by Marie James
I make a plate of food and sit down beside Emmalyn. Her forehead is leaned forward on the table, and Kincaid is soothing her by rubbing big circles on her back. I look up at him, and he just shakes his head. I can tell he doesn’t like that’s she hurting, but the glint in his eyes says it’s worth it if she never does it again.
I chuckle lightly. If getting drunk and having fun the night before turns into mornings like this, consider me deterred.
“You need to eat something,” I hear Kincaid whisper in Emmalyn’s ear. A loud groan is her only answer.
He stands from the table and sets to making her some toast.
She rolls her forehead on the table and looks at me.
I scrunch my nose since she smells like a brewery. “You look miserable,” I say, apparently too loud when her hands sluggishly make to cover her ears.
“Last night was awesome,” she says softly.
“Looks like it,” I agree sarcastically looking around the room.
Even though the guys were pretty upset last night that the girls went out to watch strippers, not one woman in this kitchen is alone; every one of them is being cared for by at least one member.
Rose has the same expression on her face as the men, if not even a little smugger.
“Rose didn’t drink last night?” I ask.
She lets out the most unladylike snorting sound. “Rose drank every one of us under the table. How she’s perfectly fine this morning I have no idea.”
I look back over at Rose, and she just smirks and gives me a wink. It doesn’t surprise me that Rose can hold her liquor; she seems like a tough cookie to me. I guess being around all of these rowdy bikers all these years will teach you a few things.
“Here,” Kincaid says placing a plate of dry toast in from of Em. “Please eat something, baby. Trust me, if you have something in your stomach, you’ll feel better.”
Reluctantly, she brings a triangle of toast to her mouth and takes a small bite. Kincaid seems to calm beside her.
That kind of love is something every woman deserves. It’s the kind of love I never even imagined for myself. I didn’t allow it. It’s that type of love that turns on a dime and becomes irrational anger, uncontrollable rage. Love that deep is what took my parents away from me.
Jealousy and greed were never a part of the unorthodox relationship I had with Alec, and they never would be since there was only a friendship of the deepest kind. I know in my heart I could’ve married Alec and been happy living my days out with my best friend. His death has shattered my already pieced together heart.
Then Kid came along. I never knew what I was missing in any type of relationship until him. We haven’t had sex. Hell, his hands haven’t been on anything I’d consider even remotely sexual, but the connection I have to him is undeniable. These feelings, although they scare the living shit out of me, I can’t imagine what it would be like to not have found that.
I don’t know if what we have started is more than just a physical need for him, but for me… well, at this point I’m all in with him. He’s what I think about every second when I’m awake. He’s the very last thought each night before I go to bed and the first thought I have when I first wake up. Most nights he even infiltrates my dreams. Alec’s loss is less painful when he’s around.
Do I love Kid? I don’t know if it goes that deep right now, but I know the more time I spend with him, the more real my feelings are. And nothing terrifies me more.
“You want to hang out and watch TV while you recover?” I ask Emmalyn as she places her half eaten toast back on her plate.
She nods. “Perfect idea,” Kincaid says standing from the table and placing a soft kiss on her forehead. “I have some things to take care of this morning.”
Even sick, I can see the love in her eyes as she watches him walk out of the kitchen with Itchy.
“That one!” Emmalyn exclaims pointing at the TV screen ten minutes later.
We’re huddled under the covers in my bed getting ready to watch a movie. “Black Hawk Down?”
She nods enthusiastically. “Josh Hartnett is so sexy,” she says with her hands clutched to her heart.
“I don’t think a war movie with soldiers dying is going to be something I can handle right now.”
She gasps and apologizes quickly. I just nod my head in acceptance and move further on to the romantic comedy section.
“Friends with Benefits?” I ask.
“Perfect,” she whispers.
We watch the first couple of minutes of the movie in silence. I can tell she’s beating herself up at her movie recommendation, so I turn to her.
“Tell me about last night.”
“It was nothing like I ever thought it was going to be,” she begins. Her grin is from ear to ear, and I can tell she is beginning to feel better from her night of drinking.
“Were the strippers good looking?”
She laughs boisterously. “It was little people night!”
My brows knit together in confusion. “Little people?”
“You know,” she says. “Like the Lollipop Kids from the Wizard of Oz!”
I can’t even picture what that was like.
I listen intently with a smile on my face the whole time she’s talking about tiny poles and super short guys spraying each other with water. Maybe hanging out with girls isn’t such a bad idea after all. I want to fit in, doesn’t mean I have to get wasted and feel horrible the next day.
Em yawns and turns back to the TV after telling me about the drinks they had and how the other girls seemed hell bent on getting her drunk since she’d never been before. It doesn’t take long before I hear her soft breathing turn to light snores.
I hear a soft knock on the door, and I answer as quietly as I can, not wanting to disturb her.
“She fell asleep about fifteen minutes ago,” I whisper to Kincaid as he walks into my room.
“Pitiful,” he says with a smile on his face.
He reaches down and scoops her up from the bed. “Come on, Em,” he says when she grumbles at being jostled. “I got something that will make you feel better.”
He nods once before leaving, pulling the door closed with his boot.
***
It has been days since Kid left to go help that other guy. I miss him dearly. We text quite a bit, but it’s not the same as him holding me at night.
In his absence, Rose and Emmalyn have forced me out of the room to socialize. I’ve gotten to know several of the other girls a little more. Snapper is always there but never really interactive. She’s not rude or bitchy to me, but she seems to keep her distance.
Several more of the guys seem to have left. I haven’t seen Shadow and Itchy for a while, and some of the other guys have been absent as well. I have no clue where they are, and I know it’s none of my business, so I don’t even ask.
I’ve gone grocery shopping with Rose, and as much as I despise stepping foot in any type of store, I’m grateful for the distraction. I also feel a little useful, so I never turn down anyone asking for help. I’ve even started watering the plants we planted out front twice a day to attempt to keep them alive.
Emmalyn seems to have forgotten them in her quest to find a new hobby.
My greatest joy though is the hours Kid and I text back and forth. He says all he’s doing is watching some building, and it’s boring as hell, but he won’t give me any more information than that. I know he’s in Vegas, but that’s it.
We don’t text about the future, other than his request for me to sleep in his arms, with the promise, of course, to keep my hands to myself. We text about random things; TV shows, social media, and some of the people he’s seen while sitting and working.
It’s so easy to talk to him, almost natural, and I can’t wait for him to get back so we can do it face to face.
Chapter 26
BT and I realized very quickly that we just couldn’t grab Aviana from the SINdicate. They know about her living in Tampa since they grabbed her from her
apartment and hauled her back here. If we just take off with her, they will either track her down again, or she’ll have to run for the rest of her life.
BT decided he was going to do his best to somehow get within the organization. The idea sounds stupid as hell to me, especially without more backup, but this is his deal. I don’t know of one mob-like organization that will just allow some outsider to get inside. If they do, they aren’t as sophisticated as some of the other mobs I’ve seen.
BT made me swear that when the guys from the SINdicate came to get him that I’d let it happen. He thinks when they take him, he can somehow finagle a way into their organization. I honestly think he’s just crazy and know he may be facing certain death.
I got a rental car yesterday so we can keep an eye on both the entrance and the exit. This makes day two of just watching people come and go. They seem to always use the rear exit which is great, but we can’t take the chance of missing someone if they decide to take a different route.
The longer I sit and wait, the more concerned I am about BT going in to get his girl.
I tap my fingers on the steering wheel and bite the bullet. Two and a half rings and I’m connected to Shadow.
“What’s up, man?” he asks.
“Are you seriously just going to let this guy head into the SINdicate with no other eyes on the situation?” I hear Shadow pull the phone away from his ear and say something to another person in the room with him.
“You know we’d never do that,” he says eventually. “Snatch and Itchy are in Tampa right now trying to get whatever info they can gather. She was taken from in front of her apartment. Shittiest part of Tampa you could imagine.”
“Have they found anything?” If there is anything to be found, Snatch is the one who will locate it. He’s beyond the expert level at getting people to talk, disclosing information they didn’t even realize they knew.
“We know that the only branch of this organization is in Vegas. They tracked her dad there and took Aviana for collateral. We’ve just started looking into it, but we should know in a few days exactly what we’re facing.”
“BT is hell bent on getting inside. I think it’s the worst idea possible.”
“We need the intel. At this point, I don’t see another way. This is the fastest, and if her dad has had a limited time to repay the money, we may already be on borrowed time,” Shadow explains.
“He wants me to just let them take him when they come for him.”
“Then you let them. He can handle himself. He’s trained just like you and me.”
I laugh at that ridiculousness. “He was in the Army. He’s not a Marine.”
Shadow laughs at this. We’ve had this disagreement more than once. “I don’t know about you young ones. When will you give up on the notion that one branch is better than the other? I’ve met several very talented Army men.”
I’ve heard it all before. Am I an elitist? Probably.
“We’ll talk more later,” I tell him when I see that I have an incoming call from Khloe.
“I’ll let you know if we get any info worth sharing,” he says before disconnecting the call.
“Hey, Sweet Girl,” I say instead of hello.
“Hi,” she says breathily into the phone.
“What’s up?” I ask, still keeping my eyes on the front door.
“Nothing really, just wanted to hear your voice.”
I miss you, too, baby.
“What are you doing?” she asks softly.
“Sitting in the car, watching a door,” I tell her with no enthusiasm. I couldn’t muster any if I tried.
“Sounds boring,” she responds.
“It is. But it’s better now that I can talk to you.” I hear her sigh at my confession.
“I had a dream about you last night,” she says after a short silence.
My dick hardens, even without knowing what direction her dream went. I think she could tell me that I was hanging pictures on the wall, and I’d still get hard listening to her describe it.
Before she can get to describing the details of the dream, BT calls.
“Sweet Girl, I hate to not hear about your dream, but I have to go. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Bye, Kid.” She sounds disappointed, and I know I am also, but work is work.
“What’s up?” I ask answering BT’s call.
“I’m going to stay here, but there is a navy blue Tahoe heading out from back here with two guys in it. Think you can follow them and see where they go?”
“Sure thing. I’ll text you when they stop and let you know what’s going on.”
I disconnect the call and pull around until I’m a few car lengths away from the Tahoe. It’s not long before they pull over in an even seedier part of town. Both of the guys in the SUV get out and head down the alley. I drive down a block and turn around, parking my car on the opposite side of the street. I see them talking to some guy who’s dressed nicer than a bum even though he’s sitting on an old piece of cardboard in the dank alleyway.
I pull out my phone and hit record. I can’t help but wince when I see them kick the shit out of the dude and search his pockets. I’m not even certain the guy is breathing once they walk away and get back into their SUV. Knowing my cell phone can’t be traced, I call 911 and give them the location of the guy. If he dies, I have proof of who did him in. Clearly, these guys are much more violent that I’d originally expected. I don’t know why I thought any different. They did abduct a girl from halfway across the United States over a gambling debt. I’m even more uneasy with BT going in alone and blind. I pray Shadow gets some info, so we have a better understanding of what we’re dealing with.
***
“Vinnie!” I hear BT say into his phone after answering it.
We’re in this shitty hotel room for the second night, and I’m certain I have contracted scabies. I mean it’s not the worst place I’ve slept in, but it is ranked in at least the top ten nastiest places I’ve been forced to lay my head down. I know with this phone call, we are close to the culmination of the trip.
I don’t know what Shadow’s plan for me is after the SINdicate’s thugs make contact with BT, but I imagine I’ll stay on in Vegas and work to keep an eye on them.
BT continues his conversation, playing the ‘down on his luck’ asshole, but smiles from ear to ear when he hangs up the phone.
“Pretty sure this shit is going down tonight.” The look in his eye is nothing short of maniacal, and at this point, I’m seriously questioning his sanity.
“All of this for one girl?” I ask just to annoy him.
He narrows his eyes at me. “You saying you wouldn’t do the same thing for Khloe?”
I grin back at him. “I’d lay down my life for that girl.”
“So we’re on the same page then, huh?”
***
Even anticipating the storm of SINdicate thugs, the noise from the door getting kicked in is startling. I’m lying on the toddler sized bed staring up at the ceiling, waiting for the shit storm to arrive.
I jump up, fighting all of my training, and swing and miss the guy coming after me. I frown and let him wrap his arms around me while I pretend to struggle. I could snap this guy’s neck in a second flat if that were the game plan. Honestly, I’m having a hard time not doing just that, especially since he’s talking all kinds of shit in my ear.
“You fucking weak ass pussy. Can’t do shit can you? Your boy’s about to get his ass beat.”
I cringe when I see BT pull his leg back and kick the guy coming at him in the nuts. Even watching an enemy get kicked still makes me swallow roughly, knowing what that shit feels like demands the reaction.
“Let go of me,” I yell playing along. “Who the fuck are you?” I struggle a little more, but stop once I feel his arms almost release me. This guy is weak as hell, making this even harder to do. The look I give BT says I’m going to kick his ass for making me act like a pussy.
I smile when I see BT almost take
both of these guys down. Seems he can’t turn it off very well either.
“For fuck’s sake,” the guy holding me mutters.
I feel his grip loosen again, and I can tell he’s about to throw me to the side. I know once I land I have to pretend to be out for the count somehow, but what I didn’t anticipate is my feet getting tangled in his. I also didn’t calculate the distance from me to the bedside table. I see it as I’m falling to the ground.
The sound of my head cracking against it makes my stomach turn even before I feel the pain shatter through my head. I lose consciousness before I can even crumple to the floor.
Chapter 27
“He’s working,” Emmalyn says again.
I sigh, my frustration to the point I can’t even hide it any longer.
“I know. He’s been working all week, but we text constantly. I texted last night and again earlier today, and he still hasn’t responded.” I push my tongue to the roof of my mouth to keep the tears from falling. “He always responds.”
She pats me on the back like a mother would a child. I want to shrug her off, but I know she’s only trying to be supportive.
“Sometimes when Diego goes on a job, I don’t hear from him for a few days. I know it’s hard to just sit back and wait, but it’s what we have to do.”
I nod my head at her explanation. It doesn’t get rid of the sick feeling I have in my gut; the one that tells me something is wrong, beyond her explanation of this just being part of the job.
Kincaid comes to the table, kisses her on the head, and sits down beside her. I smile, having grown used to their level of affection. I pull my phone from my back pocket and call Kid again. It doesn’t even ring this time, going straight to voicemail.
I’m about to tell Kincaid my worries when he pulls his own phone from his pocket. Looking down at the screen he frowns, which I never see him do when he’s this close to Emmalyn. He stands from the table, gives me a quick look, and walks away.
