by J. L. Drake
One, two, three. My breathing was rapid, and it took a great deal of concentration to fill the shots.
My tray was full when I turned back around. The guys were talking, but not one word got through my terror. I began to hand them out. I moved fast, hoping it would help make the shakes less noticeable.
When I got to Tiago, I flinched. He noticed, and his mouth turned upward. He loved my reaction. He was thoroughly enjoying this, the son of a bitch.
Suddenly, his hand latched onto my wrist and held me in place. I wanted to punch his balls, but Morgan’s words were still inside my head. “What’s your name, girl?”
“Tess.”
“Tess,” he repeated slowly. “Why don’t you be a doll and give me a peek at what I’m working with, here.”
I heard Brick’s chair slide out, but Trigger’s voice stole my attention.
“No.” The word made me break out in a cold sweat. “Tess.”
I tried to pull away, but he held onto me for an extra beat. As soon as I was free, I bolted for Trigger. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I stood with the tray in my hands to hide the fact that I was vibrating. I felt a familiar burn in the pit of my stomach and knew my fear was beginning to change to anger, which it often did, and I was working hard to get myself under control. I knew how much this could mean to Trigger, so I stayed quiet.
“Mateo.” He gestured for him to continue, but Tiago interrupted.
“How much for the girl?”
Trigger tilted his head and sat a little straighter. His broad shoulders stretched out and his muscles contracted. The sound of the leather vest flexing over his back was oddly comforting.
“No,” he answered simply.
“I’ll give you three of my finest for her. One night, bruises optional.” He laughed. My feistiness kicked in, and I almost spoke, but Trigger’s hand landed heavily on my hip. He pulled me to his lap where he held me in place. “I don’t share.”
Tiago’s fat thumb rubbed his brow. “Why? She taken?”
Brick shook his head, warning me to stay silent. Gus calmly ran his finger along his lips too.
Okay, I’ll stay quiet.
Trigger spoke impatiently. “Are we here to discuss old ladies or the contract?”
Mateo waved his hand. “Fine, contract. Go on.”
Trigger’s hand held me tightly in place, and I knew when not to move. “There are six more months until this agreement is finished, then we’re done.”
“Actually…” Mateo leaned back and didn’t bother to hide his smirk. “…you might think that, but your father agreed that if anything were to happen to him before the entire contract was fulfilled, the club would step in for an additional twenty years, starting the day after his death.”
“Where is this stated, exactly?
“In the contract.” He held up a bunch of papers.
“Not in mine, the one Allen and you signed.” Trigger used his free hand and mimicked Mateo.
Mateo rubbed his chin and glanced at Tiago, who stared at me. “Perhaps we can come to some kind of an agreement. Yes?”
“Which is?”
My heart leapt into my throat. Trigger must have felt me flinch, and his grip tightened.
“We draw the map, work out the streets, and set it in stone.”
Trigger’s grip loosened, and I felt him relax a fraction. He took his time before answering. “Yeah, I think it’s about time.”
“Good, maybe we can come to some understanding.” Mateo smiled.
“On?”
“Things.” He smiled wider. Damn, that smile shook me to the core.
“I need you to be a little more specific.”
Mateo glanced at Tiago before he leaned back, puffing out his huge stomach. “Seems we have a little problem with the Stripe Backs.”
“Oh?”
“They took out three of my men, claiming we did the same to them.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Trigger nodded and motioned for him to go on. This was not something I should be hearing. I didn’t want to be a part of this. I knew none of the other women were allowed to be in on these discussions. I felt like I was going to be sick. I tried to keep my eyes on Trigger’s face to ground myself.
“You help me retaliate, and I’ll think about this contact.”
Trigger’s eyes were cold. “We sign here and now that if we help you, you drop the entire contract. Clean slate.”
Mateo shifted in his chair before he lit a fat cigar, taking a moment to think. God, he was a disgusting man. When I glanced up, his gaze caught mine then burned into my chest. Do they remember me? Or are they just fucking with me?
Then he spoke. “Fine. But I would like to add that this little one comes to our meetings from now on.”
Brick didn’t blink. He just placed the paperwork in front of Mateo and waited for him and Tiago to sign. Then Trigger and Brick did the same.
Trigger’s fingers strummed the table before he spoke. “Let the VPs work out the rest, and we’ll meet back up in a few days to discuss how we move forward.”
“Good.” Mateo slapped the table, and I jumped.
Trigger rubbed my leg, comforting me. Although, knowing Trigger, he probably thought I was going to run. “Until then.”
One of the club members who wasn’t allowed inside opened the door and showed them out a different way, a way they must have entered.
Brick, Rail, and Gus all stared at me. Well, at Trigger, but also at me. After the door shut, the silence was painful. I started to move when Brick spoke up.
“What happened, Tess?”
“Huh?” I swallowed hard.
“Everyone but Brick, leave,” Trigger ordered the guys. Their eyes widened, but they didn’t hesitate. After they left, Trigger stood, bringing me to my feet. His huge body towered over mine, making me aware of my own small size.
“How do you know Mateo?”
“I don’t.”
“Don’t lie to me, Tess.”
“I’m not, I promise, Trigger. It’s the other one I know.” It was the truth.
His finger rubbed his scruffy but manicured beard as his gray eyes studied mine. Shit, they were gray, not green right now.
“You need to tell the truth, Tess,” Brick said as he paced the room. “I’ll only cover for you on certain things. If something happened, now is the time.”
Fuck, Morgan had said this was important, and here I was fucking it up for everyone.
Sinking my weight onto the table, I crossed my legs and gripped the edge to support myself.
“I was walking home. I think it was my third or fourth shift, and I had to pass the Serpents’ clubhouse.”
“No, I texted you the way to go,” Brick interrupted.
“No, you didn’t, but I am fine.” I hated that he was wrong.
“I did.” He held his phone up. “Dammit, to the old number. I guess I was a little late sending it to you. Sorry, Tess.”
“Don’t be.” I loved Brick, and he could do no wrong in my eyes.
“And…” Trigger held up his hand with no emotion.
“And I accidentally ran into a girl whose boyfriend went and told Tiago that I was causing trouble.” I breathed deeply through my nose then glanced at Trigger, whose fist rested against his lips.
“What did he—” Brick stopped mid-sentence when it hit him. “Holy shit.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to be starting trouble on my first week. I thought it was better swept under the rug. Who am I to cause all of this?”
“What exactly happened?” Trigger watched me closely.
“I was pulled inside the clubhouse, pushed to my knees, where Tiago was. They brought—”
“Then what?” Trigger interrupted.
I glanced at Brick, who was now staring at me as well.
“He hit me and chucked me out back in the trash and left.” A blush heated my face. “May I go?” I directed my question to Trigger.
“Stay here tonight. I’ll find you a room.”
“I’d rather go home, after my shift.”
“No.” Trigger glared at me.
I turned to my best friend and said weakly, “I’m sorry.”
“I know,” he whispered, grabbing my hand with a quick squeeze.
Chapter Eight
Trigger
I vibrated with anger. I knew when she fed me that bullshit lie about her tripping over her shoe something had happened, but I never imagined it was connected to the Serpents.
“What do you think we should do?” Brick asked.
“Nothing, please do nothing,” Tess snapped at me from the door way.
I tried to think, but that chick had some nerve telling me what we should and shouldn’t do.
“Tess.” Brick shook his head.
“No, don’t warn me to shut up. This happened to me, not Trigger. I’m the one he forced on my knees and called me too skinny to rape. Slapped the hell out of my face and chucked me in the trash to die.” Her voice creaked. “We do nothing, because I said so.”
“You lied,” I growled, making her jump.
“No, I just didn’t tell you all of the truth.”
My vison clouded over when I glanced at Brick, who looked nervous at what I might do. I didn’t blame him. I wasn’t sure what I was about to do either.
“Trigger?” Morgan knocked on the door. “Sorry, man, but I could use her help out here.”
Tess gave me a pointed look before she followed him.
Brick sank into the seat across the table from me and rubbed his head. “I never meant to cause any trouble bringing her on with us.”
I thought for a moment. As much as I despised lying, this could be used to our advantage.
“They like her, maybe we can use her to gain some information.”
“Ah…” Brick cleared his throat, visibly uncomfortable. “I’m not sure how I feel about this. I mean, what if she got hurt?”
Never will happen.
“She won’t be alone, and she won’t be stepping inside that clubhouse without me. But they have a contract with Allen’s signature, and I want to see it. I think they’re full of it, and if Tess can get something on them, maybe we can flip the tables. Gain back all of our territory.”
“Why would Allen do something like that? What does he gain by an additional twenty years when he’s not even here for it?”
“Because revenge from the grave is the best kind of revenge there is.”
“Sick shit.”
“Mmm,” I muttered, moving to my feet and opening the door. Tess stood in the doorway. Her expression appeared upset, but she swallowed it back.
“Rail wants you.” She spun on her heel and headed back to the bar where some more members were crawling in for a drink. Morgan must have opened the bar back up early. I didn’t blame him. We were all on edge from having our enemy in our house.
“Brick,” I ordered over my shoulder.
“Yeah, I’ll find out if she heard anything.” He started to leave but turned around. “Be careful with Tess. She’s damaged when it comes to men.”
“That directed at me or them?”
He looked around to make sure she was out of earshot. “Sometimes I think she was born damaged. She can be reckless, but will fight to the death if she thinks it’s for the right cause.” Brick tucked his hands into his pockets before he left to meet Tess at the bar.
I needed a break, so I headed out back with my bottle.
The breeze was hot and my shirt stuck to my body. The pool reflected light onto the walls. It entertained me while the pot coursed through my lungs. I still remembered when my father bought this property twenty-seven years ago. The pool was stained brown and hadn’t been updated since the early 70s. The house itself was huge. It was previously owned by a porn director, so every room was grand and flashy. It took thirteen months to gut the place and rebuild so it was sealed up from the street. High walls ran to the back where we had a hidden gated driveway. My club was a fortress, with only one door in front and one out back. Both were watched by cameras and men.
Then one night six years later, my father took a run at me with a knife right after a meeting. He said I wasn’t man enough to take over such an empire. He managed to stab me twice before I flipped the blade and rammed it into his intestines. I was sixteen and was left with a crew of four who had witnessed the fight. We were vulnerable, and a few crews tried to clean us out, but Gus took my father’s place and ran the club until I turned twenty. That was the day I hoped I’d finally be free, only to realize I still had to do the dirty work of the Reaper.
A movement off to the right caught my attention. I pulled out my gun and rested it on my knee. My joint hung from between my lips as I focused on the intruder.
My skin flickered with excitement. A good kill might be exactly what I needed. I hadn’t felt right since this afternoon.
Easing the safety, I cleared my head of everything but this moment. I raised it and pointed in the direction of the movement, then the wind went out of my lungs and I took my finger from the trigger. Damn.
Tess kicked off her shoes, shimmied out of her skirt, and unzipped her top with only a quick glance around. I lowered my gun and tucked it away.
Fucking girl had almost had herself splattered against the concrete wall. Brick needed to remind her she shouldn’t sneak around.
My phone buzzed.
Cooper: I gotta go deal with Dad. Okay if I step out?
Trigger: Do what you gotta do. You need anyone?
Fucking Bruce and his booze.
Cooper: Nah, just wanna see how bad Mom is.
Trigger: If you need another room, use my account.
Cooper: Okay.
His mother wouldn’t be around much longer. I went back to watching Tess.
In a bra and panties, she walked out to the end of the diving board and dove in cleanly. She swam to my end of the pool. I was hidden in the shadows in the back of the old pickup bed.
Her head popped up and she glanced around again before she flipped over and floated on her back. Her skin was flawless, and I could see her tan lines. Her body glowed under the water from the lights, and I watched as she duck-dived back under to the bottom. She could hold her breath a long time.
As I started to get up, I heard the door open. Brick walked right by me and sat on the chair only a few feet away and waited for her to surface.
“Hey,” he whispered loudly.
She whirled around then smiled happily. “Is this okay?”
“Yeah.” He held up a towel to show her. “I might suggest wearing a bathing suit.”
“It’s hot as hell in there. I didn’t care.”
“You will when the guys come out.”
She looked back to the door. “Are they coming?”
Brick checked his watch. “Not yet. Another thirty, and they’ll come.”
She pushed off backward from the side and treaded water in the middle. “How much trouble am I in?”
Brick rubbed his face and breathed a long sigh. “I think if you were anyone else, you’d be gone. Trigger’s loyal to me, so I think you’re okay. I wish you had told me the truth.”
“I know.” His posture made her expression change. “Out with it.”
“Trigger was asking about your past.”
She stopped treading and swam closer to him.
“I didn’t say anything.” His hands rose. “But I need to know, are you still talking to them?”
Them?
“No,” she shot back, annoyed. “I left, Brick. They know I’m not in Vegas, and that’s it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Why?”
Brick rubbed his face; he was stressed out by something. “Because if they come here and start something, it’s on me.”
“They won’t. No one knows I’m here. I left in the middle of the day, and I took three cabs before I got to the airport. I did everything you told me to do. Christ, I even hitchhiked from John
Wayne to my place.”
“They can track your cards.”
“I’m only using cash.”
“Your phone?”
“I used the phone you got me. I have no idea how she got that number. I’ve changed it since then.” She ducked under the water and popped back up to smooth her hair out of her face.
“Do you like it here?” he asked, and I listened harder. “I can try to move you to Arizona if you’d like to keep moving.”
“No.” She stopped him. “I like it here. I’m fine. Please stop worrying about me.”
He stood and tucked his hands in his pockets. “Then tell Trigger what’s up in case something does happen.”
“Matt.” She used his real name, and this piqued my interest. She lifted herself out of the pool and stood in front of him. I stayed very still, as she was facing me. She started to speak then stopped herself. She looked like she might cry, but she maintained control. Then Brick grabbed her wrist and pushed up her bracelets. She ripped her arm from his and looked away.
“People who love you don’t drive you to do that.”
“Stop,” she warned.
“You’ll be protected here, Tess. Let him in a little.”
“What am I supposed to say, Matt? ‘Hey, Trigger, I was young and stupid. I wanted a way out, tried, and failed?’ Now I live with that reminder, see it every day. I have enough reminders of how much I was not wanted, so to have that cross over into this new life isn’t something I want to do.” A sob caught in her throat, but she pushed it back. She was strong; I’d give her that.
“He’s not a bad guy, Tess. I know I’ve warned you about falling for him, but Trigger is a good man. He’ll get it, all of it.”
“Somehow I doubt that. There’s dark, then there’s my story.”
I held very still, not sure I wanted to hear the next thing out of her mouth.
“I really wish you’d stop worrying about me falling in love, Brick.” She snagged the towel and wiped her face.
“I see how you look at him.”
“Yeah, the man is fine as hell. Jesus, I might be damaged, but my lady bits still work fine.”
