There was a long, brittle silence before he said, “Us.”
There had been no more Pyscho Durty, no more temper tantrums, what was there to talk about? She pushed herself up, turning slightly to face him, though she was afraid to look at him, knowing he was going to dump her. “If you’re breaking up with me, just rip the Band-Aid off and get it over with.”
Sting recoiled at the sharpness and anger in her voice. His words were quick, “I was going to ask you to move in with me.”
“I told you I was sorry, Sting. I don’t know how else—wait, what?” Durty paused, not sure she’d heard him right.
He laughed richly. “Move in with me, Durty.”
She felt a warm glow flow through her at the very thought of being with him, but there was still that little piece of darkness that clung to her, made her hesitant about agreeing to such a big step. He’d proven she could trust him, that he’d never intentionally hurt her emotionally, of that she had no doubts. He’d already shown her he wasn’t physical by nature when she pushed those little buttons of his. Could she let go of the past and look into the bright future he was offering her?
“I’m not going to quit the club, Sting.”
His brows gathered together in confusion. “I wouldn’t ask that of you, just like you wouldn’t ask that of me. I don’t do ultimatums.”
A slow nod brought her hair over her eyes, hiding them from his view. They could do this, right? “How would it work, Sting? I mean, I’m in a superior position.” Durty brushed her hair out of her eyes, biting her bottom lip with a wince. “I didn’t mean that the way it came out. I know this world is a man’s world, but I don’t want us angry at one another over some club crap because I have rank over you.” Since she was in a one percent club, she outranked Sting, Road Captain or not.
With a tenderness that almost took her breath away, he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “We don’t bring club stuff home. We try and leave it at the door. Yes, we may end up talking about things, but it can’t rule the house, Durty.”
“I can do that, I think,” she said as his smile widened in approval.
“I can try that as well. It may take a little bit, but I think we can handle it.”
“What about how we ride? I can’t just hop on the back and be your bitch.” As blunt as that was, Durty wished for a brief moment that she could.
“I’m sure we’re not the only ones that have ever had to face being in different clubs. We ride as we do now. When you want to ride bitch, you hop on.”
“What if I want you to ride bitch?” Durty waggled her brows in a teasing manner, her smile broadening.
“I better be hella wasted then.” His laughter echoed around them, wrapping her up in a tight cocoon of ardor.
“Would you mind making the move?” Her voice was hesitant, almost quizzical. She owned her home, he rented an apartment. She’d have some sense of security if he moved in, having the ability to kick him out if it went south.
“My lease is up in two months, I could then.”
“Perfect. I guess I’ll need to condense some drawers and move some clothes to another closet.” Wow, was she really doing this? Throwing caution to the wind and allowing the man she was in love with to make a huge leap deeper into her heart and life?
“I guess so. I don’t have much, so it’s not that big of a deal.” Sting shoved her lightly, his baby blues lit with humor and love for her.
“I have a ton of stuff, as you know, so I might need to box it all up,” Her thoughts were going wild with the idea of him inhabiting her home, waking up in his arms, having a delicious morning cup of coffee with him. Squashing the butterflies that were threatening to consume her and make her back out on her agreement to him, she asked, “What time is it?”
“Just hit six fifteen, why?”
“I need to be at the office at eight, I’m closing on that estate today. Then we’re having an impromptu officer’s meeting.” Her nose wrinkled, not wanting to leave his side today.
“I guess we better get going then,” he pushed up, tugging the blanket away from her with a playful grin. “Or we won’t have time to go by the house.”
“It’s an easy, quick drive there.” Durty snatched the blanket back, winking at him as she started to fold it. When he headed for the tent, she laughed. “Just leave it. I keep it closed, but leave it up in case I decide on the spur of the moment to come up here.”
“No one else knows about it?” Sting turned back toward Durty while she placed the blanket in the trunk and closed it.
“No one is allowed on it. It’s part of Dad’s property.”
“You don’t think Vader will try and keep you off of it?”
Durty couldn’t stop the bark of laughter that broke free. “Hell no. He probably won’t venture out past the back yard, let alone all the way up here.”
Sting snapped his fingers, exclaiming, “I’ve got it!”
Durty jumped a little in surprise, not expecting an outburst from him. “Got what?”
“Have you thought about taking Vader on Maury and getting a DNA test?”
Durty didn’t bother to stop the fit of giggles, opening up the car door before she leaned against the driver side opening, resting her hands on the roof of the car. “I could totally see that too. Vader, you are not the brother!”
“That would be hilarious.” Sting chuckled, lowering his frame into the car.
Durty followed suit, closing the door and starting the car. “I asked the lawyer if a DNA test had been done on him, and he told me when Vader was born, his mother came to Daddy and pressured him for support, so he requested a test. Unfortunately, he’s my brother. I did find out that they just reconnected a few months ago.”
Sting frowned, rubbing the whiskers at his chin. His voice was drawn out in contemplation, “Isn’t that a bit odd to you?”
Keeping the car at a safe speed, she started down the slope toward her father’s home. “I wasn’t going to voice that thought, but yes. My dad was in excellent health and then the call from Sinclair. So, I don’t know.”
“And no one thought about an autopsy?”
“It came back saying it was a blood clot that released.” She shrugged, believing Vader had something to do with it, but it wasn’t exactly something that she could prove.
“Hmm,” he mused, then smiled at her. “Well, we’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
“We do?” She turned onto the main road the house was on, slowing down for a bend in the road.
“The disco party.” He turned up his smile a notch. “Don’t we need to coordinate our costumes?”
“It’s not prom, St—” Durty brought the car to an abrupt stop. Her mouth went dry, her vision fading before coming back into focus. Her heart rate increased, and she was sure her blood pressure hit the roof.
The For Sale sign in her father’s driveway was another nail in her brother’s coffin.
****
Durty was inconsolable. After seeing the house up for sale, Psycho Durty was back, but not in the bad push-your-boyfriend-away psycho way, but in the I’m-going-to-kill-my-brother psycho way. Sting tried to calm her down, and she loved him so much more for it, but this wasn’t something she could get over in an hour. This son of a bitch was selling her family home that was built in the 1900’s by her great-grandfather, who helped build Shadow Falls, with Rainwaters.
She wasn’t going to calm down any time soon.
After she dropped Sting off at his apartment, she got ready for her meeting with the lawyers to close on the estate down the road from her fathers. Once that was done, she rapidly changed, and made her way to Domino.
Ignoring Fenix and their newest hang-around, Ashley, she pushed through the double doors that led to the back. Her blood was boiling at this point, every fiber of her screaming to call Vader and give him a piece of her mind, but she was trying to earn her heart patch back, not be busted down to prospect.
Yanking open
the steel door to get to the back section of Domino, she let it clang shut behind her. Not bothering to knock, she burst though the office doors of their meeting room. “You’re not going to believe this shit.”
Lace, Flames, and Stellar looked up from bricks of money that lay out sporadically on Lace’s oak desk.
“If you’re cussing, it must be good.” Lace grumped, going back to sorting out money.
Durty paused, looking between the three and the large amounts of money that littered the desk. Putting her questions to the side, her hand snapped out, pointing to the door behind her. “Do you know what that ass did?”
Flames chortled at Durty, her black eyes full of laughter, leaning back in the chair she was in. “What ass, chica?”
“Vader,” she spat out, as if his name were a bad taste in her mouth. “He just put my father’s house on the market.” She was all but screaming, unable to keep her emotions at bay. Everything was coming to a head and she had no control over herself.
Lace chuckled with a shake of her head, pointing at the money she was dividing up. “This would explain it. We just got back our kick from the Rojas. Two hundred and twenty G’s just from them alone from the other night. We made twenty-grand on concessions and tickets, bringing the total to,” Lace paused, looking over to Flames, who was punching in the exact numbers on a calculator.
“Two hundred and forty-seven thousand dollars and fifty-two cents,” Flames stated.
Durty’s jaw dropped.
“Whose idea was it to have the guys there?” Stellar laughed. “They ought to get a raise.”
Lace looked pointedly at Durty, waving her hand over the mass amounts of money. “Most of this is from Vader and the Warriors. They thought since the fight was fixed, it’d be a great time to make some cash.”
“No wonder that ass hole has the house up for sale. He’s already closed out all of the cash accounts left to him, and now he’s selling the estate for half of what it’s worth and he could get out of it.”
Lace quirked a brow, her full attention on Durty. “What’s it worth?”
Durty flopped down in the couch, tucking a leg under her. Sighing, she shrugged nonchalantly. “The house and everything in it, all the furnishings, appliances, barns, livestock? About two and a half to three million, that’s not including the twelve hundred acres it’s set on. That’s another two and half mil.”
Lace whistled low, and then chewed on her tongue ring in thought. Taking in a breath, her lips played into a smile. “I’ve got the down payment right here.”
Durty did a double take, along with Stellar and Flames. “Wait, what?”
Lace settled back into her chair, tapping her fingers together. “It’s large, secluded, has great security, butts up to the mountains, has a beautiful creek and a place for bunnies I’ve always wanted.”
Flames joined in. “We need a new place since this is now Stellar’s and your pop’s place is way more accommodating than the bunk bed we have to sleep on if we need to crash here.”
Lace grabbed a stack of the money and fanned herself with it. “Know a good real estate agent?”
Chapter 43
If I Can’t Have You
The night was turning out to be a huge success. Durty pulled it off, yet again. Who knew that a Saturday Night Fever charity event would bring in more people than she imagined. The charity would benefit underprivileged children of the community. Guess that strummed the heart strings of the rich and famous in Shadow Falls; or maybe it was the fact they got to dress up in polyester and nylon, flashy prints and be bra free for the night.
The Domino looked as if it went through a time warp. Lace had done a spectacular job of making it feel like the one movie with John Travolta. She had the wooden floor covered with a portable disco extravaganza floor, which was an exact replica of the movie. It flashed different colors with the movements of the dancers, and there was even a slight fog that rolled over the floor when The Hustle was played.
The DJ booth was reminiscent of a flashy opium den with flashing lights, horrific orange and green pattern fabric to line the walls, topped off with a spinning miniature disco ball. The life sized revolving mirrored ball hung dead center of the dance floor, brilliantly reflecting the pulsating lights throughout the club.
Every able body, in both clubs, were there in support, even Viper and Steel, who’d just been released from the hospital, the day prior. Lace was right next to him, making sure he was taken care of. They dressed up as Tony Manero and Stephanie in the famous dance competition scene of Saturday Night Fever. It was a shock to see Lace in a dress, and made Durty wonder how much Steel had to pay her to get in it.
Her date for the night was Sting, dressed up in a pair of tight fitting dark blue polyester pants, a black nylon silky shirt with the flared collar, and matching dark blue sports coat. His shirt was unbuttoned, showing off the many gold chains he was sporting. His hair was tucked nicely up in a ponytail, his beard cut closer than normal. Sting matched her booty shorts and light blue crop top with rainbow suspenders.
This is what she lived for. It was an almost euphoric feeling standing on the sidelines, seeing how all the hard work paid off. The atmosphere was light hearted and friendly, laughter, singing, and all types of conversation filled the club, along with the backbeats of ABBA, the BeeGees, and other 70’s music.
Glancing to her watch, Durty drew in a breath, heading toward the front doors once more. She knew everyone was tense, waiting for the other shoe to drop when it came to Vader. The Angels made him look like shit several times, foiled his plans at every turn—he wasn’t going to allow them to go unpunished. With Lace’s threat looming over his head, he’d strike back and soon. That much they were all sure of.
Thus, the reason for extra security.
Slipping past the prospects that were decked out in flashy black suits and ties, she drew in a deep breath of the cool night air. Tonight was one of the rare nights in Shadow Falls where the temperature dipped below seventy with a cool night-time breeze, when it was just a hundred and one a few hours earlier. Taking stock of the vehicles in the parking lot, Durty noticed there wasn’t a single bike in sight.
Crossing her arms, Durty rubbed her hands over the tiny goosebumps that surfaced from a short gust of wind.
“What’s doing, chica?”
The voice next to her snapped Durty out of her doomed thoughts. “Just taking a breather.”
Flames lifted a single brow with a snort. “Yeah, right. And I’m Elvis. What’s going on in that head of yours?”
Durty lifted a single shoulder and let it drop. “I’m really happy this went off without a hitch. Not every day a girl can say that.”
“That’s why you keep coming out here?” Disbelief riddled her best friend’s voice.
She turned to face Flames, who was sporting the Donna Summer look with a flashy oversized rose in her hair and slinky red dress. “Just afraid Vader will try something stupid tonight.”
“Pssht, he’d be a dead dumbass if he did. We got so much heat up in there, there’s no way he’d come out alive.”
Durty couldn’t stop the roll of her eyes. “That’s what I’m afraid of, Flames. We don’t need that going on at a charity event, especially with the damn mayor in there.”
“Where do you want this, ma’am?”
Durty glanced to her right at Spock, one of the Roja prospects, holding a medium sized square box, wrapped in gaudy stained-glass foil styled paper and a purple bow on the top. “In with the other packages.”
Flames shook her back-combed, unruly curled head, with laughter. “What the hell are all these packages for?”
“People who can’t come and open their wallets buy gifts and leave them for the kids. I usually open them and put them in piles for girls or boys, and take them to homes the next day.”
“Want help tomorrow? I’ve got nothing on my planner.”
She slipped her arm through Flames’, and headed back into the c
lub as another BeeGee’s song came on. The crowd was gathering around the stage as Jet, who was dressed in tight ass black pants and a flamboyant, bright red shirt, totally unbuttoned to the belt line of his pants, made his way to the center of the floor, with his two dates.
“Oh, sweet Jesus,” Durty groaned, praying he didn’t make an ass out of himself.
“Look at him go,” Flames whistled loudly, clapping her hands for her brother.
Coming to a stop next to Sting, she bumped his hip lightly. “Is he drunk?”
His arm fell lightly about her shoulders, tucking her into his body. “Nope, that’s all Jet. He’s got suave.”
That he did. Jet was completely taking over the dance floor, making Travolta’s moves look minuscule next to his. “I wonder if he’s professionally trained?” There was no way in hell someone who was moving on the floor like he was, had no training.
“Not sure. No one really knows anything about him. He keeps personal shit out of club. We just know he’s a stand-up guy who loves his women.”
The crowd loved the show, clapping and cheering as Jet walked off the floor and toward her and Sting.
Jet came up short in front of them, his voice resembling a Latin tilt. “Hey Sting, why don’t you find your own girl.”
Durty looked confused between the two men, unsure why Jet would say something like that.
Sting lifted his chin lightly, his eyes narrowing in question. “My own girl? That’s what I’m doing.”
Jet stepped in closer toward Sting, “Why don’t you go do it somewhere else, okay?”
Sting’s voice turned into the same Latin flare as he pulled Durty closer to him. “Maybe I don’t hear so good sometimes.”
Jet grinned and tapped Sting’s chest. “I’m giving you an order.”
Policy of Truth (Sacred Heart Continuum Series Book 1) Page 28
