds awful. What did he say when he came out?”
“I didn’t give him a chance to say anything. I told him that he should go and that what happened was a mistake. I told him that I liked Chris because he was kind and made me laugh. I asked him to leave me alone.”
“Shit,” mutters Leia. “No wonder he’s been in a shitty mood all week,” she adds, and Anna nods in agreement. “He’s been awful to everyone.” This news makes me feel somewhat better. Maybe he feels bad for the way he was with me, if Cree’s even capable of feeling anything.
“I thought he liked you,” says Anna. “He was always staring at you and growling at any man who came near you. Surely, that wasn’t all for sex?”
“Looks that way.” I shrug. “He had his fill and that was that. Maybe his mood is down to Michelle seeing as she’s been just as shitty this week. All in all, it’s been a crap week. I’m going to drink, fall over, kiss my Prince Charming, and then fall into my empty bed, sad and lonely.”
Kyle holds his glass up and we all do the same. “Cheers to broken hearts, easy lays, and alcohol.” We laugh and clink glasses.
We dance the night away and I lose count of the number of cocktails we drink. Kyle spins me around on the dancefloor and I hit into a hard chest. Looking up into the face of a tall, dark, and handsome guy, I plant my lips on his without a second thought. That’s what tonight is all about after all. Kyle high fives me. “Hate to break the mood, chica, but our dragon boss is in the VIP area over there.” I glance over and see Michelle with another woman, drinking champagne.
“Not even she can ruin my mood tonight,” I spit.
“Not even with that hot guy on her arm?” he asks and I glance back over.
“Cree,” I mutter. He’s lost the leather kutte he always wears, and in its place, he wears a white button-down shirt that strains across his ripped chest. The sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, showing off his tattoos. The jeans he wears cling to him in all the right places. He looks hot.
“That’s Cree? Wow,” murmurs Kyle.
“He must be acting as security for her this evening. He doesn’t usually dress like that,” I say. As if sensing me watching, his eyes hit my own and I panic and drop, crouching amongst the crowd.
Kyle laughs. “What the fuck are you doing, Eva?” he mutters, trying not to move his lips.
“I didn’t want him to see me,” I hiss.
“I think you were too late on the slut drop. He definitely saw you,” he smirks. “And now, I look like I’m talking to myself. I feel like I should wave to him,” he says.
“Don’t wave,” I screech. “Don’t fucking wave!”
“I’m waving.” He grins, holding up his hand and waving. He suddenly lowers to the ground too. “Oh fuck, Michelle saw me.” he giggles and I roll my eyes.
“Crawl that way,” I growl, pointing past him. “The floor is sticky.”
Cree
It’s been a week since I saw Eva last, and now, she’s here in the same damn nightclub as Michelle and Callum. I did what she wanted—I stayed away. I haven’t even checked in on her at night. And then out of the blue, she sent me my shirt back, freshly washed and ironed. It pissed me off.
“I’ll be right back,” I say to Michelle and she nods, continuing her chat with her friend. The VIP area has its own security anyway, and Callum brought two other men.
I head in the direction of the exit. If I know Eva, she’ll want to get out of here. I spot her and Anna with their arms linked, flagging a cab. She looks back over her shoulder and we lock eyes briefly before Anna pulls her into a waiting cab, joined by Leia and Eva’s work friend.
I feel a hand on my arm, so I spin around to find Michelle smiling up at me. “I didn’t know if it was code,” she says and winks. “So, I followed you out here.”
I shake my head and go back inside, but I feel her behind me. The last thing I need is more complications. I’ve tried to avoid talking to her all evening, and I’ve ignored her calls and texts. The only reason I’m here tonight is because Callum hired me again.
I follow Callum’s car to his home address
and wait until they are safely inside before turning my bike around and heading back to the clubhouse. I need sleep. It’s been a long week of observations on Callum and I’m bone tired.
I stop my bike outside and groan when I hear the music pumping out. The club is busy and that’s not what I need right now.
Riggs shakes my hand when I sit by him at the bar. “You ready for church tomorrow?” he asks.
I nod and take his bottle of Jack. “Ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s hope we get something from everyone’s intel. I saw Anna out tonight,” I add.
He points his thumb over his shoulder. “Yeah, she’s home and in a party mood,” he mutters.
I laugh and stare to where he pointed. “With Eva?” I hiss. “Why’s she here?”
“You wanna go and ask Anna that?” he asks, raising his brow. He’s right—I don’t wanna set Anna off.
“She told me to stay away from her and then she turns up here,” I mutter.
“That’s women, brother, it’s just women,” he says. “And I don’t want to stir shit up, but she’s trying her damn best to get Lake to notice her.” I clench my fists and Riggs shakes his head. “It’s not Lake’s fault, so don’t go taking shit out on him. He’s tried to ignore her, but she’s making it damn difficult in that way that women do when they’re dressed all hot like that. The man needs a medal for ignoring her the way he is.”
I take the bottle of Jack and sit at my usual table so I can keep an eye on things. Eva spots me and rolls her eyes. That move right there makes me want to fuck her senseless. Lake glances at me nervously. “Don’t worry, brother. I know her game,” I mutter and he relaxes slightly.
Eva dances with her work colleague. Occasionally, she stares at Lake seductively, but he doesn’t respond. Eventually, she flops down next to Lake and smiles at him. “Come on, Lake. I can’t make it any clearer.”
