by Jayne Blue
I gave Sticks and Glover some cash and told them to take the rest of the night off. I wanted Sydney and I to have the place alone tonight.
It was late by the time we all got settled, almost two in the morning. Sydney walked into my room and looked around.
“Sorry,” I said. “I know it’s not much.”
It wasn’t. I had a master suite with a walk-in closet and a big bathroom. But it was still just a bedroom. I had a small table in the corner with two mismatched chairs.
It had never mattered to me before. It was home. It was a palace compared to where I’d spent five of the worst years of my life. But now, I kind of wished I had somewhere better to take her.
“It’s perfect,” she said, sitting on the bed. “I’m sorry to have to put you out.”
I smiled and sat beside her. “I want you here. That’s the thing. Since the second I saw you. I knew we’d end up here.”
She looked at me. “You did?”
“Fuck yeah. You’re mine.”
She put her head on my shoulder. She needed comfort. I would have held her like that all night.
“I want you all the time,” she said. “So much so it’s hard to breathe.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
She choked out a sob. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore. Maybe it would be easier if I just went back.”
Her voice dropped so low on the last bit, I almost didn’t hear her. But I did, and it froze my heart.
“Is that what you want?”
Her tears made my shirt damp. I reached over and grabbed a tissue from the nightstand. She took it and blew her nose.
“Is that what you want?” I asked her again.
“I don’t belong anywhere,” she said. “I thought I was doing okay. Making my own way. But they still can pull the rug out from under me. I wanted to stand on my own two feet. I wanted not to need anyone. I do, though. Torch, I need you.”
I needed her too. More than the air in my lungs, it seemed.
“You don’t want to need me,” I said.
“Yes! No! I don’t know. I think ... I think I’m falling in love with you.”
She pulled away from me. Her eyes searched my face.
Love. It didn’t seem an adequate enough word to describe what I felt for her.
“For God’s sake,” she said. “Say something.”
I rose. Sydney had to crane her neck to keep my gaze. “I did,” I said. “I told you. You’re mine.”
“What …”
“It means I do better when I’m with you. You don’t know what it’s been like for me. I’m not ... when I got ... when I came to the club, I was more animal than human. I don’t even know why Colt took a chance on me, but he did. I’m still breathing because of him. But ... I feel like I’m alive because of you.”
She blinked fast. Slowly, Sydney rose. She came to me, sliding her hands up my chest.
“I love you,” she whispered. “And I’m sorry for whatever you had to go through before I met you.”
“That’s just it,” I said. “It doesn’t even matter anymore. And that’s the first time I’ve ever been able to say that. To feel it. So no, you don’t get to go back. I won’t allow it. You’re mine. I don’t care about your father or those pictures or your Uncle George. Fuck all of them. You’re mine.”
Then, I knew I had to make her prove it. Even the thought of her leaving tore my guts to shreds. I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t have it. So I had to have her. Hard. Rough. Now.
I slid a hand between her legs. Even over her jeans, I could feel her heat. She really was mine. Her body responded to me. A look. A word. A touch, and I knew she’d submit. It was the same for me too.
“You don’t get to leave,” I said. “Do you hear me?”
She nodded. Her cheeks flushed. Her breath came in quick little pants. She couldn’t strip fast enough for me.
Later, I might take my time. Now, I needed something else. She had her shirt off. Her breasts strained against her little black bra. I reached for her, pulling the straps down until her nipples popped out.
I bent her over the bed. She cried out my name. “Yes,” she sighed.
Then I claimed her. Hard. Deep. Repeatedly. I took her on her hands and knees while she braced herself against the headboard. I took her with her ankles in my hands, her legs splayed wide into a vee. Later, I took her gently, waking her from the few minutes of sleep I allowed her to have. When she thought she was too tired, too spent, I coaxed her, showing her how her body would always respond to mine. It shocked her a little to see how wet I could make her, even when she thought she was sated.
I never would be. I would never get enough of this woman.
Later, as the sun came up, Sydney slept like the dead. I couldn’t. I was still too keyed up. Her father had rattled her. Her Uncle George too. I needed to do something about it.
It was just past seven when I got out of the shower and dressed. Sydney was still snoring. I leaned over and kissed her forehead. She frowned a little but didn’t wake. She was still naked. I pulled the sheet down so I could look at her.
Mine. Dammit. All mine. I had half a mind to take all of her clothes so she couldn’t leave this room until I came back.
I smiled. Maybe another time.
Colt, Joker, Kellan, and Brax were downstairs when I walked into the bar. Colt knew me well enough to read my face.
“Where the hell are you going?” he asked. No doubt Joker had already filled him in on how pissed I was last night.
“I need to see George,” I said. “Colt, I can’t let what happened slide. He threw Sydney out. Her family is trying to …”
“Trying to what?” Colt asked.
“Trying to make her go away. To hurt her.”
“I can’t have you charging off threatening my lawyer,” Colt said. “I don’t condone what he did. Sydney’s a good girl. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like that. I’m glad you brought her here. But we have to figure out a way to keep this from causing problems we don’t need.”
“I love her,” I said. “Okay? You wanted me to make up my mind. I have. She’s it.”
Colt smiled. “I’m glad. And it explains a hell of a lot. But we still have a problem. We’ll work it out, but it won’t be by you charging over there and beating the shit out of George or threatening him. Okay. You need to let me talk to him. And I will. Later today. In the meantime, I need you to cool off. Run over to the gym. See if our trainers need anything. It’ll take you a couple of hours. Clear your head.”
I wouldn’t say no, and he knew it. Still, it was killing me not to deal with George Bailey myself.
“Torch,” Kellan said. “Sydney won’t want you ripping her uncle’s face off either. She’s capable of talking to him herself. Go. Don’t worry about your girl. We’ll tell her where you went. We’ll take care of her.”
“He’s right,” Amy said as she came around from behind the bar. “Plus, she’s on the schedule in a few hours. We’ll keep her busy.”
I was outnumbered. “All right,” I said. “I’ll be back by noon. The truck should be arriving right after with a shipment of GW Brew. We’ve been sold out. I’ll try and be back in time to help with that.”
As soon as I left, I found myself glad to have a mission. It gave me a chance to get the road under me and clear my head. Damn, if Colt wasn’t a mind reader when it came to me sometimes.
Things were running pretty smoothly at the GWMC Gym. We’d hired a few new trainers, and everyone seemed to be working out okay. There was just one issue with one of the equipment suppliers trying to jack up prices against our contract. I assured Paul, the gym manager, that I’d follow up on that.
It took a little longer than I intended. When I finally left the gym, I had three missed calls, one from Sydney. She sent a text too, telling me not to worry about her. She clocked in early and was going to work the lunch crowd at the Den. She was grateful for the hours.
I was glad of it but had kind of hoped to
get her alone again before the bar opened. But work was good for both of us. I wanted to have a conversation with her later tonight. The Den was fine, but maybe it was time for me to look for my own place. I wanted to ask her to come with me.
The moment the thought entered my mind, new excitement grew in my heart. Yes. That’s exactly what I wanted. It was soon. It was intense. But it felt right.
I was so keyed up thinking about it, I almost didn’t see the problem as I pulled into the Den parking lot. But the problem saw me.
“Stay right there!” a voice reached me from a bullhorn. The club was surrounded by cop cars. The locals. The feds. The DEA.
“Shit,” I muttered.
“Torch!” Sydney’s strained voice reached me. She was up against the side of the building in a huddle with Amy, Mallory, Shannon, and Lori.
Fire raced through my veins. The front door to the bar opened. I watched as Colt, Kellan, Brax, and Joker were led out in handcuffs and muscled into the back of the DEA van.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sydney
“You got her?” Torch asked. He locked eyes with Amy. He had a hand on the small of my back.
“We know what to do,” Amy assured him. “Do you know what to do?”
Torch gave her a sharp nod. He turned to me. “You go with Amy. You do what she tells you.”
“Torch,” I said. “Where are you going?”
Two DEA officers headed toward us.
“We’re gonna need you to come with us,” one of them said.
“You got a warrant?” Torch asked. I held my breath waiting for the answer too.
“We just want to talk.”
“Come on,” Amy said to me under her breath. “We need to get you home.”
Home. I didn’t have one anymore. That didn’t seem to slow Amy down. She pulled on my sleeve, forcing me away from Torch’s side.
His eyes were cold and hard as he looked at me. It was an unspoken directive, underscoring what he’d already said.
Then Torch went with the officers and disappeared behind the back of one of the vans. The paddy wagon containing all the remaining senior leadership of the club pulled out. I’d watched seven men chained together and loaded up. Torch’s family. Was he next?
“We need to go!” Amy said. I don’t know how she stayed so calm and in control. One of the men in chains was her husband and father of her children.
“The kids?” I asked.
“That’s Mallory’s job,” Amy said. At that point, Nicole, Brax’s wife, pulled up in her minivan.
Amy moved quickly, pulling me along with her. I slid into the back while she got in the passenger side. Nicole barely waited for her to close the door before she peeled out of the parking lot.
No one said anything for the twenty-minute drive away from the Den. At first, I thought we were heading for Colt and Amy’s place. But Nicole drove out of town. She finally pulled into a small neighborhood with new construction, stopping at a two-story house that was walled in, and had a roof.
We got out. Amy had the keys to the place. It smelled of fresh pine. There wasn’t even drywall up on all the walls.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Someplace safe,” Amy said. “For now, anyway. This is Joker’s new place. Or, it will be once it’s finished.”
Nicole busied herself, checking all of the other rooms. She went upstairs and shouted down an all clear. Then Amy led me into the kitchen. While there was no traditional furniture, obviously, a stack of folding chairs leaned against the wall. Amy grabbed two; I grabbed a third.
“I don’t have a lot of time,” she said to me. She and Nicole had been acting like they were linked telepathically with each other. Just a look or a gesture spurred the other into action.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked.
“With any luck,” she said, “your uncle is handling the biggest job. Colt called him as soon as the cops showed up.”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Again with that look between Amy and Nicole.
“We have to assume they’ve bugged the club,” Nicole said. “Maybe even our houses.”
“No way,” I said. “I may not be a lawyer, but I’ve worked for my uncle long enough to know they couldn’t possibly have enough probable cause to invade the privacy of your homes.”
“We can’t assume anything,” Nicole said. “That’s the main thing you need to understand.”
“You asked what you can do,” Amy said. “That’s why you’re here. Torch wants you protected. That goes both ways.”
“You think I’d do anything to hurt him?”
“No,” Amy said. “Not intentionally. I just need you to know the drill. First off, this is bullshit, but it’s serious. Very serious.”
“What? That was the DEA. Do they think the club is dealing drugs?” My throat ran dry. Was the club dealing drugs?
“It’s a frameup,” Nicole said. “One of the trucks came down from our microbrewery in Toledo. They were delivering a shipment of craft beer to stock the Den. The feds showed up and raided the truck. They found something. I don’t know what.”
“Drugs,” I said. “They found drugs?”
“Heroin,” Amy said. “Bricks and bricks of it.”
“It’s a setup,” Nicole said again. “The club doesn’t deal in that kind of shit. Never has. Never will. And this is the second time the cops pulled this. A few years ago, they raided the ice cream shop. It’s the Devil’s Hawks M.O. I just can’t believe they are stupid enough to try the same thing twice.”
“It’s way bigger this time,” Amy said. “That truck crosses state lines.”
And that’s why the DEA was there instead of just the Lincolnshire P.D. They were bringing federal charges against the club. It likely went beyond drug charges, which were bad enough.
“They’re mounting a RICO case, aren’t they?” I said.
“Probably,” Amy said.
“I’ll ask again,” I said. “What do you want me to do? How can I help?”
Something passed over Amy’s face. Relief maybe. Admiration. If this was a test, I’d passed for now. Was I loyal? Was I too scared?
“You were with Torch for the last couple of days,” Amy said. “Soon enough, they’re going to find out you went to Cincinnati with him. I think it’s reasonable to assume you’re going to get a phone call from a federal agent. Probably today. You don’t say a single thing without a lawyer present.”
“I’ll call my uncle,” I said.
“You can’t do that,” Nicole said. “That’s the one person you can’t call. He represents the club. It’ll be a conflict of interest. I’ll give you a name or two.”
“Nicole, I can’t afford a lawyer,” I said. “If I’m not being charged, I can’t get one for free.”
“We’ll take care of that,” she said. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Is it?” I asked.
The women fell silent, and that was my answer. This wasn’t just some routine hassle or cost of doing business. I could see it in Amy’s eyes. We’d just entered some doomsday scenario.
“I think we were being followed,” I said. “In fact, I know we were. I don’t know how much has filtered down to you, but my father was sent pictures of Torch and I together a few days ago. I have no idea if any of this is connected. But someone’s watching. And I don’t think it’s just the FBI.”
“I was afraid of that,” Amy said. “For now, we need to get you someplace to stay. It’s not safe to go back to your apartment if that’s where they took the pictures.”
“That’s why Torch brought me to the Den,” I said. “Now you’re saying it’s not safe there either.”
“I’m already on it,” Nicole said. She had her phone out and started texting.
Amy put a hand over hers. Nicole put the phone down. Amy pulled three new phones out of her purse. They were the burner kind you get from the grocery store.
“Good thinking,” Nicole said. She took one and started
to make a call. She let herself out the back door into the dirt pile that might someday be a backyard.
“You need to change up your routine,” she said to me.
I laughed. “I have no routine anymore. I can’t work at the club. My uncle just evicted me illegally. My parents aren’t speaking to me. Torch is ... I don’t even know.”
“I know this is rough,” she said. “And you just got dragged into something that has nothing to do with you. Probably. But someone is out to hurt my family. Torch is part of that family, and he cares about you. So, I’m going to do everything that I can to make sure none of this lands on you. That’s my job. And it’s also my job, while the guys are in custody, to make sure you’re taken care of.”
“We’re good to go,” Nicole said as she walked back into the house. “Shannon’s on board.”
“Shannon?” I asked.
“You’ll stay with her,” Amy said. “I’ll drive you over there now. I need you to lay low. Use that phone and call one of the lawyers Nicole’s going to give you. If you are contacted by the cops, let me know. Don’t talk to anyone but me, Nicole, Mallory, or Tara. Shannon’s in the loop, but the less she knows from you, the better. I’ll let Sticks take care of her.”
“What’s she got to do with Sticks?” Nicole asked.
Amy smiled. “It’s about the worst-kept secret in the club,” she said. “The two of them have been hooking up since Christmas.”
“Wow,” Nicole said. “Where the hell have I been? Did you know anything about it?” She turned to me.
“No,” I said. “But I’ve been …” I felt the blush creep into my face.
“She’s been too busy with Torch,” Amy said, though her tone was light. She put a hand on my knee.
I felt the air suck right out of my lungs, and panic seep in. I’d just found him. Was I now about to lose him?
“I want to thank you,” Amy said. “I don’t know how rough a patch we’re in for. Hopefully, your Uncle George will earn his very obscene, very fat retainer and get our men home to us by morning. If he can’t, we’re all going to have to rely on Torch a whole lot more. If you asked me six months ago whether I thought he’d be up to it, I’m not sure what I would have said. But he’s different now since you came into his life. We’ve all seen it. Colt especially.”
