Dominic: Cerberus MC Book 4

by Marie James

  “Come with me,” I pant already feeling the pulse in my sac. She nods, whimpers one last time, and detonates around my throbbing erection. This time, my own eyes flutter as my body jerks and fills her with every scorching drop my body has to offer.

  “Fuck, I needed that.” Her head nods against mine, and a small smile plays on her lips.

  “Me too,” she whispers. “I need to get cleaned up so I can go.”

  The fuck?

  I hold her tighter, even though I know I can’t keep her. I lose a piece of myself every time I sink into her. I’d told myself one last time was all I was going to allow. I came in here seeking just that, praying she’d welcome me, let me feel her around me one last time. The lead up wasn’t what I was planning, but seeing her packing that fucking suitcase pissed me off.

  “A meeting is scheduled later this afternoon,” I share.

  Her eyes widen, and I feel her hold on just a little tighter.

  “Figured you’d want to be there,” I add.

  She nods, and I finally release her, knowing she won’t leave. At least not until the meeting is over, and then only if she doesn’t feel like we’re all on the same page and heading in the direction of the outcome she needs.

  “Let’s shower,” I offer. “As much as I’d like to walk around smelling like you all day, we got pretty fucking messy.”

  I follow her as she leads the way into the bathroom.

  “Where have you been showering?” She tries for nonchalant, but I can still hear the edge of accusation in it.

  “I go home every day,” I answer.

  She looks over her shoulder after pulling her t-shirt and bra off. I miss the sight of her tits and fight the urge to turn her around so I can feast on them.

  “But then you come back here?” I nod “To sleep on the couch?” I nod again. “Why not just stay home and sleep comfortably in your own bed?”

  “You’re not there,” I answer truthfully.

  ***

  “He didn’t think it was weird for you to call a meeting?” Mak asks Kincaid after he explains Scorpion has been informed Cerberus needs to speak with him.

  “He didn’t question it,” Kincaid answers.

  “He didn’t seem concerned that you asked to meet him on neutral territory rather than one club or the other?”

  “He seems distracted,” my brother supplies.

  “He’s been that way for months. Disappears for days while Grinder and the other miscreants run his club. My father would turn over in his grave.” Her voice tapers off.

  “I didn’t hint what the meeting was about, and he didn’t ask a single question.”

  “How exactly is this going to go down?” She seems like she doesn’t want to ask the question because she’s afraid of the answer she’s going to get.

  I step forward, hoping if I explain it to her it will be received easier.

  “We plan to meet with Scorpion and lay out all that we know.” Her eyes narrow, doubting the plan already and I want to spank her ass for it. “You told us he doesn’t know a thing about what Grinder and the other two members are doing.”

  “I’ve known Scorpion for a long time. I’m not ignorant to the illegal things that he does, but the man I know wouldn’t be okay with the shit that’s going on,” Kincaid interrupts.

  “My brother and I don’t exactly see eye to eye, but I don’t want him caught in the crossfire when shit goes down with Grinder.” Her eyes find mine, pleading for a different answer. “Can’t you just take out Grinder and his sidekicks?”

  “If we do that,” Kincaid says before I can answer her. “We’ll have a war on our hands. We can’t take out three members of an MC and not expect retaliation.”

  “I like her idea better,” Kid mutters from the other side of the table.

  My lip twitches because I agree with him. It’s the first time in my life I want revenge, domestic laws be damned.

  “That’s not how we work,” Kincaid chastises. “We don’t go around killing people without trying to figure out a legal way to end the conflict. We’ll tell Scorpion all the gory details and go from there.”

  I see the tremble in Mak’s hands just as Kid opens his mouth again.

  “Myanmar,” he mutters as if Kincaid needs a reminder of the shit that went down there a few years ago.

  The snap of the President’s eyes in his direction shuts him up before he can argue further.

  “You’ll leave him alive?” Mak asks not even trying to hide the fear in her voice. “We’re as good as dead.”

  I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around her shoulder. She faces my brother and doesn’t even sink into the embrace I’m offering. It stings more than it should.

  “He’s not fucking walking away,” I whisper in her ear. “No matter what fucking goes down, he won’t walk away from that meeting alive.”

  Her eyes find mine, and she reads the sincerity of my promise. A tear tips over her lashes and rolls down her cheek, and if I’m not mistaken it has nothing to do with her earlier fear, but somehow is because of the compassion I’ve shown to her. My heart clenches wanting to hold onto that sentiment forever, even though I know she’ll be gone within a week, two tops.

  “Is there any chance your brother will take a meeting and not have his SAA there?” Shadow asks, speaking for the first time since the meeting commenced. He looks as tired as I do, having lost sleep while Griffin was sick with the flu.

  “Normally, I’d say no, but I think he trusts you guys so I can’t be sure.” Mak answers.

  “He’s suspicious, at least enough not to stay away. He had a feeling that Mak ran to New Mexico or he wouldn’t have shown up hunting her.” I explain. “It’s been weeks, and he hasn’t made a move on us, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have eyes out. I bet he’s feeling pretty bold right now since nothing has come of her in weeks.”

  Mak nods her head and turns to face Kincaid again. “He’s probably gearing up for his next Grinding Daddies shoot.”

  Kid groans at the words and Snatch makes a puking noise.

  “Sick fuckers,” Itchy mutters.

  “I have Blade already working on taking down the site,” Shadow explains. “He’s been able to take over, but somehow making it still available to Grinder’s IP address, so it looks like it’s still business as usual. He’s intercepting all of the reports of the site being down. He’s filtered money in as if the damn thing is still working, so Grinder and those other sick fucks don’t have a clue the site has been off the internet for weeks.”

  “Wow,” Mak says. “That’s pretty high tech.”

  Shadow laughs. “Not really. Those old fucking idiots don’t know a damned thing about technology. Blade was pretty disappointed in how easy it was. He was looking forward to a challenge.”

  “Full disclosure, Makayla,” Kincaid begins. She looks in his direction. “We’ve got his off-shore account numbers, and we have every intention of seizing those.”

  Her back stiffens under my arm.

  “Do you want the money?” I offer.

  She shakes her head violently. “I don’t want a penny of that dirty money.”

  “Atta girl,” Snatch praises.

  “Dirty or not, we’ll use it to benefit others.” I know my brother isn’t comfortable with how Cerberus obtains some of its money, but he rests easy at night knowing that he turns it around and uses it for moral things. Some money filters into rescue services, battered women’s shelters, and even relocation and new identity expenses. Helping people is costly, and we take all the help we can get.

  “When is this meeting happening?” She asks just above a whisper.

  “Next Tuesday,” Kincaid answers.

  “I’ll be ready,” she replies before turning and leaving the room.

  Chapter 35

  Makayla

  For the first time since arriving three weeks ago, I’m leaving the Cerberus clubhouse. Only this time I’m not being secreted somewhere with promises of safety; I’m headi
ng into the pits of hell, finally facing the devil himself. Dom insisted I leave all of my things in the room, but I have an eerie feeling I won’t need to return to retrieve them. A calm I have no right to feel has settled over my body. No matter the outcome of tonight, it will be over, either by Grinder’s death or my own.

  The familiar roar of bikes around the SUV driven by Dom and co-piloted by Snatch serves only to heighten the anticipation. The longer we drive, the closer we get to the undisclosed location, the weaker the calm I felt earlier grows. My stomach turns, sour with the prospect that things may not go as I want them to.

  I relish the fact that Grinder may have gotten meaner in his old age, but as nature has taken hold, he’s also grown slower, sluggish some days depending on the severity of his arthritis. The other members are still terrified of him, but he got that bluff in decades ago, and no one has questioned it since. They don’t see him the way I do. He no longer retrieves his victims himself, opting to use the brute force of other patched members. His fun begins after they’re already tied up and easily managed.

  “You’re quiet back there,” Dom says meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror.

  I glare at him in no mood to make small talk. “You want to talk about dinner plans or something? What do you want me to say?”

  Snatch chuckles but keeps his head turned, so he’s looking out his passenger side window.

  Tension fills the cab of the SUV as we continue to drive, so thick that it begins to make Snatch shift uncomfortably in his seat.

  After ten minutes of glaring at each other in the rearview mirror, Snatch speaks again.

  “Do we need to pull over so you guys can bang it out? Relieve a little stress?” Dom pulls his eyes from mine and looks over at the tattooed idiot. “The last thing we need is the mess between you two when we get there to cause problems.”

  One final time, Dom’s eyes meet mine, but this time when he pulls them away to meet the road in front of us, he doesn’t look up again. Sitting in an SUV with two big bikers, I’ve never felt more alone in my life.

  Another fifteen minutes of driving and we’re pulling off Highway 140 on the left, parking directly behind Kincaid and five other bikers. Knowing each one of them is armed makes me nervous because I know everyone standing in front of them, arriving earlier than us are heavily armed as well. This situation has the potential to be a gruesome blood bath. Jasmine is the only reason I care which direction this goes.

  “Calm down brother,” Snatch says pulling me from my morose thoughts. “You’ll get your chance.”

  I wonder then if Kincaid actually believes the meeting we’re having today is going to end up with contacting the proper authorities. Seems everyone else in the club is well aware of how things are going to go down.

  The headlights of the SUV filter around Kincaid’s back as he climbs off of his bike directly in front of my brother. My eyes sweep to the left of him and sure as the sunset, Grinder is there, sneering into the SUV. Even with heavily tinted windows, it’s as if he can penetrate the darkness and pierce me right in the heart.

  “Baby?” My eyes cut to Dom and I can tell by the look on his face that he’s tried more than once to get my attention. “You can stay here if you want. I know this can’t be easy.”

  I shake my head, refusing to allow my fear to keep me inside, not when this is my only chance to face my attacker.

  “That’s my girl,” he says with a hint of awe in his voice.

  My girl? I can only dream.

  My hands shake uncontrollably as I reach for the door handle. It takes three tries before I manage to pull it open, and by the time I do, Dom is standing outside of the vehicle waiting for me to climb down. I step free of the door, and it closes with a soft thud that echoes in my head.

  “You’re so fucking strong,” Dom says with a kiss to my temples.

  My eyes dart in the direction of the Renegades, and I don’t miss the death glare Grinder is shooting our direction. I see the menacing ownership in his eyes, the black cloud of his anger as another man touches what he deems his possession.

  Dom’s gentle hand brushes down my spine, resting on my lower back just above my ass as he guides me toward the cluster of leather-clad men.

  Feeling empowered, I lift my chin and face the group that was once my family, as fucked up as they are. As strong as I feel, I still avoid Grinder’s eyes, sweeping first over Scorpion who looks annoyed to even be standing here, as if he has something better to do. No change there. Butch’s eyes find mine. As the only man with any decency, I know I’m going to miss him the most.

  “Poison,” my brother says, the aloof tone of his voice barely registering in my ears. I hate the club name that he gave me years ago before I was even old enough to drive.

  I focus instead on the bugs chirping and the slow roll of the La Plata River in the distance. Dom’s fingers flex on my back giving me the strength I need to face tonight.

  “Scorpion,” I return.

  Lazy eyes turn to Kincaid, deferring to him as the club’s president. “What’s this meeting about?”

  From the look in his eyes when I walked up, I’m not certain my brother even knows I’ve been gone from the clubhouse for almost a month. It lets me know I won’t be missed, not that I assumed any different.

  “We’re here,” Kincaid begins, “to discuss some things that have been going on around your club.”

  My eyes then lift to Grinder’s. The twitch in his jaw lets me know he’s well aware where the direction of this conversation is going, and he’s barely keeping his rage in check.

  “You don’t need to concern yourself with my club, Kincaid. You never have before and you sure as fuck don’t need to now.” The slow drawl of my brother’s voice, the indifference in his tone doesn’t match the warning in his words.

  “You don’t think so?” Scorpion shakes his head in answer. “You wouldn’t want to be made aware that your Sergeant at Arms has been raping your little sister for the last eight years?”

  I tense at the bluntness of Kincaid’s words and watch my brother’s face.

  Fire lights his eyes as his eyelids narrow, showing his first reaction since we arrived. His eyes shoot to mine, as if looking for confirmation. He finds the truth in my tears as they wash down my cheeks.

  “You wouldn’t want to know,” Kincaid continues, “that Grinder and two of your other club members have been running an illegal, underage porn site from your club?”

  His eyes snap back to the man speaking, pissed that anyone under his command would compromise his club in such a way.

  My brother’s body shifts, so he’s facing Grinder more but cognizant not to turn his back to the opposing club. “This true?”

  “Is it true?” he seethes.

  Grinder laughs like a psychopath. “Who you gonna believe, Prez? I was in this club long before your daddy squirted you out of his big dick.”

  I can feel the threat in his words. Scorpion may be the president, but Grinder has always felt like the gavel should’ve been passed down to him rather than my brother. Until this moment, I’d often wondered if Scorpion hadn’t felt the same. It’s the first time I’ve seen my brother stand up to him.

  Grinder’s scarred lip twitches in challenge. “She fucking begged for it, Prez. Wanted my cock so bad some days she couldn’t keep her hands off of it.”

  Bile fills my throat as my brother turns back to face me. His blank expression is more than I can bare. He believes the filthy things his SAA has just spewed. He sees me the same as he saw my mother, a disgusting whore who ruins everything she touches.

  “Yeah, bitch,” Grinder says as his hand pulls his gun free.

  The moonlight glints off of the tip. As if in slow motion, my eyes flutter closed, a delicate whisper of butterfly wings against my cheeks. The pop of the gun going off doesn’t startle me as it should, but at this moment I find serenity. Peace coursing through my veins. But the burn of being hit doesn’t register.

  My eyes open with barely lucid a
wareness to find my brother still looking at me, his arm raised to the left, and Grinder dead on the ground.

  Rage rolls off of Dom to the point I can feel him shaking beside me as his opportunity to avenge me is stolen in a matter of seconds.

  “Who else has hurt you,” Scorpion says with a calmness no one else feels in this intense situation.

  “Just him,” I answer honestly.

  He looks at Kincaid. “Who else is in on the site?”

  “Chains and Smokey,” Kincaid responds.

  My brother turns with lightning speed, gun trained on Chains’ forehead. A scuffling sound pulls my attention, and I see Smokey leaning forward, trying to pull a gun from his boot.

  Butch is on him in a second. “Sorry, old man.”

  Smokey stands to his full height, defiance etched into his wrinkled face. Butch twitches his gun, an indication for him to move closer to Chains. We all watch as Scorpion stares down the two oldest remaining members of his club.

  “You like to fuck little girls on camera?”

  Neither one of them respond.

  “Take off your cuts.” It isn’t until this moment that Smokey seems affected by the confrontation.

  “Never,” he seethes.

  “You can take it off on your own,” my brother spits. “Or I can burn it off of your body.”

  Chains removes his immediately, always the one with more cowardice. Smokey once again tests the boundaries but must see something in my brother’s eyes that forces him into action, and he too pulls his cut from his body.

  “Knees,” Scorpion hisses as the two discarded leathers hit the ground.

  They both stand stock still until Butch and Bear kick the backs of their legs, and they collapse on the ground. I feel nothing when the tears roll out of Chains’ eyes. Feel nothing when Smokey looks past my brother and meets my gaze. The devilish look in his eyes tells me he’s known all along what Grinder has been doing to me and did nothing to end it.

  “Both of you die civilians for betraying the club,” Scorpion says with more calm than any man should feel as he’s about to take two lives. The betrayal not being the years of violation of my body, but bringing the possibility of heat down on the club.