We’re done.
We’re over.
He pulls me up and I straddle him, sliding my arms around his neck as he kisses me slowly. He’s still inside me, and I don’t want him to leave just yet. I want us to take our time, to calm down and stay like this until we absolutely have to separate.
“You need to go back to the safe house, Skye,” he murmurs, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
“I know,” I whisper, running my thumb over his lower lip.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.”
“For what? For this?”
“It shouldn’t have happened.”
“But it did.”
“And that was my fault.”
I kiss him again, a long, lingering kiss, and his hands fall to the small of my back, stroking it lightly, sending a multitude of shivers racing up and down my spine.
“You’re gonna be OK, Skye.”
“Am I?”
He smiles, and I actually start to believe him. “Yeah. I think you are.”
I can’t help smiling back, but I can feel that connection starting to slowly break now. It’s time.
He carefully lifts my hips up and he slides out of me. I climb off him and stand up, retrieving my clothes from the floor. And he says nothing for a few beats, he just watches me as I get dressed, run my fingers through my hair; fix my make-up.
“I’ll get dressed and I’ll take you home.”
I turn to face him, and I smile slightly. “Thank you.”
“For what? For putting you through all this shit?”
“Where would I have been otherwise, Gabriel? I had no choice. You told me that in the beginning, remember?”
He pulls on his jeans and he comes over to me, sliding an arm loosely around my waist. “We all fuck up, Skye.”
I reach out and touch his cheek, running my fingers over his rough beard. “Yeah. I guess we do. But when I said thank you, I meant for this.”
He arches an eyebrow, his expression questioning. “For fucking things up even more than they already were?”
I smile, and he laughs quietly before he kisses me so deep and dirty I can do nothing but fall against him and take this last little piece of him.
“Go grab a coffee while I finish getting ready,” he whispers, his thumb stroking my cheek as he slowly pulls away from me. “Go on. I won’t be a minute.”
I reluctantly let go of him and head back out into the living room. I stop by the sideboard, and I pick up the photo of Gabriel and his ex-fiancée, and I look at it. And this time, as I look more closely, I can see something there in his eyes that tells me he wasn’t completely happy. Then. Or maybe I’m just reading something into a situation I really know nothing about.
“I didn’t handle things with her very well, either.”
I swing around at the sound of his voice, and he’s standing there, all handsome and tall in jeans and a shirt and heavy, battered army boots, his hair slightly ruffled. He doesn’t look anything like the FBI agent who walked into my life just a couple of weeks ago and made me an offer I really couldn’t refuse.
“I don’t think you can compare what happened with Erin to my situation. You were with her a long time. So, yeah, I agree, maybe you weren’t fair to her. But I knew what I was getting into. I knew it had to end.”
He comes over and he takes the photo from my hand, placing it back down on the sideboard.
“You know how tomorrow’s gonna work, don’t you, Skye?”
I look up into his eyes and I give him a small nod.
“We’ve had agents undercover inside the prison Dominic Blane is being transferred from ever since we knew what was happening. And two of those agents will be driving the van that’s supposed to take him to his new prison, so they’re prepared for Mack and Cole’s onslaught. They’ve done this shit before, and they’ll be ready. Theo’s brother, he isn’t going anywhere. As soon as any of those fuckers make a move, we’ll be on them.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“I can do this crap with my eyes shut, kiddo.”
I smile, but I know his flippancy is just masking the fact we’re playing for time here. “What about me, Gabriel? I mean, I don’t even know where I’m gonna be, where they’ll want me to be…”
Where Cole Rockwell will want me to be.
“My guess is that you’ll either be at home, or at the clubhouse. When this kind of thing is going down club members usually want their women kept well out of it. Either way, whether you’re at the clubhouse or at home, the second it all starts going down someone is gonna come and get you out of there. You hear me? The second it starts happening, you’re gonna get pulled and you’ll be safe. I promise.”
I look down, and I cling onto his shirt because the fact I’m hiding something from him… should I tell him? Oh, God, I want to tell him, but I know that if I do that; if I tell him Cole knows about me and him – that Cole knows I’m an FBI informant, he’ll be out of here so fast I’ll have no way of stopping him. He’ll have to go, he’ll have no choice, because it changes everything. The whole operation. But I also know that when Cole told me he’d know if I said anything to anyone, I believe him. He’ll be watching me, watching my house, this house, he’ll have eyes everywhere, just like he told me. I don’t doubt him for a second. So, if I tell Gabriel what Cole knows, this whole operation is shot to shit. But that could happen anyway, couldn’t it? Because I have no clue what Cole Rockwell has planned, only that he wants to bring Mack Slayer down. He wants to take the Soldiers of Darkness down, regain total power of what he considers to be his territory. And the only thing he told me to do was carry on as normal. And say nothing.
“Skye?”
Gabriel’s voice drags me back from those thoughts and I look up at him. I can’t tell him. I can’t.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“The second it starts happening, you’ll pull me out.”
He leans forward and gently kisses my forehead, then he tucks a finger under my chin and he tilts my head back slightly and he kisses my mouth, and I take this last kiss. I want to remember how he tastes, how he feels.
“Come on. We really do need to get you home now.”
His hand slides into mine and I reach out and cup his cheek, standing up on tiptoes as I kiss him quickly; this really is the final kiss now.
Tomorrow, everything changes.
Tomorrow, everything could come crashing down around all of us.
And that could all be my fault…
Theo
She’s not home. Some nights she doesn’t come home until really late, and this is one of those nights. And I don’t know where she goes but she wasn’t at the clubhouse. And then I see her, walking up the street, her head down as she turns into her driveway.
I jump down from the window ledge and I race outside, I need to see her.
“Skye? Hold up!”
She stops and turns to face me, but her expression is verging on blank.
“Everything all right? You look a little dazed.”
“I’m fine. I’m just tired. What do you want, Theo?”
“I just wanted to see if you were OK.”
“Y’know, contrary to what some people might think I’m not some vulnerable, delicate woman who crumbles at the hint of any pressure.”
I frown, because I’m not sure where that outburst came from. “I never said you were. Look, I just wondered if you fancied a drink, and I’ve got some leftover pizza in the fridge…”
She throws me a thin smile, but at least it’s a smile. “You sure know how to show a girl a good time, huh?”
I dig my hands in my pockets and grin back. “I’m not gonna see you again after tomorrow, am I? So, I guess I just wanted to say goodbye. Properly.”
She briefly drops her gaze, then she raises it and smiles a slightly wider smile this time. “Double cheese?”
“Four cheese.”
“Lead the way.”
We head into the house, and I kick
the door shut behind us as she slips off her jacket and throws it over the back of my couch before throwing herself down onto the couch itself.
“Beer?” I ask, and she nods. She seems a touch distracted but I’m not gonna push her on anything. Not tonight. Tonight really is just for saying goodbye.
I fetch us some beers and that pizza and I sit down beside her. “We had the final church tonight. Before it all kicks off tomorrow.”
“Everything still going to plan?” she asks as she takes a swig of beer.
I nod, and my eyes lock with hers. She really is beautiful, even though I sometimes get the impression that she doesn’t think she is. And there’s something there tonight, something I haven’t seen in her before, it’s almost like a glow, an aura. Something about her feels different, I just don’t know what.
“Cole Rockwell not throwing any more spanners in the works?”
“No. According to Mack he’s still playing ball.”
“You trust him?”
“Mack?”
“Cole.”
“I trust Mack. And that’ll have to do. Skye, is there something you’re not telling me? Only, I know you got a real good reason for hating the ground Cole Rockwell walks on, but…”
“I’ve been around men like him before, Theo, that’s all. And they can turn in a heartbeat… Look, I’m really tired, and I’m sorry about this afternoon, behaving the way I did, but… I’m gonna go home. Get some sleep. You should get some, too.”
I watch as she puts down her beer, stands up, grabs her jacket and heads for the door.
“Skye?”
“I’m going home, Theo.”
I jump up off the couch and I run over to her, grabbing her wrist to stop her from leaving.
“Can you let go of me, please?”
“Y’know, I may be playing pretend biker here but have you forgotten what I used to be? I was a lawyer, Skye. A fucking great lawyer, and the one thing I was really good at was reading people. And I’ll admit, there’ve been times when you’ve been real hard to read, but right now – right now it is blindingly obvious to me that you’re hiding something. And if this has got anything to do with what’s happening tomorrow…”
“Why the hell would I be hiding anything to do with tomorrow? I’ve got no part in that, I’m just one of the club girls.”
“This thing with Cole Rockwell…”
“This thing? Jesus, Theo… Cole Rockwell had some sick fantasy he wanted me to be a part of, that’s all. So whatever the hell you’re getting at here, you’re wrong.”
“He hasn’t said anything to you?”
“Like what? What the hell do you think is going on?”
“I don’t know, Skye, but I’m allowed to be on fucking edge here, all right?”
“Yeah, you’re allowed that luxury, but don’t go throwing your suspicious shit on me, OK? I don’t appreciate that. Now let go of my wrist.”
I reluctantly let her go, and this wasn’t how I wanted our goodbye to play out. But I can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t right, somewhere.
“I’m sorry, Skye.”
“Yeah, well, like I said, I’m sick of people saying that to me.” She opens the door, but she turns to face me before she leaves, her voice a little softer now. “Y’know, I’m sorry, too, Theo. I really am, so sorry.”
I watch her leave, watch her walk down the path and into her own front yard, and I still can’t shake that feeling.
Something isn’t right.
And that thing she tried to tell me the other night, before she stopped herself, I can’t help thinking that’s got something to do with what’s happening tomorrow.
I said it was either important, or it wasn’t.
I think it is.
And now – now I’m not entirely sure Skye Maddison is everything she told me she was.
Skye
I shut my front door and lean back against it, closing my eyes and breathing in deep, swallowing those breaths down because that guilt is crushing now. It’s a physical pain I can actually feel pressing down on my chest. And it hurts. And it scares me.
He has every right to be on edge.
He has every right to feel uneasy about tomorrow.
He has every right, because it’s going to be one huge mess that could go horribly wrong.
Could I have changed that? Could I have saved it all from turning to shit by telling Gabriel about Cole? By telling Theo? I’m not wearing my wire right now, nobody’s listening in. I could go back and I could warn him. But then I take another deep breath and I know I can’t do that.
Cole Rockwell has me right where he wants me.
I don’t know what he’s going to do.
Nobody does.
But in a few hours’ time, we’re all going to find out…
Chapter Thirteen
Theo
I didn’t sleep last night. I couldn’t sleep. All I wanted to do was get up, go next door, and talk to her. I wanted to make her tell me what she knows, if she knows anything at all, but I think she does. I think she knows something, and if that affects what could happen tonight…
The atmosphere here at the clubhouse is tense, or maybe that’s just me because as I look around everyone else seems pretty relaxed. They’re playing pool, watching TV, but there’s not much drinking going on. Mack wants clear heads.
As far as the club girls are concerned, a few of them are hanging out here, but none of them know what’s going down tonight, not the full extent, anyway. But they know enough to play their part should the police come visiting. I can’t see Skye anywhere, though. I don’t know if she’s here, I don’t know where the hell she is. She wasn’t home when I called round this morning, or she wasn’t answering her door. And I haven’t seen her all day, which worries me, for a whole heap of reasons.
“Hey, Mack.”
He stops what he’s doing and turns to face me. “Yeah?”
“You seen Skye today?”
“She was with Izzi this morning. Took the kids out somewhere, but apart from that, no. Not seen her.” He leans in closer to me and lowers his voice. “Listen, kiddo, you need to quit with the mooning around after some club girl you ain’t ever gonna have and start concentrating on the shit that’s about to go down here in a matter of hours. ‘Cause you better not be throwing some crap in the way of…”
“I think she knows something, Mack.”
He backs away and narrows his eyes as he stares at me, a look of slight confusion on his face. “Like what? What the fuck are you talking about? What the hell does she know?”
I rake a hand through my hair and I wish I hadn’t said anything now. “It doesn’t matter. It’s probably just me being paranoid… She’s been a bit jumpy, a bit distant, that’s all, these past few days.”
“She kinda had good reason. She’s had Cole Rockwell…” He stops talking, jerks his head toward the door and I follow him outside. “Something you wanna tell me, Theo? ‘Cause we’ve been working our asses off getting this shit set up, and if you…”
“I don’t know, OK? I don’t. I’m… She’s just been acting a bit different, and last night… last night she came home late and when I asked her… I’m sure it’s nothing. Like I said, I’m probably just being paranoid.”
“Christ…”
“What?”
“Stop thinking with your dick… Jesus! You’re paranoid because she comes home late? You ever thought she might just have another brother on the go you know nothing about? That she ain’t home ‘cause she’s some place else, doing someone else…?”
“She wouldn’t do that. She’s not like that.”
“They’re all like that. Look, as soon as I see her I’ll talk to her, all right? But I’ve been watching her, and I don’t see nothing that makes me think she’s anything other than some lost kid who needs a place to hang out while she gets her head together.”
“Mack I… what if she…? Look, this might sound crazy but, Skye, and Cole. Something just doesn’t feel right.�
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He raises an eyebrow. “What? You think her and Cole are somehow working together? What the hell makes you think that? That’s crazy talk, son.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what made me think that, I just… I don’t know.”
“No, you don’t. You know shit, and that’s ‘cause you’re letting a woman get under your skin, and what did I tell you ‘bout letting that happen, huh? It fucks you up, Theo. So forget it. Forget her. And I’ll keep a close eye on Cole, but you – you need to get your head straight, ‘cause it’s nearly time. OK? And you need to be more than ready.”
I lean back against the wall and I watch Mack head inside, and then I see her, sashaying across the compound as though tonight is just another ordinary night here at the clubhouse.
“Hey.” She smiles as she approaches me, and I can’t help but smile back. She makes me want to smile, she does that kind of shit to me. So maybe Mack’s right. Maybe I’m just so pissed off that I can’t have her that I’m letting all kinds of crap take over.
“Hey. Where’ve you been? You haven’t been home all day…”
“You been spying on me?”
Her expression darkens slightly and I know I shouldn’t have said that because I know how it sounds. And I didn’t mean it that way. It just kind of slipped out.
“No. No, I’m sorry, I was just… The way we left things last night…”
“With you accusing me of harboring some secret from you? Yeah. Really made me want to come over for pancakes this morning.”
“Skye, I’m sorry…”
She throws me a look and I stop talking. She doesn’t want to hear any more apologies. And then she leans in to me and she plants a light kiss on my cheek, and the urge to pull her against me and kiss her properly, I really have to batter that back.
Bound (Soldiers of Darkness MC Book 3) Page 15
