by Anna Mara
Tori’s bravado stance evaporated and she crumpled onto the couch, her body feeling like it had lost all power. Her fingers came up to her face and covered her eyes, physically pushing back the tears that were threatening to spill out of her.
No, she wasn’t going to allow herself to cry over him, she just wasn’t! Yes, she loved him, but she couldn’t be with him—and that was that!
But what was she going to do now?
Chapter 46
Savage sat on the closed toilet lid with his head in his hands, as his thoughts drifted back to their conversation. Man, had he ever fucked up royally this time! Not only had his gun deal blown up in his face but he’d screwed things up with her too.
But maybe she was right, after all. There really was no future with someone like him and she would only end up getting hurt in the long run, especially with the kind of job he had. Maybe it was best if she cut her losses now and forgot all about him. But even now, as he was thinking that, his heart was breaking at the thought of never seeing her again. How could he live without her?
“Shit, fuck and dammit all to hell,” he mumbled, as bitter agony swept through him. He was a defeated man emotionally, because deep down inside his cold, mean heart, he knew that Tori would be better off without him. It was the only way! She needed to be protected from every bad thing in life, and the most dangerous thing of all that she needed to be protected from was an asshole like him.
Savage blew out a breath of frustration. Okay, guess it was time to get back to work and face the music with Snake. He reached for his cell phone and dialed. The bossman had left countless messages since last night.
Suddenly, the call was answered. “Where’s my money, asshole?” Snake growled.
Savage smirked. “Hello to you too, bossman,” he laughed.
“Fuck your jokes, Monroe. I want my money—now!”
“Okay, don’t get your panties all in a bunch. I’ve got it with me.”
“All of it?”
“Yeah, all of it.”
Snake let out a breath of relief and his tone lightened. “That’s good to hear. Now I won’t have to skin you alive,” he laughed, enjoying his own dark humor.
“Yeah well, shit happened last night and it didn’t go down like I wanted it to.”
“I heard all about it and how you fucked up because of that girl. But I’m not gonna hold it against you, as long as you bring me back my cash.”
“Count on it. What happened to Rocker and Goose, by the way?”
“Jail. Feds got ’em after the shootout.”
“Anybody get killed?”
“Yeah, four of them Demon Dead assholes, which is no loss there.”
“And Stitch?”
“He was the first to go! Got it right between the eyes, the fucker. Wish I could’a seen that!” Snake burst out laughing, the hissing sound he was making coming through loud and clear on the other end of the cell phone.
Savage’s lips curled in disgust, as he remembered how the other biker had wrapped his disgusting, fat fingers around Tori’s arm, manhandling her in front of him.
“Yeah, me too,” he gritted. “I would’ve paid good money to see him take his last breath on earth before making his way to hell.”
“Know what you mean, bro. Listen, about my money? Bring it to The Valley Lodge and meet us up there.”
Savage frowned. “What are you doing at that old shithole?”
“Never mind, I’ll explain things when you get here.”
“Okay…”
“Oh, and bring the girl with you too.”
Savage’s brows quickly drew together into a scowl. “I don’t know where she is,” he lied.
“What? I thought she was with you?”
“No. I dropped her off at her hotel last night and that’s the last I’ve seen of her. What am I anyway—her fucking babysitter?”
Snake blew out a frustrated breath. “Fine, never mind about the bitch. Just bring me my money, asshole!” The biker leader clicked his phone shut.
Savage frowned as he pocketed his cell phone. The Valley Lodge and Casino was a boarded up and abandoned, old style gambling resort situated about 25 miles north of here. It had been a very popular hangout with the mobsters of the day in the 50’s and 60’s before its eventual decline in the 1980’s. Snake’s mother had worked there as a blackjack dealer for many years.
What the hell was going down now at that old place?
Chapter 47
Tori stood at the stove, turning over the bacon slices frying in the pan. Savage was talking to someone on his cell phone in the bathroom but with the door closed she couldn’t make anything out.
She frowned thoughtfully. He was probably calling one of his fellow biker brothers to discuss his many nefarious business dealings. A flare of anger lanced through her again. But could someone like him really change his ways and go straight? Would she even trust him if he said he wanted to try?
She’d seen with her own two eyes the violence he was capable of and frankly, it scared her. But she did love him, and if he were to say to her right now that he wanted to give it all up to be with her, well then yes—she would be with him in a heartbeat and never look back, as crazy as that all sounded. But if he were to tell her again, like he had a little while ago, that he refused to give up his lawless lifestyle, then she would walk away and never see him again. It was the only way!
“Something smells good in here,” Savage drawled from behind her.
Startled by the sound of his voice, Tori dropped the spatula. It clattered into the cast iron skillet, the sound reverberating off the walls of the small kitchen. He stood a few feet away wearing one of his clean, white t-shirts over his jeans, and looking as handsome as ever.
“I thought I’d cook us some breakfast before we left. Hope you like bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast.” She tried to sound casual as she picked up the spatula again but her heart was going wild at his close proximity.
“It’s my favorite thing in the whole wide world. How did ya’ guess?” He laughed, moving to the coffeemaker to pour himself a cup.
Out of the corner of her eye, Tori noticed that he took his brew black. She sighed inwardly. There were so many things she didn’t know about him and was dying to know, but after this morning, she would never get a chance to find out. She wanted to burst out crying at the sadness of it all but at the last second, she reigned in her feelings, deciding that this last time together should be pleasant with no tears and or regrets on either of their parts. What she needed was to stay composed and keep the conversation light and cheery.
She forced her lips into a tight smile. “It was my ex-husband’s favorite too. It seems most members of the male species love bacon and eggs.”
Savage suddenly gawked at her in surprise. “You were married before?”
Tori poured the beaten eggs into another pan and began scrambling them over the hot burner. She didn’t notice the jealous scowl marring his features. “Yes I was, but I’m divorced now, since last year, in fact.”
“What happened?”
“He turned out to be a real rat. He cheated on me and then when he skipped out, he left me with a pile of credit card bills. I owe close to $60,000. On my small-town, schoolteacher’s salary, it’s going to take forever to pay it all off.” Tori took a quick nervous peek at him from under her lashes, trying to discern how he was taking this new tidbit of news, but his mouth had suddenly radiated into a sexy half smile.
“It’s too bad you didn’t know me last year, Snow White because, as I’ve told you before, collections are my specialty. I would have gotten your money back, right down to the last nickel, no problem.”
Tori burst out laughing. “Oh, is that right?”
“Oh yeah! I would have found the asshole within 48 hours and then paid him a visit with my trusty baseball bat. He would have been paying you back in no time—with interest and an apology. Count on it.”
“And how much would you have charged me for that service, Mr. Savage�
��another $2500?” She carried the pan to the table, and dished out the eggs onto the plates she’d already set up there.
Within a microsecond, he was behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He leaned into her ear and whispered, “A kiss—that’s all I’d ask from you—and we’d call it even.”
A pang of longing shot through Tori, making her almost cave on her decision to leave him after today, but she caught herself and put her resolve firmly back in place. She squeezed out of his arms and moved back to the stove, put the empty pan down and picked up the one with the bacon slices.
Savage frowned to himself. All he wanted right now was another chance to kiss her. In fact, he was desperate for it, but it was clear that she wanted to keep their relationship on a light footing for now. Since he didn’t want to scare her away, he’d play along. He sat down at the table in front of the delicious, hot breakfast, just as she came back to pile his plate high with bacon strips.
“How long were you married to the rat?” he asked nonchalantly, but inwardly he was seething that anyone could treat her like that. They certainly wouldn’t dare ever do that on his watch.
“Three years. I thought I had the perfect marriage until it all came crashing down on me one day.” Tori sat down opposite him. “Tod was my college sweetheart—gorgeous, all-American, had a great job. My pastor father and mother loved him to death. I had a huge white wedding with three hundred people at the reception and my daddy even officiated at the ceremony. It was all so perfect. Then my new husband and I started our perfect life together. Only thing was he turned out to be a complete and total skunk, constantly cheating on me while he was out of town on business. I had no idea. Guess the joke was on me in the end! My life looked perfect on the outside but was rotten to the core on the in. Isn’t that funny?”
“Hilarious! And for the record? I wanna smash his head in!”
Tori burst out laughing again as she sipped her coffee and watched him dig into his food. “Believe me, I wanted to do that to him too at the time. Nana always hated him. She was the only one who told me not to marry him because he was a big ‘ole phony, as she put it. She also said she never got her famous tingle about him.”
Savage looked up. “What’s that?”
“My grandmother is renowned in Gideon for the supernatural tingle she gets in her gut every time she meets a man she can trust and who’s got a good heart. She got her tingle about you when we first met you, you know. That’s why we hired you. She said and I quote, ‘Mr. Savage is a good man with a good heart. We can trust him, sugarplum’—unquote. Was she right? Can I trust you—Mr. Savage?” she teased.
Savage’s eyes grew serious and his hand reached out across the table to brush her cheek softly. “You know you can. I love you, Tori. Know that as long as you’re with me, you’re safe,” he whispered.
Tori’s heart skipped a beat at the love she saw shining in his eyes for her. His hand felt soft and tender against her flushed face. She felt a physical tug emanating from his body, and she knew he desperately wanted to be with her. Without thinking, her body moved an inch towards him, but at the last second, she stopped herself. She sat back in her seat, pulling away from his touch.
“How’s your wound this morning?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Better,” he responded, disappointment seeping into his voice at having her move away from him like that.
“Liar!” she accused, and then watched as a naughty schoolboy smile spread across his face, confirming her suspicions. “Will you be able to ride today?”
He shrugged casually. “It’ll probably hurt like hell but I’m a tough son-of-a-bitch. I can take it.”
Tori’s eyes suddenly grew sad as a pang of remorse shot through her. “I’m so so sorry, Matt, that I did that to you. I hope you can forgive me,” she whispered.
Savage reached across the table to tenderly brush her cheek again. “There’s nothing to forgive, Tori. You did what you thought you had to. In my world, that’s just good common sense. Besides…” his lips broke into a sheepish grin, “I had it coming to me for getting you involved in that fiasco last night. How in the hell did you ever find out where that deal was going down, by the way?”
Tori giggled. “I found the pad that you wrote the Gable Street address on and I shaded the page with a pencil, just like they do in the movies.”
Savage let out a husky laugh and shook his head. “Smart and beautiful! You’re a dangerous mix, Snow White. I’m gonna have to watch myself around you from now on.”
Tori joined in his laughter. “As my Nana would say, ‘my grandbaby’s brain is as quick as a hiccup’.” She used her grandmother’s exaggerated Texan drawl.
Savage’s fevered eyes pierced hers with smoldering intensity. Man she was beautiful. The air around her just shimmered with light and goodness and hope. She was special, a real angel—and now that she’d dropped into his life he didn’t ever want to let her go.
He smiled. “I’ll bet you are, princess.”
He watched as her bright smile suddenly disappeared and she grew serious. “Do you think those federal agents are after us? I mean, are we going to jail?” she mumbled awkwardly.
He shook his head. “No, they’re not. I’ve got some connections in Vegas. They tell me that we got away free and clear. No one’s after us, Snow White, so you don’t have to worry.”
She let out a big sigh of relief. “Thank God! Now I can focus on finding Nana.”
“I’m gonna help you with that, I promise. We’ll find her together.”
Tori shook her head. “No!” The word came out of her defiant and absolute. In a flash, she got up to put her empty plate in the sink. Turning back to him, she raised her chin and faced him squarely. “I’m calling a cab in about an hour’s time to take me back to the hotel. After that, I’m not going to see you anymore—ever again.”
A shot of pain went through Savage at her finite words. He got up and breached the distance between them, his hands desperately cradling either side of her face, forcing her eyes to meet his pleading ones. “Don’t do this to us, please!” he begged.
“Do you love me, Matt?”
“You know I do!”
“Then give up your life of crime and come home with me. It’s the only way!” A dry sob caught in her throat.
Savage closed his eyes for a brief second before reopening them to her pain-stricken gaze. “I—can’t do that right now, baby.” He sighed and let his hands drop away from her, taking a step back. “There’s too much going down. I have to take care of business.”
Tori physically pushed at his chest to move away from him. “Business and money—money and business, that’s all you care about. It’s more important to you than I am, isn’t it?” Unshed tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
A sudden coldness came over him, removing all emotion from his aura. He instantly became the block of ice known to everyone around town as the heartless, ruthless, biker criminal nicknamed Savage Monroe. “It’s a job, sweetheart and I’m committed to it,” he drawled.
His words were as cold as death and just as final; and Tori felt like he had physically slapped her. She raised her chin higher, refusing to give into the temptation to cry.
“Well, I guess we both got the answers we were looking for, didn’t we—Mr. Savage?” Tori stalked out of the kitchen with her head held high.
Chapter 48
Tori finished washing the breakfast dishes and looked out the kitchen window above the sink. She watched as Savage checked his Harley, making sure everything on the machine was in proper working order.
After their spat, she had gone into her bedroom for a bit and tried calling her Nana again but to no avail. When she’d come back out, he was already outside taking the bundles of money out of the duffle bag and wrapping them in plastic bags before stuffing them into the bike’s saddlebags.
Tori’s lips had twisted with sarcasm. What else would he be doing after their argument but taking care of business, right? After all,
wasn’t money his first love? It certainly wasn’t her! He’d told her as much.
Suddenly, her cell phone shrilled and Tori gasped with a start. Oh my God, maybe it was Nana. She raced to get the device lying on the coffee table in the living room. The caller ID indicated it was her Nana! Her heart raced as she answered.
“Where the hell are you? I’ve been so scared!” she yelled into the phone.
There was a silent pause before a gruff male voice said, “Is this Tori Jones?”
Tori’s heart raced faster as a shot of adrenaline surged through her. “Yes it is. Who’s this?” Fear gripped her throat, choking her words.
“Never mind who it is. Just know that we have your grandmother and Sorelli.”
“What? I don’t understand?”
“Come to The Valley Lodge and Casino in a couple of hours and we’ll explain everything.”
“What? Put my grandmother on the phone. Now!” Tori tried to sound brave.
“Listen honey, we set the rules, not you. If you want to see your grandmother and Sorelli alive, you’ll meet us there and then we’ll talk terms. And come alone. If you don’t—or you go to the cops—they’re both dead.”
“How do I know you have them? I don’t believe you!”
There was a scuffle in the background and then someone said, “Tori?”
Oh my God! It was her grandmother…
“Nana? Is that you?”
“Tori—don’t believe them! Don’t come—”
Next, Tori heard another shuffling sound as if they were dragging her away.
“Don’t hurt her! Don’t hurt her!” Tori screamed, as large tears streamed down her face. “Stop, please stop! I’ll do whatever you want, just please don’t hurt her. Please…”
