Lucky (No Prisoners MC Book 4)

by Lilly Atlas

  All because of her. Because there was a very good chance that in the heat of the moment she made the wrong decision. The tears came on fast and furious, streaming down her face and landing on the floor like she was somehow anointing the wreckage.

  Careful not to crunch over too much of the rubble, Kori tiptoed around chunks of glass and made her way to Lucky’s bedroom. The bed was rumpled and clothes were strewn about, but nothing was broken and no bottles resided in the room. In fact, on closer inspection, the room looked exactly as it had when she’d left Lucky’s home eight days ago after agreeing to move in with him.

  He hadn’t been in there since.

  Kori wiped her nose, set the alarm on the nightstand for thirty minutes and climbed into Lucky’s bed. She drew the covers over herself and imagined the cold sheets were the warmth and strength of Lucky’s arms instead. The sheets smelled of him, and still held a faint aroma of sex. It was the last straw.

  Huge, choking sobs tore through her, disrupting the quiet and ruining any plans for a peaceful hour. Kori gave into the sorrow, buried her head in the pillow and let the tears come.

  When the alarm went off, she rolled to a sitting position. Time for tears had ended.

  Now it was time to put on her big girl panties, figure out a way to avoid marrying Savage, keep Lucky and herself alive, and make Rebel and Savage pay for their actions.

  No problem…

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The blaring of Lucky’s phone jarred him from a whiskey-induced sleep to fully awake, if not entirely alert. “Jesus Christ,” he yelled into the darkness. He reached out to grab the phone, and caught his elbow on the corner of the bedside table. “Aw, fuck me.”

  The glow of the phone was brighter than the sun in the dark room. “Whoever the fuck this is, do you realize you just interrupted my cock when it was about to slide into some hot pussy?”

  A snort followed his angry greeting. “Yeah right. A week and a half ago you were so fucking pussy whipped, I bet you haven’t laid eyes on a single snatch since you left.” Truer words had never been spoken.

  Lucky had been in Arizona about ten days, and he’d played the game they all expected to see. He flirted, made witty comments, and made his MC brother’s wives blush, but that was as far as it went. His dick had died a painful death. Unless of course he was in his shower with visions of Kori behind his eyelids. Then he was hard enough to drive a hole through the wall and he came like he was dying each time.

  “Who the fuck is this? It’s midnight. Someone die?” Lucky rubbed a hand across his forehead trying to massage his brain to life.

  “It’s Bull, brother. And I need to talk to you. Tonight. Now.”

  “So talk.”

  “Nuh uh, not on the phone. I’m at the Starlight Motel. Some shithole a few towns over from you. Room seven.”

  Fully awake, Lucky sat on the edge of his bed. “Yeah, yeah, I know it. Shit. I can be there in an hour tops. This better be worth my fuckin’ time, Bull.” He disconnected the call. “Swear to God,” he muttered. “If he’s here to tell me how sorry Kori is and how she wants me back, the man’s going home minus two balls.”

  Forty-five minutes later, Lucky killed his engine outside room seven of the shitty Starlight Motel. All the motels in this area were pretty sketchy. None of the major hotel chains had made their way to the tiny town of Crystal Rock yet. He stashed his pistol in the back of his pants and started for the room. Chances were, this was a legitimate visit, not some attempt by Rebel to shut him up. It wasn’t Rebel’s style.

  If Rebel discovered Lucky knew about his drug enterprise, it was more likely that Lucky would wake up to a bag being tossed over his head as he was chucked in the back of a van. Rebel would beat him within two inches of his life then shoot him between the eyes. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry, hence the pistol.

  And the knife in his boot.

  And enough marine corps martial arts fighting experience to do some serious damage to anyone who tried to take him down.

  He pounded the side of his fist against the door, ignoring the peeling flecks of paint that fell to the ground. The number seven hung by one nail and swung back and forth as the door vibrated. The entire place looked one decent wind gust from collapsing.

  Bull opened the door, popped his head out, peered right and left then yanked Lucky into the room. “Anyone follow you?”

  “Uh, no, Bull. Paranoid much? What the hell’s going on, brother?” Dark circles rimmed bloodshot eyes and Bull’s long hair resembled a snarled rat’s nest on top of his head. The man looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks.

  “Robbie’s dead.”

  Shit. His words stopped Lucky in his tracks. Almost by instinct, he reached behind his back and whipped his gun around, training it on Bull. The solid weight in his hand provided a comfort only a trained sniper could understand. Sure, it wasn’t his rifle, that was out in his saddle bags, but he was damn accurate with a pistol as well. “Why are you bringing this shit to me?”

  Bull was no idiot. His eyebrows shot to his hairline and he raised his hands in surrender. “What the fuck, man?”

  “Rebel send you?” Lucky wasn’t taking any chances now. Bull wouldn’t be here if Robbie overdosed or was hit by a delivery truck. No, he was here because Robbie was killed. And Rebel topped the charts as Lucky’s main suspect.

  “Rebel? Fuck no. You think I’d be here in the middle of the night freaked out as shit if Rebel sent me?” Bull maintained his arms raised position relaxed his stance now that Lucky didn’t appear to be about to put an extra hole or two in him.

  “So why? Why me? Why now?” Lucky asked.

  “Can you put that thing away? I know you can shoot a fleck of dust from a million miles away. You’re making me nervous, brother.”

  “You armed?”

  Bull snorted. “Of course. And after I fill you in on the whole story you’ll know why. Just one gun, though.”

  Lucky could only imagine the shit they were both in now. “Put your weapon on the table.” He inclined his head toward a tiny round table next to the aging television. “Then sit on the edge of the bed and I’ll put my gun away.”

  Bull did as he asked without argument. When the man was seated at the edge of the bed, Lucky sat in a chair at the small table and rested his gun on the tabletop. Safety remained off, and the pistol was well within reach, but he rolled his shoulder and relaxed a fraction. “All right. Start talking.”

  Bull nodded and blew out a breath before lifting his head and looking Lucky right in the eye. Lucky appreciated the man’s willingness to dive right in and own whatever tale he was about to tell.

  “I’ve been banging this chick for the past few weeks. Man she is…” He held his hands out in front of his chest. “Ya know?”

  Seriously? Both their lives could be in jeopardy at this very moment and Bull wanted to make sure he knew his plaything had huge tits? “The point, Bull. Get there.”

  “Right, sorry, bro. Anyway she…uh…well, she’s a recreational user. Nothing major, just at parties and shit. But anyway, she and Robbie were tight. She came to me two days ago saying that Robbie was MIA for a few weeks and she thought Rebel offed him.”

  Lucky’s blood ran cold at the confirmation of his worst fear. But it still didn’t make sense. It wasn’t time to put his cards on the table. Not until he was certain of how much Bull knew and exactly where the man’s loyalties lie. He made sure his voice didn’t betray his concern. “Why the hell would she jump to Rebel?”

  One of Bull’s eyebrows rose and he shot Lucky a you’re-not-fooling-me-for-one-second look. “Okay, Lucky. We’ll play it your way. Lexa told me Robbie’s been spouting off about buying drugs from the No Prisoners for the past few months. Good shit apparently.”

  Poor Robbie. He’d promised Lucky he’d keep his mouth shut about the No Prisoners involvement. And there was the problem trusting someone who’d sell their first born for a fix. Loyalty only went as far as their stash. “Pretty serious accusatio
n, Bull.”

  “Damn straight it is. Didn’t believe the bitch for one second myself. Until I went back to the clubhouse after we shut down last night. Left my phone behind the bar. As I was coming out, I saw Savage and Rebel loading something up in the bed of a pickup. It was a body. No question. Figure it was too coincidental to be anyone but Robbie.”

  Shit, shit, shit. Could they be any more fucked? Was Rebel on to either of them?

  “Look, man, I get it. You’re as freaked out as I am about this shit. But the way I see it, you knew. You’ve known for a while and that’s why you split.”

  “I left because of Ko—”

  Bull waved him off. “Yeah, I get that shit too. You left because Kori had your dick tied in so many knots you could barely take a piss. But you’d been off before your girl even came to town. Growing more hostile toward Rebel and Savage by the day. I connected the dots, asshole.

  “Here’s the way I see it. You got three choices. Spill the beans, ignore it, or jump on board. There are a number of members who I think wouldn’t see beyond the dollar signs and would get in bed with our two fearless leaders. Knowing what happened to your sister I find it hard to believe you’d choose that option or the ignore it option. That leaves telling someone. Striker or Shiv maybe, since confronting Rebel would be suicide.”

  Lucky cleared his throat. Bull was far more intelligent than he’d ever given the guy credit for. “I haven’t decided what to do yet.”

  “Well it was probably smart to remove yourself from the situation entirely, and I’m guessing you were leaning toward talking with Shiv and Striker about it, but now you’re trapped. Kori being stuck in the middle and all that.”

  Lucky cursed, stood from the chair, and paced in front of the door. The gun remained on the table. Bull wasn’t there to fuck him up. He was in just as deep now.

  “You gonna ask how she’s doing?” Bull asked.

  “No.”

  “Not so well. I’ve only seen her a few times, but she looked worse each time. Depressed, skinny, pale. Like she’s not taking care of herself.”

  Really? Had he not heard the no? Lucky lunged for Bull and grabbed his friend by the collar, yanking him off the bed. “I said I didn’t want to know. She ain’t happy with Savage? Well that’s too fuckin’ bad. She made her bed.”

  Bull nodded, his hands rising in surrender once again. “Yeah, she did. That don’t mean it’s easy to watch her spiral down. Also doesn’t mean you want her chewed up and spit out by this whole mess.”

  No, it didn’t. That’s the last thing he wanted. Because while she’d ripped out and stomped on whatever form of a heart Lucky had, he couldn’t bear to see her caught in the clash of what had the potential to be a civil war if he told Striker and Shiv.

  But now it seemed like he had no choice. Rebel was silencing trouble. Getting rid of Robbie because he ran his mouth was a demonstration of just how seriously they took their new business venture. It was time to do something before anyone else was killed or before they destroyed the club.

  “For what it’s worth,” Bull said. “I don’t think they realize you’re on to them. I don’t imagine Rebel would have let you come down here and chance you talking to the leadership here if Rebel knew you were on to him.”

  Lucky released Bull’s shirt and resumed pacing. “Sorry, brother.”

  “No bother. I know it’s a world of shit.” Bull remained standing. “But if there is a chance for our club to survive without anyone losing their head or without dragging us into the fucking drug trade, something needs to be done.”

  Lucky stopped walking and faced his club brother. “I will take care of this. We’ve got some shit going on with Acer and his old man causing trouble for us, but it should be settled pretty quick. Once that’s off our plates, I’ll bring this to Shiv and Striker.”

  “What about Kori? Rebel pushed Savage on her hard, man. She’d just lost her mom, just met her father for the first time. That’s enough to mess up anyone’s head. Maybe she’s realizing how badly she fucked up. I’m telling you she don’t look good.”

  An ache began between Lucky’s eyes and he squeezed the bridge of his nose in a failed attempt to counter the pressure. “I don’t know yet. I’ll figure something out.”

  It took hours to convince Bull to return to Vegas and go about his normal business. The guy wanted to go off the grid until the dust settled. That would only throw up a red flag.

  After many go arounds, Bull caved. They spent time getting their stories straight and making plans to discretely stay in contact.

  It was early morning by the time Lucky emerged from the motel, desperately in need of a bed and a stiff drink. He stretched and scanned the parking lot.

  What the hell?

  If he wasn’t mistaken, Fia, Acer’s woman, was loading a suitcase into the trunk of a car and heading off in the opposite direction of Crystal Rock.

  Lucky pulled out his phone as he fired up his bike and prepared to tail Fia out of town. Jesus. Only six a.m.

  Could this day get any worse?

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The poker game wrapped up as Kori collected stray beer bottles from the poker table, the counter, the floor and what seemed like any flat surface in Savage’s house. For the past four hours, she’d endured crude jokes, ass pinches, waitress duty, and Savage’s wandering hands. She’d perched on his lap with a plastic smile on her face while the men got rowdier and drunker with each passing hour.

  This was it. The night she would make her escape. She didn’t yet know where she’d go, but had a good feeling this might be her only chance. Prior to poker, Savage had been drinking at the clubhouse and wasn’t in any state to drive. Kori barely contained her shock and excitement when he tossed her his car keys and her wallet and ordered her to drive them to his apartment for the game. Thanks to his buzz, he hadn’t thought to relieve her of either when they arrived.

  From the moment they walked in the door, she’d been feeding him shot after shot. If he would just pass out, she’d have her chance to escape. The prospect who’d lived up her ass the past ten days had been given the night off since she was under Savage’s protection. It was the closest to an open window she’d had since she walked out of that damned shed and she planned to take full advantage.

  Kori was the only ol’ lady at poker. The rest of the women in attendance were club whores, there with married and single members alike. Kori’s stomach had soured as three of the men playing tonight came through the door. They were married and Kori knew their wives, but was expected to keep her mouth shut and behave like the good little woman she pretended to be.

  She knew this for what it was. A punishment. For the past two weeks, she’d avoided Savage’s advances. Hell, she’d avoided him like a nasty disease. Thankfully work was so busy she’d been able to stay late a few nights for some overtime.

  But time and Savage’s patience were clearly running out. The thought of touching him, seeing him naked, sleeping with him kept her throwing every possible excuse his way, but she feared her luck had run out.

  “There you are.” Savage wobbled into the kitchen on unsteady legs.

  “Just clearing away some of the mess before I take off.” She’d nursed one beer for as long as she could draw it out. When the men were involved in a particularly tense hand, she escaped to the kitchen and refilled her bottle with water. Getting drunk was not something she could risk tonight with so much on the line. Her heart pounded faster and harder with each passing minute. Freedom was so close she could taste it, but she had to tread carefully. If she screwed this up, she might never get another chance to sneak away.

  “Take off?” he asked as he stumbled toward her. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” His eyes were glassy and his tongue sounded too big for his mouth, but Kori wasn’t under any impression that he’d be impaired if it came to a physical altercation. He outweighed her by at least eighty pounds and towered over her.

  “Oh, well it’s midnight and I have to wo
rk tomorrow, you know. I’m just gonna head back to Rebel’s so I can get some rest.” She dropped the bottles in the trashcan then spun to grab some more.

  Savage was there. Right there. In her personal space about two inches away. “Oh, um, sorry. Just trying to get the rest of the bottles.”

  “Leave ’em.” He reached for her and she reflexively backed up.

  After the past hours of his large hands roaming all over her, the idea of his touch was sickening. She hit the wall after only three steps. Shit. Her eyes darted left and right. Where was the quickest escape route?

  Nowhere, apparently. He boxed her in, a hand on either side of her head as he leaned toward her. Booze-infested breath flowed from him with each exhalation. Kori clenched her teeth to keep the involuntary cough from betraying her disgust.

  “You think I’m stupid?” he asked.

  She swallowed hard. Don’t gag. “Stupid? No of course not. Why would you ask that?”

  “You think I can’t see what you’re doing here? Avoiding me? Putting me off.” He pressed his front into her, the erection unmistakable against her stomach.

  Kori jerked back, but there was nowhere to go and all she managed to do was smack her head against the wall. “No of course not. I just have to work and it’s late.”

  “You’re staying here.” He ground his pelvis rhythmically against her.

  The beer she’d drunk earlier burned at the back of her throat, seconds away from making a return visit. She raised her hands and pushed against his chest. “Back off, Savage. You’re smothering me.” When he didn’t budge, the tiny hairs on her arms and back of her neck stood on end.

  He leered down at her, a maniacal grin on his face. “Looks like you’re not going anywhere right now.”

  She shoved again, to no avail. The man was like an immovable wall. She turned her head as his mouth descended, but he wasn’t deterred and instead of taking her lips, he latched on to the side of her neck.

  Kori bit back a scream. What was the point? No one was around to hear her and he’d probably get off on her distress. His tongue slithered up the side of her neck and she froze, statue-still, as though he’d somehow forget she was there if she didn’t move. Her mind screamed at her to fight, to run, but her limbs wouldn’t obey.