by Tami Lund
“Hey there.”
Rachel jerked her gaze up and found herself facing yet another man who was as quiet as a damn animal. A hulking guy with dark locks, thick facial hair, and a sense of masculinity far greater than any man she had met before Pantera appeared in her life.
Jeremy. The guy who had hit on her at the hotel and had promised her far more than any other guy she’d ever come across before.
If only she knew then…
The memories swamped her. She recalled running into him in the hall, while she’d been pushing her housekeeping cart on a Saturday afternoon, heading toward yet another recently vacated hotel room, preparing to clean yet another person’s mess. She had not been remotely at her best, her hair had been pulled back into a braid, she had barely worn makeup that day. She had been intent upon doing her job and collecting a meager paycheck, and nothing more.
At the time, her electric bill had been overdue. Several months prior, she had decided she was sick of fake relationships, built solely on her need for some material item and her suitor’s desire to have a hot redhead in his bed. Not to mention that ever-present fear that she would eventually turn into her mother. So she’d been attempting to go straight, had been trying to make ends meet all on her own.
And then her piece of shit old car had died and the repair had set her back far more than she had been able to financially handle.
Jeremy had showed up at the best and worst time. He had stepped off the elevator, caught her eye, and winked. An outrageously attractive man with dark hair, dark eyes, and the build of someone who spent a lot of time in a gym. It had been toward the end of her shift, and she had been certain she looked as appetizing as a ham sandwich left sitting in the sun at the tail end of an all-day picnic.
He had stopped and chatted with her anyway, a sweet and charming man—shattering the bodybuilder stereotype—and asked if she was working this job as a means to paying her way through college. She had been flattered that he thought her young enough to still be in college, and wistful that earning an education was not remotely the reason she worked a second job.
When she’d admitted she was struggling to pay her bills after dumping far too much money into her car, he’d started with the promises, just like they all did. She had politely declined his offer to help with her finances because it had felt far too much like being a hooker.
He had shown up the next day, dangling a key from a silver key ring and offering to take her out to the parking structure to see her new ride—should she choose to take it. She had turned him down again.
It had taken three weeks for him to wear her down. Three weeks of more and more outrageous promises. She’d finally given in mostly to see if he really, truly intended to give her all the tokens he kept telling her about.
When she entered the last room she was scheduled to clean that Sunday afternoon, he had followed her—like usual—except this time, he closed the door behind him. She had clearly understood his intention.
Or so she thought.
He had pawed at her like an animal, far too eager, all the while whispering about jewels and new clothes, fancy cars and even college tuition, because she’d admitted she wanted to go to college to study nonprofit administration.
All a giant lie, a set up, and she’d fallen for it, so completely she’d been tied to a damn chair before she realized what was happening.
So contrary to what she had with Josh—and yet, so similar, in that it was a lie, a hoax, a contrived situation to move Kent Pantera’s agenda forward.
Rachel hated herself. But she hated Pantera more. And Jeremy.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, staring at Jeremy, her hand clinging to the bannister, fear coursing through her body as she contemplated her escape. She needed to get away—from Pantera, from Josh, from Jeremy. From this life. For all the years she’d used men to her own means—this was her repayment? Karma really was a bitch.
“My job,” Jeremy replied.
“Which is?”
“Which one?” He smirked. “One is to keep track of Pantera for Josh, the other is to do whatever the hell Pantera tells me to do.”
He’d obviously decided there was no point in lying to her. She knew who he was, or at least that he was connected to Pantera. She hadn’t realized he also worked for Josh, though.
“What did Pantera tell you to do?” Had he been sent to finally kill her?
Jeremy shrugged. “Nothing, at the moment. Other than report back anything interesting Josh might say.” He cocked his head to the side, as if he was listening to something, although Rachel couldn’t hear anything. “Is that Josh and Matt arguing? Those two never fight.”
Rachel glanced over her shoulder. Josh and Matt, as far as she knew, were still downstairs, at the end of the hall, in Josh’s home office. There was no way Jeremy could hear their conversation from here, unless they were yelling. And since she didn’t hear any shouts, she assumed that wasn’t the case.
Jeremy’s eyes suddenly widened and his gaze moved to stare at her. “Holy shit. He mated with you?”
Rachel thrust out her chin in defiance, even though she had no idea what the hell he was talking about.
“Do you have any idea how much of a bonus I’m gonna get for this information? Pantera’s going to come in his fucking pants. This is exactly what he’s needed.” He stepped within reach and patted Rachel’s arm. “Nice job. You finally did what you were supposed to do. Now, I gotta go tell my boss.”
She grabbed his arm as he started down the stairs. “No.”
He looked down at her hand and then lifted his face and arched his eyebrows.
“You can’t. I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but if you’re this damn happy, that can’t be good for Josh. And I know Pantera will probably kill me, but I don’t care anymore. I can’t let him destroy Josh. Whatever the hell is going on with you all, Josh is a good guy. I still believe it, even after what I heard down there. Whether this is a cult or not, the members are happy. Josh takes care of them. You all have some weird ideas about society and marriage and exclusivity, but as far as I can tell, it isn’t hurting anybody. But if Pantera wins, I don’t believe that will be the case. He’s messed up in the head. He’s crazy. He can’t be in charge. Can’t you see?”
He shook off her hand. “You think I care who’s right or wrong? Lady, all I care about is making a buck. And getting a nice piece of ass once in a while.” The look in his eye turned calculating. “You know, we never got to finish that day. And now that you’re the pack master’s mate, well, for some reason, that makes you even hotter.” He lifted his chin, nodded at the top of the stairs. “Maybe we can strike a deal on the side. Why don’t we go upstairs, you finish what we started that day, and then I won’t tell my boss about your standing in our pack? What do you say?”
“I say I don’t believe you. You’re lying to Josh, now you’re offering to lie to Pantera. Why the hell should I believe you won’t lie to me, too?”
“Because you’re way hotter than Pantera or Josh. Neither one of them can get my rocks off. But you can.” He rubbed his groin and gave her a lecherous grin. “In fact, the more I think about it, the more I like this idea.” He grabbed her hand. “Want to feel what you do to me?”
She tried to pull away, but he was stronger. When her hand landed on his semi-erect penis, she squeezed. Hard.
“Fuck!” He shoved her away and cupped his injured manhood. Rachel lost her footing, slipped off the step and started to tumble down the stairs—right into someone’s outstretched arms. For a disoriented moment, she didn’t realize who had her, and she struggled and lashed out like a deranged woman, but Josh held her firmly in his embrace.
“What the hell is going on?” he demanded as he hugged her to him, even as she fought to get away. “Quit fighting me, Rachel. Jeremy,” he barked at the man who hovered a few steps up the staircase, “what the fuck is going on? Why is she so scared?”
Rachel finally stopped struggling and shrank int
o Josh, sending furtive glances up the stairs in Jeremy’s direction. He hesitated, clearly uncertain what to do. Josh narrowed his eyes, glaring at Jeremy.
When Matt stepped up behind him, Josh shoved Rachel into his arms, without taking his gaze off Jeremy. He climbed the stairs, slowly, as if he were stalking his prey.
As if he were an animal.
“What did you do to her?” he asked deliberately, slowly.
Jeremy’s nostrils flared and his eyes widened in fear. Rachel blinked several times. She could swear his eyes were glowing. But that was impossible.
Jeremy’s gaze darted from Rachel to Josh and back again, before settling on Josh and blurting, “She’s in league with Pantera,” while stabbing his finger in Rachel’s direction.
Josh froze on the stairs. Matt’s arms stiffened while they held her. And her entire world begin to collapse around her, glass brick by glass brick, each one crashing to the ground and shattering at her feet.
“He—he told her to sleep with you, Josh,” Jeremy continued, clearly seeing some sort of opening. “She did it to distract you. So Pantera could insinuate himself into the pack, convince the members that he should be pack master...” And on and on he blathered, telling it all, confessing everything, including his own part in Pantera’s plans. He was like a damned faucet that couldn’t be turned off once it was on.
“Holy hell,” Matt breathed, and he pushed Rachel to arm’s length, so he could look at her face. “Is it true?”
While he looked into Rachel’s tearstained face—a dead giveaway, she knew—Josh stood over Jeremy, who lay on the stairs, Josh’s hands around his neck, squeezing, much like Pantera had done to her a few short days ago. She lifted her hand to her own still-bruised neck.
Jeremy’s feet kicked and his hands scrabbled against Josh’s arm, trying in vain to get him to loosen his hold.
“Stop him, Matt,” she whispered. “Don’t let him kill him. He won’t be able to live with himself.”
Matt swore, but she could tell he knew it was true. He released her and rushed up the few steps to pull Josh away from Jeremy. Rachel took the opportunity and ran. She didn’t really expect anyone to come after her, but she didn’t exactly want to take the chance, either.
While Josh undoubtedly now officially hated her, he might very well want to do to her what he’d just done to Jeremy. She liked to think he wouldn’t kill her, but honestly, she had no idea what to expect anymore. She knew damn well Pantera would kill her in a heartbeat, Jeremy would obviously turn on whoever his boss was at the moment, and Matt was clearly Josh’s second or right hand man or whatever the phrase might be for this strange, confusing pack of men. Maybe they legitimately believed they were all animals. It would certainly explain much of their behavior.
Rachel skidded to a halt at the edge of the circle drive in front of Josh’s mansion. There were two vehicles parked there: Matt’s black Ninja motorcycle and a bright red truck with monster tires. Her car was parked in the garage, around back, and she didn’t have the keys. She headed toward the truck, hoping against hope the keys were in the ignition, when she spotted what she was looking for—except it was on the motorcycle. A tiny key was stuffed into the ignition.
She’d dated—if that was the right word—a handful of guys who rode motorcycles. One had even shown her how to drive one. But that had been years ago, and she hadn’t really been into it. She’d been more interested in the shopping sprees he seemed to enjoy taking her on.
Still—the key was there. And a quick glance in the truck told her the motorcycle was the only option, unless she wanted to run—literally.
She hesitated, but then heard a roar from inside the house, followed by a crash that reverberated into her very soul. She imagined Josh had fully comprehended what Jeremy had said. Which meant she needed to get the hell out of there, and fast.
Motorcycle it was.
Chapter 17
“She took my bike!” Matt was incredulous, disbelieving.
“At least she’s gone.” Josh’s tone, by contrast, was dull, listless. He sounded like a beaten dog, but at the moment, he couldn’t work himself up to care. Maybe he really was a beaten dog. One whose owner had abandoned him, and he had no idea why or where to go or what to do next.
“You don’t mean that.”
Josh didn’t bother to answer his cousin. After Matt pulled him away from Jeremy—the fucking traitor—he had looked around for Rachel, had needed to see her, to ask her, to look into her eyes. He needed to know. Was it true? Had their entire relationship been one giant, contrived lie?
But she was gone. And Jeremy’s words rang true. Whatever Josh wanted to believe, Jeremy knew too damn much. He knew too much about Rachel, about what had happened since she and Josh met. He knew where she lived, even knew she had been a maid at the hotel. Hell, Josh hadn’t even known that much about her until just recently. He’d let the woman into his life, into his heart, into his very soul, and he hardly knew a goddamn thing about her.
He certainly hadn’t known she was a con artist. A deceitful, lying little bitch. And the best part? He’d mated with her.
That was the real kicker. He’d been so blinded by lust, so over the top with his need for her, he’d reacted without thinking. He sure as hell hadn’t been acting like a pack master that afternoon. Or any of the dozen other times he’d mated with her since. As if he constantly needed to reassure himself she was still his.
And she never had been in the first place.
He’d gone into a frenzy, screaming out his anger and frustration, breaking everything within range, storming through the house, demanding blood. If Pantera had walked in the door at that moment, Josh surely would have killed him.
But Pantera never showed. Cal and Brendon did, though, to take Jeremy into custody, and Josh felt an agonizing moment when he wondered if he could trust them. Jeremy had deceived him, Rachel had deceived him, who else? But they had been as appalled as he and Matt over Jeremy’s treachery, and Matt insisted they could be trusted. Josh had needed to believe in someone, so he’d accepted Matt’s words and sent Cal and Brendon to deal with Jeremy, something he should have done himself, as the pack master. But he was in such a frame of mind that he was afraid of his own reactions at the moment, and besides, one of the perks to being pack master was making rules and issuing commands. He didn’t even give them suggestions; he just told them to take care of the traitor as they saw fit. The look of sheer terror in Jeremy’s eyes told Josh he was desperately afraid of the punishment he was about to receive.
Fuck him.
Rachel invaded his thoughts. Hell, she hadn’t quite left them. How was he supposed to get over her? She’d deceived him, destroyed his soul, and yet he was still desperately in love with her. What a fucking fool.
Everyone had warned him, even Matt. She’s human. She’s human. Don’t fall for a human. Even his father, in his own way, had warned him away from the humans.
“If you fall for a human, you’ll have to give up the position of pack master,” his father had said on more than one occasion. He hadn’t said it in such a way to indicate it was wrong. It had simply been a fact of life.
Josh had done it anyway. He had foolishly thought he could have it all. He wouldn’t be remotely surprised if Pantera arrived any minute, ready to move in. Ready to take over the pack.
By the time Matt realized his motorcycle was gone, Josh had fallen so deeply into a depression, Matt’s words hardly penetrated. Until he smacked Josh upside the head. Then Josh turned and snarled at him, fully prepared to kick someone’s ass. Even Matt’s.
“Get over yourself,” Matt snapped. “Do you love her or not?”
“She was in league with Pantera.”
“So Jeremy says. Obviously, he’s proven he’s a fucking turncoat liar, too. Maybe there’s another explanation.”
“How can there possibly be another explanation?”
“We don’t know until we ask. I think you should keep an open mind, at least until you hear her side
of the story.”
“Why do you care so much?”
“Because I know you love her, and I’m pretty damn sure she loves you, too. And I happen to like her. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt.”
“Yeah, well, you weren’t the one fucking her. And getting fucked by her in the process.”
“There’s also the small fact that, for better or worse, she’s your mate.”
“I’m the pack master. I can determine it was never official in the first place.”
“That’s going against everything you believe in, and you have too much integrity to do that. Besides, if you’d get your head on straight and think like a pack master, you’ll realize there’s more to this whole setup than we’re aware.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“How many times has she shown up with bruises on her body? And that first time, when you sent Brendon to investigate, the neighbor described someone who, now that this has all come to light, sounded a lot like Pantera.”
Josh thought about Rachel’s black eye and swollen cheek.
“And then those bruises around her neck. You said she was so scared, she cried. Rachel doesn’t strike me as a crier, so whatever the hell happened, she was seriously frightened. And what did she tell you about it?”
This is something I have to take care of on my own. “Nothing. She wouldn’t tell me what happened.”
“Because it was probably Pantera, and she didn’t want you to know.”
“But why? Did she honestly think I wouldn’t protect her?”
“Pantera is one scary dude, especially to a human woman. Scarier than you.”
“She should have trusted me.”
Matt snorted, his annoyance coming across loud and clear. “She’s not stupid. She knew you’d react like this, and she’d obviously connected at least a few dots by that point. I think she really was trying to fix the problem on her own. The fire department received an anonymous tip about Pantera’s electrical company, right before the inspector was killed. Somebody sent that tip.”
