Wow, I’m a goddamn space cadet tonight, huh?
“She’s better,” he said, starting to pull beers for the guys. “Worried about Maria, scared about those fuckers finding both of them… but calmer, I think.”
“Yeah?” Mac said, going in to doctor mode. “She’s eating OK?”
“Yep. No problems there.”
“She talking to you? Or does she sit and stare in to space?”
“No, nothing like that. She’s OK mentally and she’s talking about everything openly.”
“Bad dreams? Insomnia?”
“Well, a bit. She has nightmares but not so bad that she wakes up. Thrashes around and then calms down again.”
Delighted that Aidan had fallen smack in to his trap, Mac pounced. “And how do you know that, man?”
Aidan paused. “She – she told me.”
“Huh.” Mac smirked. “How would she know that she’s thrashing around the bed? Hmmmm?”
Aidan poured another beer and kept his mouth shut. Sadly, he was doing so about ten seconds too late.
“You want to know what I think?” Mac announced.
“Not particularly,” Aidan muttered.
“Sure you do!” Mac said brightly. “I think that you and Gabi are in the same bed and that’s how you know about the bad dreams.” The grin damn near split his face in half as he glanced at Jax and King. “What do you guys think?”
“Well.” King seemed to think about it hard. “I think you might be on to something. Jax?”
“Ummm. Yeah, maybe.” Jax leaned on the bar casually. “That makes sense, if you think about it, right?”
They stared at Aidan now, watched as he silently slid the beers over to them, then stood with his hands in his jeans pockets.
“Yeah?” he asked. “You looking for me to actually respond to this?”
“Yes,” Mac said. “Most definitely.”
“Well, don’t hold your goddamn breath,” he said. “I ain’t telling you boys jack-shit.”
“Just as I thought,” Mac said. “You’re in the same bed.” He narrowed his eyes. “You’re together. You’re an item. A thing.”
“I never said that.”
“You never said anything. That’s how I know.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Sure it does.” Mac drank some beer. “The less a man says about a woman, the more he has to say and the less he wants to share it, so the more he stays quiet. It’s simple, really.”
Aidan sighed. “Again, that makes no sense.”
“Yeah, it does. Look at these two lovesick idiots.” Mac gestured at Jax and King who looked offended. “They told us exactly nothing about Sarah and Naomi, right? And they did that because they liked them just as much as they lusted after them.”
“That’s all true,” Jax said and King nodded.
“So… according to this theory, if I’d blathered on and on about fucking Gabriela, then I wouldn’t give a damn about her?”
“Basically? Yes.” Mac grinned. “So you are fucking Gabi, huh?”
Even though he knew exactly what Mac was doing, Aidan still reacted. “Watch it, Mac. Not one more fucking word about her, you hear me?”
“Uh-huh.” Mac nodded in satisfaction. “Just as I thought.”
“OK, OK, enough.” Jax finally decided to give the man a break. “It’s no surprise you know, Aidan. We’ve been waiting for you two to get together for ages. Years, really.”
Aidan silently washed some shot glasses, not looking at his friends.
“What?” Mac said to him innocently. “I went too far this time?”
Aidan dried the glasses, still not looking up. Mac gazed at him, starting to feel worried now and he exchanged looks with the other men.
“Aidan?” Mac set his beer down. “Hey, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to piss you off so much… you know me. Big mouth and no goddamn filter.”
Aidan put the shot glasses back behind the bar, started on some beer mugs.
“Aidan? What?” Mac looked genuinely concerned now. “What’s the matter? Is it Gabi? Is something wrong with her? Something you haven’t told us?”
“No.” Aidan finally looked up. “For the first time in a really long time, everything is exactly right.”
Mac relaxed. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“So – you guys are OK?” King said.
“Yeah. We’re good.” He thought about Gabriela waking up in his arms, all soft and warm in the summer sunrise. “We’re great, actually.”
**
“So why don’t you ask Tessa out?” Gabi said to Curtis. “If you’re so interested?”
Curtis shrugged his massive shoulders. “She’s got a boyfriend. I don’t mess with other guys’ women.”
Gabi harrumphed. “Who, that Kevin idiot?”
Curtis snapped to attention. “I know! He is an idiot, right? It’s not just me?”
“Nope, it’s not just you.” She took a sip of tea. “I don’t like him.”
“Yeah, me neither.” He paused. “Why don’t you like him?”
Gabi hesitated. What she’d seen and heard at Curves that one night a few months ago had been so incredibly upsetting, she’d talked to Tessa about it right away. She’d also promised to never tell anyone else what had happened and Gabi Torres didn’t break promises.
“I just think he doesn’t like her as she is,” Gabi hedged. “I think he’s the kind of asshole who’s always trying to… to change a woman. You know?”
“What?” Curtis stared at Gabi. “Change her how?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Gabi scrambled to think of something to satisfy him. “I just mean – there’s a certain kind of guy that never really accepts a woman for who she is. Her hair, her body, her clothes, whatever.”
“Yeah,” Curtis said slowly, still staring at her.
“And I just feel like Kevin’s that guy… the one who’s always criticizing and complaining.” She stopped talking now, feeling like even that much was far too much.
“You seen something, Gabi?” Curtis said quietly, his instincts on high-alert. “Heard something?”
She had, of course, but she’d also made that promise. She hated lying to Curtis’ face, but she was going to.
“No.” She looked down, not able to meet that hard, blue gaze any longer. “No, it’s all just speculation.”
Curtis nodded, not believing a word of it. Gabi definitely knew something about Tessa and Kevin and she’d almost definitely seen something. Curtis took a deep breath and resolved to keep a better eye on Tessa from now on. If this fucker her boyfriend was hurting her in some way – and Curtis knew damn good and well that sometimes the deepest hurts had nothing to do with fists or blood or physical violence – then he was going to deal with it. Somehow.
He glanced at the clock. “It’s getting late. You want to try to get some sleep?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Gabi stretched a bit. “I’ll take a shower and crawl in to bed. You don’t mind staying out here alone?”
He waved his hand. “Nah. That’s what bodyguard duty is, in the end. Lots of time alone, just watching.”
“I suppose so.” She smiled at him. “You’ve done this before, huh?”
“Oh, yeah. I know the lay of the land, believe me. Nothing new going on here.”
She nodded. “You need anything else before I turn in?”
“Nothing, Gabi. You go do what you need to, just relax. I got this.” He smiled at her, reassuring and calm. “We all got this.”
Chapter Nine
Two days later
King put on his jacket, watching Naomi carefully. She looked shaken and he was upset that he’d upset her.
“Is Mirrie on her way?” he asked softly.
“Yes.” Naomi tried to smile. “Three minutes, s
he said.”
“OK.” He hesitated. “I’m sorry.”
“No, babe, it’s fine.” She sighed a bit. “This is exactly what I asked you to promise me, remember. I want to know when you’re heading in to dangerous situations and I want you to be honest with me about that. I trust you to tell me the truth, you trust me to handle it. Right?”
King nodded. “I’m glad you called Mirrie.”
“Well, that was also part of the deal, right? If it’s too much, I ask for help. So, I asked.”
The buzzer went then and King pressed it to let Mirrie in. He felt an enormous wave of relief pass over him knowing that she was there for Naomi. He was totally sure that Naomi wouldn’t drink if she were here alone, but he was sure that she’d be all tied up in knots and anxious. It was precisely that sort of headspace that was a gateway for alcohol to re-enter her life: when she was afraid and alone, she was vulnerable in her alcoholism and they both knew it.
There was a knock now and King opened the door and grinned down at Mirrie. She winked at him, all sass and clashing clothes and bright-purple eye-makeup and he relaxed right away.
“Hey, handsome,” she greeted him. “I hear you’re off to do something stupid and dangerous. Again.”
“You know me, hon.” He gave her a quick hug. “Can’t stay out of trouble.”
“Uh-huh.” She shook her dyed-pink head at him. “Life on the edge of a cliff, yeah?”
“Not a cliff edge today… more of a first-floor window sill.”
Naomi laughed now and he smiled back, happy to hear it.
“OK, baby?” he said.
“Yeah. Better.” She crossed the room and he hugged her. “I love you. Be careful.”
“I will and I love you too.” He kissed her gently. “I’ll call after Jax and I leave the clubhouse, alright? I promise.”
He looked at Mirrie for a few seconds, wondering how she must be feeling about what was about to go down. Miranda Kane was Donovan’s sister… and she had no idea that King had figured this out about her. She went by the name Miranda Campbell now – had all the I.D. to support it, paid her taxes under that name, had a social security number and everything – and as far as he knew, Naomi was just about the only person she’d opened up to about her past. Not that Naomi had told him anything much or specific: she respected Mirrie’s anonymity as fiercely as Mirrie protected hers.
Since uncovering that tidbit about Mirrie by accident, King had done a bit of digging, though. If his girlfriend was going to be in such close contact with Donovan Kane’s sister, he wanted to be sure that both women were safe. He’d found out that Mirrie had been raised in the Fallen Angels clubhouse scene – her druggie Dad was still a member and her Mom had been a hooker hellion who'd gotten knocked up – and for most of her life, she’d probably thought of the MC as her family. A dysfunctional, dangerous one, no fucking doubt about that, but still family. The only one she’d ever had.
When she’d resolved to get sober over four years earlier, Mirrie had somehow managed to walk away from the Fallen Angels, from her parents, from her brother. All of that made her hands-down one of the bravest people King had ever known. She'd had no contact with any of them since and she never even spoke about that life, as far as King knew. But she still had to have some feelings about him and Jax going to the clubhouse to negotiate Gabi’s safety. Her brother and her former family members were involved in yet another murder and yet more violence… that had to hurt her on some level.
Her face was calm, though, her eyes untroubled, but then again, she never gave much away about how she was feeling. That made her an amazing AA sponsor for Naomi: Mirrie’s firm and steady attitude to sobriety had made her Naomi’s rock in tough times. King thought the world of Mirrie, thought she was truly awesome. He hoped that she was OK with where he was going and what he was doing – and he kind of wished that he could ask how she was doing, just get a glimpse behind the mask.
He headed down to the parking garage now, his focus totally on what he had to do next. Even though a few of his team members were back from their out-of-state ops, King and Jax had decided to meet Trigger and Ace alone. This may turn out to be a stupid move if things went to hell, but his gut told him it was the better approach. After all, everyone’s cards were on the table, more or less, so it wasn’t like King needed to go for intimidating to get information. Not at the moment.
No, today’s meeting was to see if they could find any common ground. Warren Kane was being held at one of the King’s Men safe houses and he was under the baleful eye of Honey – one of King’s best operatives. Warren had spent quite a few hours in the safe house interrogation room, alone and sweating, but after almost three days of questions and being leaned on, King was totally convinced that the kid knew nothing.
King pulled up outside the gate of Jax’s house and it slid open right away. He drove in, parked under the covered area outside. He stepped out, looked around, sighed. Maybe he should buy a big house up in the Rockies like this one. He had the money, God knows, and he was surprised how much he liked the peace and quiet. He’d always thought he was a city boy, but these days, he wasn’t so sure about that.
“Hey, King.”
He looked up at the raised patio. Sarah Matthews was sitting there, her curls blazing red in the summer sun. She was wearing jean shorts and a t-shirt and she looked tanned and healthy. Her laptop was on the table in front of her and she had a stack of papers and books piled up next to it.
“How you doing, girl?” he drawled at her. “Good?”
“Yeah, good.” She stood up and came over to greet him, then gestured at the computer. “I’m working on a small project. My first job in about nine months.”
“Well, congrats.” King gave her a kiss on the cheek. “What’s the project?”
“Oh, nothing too taxing or exciting. Just a few print ads for a new hotel in Denver.”
He grinned down at her, knowing full well that her casual ‘I-don’t-really-care’ attitude was all bullshit. After her ex had beaten her in to a coma, Sarah had lost huge chunks of her memory – including her design skills. She’d been befuddled and confused by the software, had no memory how to even begin to design an ad or website. She’d had to relearn so much but she was a damn strong woman and she’d come through.
“Sounds great,” King said gently. “Feels good to be working again?”
“Oh, God, yes.” Sarah’s blue eyes sparkled. “I know most people are dying for a vacation, but I’m kinda done with being lazy and doing nothing much.”
“You haven’t been lazy or doing nothing much, hon,” he reminded her. “You’ve been healing. You’ve worked harder than anyone I’ve ever known. You’ve been amazing, Sarah, and don’t you ever downplay what you’ve done over the past nine months. Not with me, not with yourself. OK?”
She was taken aback. “Uh. OK.”
“Yeah, you tell her, man.” Jax emerged from the kitchen and grinned. “I swear, the woman acts like she’s been sitting on a beach drinking Cosmos for the past fucking year instead of fighting to get her whole damn life back.”
Sarah blushed. “Alright, alright… point taken.”
“I hope so.” Jax gave her a kiss. “You going to be OK here on your own until Annie and Noah arrive, doll?”
“Yeah. They’ll be here in an hour and I’ve promised to teach Noah how to swim and that’s one hell of a good distraction.” She bit her full lip, trying to keep her worry in check. “But you’ll call right after?”
“Yeah. I promise.”
She nodded. “Be careful, Jax. Come back to me, yeah?”
“I will.” He kissed her again. “I’ll always come back to you, Red.”
**
King pulled the SUV up in front of the Fallen Angels clubhouse slowly, taking the time to look around. The parking lot was semi-full and he saw guys standing around and smoking. They were all wear
ing their club cuts and he made eye contact with all of them, making sure they looked away first. He knew every one of these fuckers' names and he mentally ran through the list of members, taking note of who was still unaccounted for.
“Ready?” Jax’s voice was gruff.
“Hell, yeah.” King opened the door and stepped out. “Let’s go.”
They walked up to the clubhouse and King’s hard eyes narrowed as he took in the security cameras over the front door. OK, that was new and it was puzzling. Why the hell would the secretive-to-the-point-of-paranoia Trigger suddenly start recording everyone’s comings and goings? That didn’t jive with his usual sneaky MO and King had alarm bells going off already.
Christ, the red flags are going up all over the goddamn place and we aren’t even inside yet.
They stepped in to the clubhouse and were immediately smashed in the face with the eardrum-splitting music and the fug of cigarette smoke. They paused, let their eyes adjust to the gloom of the massive room.
“You’re here.”
They turned to the huge, wrap-around bar to their left, already alert. Trigger, Ace and Kane were all standing there with beers in front of them and stares of death on their faces. Jax and King matched their expressions and everyone just stood and glared at each other for a few seconds.
“Yeah, we’re here. Right on time,” King said at last. “Where are we doing this?”
Trigger jerked his head. “This way.”
King gave one last look around, took in the men sitting around with naked women gyrating on their laps or kneeling in front of them giving them blow jobs. His lips curled up in disgust and he fought the urge to roll his eyes at it all. Nothing about this kind of free and easy sex interested King in the slightest – he’d never understood the need some guys seemed to have for an audience as they got off.
Jax met his eye, knowing what he was thinking. Jax had been by far the biggest man-whore at Curves for a long time, but even he drew the line at having his dick out in front of other guys. He shrugged a bit, turned his back on the cocks now throbbing and spurting in the women’s eager little mouths, followed Trigger and Ace down the hall. Kane brought up the rear and King listened to every breath the man took behind him, his senses tingling.
Killer Curves (Dangerous Curves Book 3) Page 13
