by Harley Stone
“Who the hell are you to her?” Wesley asked him.
“Nobody. He means nothing to me.” I reluctantly closed the last of the distance between me and Wesley, settling my hand on his arm while my heart tried to pound out of my chest, and my stomach roiled. “Just a bodyguard, and obviously not a good one since he couldn’t protect me. You’re right. This whole thing with the biker was a test. I wanted you to man up and show me how savage you could be. I like it rough.”
Knees knocking, lips dry, I hoped I looked more convincing than I felt.
Wesley stared at me.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Stocks. The color was draining from his face, but he was still trying to move forward. To stop Wesley. He’d die, and I couldn’t let that happen.
Swallowing back bile, I leaned in and kissed Wesley’s cheek. Then I whispered in his ear, “Now take me home and show me how rough you can get.”
I knew I was signing my own death warrant. Wesley would try to take me up on my offer, and there was no way in hell I’d let him. Desire flared his nostrils and darkened his eyes as he wrapped an arm around my waist and tucked his gun inside his jacket.
Relieved, that he’d put the weapon away, I let out a breath.
But then the barrel of the silencer dug into my side, forcing a gasp out of me. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Jules, but if you try anything, I’ll kill you and then come back to finish him off. In fact… wait. We can’t leave him like this. You know better than that. What’s that you always said about leaving loose ends.”
“Not murder,” I argued. “This is different. I never killed anyone.”
“But you want to see what a badass I can be.” He leveled the pistol at Stocks once again.
His finger started squeezing the trigger, and I had to do something. No time to think, I shoved his arm away. There was another loud THWACK, but the shot went wide, hitting one of my bookshelves. Before Wesley could recover, I grabbed for the gun and kneed him in the balls.
“Fuck!” he shouted.
I pulled my leg up to do it again.
With his attention torn between protecting his junk and wrestling with me for his weapon, his grip was weak. I dug my fingernails into his wrists and he cried out and backhanded me with his other hand. My face stung, my vision blurred, and stars danced before my eyes. My grip loosened, and he almost got the gun away from me.
But now I was really pissed. I gave him another hard knee to the crotch.
“Stupid bitch!” he shouted, trying to block my attacks.
My nails dug into his wrist again.
“Shit! Fuck! Stop that!”
I dug in harder. His grip on the gun loosened, and I tugged it free. Taking one big step back, placing myself between Wesley and Stocks, I leveled the gun at my ex. Eyeing me with a mixture of hate and lust, he raised his hands in the air.
“Easy, Julia. You know I wouldn’t have hurt you.”
“I don’t know shit about you anymore. You were sex-trafficking teenage girls, you bastard. You lied to me about that note in your briefcase. The one you said was about strippers for some out of town clients.”
His expression hardened. “You should have kept your nose out of my shit. All of this could have been prevented.”
“But then I’d still be married to a fucking monster. No thanks.” Unwilling to take my eyes off Wesley I took a step to the side, so I could better see Stocks in my peripheral. “How you holding up, Stocks? Is there something I can do to stop the blood flow?”
“I need an ambulance.”
And I could hear sirens closing in on our building. “They’re on the way,” I replied, hoping I sounded surer than I felt. “Morse put up cameras in here and he’s monitoring the place. I’m sure those sirens are coming for you. Just hold on, okay?”
“They won’t be in time,” Wesley said. “He’ll be dead, and you and I will be long gone before they arrive.”
The insinuation that he would somehow regain control of the situation made my skin crawl and my finger itch to pull the trigger. His death would be so convenient, solving all my problems. I’d have access to my trust account again. My building wouldn’t be purchased. I could even go back to the house we’d shared and collect all the possessions I’d abandoned in my haste to get away from the sleaze ball.
And as for letting him live… there were no real benefits to that.
I released a breath and took aim, steadying my arm. This time, I wouldn’t miss.
Havoc’s voice flooded my mind, reminding me that I was no longer this person. That I was better. He believed in me. He trusted me. I wanted to be the woman he thought I could be.
But if I let Wesley live, he’d never give up. He’d take everything from me. What if next time, he shot Havoc?
Stocks’s legs gave out, and he slid down the counter to the floor, his eyes closing.
“Stocks!” I shouted.
He mumbled something incoherent.
“Clock’s tickin’ on that one,” Wesley said with an unconcerned shrug. “Better get him help before he bleeds out.”
That’s what Wesley wanted. He wanted to divert my attention so he could get the gun. I was sure of it, because that’s exactly what I would do if our roles were reversed.
The sirens were getting closer.
I didn’t know what to do. I took another step toward Stocks, but Wesley followed me.
“Stay back!” I shouted, waving the gun at him.
My arm was shaking, probably from holding the weapon outstretched for so long.
“Stocks,” I said, nudging him with my foot. “How you doing, buddy?”
Wesley leaped at me, scowling as his arms flailed for the gun.
I couldn’t let him get it. I fired. He grabbed my hands. I fired again. His face twisted in pain and his grip loosened. I fired again. He stumbled back, grabbing his chest, his expression disbelieving.
“You shot me.”
Multiple times, and I’d do it again. Still pointing the gun at him, I said, “I told you to stay back.”
Wesley crumpled to the floor. Blood seeped out of all three wounds, creating an abstract triangle in the middle of his chest. “You fucking bitch, you shot me.”
“Sorry, not sorry,” I whispered, still watching him.
His eyes closed, and his breathing grew ragged. He was gasping for air.
Keeping the gun in hand, and one eye on Wesley, I bent and checked Stocks for a pulse. Weak, but still there. I let out a sigh of relief.
Lights filled the street in front of the bookstore.
Someone pounded on the back door.
There was a loud crash, and then Havoc was there, his eyes wide and wild. “You okay?” he asked.
Unable to speak, I nodded. Yes. I was okay. Wesley was not. I kept the gun trained on the bastard just in case.
“It’s okay,” Havoc said. “Everything will be fine.”
“I wasn’t going to… Then he came at me, and… I had to. I’m not sorry.”
“I get it, babe. It’s okay.” He crouched and checked Stocks’s pulse. “I’m gonna need some clean rags, babe. Can you go get me some?”
I gestured at Wesley with the gun. “What about him?”
“Put the gun on the counter. I don’t think he’ll be getting back up, but if he does, I’ll take care of it.”
As I set the gun down, Havoc wrapped one arm around me, keeping the other hand pressed against Stocks’s stomach.
“It’ll be all right, babe,” he reassured me. “I’ve got you. I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”
Tears were racing down my face. I let out another sob, and then straightened, needing to force the strength to get through this. “I already told you, Marcus, it was my job to put that bullet in his heart.”
The front door burst open and the police rushed in, shouting at us to put our hands in the air.
Havoc
Two months later
“YOU GOT THE rings?” Link asked me for the fifth time in as many mi
nutes. I wanted to tell him to fuck off and carry his own goddamn rings. I had one job, did he really think I was going to fuck it up? Still, I understood that my friend was a wreck, and I couldn’t fault him for coming off like a paranoid foreman on his first job. Emily was his world, and he wanted to give her the wedding she was worthy of. As Link had said, he loved her, and would do anything for her. And I would do anything for Link, which explained why I found myself wearing a monkey suit for the second time this year, putting up with his crazy anxiety.
“Got ’em,” I said, patting one of the three things currently in my jacket pockets as I smiled to myself. Link would lose his shit if I gave him the wrong box.
“I’m sure he hasn’t lost the damn rings since the last time you asked, Prez,” Wasp added, as always, having a little fun at Link’s expense. “What’s wrong? You having second thoughts? Ready to hock the rings and head to Vegas? You’re not turning into a yellowbelly on us, are you?”
“Fuck off, Wasp,” Link growled. Then he seemed to remember that there was a preacher standing beside him and apologized.
“That’s quite all right,” the preacher said, gesturing toward the back of the room where Link’s father, Jake, was waving like a mad man. “Looks like the ladies are ready for you, though.”
Wasp, Eagle, and I left Link to stand alone with the preacher in the front of the room. Above his head, a giant clock ticked away the minutes left of his bachelorhood. Emily had suggested the fire station for the venue, but Link had called in a favor to surprise her with a booking of the Joni Earl Great Hall at Union Station. And as I walked under the barrel-vaulted ceilings with inset lights, past the rows of padded chairs, toward the black and white mosaic dance floor, I had to give my boy mad props for pulling this shit off. Any woman who got married here would feel like a fucking queen. Emily was good people and she deserved the best. She deserved Link.
“Can’t believe he’s tying the knot,” Wasp said as we made the trek down the aisle. Then something caught his attention. He winked, and I followed his gaze to find a cute little brunette sitting toward the back of the room.
She rolled her eyes and looked away, low-key flipping him off in the process.
Eagle chuckled. “You better leave Carly alone before Flint kicks your ass.”
“Carly?” I asked.
“Flint’s new bartender. Wasp has been trying to get into her pants for months now, but she doesn’t want anything to do with this asshole.”
“She’s just playing hard to get,” Wasp said with a shrug. “I’ll get her. You’ll see.”
“Your funeral,” Eagle replied as we came to a stop.
I cast one more glance over my shoulder to find Link fiddling with his cuff links. I’d been in the trenches with him, literally and metaphorically, but I’d never seen him so goddamn nervous in my life. Chuckling and shaking my head, I turned to face Jake. “They’re ready?”
As Link’s best man, I’d be walking down the aisle with Jayson, Emily’s man of honor. Not my first choice, but at least it’d be entertaining. With Jayson around, things usually were. Since it would probably kill Emily’s colorful assistant to do anything normal, he’d opted out of wearing a traditional black suit, and scooted around the corner in a tight-ass emerald green getup to match the bridesmaids.
“Havoc,” Jayson said, eyeing me up and down before licking his lips. “You look absolutely delicious.”
Jayson’s open appreciation of the male form was difficult for some of my brothers to stomach, but I was comfortable enough with my own masculinity that I didn’t let that shit bother me. “Thanks. You look…” What the fuck could I say? He looked the Riddler about to make his porn debut. He just needed a pimp hat and a cane.
“Dashing,” Jayson provided, saving me from coming up with an answer. “Also acceptable are dapper, stylish, debonair, and sexy as fuck.”
I chuckled, holding out my arm. Jayson took it with a shit-eating grin. “You ready to do this?” I asked.
“Watch my favorite girl start her happily ever after with a tattooed beefcake? Absolutely. I cannot wait to see Link’s face when she appears. That big bad biker is going to bawl like a baby. You might, too, you know? If you need a shoulder to cry on, you know I’ll be here for you, big boy.”
We started our walk. “Thanks, but Julia sees to my needs just fine.”
“I bet.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “She’s good for you. You smile a lot more when she’s around. Of course, I could make your fine ass smile, too.”
Still chuckling, I dropped him on Emily’s side of the preacher before taking my place beside Link.
Wasp and Naomi came down the aisle next. Naomi was Link’s sister, and the most badass broad I’d ever met. I’d seen her beat a man’s ass with a wrench once when questioned why she thought she should work in the auto shop. Even the strapless, floor length green dress she wore couldn’t soften the hard lines and angles of her body as she marched up the aisle, looking every bit the Air Force helicopter pilot she was. She’d taken leave for the wedding and the club couldn’t have been happier to have her home. It had been one big party since she arrived. Even if her presence turned Eagle into a star-crossed pussy. Those two shared a complicated history that it would take a magician to unravel. But since Naomi would ship out again soon, that would have to wait.
And we’d have to deal with Eagle pining over her like a little bitch.
Wasp settled Naomi beside Jayson, and then joined me and Link.
The next couple required my full attention, because Eagle had Julia on his arm. She was so gorgeous that the sight took my goddamn breath away. Hair up, dress clinging to her incredible curves, her bright green eyes locked on mine as she walked down the aisle. It took everything in me not to tug her fine ass away from Eagle. Eagle glanced at me, and then picked up the pace, hurrying Julia along. She gave me a knowing smirk as she took her place beside Naomi.
Naomi’s gaze fixed on Eagle, and I was hellah glad there were no wrenches in reach.
Finally, the music changed, and Emily began her walk down the aisle on the arm of Jake. Her soon-to-be father-in-law was the closest thing she had to a dad, and he’d been so goddamn over-the-moon when she’d asked him to do the honors, he hadn’t shut up about it for days. Grin stretched across his face, he patted Emily’s hand and dutifully marched her toward us.
A strangled sound came from Link. I looked up to find my friend tearing up as he stared at his bride. I couldn’t blame him. Emily was quite the sight in her long white dress, smiling at him as her own eyes flooded with emotion. Jake kissed her cheek and offered her to Link before taking a seat beside his wife.
The ceremony was quick, but the kiss Link sealed it with wasn’t. We’d packed the Great Hall with guests, and every rambunctious one of them hooted and hollered as Link dipped Emily back and attacked her mouth there in front of God and all the witnesses. The preacher cleared his throat and took a step back. When Link finally let Emily up for air, they were both disheveled and panting. The preacher, no doubt in a hurry to make it legal before they consummated, presented Mr. and Mrs. Tyler Lincoln.
The wedding party was shoved together for pictures, and then it was time to party.
Having plans for my own party, I grabbed Julia’s hand and led her away from the festivities, toward the private room the bridal party had used to get ready.
Havoc
“What are you doing?” Julia asked, giggling as she let me pull her away. “The party’s in that direction.”
“I know. I got you a surprise.” I closed and locked the dressing room door behind us.
Her eyebrows rose at the insinuation, as her hand ran along the seam of my jacket, drifting down toward my pants. “Just what kind of surprise are you talking about here, Marcus?”
Since the shooting, she’d taken to using my given name in private, and it had never sounded better.
“You know how you said you wanted to have sex in public, but on the down low?”
Her eyes wi
dened, and her pupils dilated. She leaned against me. “Yes?”
I tugged a small bag out of my pocket and dumped its contents into my palm. It was a curved, pink vibrator designed to fit up against her g-spot with a u-shaped tail that would press against her clit and serve as an antenna. She leaned closer, getting a better view. I pressed the power button, and an internal light came on. “This goes inside of you, with this little thing against your clit. I’ll use an app on my phone to remotely operate it.”
Her jaw dropped in mock dismay, but her gaze stayed firmly on the toy. “It’s your best friend’s wedding, Marcus. I can’t be wearing a vibrator during it.”
“The wedding’s over. This is for the reception and you know all those motherfuckers are out there getting hammered. Nobody will know what we’re doing. And trust me, if Link did know, his horny ass would approve. You better believe he’d go right out and buy one for Emily. Probably already has.”
The look in her eyes, and the thought of her walking around in a room full of our closest friends while I controlled her pleasure, was making me so damn hard I could barely see straight.
“Come on, babe, it’ll be fun.”
“Oh, I’m sure it will be.” She took the vibrator from me and studied it. “So, I just stick it inside me?”
“Want me to do it?” I offered, pulling out a small bottle of lube.
She took the lube, shaking her head. “I think I can manage.”
“Can I at least watch?”
She considered the question for a moment before nodding. Then, she leaned against the wall and slowly raised the hem of her dress up her long, sexy legs to her waist.
“Here, let me help you with that,” I said, holding up her dress to free her hands.
“You’re always so helpful,” she said with a giggle.
I shrugged, eyeing her lacy white thong. I couldn’t wait to get her out of that later. “I do what I can.”
