by Ryan Michele
I was a little surprised by her anger. Sure, the guys were challenging her, wanting her to come clean on her own. I knew what they were doing, and I didn’t see a problem with it.
In our world, the president having a woman, a real woman who lay beside him every night, was important to get right. If Trixie was a conniving piece of shit like her father, the guys wouldn’t trust her and would have shit to talk about her sharing my bed. And while I wouldn’t accept any of that bullshit, I also understood it.
My brothers didn’t need someone whispering stupid shit in my ear that could get us killed or locked up. While I cleaned up the mess all those years ago, it didn’t mean we were as clean as bleach. No, we had our ties. We had our markers. The guys needed to trust that the woman lying next to me, whispering in my ear, was smart with grit.
My brothers knew I was serious as shit about keeping Trixie this time, so I couldn’t blame them one bit. However, I knew Trixie wouldn’t disappoint me.
Her excitement during the game sucked me in like a drug. I could feel it coming off her while she sat on my lap with her hot heat. While she didn’t show much, her heat told me how hot as hell she was.
“Wildcat,” I tried, but she kept going.
“I mean, it’s not like I’m staying with you. I’m not gonna be part of your world as you call it. There’s no need for it.” She started gasping in breath like she couldn’t get it into her lungs.
I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her securely to me. More was going on here than just a simple little test. Something big, it felt like.
“Calm down.”
She balled her hands into fists and started hitting me. Her eyes were pissed, yet something deeper resided inside them.
“I will not calm down. It’s always a test. Always. My whole fucking life has been one big test.” She screamed so loudly I had no doubt my brothers heard over the music.
Wrapping her wrists with one hand and clutching her body to mine with the other, she twisted as the anger poured off her.
“Tell me what the fuck is going on!” I yelled back.
“What’s going on?” She shook her head, her body starting to tremble, but this time, her words were choked when they came out. “My father always tested me … every single moment he could. I couldn’t ever be good enough for him. Then tonight, I’m having fun, really having fun, Cade. For the first time in a really long time, I let the rush of the game carry me away, and it was just a test. Something for your guys to determine, what? If I’m good enough for a man who doesn’t even really want me?” She shook her head hard, pushing against my chest as anger bubbled. “I’m leaving. I’m getting the fuck out of here, going back to Sirens, and forgetting all this shit.”
I didn’t let her go. No way in hell.
“Trixie, you’re not going anywhere. Take some fucking breaths so we can talk this shit out.”
She shook her head, looking down. “I …” It sounded as if she were fucking crying. Surely, that couldn’t happen.
“Trixie,” I called, and slowly, she raised her head to me. Sure as shit, tears filled her eyes.
“I can’t do this, Cade.” She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“What exactly can’t you do?”
“This thing between us … I can’t. I need to go.” This time, she pleaded, but there was no way in hell she’d step out of my sight.
“No.”
She breathed out a resigned, deep sigh. “Fine, then just fuck me so I can leave.” She sounded so damn wiped out, like all the strength had left her. Where had the fight gone?
I didn’t understand it at all. Not from the fireball that came into my office, demanding to find a woman who stole from her. She was lost, unable to put it back together. Regardless, we would get past this. My little Trixie had some deep-rooted feelings. I hated that for her. I had no doubt her father was an ass to her. She had more than likely given up trying to be the woman who could make him proud.
“Babe,” I whispered in a tone she hadn’t yet heard from me, one I didn’t know I had possessed until that moment. It caught her attention as she stilled in my arms, looking up at me. “You talk to your father much?”
Her breath hitched. “Not if I can help it.” That was good. I didn’t want to do this shit here, but it needed to get out and be done.
I pulled her over to the bed, in between my legs. Her back rested to my front as I held on to her tight.
“I did something a long time ago that caused this test.” Fuck, I didn’t want to tell her this shit. Never wanted to tell her. She deserved so much better than me, but I didn’t fucking care. She was the same old Trixie as back then, only with a few scars from over the years. Mine.
“I’m telling you this because you aren’t some fuck to me. This isn’t some game of playing you for a fool. This isn’t me trying to get you in my good graces, just to break your heart all over again.”
She dropped her head down to her chest. I knew I hit a mark. Tonight wasn’t supposed to be this deep, but fuck it. I might as well get this shit out in the open.
I shifted, resting my back against the headboard. I needed to hold her while I delivered this blow.
“Leaving you was the hardest thing I ever did. And, Trixie, I’ve done some hard things in my life, but giving you up tore me apart.”
She harrumphed. “Yeah, right. You were fucking girls left and right after me.”
True, but she had gotten one thing wrong.
“Only because I couldn’t have you. I know it’s shitty, but it’s the truth.”
“Whatever.” She didn’t believe me, but maybe after the next part, she would.
“When I was a kid, I knew my place would be in this club. Someday, I’d be the president and follow in my father’s footsteps. Unfortunately, my father’s steps were caked in so much shit no one in this club was safe. The Vipers were drowning because he started a side business. Some members of the club knew about it, while others were kept in the dark.” This would hit her; I just knew it. “My father got in the business of kidnapping and selling women to overseas men who paid a shit load for them.”
She snapped her head around just as I thought she would. Trixie’s mouth hung open, but no words came out.
“I knew all about it. I saw shit you don’t need to hear about.” The memories of it flooded my head. I pushed them as far out as I could. That dirt never came off, no matter how much you cleaned it. It still followed you until the day you died.
“At eighteen, I made a plan. I didn’t want to be associated with a club that dealt in women, but I had a problem because my father refused to let me out. So I had to get the club out and into clean businesses. Also, I needed to get rid of my father because I knew he wouldn’t ever back down.
“I needed to find someone to take over the girls. With what my father had going, he had to supply, which meant if he didn’t, they would come after the club. I was young, but I paid attention to the world around me with a keen eye. Only one man around here I could see helping me. He had the power to do what needed to be done.”
Even though I told Boner I was telling her this shit, I didn’t want to, but she needed to know. Know who she was letting into her bed. Despite that, I wouldn’t let go of her.
“The Colonel took over the business.”
She stilled then fully turned in my arms, the color completely leaving, her face now a pasty white. “No way.”
“Yeah.”
Her eyes were wide in shock. It felt good to know she didn’t have a fucking clue about it.
“I gave him the business in exchange for two things: one, protection for my club and, two, that you would never be sold and always protected, which we all still have to this day.”
She started to bolt from the bed, but I pulled her to me so that she straddled my legs. Her arms were behind her back.
“Let me the fuck go!” she screamed, her eyes smoldering.
“Trixie, you gotta listen.”
“I think I’ve listened enough. H
e was going to fucking sell me?” Her words were disbelieving as anger pulled from her depths.
“Trixie, I didn’t know for sure what the fuck he was capable of. He intended to take over a business that kidnapped women then sold them as sex slaves. I knew he was your father, and it fucking scared the shit out of me that he’d do it. I had to take out my old man to make the plan all work. I couldn’t keep my eyes on you and deal with all my club shit.”
“So, you mean to tell me that you gave my father a sex slave business in exchange for him not selling me off?”
“And protection for my club and you. Trixie, I didn’t want the business, but it brings in millions of dollars. The whole thing made me sick as fuck. I couldn’t deal with it.”
“So why didn’t you just shut it down? Why give it away so other women would continue to be hurt?” Her voice turned stern yet broken.
“Told you. The assholes my father got in line with weren’t gonna release my club unless they had somewhere else to get the girls. I needed it released, babe. Needed it off radar. The Colonel did that for me. He took it over, providing the girls. We were actually lucky it was that fucking easy, and we all didn’t end up dead, which at the time, was a strong possibility. Those fuckers are ruthless. Being an eighteen-year-old kid to them, I had to do what I had to do to gain their trust.” That was something I wouldn’t discuss with her.
“Then why my father? He’s a card shark, for God’s sake. He doesn’t deal in women.” It felt like she was trying to convince herself that all of this was a line of shit, and saying it out loud would accomplish that. She was very much mistaken.
“He had hookers, so moving to that stage didn’t come as a hardship for him. He had plenty of women at his disposal at any given time. Being who he is, the women flocked to him because he provided protection to them for a cut of their money.”
Trixie pulled away from me. “Just give me a second, Cade.” Confusion swarmed in her eyes, her voice soft.
The way she said my name hit me hard, so I reluctantly released her.
She paced the room. Her thumb went to her mouth as she chewed on her nail. She said nothing, just paced. I gave her that time. I laid a lot on her all at once. Taking that in would be tough.
Time stretched out as she continued to do her thing, her mind no doubt a buzz of questions.
When she lifted her face, her eyes met mine.
Trixie came to the bed. “I need to sleep. I can’t think about this anymore.” She took off her jeans then climbed in. She covered herself up, putting her rigid back to me.
I pressed my chest to her back and wrapped my arms around her. She didn’t flinch or move a muscle. She shut down on me. I could feel it.
“Trixie?” I whispered.
“No, Cade. Not right now. I need to sleep,” she pleaded.
I kissed the top of her head. “Sleep,” I told her.
Several hours later, I felt her body relax into sleep.
HIS LIGHT SNORES told me he had fallen asleep. The arm around my waist relaxed, releasing its tight grip. I waited for what seemed like an eternity before sliding out of bed as quietly as possible.
Being with him came so easily it scared me. Therefore, I picked my offense to play tired. The goal being to get him to sleep then get the fuck out of here. It had better work.
I knew he wouldn’t have let me leave earlier. I also knew he told me never to leave the bed, but fuck him. Fighting with him wouldn’t have been an option, because I would have lost. He would have done something to make me fall into his world and stay. However, I didn’t know who in the hell this man was. He most definitely was not the guy I had lost my virginity to. The worst part was I thought he still had some of that in him.
I hated being wrong.
Quickly and quietly, I put on my jeans before moving toward the door, still keeping an eye on Cade. He remained lying there, naked from the chest up, a sheet covering his lower half. His tattoos that I inspected before were an intricate design that flexed with each breath he took. He looked so damn peaceful, happy even.
I was a fool telling myself my heart couldn’t get involved, but it didn’t have choice with Cade. From the first moment I’d laid eyes on him, he became my infatuation. Even after he had let me go and through all the pain, I still cared for him. Shit, I even loved him.
Those six months we spent together were the best of my life. My father was there, but not really, always busy doing something.
I had no mother. I’d asked my father about her, but he shot me down every time until I gave up. I had to raise myself. Sure, I had nannies who stayed with me at times, but they never treated me any differently than my father—a burden. Always a burden. Once Cade entered my life, it made the world a little more bearable. Then my world crashed.
The man lying in that bed had lost his mind. Sex slaves? I wasn’t naive. I knew shit happened in the world, but come on. My father a part of it? It was too much.
His eyes though, spoke of honesty, giving me the same look when we had been kids. Deep in my gut, I believed him, but it was too overwhelming. I needed to get out. I needed space to think, and doing it lying next to Cade proved impossible.
I spotted a side door that had a big illuminated exit sign above it. I opened it. My lucky day. It led right into the parking lot.
I darted to my car, fumbling with my keys to get them out of my pocket. Laughter could be heard through the dark night in the distance as I entered the car. I sat there, my hands shaking, everything weighing on me like an elephant on my shoulders.
I looked in the rearview mirror. My eyes were a bit void. That was scary. I closed them, taking some deep breaths. I got this.
I started the engine, pulled out, and had to stop at the big gate. The same man with the goatee came to the window. Needing to play this cool so he would let me out of here, I rolled down the window.
He smiled appraisingly. “Hey, how you doin’?”
“I need out, please,” I told him, ignoring his lust-filled eyes.
“You seem a little tense. Not get what you needed from the boss?”
Suck it up, Trix.
I plastered on a sultry smile, biting my bottom lip as suggestively as I could. “Oh, yeah. I’m letting him sleep it off.”
“He know you’re leavin’?”
I rolled my eyes in exasperation then lied through my goddamned teeth. “Of course. You think he’d let me leave if he didn’t want me to?”
He nodded. “Nope, but hard for me to believe he wants you out of his bed.”
I leaned forward, no doubt giving him a great view of my tits. “Believe it. Can you open the gate please?” I gave him my best eye flutter bullshit. I’d seen my girls use it to work over a client for bigger tips.
He licked his lips. “Fuck.” He raised his hand to the guy above in the tower, stepping back from the car.
The damn gate seemed to take an eternity to open, but as soon as it did, I floored it, getting the fuck away from that nut house.
TOSSING CLOTHES INTO my bag, I ran into the bathroom, gathering all my toiletries. I needed to go somewhere Cade couldn’t find me, because I had no doubt he would. At the moment, the only person I could trust in my life was myself, because I’d never let myself down. I had Jett, but I could never tell her any of this. My gut told me that I needed to hole up in a hotel for a few days to clear my head.
I grabbed my gun, putting it in my purse, and went to my closet, picking up my small safe. After entering the combination, the metal popped open, displaying another gun along with cash. I stored about three thousand in there. The money would be enough to get a semi-nice place without using a credit card.
Cade was smart. My credit card would be the third thing he checked after checking here and Sirens.
I put everything in the bag making it to the hotel in record time. I checked in under the name Annabelle Jacks then bolted every single lock on the door.
The mid-range hotel sat on the side of town. The walls were painted a universal beige w
ith the carpet a darker tan. A small kitchenette with a fridge and microwave sat on one wall with a large-screened television. The bed looked seriously comfortable, covered in white linens. This place would do fine.
Even lying in bed, I couldn’t relax. Everything rattled around in my head. There was too much to think about.
Part of me wanted to go straight to my father and flat-out ask him, but I wasn’t stupid. My father had always been a dick. That was his nature. He had zero patience, especially when I got something wrong. Despite that, he had never hit me or hurt me physically in any way.
Believing he had taken over a sex slave operation and was still running it to this day didn’t compute. Not to mention, the thought of him selling me as Cade said. Why would he do that? He might not have liked the fact that I wasn’t born a boy, but to sell me to some asshole who would do God knows what to me? What father would do that to his child?
Sure, my father had a mysterious aura always surrounding him. He had men he called friends, but with one look at their bulkiness, I knew they were guards. I’d asked once about them, and he told me it was none of my business, so I never asked again. I thought he was a card player; I mean, how else would he have taught me?
When he was teaching me self-defense and giving me a business sense, I had never thought about why he needed the guards. It was just how my life was. Cade said the Colonel had hookers. I didn’t know about that.
Then there was the fact that Cade had to even get involved in this in the first place. Did he hurt the girls his father had? Did he treat them like the mouses in his clubhouse? Did he actually help his father sell kidnapped girls? At that thought, the tears fell from my eyes. Everything I thought I knew about Cade was a lie.
I tossed and turned all night and into the morning. I rose from the bed with a heavy head, like I’d been on an all-night bender or something.
I grabbed my phone, seeing thirteen missed calls from Cade, one from Jett, and a whole slew of text messages. The ones from Cade, I ignored, only reading the ones from Jett. Nothing big, just telling me everything went well last night.
