by C. M. Owens
“And your sister?” she asks, looking up. “I didn’t know you had one.”
I shrug and look back down.
“She’s younger than me by seven years—she’s twenty-one now. She left after she accused Pop of killing her mother. Then she went so far as to accuse him of killing mine as well. She was fifteen, I was twenty-two, and I believed everything Pop told me back then. He’d raised me on his own, and the entire club had told me what a junkie my mother was. Kara wouldn’t listen to me when I was trying to stop her from getting herself eighty-sixed. Pop had no tolerance for people stirring shit, and accusing him of something like that? Something that big? It was treason.”
She continues staring up at me with a perplexed look. How do you explain a life like mine to a girl who grew up like Eve?
“Rush mentioned something about why he hated Herrin having to do with the way Herrin did some girl. Your sister?”
Yeah… Shit really makes more sense with Rush by the second. Not that I would have understood it before Eve. Girls make you fucking crazy apparently.
“Yeah. I think Rush must have been closer to her than I realized. Makes sense why he hated me, since until recently, he had no idea what I did for my sister to save her life.”
Eve’s eyes widen.
“Herrin wanted to kill her for accusing him of killing her mother? Did he kill her mother?”
I shrug. “Don’t know. No one ever will. What almost got her killed—what made him put an outstanding hit on her—is the fact she went to the cops with her evidence. Pop got brought in and questioned, and the whole club got put under investigation for a long time. Heat got heavy. He had an alibi. He always has an alibi. At any given moment, eighty people will lie and say he was with them. So Kara never had a chance. When they turned him loose, she was hiding in a motel downtown, waiting on life or death to happen. I found her, gave her money, and stuck her in a used car I paid cash for. I gave her a burner phone and told her to only call me in case of an emergency, and gave her forty-eight grand—all the money I had left at that time.”
“She was just fifteen,” Eve says sadly. “What did she do?”
“She called me once to let me know she’d found a place to settle in, and was using her fake ID to pass as an eighteen-year-old. Told me she missed me, and wanted me to come out there with her.” I groan, feeling the guilty knot ball up in my stomach. “She didn’t say she was scared; she said she missed me. But in all honesty, now I know she was scared. She was just a fucking kid, even though you mature real fast around here. I should have done something about Pop back then, but I had been trained, Eve. You never go against the P. It’s a death sentence, and we all know it. The cops? Going to the cops painted my sister a target to anyone wearing our cuts. I did what I had to in order to keep her safe, but I should have gone with her.”
She kisses my chest like she’s consoling me for being a shitty brother and obedient son.
“Rush pulled up all the info on her. I gave him her last location. I had it traced from the phone she used back then, but never looked into it. She’s still there, Eve. Probably still waiting on me. She’s a waitress at a diner, has her own small house, and even has the same used car I bought her six years ago.”
She runs her lips up higher, slowly climbing up my body until she’s kissing my neck. I don’t want to talk about this anymore, and as much as I’d like to stay up here and hide from the world, there’s shit that needs to be done.
“Come on. Time to teach you how to shoot a gun,” I say, causing her to strangle on her own breath.
“What? Why?” she asks, panicking a little as I slide out from under her.
“We’ll shower first,” I say, winking as I head to the bathroom, feeling her eyes on me.
“I’m good with a shower,” she says dryly, and I turn to catch her eyes drinking me in. Yeah, we’ll take a while in the shower.
Chapter 34
EVE
Drex holds my hips as I fire and fire and fire the gun that is vibrating in my hands. I don’t get anywhere close to hitting the damn target. As I lower the gun, Drex pulls the earplugs out of my ears, and I hear his low rumble of laughter.
“You’re terrible at this,” he says while taking my gun away and putting it off to the side of the ledge in front of us.
They have their own firing range in the basement. At least no one else is down here to see how badly I suck at being a badass.
“Let’s just hope I never need a gun,” I grumble.
Surprisingly, he’s smiling at me as he leans a hip against the side. “Let’s hope I’m never standing next to anyone you need to shoot,” he jokes.
Never thought I’d consider a statement like that a joke.
“Try it again, and this time, aim for the target,” he says, biting back his smile when I roll my eyes.
I put the earplugs back in as Drex replaces the empty clip or magazine… or whatever it’s called… with a new one. We’ve been down here an hour, and I’ve only hit the damn target once. Maybe he needs to push that nifty little button and make the target come closer.
Taking a deep breath, I ignore the amused, mocking look on his face, and I take the gun back as he moves around behind me. Before I can fire the gun though, my breath hitches in my throat because Drex tugs the hem of my skirt up, pushing it above my waist.
“What are you doing?” I ask, but whatever he says is muffled because of the noise-cancelling earplugs.
I hold the gun with one hand, and tug an earplug out, trembling when his hand skates across the front of my very thin panties.
“What are you doing?” I ask again.
“Distracting you,” he answers before a warm kiss finds my neck. Reflexively, I tilt my head to the side, giving him a better angle. “Go head and try to hit the target.”
“I can’t hit the target when I’m focused. How is distracting me going to help?” I ask him, trying not to moan the words when his hand dips inside the lacy underwear.
“You’re wearing a fucking skirt, holding my favorite gun, and wearing one of those damn shirts that shows my name on you. It’s amazing I’ve went this long without touching you. The fuck did you think was going to happen when we got down here?” he asks, dipping his finger inside me and causing me to forget that I’m holding a damn gun. A loaded gun.
“Fuck, you’re wet,” he groans against my ear.
The gun falls out of my hand and slaps the floor as the back of my head falls against his chest. I grab his forearms, needing something to cling to as he continues to move his finger in and out of me.
When he removes his finger, a whimper of protest escapes me, but a sharp tug on my panties has the sound of fabric ripping resonating in my ears, and my protest dies on my tongue.
Just as he bends me over the small ledge in front of me, a door slams and echoes, letting us know we’re no longer alone. Drex stills behind me, but he doesn’t let me stand back up. The metal partition walls in place create a small privacy space for each shooting section. There are at least ten, and we listen as the two pairs footsteps carry down in the opposite direction.
Drex’s lips find my neck, and I bite back a moan as he shoves a hand between us to start undoing his jeans. The chatter from the other end is just distant noise to my ears when Drex lines himself up and starts to push inside me.
When the first gunshot rings out, I jump, but Drex slams all the way inside me at the same time while clamping a hand over my mouth with one hand, and holding my right hip with the other.
He sets a rhythm, and I grab onto the ledge in front of me, keeping myself from being slammed into it at the waist as his thrusts get harder. His hand on my mouth drops, and it slides down my body as he grabs my other hip, anchoring me to him.
“Touch yourself, Eve. Let me watch you,” he says against my ear, causing me to shiver as he thrusts in again. I glance over to see the reflection of us in the metal partition wall at our side. Drex is staring at it, waiting on me to comply.
The reflection
isn’t as clear as a mirror, but it’s pretty damn close, even with all the fingerprint smudges on it.
With him holding me with both hands, I’m able to let go of the ledge and run my hand down to where he wants it until I’m running a circle over that bundle of nerves. Drex makes some throaty sound, still watching, but the intensity of the eye contact is too much, so I let my head drop as I try not to bring myself to orgasm too quickly.
He pulls out and pushes in again, and I cling to the ledge with one hand, while my other continues to work for Drex and me. His thrusts get harder, more demanding, and coupling it with what I’m doing to myself becomes too much to fight off any longer.
When I cry out his name, it’s in between spurts of gunshots drowning me out, and he bites down on my shoulder while going still inside me. My entire body shivers with the sensations left behind. Tensing and contracting muscles go a little crazy inside me, and Drex’s teeth loosen as he kisses the spot he just bit.
The gunshots are loud without my earplug in one ear, but I’m too busy trying not to collapse to worry about it. I almost pout when Drex pulls out of me, but I just push my skirt down instead as he bends and grabs my torn panties from the floor and shoves them in the pocket of his jeans before zipping himself back up and winking at me.
He grabs the loaded, forgotten gun from the floor and turns the safety on before tucking it into the back of his jeans.
“Let’s head up and see what the guys have heard about Pop or this other chaos after you get cleaned up.”
“You’re going to let me listen in?” I ask, surprised.
“You’re in this too deep now. Nothing left to lose,” he says before brushing his lips against mine. “Nothing left to lose but you, that is. Might as well let you stay in the loop just in case something said keeps you alive.”
He looks sincerely worried, and I lean forward, clasping my hands around his neck. “Don’t worry. If anything happens, I’ll protect you,” I tell him seriously.
His laughter breaks free, and I smile up at him, feeling like I’ve accomplished a small miracle.
“Just don’t shoot me,” he says, smirking before tugging my hand in his and pulling me toward the door. I really need some shower time.
Two pairs of eyes swing to us as Dash and Rush step out of their booths, seeming confused, but then Rush rolls his eyes and resumes shooting at the targets. I just smile while walking out of the basement with Drex, moving past a door with a crazy lock that I assume is hiding his cars.
The world might be against us, but Drex Caine really does trust me. And I trust him… with my life.
Chapter 35
DREX
“The feds are still not factoring in,” Snake says, scratching out a piece of the theory on the white board. “Even if Sarah—AJ—is the leak, why not tell them everything? She fucking knew everything.” His jaw clenches shut, but he tries to act like the mention of her name isn’t acid on his tongue.
“Sarah isn’t the leak,” Eve states firmly, reminding every man in the room that she’s at my side. Yeah, it’s definitely a first.
Sledge’s lips twitch, Rush is annoyed with her being in here, and Snake gives her zero attention, pretending as though she didn’t just speak.
“Let’s pause this conversation since it’s not going anywhere,” Axle says while leaning up and putting his elbows on the table. “The guys want to know what our goal is. We had several more show up today after dropping their cuts at Herrin’s feet. They drove out here and asked to join us, but what the fuck are they joining? What’s the plan, Drex?”
Why do I have to have the plan?
“My bad. I got into the moment and said we were starting a new club,” Dash confesses unapologetically.
“I don’t have any plans. I’m out. No Death Dealers,” I tell them.
“Got that part,” Axle grumbles. “Perfectly fine with that. Just need to know if we’re forming our own club now or if I should tell the guys they need to go elsewhere for protection.”
“Does having a new club make you safer than just wearing your T-shirts while hanging out?” Eve quips, then slinks back when several of them give her a glare.
I toss my arm around her shoulders, trying not to laugh at her. Fucking day. Fucking week. Fucking life.
It’d be great if I could just disappear with her, but I owe it to the guys who’ve had my back to stick around until the heat has cleared.
“It creates unity, organization, and a sense of less chaos,” I explain, kissing the top of her head. “We should pick a name, iron out the details, resume business as normal, and deal with any backlash from our business associates as it comes. The guys need to know they can count on us, and I vote Sledge as Prez.”
Sledge coughs and strangles like he just swallowed his own tongue before shaking his head vehemently. “Fuck that. I don’t want to be P. That’s all you. These guys won’t listen to anyone but you right now. You stood up to Herrin, cold-cocked him, and then told Hershel to fuck off. That’s you, kid. Step up.”
Everyone at the table nods like they agree, and I groan. No way do I want to be President. It used to be my only goal in life, but now…
My eyes fall on Eve, who is nervously chewing on her thumbnail and staring at the table, probably dreading the answer I have to give.
“Glad that’s settled,” Axle says with a smirk, even though I haven’t answered. “Give us a name, P. It’s not going to be easy starting a new club in the limits of an existing club we’ve all just gone up against. So make it a badass name.”
Eve looks over at me, then over to Axle. “The Reapers,” she says quietly.
I snort, but everyone else slowly has a grin crawling up. I’m fairly positive that my girl from the burbs just tried to name our club. “It’ll go with your Death Dealer reaper tats that you already have, and it’ll piss off the Death Dealers when you turn it into your logo instead, only better. Like the reaper tattoo on Drex’s back,” Eve goes on. “It’s better than the DD logo. And it suits all of you.”
“We’ll talk about it more later. I need a drink and something to eat before we head over to have that chat with our next client.”
“You’re leaving?” Eve asks, grimacing when her voice cracks.
Did I seriously forget to tell her? I’m an ass.
“Yeah. We were supposed to have a big order we were going to start this week, but we need to make sure the Hemmers Family still want to do business with us, considering the circumstances. Best to do these things in person. It makes it harder for them to change their minds.”
I brush my lips over hers and pull her to me as some of the others start to exit.
“Don’t worry, Eve. Dash will be here, along with numerous others. This place is locked down tight right now. Stay in the room until I get back, though.”
She sighs but nods like she understands. She’s going to lose every ounce of tan if I continue to keep her locked up in here like I want to. Not to mention go bat-shit crazy with cabin fever or some shit.
“After we get some things sorted, you and me are getting away for a weekend.”
“Just the two of us?” she asks, grinning up at me.
“Yeah. Just the two of us.”
Her smile grows and she stands on her tiptoes before tugging at the front of my shirt. I bend over again, kissing her until her tongue starts to drive me crazy. Reluctantly, I pull back, adjust my hard cock in front of her, and then start leading her out again.
The last thing I want to do right now is leave her behind, but I sure as fuck can’t take her where I’m going.
“Dash,” I call as Eve heads up the stairs to my room. He jogs over, and as soon as he reaches me, I glance back as Eve ducks inside the room and shuts the door behind her.
“What’s up?”
I turn back to face him, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling in my stomach. It’s paranoia. I know it is, but it’s still nagging me.
“Call me if anything seems even a little bit off.”
�
�Yeah. Sure. I’ll be right down here though. We’re going to play a game of poker and maybe call some girls over.”
I dig my phone out as it buzzes, rolling my eyes when I see it’s a message from Rush telling me to hurry the hell up.
“Is Drake here?” I ask Dash.
“Nah. He’s back at work with a few armed guards. He wasn’t ever the real target, and his arms aren’t broken, so he wanted to get back to work.”
I nod, feeling that knot of unease double in size with every passing second. “Seriously, call me if anything seems out of place.”
Dash shrugs before nodding. “Nothing’s going down, D. Your girl can’t be touched, and I’m sure you’re not letting her out when you’re not here. Go. We got this. Hurry back so you can stop worrying.”
I glance back one last time, and start to head up to check on her, even though it just sounds fucking ridiculous to even think about. My phone buzzing again prompts me to head out instead, but I can’t handle the feeling of dread crawling over me.
Instead of thinking about it, I dial her like I’m not right downstairs on my way toward the garage.
“Miss me already?” she asks softly, causing me to smile despite the bad feeling that won’t ebb.
“Yeah. Just wanted to remind you to stay locked up. I shouldn’t be too long. If I am, I’ll have Dash send up some food.”
“That sounds good,” she says slowly.
“You okay?” I ask, pausing and looking back at the door.
“Of course. Just tired. Long day. I may take a nap.”
I turn and duck into the garage, flipping Rush off as he revs his engine, making hearing her a little harder.
“I wish I could take that nap with you. Call me if you need me.”
“Sure thing. And, Drex?”
“Yeah?” I ask, settling onto my own ride.
“I love you.”
Pretty sure it feels like someone has just kicked me in the stomach, but I swallow down whatever chaotic feelings those surprising words are stirring.
“Bye,” she says before hanging up when the silence drones on.
