Reviving Luca: New Beginnings
Page 9
“Yeah, I get it, Tig.” She emphasizes my name.
“See, you have an advantage over me. You know my name, but I don’t know yours. That doesn’t seem to be very fair now, does it?” I tilt my head trying to tamp down my irritation, but her high-and-mighty attitude is doing nothing to ease that. If anything, she raises it to a boiling point, and I’m doing everything I can to not go overboard. If I snap, we’ll never get the answers of why she’s here and what the fuck she wants.
“I think a girl should have some secrets. Don’t you agree, Tig?” Her smirk now reaches her eyes and I want to slam my mouth down on hers to shut her the fuck up. I’m fucking pissed, because she both irritates me and turns me on with her attitude. She watches as my eyes lower to her plump lips. She sticks her tongue out and licks them and I have to hold back the moan that wants to escape. I have to build a wall against this woman’s sexual prowess. She’s that wanton kind of woman you read about, she’s the kind of woman that your mothers tell you to run far away from and never look back. She reminds me of a black widow – she’ll get you in her grasp, string you up and leave you for dead. I’ve known women like her, fuck I nearly married a woman just like this, thank God I learned what a conniving bitch she was before we said our ‘I do’s’.
“Alright, mystery woman, you want to do it this way, that’s fine with me. I need to practice my bondage skills anyways. Let’s go,” I say, pulling her through the parking lot with me. I scan the area and notice Luca and Gypsy in the dog park. Luca notices me and tilts his head at me the way I did her a few minutes ago. I shake my head no, indicating that this isn’t someone Gypsy needs to be introduced to or around.
Tawny
I’m amused as Tig drags me into his room. He talks a big game, trying to convince me that he is a big badass biker man. He may be, but not toward women. I willingly let him lead me toward a chair and tie me up. I’m not scared, if I was, there’s no way he’d get me tied down. He doesn’t know me, so he doesn’t know I was raised by an Army Ranger who taught me everything he knows, especially seeing as he wanted me to take over his business. He was the most sought-after personal investigator in the business. Self-defense, especially hand-to-hand combat is my specialty. No one’s been able to take me down when I’m unwilling to be brought down. “What are you planning to do with me?” I ask, playing the vulnerable, scared victim.
“Whatever it takes to get you talking.” When he says this, I close my eyes and roll them behind the lids. I usually have the ability to wear a great poker face, but he’s so darn cute that I find him irresistible. Too bad he’s not really my type. I’ll never let him see that, however, instead I’ll continue to pretend to be what he’s expecting me to be.
“I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” I try again.
“Weren’t you though?” He looks intrigued by my sudden interest in holding a conversation with him.
“Listen,” he says as he squats down in front of me, “I don’t particularly enjoy treating a woman like this. But I’m not convinced you aren’t a threat to my brothers nor my family; until I’m satisfied otherwise, you’re going to stay right where you are. Got it, sweetheart?” I hate terms of endearment, something he’s fixing to find out right now.
“I’m not your sweetheart, honey bunches.” I blow him an air kiss.
“I’m not liking you or your personality too much.” Like I haven’t heard that before. I’m not a girly-girl, I’m a bit of a bitch, and make no apologies for being so. Fuck anyone who doesn’t like me for who I am. I’m not really a team player anyways and don’t do well with making new friends. I don’t much like most people; I’ve seen too much in this business to consider anyone likeable. The only thing I’d like to do is nut punch most of the men and sterilize most of the women I track down and investigate.
“I’ll be back, don’t go anywhere, sweetheart,” he emphasizes, pissing me off. Deciding that getting myself out of these ties is my best option, I begin twisting my fingers and inserting them into the loops he’s tied. This was a game my dad and I played while growing up. He was always scared of me being kidnapped or taken as revenge for his work. He took on the impossible cases, the cold ones that went years unsolved, the political ones that had him threatened daily. His fears have gotten me out of plenty of ‘touchy’ situations.
Knowing that Tig took my keys out of my pocket earlier, I’m assuming that he is outside searching my car right about now. What this means is that here shortly, he’ll know who I am. Now, I have to figure out how much I’m willing to share with anyone who isn’t Gypsy...my cousin.
Chapter Twelve
Luca
I hurry Lucy along then escort Gypsy to her room. “I’ll be right back, babe. I need to go speak with Tig. Figure out what you’d like to do for dinner while I’m away. We can order in or go out, it’s whichever you prefer.”
“But Luca?” Shit.
“Yeah?” I hurry and ask.
“Umm...we haven’t even had breakfast yet. Are you okay?” My mind isn’t in the right place, the only thing I can keep my mind focused on is that woman and why Tig looked so irritated.
“Shit, sorry, babe.” I decide to be honest with her, and state, “My mind is elsewhere.”
“It’s okay. Is everything alright?” She looks worried and that’s a look I don’t want to see on her face.
“Everything’s fine.” I hope and pray that I didn’t just tell her a lie.
“Um, while you’re gone, I’m just gonna change my jeans since these are wet. Maybe we can do breakfast at the diner before we head to the laundromat?”
“Sounds like a plan.” I know I’m distracted as fuck, but I’m hoping that whatever the hell is going on that has the hair on the back of my neck standing up on end turns out to be nothing serious. I have a feeling though, that whatever I do learn is going to change things. What things, I don’t know yet. As long as it doesn’t hurt my woman, everyone can live. I lean down and kiss her, then scratch Lucy behind her ears and say, “You behave, little missy.” She barks excitedly at me and turns around in a few circles. I’m so preoccupied that I don’t even chuckle at her exuberance.
I walk through the door and begin to head down the walkway to Tig’s room when I notice him briskly walking across the street. “Tig! Wait up,” I holler as I jog to catch up with him.
“Hey. I thought you’d be staying with Gypsy,” he responds as he waits while I catch up with him.
“She’s in the room.” I throw my thumb over my shoulder indicating the direction I left her in. “Where are we going?”
“The woman. The one I took to my room. Something’s up with her,” he informs me.
“Explain that to me, Tig.”
“I first noticed her car last night when I pulled into the motel. Then for a second time this morning, only this time she was sitting in the driver's seat. I just initially assumed that she’d just finished with a one-nighter or something. But when I made my way back hours later, she was still in the same spot. Same clothes, same exact position, only this time, she was wearing a pair of binoculars. They were aimed at you and Gypsy, man,” he says running his fingers through his hair.
“What the fuck?” The anger mixed with fear at his words explodes from my mouth and I immediately want to find this woman and use extreme measures to find out what the hell she’s doing watching the two of us.
“Got her keys, let’s go see if we can figure out who the hell we’re dealing with here,” he states, holding out a key ring.
“Absofuckinlutely,” I growl out. We reach the car and he unlocks it so we can hopefully identify just who the fuck we’re dealing with right now.
Tig sees a purse on the front floorboard and grabs it before searching for a wallet. “I kind of feel weird doing this,” he admits. “Mom always stressed that no man should ever go through a woman’s purse, y’know?”
“Think she’d agree, to it under these circumstances,” I advise, as I still look through the backseat. It’s relatively neat considering
that Tig mentioned he saw it sitting there. A small cooler is filled with several bottles of water, protein shakes, as well as some lunchmeat. Containers with cut up fruit and nuts round out the cooler.
“Fields?” Tig scratching his head, asks, “Why the fuck does this chick have the same last name as your old lady? I thought she was an only child.”
My body goes ramrod straight at his words. I am a good judge of character and I believed Gypsy when she said there was only her, no brothers or sisters. It doesn’t mean that this person isn’t related somehow. “She is an only child but that’s not an uncommon name, Tig. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. How about we have a chat with this other Miss Fields?”
“Fucking A, let’s do this thing,” Tig replies, grabbing the purse and then locking up the car. We head back to his room rather quickly, given that we’re bikers wearing motorcycle boots. I just want to get to the bottom of this shit. The sooner the better.
He unlocks his door and we step inside. I look around and notice that the room is empty. “Where’s she at, brother? Did you lock her up in the bathroom or something?”
“Uh, she was sitting over there,” he replies, pointing to the chair in his eating area that is now laying on its side, ropes tossed down as if they are of no importance.
“I need to get to my woman, Tig.” I’ve got a sense of urgency that makes my tone a bit harsh considering I’m talking to my best friend.
“Lead the way. I’m right behind you.” I know he’s upset with himself and the fact that she got away. I don’t have the time, nor do I give a fuck to reassure or coddle him right now.
Gypsy
As I’m in the bathroom changing my clothing, I hear a crash in my room and Lucy begins growling. The hair on my arms raise on end and my body begins shaking. I know in my gut it’s not Luca, he’d holler out and inform me of his presence. I begin looking around, searching my surroundings for anything I can use as a weapon to protect myself from the intruder. Not finding anything, I begin to turn the lock on the door handle until I feel like a bad doggy mommy since Lucy is still on the other side of this wall. She’s innocent and has no way of protecting herself. Her teeth may feel uncomfortable when they bite you, they sting a little not gonna lie, but they in no way will take anyone out and down. She’s not a guard dog, not by a longshot, but even if she was, she’d still be my baby to protect.
My motherly instinct kicks in and I open the door and rush out the room. I freeze on the spot when I see my cousin, someone I haven’t seen in seven years at least, leaning against the wall as if she’s been waiting on me for several hours. “Tawny?” I feel the need to have her verify her identity for me.
“Hey, Gypsy. Long time no see. What’s been going on with you?”
“The fuck are you doing breaking into my room?” I ask, planting my hands on my hips and narrowing my eyes in her direction.
“Well, I thought I’d come to town, catch up, oh and by the way, your mother hired me to find you.” My self-preservation kicks in and I run over to the closet and grab my suitcase.
“How long do I have until she finds me?” I ask her as I begin making a mental plan of where I can go from here. I need to be somewhere off the beaten path...oh, and change my name, hair color, maybe I’ll start wearing glasses as a disguise. It worked for Superman; it could work for me.
“You’re not running from that stupid cunt, Gypsy. She has no clue where you are, it took me months to follow the little breadcrumbs you scattered around. Smart by the way, I had a hard time finding you, so it won’t be so easy for her unless I tell her where you are. And let me tell ya, there ain’t no way in hell I’m sharing that information with her. I’d rather slit her throat than help her locate you.” My knees buckle from underneath me and I fall to the bed. Leaning over, I place my elbows on my knees and bury my face in the palms of my hands.
I jump when another crashing sound invades the room. It is so loud that it bounces off the walls. I stand up abruptly and relief swamps me when I recognize it’s Luca and Tig storming the room. “Luca,” I whisper as once again my limbs fail me.
He rushes over and gathers me into his arms, glaring at my cousin. I see her raise her eyebrow at him and he immediately shoves me behind him before he stands to his full, imposing height and I see his arms cross over his chest. “Who the fuck are you and why are you in my woman’s room?”
“Luca?” I call out. He ignores me but I feel the tension in the room increase significantly as Tig stalks toward Tawny and tries to grab her by the arm. She does some slick as hell move and Tig is suddenly on his back, staring at the ceiling. Lucy, realizing someone is down on her level, immediately runs over to him and starts to lick his face, making her whiny, happy noise. I feel Luca’s body shake but when I glance at his face and see how hard he looks, I realize that while he finds Lucy’s actions funny, he’s not showing it, at least outwardly. Tig’s face looks like thunder as he realizes a woman has pinned him and I wait for the explosion.
“Who I am isn’t important, not really,” Tawny tells him.
“The fuck it isn’t,” Tig growls out, managing to flip Tawny so he can get up. “You were watching my president and his old lady, then we find out your last name is the same as hers. Now, what in the fucking hell are you doing here, Tawny Fields?” He’d sound far more intimidating if he wasn’t now standing, Lucy cradled in his arms.
I see Tawny sigh and roll her eyes and hide a grin. He has no clue what can of worms he’s just opened because my cousin is a force to be reckoned with thanks to my uncle, Jared.
“Thought I’d come see my cousin, Tig,” she sneers, her hand now on her hip. “You know, see her and catch up, all that bullshit?”
“Your what now?” Tig asks, confusion clearly on his face. “That doesn't make any sense.” When he begins scratching the back of his neck, I can’t help the giggle that leaps out of my mouth.
“Tig? How does it make no sense that I have a cousin?” I ask him.
“I guess since you’ve never talked about any family, I just assumed that you had no living relatives. I wasn’t expecting you to have such fun members bearing the same blood as you.” He sneers in Tawny’s direction. Alrighty then, they aren’t going to be the best of friends, got it.
“Tig, it’s a good thing your club doesn't pay you to think.” Tawny reminds me of what a bitch she is when she says this to him.
“You need to watch your tone when speaking to us,” Luca interjects. “You may not be part of our world, but we expect respect. If you can’t handle that and keep your opinions to yourself, you won’t be visiting with your cousin all that much.” Now my eyebrows are raised, and I give him a little push. Of course, he doesn’t move an inch, the rat!
“Oh so sorry, Mr. President, I didn’t realize I had committed a faux pas.” Tawny’s mouth has always been unfiltered, but I hope she realizes that these guys don’t fuck around. They won’t hurt her, at least I don’t think they will based on what I know of them so far, but they do demand respect from others.
“Tawny,” I warn, “behave. Luca, my mother hired her to find me.” This is the last topic of conversation I want to have with him while having an audience in our wake.
Silence descends. A bug could fart and we’d hear it, it’s that quiet. I suddenly become extremely nervous since I did keep the small factor that I do indeed have a living parental figure out there somewhere. I hope he doesn't push me out of his life because I wasn’t ready to tell him about the evil person who gave birth to me.
“Your mother?” he hisses out, turning to look down at me. Oh shit, he really is seething. I may have really messed up with him.
“Uh, yeah, my mother,” I quietly answer.
“She doesn’t know where you are?” he questions. How do I tell him that I would only care where she is as long as it was her being buried six feet under? And I pray to heaven above that she never finds me. He’d probably think I’m a complete nutcase considering what family means to him and the members of RGMC.
Leaning down, he says, so low that I don’t think Tig or Tawny can hear, “Is she the reason why you react the way you do? Why you don’t think you’re enough? Why you try to blend into the background? If so, we need to find out why she wants to know where you are, baby.” I don’t want to know why she’s looking for me. I want to stomp my feet like an insolent child and tell him no. Absolutely not. No one could possibly understand the danger my mother’s presence near me creates. She endangers not only my life, but anyone around me, anyone that supports me and anyone who she views as a threat to what she wants.
“Luca, I...my home life is nothing like what y’all had growing up.” Not unless they were extras on that movie where the mother beat her kid with wire hangers. Only that woman was more stable and loved those kids more than mine loved me.
“Picked up on that, Gypsy. I also know you’ve not shared about it at all. And before you think I’m upset, think again. I figured you’d tell me when you fully trusted me. You understand what I’m saying?” Unfortunately, I don’t want him to think I haven’t shared her with him because I don’t trust him. It’s not that at all, it’s that talking about her brings on anxiety and fear.
I feel the tears pricking the back of my eyes at how gentle his tone is, even as he’s rubbing his hands up and down my back. The shakes that overtake me have him holding me tighter. “I...I do, and I appreciate you being patient. Can we have this talk without Tig and Tawny witnessing what I say? Because I can’t promise that I won’t break down and scream or even cry.”