by Shyla Colt
“W-where are you going?”
The pitiful whimper gutted him. “You know where. That motherfucker came in and not only fucked with you, but threatened my entire crew. We ain’t going to let that stand.”
Tears formed in her eyes. “I- I don’t want you to do this for me.”
“This isn’t about you, it’s how we do things. We’ll figure out a way to keep everyone safe.” All that and she was worried about him?
He smoothed her hair back from her face. “I’ll be fine. You worry about yourself. I don’t like the look in your eyes and you’re shaking. After you call your girls, get into the shower and get comfortable.”
“That’s a good plan.” She nodded to herself like a crazy person trying to be rational. The lights were on but nobody was home. Unsure if he should leave her, he hesitated.
“Go…I’m fine. I’ll call the girls.” Clarity shone in her eyes.
“You sure?” Narrowing his gaze he studied her.
“One hundred percent. I’m shaken. I admit that, but I haven’t checked out yet.”
He smiled. “Good. I’ll stop in when the meeting is finished.” When he reached the door he paused. “Juliette, I love you.” Her slack-jawed expression was the last thing he saw before he hurried to the meeting where the others were gathered.
“How are we going to take care of this problem?” Tiny asked the moment he walked in.
“Specs has the case laid out and waiting on a conviction. The hard part is making it through to the court date. Once he’s in the system he ain’t never getting out.” Shooter shook his head.
“No one comes in, disrespects us and plays us for fools. Weakness is death in the M.C. game,” Tiny said. “It bothers me they had their sights set on us and we had no clue.”
“Agreed,” Hawk said. “I did some digging. Stant owns, or is in the middle of negotiations for, over half the strip clubs in town. Mayhem and The Eights are pretty much the last two standing.”
“That explains why he’s got a hard-on for us,” Tiny said. “I think your girl is just an excuse. A smoke screen for what was really going on.”
“ I think you’re right.”
“You and your old lady need to take a trip. You understand what I’m saying?”
“For how long?” Shooter asked.
“As long as it takes, lay low, stay off the grid and keep her safe.”
“I can do that,” Shooter said.
“Good, I want you gone tonight. You let us worry about the shit at home. We need to know everything we can find out about Room 801 and who Stant is partners with.”
“You got it, Prez.”
“Good. You better go pack.”
Dismissed, Shooter turned and left the room. How the hell am I going to keep Juliette from losing it when I tell her we need to leave town? Slipping inside the door, he shed his clothing and walked into the bathroom. Steam fogged the mirrors, and the sound of water on tile soothed him. Pulling back the shower curtain, he drank in the sight of the woman who’d come to mean everything to him. Her hair was dark silk piled on top of her hair to reveal a graceful neck that led down to a curvy frame. Peering over her shoulder, she delivered a shaky smile.
“Hi.” The welcome melted his heart. He’d been afraid she’d shy away.
He stepped inside and pulled her slippery body close.
“Juliette Marie Moore, I love you,” he whispered, peering deep into the darkened windows of her eyes. “I wanted you to know that. I had the words rattling around in my head for a while but you weren’t ready to hear them and I wasn’t ready to say it.”
“Shooter, I love you too.” Her voice was thick with emotions.
“We got some shit to discuss, but right now I want to love you. Is that okay? Can I erase an ugly memory for both of us? Give myself something good to carry me through this.”
“God, yes. Please make me forget.” Her voice caught on a sob.
Sliding his hands down her skin, he gripped her and balanced her against the wall of the shower. “Guide me home.”
She reached down between them, pressing his swollen head to her entrance, and he thrust home. Her legs tightened around his back and he held her gaze as he moved inside her tight heat. There were no words as he slid as deep as he could go, relishing the feel of her slick walls as she flexed her muscles and arched her back. The love she held shone bright, and every time he re-entered her body, the bond between them wove together tighter.
Her lips parted, and her pussy trembled around them as they reached the pinnacle together. She gripped his biceps as her body vibrated.
“That’s it, baby, give it to me.”
He thrust once, twice and she came apart, taking him with her. Her cries of ecstasy and his moans echoed in the shower as the memory embedded in his heart. Spent, he eased out, turned the shower head back on and rinsed them off.
“You stay here.” He stepped out, grabbed a towel and wrapped her up, gently drying her skin. With the words out in the open their dynamic shifted somehow. Suddenly they were more. It made him want to grin like a fucking idiot. He wrapped the towel around her, placed one around her waist and carried her over to the bed. He sank down, placing her on his chest. Trailing his fingers down her arms, he focused on the sound of her breathing. Steady and slow.
“Baby, I have to tell you something I know you won’t like.”
She lifted her upper body off his chest and met his gaze, bracing her forearms against his chest.
“I don’t like the sound of that at all, Shooter.”
“I didn’t expect you to. We have to leave.”
“And go to your apartment?”
“No, baby.” He shook his head. “We have to leave town.”
“Right now?” Her wounded expression tore at his heart. She had her world turned upside down and she could barely regain her footing before it was flipped again.
“Yes.”
She took a deep breath. “For how long?”
“Until Stant has his preliminaries and he’s at least monitored.”
“Who knows how long that’ll take?”
She moved to leave and he wrapped his arms around her waist, locking her into position. “Let me go.”
“Not until you listen to me. This is to keep you safe. You saw how easily he can get to you. I can’t watch you all the time and I’d die before anything happened to you. Please, do this for me. I’d lose my shit if anything happened to you, baby.” He’d take her by force if he had to, but it’d make for a long trip.
“I’ll lose everything, my house, my car and my job.”
“None of it’s worth your life, baby. I got your car and your house. I’m pretty sure we can come up with something for your job. We have the power to pull strings on this to get it processed. It’s not going to be longer than a month, maybe two at most.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.” Her voice shook.
“You don’t even have to ask. I’m doing it. You want to repay me? Follow my directions.”
She placed her head on his chest. “Why is this happening to me?”
He couldn’t remain silent and let her keep blaming herself. “You know we don’t talk business with our women, but I can’t let you take the fall for this. Mayhem has something Stant wants, and you were the smoke screen to distract us while they came in and took it.”
“What?”
Shooter nodded. ”What do I tell my mother?” she whispered.
“Tell her I’m taking you away on a couples’ vacation. We won a trip to a cruise, whatever it is you need to.”
She took a deep breath. “We’re really doing this.”
“Yeah baby, we are. Prez wants us gone tonight.” He studied her cautiously. “ I gotta be honest, I expected more of a protest.”
“I’m tired, Shooter. Tired of looking over my shoulder and trying to anticipate his next move. If this is how we get rid of him…then that’s what we’ll do.”
“That’s my girl.” He placed a kiss on her forehead,
proud of the progress she’d made. She’s facing down her demons, when are you going to face down yours? His thoughts veered to the unreturned voicemails on his phone. Later. He pushed the issue away and refocused his attention on the problem at hand.
“Where will we go?” she whispered.
“Anywhere you want.”
Chapter Sixteen
A knock came on the door. Juliette glanced up from the box she was packing and frowned. She’d been enjoying the peace and quiet. With Peter in jail things had settled into normal. They’d made the decision to move in together and she was in the process of moving out of her place.
She loved their friends, but that many people crammed into a tiny space for two days straight was headache inducing. Probably one of the M.C.s who forgot something. She set the newspaper aside and rose. A glance through the peephole made her heart race. He had close-cut brown hair with spots of gray at his temples. His eyes were dark green and the laugh lines and crow’s-feet made her think he laughed a lot. He rapped on the door again and shoved his hands into the pockets of his worn jeans. He looked familiar but she couldn’t place him. He doesn’t have a cut, so I probably didn’t see him with Mayhem. He clenched his jaw and a light bulb went off in her brain. He looks like Shooter.
Shooter had been closed-lipped about his family. She knew his parents were dead, but he had a brother. This must be him. Oh my god, maybe something happened. They’d been so caught up in her own drama there’d been no time for much else. Guilt gnawed at her belly. She opened the door, keeping the chain lock on top hooked.
“Can I help you?”
The man blinked and took a step back. “Oh… I-I’m sorry maybe I have the wrong place. Does Daniel Nash live here?” His brow wrinkled and she bit back a laugh. She’d seen that same expression on Shooter’s face a million times before.
“No, you have the right place. May I ask who you are?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess he didn’t tell you about me, huh?” His face fell. “I’m his older brother, Joel. I came out here from Ohio.”
She wanted to believe him, but a part of her still worried Peter would come for her in some way. “Can I see some identification?”
His eyebrows flew up. “Yeah, sure. Wow. You guys do things a lot different in the big cities.” He shook his head and dug into his back pocket pulling out a worn leather wallet. Quickly he removed the card and handed it to her.
“Joel Alexander Nash.” She rubbed the card, turning it this way and that to make sure it had the holographic markings that proved it was legit. Finding the shimmering symbols, she relaxed and handed it back. “Sorry, a woman can never be too careful these days.”
“Unfortunately I have to agree with you. I have a wife and a daughter who’s about ten. The things on the news make me want to keep them in the house and warn people off with a shotgun.”
She laughed. “Yeah, you sound like your brother.” Closing the door, she removed the chain lock and opened it. “He’s running an errand but he should be back soon. Would you like to wait? We’re in the middle of moving, so the house is mostly empty. But I can at least offer you a beverage.”
“Oh no, I’m fine. Thank you for the offer. Are you his…lady?”
“Oh my god, I’ve been so rude.” She closed the door behind him and offered her hand. “I’m his girlfriend, Juliette.”
“Nice to meet you Juliette.” The toothpaste-white smile he flashed her turned him from handsome to gorgeous. This family has some amazing genes.
“Does he know you’re coming? He didn’t mention it to me.” They stood in the middle of the living room surrounded by boxes.
“Uh no.” Joel shook his head. “This is a total surprise.”
“Is everything okay? Should I call him and tell him to come back right now?”
“No, please don’t panic him. I can wait.”
“O-okay.” She shifted her weight. Why haven’t I heard about him before? Maybe I don’t know Shooter as well as I thought I did. The thought made her heart ache. He’d seen her at her rawest. She’d bared her soul, cried in his arms and turned to him in her darkest hour. If she could stand up to her mother in his defense, why couldn’t he tell her about his family?
“What brings you out this way?”
“I’ve been trying to catch up with him for a while and it hasn’t worked out. I figured the most direct approach would be the best solution.”
“Part of that is my fault.” She cringed. “There’s been a lot going on.” She longed for something to do to keep herself busy. “Are you sure I can’t get you something to eat or drink? I was going to start on dinner.”
“Don’t mind me. I know I’m an unexpected guest. I appreciate the hospitality.”
“Come on, I’ll get you a beer. We’re just having pizza, nothing complicated, but you’re welcome to join us.”
A sad expression lined his face and he glanced down at the floor. “We’ll see.”
What happened between these two? The question hovered on the tip of her tongue. Did they fight last time they were together? She didn’t have a sibling of her own, but she’d been around her friends enough to know they got in to it from time to time. Shaking her head, she walked into the kitchen with him trailing behind her. He leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets.
“Anything I can do to help?”
“Sure, if you want to wash your hands you can make the salad.” She patted her hands dry with a dishtowel and pulled the pizza out of the freezer.
“I can do that.” He offered her an easy smile.
“So tell me some Shooter stories. He couldn’t have always been this bad-ass.”
Joel threw back his head back and laughed. His eyes lit up and he grinned. “No, he had a very awkward phase from sixth grade to ninth. All gangly limbs, acne and un-coolness. He was on the chess team for Christ’s sake.”
“What?” She closed the door to the oven and turned around. “Really?”
“Oh yeah, I’m sure by now you’ve figured out he’s smart as a whip. But it’s more than street smarts. The kid has a 130 IQ.”
Her jaw dropped.
“Yeah, he hides it well.”
“Evil genius,” she mumbled.
Joel snorted, and they both launched into a fresh fit of laughter.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
Juliette jumped. “Hey babe, your brother came by to visit.”
“I can see that.” Shooter’s jaw ticked. “You just let him into our house?”
“Uh, yeah, he’s your brother.” Juliette glanced from Joel to Shooter. “I don’t understand.”
“You let her think things were okay between us? That’s bullshit.” The door slammed and Shooter strode across the room. If looks could kill, Joel would be dead on the spot. Shooter’s eyes smoldered with anger and possessiveness. “Step away from him.”
“What?” she whispered.
“Now.” Shooter’s clipped voice made her take a step to the right.
“This is unnecessary,” Joel said.
“Like I trust your word.” Shooter wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to his side.
“When are we going to get past this? I know I was wrong. I’ve apologized a million times over.” Joel ran his hands through his hair.
“Where does it say apologies have to be accepted?”
“You’re being fucking ridiculous.” Joel exhaled. “Look, can we not do this in front of her?”
“No, I want to know what’s going on,” Juliette said. “I think I’ve been in the dark long enough.”
“Jesus, you didn’t tell her yet?” The disbelief in Joel’s words wounded her.
“What haven’t you told me, Shooter?”
“There you go again, showing up and fucking up my shit,” Shooter said, glaring at Joel.
“This shit is on you.” Joel pointed to him. “If you don’t tell her I will.”
“Shooter?” Juliette glanced up at him feeling her heart break.
�
��I came home on leave from the Marine Corps and found my fiancée and high school sweetheart fucking my brother in our bed.”
She gasped. “Oh my god. I am so sorry.”
“Yeah, to make things even better, he married her.”
“I love her. Don’t make it sound like it was to spite you.” Joel’s chest heaved. A vein throbbed in the side of his neck. “It was a long time ago. Why do you keep hanging on to it? You act like you have no family, but we’re still here. You haven’t even seen Brittany since Mom and Dad’s funeral.”
“I have a new family now. One who knows the true meaning of loyalty.”
“I fucked up one time, Daniel.” He held up a finger. “One time and you just cut me out of your life. I can’t believe you’re still hung up on Angelina. Not after all this time.”
The words cut Juliette deep. What other reason did he have for keeping his distance? She wasn’t the love of his life, because Angelina held that spot. Shooter lived and died for family and the people he cared about. It was clear from the potent anger he still loved his brother. Did the same hold true for Angelina?
“Are you fucking kidding me? Why would I still be longing after someone who could do that while I was being shot at and wondering if I’d make it home?”
“Then what is it?” Joel stepped forward. “We’re family. Neither of us is getting any younger and I want my baby brother back, man. Look, I know showing up was drastic, but you won’t return my calls. “ Joey turned to look at Juliette. “I’m sorry for coming in and causing drama.” He dug in his back pocket and pulled out a white card. “This is the hotel I’m staying at. I’ll be there for the rest of the week if you decide to change your mind so we can hash this out.”
Shooter ignored the card. Juliette took it and flashed him a sympathetic look. He’d been wrong for what he’d done, but he was trying to make it right. Silence filled the space as Joel left, closing the door behind him. Juliette pulled away from Shooter and locked the door. Turning, she leaned against the wood.
“Why didn’t you tell me about what happened, Shooter?”
“Because it happened a long time and has nothing to do with us.”
She shook her head. “Yes, it does.”
