by Sybil Bartel
Tarquin “Candle” Scott.
Candle. Ha. That street name was a joke, but he wasn’t. He came out of the Army a different man. Hell, maybe it was before that when he’d…. I shook my head and the fucking living room spun.
Shit.
I fell to the couch then snatched my cell off the coffee table. Trying to force my eyes to focus, I looked at the text for the hundredth time, but the words drifted and my arm wobbled with the weight of predawn whiskey.
I tossed the stupid phone back on the coffee table. Fuck it. I didn’t need to see the text anyway. I knew what it said.
Coming home, baby. Need to see you. Wait for me.
I wasn’t his baby.
This wasn’t my home.
I didn’t wait for anyone.
Except I did.
I’d waited six long, bloodletting, torturous months for him to come home… the boy who’d ruined my life.
The front door rattled as someone pounded on it.
EVERYTHING I’D BEEN TAUGHT NOT to do, I did.
No recon, no backup, no visuals, no intel, I pulled the rented SUV up to south Florida’s most notorious MCs sergeant at arms’s house. The sun barely above the horizon, my only advantage was the early hour. I scanned the dark house.
Mierda.
I crossed myself and got out of the vehicle.
Five strides later, I banged on the door like a fucking amateur. My hand on my piece, I spotted movement behind the curtains, then I heard her voice.
“Go away,” she growled.
Even muffled through a door, hearing her voice sent a shockwave through my veins like hearing automatic fire downrange. It’d been six months since I’d heard that voice, but I remembered it like it was yesterday. “Open up, chica.”
Silence.
“Come on, chica. I’m here to check on you.”
“Cuban Boy?” she asked in a small voice.
Alarm hit my gut. Something was off. Seriously off. The Kendall I’d met had never spoken without confidence. “Yeah, baby girl. The one and only. Let me in.” I glanced behind me.
She fumbled with the lock, then the door swung open.
Jesucristo.
Her eyes bloodshot, makeup running down her face, she smiled. “Cuban Boy!” She launched herself at me.
An empty tumbler in her hand, she threw her arms around my neck, and her mouth crashed over mine. A lethal dose of whiskey on her breath, she tried to kiss me as the hand holding the glass thumped against the back of my head.
Taken off guard, I grabbed her arms and pushed her back. “Hey,” I barked, with more force than I intended.
Her eyes glazed, then a scowl spread across her face. “If you didn’t want to kiss me, then why the fuck are you here?” She slurred her words.
Dios mio. It wasn’t even oh-seven-hundred. “How long you been drinking?” Not waiting for an answer, I stepped her back inside and let go of her.
She stumbled.
“Whoa, chica.” I caught her arm.
She giggled. “Since yesterday, or last week. Maybe last month.” She looked up at me and the sneer returned. “I hate your stupid handsome face. How come you shut me down? Wait.” She shook her head and swayed. “You don’t get to answer that. I don’t care.” She frowned. “I hate you, remember?”
Ignoring the hate comment, I caught a glimpse of an almost empty fifth of whiskey on the coffee table. No wonder she hadn’t been at work. “Still with the attitude.”
She snorted. “You expected different?” As if just realizing I was holding on to her, she looked down at her arm. Yanking it away, she spun and aimed for the couch. Two paces short, she pitched.
I reacted. “Mierda.” My arms went around her waist and I caught her, but a split second later, all hell broke loose.
The saucy drunk who’d opened the door in a too-short nightgown instantly turned into a hellcat. A fiery roar crawled out of her chest and filled the house as her head whipped back in defense.
Instinct had me turning away from the blow, but she still caught me in the jaw. My teeth knocked together as both of her heels kicked back into my shins. Her elbows hit my ribs, and I fucking grunted as I stumbled a step. “Jesucristo, chica,” I barked. “Relax!”
“LET GO.” Her small body amped up to Mach-one flailing. Arms hitting, legs kicking, head thrashing, she fucking let loose.
With the glass coffee table a foot in front of us, I wasn’t about to let go. “Calm down.” I took a step sideways.
The hand holding the glass swung up, and a bottom-heavy tumbler slammed into my temple.
“Fuck.”
“I said let go!” she screamed.
Blood dripped down my face, and I lost my fucking temper. “Damn it, woman! I’m not here to fucking hurt you.” For fuck’s sake.
The front door flew open.
“Put her down, Luna,” Candle snarled.
Motherfucker. “Stand the fuck down, Scott,” I warned. His homecoming was probably the reason she’d been drinking. Fucking asshole had been locked up for six months. I knew he was getting released today. It’s why I’d called Roark and asked him to get me here before the crack of dawn. I’d stupidly wanted to give her an out before he came home.
“I hate you!” Kendall screamed, flailing against my arms. Her hair, six inches longer than the last time I saw her, whipped across my face, and I wasn’t sure which one of us she was yelling at.
Candle glared at me like I was a fucking tool. “Don’t grab her from behind.” He took Kendall’s face in both hands and dropped his voice. “Take a fucking breath, baby. Right now.”
“I hate you!” She kicked Candle in the thigh.
Candle didn’t flinch. “No you don’t, baby.”
“You left me!”
For half a second, Candle’s face fell, then he locked that shit down. “Who takes care of you?” he demanded.
Her limbs went slack, and her weight shifted in my arms. “You left me.”
“I didn’t leave, baby.” Candle took her from me. “I got locked up.”
Her arms wrapped around his neck. “You left me alone,” she accused.
Candle sank to the couch with her in his lap. His hands all over her back and hair, he touched her like a man touches his woman. “I know, but I’m here now.”
Not his woman, my fucking ass. Pissed off at myself, at her, at Candle, at fucking Talon, I turned to go as the distinct sound of exhaust pipes coming down the street filled the small living room.
“Luna,” Candle barked. “Wait. I need to talk to you.”
I didn’t have shit to say to him. I was a fucking fool for coming here. “Not happening.”
“This isn’t about me.”
My first mistake was not leaving.
My second was turning the fuck around.
Candle tipped his chin toward the hallway as he held Kendall in his arms and stroked her back like he was her fucking savior. Worse, she clung to him like she needed every fucking lie he was selling. “First aid kit’s in the bathroom,” he told me.
Irrationally angry at him for touching her, I did what I should’ve done the second he’d shown up. “I’m out.” Fuck the blood on my face. It was nothing compared to being shot at. I reached the door just as it burst open.
Five LCMC members walked in like a fucking parade of convicts-r-us.
“Can-daaaaaaal!” the first one shouted.
The second glanced at me and smirked. “Already fucking shit up, Candle?”
The third one eyed the broken glass on the rug then put his hand on a holstered 9mm. “Need me to take out the trash?”
The fourth asshole had his gaze glued to Kendall’s ass as it practically hung out of her short nightgown. He grabbed his dick. “Fuck yeah, let’s team this bitch.” He lifted the hem of her nightdress.
It was automatic. My gun was out and trained on the biker before I drew a single breath. “Hands off,” I warned, glaring at him.
Candle smacked the prick’s hand away. “You so much
as fucking breathe on her and you’re dead.” He eyed every asshole. “She’s under my protection.”
Four LCs froze as if in shock.
But the fifth one moved. He pulled out a gun and aimed at Kendall’s head. His murderous glare shot from Kendall’s back to Candle. “What the fuck?” Incredulous, irate, his trigger finger twitched. “Are you fucking kidding me, Sarge?”
My aim went to number five’s head.
“Drop it, Rip,” Candle barked.
“No fucking way,” Rip seethed. “Do you know who—”
“Shut the fuck up!” Candle threw Kendall off his lap and was in Rip’s face so fast, he didn’t have time to react. Grabbing the barrel of Rip’s gun and shoving it down, Candle fumed. “Walk the fuck outside, now!”
Chest heaving, looking like he could taste murder, Rip spat at Candle’s feet. “This ain’t over.” He walked out.
The first biker dropped to the couch next to Kendall.
Candle glared at the other three. “I told you all to wait at the clubhouse.”
My instincts on high alert, I trained my aim on the asshole who’d sat down next to Kendall.
Smirking at me, he tipped his chin toward Candle. “What clubhouse, Sarge?” He fingered the hem of Kendall’s nightgown, taunting me.
“Try that again,” I warned, “and it’ll be your last move.” I didn’t give two fucks about taking any of these assholes out.
Kendall slapped his hand. “Fuck you, small dick. Don’t touch me.”
Candle grabbed the asshole off the couch by the front of his shirt. “Get the fuck out of my house, Link.”
Link held up his hands with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Didn’t do nothing, Sarge, but I’ll wait outside. Keep Rip company.”
Candle shoved Link back then pointed at the door. “Out.” He glared at the remaining three LCs. “All of you, get the fuck out. I got business with Luna.”
The second one chuckled. “We’ll give you ten, Sarge. Should be enough time to handle your shit and get your dick wet. Come on, assholes.” He walked out with the other two on his heels.
I waited till the door closed, then I holstered my weapon.
Candle trained his glare on Kendall. “I told you not to taunt them.”
“Hey,” I barked. “She didn’t do a damn thing.” Except move in with an asshole like you.
Candle jabbed a finger at my chest. “Stay the fuck outta this.”
I was already in it, whatever the fuck this was. You didn’t pull a gun on an LCMC and not have them remember it. “Who did Rip think she was?”
“I’m right here, and I don’t need to listen to you assholes talk about me.” Kendall stood up.
Candle spun back toward her. “I’m out five goddamn minutes and you’re already getting into it? You’re not supposed to fucking drink.” His tone firm, he sounded more worried than pissed off.
“And your asshole bikers aren’t supposed to pull a gun on me!” Yelling at Candle, she sounded a hell of a lot more sober than she had two minutes ago.
Candle ran his hands through his hair. “Jesus Christ, woman. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“You heard Cuban Boy,” Kendall taunted. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Candle’s face contorted with anger. “You were drinking before sunup!” he roared.
“They came back!” she yelled.
Candle’s shoulders sagged, and the anger bled out of his tone. “We’ve been through this.” He stepped up to her and grasped her chin. “You know what to do, babe.”
“No.” Shaking free of him, she pushed him away. “I’m not taking pills to fucking sleep.”
What the hell did she have nightmares about?
“Goddamn it, woman.” Candle’s hands went to his hips as his demeanor changed from pissed off and worried to resigned. “Get some clothes on and pack a bag. You’re going with Luna.”
“If she’s coming with me, I want answers.” I wasn’t walking blind into whatever the hell just happened.
Candle barely spared me a glance. “All you need to know is she’s going with you.”
Panic spread across Kendall’s features. “You promised.”
Candle gripped her chin. “You know how this works. I make the rules, you follow them. Get. Dressed.”
The Kendall I’d first met—the one who was all mouth and attitude, the one who would never give a man the upper hand—she showed back up.
Her hands went to Candle’s chest and she shoved him, hard. “Fuck you, you worthless piece of shit biker.” She spat the last word out with venom.
Candle pretended to stumble back as he smiled wide. “That’s my girl.” He chuckled. “Now go clean up.”
She stomped out of the room.
Candle’s smile dropped the second her door slammed shut. “What the fuck did you do to set her off? Why’s she drinking?”
Was he fucking serious? I didn’t bother telling him he was an asshole. “You lied.”
“I lie about a lot of shit.” He walked to the kitchen and grabbed a towel off the oven door. “You’re gonna have to be more specific.” He tossed the towel at me.
I grabbed it and pressed it to my head. “Who the hell did Rip think she was?”
“No one.”
Bullshit. “She’s your woman.” That much was fucking obvious.
Candle laughed. “I thought you were fucking smart, marine.”
“I know what I saw, ranger.” I pulled the towel back and glanced at it. No glass, and the bleeding had all but stopped. Thank fuck for small favors. “Sober her up, then tell her she’s fired. Talon replaced her when she didn’t show up for work all last week.” I tossed the towel on the counter and turned to walk out.
“Wait.”
If I was smart, I would’ve kept walking. I would’ve forgotten about the brunette in the short black nightgown, and fucked someone else for the night. But ever since I’d laid eyes on her six months ago, my dick started calling the shots. Worse, I listened. “What?”
“I need a favor.”
I turned around. “You’re not in a position to ask a favor.” He had nothing to offer in return. I didn’t give a shit how decorated his Army Ranger past was. I ran a rock-solid, legit security firm. I didn’t fuck with parolees freshly out on assault charges, let alone MC assholes that needed a favor. “Find someone else.”
He ignored me. “I need you to get her out of here. A few days, a week. I’m cleaning up what’s left of the LCs. Then I’m regrouping.” He braced his hands on the counter. “It’s gonna get bloody.”
Cleanup or not, he was bullshitting me. He wanted her watched over, and as much as my dick would’ve been down with that plan, I wasn’t getting involved in whatever the hell they were hiding. “Find someone else to babysit your girlfriend.”
“Goddamn it. She’s not my fucking girlfriend.” He pushed off the counter. “She never was.”
“Who is she?” I demanded.
He threw his hands up and evaded. “She’s my fucking responsibility, okay?”
“You’re an asshole,” Kendall bit out.
We both spun around at the sound of her voice.
Her arms crossed, her face scrubbed clean, Kendall stood in the living room in the same short nightgown, glaring daggers at Candle. “I never asked you to take care of me.”
“Jesus fuck,” Candle muttered. “I’m not having this conversation. You know how it ends. Get some clothes on, woman. You’re going with Luna for a few days.”
She eyed her keys on the counter, then her gaze cut to the front door.
“Shit,” Candle muttered.
Faster than I would’ve thought possible, Kendall went for the front door.
“Luna,” Candle barked.
“On it.” Closer to her than Candle, I moved. But I’d learned my lesson in grabbing her from behind the first time. “Incoming,” I warned.
“Right behind you,” Candle answered, moving in on my six.
I scooped Kendall up from behind and
tossed her to a waiting Candle.
Kendall shrieked as Candle caught her, but she didn’t start kicking him. “Put me down!”
Candle held her tight to his chest and dropped his voice. “You know I don’t ask you for anything.”
Kendall stilled, but she spat words out at him. “I hate you.”
For a second, torment clouded his face. “I know, baby.”
I felt like a fucking voyeur at the same time I wanted to pry her out of his arms. “I don’t have all day. I’ve got a plane waiting.”
His gaze locked on her, Candle ignored me. “You need to do this for me. You need to go with him.”
Panic laced her features, then something close to resignation followed. “I have to work.”
“You lost your job when you didn’t show last week. Luna was here to deliver the message.” Candle set her down but then grabbed the sides of her face. “I’m just asking for a few days. Then maybe you can come home.”
Her arms crossed in a protective stance, she looked more vulnerable than I’d ever seen her. “This isn’t my home.”
Candle sighed as he dropped his hands. “I hear you, babe, loud and clear.” He tipped his chin toward her room. “Go get dressed.”
Without another word, she went to her room.
My head grasping for any fucking logical explanation, I looked at Candle. “Start talking.”
“Can’t,” he muttered, grabbing the bottle of whiskey off the coffee table. He took three gulps and closed his eyes. “You know what you miss most when you’re locked up?” He opened his eyes and focused on me. “Besides pussy?”
“Freedom. What the fuck just happened?”
“Nothing.” He took another long swig then exhaled through his teeth. “I don’t give a shit about freedom. But whiskey?” He glanced at the bottle and smiled. “That, I give a fuck about.”
“I can think of another thing you give a fuck about.” Asshole.
He nodded toward the hall. “Yeah. Well, that just makes me stupid.”
“Answer my question or I’m not doing you any favors,” I lied. I was getting her out of here no matter what.
Candle chuckled. “You’ll take her. I see the way you look at her.”
