“And you’re a liar.” I smirked, shifting my weight and squeezing her spanked ass cheek in one hand. “You lie to me, but mostly you lie to yourself, baby. Because if you don’t want me right here putting you in your place, then why don’t you ever tell me to stop?”
She panted, trying to wriggle free again, but she wasn’t going anywhere. “Fuck you.”
“Big words, but I still don’t hear any objections,” I taunted her then fisted one hand in her hair, tugging her head up so my mouth was aligned with her ear. “You ever disrespect me again and I’ll show you what happens to bad girls in Sunset Cove. This is my kingdom and everyone follows my rules, but I know you’re not like the rest of them. You’re a queen in your own right and you’ve come for a war. But if you lose, you’d better be prepared to get on your knees, baby, because the loser will have to bow.”
“Then you’d better bring your kneepads, Badger, because it’s gonna hurt when you hit the ground,” she laughed wildly.
I released her with a wicked grin, standing upright and whistling for Mutt as Rogue climbed across into the driver’s seat and rearranged her dress. Mutt gave up licking the melted ice cream dripping onto the toddler’s towel, instead snatching the whole cone from her hand, turning and running away like his ass was on fire. The little girl wailed and I directed Mutt into the footwell of the Jeep where he chomped down the ice cream in two bites. I climbed in after him and Rogue high tailed it out of there like we were in on the heist. Even the dog’s a fucking criminal.
Rogue turned the music up as This Life by Vampire Weekend started on the radio, her free hand hanging out the window as her fingers twisted in the wind. She threw me a challenging look as she sang along and I threw one right back, my heart pounding furiously in my chest. She could handle everything I dished out and more and I just wanted to keep pushing her to see how far she could go. Every other woman in this town feared me, but Rogue held a power over me like no other. Nothing fazed her. It was one of the things I was in love with her for, but if I named them all I’d be there until my dying breath listing them. To me, she was perfect, a creature hewn by the gods of the sea, placed on this earth to lure me into the depths of the ocean. And I’d go gladly into the deep for her and never look back.
My phone rang as we closed in on home and I took it out of my pocket, finding my dad calling. My mood soured as I answered, turning the music down so I could hear him.
“Yeah?” I grunted.
“Still angry with me then?” he asked. “I would have thought you’d be grateful for me pardoning your girl.”
“I would have been grateful ten years ago,” I said coolly and he sighed.
“Look, I need you on form with your head straight. Some asshole Dead Dog just showed up at the clubhouse with a message from Shawn Mackenzie.”
I sat upright in my chair, my pulse roaring in my skull. “What message?” I demanded.
“He wants a meeting to discuss a peace deal, no weapons, four men only,” Luther said and my mind sharpened like a blade. “I figured as he’s on your turf, I’d take you and your boys.”
My free hand locked in a fist and I sensed Rogue’s eyes flicking onto me. “You sure this isn’t a trap? I don’t trust that piece of shit.”
“We’ll be meeting out on the cliffs, open land, no one’s allowed to wear anything but their underwear,” Luther said.
“Great, and who says we want peace anyway?” I growled.
“I do,” he said fiercely. “I want him dead as much as you do, kid, but if it comes to a war, I can’t say for sure we’ll win it. His gang is as big as the Harlequins and if he decides to move in on Sunset Cove, well…it won’t be pretty. There’ll be a lot of bloodshed and he already came too close to killing you, son, I’m not risking your life for anything.”
My breaths came unevenly as I considered those words, weighing them up and knowing he was right. If peace could be brokered, we had to try, because I didn’t want to lay my boys’ lives on the line in a war. I couldn’t risk Chase or JJ, and now Rogue was back in town, the idea of her getting caught up in all that was unthinkable.
“Alright, what time?”
“An hour. Meet at the top of the Ventosa Cliffs,” Luther said. “And kid,” he growled in that dominating father tone of his that I hated. “You check your boys closely for weapons, ass cracks and all, I’m not gonna stand for a single Harlequin fucking this up.”
“Got it,” I said and hung up, pushing my phone back into my pocket.
I caught Rogue looking at me and arched a brow at her, but she just tossed her hair and looked back at the road. “Who was that?” she asked lightly.
“My dad.”
“Did he have anything interesting to say?”
“Depends what you mean by interesting.” I shrugged and she narrowed her eyes on me for a moment.
“Anything about Shawn?” she demanded.
I considered my words, feeling assessed by her and not wanting to lie.
I sighed, figuring she could know this much, it didn’t matter if she went crazy at me for not letting her be involved. She knew my stance on the situation. “He wants to discuss a peace deal. I’ll be going to see him with the boys in an hour.”
Her upper lip curled back. “Peace?” she spat. “The motherfucker has moved in on your land, he’s killed your men, and you’re gonna discuss peace?”
“Yes, Rogue,” I growled in warning. “Because if we don’t, it means there’s going to be a war. And if war comes to this town, it puts everyone I love at risk.”
She frowned, thinking on something. “So just shoot him when you get there. Bang. Job done,” she insisted.
“We have to go without weapons and wear nothing but our boxers,” I said. “Where do you suggest I stash a gun, baby?”
“I dunno, you must have a lot of room up there in your big head,” she tossed at me. “You certainly aren’t using the extra space for brain power.”
“What do you expect me to do?” I snapped. “This is what’s best for the Crew, I can’t take risks that put my family in jeopardy.”
“He deserves to fucking die,” she snarled, and I could see the hurt in her eyes over what he’d done to her. I felt it too, right down to the pit of my soul.
I reached out, squeezing her leg. “I swear to you, I will kill Shawn Mackenzie, hummingbird. But not today. Not in any way that can be connected back to me, because if he dies, some other asshole will take his place as king of The Dead Dogs and declare war on the Cove, and I simply can’t risk that.”
“I want to be the one to kill him,” she snarled furiously.
“Well that’s not gonna happen,” I said firmly. “You think I’m gonna let you anywhere near that asshole?”
“I’m not asking for permission,” she hissed.
“I’m afraid you have to in this town, baby, and I’ll never grant it.”
She fell quiet, chewing angrily on her lip and I hoped that meant she got the message.
We arrived back at Harlequin House and she parked up in the garage. I led her inside with Mutt and she stalked up to her room without another word to me. She’d get over it. At least I’d been honest with her, so that was something, right?
I found the boys out on the patio; Chase was swimming in the pool and JJ was sunning himself butt naked and face down on one of the loungers. He was as bad as Rogue for that shit. His eyes were closed and he had headphones on so he didn’t notice my arrival.
I beckoned Chase out of the pool and he moved over to JJ, whipping the headphones from his head and turning them off. His phone connected to the poolside Bluetooth speakers instead and a gravelly male voice spoke over them, “-ploughed into her steamy, wet pussy while she begged for my cock and-” JJ turned it off on his phone, standing up and baring his dick to the world before pulling his shorts on like it was nothing.
“Jesus, what the fuck were you listening to?” Chase asked.
“A book,” JJ said with a shrug. “I’m cultured like that.”
> “What’s the culture? I think I wanna join up,” Chase said with a smirk and JJ laughed.
“Romance books. Side note, I’m an expert on satisfying women so I’m thinking of becoming a dating coach, what do you reckon?” JJ said with a grin. “You could be my Guinea pig, Ace.”
Chase opened his mouth, looking like he was about to tell him to get fucked, but I spoke before he could.
“Shawn’s called a meeting,” I announced, grabbing their full attention before explaining how it was all gonna go down. We needed to get our shit together and leave.
“Holy fuck,” Chase breathed.
“Yeah, so get moving,” I commanded and JJ and Chase headed off to the garage while I jogged upstairs to tell Rogue we were going.
I knocked on her door, but she didn’t answer and I sighed, leaning my forehead against it. “Don’t hate me, hummingbird. I’m just trying to do the right thing and keep everyone safe. You understand that, right?”
Silence.
“There’s cold pizza in the fridge if you get hungry. We’ll be back in a while and I’ll tell you what happens, okay?”
Nothing.
I ground my teeth, fighting against the frustration rising in me before forcing myself to walk away downstairs. I headed into the garage, climbing into my truck where Chase and JJ were already waiting inside in their boxers. I didn’t need to ‘check their ass cracks’ as my dad had so sweetly suggested, I trusted both of them to do as I asked. And though Chase was still on probation, I was sure he wasn’t going to let me down on this. I wanted him there today, because whatever happened was going to change the fate of the Cove. Either we’d find a way to make peace with Shawn and he’d get the fuck out of my town, or he’d declare war once and for all. Either way, the asshole was still a dead man. Today just determined whether I was going to sneak into his home in the night and slide a knife into the back of his skull, or if he died at the end of my gun in plain sight of the whole world in a war.
We drove up onto the Ventosa Cliffs, heading onto an off-road track that wound along towards the highest point.
We soon drove onto the flat, grassy expanse of land at the peak of the cliff then parked up and assessed the area. My father was there in his blue truck and he nodded to us through the window.
On the horizon, a white SUV appeared, spewing up dust as it sped along the dirt road on the other side of this cliff. It pulled to a halt and Shawn stepped out in his boxers with his hands raised in the air. Three of his men followed and Luther got out of his truck too, nodding to us in a direction to follow. I stepped out onto the grass, the sun beating down on my bare skin as JJ and Chase flanked me while Luther moved to lead the way across the plane. My dad’s body was pure muscle and pretty much entirely covered with tattoos. The word Harlequin arched over his shoulder blades and a tattoo of his spine ran down the length of his back.
“Hey there, boys,” Shawn called like we were old friends meeting for a drink and hatred rippled under my flesh. “Aren’t you all a sight to behold?”
We closed in until only five feet parted us and Shawn did a little twirl as if to prove he was completely unarmed. His men followed then Shawn spun his finger in the air to encourage us to prove we weren’t hiding any weapons and we took it in turns to spin around so he could make sure there was nothing strapped to our backs or legs.
“Beautiful,” Shawn said with a smirk. “Shame no one brought a camera, huh? We’d make one hell of a porno right now. It’d sell out in five minutes flat. Come to think of it, I’d like being in movies even more if I got my cock sucked twelve times a day, I think I need a change of career.” He laughed and his men laughed louder like good little cronies.
I scowled coldly at him as I moved to my dad’s side and JJ and Chase kept close.
“You called us here, Shawn,” Luther said in his booming voice. “So why don’t you use your mouth for something worthwhile and tell us what you want.”
“Alright, King Harlequin, calm down, don’t bust a hip,” Shawn mocked, though my father wasn’t that much older than him. Which was just another reason to make my skin crawl over Rogue dating him. It took everything I had not to just attack him here and now with my bare hands, choke the life out of his worthless body and make him pay for laying a finger on my girl.
“Watch your mouth,” I snarled and Shawn’s blue gaze slid onto me.
“Oh he’s got fire in his belly today, boys. Last I saw of you, you were crawling under my trailer like a coward,” Shawn said through a dark grin.
“Well the last I saw of you, you were running for your life like a deer at the end of a hunter’s gun,” I spat and he chuckled.
“Touché,” he said. “Now listen up.” The smile dropped dramatically from his face. “I got some terms I wanna put to ya, and if you can’t meet them, well…I think I’ll enjoy shattering your skulls in the coming days.”
“What are your terms?” Luther demanded.
“I want Sunset Cove,” Shawn announced, raising his arms and gesturing to the place and my hackles rose. “It’s real beaut down here. The women are…mmm.” He kissed his fingers. “And the beach is mighty pretty. I think I can see me living here, lording it up in that shiny house of yours. You give me this town and I’ll back off, no more fighting, no more war. Simple. So what d’ya say?”
“No,” I snarled before my father could get a word out. “No fucking way.”
Luther took longer to consider it and I gave him a look that said I’d fight him to hell and back on this. Shawn was not going to take this place from my family. It was our home, the land we grew up on, and I’d die for it here today if I had to.
“I think your daddy gets the final say, boy,” Shawn taunted, looking to Luther as Chase and JJ shifted around me, looking ready to go to battle for the Cove too. “So what’ll it be, Daddy? A bloody war? Or one eency weency town?”
“This is Fox’s domain,” Luther said at last. “If he says no, that’s your answer.”
Shawn ran his tongue across his teeth in anger, his eyes flashing back onto me. “That’s what you want then, is it sunshine?” There was a deadly undercurrent to his tone. “Because lemme tell you, if you make an enemy outa me, you make an enemy outa the Devil himself. I’ll have your pretty town running red with blood, I’ll have kiddies screaming in their beds terrified of the monsters crawling in their front doors, I’ll have your women on their backs and taking Dead Dog cocks in every hole they fancy, showing ‘em what real men feel like inside them.” He took a step toward me, all swagger and cockiness and my fingers itched for a blade to drive into him. “If you want war, you’re asking for hell to come pay you a visit. So are you sure you wanna extend the invite, boy?”
I squared my shoulders at this arrogant piece of shit, taking a step towards him to show him he didn’t scare me. There wasn’t a flicker of fear in my heart over Shawn Mackenzie. I was a monster in my own right, and one who could deliver death as brutally and painfully as he could imagine. And I knew what I had to do, because it was my only chance to save my town from this dog.
“Face me here. No weapons. We fight, and whoever’s still breathing by the end of it takes Sunset Cove. If you win, you let my family pack up and leave town and if I win, your men get out of my hometown and never come back,” I snarled.
“Fox,” Chase hissed urgently at those words, but I shot him a look that told him to back down. This was my decision. If Shawn was going to shoot his mouth at me like a big man, then I was going to call his bluff.
Shawn sized me up, getting closer until his chest brushed mine. We were the same height pretty much dead on, his eyes like the palest blue sky gazing into the forest green of mine. I wanted blood for Rogue and I was happy to take it from him right here, right now with nothing but the strength of our bodies to decide the victor. And I would win, there was no doubt in my mind.
“Tempting, little Fox,” Shawn purred, devouring my breathing space as he tried to intimidate me. “I’d just love to see you on the ground choking out yo
ur last breath.”
“Then fight me,” I challenged.
He cocked his head from one side to the other, pretending to consider that but I could see the decision in his eyes. “Nah.” He stepped back to re-join his men. “I’ve always been fonder of war. I think I’ll invade your town like an olden day pirate and let my men pillage, rape and murder their way through your people.”
“Coward,” Luther hissed at him.
“Oh no, I assure you, King Harlequin, I am no coward,” Shawn said with a wide smile. “I just wanna prolong your fall from grace, make sure you’re there to see your boys die one by one by one by one.” He aimed a finger gun at each of us pretending to fire it as he spoke those words, his eyes glittering wickedly.
“I’m your death, Shawn,” I warned as we started backing up towards the trucks. “My face will be the last thing you ever see.”
“We’ll see about that, sunshine,” he laughed, remaining there as he watched us go, but as we made it back to the truck, a flash of colour caught my eye and my heart lurched.
Rogue leapt up from under a tarp in the bed of my truck, springing onto the roof with a handgun in her grip and her yellow sundress whipping around her thighs in the wind.
“Die you motherfucking dickweed!” she screamed as she fired at Shawn.
I gasped, twisting around as one of Shawn’s men hit the ground with a shot to the leg and Shawn dragged another one in front of him as a shield as he ran the fuck away. Most of Rogue’s bullets went wide though one hit the human shield in the arm and Shawn roared a laugh as her gun rang empty.
“Hey, sugarpie!” he shouted as he made it back to his SUV. “I wondered when you were gonna show your face. Keep that pussy wet for when I reclaim it!”
I dove onto the hood of my truck with a shout of rage, grabbing Rogue and leaping off of the other side as Shawn took a gun out of his car.
I leapt into the driver’s seat with her in my arms and as JJ and Chase got in, I threw her over their laps. Shawn returned fire and my dad drove his truck into the path of the bullets as he ducked low, giving us a chance to turn and drive the fuck away. Luther gunned it down the track after us, but Shawn didn’t follow.
Dead Man's Isle (Harlequin Crew #2) Page 40
