by Blue Remy
Maggie was quick to agree with Antonia. “You want to look good, but with an edge at the same time.”
“I think I can handle that.” Amy shook her head, pushed up from the sofa. “I’ll call you later with my plans.”
Saying her goodbyes, she headed back to the barn and made sure Little Joe was ready for a ride.
CHAPTER 12
“Look, I’m taking a chance calling you.” Mace hissed into his phone as he looked around the barn to make sure he was alone. The voice on the other end asked him what he wanted. Mace pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. “I need you to set something up for me.”
Staring down at his boots, a sound caught his attention. Looking up, he spotted Amy headed right for him. Shit. Telling the person he’d call back later, he hung up and stuffed his phone in his pocket. She was a welcomed sight. Ripped jeans, boots, tank top and hair pulled into a baseball cap, she was ready to ride.
“I hope I didn’t interrupt anything?” Amy stopped short of him, rocking back on her heels.
“The call? Nah. I was talking to Saber.” Grinning, he thumped the brill of her cap. “You look like you’re ready to rock and roll.”
“I live to ride.”
Mace cracked a wide smile at her innuendo, walking over to the tack room to grab bridles. “Is that so?” Looking back at her, brows shot up. “Quit looking at my ass.”
“I was so totally not looking at your ass.” Amy blushed, glancing away.
“Yes, you so totally were.” Mace mimicked her, shaking his butt. He grabbed the bridles and handed one to her. He got the prize mare today, Phaedra. She had foaled six months prior and needed exercise. Mace was more than happy to oblige. The colt Amy had was a palomino paint with starlight eyes. He had grown fond of the colt and was going to hate it when the case was over and he had to leave Amy and it behind.
They saddled up the horses and mounted, Amy took the lead toward the woods. The horses were chomping at the bit, trying to break free of trotting. They kept the horses reined in, giving the two a chance to chat.
“When is your birthday?” Mace glanced at Amy, her posture on the stallion impressive.
“I am a Valentine’s Day baby, hence how I got my name. Dad wanted to name me Valentina, and my Mom vetoed it. I got Amethyst instead.”
“You act like it is a horrible name.” Chuckling, he gave Phaedra more lead for her to catch up to Little Joe, who tried to stay ahead of her. “At least you weren’t named after a mason jar.”
Amy burst out laughing, looking over to him. “There are a ton of good drinks that have come out of mason jars.”
“Oh really? That’s great. So now not only will you be staring at my ass all the time, now I’ll wonder what kind of drink you’re imagining me as.”
“I think a tall drink of water is good enough for me.” Amy’s brows wiggled.
“That was just … horrible.” He chuckled, tightening the reins on the mare. “Just for that, you can eat my dust.” Spurring Phaedra’s ribcage, he let her have full rein, urging her to a hard run.
He heard Little Joe coming up quick behind them. Mace looked around for a perfect spot to stop. Darting into a section of trees, he was shocked to see a small lake ahead. There was a soft patch of grass, a good place to dismount.
“Shit!” Mace let out a holler, let go of the reins and kicking his legs out of the stirrups. He took a dive off the mare, tucking into a roll on the soft grass. Rolling twice before he came to a stop, he remained completely still. He felt bad for all of two seconds when he heard her panicked scream, saw her dismount Little Joe and the crash of boots in the tall grass.
It was difficult to keep from smiling when she dropped to her knees, her hands gripping his shoulders and shaking him.
“Mace!” Fear and desperation filled her voice when she shook him.
Before she smacked him, which he figured was coming next, he opened his eyes, wrapped his arms around her and flipped her onto her back. His eardrums exploded with her shriek of surprise, his chest assaulted with her fists.
“You ass! I thought you were dead!”
He laughed, grabbing her hands and pinning them over her head. “If you thought I was dead, you better learn what breathing looks like or learn how to check a pulse.”
Amy writhed under him, hooking her leg around his, pinning him against her. “You are still an ass! What if you would have—“
Mace’s lips crushed against her, tongue diving into the well of her mouth, drinking his fill of her. She responded in kind, arching her back, forcing her chest to his. Her moan spurred him on to let go of her wrists, trailing his fingers lightly down her arms, only to cup her face as their tongues battled each other.
His pocket vibrated against his lower hip bone, causing him to gasp in surprise and jerk against her. Amy didn’t seem to mind the movement by her whimper. Nipping her bottom lip, his tongue swept over the bitten area before his lips settled on hers once again. Her response was unexpected, her fingers tangled in his hair with a grind of her hips against his own.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
He was going to murder whoever was calling him right now. He tried to ignore it, but it wasn’t happening. Growling, he rolled off Amy, pushing his hips up to get his hand in his pocket and dig out the constant vibrating phone.
“What?” he snarled into the phone, pissed that the tender moment with Amy was being ruined. “Oh hey, no man. That’s ok.” Pause. “Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem.” Pause. Sigh. “Now? No, no. I don’t have a problem with that.” Damn it. “I’ll be there in an hour.”
Hanging up, he draped his arm over his eyes, silently cursing Romeo. Feeling Amy rolling onto her side, he moved his arm to look at her inquisitive face. “Your brother. He needs me.”
“Now?” She stuck out her lower lip.
“Looking cute is not going to save me from the wrath of your brother if I don’t go and take care of him.” It was still adorable and got her a couple more kisses before they headed back to the barn.
* * * *
Showered, shaved and ready to rock and roll, Mace slipped his cut over his shoulder holster, hiding the Kimber .45 he carried. Romeo wanted to go out prowling, and he didn’t feel safe, with the rival club showing up like they had been, not to carry.
Meeting him at the end of the ranch’s driveway, Romeo’s eyes were glazed over. The ass was high. This wasn’t going to be fun. He wanted to go to the Spearmint Rhino, or as Mace nicknamed it, the Peppermint Hippo, pick up a couple of girls and bring them back to the clubhouse and party. Mace didn’t mind strip clubs in the least, but Romeo being high before they left? That meant trouble.
They sped down S. Broadway; the Rhino was across town. By the time they parked the bikes, Romeo’s eyes had cleared up enough to ease some of the edge Mace was on. Once inside, he hoped Romeo was quick finding whatever girls he wanted.
No such luck.
They sat near the stage, Romeo stacked with a hundred one dollar bills and a coke. Mace was ever thankful they couldn’t serve alcohol. He’d hate to take Romeo down because he’d try and ride on two wheels after drinking. That was a strict law in the club. No drinking on two wheels.
The one dollar bills lasted all of thirty minutes. The girls knowing Romeo, pushed him into the back room for private lap dances. Mace opted out on that, not interested in getting his ass kicked by Stone for not keeping his head in the game and his eyes open for trouble. He sat outside on his bike, keeping an eye out for possible problems.
Romeo eventually came stumbling out over an hour later, with two girls, all three laughing at some private joke between them. “You ready to go?”
Mace grunted, swinging his legs off the back of the bike and standing up. “Yup. Let me get out my extra helmet.”
The two girls cozied up to Romeo, biting and kissing him, Romeo wasn’t being discreet about his PDAs with the girls. Ass grabbing, breast fondling. You name it, Romeo was all up on it.
One of the girls paused to l
ook at Mace. “I charge double if he’s joining us.”
Mace’s brows shot up, lifting from his saddlebag to look between the three of them. “Sorry ladies, I’ll take a rain check. You can have Romeo all to yourselves.”
Romeo shook his finger at Mace. “I think he’s got an Ol’Lady on the side, girls.” He flicked his wrist like he was cracking a whip, making matching sounds. “When we were in Bakersfield, he was a pimp. You couldn’t keep the ladies off of him. Now he’s on lockdown.”
Romeo was right. Mace had sowed his oats while they were on the run in Bakersfield. He hadn’t known Amy then, but he had never given any other women in the clubhouse the time of day. He had a rep to keep up and he was doing a damn good job at it too, until Amy came along. He was scared of losing himself and forgetting what exactly he was there to do.
He had made himself a promise. He would never forget who he was, but Amy made Mace want to forget. He was Sam Dean, agent of the ATF, out to shut down the Six-Gun Outlaw Orcutt chapter, which could lead to shutting down the whole National Club. Mace had to keep reminding himself of that, but every time he was with Amy, he wanted to forget himself and let Mason Younger take over his life completely.
He was going to destroy Amy’s world, crush her and her family. It was all she had, and he was going to be the prick to take it from her by putting Stone and Romeo behind bars, along with every other member that had their fingers in the club’s illegal activities. She was going to hate him and could he blame her?
No.
He needed to end it between them before it got too deep. But it already had. He was falling for her. Screw that, he had already fallen. He had fallen in love with her the moment she knocked him flat on his ass in the clubhouse. The thought of losing her, of letting go, suffocated him. Unable to breathe, he unsnapped his vest, blinking when blinded by blue and red blinking lights, followed by a chirp of a siren.
“Fuck me.” Romeo swore as the two girls bolted, running for the cover of the club. Romeo had a wad of cash in hand, getting ready to pay the girls ahead of time.
Mace looked back at Romeo as he heard the police car door open. This was his third strike. If he was arrested, he was going to prison. Mace knew Romeo probably had enough pot on him to get nailed for intent to distribute, on top of the wad of cash he held. And fleeing girls? It wasn’t going to be good.
Romeo was sweating. He knew that look. It was the fight or flight look. Mace snapped his head back to the officer drawing his gun on them.
“Freeze!”
Mace threw up his hands, stepping to the side, using his body to shield Romeo from the officer’s view. “What’s the problem officer?”
He heard Romeo fumbling with his helmet, then it hitting the asphalt.
“Freeze or I’ll shoot!” The officer yelled at Romeo.
This was not supposed to happen this way. Mace was going to take the club down, not this cheap ass pig. This was the moment in any law enforcement officer’s life where they must make a decision in a split second. To draw and fire, or take a chance, and end up a bloodstain on concrete.
Everything was in slow motion. It felt like he moved in water when he dropped his helmet and reached inside his cut. Pulling the Kimber free of the rig, Mace blinked, raised the gun, let out a slow breath and fired.
He heard the body hit pavement. Closing his eyes, Mace silently prayed. This changed the game. In order to become a club member, you had to prove your worth, and that meant in most outlaw clubs, taking a life. He had to deny the drugs—the bylaws clearly stated that no drug usage was tolerated by Prospects. It’d get your ass kicked and to the curb you’d go. He denied the lap dance—he was on babysitting duty. The only thing he could do, to step over the precious line of law vs club, was take a life that threatened a brother’s.
There ya go.
“Mace, whoa! What the fuck? Holy shit!” Romeo yelled, shock and adrenaline making his voice high pitched and excited. Hands hit his bald head, green eyes wide as he looked to the cop on the ground and back to Mace. “We got to go, bro! Before more show up!”
“Get the bikes fired up.” Mace ordered Romeo, not giving a shit right then if he was a prospect or not. He was rattled and had to check to see if he killed the cop or not. He never missed and he was praying he missed this time. “Holy fuck me. I can’t believe I just did that.” Mace yelled, his heart hammering in his chest.
Hearing his bike’s engine roar to life, he knelt down next to the body of the fallen officer. He was sick to his stomach. He had just fired at a brother in arms and took him down like he was nothing more than a pile of shit to be discarded like trash. Gritting his teeth, his vision blurred, forcing him to blink several times to clear the water that threatened to spill over.
Letting out a shaking breath, he looked down at the officer. A pair of brown eyes stared back, the slightest nods given.
There was a God.
He missed just like they had planned.
Mouthing ‘sorry’ to the officer, he collected his wits and rose up. Turning back to Romeo, he broke out in a run toward the bike. “Bone out, Romeo. He’s not breathing and there’s a lot of fucking blood.”
CHAPTER 13
Amy loved the very first cup of coffee in the morning. There was nothing like it. Piping hot to soothe and wake her up. Delicious. She was snuggled in her favorite hoodie and sweatpants, cradling the cup, watching the local morning news. The weather looked hot as usual, great riding weather. Ahhhh, the California life was grand. Hearing the kitchen door open, then close, she strained to look over her shoulder to see who wandered in. Mace and Romeo, and holy shit, they looked rough. Mace looked like he hadn’t slept all night, his eyes bloodshot. It looked like he had forgotten what a razor was.
Pushing off the couch, she grabbed her coffee and headed to where the two obvious hung over males were. She knew they had partied all night just by looking at them, that and Romeo looked a touch green about the gills. Time to have some fun. Pouring them both a cup of coffee, she set the stout black liquid in front of them, resting her hands on hips as she looked between the two of them. “Tequila?”
Romeo groaned and waved a hand at her, “Lower your voice.”
Smirking, she glanced to a snickering Mace then back to Romeo. Clearing her throat, she tilted her head slightly. “Would you two like breakfast?”
Romeo let out a low moan and grabbed his coffee, wincing when he took a sip.
Taking that as a yes, she moved to the fridge and grabbed the eggs. Finding the right glass bowl, she cracked the eggs as loud as she could against the rim, causing the bowl to sing. “I’m going to make your favorite, Zen. Chorizo, eggs and grits.”
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Romeo looking greener by the minute. Moving to the ice box, she found the chorizo and plopped a healthy batch of the greasy pork into the fry pan so the greasy scent would fill up the house quicker than usual.
Mace snickered behind his coffee cup, which urged Amy on. She knew just the thing. Going back to the fridge, she picked up a bowl and unsnapped the cover, exposing the chicken gizzards that had been sitting in there for a week. The smell was nice and ripe.
That’s all it took. Romeo knocked over the chair when he jumped up and raced to the nearest bathroom.
“You are an evil, evil woman.” Mace laughed as he rose up to refill his cup of coffee, refreshing hers while he was at it.
“I learned from the best.” Amy placed the gizzards back in the refrigerator, then went back to cooking the eggs and chorizo for the two of them, knowing Romeo would shower and hit the sack. They had been through this same routine time and time again. “I take it you two had a good time?”
“He had a good time.” Mace’s voice indicated that he was rather displeased with the fact he didn’t get to drink. “He got wasted and I babysat him to make sure he didn’t get alcohol poisoning or kill himself going to the john.”
Amy frowned, keeping her back to Mace. What the hell was going on with her brother? He was on a downh
ill slide to nowhere at the rate he was going. And he was unable to have children, voluntarily or not, that wasn’t something she saw her brother doing. He had always wanted kids.
She was about to ask Mace a question, when a news story caught her attention. A Santa Maria police officer was shot in front of the Spearmint Rhino and was pronounced dead at the scene, late last night. There were no witnesses and the onboard dash cam was unable to retrieve video to show what exactly happened during the horrific event.
“That poor man’s family must be devastated.” Amy frowned, shaking her head. “What the hell is the world coming to?”
“I don’t know.”
Amy set the egg mixture in front of him, slapped some tortillas on the table, along with cheese, hot sauce and sour cream. “Whoever did that needs to have his balls ripped off and stuffed down his throat.”
“Damn, harsh.” Mace looked absolutely horrified at what Amy said.
“Look, I understand that we live in a different world, Mace; but to just up and kill an officer, probably because he was doing his job? That’s complete and utter bullshit. I hope they find whoever did this and give him the fucking chair.” Amy didn’t usually drop the f-bomb, but things like this really pissed her off. The club didn’t randomly murder a cop because one of them got pulled over for doing something wrong.
“I agree, just a bit surprised you feel so strongly about it.” Mace muttered, fixing himself a plate of food.
“Why wouldn’t I? Because I’m the daughter of a guy who deals in guns?” Amy snorted, grabbed a tortilla and fixed herself a burrito alongside Mace. “I’m still human and I have feelings.”
“Yes, you do.” Mace smiled lopsided at her.
“And just what is that supposed to mean?” Amy grinned at him, her belly turning into butterflies at the way he looked at her.
Before Mace could answer, Romeo stalked in, looking pissed off. “Get your shit. Stone wants everyone at the clubhouse as of ten minutes ago.”
