by Ali Parker
“Don’t thank me. If he finds out soon, he’s not going to be happy. What he did to you will be a walk in the park compared to—”
“I know.”
Ellie smiled apologetically. “You sure know how to pick ‘em, don’t you?”
I grinned and drained the rest of my water bottle.
The door to the office popped open, and Jamie rolled into the shop. Her dark hair was up in a cute little bun, and she was wearing a red bandana as a headband. “Hey, mind if I run out and grab some lunch? I’m starving.”
“Sure thing,” I said. “I’ll cover the phones for you.”
“Want anything you two?”
“Nah,” I shook my head and so did Ellie as she went back to work. “Take your time. It’s a slow day.”
As Jamie went out through the bay doors, I slipped into the office and closed the door behind me. The hum of a power tool echoed through the walls as Ellie started working away, and I busied myself with tidying up the office.
I hadn’t been in there for more than three minutes when the phone rang. I went to answer it, and the line was dead. I hung up and went back to sorting through the loose papers on the desk. Then the phone rang again.
“Hello?”
There was no answer, but I could hear someone moving around on the other end of the line.
“Hello?” I asked again, pausing what I was doing to strain my ears and listen. “Anybody there?”
When there was still no answer, I hung up, frowning to myself. Either some kids were prank calling us, or someone had pocket dialed us.
I resumed gathering loose papers and sliding them into their respective folders. Most were payment receipts of job descriptions of what was being done to our customers’ vehicles in the shop. As I bent and dropped one into the bottom drawer of the filing folder under the desk, the front door swung open.
Hyde swaggered in, dressed in his usual frayed jeans and white T-shirt. He had a pair of aviators on, and he pulled them off his nose as the brightness of the sun vanished when the door closed behind him. He hooked them in the V-neck of his shirt and gave me a goofy grin.
“You’re the cutest damn receptionist Ryder’s ever hired.” He winked.
I straightened and kicked the bottom drawer of the filing folder closed. “Oh yeah? Bend over. You tell me if you still think I’m cute.”
Hyde chuckled, and I broke into a wide grin.
“What brings you in?” I asked.
Hyde shrugged and came to stand in front of the raised counter between us. He rested his forearms on it and peered down at the desk before me. “I was just passing by and thought I’d pop in. See who was working. I was hoping Jamie would be here.”
“She just stepped out to grab lunch actually. You only missed her by about five minutes.”
“Balls,” Hyde muttered.
I arched an eyebrow. “Has this become a thing I didn’t know about?”
Hyde shook his head. “No. Not yet at least. But she’s a sweet little thing, and I spent some time with her at Axel’s place the other night. Wouldn’t mind getting to know her a bit better.”
“And Jax knows this?” I asked teasingly, knowing that Jax might take issue with Hyde having the hots for his little cousin.
“Jax doesn’t need to know shit. There might be nothing there. Why worry a brother unless absolutely necessary?”
“Want me to let her know you stopped by?” I asked.
Hyde nodded as he plucked his sunglasses from the collar of his shirt and slid them back on. “Yeah, sure. I’ll try to swing by again on Friday. It had better be her behind this desk and not your gangly ass.”
“Gangly?” I asked with a smirk.
“You’re a tall motherfucker.” Hyde stepped backward to the door and pushed it open with his boot. “See you around, Sabian.”
“See you,” I said, getting back to organizing the files as the door slammed closed behind him. As I worked, the phone rang two more times. Each time I answered, I was greeted by heavy breathing and a crackling connection.
The phone rang again. Feeling more than a little irritated, I lifted the receiver to my ear. “All right. Listen, buddy. If you’re pulling my leg—”
“Sabian Delgado?”
The voice that spoke my name sent a chill down my spine. It was disguised and almost robotic sounding, but it was a human being on the other end. I didn’t say another word.
“I hear Johnny Moretti is looking for a kid named Jason?”
I kept my mouth firmly shut as a wave of panic rolled through me. I knew one thing in that moment, and I knew it for a fact. Jason was in trouble.
Or he was dead.
“The boy should have known better than to try to escape us.”
“Who the hell is this?” I hissed into the phone. My teeth gritted, and the hair on the back of my neck stood at attention.
The call went dead, and I was left standing alone in the office. The air felt cold, and my skin gave way to goosebumps.
“What the fuck?” I breathed, slamming the phone down with a shaking hand. I stood there, my heart hammering in my chest, my mouth going dry, and considered what I should do. I was tempted to go to Ellie but thought better of it. Bringing in more people than necessary was unwise.
Not to mention Axel would strangle me with my own tongue if I got Ellie involved in this shit.
I picked up the phone and called the only person who needed to know: Johnny Moretti himself.
“This is Ryder,” he said on the second ring.
I was still frazzled and couldn’t think of something to say. My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth, and the adrenaline rush was crashing down around me.
“Hello?” Ryder asked. I picked up a note of nervousness in his voice.
“It’s Sabian.”
“Oh. What do you want?”
“I just got a strange call.”
Ryder was quiet for a moment. “From who?”
“From someone who took the time to disguise their voice. They were calling about Jason, man. I’ve got a bad fucking feeling. They said—”
“You’re not the first one they’ve called.”
This news sent me reeling. “What do you mean? Who else have they called?”
“Derek. Last night. And Hyde this morning. Both times, they said the same shit. Something about hearing that I’m looking for Jason and that he shouldn’t have tried to escape.”
“Yeah,” I said. “They said the same thing to me. Why the hell haven’t you told anyone about this? This isn’t a joke, Ryder. This is serious.”
“He’s my nephew, and it’s my business. If they have him, I don’t want anyone shooting off their loads trying to play hero. We need to play this close to the vest. I have Dani working on it. That’s all you need to know.”
He can’t be fucking serious, I thought as I ran a hand down my face. “Ryder, I don’t like it. I’m not trying to question you or anything, but we shouldn’t keep this from the others. If Jason is out from under whoever the hell these people are, he might be trying to get to us.”
“You think I haven’t thought of that?”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” I amended, flinching under the anger in Ryder’s tone.
“Then what are you saying, Sabian? You want to call the shots?”
“No.”
“Then do what I say. Act normal. Dani and I have this under control.”
“Like you had TJ under control?” I shouldn’t have said it. The words hung between us like a bomb ready to go off. “Listen. Shit feels wrong. You and I both know there’s something waiting for us around the corner, and it has some sharp fucking teeth. Do you disagree?”
Ryder hissed angrily into the phone. “No,” he said finally.
“Then tell the others.”
Ryder didn’t say anything.
“Whoever this is, Ryder, they have our numbers. Home numbers, work numbers. Our names. They’re not fucking around. We shouldn’t either.”
“I’ll tell them. But no
one makes any moves until Dani has more information. This is my nephew’s life on the line, Sabian. Respect that.”
“I do. I get it. But—”
Ryder hung up the phone.
There was a pounding in the back of my head that had my knees feeling weak. This was the storm we had been talking about at our business meeting. The time of truce and calm was behind us. Everything was going to change. The air felt thicker, heavier; like the sky itself was about to come crashing down upon us.
“Fuck!” I yelled, driving the toe of my boot into the bottom of the desk. The wood shattered and splintered, and everything upon the desk leapt an inch into the air before falling back down. The computer became unplugged, and the screen went black.
I sank down into the chair and buried my face in my hands.
Why did Angela have to be in town now? Why couldn’t she have been back in Los Angeles, where she would be safe and sound and far away from me and all this bullshit?
“Because that’s your luck, you dumb bastard,” I muttered into my hands.
Ryder wanted me to act normal. That meant coming to work, getting shit done, and going to dinner with Angela and her parents the following night.
I didn’t want to. I’d rather sit at the front door to her apartment building and wait for the riff raff to reveal itself. Sitting back and playing it off like nothing was wrong felt like a recipe for disaster. I could feel it in my bones.
But I wasn’t in charge. And Jason was not my nephew. This was Ryder’s call, as it should be, and I knew my place. It was by his side, following his lead, and staying loyal to the man who had done more for me than anyone on this earth.
If he needed me to go about my day like nothing was wrong, then that was exactly what I was going to do. And if given the opportunity, I would do my best to try to change his mind and spur him into action.
I wanted to escape the storm before it swallowed us whole.
Chapter 16
Angela
I had Ellie on speaker phone as I walked through my closet in search of the perfect outfit to wear to dinner with my parents and Sabian. She was currently a little distracted with preparing dinner and managing two children, who I could hear playing gleefully in the background.
“Hang on a sec, Angela,” she said, sounding a little flustered.
“No problem.” I plucked a knee-length purple sundress from the wall and held it against myself as I turned to face the mirror. “This will do,” I muttered to myself before stripping out of my work clothes.
I left them draped across the island in the middle of my closet and then stepped into the dress. As I adjusted the spaghetti straps on my shoulders, Ellie returned to the phone.
“Okay, sorry. I have a good five minutes or so before I get interrupted again. Did you figure out what you wanted to wear?”
“I settled on a purple sundress. Not too fancy. Nice and lightweight. Knowing my parents, we’ll be sitting outside so I don’t want to dress too warm.”
“Smart. Have you talked to Sabian yet?”
“Not as much as I’d like to. I called him to invite him to dinner. I didn’t really want to talk about everything over the phone. Have you seen him?”
“Yeah, yesterday and today at work.”
I paused and slipped my feet into a pair of gold sandals. “How is he?”
Ellie chuckled on the other end. “He’s fine. Don’t worry about him.”
“And Axel?”
“Not as fine, but he’ll get over it. He’s just being a big baby, and I’ve told him so. He’s taking some time to sort through how he feels about all this, but he’ll come around. I’m sure of it. He wants what’s best for you, that’s all.”
“Funny how everyone says that, and then their idea of a good follow through is controlling who I’m with.”
Ellie sighed into the phone. “You’re preaching to the choir, sister.”
Having Ellie to talk to was helping more than I was expecting. She was a down to earth girl, and we shared a lot of common ground. She and Axel’s relationship had started out rocky because of his angst about bringing her into the MC life. He was making decisions on her behalf, much like he was trying to do for me, and after time, she was able to set him straight and get him to see that she could make her own choices. Not only that, but she showed him that she was the only one who knew how to make herself happy. It wasn’t up to him.
She was helping plead my case to her husband, too, and I was grateful for it.
“Thanks for everything by the way,” I said. “I don’t have anyone to turn to. All my friends back in L.A. aren’t really friends, you know what I mean?”
“Sadly yes. And don’t worry. We’re family now. I have your back.”
I grinned as I painted a shimmering gloss on my lips. “You’re a pretty awesome sister-in-law.”
“Ditto.” I heard Axel call hello in the background of the call. Ellie called back to him. “Sorry, Angela, I have to go. Dinner time. I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Okay, say hi to everyone for me.”
“Will do. Have fun tonight.”
We both hung up the phone, and I was left twiddling my thumbs until Sabian sent me a text message letting me know he was waiting outside.
My stomach fluttered with nerves that surprised me. I wasn’t the sort to get nervous about things like this, but Sabian had a way of bringing such emotions out of me. I grabbed a cardigan just in case the night got chilly and hurried out the door and down the elevator.
When I made my way outside the building, Sabian was waiting for me on one of the benches. He had his arm draped over the back and was staring down at his phone. His brows were drawn together, his jaw was tight, and his expression most certainly did not match his relaxed posture.
“Hey,” I said. He hadn’t even noticed me walking up to him.
He looked up quickly and dropped his phone in his pocket as he got to his feet. “Hey.” He smiled, and all the lines of tension in his face disappeared. “Nice dress.”
“Thank you,” I said, doing a little twirl for him. I caught myself mid spin and narrowed my eyes at the purple bruising on the right side of his jaw. “Did Axel do that to you?”
Sabian lifted a hand to mindlessly rub the bruise. “It’s not a big deal, Ang, really.”
“When I see him, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind,” I growled.
Sabian chuckled and shook his head. “No, you won’t. He and I have sorted it out between ourselves. This is the aftermath of me going behind his back.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t like it.”
“I hate to break it to you, but it doesn’t matter if you like it or not.”
I held my tongue and looked the rest of him over. He was dressed nicely as well in a plain white button-up shirt and dark jeans. His brown belt matched his shoes, and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows, exposing muscled forearms that made my heart pitter patter in my chest. The bruise on his jaw certainly had me feeling a bit excited, too.
“You ready?” I asked, pointing my chin toward the black Lincoln parked at the curb. The driver stepped out and opened the back door for us.
“When you are,” Sabian replied, offering me his elbow.
I took it and we went to the car. We slipped in, and the driver returned to his seat. We drove away from the Kent building and headed deeper into the city to the condo my parents were staying at. Like me, they had rented themselves the penthouse suite on the top floor.
It was only a fifteen-minute drive. When we arrived, we made our way inside and took the elevator to their floor. Sabian stood stiffly beside me. His hands were in his pockets, and his eyes were fixed on the closed doors before him. The air around him seemed to buzz with something I couldn’t see.
“Is everything all right?” I asked, tipping my head to one side curiously.
His eyes darted over to me, and he nodded quickly. “Yes. Sorry. Distracted with work is all.”
I wasn’t buying it, but I
let it go and leaned over to give him a sweet kiss on the cheek. “Thank you again for doing this for me. I really do appreciate it.”
The doors chimed softly when they opened, and we walked to one of two doors on the floor and knocked.
A butler opened the door, gave us a very courteous bow, and moved aside for us to come in.
“Welcome, Miss Cooper and Mister Delgado. Your parents are seated on the patio. May I fetch either of you a drink?” The butler was probably in his late sixties, with a white moustache and a delicate manner of speech. His eyes were warm and friendly and the palest shade of blue I had ever seen.
“A gin and tonic for me, thank you,” I said as Sabian and I tread across the foyer toward the open French doors on the far side of the living room. “Sabian?”
“Uh, just a rum and coke would be fine.”
“Right away.” The butler bowed again and took a right turn toward the kitchen as we passed through the French doors and emerged on a massive terrace swimming with flowers, candles, and elegant furniture.
My parents were seated at a glass table. Both were sipping their red wine when Sabian and I drew up beside them. They got to their feet and hugged us both, and then we all took our seats. I reached out and closed my hand over Sabian’s. I gave his hand a quick squeeze as my father began leading the conversation.
“I believe a thank you is in order,” he said as the butler arrived with our drinks. He placed them in front of us, checked the levels of my parents’ drinks, and departed when he concluded they were still working on their glasses of wine. My father lifted his glass in a toast. “A thank you to you, Sabian, for not letting Ross get away with his crude behavior and aggression toward our daughter.”
Sabian sat like a deer in the headlights for a brief moment before hurrying to collect his glass to meet my father’s in his toast. “A thank you is entirely unnecessary,” he said.
“For protecting my baby girl? Nonsense. I am indebted to you.”
“We both are,” my mother added with a genuine smile; the type of smile I didn’t see grace her lips all that often.
Sabian took a sip of his drink and shrugged one shoulder. “If I’m being completely honest, the pleasure was all mine.”
