Addictive (The Houston Defiance MC Series Book 2)

by K E Osborn

  “She’s testing you for HIV.” It’s not a question, more of a realization.

  “Amongst other things. The testing goes on over a period of time, it can take a while to show up in my system.”

  He grits his teeth like he’s having trouble holding himself together. “How long exactly?”

  I begin to tremble all over. “Six months.”

  “Motherfucker.” He lets go of my hands, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

  I tense all over, my eyes flooding with tears. “We’ll think of other ways—”

  “You honestly think that’s what I’m angry about, Kharlie? Fuck no. I can wait to be with you. I’m fucking angry because we have to wait half a year to find out if my asshole so-called brother really got the last word. We have to suffer together for six months, always wondering if any of those tests are going to come back positive.”

  “So, you’ll wait… for me?” My voice trembles as I say the words.

  “From all that… that’s what you clung to? Prinie, I’m not going anywhere. I don’t care what the tests say. I don’t care if every single one of those tests come back positive. I’m here. I’m with you. Fuck the tests. Fuck fighting this. Fuck Zero! I wanna be with you, princess. It’s always been you. No matter the obstacles.”

  I lean forward in a rush to capture him.

  He holds on, hoisting me from the chair, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

  “Can we go shower? I really want this blood off me.”

  Wraith dips his chin. “Yeah, this night is for you.” He grabs my hand, his chin bobbing to Neon as he walks past him. I’m not sure what that’s about, but right now I don’t care. I need to get my shit together.

  We head upstairs to his room and straight into the bathroom. Without wasting a second of time, we undress and climb into the shower. He turns the faucets to a comfortable temperature, pulling me close to him as the warmth of the soothing liquid pools down over us.

  “You know I’ll always be here, don’t you? No matter what life throws at us.” Wraith’s hand moves out, sliding a piece of hair away from my face.

  “I do now. I’m sorry I doubted you. Thank you for rescuing me.”

  He presses his forehead against mine. “Remember what you said in the church?”

  “Which part?” I scrunch up my brows.

  He leans in pressing his lips softly to mine. “I love you, too. I’m not sure I’ve ever loved anything in my life, Prinie, so I apologize now if I screw shit up and do things wrong because I am bound to. All I want is to make you happy.”

  Smiling, I wrap my arms around his neck, threading my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. “You just did.”

  WRAITH

  The Next Day

  Spending the night with Prinie after everything that went down was difficult. Not only because I couldn’t touch her in the way I wanted to but seeing her wince in pain every time she moved nearly damn well killed me. So, to pass the time, we talked it out. She has a way of making me take comfort in her. I talked about how I’d found the other part of my family, and how there’s still one piece of it left out there, the one dirty piece which started all this drama years back while I was in juvie.

  I’m not sure what Damir has in store for me, but I know he will come.

  I just don’t know how or when.

  Stretching back in my chair, I glance around the chapel. In the aftermath of yesterday’s events, I only have one thing I need to take care of right now.

  Zero.

  He’s in immediate danger still being in the system with Damir and the Baron breathing down his neck. So last night I asked Neon to make sure Finley was here this morning bright and early. Right now, Neon and I are sitting at the table waiting for Finley to arrive.

  A knock resonates, and Cherry pops her head through the door. “Finley’s here to see you guys.”

  “Send her in, thanks, Cherry.”

  She nods, disappears for a brief moment, then Finley enters the room, the door closing behind her. Finley’s the same as always, dressed impeccably. Hair styled perfectly. “Hello, boys, may I take a seat?” she asks walking around to the empty seat where I normally sit in the VP position. She drops her ass down, and everyone raises their brows.

  If she’s come with a plan, then I’ll let her sit wherever the fuck she wants for this briefing.

  “What ya got for us, Finley?”

  She exhales like she’s preparing for a fucking big speech. “Okay, this isn’t normally how I’d do things, but then again my clients aren’t usually 1%ers either.”

  I chuckle. “We going off-book here, Finley?”

  She tilts her head. “If the man you’re going after is playing dirty, then maybe we need to as well. The Baron… he quite simply has his hand in everything. Everyone worships him, and is too scared to stand against him because his reputation is waaay too clean on paper…” she pauses and smirks. “But… what if his reputation was suddenly not as clean as everyone believes it is.” She raises her eyebrows up and down a few times.

  “I’m listening.”

  Finley slides a document across to me. “In here is a smear campaign. It shows the Baron stealing shit from local businesses, funds from government agencies and the like which I managed to put together. It took a fucking lot of work to get people to talk, so we need to get this shit right. Otherwise, these people will be on the Baron’s radar. So, my thinking… we plaster this stuff all over the internet. We need to ensure it’s untraceable to protect my sources…” she pauses and looks at Neon. “If we can bring the Baron down, it might stop him from having so much power and persuasion in Houston. It will stop his scare campaign, and he won’t have the pull he once had. Then maybe, just maybe, we can work something for Zero.”

  “Like get a judge who won’t be tainted by the Baron’s influence,” I clarify.

  “Exactly! If we know the Baron has lost his pull in the legal system, I’ll ask for a preliminary hearing seeing it’s within sixty days of the arraignment. It can determine if there’s enough evidence to go to trial. If enough of our evidence shows the Baron is behind Zero’s arrest, it should be thrown out and Zero will be released without charges.”

  My energy skyrockets—this is the best news I’ve heard since I knew for sure Prinie was okay. “Finley, I’m gonna like having you on our team.”

  “On your team?” Her eyes widen.

  “I talked it over with the boys before you came in here. If you’re willing, we want to keep you on as Houston Defiance’s legal staff... permanently.”

  A slow smile lights her face. “I am getting used to bending the rules for you guys. And I have to admit…” she leans in lowering her voice, “… I like it.”

  We all laugh as I throw out my hand for her to shake. “Welcome to the team, Finley.”

  “Thanks for having me. Now, if you approve of this plan, Neon and I have a shitload of work to do. You up for it, Neon?”

  Neon nods enthusiastically. “Anything for Zero.”

  My eyes roam the room. “Brothers, what say you?”

  “Aye,” they all reply.

  I bang the gavel with a dip of my chin. “Make the mud stick, Finley, and make it stick like mud on a pig’s back. Pin down the fucker real good.”

  She cracks her knuckles. “Oh, the Baron’s already done the work for us, I was just able to uncover it. We’re now going to publish it for the world to see. Hold on for the ride, boys, this is gonna get messy!”

  I can’t fucking wait.

  The Next Day

  We’re all sitting in the main room around the big-screen television waiting for news of the smear campaign to hit. Neon has his laptop in front of us, and so far, it’s reached nearly two million hits online. So, it is being seen, and we’re now waiting for one of the major networks to pick it up.

  “Wait! Nessie, turn that up,” I call out as a news flash lights the screen, and we see a giant cowboy hat on that asshole, and he’s being dragged along by the p
olice as I listen to the reporter.

  “Houston’s very own billionaire oil tycoon, Tilman Squires, also known locally as ‘Mr. Generous’ to the folks of Houston, has been the focus of an investigation into embezzlement, fraudulent activities, and money laundering from multiple areas of business, government agencies, and even some local society families to get ahead. These allegations were leaked on the internet from multiple unknown sources.

  “It seems this was either a joint attack from many different sources on the man commonly called ‘the Baron,’ or a well-placed campaign by a person or persons unknown who wish to remain anonymous. Either way, according to our fact checkers, the information checks out, and it looks like the Baron is now in some murky oil-filled water.

  “Squires has been taken into custody pending a hearing. But sources tell us this is an open and shut case with the evidence that has been acquired from the investigation provided by the leak.”

  “This is Trisha Simms.

  “Back to you in the studio.”

  A cheer resounds through the clubhouse.

  I pull Prinie onto my lap, kissing her cheek. “Looks like you did it, Neon,” I call out.

  “Now, we just have to hope the government hackers don’t trace it back. I’m confident I have covered my bases. I have the routers relocating and looping constantly through an encrypted tunnel on the dark web. There’s a digital footprint, but it will be so confusing, they should be searching forever.”

  “Okay, that just went right over my head. Zero’s gonna be proud of you.”

  Cherry rushes over to Neon, pulling him into a huge embrace. “He really is. I’m sure this will help mend the bridge between you guys, too.”

  Neon’s slightly bearded cheeks sink in as his lips turn upward. “You’re already helping us with that, Cherry. Thanks for trying to mend our friendship.”

  In recognition, I dip my head at Neon.

  Zero and I had become close, and it was because I needed him, and he helped me. When shit with Neon and Zero was strained because of Neon’s sister and the whole wedding-cheating saga, I was there instead, and in some ways, that forced Neon to the side. But there’s room for more than me in Zero’s life, and he can’t shut Neon out forever because of some shit his sister did. Life’s too fucking short. All of this has shown me that’s for sure.

  It’s time to let go of our pasts.

  His and mine.

  Finley waltzes in with the biggest of fucking grins on her face. We all turn as she throws her hands in the air in celebration. “In light of what’s happened, Zero’s been granted a preliminary hearing. I'm sure by the way I will maneuver the evidence and how the Baron’s falsely accused Zero, he will be coming home without charges being filed.”

  Prinie and Cherry burst into tears as the rest of us holler out in celebration.

  I dip my chin at Finley, in awe at how she’s managed to pull one over on the Baron. I have no fucking clue how she gathered all this shit, but fuck am I glad she did! “Fin, a word?”

  She walks over to me as everyone continues to celebrate around us, and once she’s in front of me, she raises her brow. “Everything okay, Wraith?”

  “I gotta know… how did you do all this?”

  Her eyes harden. “When Neon told you I hated the Baron, he meant it. I’ve been gathering dirt on him since I was old enough to understand what it meant to have leverage on someone.”

  “You and the Baron go back that far?”

  She scoffs. “Further… I heard about you guys and his illegitimate son, Chuck. How Cherry was married to him, and she ended up killing hi—”

  “How did you—”

  “That’s not my point. My point is Chuck isn’t the Baron’s only illegitimate child. He has dozens. And I am one of them.”

  I grimace. “Fuck! Sorry.”

  She flares her nostrils and breathes out heavily, trying to keep her cool. “It wouldn’t be so bad, the fact he’s my father, but when my mother found out she was pregnant, he tried to force her to have an abortion. My mother wouldn’t, so he attempted to have her killed.”

  “Fucking asshole!”

  “Mom got away somehow and went into hiding with some family friends. I was born, but he found us when I was five or so…” Her eyes glisten with unshed tears. “Mom didn’t make it.”

  “Jesus!”

  “When I was old enough to understand what had happened, I became an attorney so I could figure out a way to bring the bastard down. What happened today has been my life-long mission, so thank you for helping me as much as I helped you. I might not have gotten justice for my mother, but seeing that asshole put away for a long, long time is all I need.”

  I reach out, wrapping my arms around her body and pull Finlay into a tight embrace. Not a move I would usually do, but it’s warranted right now. “Thanks, Finley. Thank you for putting everything on the line for us… for Zero.”

  Prinie steps over, and we separate.

  “Now it’s time to really celebrate. Go, enjoy this time with your club, with your girl,” Finley states.

  I dip my head to her, then she walks off, and I turn pulling Prinie to me, wrapping myself around her. “He’s coming home, baby.”

  Prinie sniffles as she pulls back, her eyes sparkling with so much light. “Thank you… for everything you’ve done… for me, for him. I just hope he understands us when he finally comes home.”

  “If he doesn’t, we’ll make him. I promise. He has no choice… I’m not going anywhere.”

  Prinie leans in kissing me quickly as Fox whistles around the room. “I’m putting a slab of ribs and some brisket in the smoker, Bub’s getting the sides ready, and we’re gonna celebrate. You good with that, Wraith?”

  “Fuck, yeah! Celebrate tonight ‘cause the rightful pres is coming home. And it can’t be soon enough for us all.”

  PRINIE

  Two Weeks Later

  The preliminary hearing went exactly as we thought it would. I can’t believe how fucking happy I am right now as we stand out the front of the courthouse waiting for Zero to come out a free man. My foot taps impatiently as the rest of us stand around as anxiously as I am.

  Finley was amazing in the courtroom hearing.

  I’m glad she’s a part of our team.

  But for now, I just want to hug my brother. It’s been so fucking long since I’ve even seen Zero.

  The doors to the courthouse swing open, and Finley and Zero walk out. He’s wearing black slacks, a button-down white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. It almost makes me laugh seeing him dressed up as Cherry and I take off racing toward him. I want to run into his arms, but I know I’m second on his list, and I’ll need to wait.

  Cherry slams into him, he lifts her, twirling her around, their lips locking in a tight embrace. I cringe a little seeing my best friend and brother kissing so frantically in public. I look back at Wraith, and he’s chuckling.

  Zero finally lowers Cherry, whispering something to her that makes her blush.

  I cringe again, but then he turns to me. His eyes narrowing in on the sutures on my neck and his excited expression changes. “What the fuck? Prinie?” His head snaps to Wraith for an explanation as his finger gently runs along the edge of my wound. “Long story… involves your cellmate.”

  His eyes widen, and he lets out a long breath like he’s relieved this wasn’t done at Wraith’s hand. Zero always jumps to conclusions. Opening his arms, I race into them. “I missed you, brat.”

  “Missed you so much, ogre.”

  “It’s good to be free. I hope you’ve been taking care of my clubhouse, Wraith?” Zero calls out as we walk back to the group.

  “We’ve had a few hiccups along the way, but nothing we couldn’t fix… together,” Wraith answers.

  “Glad to hear it. Now, let’s get me home. I need some booze, some brisket, and a real fucking bed.”

  I’m not so sure we should tell Zero now.

  He’s in a good mood.

  Wraith subtly shakes his he
ad at me, and I take it that he’s on board with that.

  Wraith will know when the time’s right to tell Zero about us.

  I need to bide my time.

  “Let’s get you home.”

  As we walk into the clubhouse, Zero’s eyes widen in surprise. Streamers line the ceiling with balloons dangling from them. A welcome home banner runs along the back wall, and we’re all in for a real big-ass party tonight.

  “Welcome home, pres!” the club girls all call out in unison as they explode party poppers on our arrival.

  Mack lifts his sleeping head from his bed by the bar with a huff, then promptly goes back to sleep.

  All that dog does is sleep.

  Zero walks in and gives everyone a back-slapping hug. It’s so great to see him back in his own element and environment. He’s still favoring his side, though, the side where he was stabbed by Damir. He needs to rest and recover.

  Wraith walks over with Cherry, and they stand in the middle of the room. “It’s so damn good to have you back, pres.”

  “It’s so fucking good to be back. I didn’t realize how bad I missed this place until I walked through those damn doors. This place means so much to me. It’s great to be back with family again.”

  Cherry moves forward with Zero’s cut in hand, smiling so wide her cheeks must hurt. My chest squeezes at how Zero’s face lights when he sees it. “You should never have had to take this off, pres.” She slides it over his arms, and he hoists it over his shoulders.

  “Damn, that feels good.” He turns to Wraith gripping his shoulder. “We have a lot to talk about, but I want to thank you for stepping up while I was gone. You did good.”

  Wraith tilts his head toward me.

  I widen my eyes but stride up to them.

  “There’s something you need to know,” Wraith adds.

  My breath catches as Zero narrows his eyes on Wraith. “Okay… spill.”