“There is no us, not where Rebel and I are concerned. He made that clear from the beginning—”
“Change his mind.” She hissed the words. “Fight for once.”
Rage shot through me and I opened my mouth to lash out, then shut it tight before I closed my eyes and counted to ten. She didn’t understand, couldn’t understand, what I owed Rebel.
“If this was about only what I wanted, then yeah, I’d fight for him.” Those words were true. Surprising since Jess was right, I rarely fought for anything. “But when everyone but you had left me, and I had no one who could help get the one thing I’ve always needed, Rebel was there.”
He’d given me everything even when it had cost him, inconvenienced him, and caused him trouble.
“I won’t repay that kind of loyalty by trying to shift the rules, change our relationship, that’d be underhanded, especially when he spelled it all out up front. I’m not that kind of person.” I stared Jess down, daring her to challenge me again.
“Fine.” She threw her hands in the air. “There’s no way to change your mind if your sense of honor is on the line. You Jacksons would die choking on that honor.”
“Damn straight.” I grinned at her.
Jess dropped me home a little before three. And in less than thirty minutes I was ready to go bat-shit crazy. I had nothing else to do, but I’d told Rebel I wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. Knowing my time with him was short, I didn’t want to waste any time away from him, I only had seven days left before I’d be in Dallas full-time, taking the company in new directions.
On my way upstairs to pack, I froze mid-step. What if he didn’t want me to stay? What if he wanted me gone right away? Maybe I should just call and tell him about the contract. No. I wasn’t going to be a coward. While our relationship would end soon, I refused to hide. He deserved better, and so did I.
I packed a bag and then stopped in my home office to grab an envelope. I stared down at the envelope, not wanting to touch it, or even to acknowledge its existence because taking it meant admitting that my marriage was over. Sucking in a deep breath, I lifted the document out of the envelope and flipped to the last page. I scrawled today’s date on the date line on the first page, then flipped to page two and signed my name before shoving it back into the envelope. My half was done, my word still my bond.
My lawyer had been perplexed to say the least when I’d requested the divorce decree the same day I’d given him a certified copy of our marriage license. But being a good man, he didn’t question me, instead he’d sent word when they were finished so I could pick them up. I’d dropped them in my desk and tried to forget about them, and had done a damn fine job of it until today.
I dropped the envelope into the duffel and zipped it closed, just like I’d close down the sadness that kept trying to sneak in and immerse me in its gloom. I refused to be its plaything. I’d done what needed doing to save my company, I wouldn’t give Rebel even a small reason to regret helping me. By the time I reached his house, I’d be the old me, the happy me. And when I left him, well, I’d have the company to run, to expand, and there’d be no time or room for regret in my life.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rebel
“Let’s get the week planned and get out of here.” I sat at the head of the conference room table with JoJo, Delta, and Trisha. She’d picked up the routine quick enough, and I was glad to be done explaining shit to her. Training sucked, even when the person was smart.
Trisha fiddled with her laptop and the first contract came up on the projection screen. “Tim Collins, last seen in Oklahoma City, $25,000 reward for his capture. He’s wanted for armed robbery and has ties to Brunk’s crew.”
“I got him.” JoJo wrote down a couple of notes. “Send the file to my email.”
Trish gave him a quick smile before the next face appeared on screen. “James Boutilier, known to hang out in Dallas, but no one has seen him in two weeks. We have a contract on him, along with two other companies—the reward is $60,000.”
“You want him?” Delta nodded to me.
“Don’t really care, you can pick between him and the next one. I’ll take whatever you don’t want.” Normally I chose first and let the guys pick from what was left, but this week none of the contracts really appealed to me. All I thought about was Elle—seeing her again, fucking her, making her laugh. Shit, I was in bad shape.
“Go to the next one.” Delta frowned at me but didn’t ask any questions, just one of the many things I liked about him.
“Rudolph ‘Rudy’ Mander, he’s a prospect with the Angels of Death and missed his court date two days ago. We have an exclusive contract on him with a payout of $50,000. He was last seen in Dallas at the clubhouse.” Trisha looked from me to Delta.
“I’ll take Boutilier and you can continue your pissing match with the Angels.” Delta nodded to Trish. “Send me the file and do some calling to see if you can get more in the way of usual hangouts. I’ll dig through his credit card history and the other crap.”
“Will do.” Trisha put five other names on the screen. “We also have five more small contracts that I will send to all of you. If you have downtime, you can pick these guys up without breaking a sweat.”
“Call if you need backup, I can always send the prospects.” I turned to Trish. “Give each of our three prospects one of the small cases, doesn’t matter which one, let’s see if they can do the easy part of the job.”
Trish nodded. “Got it, boss.”
“Let’s go get busy. Trish, you’re in charge here. Call one of us if you get a bond call over $50,000, otherwise let the prospects deal with those too.” Delta jetted before I’d finished speaking, no surprise there, he hated being in the office. JoJo grinned over at me. “You and Elle hunting together?”
“Most likely, unless she’s got something better to do.” I headed toward the front door, ready to get hunting.
“Boss, you can’t leave yet,” Trisha called from behind me.
With a sigh, I turned away from the door. JoJo laughed when he walked out. Sometimes it sucked being the boss.
Trish sat down behind the sleek black reception desk right in front of the glass doors. “You need to sign all of these.” The stack of paper was almost a foot thick, fucking great.
“I can’t be this behind on paperwork.” I frowned at the stack willing it to vanish.
“You didn’t sign all the spots on half of these.” Trisha grinned up at me. “You told me to audit the files, and this is what you missed.”
“That should have taken you days.” I stared down at my young assistant who had three piercings and tats down both of her arms. She fit in with us perfectly.
“This is what I found in the first half I went through. I still have more to go.”
“Dammit.” I opened the first file and signed in the three places Trisha had marked.
“Are you doing that all here?”
“Yeah,” I growled. I didn’t want to lug this shit to my office, besides if I actually sat down there, I’d be here for hours. Every time I was in the office it happened.
“Catch the phone then, I’m going to go talk to the other guys.” She didn’t wait for a response but moseyed away.
I hurried through the stack, willing the phone to stay silent until I got my bitch work done. Thankfully, it did. Once I signed the last post it marked space, I headed to the back to find my secretary.
She sat on Lyle’s desk laughing with the three of them. When I stormed in the prospects lost a shade of color in their faces. I had no idea why they feared me, but all three of them did. I’d never had this trouble with prospects at Bound, but then I’d been around every day.
“Done with your stack, so get your ass back to the desk.”
She laughed and slipped off the desk. “Why did you open a bail bonds shop
if paperwork makes you grouchy?” She turned and waved to the prospects. “Let me know what you find.”
At her desk, I lifted a hand to tell her goodbye. “Why are they scared of me?”
Trisha tilted her head to the side. “You don’t know?”
“Not a clue.”
She let out a loud peal of laughter. “JoJo.” She tried to say more but couldn’t stop laughing. Eventually she calmed down. “Told them stories of what a badass you are, put the fear of Rebel into them. I’m pretty sure he did it just to screw with them. They told me, yesterday, as a warning.”
JoJo and his damn pranks. “But it didn’t scare you?”
“No way, I’d spent the morning with you. You’re no demon boss from hell, just a run-of-the-mill pain in the ass.” She winked before she picked up the stack of papers. “Besides Elle told me I couldn’t be afraid of you guys and do my job, she promised your bark was the worst part.”
Of course Elle warned her. “Let’s get one thing straight, I’m never run-of-the-mill, I’m the fucking best....got me?” I grinned down at her.
“Oh yes, demon boss.” She bowed to me from behind her desk. “Get out of here and make some money.”
I headed to Barden to catch up on some Brotherhood business before I began digging up dirt on Rudy Mander. I wished Elle was coming home tonight, it was ridiculous how much I missed her. I shouldn’t miss her, but I had at least three more months to work her out of my system. If this condition, yeah it was definitely a disease, hasn’t passed by August, then I’d worry. Until then, I planned to enjoy my madness.
I stopped in front of Marked Man. Jeremy, one of Rock’s new prospects worked the main desk. I gave him a nod. “Zero here?”
“In back, he’s got about twenty minutes before his appointment.” Jeremy fidgeted in a nervous way.
I didn’t get it. I wasn’t scary, not at all like Jericho or Dare, let alone Bear. Walking down the short hall to the tattoo room, I considered ways to get JoJo back for his wild stories.
“Hey, man,” Rock greeted me then went back to work on some guy.
Big Ang worked on a client and Mark cleaned up. Zero stood and gave me a back-slapping hug. “About damn time. I thought I’d have to chase your ass down.” He glanced over to Rock. “Use your office?”
Rock grunted his assent then refocused on the work.
“You caught any really bad guys?”
“Not much, I’m hunting another Angel right now, at least beginning the hunt.” The Angels needed an attitude adjustment and if they weren’t careful, the Brotherhood would give it to them.
We stepped into Rock’s office and Zero shut the door. “How are the three prospects doing?”
“Lyle is damn good—born bounty hunter—because he’s got an awesome bullshit detector.” I liked him the most even if he was the quietest of the three. “Dan is alright, but he’s lazy. I’ve caught him taking shortcuts twice, once more and he’s back to you.” Nothing pissed me off more than cutting corners, and I wouldn’t tolerate that bullshit, but then none of us did.
“Damn, I hoped he’d improve.” Zero scratched notes in a small notebook he’d pulled out of his pocket. “If he screws up again, then he’s out.”
“West is tight, great with the takedowns, but shit at bonding, for now anyway. He might prove better for Ringer in the long run, but I like the kid.”
“Got it. What did you do to them?” Zero grinned up at me. “They’ve been talking about what a hard-ass you are.”
“Fucking JoJo is telling stories, I don’t even know if they’re true stories.” I didn’t mind the rep, but I didn’t like the way it made them cower around me.
“You could take one with you.” Zero gave me his shit-eating grin. “But then you have that hot blonde to partner with.”
I flipped him off. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, I want to give you one or two more. I have one who didn’t work out with porn, but he’s a great recruit, then a newbie.”
I sighed. “Send them over. I’ll tell JoJo to expect them.”
Outside of Marked Man I kick-started my bike. When my phone buzzed, I put the bike into park to check my phone.
Elle had texted me. Headed back now. See you in a couple hours. I sped out of town so I could get home, make dinner for her then we could get down to the serious fun.
At home I decided on pasta and shrimp—easy and delicious. I heard the rumble of Elle’s truck right after I’d added the shrimp to sauté.
Elle walked in and hollered.
“The kitchen,” I shouted back, not wanting to leave my shrimp unattended. Thirty seconds was all it took for shrimp to go from perfect to overcooked.
“What smells delicious?” She kissed my cheek.
“Shrimp pasta with basil sauce.”
“Ooh, fancy.” She leaned against my granite countertop looking good enough to eat.
I tossed the shrimp on top of the pasta and set both dishes in the middle of my retro kitchen table. It had a black laminate top with chrome accents and legs. The chairs matched the table, I’d ordered the whole set online—one of the few things I hadn’t picked up at the local furniture store.
“First we eat food, then I eat you.” I stalked toward her and wrapped my arms around her waist before I leaned down for a real kiss. She tasted delicious.
Elle’s stomach growled and I broke the kiss. I couldn’t have my woman hungry, especially given what I planned to do to her this evening.
“You must be hungry.” I smiled down at her. Her cheeks were pink.
“I wasn’t until I smelled this deliciousness.” She waved to the food on the table.
I moved around her to collect two plates and silverware. “You want a beer?”
She nodded, taking the plates from me. “I can barely boil water and you’re like a master chef.” She filled her plate with pasta and salad. “You won’t believe my trip to Dallas.” Popping a shrimp in her mouth, she closed her eyes and a look of bliss flitted across her face.
I filled my plate although my appetite had vanished when Elle had come in, but I’d need my strength for what I planned to do to her tonight. Two nights, and I was like a randy teenager. I wished I understood why she affected me so much, but I was putty in her hands, as always.
“You see Jess?”
“I did, and Doris, my dad’s assistant, stopped by on Friday.”
I hoped the woman hadn’t hurt Elle. “Was it bad?”
Her fork stopped midair. “Yeah, it was terrible.” She swallowed pasta and stared out the kitchen window. “They had people watching us, and watching my house.”
“What the fuck?” Her creepy father was on my last nerve.
“Exactly, I ended up canceling on Jess the first night. Doris just drained me.” Her eyes were haunted.
I reached across and squeezed her hand.
“Then this morning when Jess and I were leaving for lunch, a courier delivered papers to me.” She gulped and her eyes shone with tears. “Daddy signed the company over to me, no conditions.”
The bottom dropped out of my stomach, I was in free fall. “That’s great, baby.” I managed to say the words and I meant them, but my plans blew away with those words. Her news reset the playing field, there was no reason for her to stay. Could I ask her to stay with me? Did she want that? Did I?
“Yeah, his last day is a week from Monday, then I’ll be the owner the next day.” She bit her lip. “I’ve wanted this forever, but now that I have it, I’m scared, really scared.”
Appetite demolished. I pushed the plate away. “I understand. I was nervous when I opened Brotherhood Bonds. I knew I could do it, but my reputation, my future, was on the line.”
She stood and wiped hands on her jeans. “It also means we don’t need to...to live together anymore. Our marriage
deal is over.” She wouldn’t meet my eyes, instead she bent down and pulled an envelope from her bag. “These are for you.”
Her hand shook when she gave them to me.
“What are they?”
“Divorce papers, um, I had the lawyer draw them up a while ago.”
I dropped the envelope on the table, not wanting to think about divorce papers right now. I rarely thought about being married to her. My finger rubbed the ring I wore.
Liar. I liked being married to her and fuck if I knew why.
“So are you moving back?”
“Do you want me to?” Her eyes were huge and round. “I mean, now. I’ll have to move back by June 1 to run the company, but I can leave tonight?”
Silence hung between us as I tried to get my brain working again.
“I’m good with you staying, I even have a new contract for us to work, our last one.” I shut down the shit trying to break loose inside me. No way I’d go there. Right now, my only plan was living minute by minute.
She stepped forward and grasped my hands in hers. “That sounds good, real good. Who are we chasing?”
“Rudy Mander, prospect for the Angels of Death.” My eyes locked on her plump lips. They drew me down and I lost myself in our kiss, tasting redemption in our frantic exchange.
I pushed up her red tee and stripped it off her before tugging up the sports bra. She took over removing it while I unzipped her jeans and tugged down. The table was full of dishes so I couldn’t take her there. I moved her back against the wall. Her greedy fingers tugged up my shirt and I jerked it over my head before slipping out of my boots and removing my pants. She wrapped her fingers around my cock and I moaned, but she wasn’t sidetracking me.
I dropped to my knees then traced fingers up the inside of her thighs spreading her stance as I went. I trailed fingers through her wet seam before I lowered my lips to her mound, needing to taste her sweetness. She shuddered and pressed into me, starved for my touch. I lost myself in worshipping her, feeling the build inside her, but never letting her topple over. I needed her frantic, out of control. She was mine, I would prove that to her tonight.
Bail Out Page 20
