by K. J. Dahlen
I got all the way to the house before I saw anything. A man I didn’t know stepped out of the shadows and stared me down. Neither of us said a word to the other but there was an understanding between us.
Slowly, I put my weapon away under my vest and he nodded toward the door. He never showed me his weapon but I knew he was packing. Just the same, as I knew he wasn’t alone in the shadows.
The back door opened and I took the three steps I needed to reach the landing. Pushing the door open wider, I went inside. I could sense someone behind me but I didn’t turn to look. I figured if he’d wanted me dead, I would’ve been dead outside the door, not inside. Instead, I walked into the kitchen and found Chloe and her mother sitting at the table with Dino. “Ok,” I said as I walked toward them. “I’m here now, will somebody tell me what the fuck is going on? Who are those men standing guard outside and why are they here?”
“Those are my men outside and they’re here to protect me and mine,” came a gravelly voice from behind me.
Ever so slowly, I began to turn, raising my hands at the same time. I didn’t want to make any moves that could cause the man to shoot me. When I was completely turned to face him I raised my eyes to glare at the man standing there. I frowned as I studied at him and a faint memory flashed through my mind. I knew this face from a long time ago. Scowling at him, I searched through my memories for a name to go with the face. “Do I know you?” I finally asked.
The other man shrugged. “We’ve never been formally introduced no, but you know of me I would imagine. The name is Dagger.” He held out his hand.
As soon as he said his name, my mind flashed to the warehouse ten years ago. Him buried under a pile of rubble. “Dagger? I thought you were dead.”
“So did a lot of other people.” The man grinned slightly. Then his grin turned to a smirk. “No boy, you didn’t kill me that night. My own MC left me for dead. They were more worried about their fucking moonshine than saving their president. Jumper made sure of that. I owe him for that and so much more.”
I felt stunned but added my feeling, “Yeah I’ll just bet you do, but I owe him just as much if not more.”
“Jax, there’s something you need to know about,” Dino called out.
I turned to glare at him. “Besides the fact that a dead man is talking to me? What the fuck else do I need to know? A ghost appearing and shit. What more is there? And why aren’t you and Chloe at home right now?”
“That’s my fault,” Chloe spoke up. “I needed to check on my mom and found my father here when I got here. Dino came after me and now we’re all here.”
“Jax, that’s neither here nor there,” Dino interjected. “We were talking tonight, me and Dagger and we might have figured out what’s behind Bruno’s insistence about this drug deal.”
I walked over to the table and sat down as I figured I’d better by the look in Dino’s face. “Well, fuck. I suppose this shit is all going down faster than a human can keep up with. Don’t keep it to yourselves. If there’s something going on behind the scenes then I need to know about it.”
“We don’t know anything for sure but this is what we think. That last shipment of Dalmore 62, do you know who it was intended for?” Dino stared hard at me.
I shook my head. “All I know was Bruno was gonna make a shit ton of money off it. We paid 200k for it but he was gonna make a hell of a lot more.”
“Fuckin hell.” Dino swore as he looked over his shoulder to Dagger.
“What do you know that I don’t?” I asked as my body stiffened.
“Dagger and I think he was going to sell it to the cartel,” Dino explained. “It’s the only thing that makes any sense. Think about it…all these years Bruno has stopped us from going into the drug business. He always said that shit was poison and he wanted nothing to do with it.”
I just stared at him. After a minute or so, I motioned for him to continue.
“Well, if the one shipment for the cartel got stolen and he couldn’t deliver it, they wouldn’t like it and they could retaliate against not only Bruno but the club as well. They could wipe us off the map. Bruno wouldn’t have wanted that. If they gave him a choice of the drug deal or death, do you think he would actually choose death?”
The longer I thought about it the more sense it made. Tonight Bruno had seemed nervous and I’ve never seen the man nervous before. Every time he looked at Viper, he gave off a vibe I wasn’t sure about. I thought he was looking at her like he wanted to fuck her but it could have been something else entirely, now that I thought about it. “You guys must have had some conversation.”
Dino stiffened then looked me in the eyes and confessed, “I told Dagger everything I knew. I felt I didn’t have a choice. I know we aren’t supposed to talk about club business with outsiders but I think we’re both on the same side here. Once this is over, I’ll go before the tribunal for a sentence and abide with their punishment. Even if what they want is a bullet in my head. But we have to get through the hell that’s coming first.”
Dagger sat down beside me and laid his hand on my arm. “He didn’t do this without knowing what he was doing. He did it to save your life and your club’s existence.”
I looked down at his hand then up to his face. “I know that. Dino has always been a good friend and a loyal man.”
“I think you should know the rest of it,” Dino stated while looking nervous.
He told me the story of what he claimed was his biggest mistake.
When he was done, I just stared at my friend.
Dino finished by saying, “Seven years ago I made a mistake that cost me, my friends and my club. I won’t make the same mistake now. Yeah, I shared information with an outsider but I would do it again if it saved you or my club.” He took a deep breath and told me the worst part, “I called the Dragons and asked for their help with this.”
“Fuck! What did you do that for?” I exclaimed.
“Because none of us have the manpower to take on the cartel,” Dagger answered for him. “Not on our own. But together with help from the Dragons? We might have a chance.”
I swore under my breath and got up to pace. Everything was becoming clearer now. The more I thought about it the more their scenario was making sense to me. After a long time, I looked at Dino. “What did the Dragons’ have to say?”
“They’re willing to come and help but they want something too.”
“What do they want?” I asked as my eyes narrowed at him.
“An association with the Black Devils.” He shrugged. “That’s what they said anyway. Nikoli Vasillisa is a fair man but you should know he’s also got ties to the Bratva in San Francisco.”
I groaned at the irony of the situation. “What a clusterfuck. We can either deal with the cartel or the Russians, great. Either one is not good but which one is worse?”
“Oh, I think you’ll find the cartel is much worse,” Dagger claimed. “At least the Bratva has rules to follow. They may not be the same rules you and I have but they do have a code of honor they follow, same as we do. The cartel has no honor, they would just as soon stab you in the back as look at you.”
I snapped my head around to glare at him but I couldn’t shoot his words down. He was right. The Bratva did live a certain lifestyle. You may not like them but if you didn’t cheat them, they dealt fair with you. But if you crossed them they could be as deadly as the cartel. The only difference was the Bratva didn’t take out your whole family unless you really screwed them over like taking out their family members. I looked over at Dino. “When will they be here?”
He shrugged. “It’s an eight hour drive, so they should be here sometime tomorrow.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. I knew I’d have to get Bruno on board with this. If I didn’t, this could go very badly. Not only for me but the rest of the club as well. But before I could do that I had to find out if what they were telling me was true. I had to find out if the cartel was blackmailing Bruno into this deal. “Ok, I think we sh
ould all get some rest. Then I need some answers from Bruno before we can move forward with this.”
“But Jax…” Chloe finally spoke. “Would Bruno tell you if he was being pressured into this deal?”
I glanced at her and nodded. “Yeah, I think he would. Bruno has always been honest with me. I have no reason to think anything different now.”
“Even when he didn’t want you to know what was going on?” Dagger asked. “Would he tell you the truth then?”
I turned my head to glare at him. He didn’t know what kind of man Bruno was. “Yes, he would. He might not want the whole world to know and he might lie to you, but he wouldn’t lie to me or my own blood.”
“But he isn’t your blood now is he?” Dagger asked softly.
I curled my hands into fists. “We may not share the same bloodline but he’s my blood. We share the same goals, the same club. A club he built up from nothing to honor his brother. A brother you murdered in his own house.”
“Yeah, I did shoot that fucker but I had my reasons. Reasons I don’t have to justify to you or anyone else.” Dagger growled.
I made a downward motion with my hands. “I don’t really care what reason you have for taking another man’s life—”
“Maybe you should care brother,” Dino interrupted me quietly. “You need to hear what he has to say.”
I stared at him for a long moment then turned back to Dagger. I had to take a deep breath before I said, “Ok, tell me why you killed Charlie De Luca.”
Chapter Twelve
Chloe
I sat there and shivered as my dad retold his story to Jax. I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to believe the same man who told me bedtime stories when I was a kid could kill a man but the more I heard the story the more I believed it.
I watched Jax’s face as my dad told him why he killed Charlie. He didn’t want to believe the story. I could tell. He didn’t want to believe the cold, callous man my father was speaking about could be related to the man Jax held in such high regard.
Was Bruno like his brother? Was he as cold as Charlie had been? Would Bruno set fire to a place when he knew there were people inside? I could see the questions swirling around in Jax’s mind. I could see it because I was having those same thoughts.
I glanced over at Dino and I saw he believed it. I knew then that this was the reason my mother kept me as far away from the MC as she could. I knew then the real reason she didn’t want me with Jax or any other biker.
My father was a killer but then so were Jax and Dino. The more I thought about it the more I realized that if someone threatened the people I loved, I might very well be put into the position that I could become a killer as well. I would kill to protect my mom or Jax, maybe even Dino. I know I wanted to kill Roy the day he attacked me. Now Roy was dead and that fact didn’t bother me even a little bit.
I could see the exhaustion in Jax’s eyes. It mirrored my own. Suddenly, I was bone tired and needed to sleep for a while. I knew it would be a short rest but we all needed to clear our heads. I got up and walked over to him. “Come on. We all need some sleep. Whatever happens tomorrow will happen anyway but we need to be alert for it. And we can’t be alert if we’re asleep on our feet.” I looked over at my mother. “Is there more than one bedroom in this place?”
She nodded. “Take the second bedroom at the top of the steps.”
I led Jax up the stairs and into the second bedroom. Closing the doors, I stripped off my jacket and dropped it on the floor. Kicking off my shoes, I went over to the bed and laid down. Holding my hand out to him, Jax came over to the bed and groaned as he joined me.
“I’m sorry I left Dino’s apartment,” I whispered as I nuzzled his neck. He smelled so good he made my mouth water. Then I had to frown. Another scent caught my nose. A woman’s perfume. I sat up and glared at him. “What the everloving fuck?” I growled.
Jax stared up at me. “What?”
“You’ve been with another woman tonight?” I screeched.
He shook his head. “Not really.”
“What does not really mean? Why do you smell like a whore?” I demanded quietly.
“Viper’s office was in a strip club in Tijuana. It was a damn stupid place to have an office but that’s where she took us. It wasn’t my idea to be there in the first damn place, then when one of the stripper’s came over to give me a lap dance I didn’t want to be there even more. But I had to stay to protect Bruno. I got out of there as soon as I could.”
Tears filled my eyes as I listened to his explanation. I knew he was telling me the truth. “So did she excite you?”
Jax sighed. “Yeah, she did a little. I got hard but it wasn’t for her. I thought about you and you know I can’t control my body when I think about you.” He leaned up and began kissing my neck.
My body got hot and was threatening to turn to steam. I believed him, as what we had was pure electricity, why would he go elsewhere? This man knew my pressure points and knew what he was doing to me when he nibbled on my neck. His hands roamed my body, pulling off my clothes.
Before I knew it, we were both naked and I was on top of him. His cock was pushing into me and I groaned as I sank down onto his body. My core was so wet he slid in with no problem. His cock filled me up and I began to move. Up and down around and around, I enjoyed and took in all that I could of him.
His hands gripped my hips so tight I knew he would leave bruises but at that moment, I didn’t really care. All I could think about was the feeling I was having at the moment. Just then, my whole world was the man I was riding.
My body tightened and I could feel the rush of adrenaline coming. I leaned down and began licking his nipples. Jax liked that as he groaned with each pass of my tongue. Then I began nipping at his small brown nubs and his strokes went deeper as I bit harder. I could feel the blinding rush of my body toward the orgasm that was coming as I threw my head back and moaned his name.
Then suddenly, I was there and I wanted to scream but he pulled me toward him and covered my mouth with his own, muffling my scream. I could feel his cock exploding inside my body and I knew he’d reached his climax as well.
Slowly, my heart began beating a normal rate and I slid down to lay next to him. He leaned over and kissed me gently. “You belong to me and I don’t share with anyone. You’ll never have to worry about me cheating on you. I want only you. Do you understand that?”
I nodded.
“Good, then let’s go to sleep. Tomorrow is gonna be a busy fucking day.”
I snuggled up next to him and smiled. Before I went to sleep, I thought about my earlier suppositions. Yeah, I knew if anyone threatened Jax, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill to protect him. He was my whole world and I couldn’t even think about him not being there anymore.
I closed my eyes and fell asleep to the echo of his heart beating in my ear.
Sometime later, I opened my eyes. I was so tired but something wasn’t right. Jax still slept so it wasn’t him. I lifted my head and listened. The house was quiet, almost too quiet.
I lifted my hand to cover his mouth and Jax’s eyes snapped open. I raised my finger to my lips in a hushing motion. He untangled my legs and reached for his jeans. I did the same and when we were both dressing hastily, I followed him over to the door.
He pressed his ear against the wooden panel and listened. He turned to me and frowned. Grabbing his gun, he quietly opened the door and slid through the opening. I followed. Making our way to the top of the stairs, I peeked into the bedroom my parents were in. They were both asleep.
Reaching into my pocket, I found a quarter and threw it at my dad.
It actually landed off his hard chest and bounced onto the bed beside him. It figures, my dad was a wall of brick. I rolled my eyes.
He jerked awake and snapped his head around to glare at me.
I motioned at him to come along then I motioned him to do so quietly.
He nodded and pushed the blankets off his lower body.
I averted my head just in case he wasn’t wearing anything but his birthday suit. I didn’t need to see what he was packing.
Before we reached the top of the stairs, he was behind us with a gun in his hand. All he had time to put on was a pair of jeans.
I looked back and thankfully, my mom still slept.
We made our way down the stairs. Each step heightened the tension between us bringing us closer to whatever awaited us. The feeling I had awoken with was getting stronger.
Jax and my dad could feel it too. Jax kept looking back at me and my dad kept trying to push me back behind him.
I kept shrugging their attempts to move me off.
It wasn’t until we were almost to the kitchen that we could hear something that shouldn’t have been there. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee hit us first, then Jax stiffened and his eyes went cold for a moment while he listened as someone spoke a few feet away.
The look left his eyes as he sighed, lowered his weapon and glanced at Dagger then he grabbed my hand and turned the corner to come full stop at the kitchen door.
I peeked around his back to see Bruno and another older man sitting at the table, each had a cup of coffee in front of him.
“How the fuck did you know where to find me?” Jax growled.
Bruno looked at him and smiled until his eyes caught sight of the man behind me. Then he pushed his chair away from the table standing while reaching for his gun. “What the fuck are you doing with him?” Bruno growled. “That’s a man who should be dead.”
We heard someone coming up behind us and we turned to see Dino rushing toward the kitchen in his boxers. He had his gun in his hand but we could see he was only half awake. He looked around and muttered, “What the hell is going on?”
No one else made a sound for a moment as Bruno trained his gun on my father. “I should kill you where you stand, you murdering bastard.” Bruno snarled.
My father just grunted. “Yeah, like your brother was any better. He killed three brothers and two civilians the night before he died. Five people trapped in a bar he set fire to.”
