by SE Chardou
Now I understood why I was brought into the organization, and perhaps me murdering Fernando Navarro would be the least of my worries. If he was on the Fed’s payroll—and there were rumors that both him and his nephew, Carlito Navarro had become ‘untouchables,’ as federal informants were known in the outlaw community—then I was in a lot of trouble.
I’d rid the Feds of one of their most precious assets, and that wouldn’t escape the eyes of this woman before me. I would have to be willing to sacrifice in return. Although I knew it was beyond reasoning to have any allegiance to the White Knights MC, they were my family—the only one I’d ever known. Now they were in the Feds’ sight and this bitch wanted me to hand them all over on a silver platter.
There were members in the club I would gladly give up but my father, uncle Brad, brothers and Marian were off the table. I would rather serve time than ever say a word about them. If I did, I was dead already because the White Knights MC were hooked up with the Aryan Brotherhood in prison—both male and female gangs. Even if I said nothing and went to prison, I still wouldn’t be safe. They would murder me just to make an example for would-be snitches.
“Save your breath,” I began, interrupting the conversation taking place between Pyro and the woman who was obviously his superior. “What do you want from me? You want the MC, don’t you? The affiliates and chapters—the parent President—who also happens to be my dad. You want to tear it all down, don’t you?”
“Something like that.” The older woman smiled. “Eve Kerrigan. I’m the head of the Domestic Terrorism Unit for the FBI. I’m assuming you’re familiar with Maarten Reynolds, aka Pyro, one of my top field agents.”
I glanced at Pyro. “Field . . . agent? You mean you aren’t an informant?”
Eve laughed before she sipped from her dirty martini. “Is that what he told you?”
“No,” I snapped, glaring into her bright hazel-green eyes. “It was what I assumed.”
“Sorry, hillbilly princess, but University graduates don’t become informants. Not when they have been a whistleblower to one of the biggest controversies in the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq. Your boyfriend here actually took down two major units who were known as the ‘Sport Killer Crews.’ In plain English, I guess I should tell you these were military men and women who were murdering Iraqi and Afghan civilians for sport. Now, what I have just told you is classified information and the penalty for the release of that information to the press or any other non-agency personnel is life in prison with no possibility of parole. And I’ll deny I ever told you anything.”
“I read something about that group in the New York Times so how is it so classified?”
She smiled though it was snarky instead of mirthful. “Those were . . . how shall I put it . . . small potatoes compared to the units Maarten infiltrated. It’s a much bigger problem than the military wants to admit and it cost Mr. Reynolds his career. He was honorably discharged but no longer of any use to our military branch so I took him in and look at how he’s flourished. He’s a natural when it comes to deception. Even having to pretend to be in love with some . . . trailer park trash like you.”
I looked at Pyro and he wouldn’t meet my eyes. He looked away as if ashamed by the words—or hard truths—coming from his superior’s mouth.
“So, if I don’t start to talk about my dad’s MC . . . what happens to me?”
“You’ll go to prison for the murder of Fernando Navarro. He was an informant—a very important one—and you killed him. I’ll try to talk the federal prosecutors out of seeking the death penalty. Seriously, I think you should be willing to do the time if I may speak freely. Lethal injection is too good for someone like you. Hell, if it were up to me, I think the U.S. penal system should really adopt the guillotine. It’s kind of hard to muck up chopping a person’s head off, don’t you think? I mean, all these civil rights cases you hear about in the news about how they can’t even kill people in an efficient manner . . . well, not even the southern states could fuck up that method of killing people.” She studied her perfectly short manicured nails as if we were talking about the weather.
“Do I have time to discuss this with Pyro?”
“Of course you do. Exactly twenty-four hours. I’m due to give a speech for the lead female Presidential candidate tomorrow so I’m pressed for time. Maarten, give me a call—I need to know the answer before I make my speech, not after.” She finished her dirty martini and stood. “Now you two love birds have a nice dinner and order whatever you like. Dinner is on me—or shall I say the American taxpayer—one and the same, really. So, try to be . . . careful and a bit on the frugal side.”
I bit my lip and waited until she left the restaurant before I glanced at Maarten. “I thought Fernando was truly the only person I have ever wanted to kill but Eve Kerrigan is now at the top of my list.”
“Strike her off your list. If she’s murdered, all hell would break loose. She didn’t come to her position easily—she’s had to sacrifice a lot so forgive her for being the biggest, most flagrantly outrageous bitch you’ve ever come across. She has her reasons.” Pyro signaled a waitress and we ordered drinks before we studied our menus.
It was no use though because I no longer had an appetite.
Epilogue
Mira
It’s strange what a person can get used to when you truly love someone with all your heart and soul.
I wanted to hate Pyro for knowing I’d been sleeping with the enemy all along. The moment I crawled into his bed, I’d sealed my fate and didn’t even know it. However that was no one’s fault but my own and I still loved him so very much.
He loved me too and that softened the blow that night after we got home from a miserable dinner.
“I couldn’t reveal my true feelings because Eve will use them against me. She can never know how much you mean to me. If she does then she will ride you harder than ever and I won’t have her do that to you. I’ll protect you in every way I can. I promise.”
I believed him too because Pyro had no reason to lie. I knew the truth now and there was nothing else he could use as a bargaining tool. They played their winning hand—if it had been a game of Poker then they were holding a Royal Flush while I felt so happy with my straight flush. We weren’t even in the same league, and the only option I had on the table was to play along and see how much of my family I would betray before all of this was over.
Eve had promised a long, slow demise so there was time to warn my most cherished family members but then I had to truly think about whether they deserved any mercy from me after the childhood I’d been through. I found myself questioning my own twisted loyalty to a family who was ashamed of me for not being pure.
Of course everything changed the day I found out I was pregnant. It was late February and I was absolutely terrified it was Fernando’s child until my OB-GYN informed me I was seven weeks along. Who knew? The first time Pyro and I had sex, he’d hit a bull’s eye. There was absolutely no way anyone other than the man I loved was the father of my child.
It was then I realized I had a family of my own to protect. The child growing in my belly did not ask to be born, and if I refused and went to prison then I wouldn’t see my child grow up at all. That would never be an option because I vowed to be a better mother to my son or daughter than my mother ever was to Loire and me.
Pyro took the news pretty much like I thought he would. He was over the moon and wanted to make love to me before he fucked me, and then made a candle light dinner for me.
“I love you, baby, you know that right? And I swear I’ll be the best Dad possible to our little one.”
“I know you will and I love you too, sweetie. Everything just moved between us so fast . . . and I know we have history but I don’t want us to burn so bright we burn out before we know it . . . you know what I mean?” I grabbed his hand closest to mine and held it in my own.
He squeezed back. “I promise from now on out, we can slow down. I promise not to ask you to
marry me until you’re at least eight months and then we can just go do it in a quiet ceremony in a chapel downtown. I don’t care. As long as I get to spend the rest of my life with you and our child.”
I smiled brightly. “Well, ask me again in another six months and one week.”
Pyro stood from the dining room table. “And now for the pièce de résistance—dessert. I know you’re going to love it.” He walked out as my phone began to ring and I looked at it quickly but the number came up as Unavailable.
I had no wish to answer it but with my curiosity piqued, I pressed the green button and said, “Hello?”
There was a deep masculine laughter that made my blood run cold. Was it my father or my uncle? How the hell did they get this number?
“So, how is my little chica?”
It was Fernando Navarro.
How could that be when I murdered the man?
“In case you’re wondering whether I’m calling you from Hell, alas, I’m not. I had a body double like most men in my position of power. You murdered him, not me. Unfortunately, now I have to play dead because you gave me the perfect out and for that, I must thank you. However, I’ll never forget what you did so if I were you, I would spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. You never know when I will rise from the dead.”
The line clicked just as Pyro walked in with a homemade red velvet cake. “I know it’s your favorite—Estelle told me.”
I smiled even though a call from a man I thought I had murdered rattled me a bit.
“Thank you,” I whispered, trying to keep the tears at bay.
“No, thank you for coming into my life and turning it upside down and inside out. I’m a better person because of you, Mira.”
Pyro kissed me softly on the lips and I knew he meant it.
Perhaps I had judged Eve Kerrigan a tad too harshly.
If she and the man by my side could keep the demons from my door then I’d made the right choice.
I was willing to do it so I wouldn’t have to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.
Even if I would have to turn my back on more loved ones than I cared to admit, and burn more than a few bridges to pay for that debt.
The End
Think Mira and Pyro’s story is over?
Think again.
Ride to Resurrection
Book Five in The Rough Riders MC Series
Coming Winter of 2015
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SE Chardou is the darker side of professional liar and world-class traveler.
Ms. Chardou’s writing is usually either dark romance or psychological thrillers with mystery and suspense aspects weaved into the plotline.
She is currently working on a vast array of books about good girls gone bad, bikers, gangsters, cartels, and any other subject she finds remotely interesting enough to add a dark, psychological twist.
When not writing, she enjoys daydreaming about her next trip to France, jet-setting across the country to author signings and playing taxi driver to her school-age daughters.
Ms. Chardou currently resides with her two children and their multitude of stuffed animals in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Website: Novels That Rock
Blog: The Realm of Selene Chardou
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Future Novels by SE Chardou
Dance With The Devil Trilogy (Dark Romance/Romantic Suspense)
Devil’s Play (Summer, 2015)
The Southern Outlaw Series (Romantic Suspense/Psychological Thriller)
The Syndicate (Fall, 2015)
Stand-Alone Novels
Trophy: Book I (April, 2015) [Romantic Erotica/Erotica Suspense]
Trophy: Book II (May, 2015) [Romantic Erotica/Erotica Suspense]
Trophy: Book III (May, 2015) [Romantic Erotica/Erotica Suspense]
Beyond The Pale (Autumn, 2015) [Psychological Suspense & Thriller]
Future Novels by Selene Chardou
The Rough Riders MC Series (Romantic Suspense/Contemporary Romance)
Ride to Love (Hardy & Talia) [Summer, 2015]
Ride to Resurrection (Pyro & Mira) [Winter, 2015]
Road To Redemption (Misty & Paddy) – Stand-alone companion novel [Autumn, 2015]
Scarlet Fever Series (New Adult/Contemporary Romance/Women’s Literature)
Jaded Faith (Spring, 2015)
Grant’s Muse (Autumn, 2015)
The Lovers Duet (New Adult/Romantic Mystery & Suspense/Contemporary Romance)
Above The Fray (Winter, 2015)
Future Novels by Blanche Hardin
Break Her Trilogy (Dark Romance/Psychological Thriller/Mystery/Suspense)
Tempt (Summer, 2015)
Crave (Autumn, 2015)
Future Novels by Elle Chardou
The Vamp Saga (Paranormal Romance / Urban Fantasy)
Mortal Death: Book I (Published by Permuted Press, Summer 2015)
Better Off Immortal: Book II (Published by Permuted Press, Autumn 2015)
Queen of the Immortals: Book III (Published by Permuted Press 2015/2016
Immortal Dawn: Book IV (Published by Permuted Press 2015/2016)