Maybe she was in the bathroom.
“Gabby?” I called out.
I forced myself out of bed, dragging myself in there. But when I turned on the lights, she was nowhere to be found. My eyes darted around the room before pulling back the shower curtain. Maybe she had gone downstairs for something to eat. Poor woman. If she had, she’d find my kitchen pretty bare. I ate most of my meals out. Our small town made too much good food for me to struggle at the damn stove every night. I reached for a pair of boxers and pulled them up my legs, then made my way downstairs. I kept an ear out for her small footsteps and an eye out for that thick head of hair I had fisted so perfectly last night.
“Gabby!”
I made my way to the kitchen, hoping to see her standing there. But when all I found was an empty house, I felt disappointment well in my gut. She was gone. Gabby was no longer in my house. Shit, was that nothing but a one-night stand? Because that was a hell of a one-night stand. I’d never experienced one like it. And I sure as hell never kept the girl in my arms after-the-fact. Fuck, was this what something like this felt like? Was this what getting up and sneaking out before dawn felt like to the other person?
I’d never do it again if that was the case.
Running my hand through my hair, I reached for my fridge. I needed a damn drink after something like that. I didn’t make it a habit of waking up with a beer, but with the way my body ached and the way my lips craved the taste of her pussy again? I needed to drown her out of my body. Inside out. First, the taste of her. Then, the scent of her.
But when my eyes fell to the door of the fridge, I smiled.
There, on the little sticky notepad, I kept magnetized to the fridge door, was her number. Underneath her name. Bonafide proof that she had been real. I ripped the sticky note off the pad as a smile spread across my face. Oh, hell yes. Another chance with her. Another opportunity to get her in my grasp and do all of the nasty things that ran through my head last night. I needed to build up her tolerance. I hadn’t expected her to crash after nothing but oral sex.
That told me she didn’t get as much as a woman like her should have. And that was a problem I didn’t mind alleviating.
I stuck the sticky note on the counter and began to make coffee. I’d call her later today. Fuck the whole ‘waiting three days’ rule. I wanted to see her again and again, in the quickest succession possible. I wanted to take that woman out to eat before I made her a meal. I wanted to take her for a ride on my motorcycle with her and listen to her cries of passion echo off the ravines of the red clay mountains. I had no shame in my game. Nor was I ashamed of the fact that she had completely captured my attention. Her boldness. Her brashness. Being so unashamed of what she wanted. So many women played coy. Tried to act like they didn’t want it, so men didn’t think they were easy.
But not Gabby. Not her.
Before I could call her, however, I had to get to church. I chugged the hot pot of coffee I made, trying to wake myself up. Then, I took a quick shower and got dressed into some decent clothes. I pulled my leather cut over my shoulders and reached for my keys and wallet, then folded up Gabby’s number and slipped it into my billfold. No use in keeping it at the house when I’d be out and about all day. I could pick her up right after the damn meeting and whisk her away somewhere.
Maybe I could take her away for a weekend of sweet, sweet torture.
“Oh, look who finally decided to show up,” Jace said.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said.
“You’ve got a damn pep in your step. Mind spilling the details?” Colt asked.
“Why? You that dried up in your own sex life?” I asked, grinning.
“Oh, shit. Maverick finally got him some!” Duke exclaimed.
“Can we shut up and get to work?” Dean asked.
His gruff voice silenced us all, and we all sat down at the table. The lodge was silent. Eerily silent. And it made me wonder what the hell had pissed off our President.
“Colt, you need to go first,” Dean said.
“Colt? The hell’s going on?” I asked.
“On my ride yesterday, I came across something I felt needed Dean’s attention immediately,” he said.
“Okay. Then what is it?” Jace asked.
“The cameras Jace and I set up on the back roads have been fucked with,” Colt said.
“What?” Duke asked.
“Yeah. And they were smart about it. At first glance, the footage looks normal. But after looking at it closely, I realized it was a loop. I noticed the same cars start to drive by in the footage.”
“Fucking hell,” Dead said
“Do you know how they looped it?” I asked.
“I spent all fucking night rolling through the footage, and I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. Not a blip on the footage, which would be normal if it was cut. But it was seamless. Which either means someone fed a loop into the camera before cutting the circuit, or approached it from behind,” Colt said.
“I can analyze it. Track it down. Figure out what happened,” Jace said.
“That’s your task for the day, Jace. You aren’t stopping with that footage until we figure out exactly how someone fucked with those cameras,” Dean said.
“How do you know they’ve been fucked with?” I asked.
“The footage eventually cuts out. It’s obvious after rolling through it for four hours and not watching the position of the sun change. It’s nothing but a still image. And hell only knows how long it’s been that way,” Colt said.
“I’m on it the second church is over,” Jace said.
“Maverick, you find anything?” Duke asked.
“Actually, I did,” I said.
“Lay it on us,” Dean said.
“I took a drive through my old stomping grounds and had lunch with Andres,” I said.
“The guy who heads up the Knights now?” Duke asked.
“That’s the one. I grew up with the guy. Almost pledged with them, until they started considering pushing drugs. That’s what made me decide not to roll with them,” I said.
“You get anything out of him?” Dean asked.
“A lot. Apparently, Sebastian approached him right on his damn doorstep a few weeks ago, talking about how they could make good money if they listened. Andres told him to fuck off, but it takes balls walking up to that man’s porch without knowing who he is,” I said.
“It takes balls to do that to anyone who leads this type of lifestyle,” Dean said.
“Good thing the fuckers’ dead,” Duke murmured.
“Yeah, but there’s no telling who else he’s approached, or who else he’s convinced to work with him before we got to him,” I said.
“Shit!” Dean exclaimed.
All of us fell silent at our leader’s anger. Including his right-hand man, Jace.
“Okay, this is what we’re doing. Duke, I want you to start digging around. I know you’ve got great connections in this community. Especially with the police department. Start trying to figure out who Sebastian’s contacts were. We need to try and figure out who all he’s approached. Who all he’s come into contact with. And who all decided to work with him,” Dean said.
“On it,” Duke said.
“Jace, you get with Colt and get to looking at those tapes. You do it here, you don’t take it home. Don’t take this within the realm of Leti right now,” Dean said.
“Trust me, I wouldn’t have even if you wanted me to. Sorry, boss,” Jace said.
“No sorry necessary. And Maverick?” Dean asked.
“Yep?”
“You got any more strings you can pull like Andres?” he asked.
A grin slid across my face. “I’ll have my ear to the ground and my hand tugging on some shirts.”
“Good. You all have your assignments. Now, let’s stop wasting time and get to work,” Dean said.
Chapter 10
Gabriela
My father grabbed me tightly by the arm the second I walked into the house.
I knew he was going to be upset, even if I was twenty-four years old. But the way he gripped my arm and dragged me around made me angry. I stumbled on my heels. I tried to pull myself away from him. My mother kept yelling at him to let me go while my sisters came rushing down the stairs to see what was going on as he ripped me into his office. He tossed me to the couch and slammed his office door. It looked as if he grew four sizes right in front of my very eyes. I’d never seen my father this upset before, and I furrowed my brow as he stalked towards me.
“Where the hell you were, Gabriella?” he asked.
“Daddy, I was working on gathering intel. I told you this.”
“You were gone overnight. What could have possibly taken you all damn night?”
“I told you I was going undercover. And I did have that one case that catapulted on the first night. Why are you so upset right now?”
I tried to get off the couch, but my father stepped in front of me. I slammed back down into the cushions and clutched my purse, ready to toss the evidence I had of my productive morning. Thank fuck I had decided to rummage and grab them. Because this meeting with my father would have gone a very different way had I not come back with anything.
“You should be doing that kind of research from your computer. In your room. In this house, Gabriella.”
“You literally helped me get ready last night. You helped me prepare for this job. I told you that I had to try and interact with them. Why are you all of a sudden so upset that I was gone all night, Daddy? I don’t understand. I got some really good information, and you haven’t even asked me about it yet.”
“It’s not safe for you to be involved this deeply.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You figured out something, didn’t you?”
I watched my father’s face falter just a little bit.
“What did you find out, Daddy?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter, princess. All that matters is that you aren’t going undercover with this club any longer. You’ll do your research from here, and if you can’t find anything then I’ve got other strings in the company I can pull,” he said.
I shot up from my seat. “I gave it my all last night. I dug myself into places I’ve never gone before. I put on the best show of my life and walked away with more information than I ever have in one night of going undercover, and you want me to back off?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you. And if you don’t, I’ll pull you from the case completely.”
“I’m the one with the information, Daddy. And I’m not obligated to give it to you,” I said.
“You’re much too young for that type of blackmail, princess. I’d be careful if I were you.”
“Why? Because I’m learning from the best.”
I stood toe to toe with my father, gazing up into his hard black stare. Shadows played off his cheeks, and for the first time in my life, he looked like the enemy. He looked like someone we always went up against. He looked like someone standing in my way.
And I didn’t like it.
“What did you find last night?” my father asked.
“Tell me why you’re freaking out on me all of a sudden and I will,” I said.
“Gabriela, this isn’t up for discussion.”
“It is when you drag me by my arm like a little school girl into your office in front of the entire family. Tell me why in the world you’re suddenly flipping on this undercover operation, and I’ll tell you what I found.”
My father sighed. “I figured out why the name ‘Leti Rodriguez’ seemed so familiar.”
I cocked my head. “Okay. Why does it seem so familiar?”
“It isn’t because she’s associated with the company, or even the fact that she used to work with us. Which she did, by the way.”
“Figured as much. Then, why are you suddenly freaking out on me because of it?”
My father gazed into my eyes. “Because the police are under the assumption that she’s the one who killed Uncle Sebastian.”
I fell back to the couch. The blowback of his statement sucked the air from my lungs. Tears rose into my eyes as fell down my cheek easier than they ever had in my life. The woman, one of the club members, was going to marry murdered my uncle?
“It’s not safe for you anymore, princes. I won’t allow you to interact with this club when your uncle’s killer walks in their midst. I can’t lose you, Gabriela.”
“Do we know for sure?” I asked.
I looked up into my father’s eyes, and he shook his head. “The police haven’t found his body. Nor the men involved with him the night he was supposedly killed.”
“Then how do we know it was her?”
“I don’t want to go into the details. You’re too young and too impressionable--.”
“Daddy, you’re raising me to take over your seat one day. You made me impressionable. You have impressed all of this upon me. Now, I demand answers, or I demand you let me go back undercover and figure this shit out.”
“You will not use that tone of voice with me, daughter.”
“What tone of voice!? The tone of voice that’s frustrated with you telling me I’m grown up before yanking me around like I’m twelve? The tone of voice that comes from the young woman you’re going to eventually hand your empire over to? You can’t shield me from this forever, Daddy. You just told me someone associated with this club killed Uncle Sebastian, and the only thing it does it make me want to stay undercover!”
“You can’t. It’s too dangerous. They’re too dangerous.”
“How is anything we’re involved in not too dangerous!?”
The thunder of my voice filled his office, and it caused my father to take a step back. I stood up from the couch and walked towards him, putting on my best ‘work face’. I wasn’t going to abandon this operation. This wasn’t the first time that I had gone undercover to find out information that the company needed. I had studied and researched and tailored for days. I had thrown myself, body and soul, into this damn thing with the club. And I wasn’t going to abandon it simply because Daddy couldn’t be a father and a mentor.
“You know as well as I do that the only way to really figure out what’s going on with this club is if I get to know them,” I said.
“They’re capable of killing you, Gabriela.”
“Everyone is! Everyone is capable of killing anyone else. Leti Rodriguez, whoever the hell she is, just proved that.”
“I should have never gotten you involved with this,” he said.
“And yet, you did. Whether you like it or regret it is one thing, but I’m already in too deep with this. I’ve got so much information to sift through it makes my head spin, and with what you just told me, I’m staying undercover. Whether you like it or not,” I said. And with that, I marched upstairs to change out of the clothes I was in.
“Gabriela. You have to listen to me. I’m not talking to you like your boss any--Gabriela. Gabby! Where the hell are you going!?”
“Out,” I murmured.
I clutched my purse close to me and slammed out of my room. I strode by my mother, who was keeping my other sisters at bay while they all watched with wide eyes and listened with open ears. My father’s voice boomed for me as I strode out of the house and made my way for my car. I took out my keys and slammed myself in, then cranked up the engine. I needed to get out of there. I had a portable laptop in my trunk. I had everything I needed to do my own research wherever I needed to do it. But I couldn’t stay at my parent’s house a second longer.
“Gabby!” My father bellowed from the porch.
But all I did was back out of the driveway and race up the road.
I knew I made the right decision by meeting one of the guys in person. I knew that was the only way this operation would go off without a hitch. What I hadn’t been prepared for was being so upset at the notion of being pulled. If I was being honest with myself, it really didn’t have anything to do with Sebastian at all. I didn’t really know him. He was more of my
father’s friend than anything. But it was the ammunition he gave me to latch onto, so I did. What I was really upset about was the idea of not seeing him again.
Maverick.
He was what I didn’t bargain for. The way he made me feel. The way my name sounded falling from his lips. I hadn’t been prepared for him. For feeling something for him. I hadn’t been prepared to wake up in his arms and enjoy it. I hadn’t been prepared to feel so guilty and upset at the prospect of leaving before he woke up. I looked over at my purse, seeing a small slip of paper peek over the edge at me. It crashed my reality back over me. I had a bank account to sift through. Records to go over. I couldn’t let this guy get underneath my skin. It was a stupid crush, and nothing else.
I could put my feelings for Maverick aside to get the information I needed. Prove to my father that I was capable of handling this on my own.
I was stronger than a school girl fling.
Chapter 11
Maverick
As I headed back to my place after church, I couldn’t seem to get Gabby out of my head. In any other circumstance, I’d be over it by now. She’d be out of my mind, and I’d be onto the next victim. The next woman to treat to my bed. But for some reason, all I wanted to do was see her again. All I wanted to do was pitch a tent between her legs and drink her down until she couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t push me away any longer. I cruised down the road with the wind in my hair and closed my eyes at every stop sign. And when I closed my eyes, she was there. When I allowed my mind to fall blank, the sounds of her desire filled the caverns of my thoughts.
I pulled over onto the side of the road and turned off my bike, then pulled out my cell phone. Thank fuck I folded up her number and put it in my wallet.
“Hello?” she asked.
I drew in a deep breath at the sound of her voice. “Afternoon, beautiful.”
Maverick (The Black Hornets MC Book 2) Page 6
