Locked Up Liars: A Dark Reverse Harem Romance (Saint View Prison Book 1)

by Elle Thorpe

  His erection strained long, hard, and thick behind his running shorts, absolutely nothing left to the imagination.

  I sat up, scooting my ass to the edge of the countertop, so my legs dangled down, and drew him into me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and touched my breasts to his chest. Another kiss, just like the others we’d shared, spun my head.

  He let me take control, let me thank him for the best orgasm ever with slow strokes of my tongue and presses of my lips. I liked the way he tasted of slick heat, and it only made me want to taste him more. The fabric of his shorts rubbed on my still sensitive flesh, and I wanted to take it away, to feel him skin to skin, and to make him feel as good as I felt right now.

  I reached for the waistband of his shorts hesitantly, testing to see what he’d do. He groaned as my fingers slipped beneath the hem of his shirt and skated along the ridges of his lower abs. But he caught my wrist before I could get any farther. “We can’t. We just lost an hour I wasn’t counting on.”

  I glanced wildly at the clock on the oven and realized he was right. The man had been going down on me for an hour without a break, and I hadn’t even offered him a coffee. There was also the mess the shattered bowl had made, that both of us had ignored. “Who cares about the time? I’ve got nowhere to be.”

  I kissed him again, the promise of more in the way I slid my tongue suggestively with his. But he pulled away, breathing hard. “Maybe not, but I do. I spoke to the police last night, and they’ve found no basis to Heath’s claims that there was a gang involved in Jayela’s murder.”

  My mouth dropped open, sexy times forgotten. “What? How can they say that? Heath’s cellmate admitted it!”

  “Prisoners talk shit. And talk is cheap.”

  My mind whirled. I watched our only real lead swirl around the drain, ready to disappear. I wanted to shove the plug in and capture it before it could. “What can we do?”

  Liam bit his lip. “Remember what Heath said about going around the police? Doing whatever we had to? Well, I know a guy…”

  I raised one eyebrow. “That sounds ominous.”

  Liam grimaced. “He’s in the gang Heath mentioned. He might know something.”

  I slid down off the countertop and grabbed my nightshirt, tugging it over my head quickly, because I couldn’t have this sort of conversation while I was stark naked. “Okay, so let’s go.”

  “Not a chance. I’m keeping you in the loop, but I’m doing this alone.”

  I glared at him. “I’m going.”

  “Do you not remember what happened last time I took you to Saint View?”

  “Yeah, I had a mind-blowing orgasm in an alley!”

  He blinked and then let out a laugh. “Okay, I meant the drive-by shooting, but I suppose I should have been more specific.”

  The light moment broke the tension between us. And I threaded my fingers between his. “I’ll be fine,” I said softly. “Don’t shut me out. Nothing will piss me off more than you babying me.”

  “I’m just trying to look out for you… If anything happened to you…”

  My heart flickered. Because that sounded like feelings talking, not just attraction. A little cloud of happiness started to form around me, but I had to ignore it because we had other things to do. I could unpack Liam’s not-so-hidden intentions later. “I’m coming.”

  He sighed. “Then get dressed, because we won’t be getting any information from these guys if you rock up with your gorgeous ass peeking out from beneath that shirt.”

  “It might help?” I grinned.

  But Liam just glared at me. “I might have considered sharing you with Heath and Rowe, but don’t even joke about a gang of thugs seeing you like this. No fucking way, Mae. I already have one murder trial to deal with, I don’t need to be preparing to defend myself as well.”

  31

  Mae

  Even in the middle of the day, with a bright sun overhead and a flawless blue sky, Saint View was still a hard place to be. The light only showed the state of disrepair and poverty in this area more clearly. At night, shadows helped hide the graffiti on the abandoned houses. And the darkness covered the thugs that roamed the downtown strip, their gang tattoos worn proudly on their bare arms now that the weather was nice enough for it.

  In the middle of the day, there was no hiding anything.

  Except for the guy we’d come to look for, apparently.

  “We’re going to have to get out and ask around,” Liam muttered, after we’d cruised the neighborhood for an hour, then abandoned that idea in favor of checking the strip.

  I eyed three men standing on the corner, their motorcycle cuts declaring them members of a biker club. Their perfectly shined motorbikes gleamed in the midday sun, the light glinting off the polished chrome. All three turned in our direction as Liam parked his car at the top of the strip.

  I unclicked my seat belt and waited for Liam to come around and open the door for me. By the time I got out, the three men had gone back to their conversation, seemingly uninterested in us. I breathed a sigh of relief. Liam and I had both dressed casually in jean shorts and T-shirts, and yet somehow, I was sure we stuck out like a couple of sore thumbs.

  We moved slowly down the street, Liam reaching for my hand and threading his fingers between mine. He peered into the window of the tattoo shop but pulled away, shaking his head. At the barber shop, he opened the door and called out to the guy cutting hair. “You seen Hayden Whitling around lately?”

  The man shook his head, and Liam sighed before moving on. We passed supermarkets and a gas station then stopped outside a building with a faded neon-pink sign that read Saint View Strip. It buzzed loudly, like it needed a good service. Liam tugged me toward the door.

  I paused and grinned at him. “Bit early for a lap dance, don’t you think?”

  He chuckled. “You don’t recognize the place?”

  I peered past him to the painted black walls and the single door. There were no windows to give away what was going on inside, and it was the same as any other building on the strip to me. “No, should I?”

  Liam led me over to door and stuck his finger in a small round hole in the wall beside it. “Eve missed one.”

  I did a double take, realization sinking in. He had his finger in a bullet hole. “Oh shit. This is Eve’s place?” I hadn’t even recognized it. We’d only gone in and out the back doors when we’d been here last.

  He opened the door and led me through, into a darkened hallway. A guy about our age, his shoulders broad and strong with muscle beneath a tight black T-shirt, glanced up from his phone.

  “Hey, Augie,” Liam greeted.

  “Eve ain’t here,” he replied, taking in Liam’s outfit. “You look weird. Where’s your suit?”

  “Not here on official business for once.”

  Augie eyed Liam cautiously. “That’s new. What do you want then?” His grin turned into something more suggestive. “I’m not working ‘til later, but I could be persuaded to start early for the right price.”

  Liam chuckled. “Told you last time, bro. You ain’t my type.”

  Augie’s gaze ran along Liam’s arm, taking in our joined hands, and then traveled up mine, finally settling on my face. “Yeah, but we all know you ain’t fooling anyone. I like women, too, but ain’t nobody saying you gotta pick a team. Or maybe your missus would like a show…”

  Liam shook his head. “Not going to happen. But seriously, I came for a reason. Have you seen Hayden around lately? In the last week even? Anything?”

  “Hayden?” He rolled the word around on his tongue like it was hard to pronounce. “Shit, that name’s a blast from the past. Yeah, I seen him. But it’ll cost ya.”

  Liam shook his head and pulled a fifty from his wallet, handing it over to the man. “You’re a hustler. I’m adding that to your next legal bill. Start talking.”

  “His crew have been hanging out on Simpson Street. Holing up in the big house on the corner. You know it? Or you conveniently forgotten where
that is? A private tour will cost you more.”

  Liam sighed. “Yeah, I know it. Thanks. Tell Eve I said hi, yeah?”

  “She’ll be pissed you didn’t hang around and wait for her.”

  “Not today.”

  Augie shrugged. “Your funeral.”

  “I’ll take my chances. See you around.”

  Augie had already gone back to his phone, his interest in the two of us evaporated now that there was no chance of him getting any extra money.

  Liam and I emerged back onto the strip, blinking rapidly in the bright light while our eyes adjusted from the dim of the strip club. He held my hand a little tighter as a wolf whistle pierced the air from somewhere down the street. “Just ignore it.”

  I nodded and followed him further down the strip. We passed more tiny shops, each one dingier than the last. But the people inside didn’t seem to mind. There was laughter in the air as we passed a carryout place, and two women leaning against the wall of a healthcare clinic called out to Liam, saying it was good to see him. The shops gave way to government housing, and I gazed up at Liam, questions in my eyes. “I thought you didn’t do pro bono.”

  The set of his jaw was tight, and he stared straight ahead, his gaze fixed on a house at the end of the street. “I don’t.”

  “And yet everyone here seems to know you.”

  “That’s different.”

  “How?”

  But Liam’s distracted gaze flickered all around us, instead of focusing on me. He darted a glance over his shoulder, back toward the strip we were leaving behind. “Walk faster.”

  He picked up the pace, lengthening his stride and urging me to do the same.

  “What? Why?” I glanced over my shoulder as well, following his line of sight.

  A group of men strolled down the street behind us. There was nothing immediately threatening about them. No obvious weapons, or even any noticeable interest in us. They talked and laughed as they wandered like this was a Sunday afternoon and they didn’t have any place else in the world they needed to be.

  Liam didn’t answer. Just hauled me along, and I doubled my pace to keep up with him, my heart picking up a more rapid beat, both from the increased physical effort of a faster gait, and from the vaguely threatened tone of Liam’s voice. “Liam, talk to me.”

  “Those guys behind us are Saints.”

  “Not the nice kind who do good deeds and live a life of poverty and servitude, I’m guessing?”

  “The poverty bit sounds about right, but not so much about the rest. They’re part of the gang that run these streets. That DeWitt guy Heath told us about? He’s in this crew, too.”

  I glanced over my shoulder again. There were five of them. Two of us. Maybe it was the rising sense of dread clouding my eyesight and turning a perfectly ordinary situation into something more, but it seemed as if they were a little closer than they had been a minute ago.

  I suddenly had a vision of sheep being herded into a pen by a sheepdog. The dog didn’t need to touch the sheep to get them to move. And yet he still managed to get them exactly where they wanted them.

  “Should we go back to the car?” I clutched his fingers tighter, the faster pace no longer seeming like an inconvenience. Adrenaline started to fill my body, fueling my muscles.

  “No. I think we’re past that point. If we turn around, I’m one-hundred-percent sure they’ll confront us. So unless you have hidden ninja skills I’m not aware of…” He threw me a wry grin.

  But that nervous energy was taking a hold on me, and I couldn’t return his smile.

  He sobered quickly. “Hey. I got this. I got you. You don’t need to worry, okay? We’ll be fine. Just follow my lead.”

  Maybe he was using his secret sauce lawyer superpowers on me, but in that moment, I was willing to believe it. I sucked up Liam’s assurances and the strength in the tight grip of his hand on mine. I let his confident posture and determined stride wrap around me like a safety blanket. And then I lifted my chin and strutted right alongside him.

  “That’s my girl.”

  “I like the sound of that,” I whispered.

  “Me, too.”

  A warm glowy buzz of happiness settled over me.

  Only for it to disappear instantly as Liam led me up the path of the house on the corner.

  It looked like we’d arrived.

  32

  Liam

  I banged on the wooden front door, cursing softly when a jagged splinter peeled off and stuck in my skin. I pulled it out quickly, leaving behind a drop of blood.

  “You okay?” Mae asked.

  “Yeah, fine.”

  We both knew we had bigger problems than a splinter.

  I banged on the door again, ignoring the tiny spot of red that marred my hand. “Hayden! It’s Liam.”

  The door opened, and a weedy-looking white guy with a plethora of tattoos covering every inch of exposed skin filled the doorway. “Quit fucking banging.” He eyed me with a distinct lack of interest, and then his gaze slid to Mae. The man was missing a handful of teeth, and even from across the threshold, he reeked of weed. I somehow doubted that was the only drug he took. The missing teeth were a telltale sign of a meth habit.

  Instinctively, I stepped an inch in front of Mae, partially shielding her.

  She plastered herself to my back.

  The gang member’s perverted gaze had me wanting to take a hot shower, I could only imagine how it made her feel. Even with me blocking his view, the man craned around, his gaze locked on Mae like he hadn’t seen a woman in months. Anger and protectiveness rose in me all at once, but I needed to keep a cool head. Those guys who’d followed us down the street would be here any moment, and I needed to keep control of the situation.

  I wished I hadn’t brought Mae. I should have insisted she stay home. I could barely concentrate with the urge to keep her safe screaming at me. “I need to see Hayden.”

  The man finally turned his shrewd gaze to me. “Who?”

  “Hayden Whitling. I know he hangs out here.”

  The man cocked his head to one side, stringy, dirty lengths of long hair falling over one shoulder. “Don’t know anyone by that name.”

  I ground my molars together, the noise audible. “Just get him.”

  The man narrowed his eyes. “Told you. I don’t know anyone named Hayden.”

  A chill skated down my spine. From behind me came the sound of footsteps. I didn’t need to glance over my shoulder to know it was the guys who’d been following us down the street.

  Every muscle in my body tensed, ready for a fight. It had been a lifetime since I’d been here, surrounded by men like this, but it wasn’t something you forgot quickly. Where you came from. How you’d been brought up.

  “Maybe we should just go,” Mae suggested quietly. “If Hayden isn’t here…”

  “Nah, stay awhile,” one of the guys said from behind me. “I can be your Hayden, baby.”

  Mae curled her fingers into the back of my shirt. The precarious situation teetered on spiraling out of control.

  Loss of control wasn’t something I was comfortable with. But I was also a good liar. And I could fake it if I had to.

  “They mean me, you idiots,” a deep voice came from inside the house. “Get out of the way, Winger.”

  The guys behind me shut up instantly, and Winger, the runty tattooed guy, stepped aside.

  Mae gasped.

  I already knew why.

  The man who appeared in the doorway was easily six foot four. His broad shoulders filled the narrow space, a white wifebeater hugged his chest.

  His gray eyes stared out from beneath a black baseball cap.

  Eyes that were identical to mine.

  Whereas Winger had focused on Mae with barely concealed desire, Hayden’s gaze didn’t stray in her direction for even an instant. He saw nothing but me. “Hey, big brother. Long time, no see.”

  “What?” Winger squawked. “You got a brother, Chaos? And since when is your name Hayden?�
�

  Hayden fixed the smaller man with a hard glare. “Are you seriously that fuckin’ dumb? Do you really think my mother named me Chaos?”

  Winger shrugged and disappeared into the depths of the house. At the jerk of Hayden’s head, the five men behind me silently formed a single line and edged around us to follow Winger. One of them even politely excused himself, which had me at a complete loss for words.

  Hayden’s gaze finally flickered to mine. “Who’s this?”

  “Mae, meet my brother, Hayden. Or do you prefer Chaos?” I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t think I can call you that. Where did that come from anyway?”

  Hayden held a hand out to Mae, and she took it. “Nice to meet you,” she said.

  But his attention was already back on me. I glanced at Mae, and her confusion was clear in her expression. I could practically see her mind whirling with questions, the main one being, how on earth clean-cut, highly educated Liam Banks had a brother who ran a gang.

  The answer was long and twisted, and not one to be given right now, when there were more pressing matters at hand.

  “I don’t know,” Hayden said. “Chaos follows me. And so does the name. Winger is a dumbass, but barely any of the guys here now know me as anything else. Been a long time since someone called me Hayden.”

  I cringed at what felt like a hidden barb. “I know I haven’t been around…”

  Hayden scoffed. “Understatement of the century. It’s been years since I’ve seen you.”

  “It’s not like you invited me for Sunday night dinner.”

  “Would you have come if I had?”

  “Of course I would have.”

  “Doubtful.”

  I sighed. “Look, I didn’t come here to get in an argument with you. “

  “Nah, you came because you want something. No other reason you’d be here, right?”

  I ignored him in the way only brothers could. “Was there a hit out on Jayela Donovan?”

  “Who?”

  “The cop who was killed in her apartment a few weeks back. Not asking if you did it—”