“Yes, sir. I understand.”
I can hear the tremor of fear in her voice. It makes my dick throb. The best thing about my secretary is that she will take everything I give her because she needs the job. My specialty is finding the weak and exploiting them to my advantage. Ms. Caldwell’s mother is in an expensive rehabilitation center after strokes have left her completely paralyzed. Bad for her, but very lucky for me. Very lucky indeed.
Chapter 28
Crusher
Fuck, life is good. When you wake up every morning and those are the first words you think, you know it’s going to be a good damn day. Or, at least that’s what you expect. Some days it doesn’t work out that way. Still, waking up next to Dani, her taste still on my lips, my arms full of her and her ‘I love you, Zander’ being the first thing I hear, has a way of filling a man with hope. I’ve got that every morning for a solid month and it’s been the fucking best month of my life. I’ve had it good with Dani before, but now we have less walls between us. She’s even starting to show me more affection around the club. She’s slowly coming out of her shell. She’s still very careful what she lets slide in front of Dragon and Nicole, but I know eventually we’ll get there.
I’m not a hopeful man. I’m a man who shoots straight from the hip, doesn’t expect much, but is satisfied with the way life is. At least, I was until Dani. Having her, makes everything better and it makes it seem like anything is possible. She fills an emptiness that’s been inside of me since losing Melly.
“What are you doing today, sweetheart?”
“More wedding stuff, I guess. Yuck.”
“Not a fan of weddings?”
“Hell no,” she says, kissing on the side of my neck. I don’t know if it’s because Dani discovered sex recently, or if it’s just the way the two of us are going to be with each other, but we fuck so often my balls are staying sore and I don’t even give a damn. Apparently, neither does Junior, because he’s already standing at attention.
“Does this mean, you’re going to make me live in sin the rest of my life?” I ask as my hand slides in between her ass cheeks. She pushes against my hand, showing me that she wants more and fuck, I’m ready to give it to her. I’ve slowly been getting her used to being fucked in the ass. First with my fingers and most recently I made her wear a plug in her ass all day. She was so fucking horny and wet by the end of the day, I wasn’t sure my cock would survive.
“By living in sin, does that mean you’re going to fuck me every day?” she asks her tongue sliding along my nipple, her ass thrusting back against my hand.
“Fuck, yeah.”
“Then, yes please,” she says, sucking my nipple into her mouth with a hungry moan.
I’m ready to get her on her hands and knees and fuck her hard and long, when a knock at the door makes me freeze. Dani continues teasing my nipples while her hand moves down to stroke my cock.
“Yeah?” I holler out, grunting as Dani moves those lips down my stomach.
“Hey, man? We need to talk,” Freak calls out just as Dani takes my cock into her mouth.
I lean up on my arms to watch her mouth slide down on my shaft and her eyes stay on mine the entire time. So fucking hot. God, I’m a lucky S.O.B.
“Yeah, man, I’ll catch up with you later,” I tell Freak. Dani lets go of my cock slowly and this time sucks one of my balls in her mouth, using her tongue to caress it.
“Man, it’s kind of important. I got that information on that Michael you asked about. You won’t believe who this motherfucker is.”
Dani freezes and her eyes lock with mine and three things hit me at once. One, the sheer look of terror on my woman’s face. Two, the way it slowly merges into anger and even through the hate in her eyes, I see something worse. Betrayal. She thinks I betrayed her. I feel her fist slam down on my balls. I grab my crotch in reaction, cussing like a motherfucker, as the pain slams into me. It’s one thing to get hit in the balls. It’s another fucking thing to get hit in them when you are close to shooting your load. Son of a bitch! My boys may never recover.
“You promised! You fucking promised me!” She yells, sliding off the bed and going to the drawer she cleaned out for her clothes. She’s pulling on some cut off blue jeans, her boobs completely bare, and if I didn’t feel like my jewels are permanently out of commission, it would have been sexier than hell, except for the tears.
“Hellcat, I had to find him. I needed to make sure I kept you safe. I can’t do that by burying my head in the sand.”
“Trust me, you said. I’ve claimed you, you said. I’ll never hurt you, you said! You’re a motherfucking, son of a bitching, cock sucking liar!”
“Now wait just a fucking minute here,” I growl jumping up. I’m fumbling with my pants putting them on and wince at the sting of pain my boys feel as I move them around. Fuck, couldn’t I have picked a quiet, meek woman who didn’t give me shit? “I am none of those things, damn it!”
“I can vouch that he doesn’t suck cock,” Freak says, as Dani pulls the door open while pulling her t-shirt down. Damn it! She needed to put on a mother-fucking bra!
She grabs the papers from Freak and turns to look at me.
“You promised that you wouldn’t do this!”
“It had to be done! We have to deal with this shit.”
“No! We don’t. We don’t have to deal with the fallout here. I do!”
“You’re mine, that makes us a team and we’ll deal with shit together, Dani! Stop trying to do all this shit on your own. You’ve been doing that for way too fucking long and we’ve seen the cluster-fuck that happens when you do!”
Fuck. I shouldn’t have said that. I know it was wrong. I knew it the minute I said it and I know it even more when she blanches like I slapped the hell out of her.
“You have no fucking idea what you’ve done, Zander. I do. I’ve lived it. It’s not us that will have to deal with the fallout, it’s me. I’ll be the one he will come after. Me and all the ones I love.”
“You said you loved me that means the bastard will come after me and I want him to, I got this, Hellcat. Have faith in me.”
“I did. You betrayed it,” she says and her voice is full of pain now, the anger gone.
“Hellcat, let’s talk about this.”
“The time to talk would have been before you betrayed me,” she says pushing Freak out of the way and leaving the room.
Freak looks up at me and he has a look on his face I do not like.
“What?” I bark, my heart hurting, my balls sore and my head spinning. I didn’t want Dani to find out like this. I needed time to break this to her. Fuck.
“She might have a point,” he said sitting in a chair and looking at me with a look of blame, which pisses me off.
“You telling me if this was Nikki, you wouldn’t have done the same?”
“I don’t know, what I do know is I would have talked to my woman about it.”
“Dani doesn’t act rational, if I’d told her, she would have made me promise not to.”
“That seemed to work out well for her the last time.”
“Fuck you, motherfucker. I know you, you would have done the exact same thing that I did. Now quit acting like you know every fucking thing and tell me what the hell I need to know. I need that info, then I need to go get my woman and calm her ass down, all because you couldn’t shut the fuck up and let me get my dick sucked,” I’m pissed. I’m more than pissed, but even though I’m directing the anger at Freak, it’s me I’m pissed at. I should have thought this through more. Dani trusted me and this had to gut her. I should have handled this shit better.
“How the fuck was I to know you were in here getting your Johnson sucked. Fuck, how was I to even know she was the bitch this was about. You just said it was personal. I did this as a favor for your fucking ass.”
He’s right and I should man up. I’m not about to though, too much shit to deal with right now and Freak is at the bottom of that list.
“Tell me what I n
eed to know,” I growl, sitting on the bed and rubbing my poor, abused balls. I’m going to make Dani kiss them better. Well, after her ass calms down. Right now I’m not letting her anywhere near them.
“It’s not good, man. Your Michael is Michael Kavanagh.”
“So?” I ask, totally clueless.
“The shipping god? Tycoon? High rolling mofo who has the U.S. exporting and importing wrapped up?”
Fuck.
“So, what’s his connection with Dani?” I ask, needing to know.
“No, idea. He was married to a Melinda Marinetti, sole heir to the Marinetti dynasty. Reports say that Melinda was hounded by mental breakdowns and it was a rocky marriage. She died in a house fire five years ago. Police believe it was suicide.”
“So where does Dani come in the picture?”
“No idea, unless she was this man’s mistress or something. Rumors are he has a lot of those.”
That doesn’t ring true with the story that Dani was telling me. I’m going to have to talk to her and hopefully after I calm her down, she will see this is really the best way to deal with the situation.
“Re-print that shit off. I’ll drop by and get it after I see to my woman.”
“Does Dragon know you’ve claimed her?”
“No, but he will,” Dani just needs to get it in her head first.”
“Don’t put it off too long.”
I nod, because he’s right. I should confess everything to Drag and come clean. I can’t yet though. Especially since Dani may never want to speak to me again.
“First, I need to calm down my woman,” I answer honestly.
“Good luck with that.”
“I’m going to need it,” I tell him leaving the room, and preparing for war. A war I will win, because Dani is not getting away from me.
Chapter 29
Dani
I have so many emotions running through me at once, I don’t know what they are. Mad, hurt, anger, and betrayal all top the list. You could take your pick really. I couldn’t go back to the club yesterday, not after learning what Zander did. I needed time away to think. Trouble is I feel like the walls are closing in on me. It might be possible that Michael doesn’t know someone is running a check on him or gathering information. Possible, but not very damned likely. Which means, Michael will be checking out the Savage Brothers MC, he’ll be checking out Dragon. He’ll find out that Dragon is marrying Nicole…and from the name Nicole everything else will click into place. It’s not a matter of if it will happen, it’s a matter of when. So I need to plan.
When the fuck did Freak start running Zander’s information requests? Was it after my big mouth gave Zander details? Or hell, even before that? How long of a head start do I have on Michael?
I spent last night in a small mom and pop motel three counties over. I knew if I stayed anywhere in London, or even in Skull’s territory that Zander would find me. I can’t handle that—not right now. I need some time. Zander is so convinced he can handle Michael, maybe he can? I don’t know. Maybe I am short changing my man. What I do know is that I have seen up close and personal what happens when Michael is unhappy. If anything happened to Zander, Nicole, Ray or Paul, I wouldn’t be able to go on. The risk is too great. I have to protect them. I need to contact Ray, because I’m going to need new papers sent to me. I’ll have to strike out on my own. There will be no safety net and I’ll be on my own this time. Nicole has a life. I’m not sure how I’ll cope not being a part of her life. I’ll miss the birth of her baby. I’ll miss so much. The thought hurts me, but I tap it down. My life has never been about getting what I want. I shouldn’t have allowed myself to forget that.
My decision made, I pick up the phone and dial.
“Hey kitten,” Ray’s voice almost makes me smile.
“Hey Ray, I umm…would it be possible for you to get me some new papers.”
My question is greeted with a moment of silence and it’s thick. He knows there would be only one reason I’m asking.
“Is this phone secure?”
“Yeah I picked up a burner.”
His sigh is loud and I can’t stop the tear that falls. It was a call both of us hoped I would never have to make.
“How’d he find out, honey?”
“Zander thought he’d get revenge on what was done to me,” I said lamely.
“Idiot,” Ray groans.
I swallow, not really liking that. “He loves me,” I defend lamely.
“He’s trying to get you killed,” Ray growls.
“He doesn’t know Michael. He thought he was protecting me.”
The silence stretches again.
“You love him.”
“I love him,” I answer honestly. “I love him more than anything in the world. Enough that I have to protect him, Ray. I can’t let Michael touch him.”
“Do you want to see if he’s right? Maybe he can handle Michael? He has fighting power behind him at least.”
I think it over. I have all the faith in the world in Zander. Even though he lied to me, after I got over my initial panic, I understood. He wants to make life better for me, he wants to protect me and take away the shadows. He wants to save me. I get it. What I have with Zander is the first real adult relationship I’ve ever had. At the same time, I don’t think Zander understands who he is dealing with.
“I may try to stay. I want to be in Nic’s wedding and I’d love to see her baby.”
“Yeah, I can’t believe she’s knocked up.”
“So sweet, Ray,” I tell him sarcastically.
“Paul says that all the time, especially when he’s got his lips wrapped around…”
“Spare me please,” I laugh. “Can you get me the papers? I need to be able to leave quickly, just in case. You still have the bank account info, right?”
“Yeah I got it, Kitten. I’ll have them made up today and overnight them to the safe address you gave me when you first moved.”
“Thanks Ray-Ray, as always I owe you more than I could ever repay you.”
“Anything for you. Take care of you and always check in. It’s our deal.”
“It’s our deal,” I tell him, hanging up.
I stare at my phone for a little bit, before I start packing up. It’s early, like really early, four a.m. to be exact, but I knew I needed to call Ray in Texas, because it would be three there and he’d just be getting in from work. I have Nic’s car. She gave it to me to use. Still, I use my old clunker for the most part. Nic’s car reminds me too much of my old life. I left it in the parking lot at the Club. I need to go back and collect it and check on Nicole and get ready for that damn fitting we have this evening.
*
It’s almost eight by the time I pull into the parking lot. I stopped and had breakfast. I looked around some shops for a few items to pack in case I had to make a fast getaway. I picked up an extra burner phone to give to Nicole. I couldn’t give her my number if I left. If I did that Zander would find me easily. Also, Michael would be able to use her against me. Actually he still might, but I’m doing everything I can in my power to prevent it. The rest I will have to trust Dragon to handle. If I leave, Nicole will tell him and he can protect her. He’ll have to protect her.
I park Nic’s car and grab my oversized purse and the bags I collected shopping today and hop out. I store them in the trunk of my car. I need to have Nailer go through my vehicle and make sure it’s ready to travel. Again, Nic’s car is the more logical choice, but my old junky car is the last thing Michael would expect to find me in. Maybe it’s time to dye my hair again. Not blonde or red…never those again. Pink? Blue? Those ideas hold merit. There’s a club hanger-on Tami that comes by with those colors. Frog and Hawk joke they pick her to tag-team all the time because they want to taste the rainbow.
There’s a white envelope on my windshield when I reach my car. My first thought is that Zander left it. It even makes me kind of smile. I need to talk with him about boundaries and promises, but I don’t want to give up wha
t we have. I hope I never have to. He is all I want.
I throw my stuff in the car, relock the doors and then grab the note. I frown. My name is written on the outside, but it’s not Zander’s writing. I open it and there’s a feeling of unease slowly filtering through my system. I am just not one for surprises. As I pull it out, my heart immediately begins to pound. My hands begin shaking.
A clipping from a period in my life that I’ve spent a lifetime trying to forget.
‘Society darling, Melinda Marinetti to marry Michael Kavanagh.’
I read the headline and my stomach churns in fear. Times up. Somehow I convinced myself I was overreacting, that Michael wouldn’t notice the inquiries Zander and Freak made. I won’t be able to stay now. The tears gather in my eyes and I do my best to hold them back. Not here—not out in the open for anyone to see. For all I know, Michael is watching even now. So, I dig deep and find the Dani that I invented, the one who captured Zander’s attention. I wad the paper up in my hands. It takes all I have not to run inside, to the safety of the club. I hold my pace slow and steady. I’m thankful I took the time to wear my pointed stilettos and designer jeans. My make-up is even done perfectly—including my bright red lipstick, and my hair sleek and pulled up high on my head in a ponytail. The click of my shoes on the worn concrete help me to count with each step and I concentrate on my breathing, until I’m out of sight.
The front room of the club is empty, so from there I half walk, half jog to Nicole and Dragon’s room. I hope Dragon is gone by now, he usually is, but I don’t have the best of luck—I think that much is clear.
“Nic! You up?” I ask in a panic, my voice probably too loud. I knock on the door with more force than necessary, but damn I need her. Just being in her presence helps.
“Come on in,” she calls out.
“Dani, please don’t give me shit about the dresses again. I gave in and let you have…”
“Nic, please.”
My voice is thick with fear. I can’t stop it. I haven’t had a panic attack since I started therapy, but I can feel one now, trying to take hold of me.
Claiming Crusher: Savage Brothers MC Page 19
