“Those have to go,” she said when she walked in the room.
“What?” Crash asked when he turned to look at her.
She motioned towards the cigarillo in his mouth.
“The cancer sticks,” she said. “You need to stop smoking them around me or even try to wean yourself off them.”
“Bloody babies,” he said with a grin, but stubbed out the cigarillo he was smoking then got up to go and open the window.
Carrie waited until he was sitting down before moving across the room to drop on his lap. She leaned in to a kiss and the thrill of it still seemed new to her.
“Still can’t control yourself around me,” she said and laughed as she squirmed in his lap.
She squealed and giggled as she was pushed to her feet.
“Nice outfit,” Crash said.
He reached for the hem of the t-shirt, but Carrie slapped his hand away before he managed to grab hold.
“If I don’t get to sit on your lap,” she said and laughed. “You don’t get to peek.”
“Are you naked under the t-shirt?” he asked.
“That’s for me to know,” she said and turned away from him.
She knew his gaze would follow her when she walked across to the fridge and opened the door. It allowed her to reveal she was naked below her t-shirt when she bent over more than she really needed to as she reached for the carton of milk. It gave him a brief glimpse of her naked butt and his cheeky wolf whistle made her smirk when she straightened up.
“Keep your eyes off me, you pervert,” she teased him when she went to get a glass.
She filled it with milk before returning the carton to the fridge and going to join him at the table.
“I need to go into the Roadrunners’ building today,” he said.
He saw the suspicious expression cross her face and knew what she was going to say before she even opened her mouth.
“I’m coming home,” he said to reassure her.
“You’re not leaving me here,” she told him. “I’m coming with you.”
“You’ll be bored out of your brains,” Crash went on. “I really do work as a mechanic for them, so will be spending the day fixing a truck and possibly other vehicles as well. There won’t be anything for you to do.”
“Don’t care,” Carrie replied. “I’m not spending the day here on my own and worrying about whether I’ll see you again. I’d rather sit in your workshop and watch you. Come to think of it, that will be just like old times. Will you strip to the waist and get sweaty as you work?”
“I’m not…”
“Stressing me out isn’t good for the baby,” she said with a disapproving stare.
“Are you going to use this pregnancy just to get me to do what you want?”
“Of course I am,” she told him with a wide smile. “It’s the duty of the daddy to keep the mummy happy at all times. Didn’t you know that?”
“No,” Crash replied and rolled his eyes. “It’s lucky you’re here to explain the pregnancy rules to me.”
Carrie lifted the glass to her lips and finished the full glass of milk in one gulp.
“I’m glad you realize how lucky you are,” she said when she got to her feet.
She went over to the sink to place the empty glass in it then walked over to the door. It was only when she got there that she stopped to look towards him.
“What time do we leave?” she asked.
“There’s no rush,” Crash answered. “The work can wait.”
“I’m going to have a shower then,” she told him and walked out of the kitchen to head to the bedroom.
She took off the t-shirt she was wearing when she got there and grabbed a fresh towel from the wardrobe before walking in the bathroom. It brought her memories of seducing Crash the first time they made love and the smile remained on her face as she washed. She dried herself when she got out of the cubicle and returned to the bedroom. The clothes she brought with her were still in her bag, so she went to unpack and hung the garments in the wardrobe before choosing something to wear.
When she was dressed, she sat on the bed and looked around. She knew for sure that she wasn’t going to return to college and wondered just what she was going to tell her parents. They would likely be mad about what she was doing, but she meant what she said to Crash the night before about not living her life to make her family happy. They would just have to accept her choice whether they liked it or not. There was no particular need to worry about it at that moment in time, but she would need to work out how she was going to tell them. She put her concerns about her family out of her mind as she got to her feet and walked out of the bedroom. Crash was still sitting at the kitchen table and she went over to join him.
“Your dad is going to kill you… and me,” Crash said.
“I was just thinking along similar lines in the bedroom,” she admitted, but shrugged her shoulders. “But it’s my life. I need to do what I think is right.”
“And that’s being with me?” Crash asked.
Carrie nodded her head.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Are you sure?” he went on.
“Yes,” she told him in a loud voice to stress her point. “I’ve wanted to be with you for eight years. I’m not going to miss the chance now that I have it.”
“Then maybe I need to become just a mechanic.”
“I thought that’s what you were,” Carrie replied.
“It is… amongst other things like I told you before,” he said. “It’s the other things I might need to get myself away from.”
“You don’t need to change any…”
“I want the life you do,” he cut in. “The kids and the happy family.”
“Then you can get them with me,” she told him and reached a hand across the table.
He took hold and nodded his head.
“It sounds good,” he said. “So… how about we make a move and go do some work?”
“Sure,” she said and got to her feet.
They left the kitchen and Crash grabbed his leather jacket as they walked along the hallway towards the door. He was reaching out to it when he remembered that he wasn’t carrying his gun.
“Wait,” he said and drew his hand away from the door handle. “I need to get something.”
He quickly moved towards the bedroom and walked inside. Before Carrie arrived, he hid the weapon on the top shelf of the wardrobe and he went to retrieve it.
“Do you really need that?”
He turned to see her standing at the bedroom door watching what he was doing.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” he told her. “I just carry it for protection.”
He put the gun in his pocket and walked across the room to join her. They were heading for the door when the apartment phone rang.
“Fuck,” Crash cursed and stopped. “I better answer that.”
Carrie followed as he returned to the lounge and screwed up her face as he walked towards the phone. She didn’t think that Bella would say anything about where she was, but couldn’t know that for sure and half expected Crash to answer the phone to the sound of her father’s voice. It quickly became clear it wasn’t as she listened to the start of the conversation.
“Hello,” Crash said when he picked up the handset and brought it to his ear.
“Hey, it’s Six,” was the reply. “Why aren’t you answering your other phone?”
Crash reached in his pocket to bring it out and let out a quiet curse.
“The battery is dead,” he answered. “I’ll need to charge it. So, what’s up?”
“We might have a problem,” Six replied.
“What do you mean?” Crash asked.
“Patch just called to say he was attacked this morning,” Six went on.
“Shit,” Crash let out. “Is he OK?”
“Yeah, he says he’s fine,” Six replied. “The guy tried to ambush him at the front of his apartment building when he was leaving. He managed to fight him of
f and the guy fled.”
“Was it a robbery or…”
He left the question hanging and suspected that his friend was thinking the same thing as him.
“Patch chased the guy, but didn’t manage to catch him,” Six went on. “So he couldn’t find out the reason for the attack. It might just be random, but I thought I better let you know… just in case.”
Crash asked the question they were both considering.
“You think it might be the Mob?”
“I don’t know,” Six answered. “I left really early this morning and didn’t have any problems. Are you coming in today?”
“I’m just about to leave the apartment.”
“Then be careful,” Six cautioned. “This might be nothing, but you never know.”
“OK,” Crash said. “I’ll see you in a while.”
He hung up the call and immediately moved across the room to walk out of the door.
“What is it?” Carrie asked when he passed her and she followed as he made his way towards the kitchen.
He heard the concern in her voice and tried to keep his voice calm as he answered.
“One of my friends was attacked this morning.”
“You said he was OK,” Carrie went on.
“Yeah, but I was told to be careful,” Crash said.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Crash didn’t reply as he stepped in the kitchen and walked across to stand at the side of the window. He kept out of sight as he glanced down towards the front steps of the building. There was no one lurking there as far as he could make out, but he kept his gaze on the scene outside to see if anything suspicious or out of place caught his eye.
“Crash,” Cassie implored.
“It was why I tried to tell you not to come,” he replied without looking at her. “The reason I didn’t return when you were here last was because the transport job I was involved in for the Roadrunners was ambushed.”
“By the Mob?” Carrie asked as she remembered one of his comments from the phone conversation he just had.
“Yes, it was a Mob hit,” Crash replied and turned to her when he heard her quiet gasp. “But it didn’t succeed because we fought back.”
“Do you think this morning’s attack on your friend has anything to do with it?”
“The guy I just spoke to didn’t know for sure,” Crash went on. “He was on the transport job as well, but he didn’t have any problems this morning. My friend might have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Muggings and random violence do happen.”
He returned his attention out of the window, but as he cast his gaze around he could see nothing that looked any different from usual.
“What do we do?” Carrie asked nervously.
“Everything looks normal down there, as far as I can tell,” Crash replied. “I think we should make a move. If there is something going on, we’ll be safer at the Roadrunners’ building.”
He walked across the room and took her hand to make her follow then reached in his pocket to bring out the gun. There was no way of knowing whether he would be targeted, but he wanted to be prepared if he was. They made their way along the hallway to the door and he pressed his ear on the wood to listen. As far as he could make out, it was quiet in the hallway.
“When we get outside, just stay close to me and walk quickly,” he said in a quiet voice.
Carrie nodded her head, but took a step away from him when she heard the click of the lock turning. She was holding her breath as she prepared to move forward, but didn’t get the chance. The door hammered into Crash’s face and sent him flying backwards to fall to the ground. The force of the hit knocked the gun from his hand and it clattered across the floor as it slid out of his reach. She only just managed to get out of the way of him to avoid being knocked over and her fear leapt when she saw the man in the hallway step forward and raise his hand.
“This is a message from the Mob,” he said in a low growl.
The flash of gunmetal was all she was aware of as she reacted by kicking out at the door. It crashed onto the man’s hand and she heard his surprised curse as he was thwarted from firing.
Crash was already on his feet, but there was no chance to retrieve his pistol and all he could do was throw himself forward to try and close the door. The man in the hallway thrust his gun through the narrowing gap and pulled the trigger, but his aim was thrown off as the weapon became trapped between the door and the frame and the bullet ripped into the floor.
“Watch out!” Carrie screamed, but her voice was drowned out by the sound of another bullet being fired.
Crash did the only thing he could think off and hammed his clenched fist down with all his might on the barrel of the gun. His gamble paid off as the weapon was knocked from the man’s hand. It fell to the floor when he wrenched the door all the way open to launch himself forward at his attacker and the pair of them hit the opposite wall.
It knocked the breath from the man, but he countered with a swinging punch that caught Crash hard in the guts and the two men traded blows as they grappled for supremacy. Carrie stared down at the weapon on the floor and knew she needed to try something. She was moving towards it when the man saw what she was doing. He threw all his might into pushing Crash backwards and it allowed him to get close enough to the gun to sweep his foot towards it.
He made a connection that sent the weapon hurtling along the hallway and it stopped just as it reached the top of the stairs. There was no way Carrie could move past the fighting men to get to the gun or the way out and all she could do was watch the unfolding action and pray that Crash came out on top. Their lives depended on it now and her fear rose as she saw the punches being thrown.
The two men desperately clung on to each other to make sure their opponent couldn’t make a run for the pistol lying near the end of the hallway. The close quarter combat was brutal as they hammered blows against each other to try and get the knockout that would end things. Crash saw a chance and brought his arm down hard on the hands clinging to his leather jacket. He felt the grip weaken and did the same again and it finally got him free.
The opportunity was there and he ducked a punch and slammed his hands into the Mob man’s chest. It knocked the guy off balance and dropped him to his knees. Crash took off straight away towards the gun and knew that his adversary wouldn’t be far behind. Carrie was frozen to the spot as she watched the desperate race to get to the firearm. It looked like the man she loved would get their first to save them, but the victory was snatched from him as a hand seemed to appear from nowhere and it reached out to grab the gun just before he got to it.
Carrie realized that someone coming up the stairs had picked up the weapon and feared the worst. Her scream came out as she saw it being aimed and anticipated the gunshot that would kill her lover. It didn’t happen and her eyes opened wide as she saw the man holding the gun come into view.
Her father anticipated the attack coming in his direction and swung the weapon to slam it down on the man’s head. Crash finished the job by throwing a rabbit punch to the base of the Mob assassin’s skull and he dropped like a stone as he fell unconscious.
“What the fuck is going on?” Samuel demanded.
“No time to explain, sir,” Crash replied. “We need to get out of here right now.”
Samuel ignored the comment to turn his attention to Carrie, who was now moving hurriedly along the corridor towards them.
“Are you OK?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied “We need to just do what Crash says.”
“But…” he started.
“Please Dad,” she implored
“What about sleeping beauty?” Samuel asked and motioned his head towards the unconscious man lying on the floor.
“Leave him,” Crash said. “We’re never coming back here anyway.”
He led them down the stairs to the ground floor and they warily stepped out of the building entrance and glanced around for any more danger.
The way was clear and they crossed the road to the truck. Crash unlocked the doors to let them get in then took off straight away to join the morning traffic and get away from the apartment.
“Do I get an explanation now?” Samuel asked in a fierce tone.
“Bella told you where I was?” Carrie queried.
She was still trembling from the shock of the attack, but was surprised that it didn’t affect her more considering the Mob assassin would likely have killed her and Crash if he’d got the chance. That should have left her a crying wreck, but she felt strong.
Club Property: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC Page 16
