The Greatest Risk

by Kristen Ashley

  She wasn’t sure if he’d have to.

  It might be her that had to get over it.

  “Wow, Sixx, you did all that?” Molly asked, her eyes huge.

  “She was the shit,” Maddox mini-boomed.

  “You’re right, D. It’ll be fine,” Sixx stated, hoping it was the truth.

  Molly looked among the group.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “It’s all good, baby. All cool. But the cops are gonna be here in a minute, so we might wanna head out,” Maddox said, then turned right back to Sixx. “Walk you to your car.”

  “I’ll be fine,” she assured.

  “Walk you to your car,” he repeated firmly.

  She rolled her eyes, caught Molly grinning like only a woman in a man like D’s hold with a man like Maddox also in her life could do.

  “Let’s go,” Sixx said.

  They headed out, hearing sirens.

  They were halfway across the parking lot when the first cop car came in, not hot. They knew they had their men. Once parked, they cut the siren immediately.

  Molly was still in D’s hold as they walked, and she was looking over her shoulder at the squad.

  “So it’s all over?” she asked.

  “Yup, apparently Clay was tipped off before Sixx got in there because he had all sorts of badasses workin’ it,” D shared, curling her closer.

  “So the bad guys are gonna pay,” Molly said.

  “All on their knees in Clay’s office waiting for the police to arrive, I’d say yeah,” Maddox muttered.

  “You guys look okay,” she noted as Sixx stopped them at the back of her Cayenne. “Is everyone okay?”

  “Everyone standing here is. Sixx’s man showed and fucked someone up and D fucked a couple of them up,” Maddox recounted. “But we’re good.”

  “Mad got some of that action,” Diesel put in.

  “And I missed it all,” Molly pouted and looked at Sixx. “Including meeting your man.”

  She hadn’t missed anything.

  Stellan was not in the mood for introductions.

  “You won’t miss what comes next, baby,” Maddox said in his brand of purr before he turned heated eyes to D. “Bro, fresh cum plugged up your ass, balls drained dry, you still laid that motherfucker out.”

  Diesel’s patented grin was out full force and aimed at his man. “Brother, you’re the one who put in the effort, I just took it, and it didn’t seem to me you had any problem taking care of business.”

  “Plans have changed, my man,” Maddox informed him. “We get home, don’t expect to sleep. After that show, I’m feeling benevolent. And pumped. So big daddy is getting it how he likes it and taking his monster all fuckin’ night long.”

  “Yippee,” Molly whispered.

  D turned to Sixx. “I’m thinkin’ I might have to call off work tomorrow.”

  “No thinkin’ about it, D. Straight up, I’m gonna fuck you ’til you can’t move,” Maddox promised.

  “Can I suck my D while you take his ass, Mady?” Molly requested.

  Maddox turned doting eyes to his woman. “Baby, you can latch on in the truck, if that trips your trigger.”

  “Right on,” Diesel growled.

  “We should let Sixx go and get home,” Molly said excitedly, trigger apparently tripped.

  The trio turned to Sixx.

  Then before she knew it was going to happen, she had her face stuffed in Maddox’s chest with his hand squeezing the back of her neck, feeling his chest rumble even as she heard, “Sixx, pleasure.” He pulled her away by her neck and looked down at her. “You ever want a show, let us know, we’ll pull you up a chair. You ever want a good meal, D can’t cook worth crap, but me and Mol got our shit tight in the kitchen. You’re welcome at our table, and we’d only invite you for the good stuff.”

  “Well, hey…” Sixx muttered awkwardly. “Thanks.”

  Maddox smiled down at her and let her go.

  Molly moved right in, giving her a hug, pressing her cheek tight to Sixx’s shoulder, saying, “What Mad said. Totally.” She pulled away but didn’t let go, tipping her head back to look up at Sixx. “You’re awesome, and I hope you don’t become a stranger.”

  Sixx hoped that too, cupped Molly’s cheek and told her so.

  “I won’t, honey.”

  Molly smiled radiantly and invited, “When you come over, bring your guy.”

  That would remain to be seen.

  Sixx just smiled.

  When she let go, she was engulfed in a Diesel hug.

  “He’ll be good. You’re right,” he whispered in her ear. “It’ll be fine. He’d be a fuckin’ fool if he doesn’t work whatever’s up his ass out and make that so.”

  He lifted his head but also didn’t let go.

  “Thanks,” she whispered in reply.

  He tipped his head to the side and teased, “Switch, hunh?”

  She shook her head but forced a smile.

  He started to let go, but she caught him by fisting her fingers in the sides of his shirt.

  D focused again on her, raising his brows.

  “Thanks for the show.”

  He shot her his grin. “For you, anytime.”

  She pressed in at his sides. “It was beautiful, D.”

  He tensed and his face froze.

  He got her.

  “Beautiful,” she repeated.

  He began to pull away, but she didn’t let go.

  “An honor to watch, Diesel. You’re a lucky man. And they’re lucky too.”

  “Know that,” he grunted.

  “I know you do,” she said gently, let him go, but he lingered, looking into her eyes.

  He did this for several long beats.

  “Beautiful?” he whispered, like that was something he wanted to believe, badly, but couldn’t.

  “Unbelievably,” she told him the truth.

  It sadly didn’t take long before he shook it off, jerked up his chin and moved away.

  When he did, he avoided Maddox and Molly’s eyes.

  Molly’s followed her D.

  Maddox was staring at Sixx.

  He lifted his forefinger to his temple, flicked it out to her as a salute and they all shifted away, moving slowly as an attached group, Molly in between her two men, their arms around her, hers around them, toward a big, white truck parked opposite her Cayenne, several cars down, both men glancing back repeatedly.

  Off-duty, inaudible warlord speak for Get in your fucking car.

  Sixx moved and got in her car.

  She started it up, stared at the lights of her dash, took a breath, two, backed out of her spot and noted that the trio’s truck was backed out, well out, out enough to give her room to pull out in front of them, but idling behind her, waiting for her to motor.

  She saw Maddox behind the wheel.

  Diesel was in the passenger seat.

  Molly couldn’t be seen.

  At least that made her smile.

  She rounded the empty cop cars that now totaled two, stopped at the entrance to the club, looked left, looked right, looked left again and turned right.

  Thus, she headed home.

  twenty-six

  For As Long As I Live

  SIXX

  The second Sixx hit the kitchen, she thought it was a good sign that there was a filled, chilled martini glass with three fat olives on a silver pick in it sitting on the end of the bar.

  She thought it was a bad sign that only the switches that illuminated spotlighting on Stellan’s artwork and the pendants hanging over the bar had been hit, meaning the great room was very dimly lit.

  However, she could see Stellan standing at one of the French doors, staring at the lights rotating colors in the pool, a glass of Scotch in his hand.

  Her heels had made sounds on the tile, sharing her approach, but he didn’t look at her.

  So she stopped at the end of the bar.

  She didn’t touch the drink.

  She called, “Apparently
, you’re pissed.”

  “That seemed like quite an intense scene you were a part of,” he noted toward the pool.

  She knew he was possessive of her, he’d made that clear.

  But considering the situation, Sixx still had to hold her anger in check as she returned, “As you obviously watched it, you’re aware I was only an observer.”

  “Very true,” he murmured.

  He said nothing more.

  She gave him a shot, but he didn’t take it.

  So she remarked, “I don’t know this particular Stellan. Do you need to brood for a while to get over your bullshit? Or are you expecting me to beg you to share what your problem is so I can beg for forgiveness I’m not certain you’re due?”

  That made him turn his head to her.

  “Be careful, Simone,” he warned.

  “Why?” she asked immediately.

  “You were involved in a situation that included drug dealers and pimps. I would think that you, of all people, would be aware of the kind of element those activities attract.”

  “Your point?” she prompted.

  He turned his body toward her but didn’t make a move to her.

  “It’s dangerous,” he stated. “Any one of those men you grappled with tonight could have had guns. Knives.”

  “They didn’t.”

  “They could have, and you walked right up to one of them armed with a phone.”

  Okay, she had to concede that.

  Though, not verbally.

  “How did you know I was there?”

  “Branch heard through however Branch hears things that you took that job. He shared it with me.”

  Dillinger did …

  What?

  “Why did he share it with you?”

  “He was concerned about the company you’re keeping, and not just Barclay’s partner, but in all of your extracurricular activities. He spoke with Leenie about what he should do, and he came to me.”

  “So Evangeline told him to share his concerns with you?”

  “Yes,” he confirmed.

  Sixx had to take in a breath so as not to get sidetracked with additional anger at the sisterhood doing what the sisterhood often did in a way that was so integrated in society’s mindset, most of the time they did it without noticing they were doing it.

  Underestimating a sister.

  Especially when she was engaged in doing something that stereotypically was the purview of a man.

  If Branch was worried about her, as a colleague (of sorts), he should have come to her.

  Being a man and maybe not getting it, if he didn’t know the right way to go with that and asked his woman, straight up, Evangeline should have advised him to approach her.

  Not Stellan.

  However, at this moment, she could not get bogged down with that.

  There was enough bogging down the room.

  It was very unfortunate Stellan carried on.

  “Branch was aware that I’d already spoken with Carvelo, Rodrigo, and their like and shared with them that you no longer were available to provide services to them. As this job was outside that breed of client, and thus I had not talked to whoever offered it to you, he was concerned you’d put yourself in another dangerous situation, knew I’d already acted to keep you out of such situations, so he came to me.”

  Learning this news, Sixx stood there, staring at the man she loved, breathing heavily.

  When Stellan spoke next, his tone was no longer remote, but warm and gentle.

  “You seem to either be in denial of their existence, or have taught yourself to ignore them, or have forced yourself with that exceptionally willful mind of yours to forget them. But I enjoy your body daily, and your gunshot wounds are not lost on me, darling. They’re a constant reminder of that life you used to lead. A constant reminder that if you keep leading it, one day you might not come home to me.”

  Okay.

  Right.

  Sixx looked down to her drink, reached out a hand, picked it up, and brought the chilled gin to her lips.

  She took a sip.

  She then studied the oil from the olives skimming the surface.

  She took another sip.

  And she did all of this reminding herself, she was an adult.

  She was in a relationship.

  She’d never been in a relationship.

  But now she was.

  So she had to handle this.

  As an adult.

  Facts:

  She was in love with this man.

  He was in love with her.

  She wanted a future with him.

  He wanted a future with her.

  So she could not lose her mind, say something stupid or do something stupid.

  He had valid points.

  They were bullshit, but perhaps he didn’t know that.

  She had to keep herself together and explain that to him.

  Calmly.

  She took one last sip, put the drink down, and looked to him, having to regain her control because he was watching her, but he was still all the way across the damned room, berating his wayward girlfriend.

  She drew in another breath and wished she hadn’t set the drink aside.

  “First,” she started softly. “You began with me observing Maddox and Diesel’s scene. Do you have an issue with that?”

  “I can’t imagine how you could ask that,” he replied. “You were in a room with two men having sex without me there.”

  “I was on a job.”

  “It’s trite to turn the tables, Simone, but it’s also effective. To that end, I must ask how you would feel if, unknown to you, I was in a room watching women have sex?”

  Fuck.

  Another point.

  “It was a job, Stellan.”

  “I understand you wish me to get there with you, Simone, but that excuse does not wash. The only reason I’m not infuriated by that particular part of this scenario is that you wore my collar. Both nights. So at least you were thinking of me.”

  She worked hard, and fortunately mostly succeeded, in keeping the exasperation out of her, “Of course I was thinking of you. I’m always thinking of you.”

  “I’m afraid I’m not convinced of that at this present time.”

  “It was a—”

  “Repeating it doesn’t make me understand it.”

  “Don’t interrupt me, honey,” she said quietly.

  Stellan held her gaze but said no more.

  “As I was going to say. It was a job. A good one. An important one. One I had to take. The situation in question was happening at the Bolt. I went there last night for reconnaissance purposes. I have a paying job. Responsibilities to my employer and this was outside that. I couldn’t give all my attention to it, but it was important, and with what was happening in that club, it was pressing. What was happening there could not stand. I recruited informants, but that’s never the best scenario when you’re gathering information, especially when you need solid evidence. I had to go in. I had utterly no intention of observing any scene outside perhaps strolling past one.”

  When she paused and he didn’t speak, she was relieved to learn he was the kind of man he had proved himself to be in the past, even if they hadn’t exactly had a situation quite like this.

  In other words, a man who would listen to what she had to say.

  She carried on.

  “You did not get to meet them before you left, Molly, Diesel and Maddox. But I’ve known Molly for some time. She’s sweet and friendly and has her head together. I recruited her. Her two Doms, Diesel and Maddox, had noticed what was going down and offered to assist, at first, mostly to take my back because as you could see, they’re skilled at that. In the natural course of things, it became clear that going undercover as an observer of one of their scenes would put me in a better position to be at the Bolt for reasons that wouldn’t be questioned, place me there for longer when I was not going to play and allow me to keep a much closer eye on things.”

&nbs
p; Regrettably, Stellan had something to say to that.

  “You watched two of their scenes, Simone. You sat and watched the big one work the dark one on all fours on the platform last night,” he pointed out.

  He’d been there last night.

  She took up her drink again, staring into it as she calmed herself before she took another sip.

  She set it down and noted, “So that was why I beat you to the Honey last night.”

  “Yes,” he confirmed immediately.

  “You’re right. I misspoke. I watched two of their scenes,” she said tightly. “Last night was supposed to look like a tryout.”

  “It succeeded,” Stellan shared. “And the only reason I wasn’t infuriated last night was because you were obviously not moved by their performance because you didn’t want me to service you at Naya and Ami’s scene until their display, witnessed with me, moved you to have that need. For you, what Diesel was doing to Maddox, or whichever one is which, would normally be quite affecting. Last night, it did not seem to have that effect.”

  “That happens when I’m working,” she stressed. “And I’ll add, when you’re not there.”

  He took a sip of his drink but said nothing.

  “I was not there to get my rocks off, Stellan. I wasn’t there to get my Mistress on. I would never do either of those without you with me. Not ever. I did not participate. I did not touch. I did not command. I used their scene to keep an eye on the stations Beardsley was utilizing and to get a take on the DMs that were in his pocket. That said, with full disclosure, which I would have told you regardless because I’d very much like you to meet all three, but also what I learned of them is troubling me and I’d want to talk it out with you. Molly is incredibly lovely and there’s a deep, emotional issue the trio is enduring with Diesel. So I cannot tell you I was not moved when that came out in their scene. Diesel isn’t comfortable with one side of his bi nature, and it doesn’t often get to where Maddox was able to take him tonight. It was an honor to witness that, even as Molly explained what was happening, so it also felt like watching something tragic. But the bottom line is, Stellan, as important as that is to those three, all of that is an aside to what I was doing there. This is my job. It’s what I do. It’s what I’m good at. And you have to trust me to do it without intervening.”