I grit my teeth together, his bringing Felix into this is not working for me. Also, I’d be lying if his comment didn’t hit its mark, because that is a thought that has crossed my mind before.
Would his dad have ever approved of me?
His dad’s not here though. “Felix has nothing to do with this. You wanted me to be your personal little weapon, and I know you’d never ask that of him.”
“It’s called doing your job,” he fires back, clutching the gun harder. “It’s bringing down criminals, which is what you’re meant to be doing. If those criminals are your friends, perhaps you need to reassess your views. You could never be a good policewoman because you don’t see that, and that is why we usually block anyone who has any ties to people like that. I took a chance with you, and this is what I got in return.”
“You never gave me a real chance, you brought me here to use me and that’s it. Don’t act like some hero,” I reply, scowling. “And don’t act like you didn’t just commit a crime and become like me, or so you say. You are no better than me, or my family, so get off your high horse, Jones.”
So much for not provoking him.
Fuck.
You can’t fight with stupid. There’s nothing left to say here; I just need to get out.
“I still have my badge,” he says calmly. “And with or without one, I’m still a good man. Without yours, you’re just another criminal fucking up this city.”
Stepping closer, he brings the gun and holds it against my temple, standing close to me.
Mistake.
With a swift move I lift my hands up, knock the gun to the floor, and stand, head-butting him with all my might, then land in a few punches. When he goes down I slide onto the floor, my feet still tied, shuffling to the other side of the room. With my eyes on him, I untie my feet, then stand and pick up the gun, pointing it back at him.
“Sorry, what were you saying?” I ask him, feeling angry, and yeah, a little damn smug.
“You can’t kill an officer. You’ll be spending the rest of your life behind bars,” he states, huffing. I don’t miss the look of fear in his eyes though, and with how he sees me, I don’t blame him. He thinks I’m a criminal who has no morals or heart, and maybe he’s right in some aspects. I’m not a bad person though, and I know this. However, if you back me into a corner, I’m not going to sit there and take that. I’m a fighter, and yeah, I have been brought up differently than most people. I know that there are certain things I can get away with, and I know that I have connections that can help me in and out of pretty much any situation. Even with all of that, I’m not a bully, nor have I ever been, and I haven’t hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it.
I’m not who he thinks I am.
And I am more than worthy of Felix.
“That’s if they catch me,” I reply, smirking. I pat myself down, wondering what the bastard did with my phone.
“I threw it away. Knew they’d try to track you on it,” he admits, staring at the gun in my fingers. “You should just put that down, we know you aren’t going to use it. Agree to my terms and walk away. We’re in the city, so it will be easy for you to get home, and we can pretend none of this ever happened. I’ll be waiting for you to tell me when you get invited to the Cursed Ravens MC, and then we will go from there. You agree to this deal, and I’ll make sure the Wind Dragons are left alone. How about that? I’m sure that must entice you.”
Anything to protect my family entices me, but not by betraying someone else. I also would never make a deal with this man; he’s a liar and as corrupt as they come. I don’t want to have anything to do with him. The thought makes my finger move, up and down on the trigger, not enough to pull it, but enough that he can see I’m considering it.
“Don’t make a stupid decision, Clover. Unless you want to end up like some of your MC members.” He sneers, standing up with his arms out. “Put the gun down, now.”
Fuck.
I feel like if I walk out of here, he’ll think he’s won. He won’t leave me alone and will have some kind of vendetta against me. I can see it in his eyes. But what’s the alternative? I can’t kill him. I mean, I could, but he’s right, I’d likely end up in prison, and that’s not where I want to be right now, or ever.
My fingers start to shake. He did this, he brought me here and threatened me, and now I have to back away? I’ve never understood how the MC got into so much trouble over the years, but now I’m beginning to see.
What am I going to do?
My head snaps to the right when I hear a bang. Oh fuck, who else does he have here?
“Who is that?” I demand of Jones. “Tell me.”
“I don’t know,” he replies, looking as confused as me. He presses himself back against the wall, which lets me know he really doesn’t, or he would be putting himself in a place where he doesn’t have to guard his back.
“Clover?” I hear Felix yell, and the relief I feel is immediate.
“In here!” I yell back, making sure the gun is still on Jones in case he tries anything else.
The door slams open and he rushes in, taking in the scene. “Thank God you’re okay,” he tells me, taking the gun from me and pulling me into his arms.
“How did you find me?” I ask him.
“I’ll explain later,” he says, looking toward Jones. “You’re a disgrace to the police force. How dare you take her?” He pulls out his phone and makes a call to the police, giving the address we’re at.
“Why are you calling them? They’re just going to let him go, or blame it all on me,” I tell him, starting to panic a little.
“Not if I have evidence,” he replies, hanging up and pointing the gun back at Jones. “He thought he damaged all the surveillance cameras, but he missed one, and we saw the whole thing. He used the spare key he saw Vinnie use, because he’d been watching the house, saw his moment, then broke in and kidnapped you. He can’t talk his way out of this one, because it’s all there. And they’re really cracking down on dirty cops at the moment, so they’re going to have a field day with this one.”
“Your father wouldn’t want you to do this to me,” he says to Felix. “He would have protected me. I was a close friend of his. She has blinded you, Felix, she’s turning you into one of them. Don’t act like they don’t do things like this every day and get away with it. You’re associating yourself with criminals. Is that what you want to be known as? Your career in law enforcement is going to last almost as long as hers did, is that what you want? To give up your dreams for this woman?”
He’s really laying it on thick there. I’d hate to think that because of Felix’s ties to me, and now the MC, he could ever lose his job. Could it affect his career? I’d never, ever want that, I’m not that selfish, and it would kill me.
“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say,” Felix replies, staying strong. “My father was an honest man, and he’d have never done or approved of what you have done here today. He wouldn’t stoop to that level, and he would have looked down on you. He always did what was right. He would have loved Clover, because he always supported me, and he would have seen how happy she makes me. None of this is your business. You started this by trying to mold Clover into your own weapon, and by being manipulative and resorting to kidnapping and blackmail. I have no respect for you, and I know my dad wouldn’t either.”
His speech leaves me breathless.
He has my back, always.
I’m not a woman who has ever needed to be saved before all of this, but he saved me.
Again.
Because if I’m being honest, a little more time here and I’m not sure which decision I would have made.
And that terrifies me.
TWENTY
THE police arrive and arrest one of their own.
Except in this case, it was the wrong one.
When the officers who arrive know Jones, and not Felix, they listen to what Jones says when they tell him he is a dirty cop. They handcuff Felix and put him in the car
for questioning, and I see red. What’s worse is Jones stands next to me during the whole thing, then he has the nerve to say to me, “You know, I’m surprised Felix is involved with someone who grew up with bikers. Even if it wasn’t a biker who killed his father.”
He walks off before I can ask more.
With Felix’s phone in my hand and Jones’s words in my head, I call Mom, who is frantic. She arrives within ten minutes and intimidates the shit out of the officers to get them to release Felix.
“I’m going to make sure they don’t try to sweep this under the rug,” Mom promises, pacing in front of me. “I’m motherfucking fuming! No one comes into my house and threatens my daughter. No one.”
“Wait until I get my hands on him,” Dad says, a little too calmly. “I can serve him my own taste of judgment, and trust me, that will be much sweeter. For me, anyway.”
They’ve both been raging ever since they picked me up, making promises, threats, and once again thanking Felix for saving me. They’ve called everyone in the MC, letting them know what happened, including Aunt Johanna, who said she’s going to personally see that Jones is held accountable for this. As for me, all I can think about is what Jones said about Felix’s dad, and whether he was being honest or just trying to hurt Felix further.
“I’m okay, guys,” I tell them from where I’m wrapped up in Felix’s arms on their couch, the very spot that I was kidnapped from.
No one listens to me.
“Every time it gets quiet and we think we have no one coming after us, some bullshit happens,” Dad continues his rant. “And we’ve been staying out of trouble, keeping our heads down and just living our lives, riding our bikes and being with family, and then someone targets my family and it makes me want to dive right back into the deep end again.”
“We can go about this the right way, Dex,” Mom says to him. “We have the evidence. If they even try to do anything, I will take this to the media. I’ll take it to Jaxon Bentley, and we’ll build the biggest case against the police department that they’ve ever seen. I’m not going to let this go, and we can do this in a way where none of us go to prison for it. We need to be smart. You think I don’t want to go and kick some ass? No one hurts any of my babies. No one. And Clover shouldn’t have been put in that position where she’s backed into a wall, literally, not sure if this guy is ever going to leave her alone! A dead cop is always a big deal, and you know it. It’s why Irish did time.”
We all go quiet. Uncle Irish served time, albeit minimal time thanks to my mother, for killing his now wife’s ex-husband, who happened to be a dirty cop.
“I don’t want you to do anything, Dad,” I tell him, frowning. “It’s over, and Mom will make sure he spends time behind bars for this. I think she’s right. The media would eat this up. I’m just glad to be home, and I want to lay low for a while.”
“Of course, Clo,” Mom says, studying me with her eyes, identical to my own. “Whatever you need, we’re here for you. And, Felix, you’ve saved her twice now. We don’t know how we can ever repay you, but thank you. It feels so good to know she’s in safe hands and has someone who will always be there for her. It’s all we could have ever asked.”
“No need to thank me,” he says, kissing my temple. “I’m just happy she’s okay, and I’m really angry that Jones did this. I always looked up to all the police officers and idolized them, and now I’m finding out what the reality of it is. I never want to turn into what Jones is.”
“You won’t,” I assure him, snuggling into him. “You’ve got me to make sure you don’t.”
Plus, his heart is pure gold.
And I truly believe that.
“Let’s go home,” I say to him, feeling drained after everything that happened today. “I need to have a hot shower and sleep.”
And have some sleepy sex, but I’m not going to say that one out loud.
He stands up and offers me his hand. “Come on, let’s get you to bed then.”
“I hate what happened to you today. I know I’ve kept it calm, but I’m so angry, Clover. I’m so bitter and resentful and . . . I don’t know if I can keep doing this. Maybe I wasn’t meant to be a cop, either. How can I work for someone who did this? Or go back to work tomorrow and pretend like everything is okay?”
“Not everyone is like him,” I point out. “He was working alone, so you can’t blame the rest of the department.”
“We don’t know that,” he replies, sounding deflated.
“You stand for everything good, Felix. You’re everything that a cop is meant to be,” I say to him, meaning every word. Quitting isn’t going to help the situation. I know that he’s angry on my behalf, and being loyal, but we need people like him so the corrupt don’t win. Felix will do great things. I know that in my gut, and not just because he’s my boyfriend.
“And so are you, and look what they did to you,” he tells me in a harsh tone.
I decide to let this conversation go, because we’re both still overcome with emotions after everything we’ve both been through. Felix held a gun to one of his last connections to his dad, and although he’s not saying something, I know that has to hurt. The words Jones said, some of them did hurt, even though neither of us will admit that out loud. Still, I think we both know what we have here, and we always knew it was never going to be easy. We’re like a modern Romeo and Juliet, and if we want each other, we’re going to have to fight for it, let a lot of things go, and remember that what we have together is worth all of it.
“Let’s talk about this later. I just want to be clean and in bed with you, naked,” I say, laughing when he presses on the gas.
I don’t know how I can laugh after the day I’ve had, but I do.
The second I’m home, Felix turns on the shower and I jump inside, letting the hot water wash away the day. I don’t complain when he joins me, even when his large build blocks most of the water. I normally don’t like sharing the shower, but with him, I allow it.
I even enjoy it.
I don’t know what he’s done to me.
Bending down and picking up my passion fruit bodywash, he pours some onto my loofa and gently starts to scrub my body. I close my eyes and let him pamper me. When he presses his front to my back and starts rubbing my body back and forth, my eyes quickly open.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask him bluntly.
“Being your loofa,” he says, continuing to rub his body with mine, twisting my hips with his hands.
More laughter spills out of me as I let him maneuver my body. “Are you done now, you weirdo?”
He spins my slippery body around so we’re facing each other and pushes me back against the tiles. “I almost lost you today.”
Glancing up at his lips, I raise my eyes back up to his, water dripping down both of our faces. “You aren’t going to lose me that easily, Felix.”
He rests his forehead against mine. “I don’t know what I would have done. I’ve only had you for such a short time; it would have been the cruelest punishment. I love you so much, Clover. You’re the one; I know it. I love you just as you are; I don’t want to change anything about you. I love how you’re just real and say it how it is, but at the same time, when I make you laugh, you get all giggly and girly and it’s fucking adorable. I love how I can make you roll your eyes then smile, and that smile. Fuck. You speak with your eyes. You would do anything for the people you love. When you’re working out with your headphones on you sing along to the songs and don’t give a shit who’s listening. . . .”
I smile at that one because it’s true, even if I’m at the gym.
“I love how sexy you are, how confident, how you just own everything about you—”
I kiss him, cutting off his speech. I tell him how I feel about him in this kiss; I guess that’s me: I’m better with actions than with saying things out loud. I pour my emotion, my love, my soul into this kiss.
And when his fingers tighten around me, I know that he can feel it.
He g
ot the message, loud and clear.
He understands me, even in my silence.
If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” I say the next morning, as I roll over to face him, the sunlight hitting my face. “I don’t know if it’s true or not though.”
“What is it?” he asks me, voice thick with sleep.
I tell him what Jones said. “I don’t know why he’d say that. Either it’s the truth, and he knows something but has kept quiet all this time, or he’s just talking shit, trying to upset us and get us curious.”
“Us,” he whispers, grinning. “I like that this is an ‘us’ situation.”
“Everything is an ‘us’ situation,” I reply, watching as his grin fades.
“I don’t know what to make of that, but I’m glad you told me,” he says, tucking my hair back behind my ear. “If it’s true, I want to know who did it.”
I nod in agreement.
The truth always comes out.
TWENTY-ONE
THE next few days are a media circus, with my mom leaking the footage of Jones breaking into my house, chloroforming me, and carrying my body out the door. You can easily tell that it’s him on the screen, which is a good thing, and now everyone is calling for harsher penalties for cops who seem to think they are exempt from the law because they enforce it. He’s been arrested, and more and more of his dirty shenanigans are starting to come out.
The good part is that you can’t actually see my face on the video surveillance, which makes it better for me, because I wouldn’t want everyone to see me in my weakest moment. My name is never mentioned, and Mom has threatened to sue anyone who even thinks about bringing it to the media. I get to remain anonymous, at least for now, while Jones’s name is being discussed all over the news and country. He’s definitely regretting fucking with me right now, I have no doubt. His hate for me will probably carry on for the rest of his life, and I need to be aware of that.
Fallen Princess Page 17
