Protection (Death Knights MC Series Book 1)

by Michelle Betham

  “Jesus, Vanni…” Bullet drags a hand back through his hair as he lets out a heavy sigh. He’s not the only one. I mean, this club, it’s faced some twisted, fucked up bastards in its time, but this is on a whole other level, we’ve never faced this type of enemy before – an unknown quantity. “You know what you could be getting into here?”

  Vanni leans forward, clasping his hands together as he glares at Bullet. “I don’t want my wife dead, Bullet, so yes, I know exactly what I’m getting into here.”

  Bullet leans back in his seat and turns to look at me, raising his eyebrows, what the fuck’s he want me to do?

  “You know about this?”

  “I told Logan because I needed him to know what he was facing, in case anything happened while I wasn’t there, at home, with Piper. And I told him to keep it to himself until everyone else needed to know. Now you need to know.”

  He sits back, picks up the gavel to his right and turns it over and over in his hand.

  “They’re getting closer, Frankie Cabbetto’s men.”

  I feel my stomach dip and I drop my gaze, focusing on my clasped hands. “And Frankie himself?”

  “He’s not with them, as far as I can gather. Which isn’t unusual. He won’t want to dirty his own hands with this, he’ll have given that job to someone else.”

  “How many men are we talking about here?” Dragon asks, and I quickly glance up at our newest member. Vanni’s cousin. And there’s a slight hint of something verging on fear in his expression, but it’s also obvious he’s trying to hide it.

  “Five. That’s what I’ve been told. Vierra’s one of them, so I’m guessing he’s the one who’s been tasked with finishing the job.”

  “Does it matter how many men there are? Huh?”

  Vanni’s head shoots around to look at me, his eyes darkening, I mean, come on, I’m daring to question him again. “No, Logan, you’re right. It doesn’t matter how many men Cabbetto’s sent to find Piper ‘cause the second we show our hand, it’s game on. We hit them they’re gonna hit back twice as hard, you all ready for that?” He stands up and starts pacing the floor, dragging deep on his cigarette. “You better be. All of you.” He stops pacing and rests his hands palms-down on the table. “I’m not actually giving anyone a choice here. We’re taking on the Cabbetto family.” He looks over at Bullet. “Get back in touch with Herb, and tell Jonjo’s brothers to stay put in Glendale. We need as many men as possible. I’ve gotta send some of my own back to Nevada, I got business going down there I can’t let slide. But Piper – she’s my priority now. So I’m staying here.”

  I drop my head and close my eyes, just for a second. And I take that second to breathe, to take stock of the shit I’ve got myself into, and then I just hope that Vanni’s too distracted by what’s going on with the Cabbetto family to even suspect that I’ve slept with Piper. That I’ll sleep with Piper again ‘cause, Jesus, I can’t leave shit alone. I can’t. I should. But I can’t…

  Piper

  “What you doing out here? I thought Vanni told you to stay put, inside.”

  I look up to see Della approaching. “I’ve hardly gone walkabout, I’m just outside the back door. I needed some air, that’s all.”

  She offers me a cigarette, which I decline.

  “They still in the chapel?”

  Della nods and lights up as she leans back against the wall beside me. “Looks pretty heated in there, too, from what I saw when I walked past just now. Any idea what they might be talking about?”

  I know she’s looking at me, but I keep my head down. “Vanni doesn’t tell me anything, Della.”

  “Nothing?”

  This time I look up, my eyes locking on hers, I’m really not in the mood for her shit today. “Nothing.”

  “Unless it concerns you, huh?”

  “You got something to say to me, Della, then say it, and quit with the crap.”

  She smiles a smile that goes nowhere near her eyes, it’s cold. There’s no warmth there at all.

  “You still can’t bring yourself to even give me a chance, can you?”

  “There’s no rule says I gotta like everyone who walks through these doors. I’m just saying that there are girls here who’ve put time into this club, girls I call family, ‘cause that’s what this club is. Family.”

  “And she’s a part of it now, Della, so shut your goddamn mouth before I do that for you.”

  She takes one last drag on her cigarette and throws it down at Vanni’s feet, stubbing it out with the spiked heel of her boot before she turns and heads back inside.

  “Smart-assed bitch. Bullet needs to pull her into line.”

  “I can handle that shit myself, Vanni.”

  “I know you can, darlin’. She just winds me up sometimes, is all.”

  “And it takes a lot to wind you up, right?”

  I smile, and he throws me a grin back, his hand sliding onto my hip as he pulls me toward him. “How about I get me some winding down now, huh?”

  “If that’s what you want…”

  I feel his fingers inside me before I have a chance to get any more words out.

  “It’s what I want, baby girl. Jesus, you are so freakin’ wet…”

  I throw my head back as his lips land at the base of my throat, clench my muscles tight as he thrusts deeper into me, moving inside me until he finds that spot, that place that hits me right at my very core, and I almost crumble in his arms as a rush of white-hot pain spreads through my body. I cry out, he wants me to cry out, he likes to hear me come, and right now he’s getting exactly what he wants. It keeps him happy, stops him from thinking about things he doesn’t need to know. My guilty secret? My ultimate betrayal? Sleeping with one of his brothers…

  “Jesus fucking Christ!” His mouth rests against mine as he breathes the words out, and then he laughs, that low, dirty laugh that sends my stomach on a circuit of somersaults because, despite what happened with Logan – despite what I still want to happen, again, with Logan – I do love this man. I do. I’m just not sure what kind of love it really is, but I can’t let myself dwell on that. “You really are gonna kill me, baby.”

  “I hope not.” I smile again, cupping his cheek as I pull back slightly to look at him – this strangely handsome man with the deeply dark soul. “I need you very much alive.”

  He returns my smile, dropping a hand to my ass as he kisses me; as he lifts me up and rams his rock-hard cock into me with a force that literally takes my breath away.

  This is my life now.

  This is what I, ultimately, chose.

  I settled for this, over certain death.

  I settled…

  Logan

  The last thing I want to do is watch Vanni and Piper together, but the second I stumbled across them there in the back yard, his hand almost wrist-deep inside her soft, warm pussy I couldn’t look away. So like some kind of Peeping Tom I dodged behind one of the dumpsters out back and watched them. Fucking. And it shouldn’t bother me, I mean, who the hell is Piper Colletti to me? She’s a risk, a mistake I really can’t afford to make again, and yet, as he lifts her up and slams into her like she’s nothing more than some twisted sex-doll, I know she’s a mistake I’m gonna keep on making. For now, anyway. Until it becomes too dangerous.

  I drop my gaze as Vanni pulls out of her, he’s obviously got what he came for. And when I look up he’s gone, back inside, I’m assuming. And she’s still there, leaning back against the wall, her eyes staring out ahead of her, an almost blank expression on her face. But as much as I want to go straight to her I wait a few minutes, just in case Vanni comes back out. And then I go over.

  “You all right?”

  My appearance startles her slightly, her expression a little wary as I lean back against the wall beside her. “I’m fine. Thank you. And you shouldn’t be out here.”

  “I’m only having a smoke, Piper.”

  “They introduced a no smoking policy inside the clubhouse now, have they? Is that what that mee
ting was about in there, huh?”

  I look at her, right into her eyes, and there’s an element of fear in there. She’s nervous around me, understandably so, now. After what we did.

  “That meeting in there was about you, Piper.”

  “Me? I don’t… I don’t understand… No, Jesus, Logan, no.” She shakes her head, and that fear in her eyes, it’s intensified now. It’s so obvious I almost recoil, man, she’s fucking terrified! “My dad… does he know…?”

  “Go talk to Vanni.”

  “I’m talking to you.”

  “And I’ve said too much. I shouldn’t be telling you anything, that’s Vanni’s place.”

  I’m right. It is. And me saying what I’ve already said, that could land me in big trouble, I’ve overstepped a mark. Jesus… I’ve overstepped a bigger mark than telling her something I shouldn’t.

  “And don’t tell him I said anything, OK? If he thinks I’m taking it upon myself to tell you shit… Just, ask him what that meeting was about. He’s gonna tell you, ‘cause you need to know…”

  She doesn’t stop to listen to the end of that sentence, she’s back inside before I can get the rest of it out, and I close my eyes and take a long, deep breath, enjoying the solitude, the relative peace, which is interrupted by my phone ringing. And I consider ignoring it, ‘cause the caller ID’s coming up unknown and I don’t usually answer those. But it’s a local number, and I know most of the people around here, so I take a chance and answer this call.

  “What?”

  If I don’t know who they are they don’t get the polite greeting. They’re lucky to get one at all, in fact, I’m not sure why I spoke first in this case. It’s Piper, man, she’s got my head so fucked up.

  “Logan? Is that… is that you?”

  That voice – it’s a shock, hearing it again. I’d never wanted to hear it again, and it makes me feel physically sick, I mean, Jesus! What the fuck is happening here?

  “How’d you get this number?”

  There’s a brief silence down the line, I can hear her breathing, but if she doesn’t answer my fucking question…

  “I asked around, told people you were my cousin… I need to see you, Logan.”

  I end the call, tucking my phone back into my pocket, ignoring it as it rings out again.

  She has no business calling me.

  She has no business asking me for shit.

  She killed me, that cheating, lying bitch, she killed me. She killed us, so she has no business contacting me, she’s outta her goddamn freakin’ mind if she thinks this is happening. It’s not, happening. I promised myself no woman would ever kick me down so low again, and that promise? I’m keeping it.

  Eleven

  Piper

  “Remember what I said, Piper. You have nothing to be scared of.”

  “Jesus, Vanni, can you stop treating me like some helpless princess? Stop telling me shit even you know isn’t fucking true. I have everything to be scared of…”

  “Hey... Hey! Don’t turn your back on me, darlin’, I’m trying to help you here. What the fuck is wrong with you? You got your time of the month going on there, sweetheart? Your hormones turning you all whiny all of a sudden?”

  “Fuck you.”

  I stride down the hallway to our bedroom, but as I try to slam the door shut he pushes his way inside, grabs my wrist and slams me back against the wall, his eyes burning into mine with an anger I’ve not seen before from him. Oh, I have no doubt it’s a familiar anger, to those who know him, work with him, but for me it’s not an anger I’ve seen him display in front of me. And yet, I’m so consumed with my own fear that this – he isn’t even scaring me.

  “You listen to me, Piper, and you listen good. You start showing me some respect or I’ll…”

  “You’ll what, Vanni? Dole out the kind of punishment my father left me to suffer at the hands of Marco Vierra? Is that what you’re gonna do?”

  He lets go of my wrist, throwing it down like it’s burning hot, and he walks away, pacing the floor, raking a hand back and forth through his short, dark hair. He’s agitated, frustrated, I’ve seen this side of him before, just not when it concerned me.

  “I’d never hurt you like that, Piper.”

  He turns to face me, his expression calmer now, and I feel a wave of guilt wash over me so fast it almost drags the breath right out of me.

  “I know,” I whisper, because I think he’s telling the truth there. I don’t think he’d ever hurt me, despite his reputation, he wouldn’t do that to me. He hurts men, he doesn’t hurt women, so no. He wouldn’t sink as low as my father’s asshole of a lieutenant. Not without good reason. Like finding out I slept with Logan Sandero? “I know, Vanni, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I just…”

  “Ssh, it’s OK.” He’s back in front of me, his hand in mine, squeezing it tight, and he kisses me slowly, breathes a new strength into me, he’s calming me down. And I remember now every reason why I stayed with this man. Did I actually have an option not to? “Nothing is gonna happen to you, do you understand me?”

  “What about you? What if something…?”

  “I’m gonna be just fine, baby girl, don’t you worry about me.”

  “You’re doing it again, Vanni. Treating me like some naïve princess who doesn’t quite understand the kind of shit she’s messed up in. You can’t hide this from me, you can’t make me believe everything’s going to be just fine because it isn’t, going to be just fine. You’re messing with my family, Vanni. And my family have bred pure evil, they employ pure evil, they don’t give a fuck who they hurt. Even blood isn’t out of bounds, as I found out. And they will stop at nothing until they’ve finished the job.”

  “And what the fuck am I? Huh? Chicken-shit?”

  “I didn’t say that…”

  “I’d take a bullet for you, Piper, but it isn’t gonna come to that, you hear me?”

  I walk away, over to the other side of the room, I can’t listen to this. I don’t want to listen to this. Because it scares me? Yeah, it fucking scares me. I’m terrified for so many reasons right now, this is just one of them.

  “I hear you, Vanni. I hear everything, every word you’re saying and I trust you, OK? I trust you, because I know that everything you tell me... You don’t lie.”

  But I do. I lie. I cheat. I make mistakes and then wish I could take them back. And that’s a lie, too. See? I can’t stop myself.

  “You don’t lie. But you’re making it all sound so simple. You take just one of my father’s men down and he will rain shit down on you the likes of which I don’t think even you’ve seen before.”

  He laughs quietly, dropping his gaze briefly, shaking his head in disbelief. “And you think, what?” He looks up, his eyes locking on mine. “You think I’m not capable of hitting back harder?”

  I don’t know what he’s capable of, not really. But I know what my father’s capable of.

  “I know the kind of man your daddy is, Piper. I know what he’s done, what he can do, when pushed, and yeah, we are gonna push him. We are gonna push him so damn hard it’ll make his fucked up head spin. But the one thing he won’t do is win.”

  “It’s gonna be that easy, huh?”

  “In my world, darlin’, this shit – it really ain’t all that hard.”

  I watch him leave the room, and I lean back against the wall and close my eyes, taking a long, deep breath. My heart’s racing so fast, my stomach’s clenched up in a knot of nerves so tight it’s physically painful. I’m in this beautiful place, this sun-filled, blue-skied haven and all I can feel is a descending darkness.

  I go into the bathroom and splash my face with cold water before I go back outside, but Vanni’s gone now.

  “You weren’t expecting me, huh?”

  Logan throws me a smile, well, it’s more of a smirk, and I don’t know whether I’m relieved or irritated that he’s here. I don’t know whether it’s a good thing Vanni’s gone, because I know now I was just looking for a fight as a way of venting my
own frustration, but maybe Vanni wasn’t the right opponent. And Logan is? He doesn’t look like he’s come here for a fight. He’s lounging on the sofa, feet up on the coffee table, he looks completely at home. A little too relaxed, considering.

  “I didn’t know Vanni was going out.”

  “Well, now you do know.”

  “Where’s he gone.”

  “Wow. You two really don’t talk, do you? Just fucking, is it? That all you do, when you’re together?”

  I narrow my eyes as I stare at him, why’s he talking like that? I ignore him anyway and head into the kitchen for a glass of water. My throat’s way too dry right now.

  “He’s out on a job, with Bullet. Gone to round up a few favors on the old weapon front, y’know?”

  “No, Logan, I don’t know.” I lean back against the counter and look at him. I don’t need to know, actually, so I don’t push that.

  “So, you got me, for a couple of hours.”

  “OK.”

  He frowns. “OK? Is that it?”

  “What do you want me to say?”

  He hauls himself up from the couch and comes over to me, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “I don’t know. I just assumed you’d be at least a little bit pleased to see me.”

  I gently push his hand away. “This isn’t a game, Logan.”

  I walk over to the window and look outside, out at a world I can’t be a part of, not yet. Maybe not ever, I don’t how the fuck this is going to turn out.

  “Hey. Can I just say something here?”

  I turn around and look at him, crossing my arms as I lean back against the window. “It’s a free country.” Even if it doesn’t feel much like one to me right now. I feel anything but free.

  “Can you stop acting like you don’t want this…”

  “This?”