by J Bree
Hell, I was planning on getting a hotel room for the night and getting a good night's sleep in for the first time in weeks and instead I'm wasting my time here, drinking terrible beer and trying to avoid stray hands.
I find Speck talking to Rue over by the door to the clubhouse, another biker I don't recognize standing there with them. I don't want to interrupt them but they all fall silent the second I walk over.
I feel like a fucking pariah.
"Is there an amount of time I need to be here for? I'm pretty tired, I want to head out," I mumble and Speck pushes off of the wall towards me.
"Come with me, I'll get you something to eat first."
There's a laugh and joking around me, some guy talking about exactly what it is I'll be eating, but I nod and follow him into the clubhouse. I don't know why, but I do trust him. I trust him enough to follow him into the country’s most notorious MC clubhouse to find food.
"You've had too much to drive home without eating first," Speck mumbles and I smile.
“I’ve had two beers, settle down. I'm just... not one for parties."
He nods and starts piling up a burger. "Are you one of those fucking weird chicks who don't eat anything but lettuce?"
I'll eat fucking anything. Right here and now for free, I'd eat anchovies on pizza if that's what is on offer. "Gimme the lot. I like my burgers stacked."
He throws his head back with a laugh and opens up the fridge. "Well, let's fucking find the lot then. I like a woman with an appetite."
I laugh at him when he wiggles his eyebrows at me because it’s clear he’s not actually flirting, he just wants me laughing and enjoying this shit-show a little more.
I perch on the countertop and talk shit with him, just random bits of information that mean nothing but also are the foundations of a friendship. He hates tomatoes. Enough that when I ask for extra he pretends to gag which only makes me laugh harder. I tell him I hate beer that much too and he refuses to believe me.
"You drink it too smooth to hate it."
I scoff. "It's free alcohol, you learn to just swallow."
He cracks up and flips the hamburger patty onto the pile of salad and bread he's constructed, smothering the whole thing with sauce and then slides the plate over to me.
“Aw man, the dirty shit I could say to that… you’re lucky you’re off limits, Angel. You can sleep here if you want, you know. There's plenty of beds here and I'm the only one in the bunk room. You could even have the top bunk, I'll go to the bottom."
It doesn't sound like an invitation to fuck him but I can't risk sleeping on a bed around him anyway. My demons might come out to play and then he'll find out just how fucked up I really am. "It's fine, I didn't exactly pack spare clothes. Besides, aren't you trying to fuck Mel? Can't do that if I'm around cramping your style."
He smirks at me as I take a bite."I'll just fuck her behind the bar, you wouldn't even know it was going down."
I pull a face and chew, swallowing before saying, "Remind me not to drink here again. I do not want your fucking sweaty-balls-beer."
He roars with laughter again, his head thrown back as he chews on his own burger. The crash of the kitchen door slamming on the wall scares the ever-loving shit out of me.
Tomi looks fucking enraged in the doorway, huffing and fucking puffing like he just ran here or something and Speck's face isn't great.
"What the fuck are the two of you doing in here?" he snarls, and I shrink back onto the kitchen counter like I can scoot away from his anger, far enough that he can't reach me.
He glances over to me and then down at the burger. I push it away from myself, like I've been caught stealing it or whatever. "I'll leave. I should go now anyway."
I move to jump down but he steps towards me as if to stop me and I shrink back again.
"Speck, get the fuck out," he says, his voice low and dangerous.
I glance over at Speck and try not to fucking whimper when he blows out a breath and walks out without a word.
Okay.
So he's definitely not my friend. Friends don't abandon each other like this, they don't leave you to fend for yourself against an enraged and bloodthirsty biker who looks about ready to rip my fucking head off about eating a damn burger.
"What the hell do you think you're doing here?"
I rub my palms down my legs. “At the party? You told me I had to be here. Or do you mean the kitchen? I was going to leave but Speck said I had to eat something before I drove. He made me a burger and we were just eating together. That's it. That's the whole story."
He stalks forward and I force myself to stay still, no matter how badly I want to jump down and run the hell away from him. His nose ring catches in the light as his nostrils flare at me. I'm so freaking scared that he's about to murder me that it shocks me when he finally relaxes.
"Didn't find the right guy to work for tonight?"
I frown at him. “Why do I have to keep telling you I don't do extra? I've said that from the word go, I don't take on any other work."
He steps forward and rolls his shoulders back. The slow and easy smirk that stretches across his lips is seductive and my poor fucking heart can't take it. I've gone from terrified to aroused in under a minute and my rib cage is hurting from the pounding in my chest.
“You did though, didn’t you? You gave me something extra. Difference is you did it for free.”
I swallow hard against the bile creeping up the back of my throat. "I don't care what other women choose to do with their bodies, that's their decision. I'm not for sale. If you want me to dance then I will, but that's it. What happened in your office, that was… a mistake. I made a mistake.”
He steps forward again until his body is snug between my legs, his hips touching my thighs and his hands planted down on either side of me. His face turns up towards mine and his lips get close to brushing my own.
The panic is there but this time it's different.
I'm not scared of his touch, not how I usually am, but I am terrified of what this moment means. Why is he so fixated on me now when he's always hated so much as the sight of me?
"Name the price I have to pay to fuck you right here. I want to push you back and fuck you on the countertop. What'll it cost me?"
Jesus, Lord have mercy. My pussy wakes the fuck up at that. I didn't even think I could get wet and now I'm fucking dripping for him. Except—
"I'm not for sale. Can you... can you move please? I'd like to go home."
His jaw clenches and he grabs my face, moving me until I'm staring up into those stormy blue eyes of his and panting. "Is there a boyfriend waiting up for you? Is that why you're pretending you don't fucking want me?"
"Pretty sure I said I'm not for sale. Get your hands off of me," I say, breathy and I swear my nipples try to cut through my shirt to get his attention.
"Your pupils are blown all the way out, Angel, but I'll keep it between us. Wouldn’t want all of my brothers knowing how easy it is to get you to change your mind.”
I don't care what my pupils are doing, I just want to get out of here in one piece. "I'm going to leave. Let me know if that means I've lost my job and I'll go someplace else."
I have no choice but to slide down his body to get off of the counter and, my God, the feel of his rock hard body against my own is like a special form of torture. I wasn't expecting to find a biker who looks like a fucking cover model, the dirty blonde hair and the nose ring, fuck. Without the tattoos he'd look like a fucking surfer.
He licks his lips and stares down at me and then it's like the alcohol clears and he remembers who the hell he is and what exactly I am.
"Fuck. Get the hell out of here and try not to bend over for my cousin's cock on your way out. You're practically begging for him to fuck you in my goddamn kitchen."
His kitchen? I'm fairly certain this is the MC's kitchen but I keep that little tidbit to myself as I flee.
Poe grabs my arm on the way out and her eyes are all sorts of worried. "Ang
el, what the hell happened to you? Did someone hurt you? Jesus, Trink go get Tomi."
Oh fuck. "I'm fine. Honestly, I just don't feel well and I wanna go home."
The doors behind me open again and Tomi comes stalking out. I rip my arm out of Poe's grip and take off for my truck before anyone can stop me again. Speck calls out to me but Tomi's words ring in my ears and I hightail it out of there, not stopping until I'm locked in my car, the engine running and my breath heaving out of my chest.
Holy shit.
Am I crying right now?
Where the hell have these tears come from? I have no clue but they're streaming down my face, like a freaking stream just overtaking me completely.
Maybe Coldstone isn’t for me.
Chapter Fourteen
Tomi
I get all of the phones ready to be given out.
I cover every fucking base I can think of. Tracking their GPS, their keystrokes, alerts if they’re changing SIM cards, logging every password they might put into a website or an app, and I make the camera and mic remote accessible so if they go somewhere they shouldn’t be I can figure out what the fuck they’re doing. I’m not sure what will be the most useful because half the guys barely know how to text, but I want to be sure I’ve thought of everything.
It’s a good distraction from all of the bullshit going on in my head because I’m a fucking mess. I don’t know how the hell Rue survives this, how he deals with feeling so fucking angry and out of control all the damn time.
No wonder he’s so fucking grumpy.
I do the entire lot of the work in my childhood bedroom where I’m absolutely positive there’s not any fucking bugs. I’ve swept the place enough times to be sure, I’ve torn the whole fucking house apart twice in the last week.
Keely is good about it, no doubt Hawk has told her about our plans, but I just can’t shake the fact that maybe someone is in this fucking house and planting bugs.
I’m fucking paranoid.
Sunday night finally rolls around and Keely makes us all dinner and before taking Trink down to the den to eat quietly together. Trink is obviously still a little afraid of King because she doesn’t argue once, just grabs her plate and follows Keely out.
Law and Lyn are both out running errands for Keely so around the table it’s only the Callaghan men, only the blood we can trust.
Speck still looks a little shocked to be at the table.
I flick the switch on the jammer I made myself, just in case, and give King a nod. If I missed a bug, this will stop that shit from working.
There’s silence for a moment, only the scraping of forks on plates to be heard.
Finally, Hawk huffs and starts shoveling food into his mouth, “Let’s get this shit over with sooner rather than later. Anyone have any fucking leads?”
Speck looks around at everyone like a fucking idiot and Hellion death glares him into silence. Fuck being the youngest, unpatched project of the family. I’d be fucking swinging.
Rue takes a swig of his beer and says, “I’ve got a few. Nothing concrete but I’m working on it.”
I know all about his hunches and I think he’s fucking right in them but that’s for him to chase.
I’ve got my own shit to handle. “I have a plan. I’m bugging everyone’s phones, I’m bugging the entire clubhouse, and everything that is club owned.”
King and Hawk both nod without a word, all the go ahead I need and Hellion scoffs. “You and your fucking computer shit, you’re not going to catch fucking Dave doing anything on his phone.”
I shrug. I don’t need them to understand what I’m doing.
I just need them to fucking shut up and do something when I catch the assholes in action. Rue shoots me a look from across the room, the warning in his eyes clear as a fucking bell. I need to tone my shit down but, fuck if that isn’t impossible.
I know my shit.
Hawk sets his beer down on the table and blows out a breath. “Is there anything you can do about the Boar’s phone? Tracking that would be the fucking game changer.”
King blows out a breath and tips his head back so he’s staring at the ceiling, his lips moving like he’s silently praying or some shit. Clearly this isn’t the first time he’s hearing about Hawk’s suspicions of the president of the Mounts Bay charter of the Unseen.
Rue looks between the two of them and says, “Is this a rat thing or just a general keeping an eye on the asshole?”
Hellion gets up for another beer, offering one to Hawk who takes it with a grunt.
King finally turns his gaze back to his son and cocks his head a little. “That man has walked the line one too many times to have our trust. He might not have betrayed the patch but fuck has he come close. We’d be stupid not to keep an eye on him… especially if Tomi can get it done without having to leave the state or trusting anyone in the Bay’s charter.”
I nod. “Easy done.”
Rue blows out a breath. “You really think he’s dirty? Fuck, even if we find something it’s not as simple as taking out a fucking rat. If we kill him we’d have to face the Twelve. That ain’t shit to take lightly.”
Hellion snorts. “At least it’s not the fucking Family.”
Jesus Christ.
Like we need the added headache of Mounts Bay’s twisted fucking politics. Rats in our club and the Demons fucking stalking us is bad enough, we all heard about what goes down in the Bay and Coldstone isn’t equipped for that kind of warfare.
Rumor has it, the Jackal stepped out on the Twelve and got his fucking head cut off.
He ran the biggest fucking drug empire in the country and even he couldn’t face the rest of the fucking Twelve and come out alive. The Lynx too, she tried to betray the Wolf and got taken out like she was fucking nothing.
After that the Family formed and I’ll be fucked if our club goes against them, if the Boar needs to die we’ll have to approach them for a fucking parlay. Jesus Christ, this is turning into a fucking mess.
Rue slides a beer across the table at me. “One step at a time, brother. First we find the rats, then we burn them out. Whatever it takes.”
I start getting the phones distributed through the club easy enough. King tells the men we’re upgrading everything because of the bump in income over a big arms deal he’s done. A lotta questions about the deal which stops people giving a shit about the new tech.
I keep my head down and my eyes on my fucking computer until something flags. I’m impatient for it but the week goes by with nothing until Friday.
Jameson calls me at midnight.
“I’ve found some good fishing holes down this way, you should book a trip.”
I hold my cursing in.
It’s all a code, something we came up with way back when he took over his family business and started working with us.
Something is up with our shipment.
“Sounds like a plan, man. I’ve been meaning to head out fishing. I’ll pack my shit and head down.”
He lets out a breath and murmurs, “Bring a couple of your friends, make a day of it. You know we’d love to have y’all stay for dinner.”
Fuck me.
A big find then.
I talk bullshit with him for another minute or two to calm his nerves and then hang up, flicking a text to Rue to get his ass moving. There’s no one else I trust like him to back me up and if we’re heading down to Biloxi then I need someone sharp.
I text Speck, too.
Now that King’s decided to have him in the fucking loop about the rat shit a little more I can start giving him bigger shit to do. I don’t really want him off of Angel duty, I need a set of eyes on her, but there’s something still fucking needling me about the two of them laughing and eating together the other night.
I’d never heard her laugh before.
Fuck, I’ve barely seen her smile.
I meet them both in the parking lot, armed to the teeth and ready to spill blood for our club, the joking asshole persona of Speck’s has
simmered right down.
It’s been a while since I saw the real Callaghan in him.
It’s clear as hell now.
The drive down to Biloxi is a long one but my hog eats up the road like it’s fucking nothing. I take the lead and make Speck take the rear, Rue in the middle like he someday will be when he steps up as the Prez. He hates that shit, never wants to be protected, but he knows better than to argue with me about it.
It’s protocol for a reason and there’s been a target on his back from the second he took his first breath, it’ll be there until his last.
We get to his place and park up behind his place where the hogs aren’t visible from the road. We all strip out of our cuts and pack them away in the saddlebags on our motorcycles. We’re extra fucking careful about this place. There’s a reason we don’t go down for the real shit we do.
Jameson meets us out in the front of his house, carrying beers with a grin on his face. “How was the ride?”
Speck grins and shoots shit with him for a minute while Rue discretely looks around. Nothing’s changed around here except the house has been repainted, and there’s actual fucking flowers in the garden.
A woman’s touch.
“Come in! Elizabeth is out visiting with her parents before the wedding. Her granddaddy is too old to travel.”
I nod and stalk into the house, kicking the dirt off of my boots before I walk in because Keely raised me right.
Outlaw, sure, but I still have fucking manners.
We walk into the kitchen area and he takes a seat.
We have no reason to believe this place is bugged but Jameson saw enough shit serving overseas to be extra fucking careful about shit. A little paranoid some would say but with everything going on in the MC that shit is smart.
“These are the photos I was telling you about. The ones from the fishing trip. A lotta big fish out there.”
I take what he’s handing over and try not to lose my fucking cool.
