It was clear someone had torn through his stuff, looking for something but he wasn’t sure what. He did a quick inventory, but nothing was taken, not his computer, no electronics, not that there was a lot that anyone would want.
Someone had even taken the time to search through his day planner that had been sitting out on his desk. Looking for what though? A sneaking suspicion tore through his mind but he discounted it. It came back again and again as he searched around the apartment, and finally he gave it some credence. But why for the love of all things holy would Harris need to know his schedule?
*
“Did you get it?” The impatient voice asked from the large intricately carved wooden chair.
“Yeah, boss. I got it. But I’m tellin’ you, I didn’t find anything about no fiancé. Not even a girlfriend or a ladybird for that matter.”
“It doesn’t matter. None of it matters.” Harris grinned through his yellowed teeth as Theo handed him the small, leather lined box. It was just bigger than a book, and slim. Small enough to miss unless you knew exactly what you were looking for. He imagined Adrien didn’t even know it was in his possession, or how much trouble it would have caused him. Still could if it fell into the wrong hands.
“So, what about my payment?” Theo stared at him with dark, greedy eyes through he darkness of night seeping into the dimly lit room. Harris barely held back a shiver at the feral look burning in his gaze. Sometimes he wondered if he should get rid of him, like a dog that needed to be put down, but he knew he had absolute control over his pet. Harris turned the box over in his hand and nodded to himself. And he did prove quite useful.
Harris’ face showed none of the disgust he felt as he waved a hand at Theo, dismissing him.
“Go. Have the night off. Go have your fun.” Harris almost cringed at the look of malicious glee that entered his eyes as the giant man shifted before his eyes. In just a few seconds an even bigger grizzled black bear stood before him, already growling in anticipation of the hunt. Of the kill.
“Go already!” The leader of the Long Pines tribe yelled, and the bear didn’t waist any time as he turned and barreled into the night and towards whatever poor prey he found. Harris knew in the morning there would be some report of a girl found mauled by wild animals near the outskirts of the small, but widespread town.
Already dismissing the thoughts, Harris looked down at the box still clutched in his claw like fingers. He still couldn’t believe that the dumb oaf had actually found it. Harris had spent years tearing apart the Black’s old home in the tribe land, deeper in the Nevada forest, and had turned up empty handed every time.
He grinned, turning it over again. It was the one piece of evidence that linked him to the death of Dominic Black. And now, he could destroy it forever. His slick grin widened as he righted the box and felt for the hidden latch on the side. It opened with a click and he slowly drew back the lid. With a gasp he stared, his smile of victory morphing into a vicious snarl as he threw the box across the large room.
It landed with a loud clang to reveal its empty insides. Empty. This time, Harris did growl out loud and the angry noise echoed with his rage. Damn him. Where had Dominic hidden the damn journal? Damn him!
Chapter 5
Adrien watched Morgan flirt with the customer from under a dark slash of brows. What did she think she was doing? He watched as she handed him his drink, probably something girly like a cranberry vodka, and scowled. She smiled. He snarled. He thought he heard an actual rumble roll up from his chest. He turned away with a grimace. What was wrong with him? He glanced back. Okay, maybe flirting wasn’t exactly the right word. Friendly. Professional. Insane.
Well, that last one was for him. He didn’t know why but ever since that dumb question had popped out of his dumb mouth last night he couldn’t get it out of his head. He couldn’t get her out of his head, although that wasn’t exactly a new thing.
Morgan Fevereau frequented his thoughts more than he cared to admit, had for the past three years since she started working there. There was just something about her that drew him back again and again. The sweet curve of her smile, the glimmering laughter shining in her green eyes. The way her long auburn hair swayed in waves as she walked. Or stomped, as she was doing now.
“What the hell are you doing, Adrien?”
“Wha…what?” He swallowed the question he had been about to shoot back at her. What the hell are you doing flirting with all the customers. But he knew that would be an immediate death sentence, so instead he stuck with, “What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean!” she leaned closer to him, whispering next to his ear behind the long bar. “You keep glaring at that guy.” He almost missed her words he was so distracted by her. Her scent, like lemon and sweetness and all woman threatened to overwhelm him and he could feel the animal half of himself roar to the forefront, demanding to move closer, to feel her just a little closer.
Morgan gestured behind her to the table she was just at, and he shook himself out of his revelry, wishing it was as easy to shake the feelings Morgan had drawing up his body. It was damn distracting. With a gruff cough, he took a small step back, trying to put some much needed distance between them before he did something stupid. Like pull her body against his and kiss the sweet mouth that was at the moment frowning at him.
“Oh, that, right.” Adrien shrugged, trying to think of something to say. He couldn’t, so instead just shrugged again and gave her his best puppy dog eyes, making them as big and innocent looking as he could.
He could see the moment she cracked. Her features softened just barely, and then more so, and then before she knew it a laugh had bubbled out of her. The sweetest sound he had ever heard. He could spend a lifetime listening to that sound.
“Okay, okay,” She said, finally giving in with another laugh, “just stop trying to chase all the customers away.”
Adrien just smiled back at her, a strange, warm feeling bubbling through him when she smiled back. They stood like that for a long moment until a flush swept over Morgan’s cheeks and she looked away.
“By the way, I need another mai tai for that table.”
“Do we even make mai tai’s in this bar?” Adrien said with a snicker for the unfortunate guy. He had just known it would be something girly.
“Just make it, Adrien.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He said with a mocking salute. Adrien turned back to the fully stocked bar and grabbed a cocktail shaker and several bottles. It didn’t take long to make the girly girl drink and slide it up to the bar for Morgan to grab as she greeted the next wave of customers.
A wave of satisfaction rolled through him as he watched them enter with a smile or a laugh or a wave. Familiar faces of the regulars that swore up and down this was the best bar in Nevada, and new faces too.
After Calese had died and left him the bar, he had dedicated every waking second, minute, and hour to building the place back up again. It had a prime location, right off of the highway, and granted, Kingstown wasn’t exactly a bustling city but the tourist trade always brought in new customers and locals from the surrounding five counties all frequented the bar.
He was proud of what he had done with the place, what he had achieved. It was a successful business, and had been turning a profit for three years straight. It was Saturday night, their busiest of the week and with the mild summer weather Adrien was expecting a good turnout.
He was right. The next few hours shifted from just busy to total chaos as the customers kept flooding in, even more than their normal Saturday night crowd. Over the noise of all of the people, Adrien had to shout to be heard.
“Hey, Morgan! What’s going on, some sort of caravan or something?” Every now and then they would get a tour or something driving by and everyone would stop in at the same time, but he didn’t see anything scheduled for this weekend.
“No, not that,” Morgan shook her head, and for the first time he noticed the annoyed look shining sharply in her gorgeous
green eyes. “It’s a bunch of the bikers from Tilly’s.” She rolled her gaze skyward as she grabbed several pitchers, balanced them expertly on a tray and made her way through the thick crown to a table in the back, miraculously not spilling a drop despite the rambunctious crowd.
Adrien almost groaned. Tilly’s was his only competition in about 200 miles in any direction. Well, had been before it got closed down because it wasn’t up to code. He had wondered if he would see a rise in business, and to tell the truth he had almost hoped not. Tilly’s attracted a pretty rough crowd known for their bikes, but even more for their brawls.
He didn’t want that kind of trouble, and he really hated it when people messed up his beloved bar.
“Hey! Whose cute little scooter is that out there?” A gruff voice called, and Adrien could have groaned as he saw Morgan’s shoulders stiffen as she passed beers out around a table of rowdy looking men in black leather vests.
“That sure is cute.” The man with the death wish said again, following it up with a guffawing laugh and several of the men sitting around him laugh along too. “Almost as cute as you are, pretty girl.”
The come on was directed at Morgan just as she turned to refill orders, trying to bite her tongue. She had taken a single step away from the table when his slimy voice sounded again.
“Hey, I’m talking to you, bitch. Why don’t you come over here and show me just how cute you can really be?”
She turned around to give them a piece of her mind, her cheeks burning bright red in anger, but Adrien was there first.
“Get out.” He growled, a rage like he’d never felt coursing through his veins. “Get the hell out of my bar.” He didn’t say anything else, just pointed at the door and stood there, panting, trying to get a hold of the rampant anger pushing him to say more.
“Listen, buddy, this is between my friend, and that hot little piece of–.” Sleaze ball number two never had a chance to finish his sentence. In less than a second, Adrien had him hoisted up by his vest, not even noticing the stairs as he lifted the man who matched his own six feet but was at least as twice as wide almost a foot off of the bar’s wooden slat floor.
“No, you need to listen, buddy.” Adrien gritted as the man stared at him wide eyed. “I’m giving you ten seconds to get out of my bar, or–.”
“Let him go, cub.” A voice behind him growled, and the words shocked him so much that he complied. He turned quickly, the bar a blue before he focused on the face in front of him, his expression turning into a snarl. It was the first sleaze bag. Great.
“I’m not a cub.” Adrien said softly, low enough so no one close could here. “And I don’t want any trouble. I know you’re not Long Pines,” He didn’t recognize him, and he knew every member of his clan, “and I don’t care. I want your flea ridden hide out of my bar.”
“No, cub, I’m not one of your precious Long Pines clan. And no, I’m not going anywhere.”
“You really are.”
“What, are you gonna make me?” the other bear snarled and Adrien watched the skin of his face ripple slightly, a tell tale sign of an approaching shift. Adrien looked around the packed bar. The last thing he wanted was this rogue bear to change in front of all of his valued customers. He had a feeling it would definitely mark a drop in sales, having a giant bear just appear from thin air in the middle of the bar. So he did the only thing he could think of. He leaped.
The older bear was caught of guard by his speed, and the several beers he had already imbibed that night, giving Adrien the edge he needed to get close before he could shift. It made it much more difficult in close quarters, and nearly impossible when someone was making contact. So that was the next thing he did. His knuckles made contact with the other man’s expansive belly.
And then his fist made contact with Adrien’s face. He swore he could here bones crunching but with adrenaline pumping through him and the remarkable abilities his bear half gave him he barely felt it. He could see Morgan standing, her eyes wide in shock as the second blow landed, right across the bridge of his nose and making him back up a step.
With a roar, Adrien charged again, but he knew the older bear had him on sheer strength when he was that close to the shift. With a quick look around the bar he could see all eyes were on them, but most of the action was being blocked by his biker buddies, and they would probably attribute anything odd they had seen to the copious amount of alcohol burning through their systems.
There was only one was to end it, and Adrien had to do it quickly before they drew any more attention. With a quite growl, Adrien did the most difficult thing. He partially shifted. Hovering right on that painful edge between human and animal form. He saw his opponent’s eyes widen as he watched the skin on Adrien’s arm ripple between flesh and fur and his jaw dropped open as he whispered an foul curse.
It was so difficult that most bears didn’t even try to learn it, let alone succeeded but Adrien had forced himself to keep practicing until he got it right. And it was painful. And it was hard. But it had saved his life more times than he could count now, especially as a young man alone in the town.
With a roar, Adrien lunged at the man’s throat, throwing out a jabbing punch that had him gasping. He wasted no time grabbing his overly muscled arm and twisting it behind his back, thrusting up until the sleaze bag was hunched over and howling in pain, begging to be released.
Adrien pushed him towards the door and over the threshold, into the warm summer night air.
“Don’t come back.” He said softly and soon there was a flood as the rest of his gang fled after him. The rumble of motorcycle engines broke the silence and he waited until they were all gone from sight before he turned back. Besides, he needed that time to get himself back under control.
Slowly, he turned around, sighing at the now empty room and the mess left behind by the rough group. He glanced at the shiny chrome clock hanging over the bar. It was almost closing time anyways, but it still hurt to lose any customers, even sleaze bag ones.
He looked down at his hands and clenched them into tight fists to stop their trembling before raising his gaze, just barely stopping himself from flinching as he met Morgan’s green eyed stare as she stood there and gasped.
*
“Oh my god, Adrien. You’re bleeding!” Morgan rushed over to him, the thoughts running madly in her head drown out by her concern for him.
“Come on, it’s nothing.” Adrien tried to wave her away but she wouldn’t let him. Instead, she grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and pulled him to a nearby bar stool, pushing him until he finally sat down so she could get a good look at the damage. She gasped again when she did.
“That bad, huh?” Adrien asked her, his words soft and slightly muffled as she held a white towel to his bleeding nose.
“Hush, just, don’t try and talk.” Morgan walked around the bar to get a clean towel and took a deep breath before walking back to his side. She noticed his hands were shaking as he handed her the ruined bit of fabric in exchange for the fresh one, and she realized she was feeling a little shaky as well.
Working at the bar, she was used to the occasional brawl, but this had been different. This had been so much more intense and...different. Morgan still couldn’t believe what she had seen, and shook her head as she tried to wipe some of the blood off of Adrien’s forehead. She had probably just imagined it anyways.
She stared at him while she worked in silence, trying to clean him up. It was impossible, right? He looked completely normal, despite the bloody scrapes on his forehead and cheek and the bruise just starting to form around his eye. She must have imagined it, she tried to convince herself again. What she had seen had just been too…weird to be real.
“Thank you.” Adrien said softly, making her jump as his voice drew her back to reality.
“Hey, it’s me who should be thanking you. Although you really didn’t need to jump in and act all white knight on me.” She dabbed at the cut a little more firmly that she intended and flinched when he
did.
“Of course I did. That guy,” his words trailed off and he had a lost moment as his gaze turned inward before coming back to himself with a shake. “That guy was trouble. And besides, no one can talk to you like that.”
Morgan paused for a moment, just looking at him, seeing the honesty shining from the depths of his golden amber eyes. He really meant what he said and it sent a wave of sweetness rushing through her.
“I’ll do it.” Morgan said softly, not meeting his gaze it it flew to her face. “I’ll, uh, pretend to be your fiancé, or whatever.” She finished, still not looking at him as heat tinged her cheeks a rosy pink.
“Really?” Adrien asked, reaching up to grab the hand still dabbing at his wounds and drew her fingers into his. “Really?”
“Yes, really. I said so, didn’t I?” She could feel that touch all the way to her toes and back, and it sent her rocking back on her heels. The feeling of his fingers brushing over the delicate skin of her wrist sent sparks shooting like fireworks across her nerve endings.
“Morgan, that’s…that’s,” Adrien opened and closed his mouth several times before finally, a wide lopsided grin spread across his face. Before she even had time to react his arms were around her like metal bands, hot and hard and pulling her tight against him.
Morgan was wedge in between his legs where he sat on the barstool and she was still recovering from the shock of overwhelming sensations when his mouth descended on hers. All she could do was hold on tight as his lips slanted over hers in the most delicious way. She had always known it would be like this. Wild. Passionate. Absolutely perfect.
They stayed like that for a long moment, mouth against mouth as Morgan melted against him, but finally Adrien drew back gasping for breath.
“Damn.” He whispered like a prayer as he stared at her, and she couldn’t look away no matter how hard her heart pounded in her chest or her pulse raced.
BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) Page 53
