“Because right before I left, I overheard a conversation between the two of them. The reason Anson was pushing for a quick marriage was so he could get his hands on my inheritances once I died. All of them; the one set up for me from my grandparents, and of course, what my parents left me. Then, he and Kassidy would marry after a brief period of mourning. He was cheating on me the whole time.” I don’t know why that fact doesn’t bother me more, but I always felt like a showpiece for Anson, as if it wasn’t me he loved, but what I was bringing into the marriage. In fact, now that I think on it, he hadn’t touched me intimately in months.
“Son of a bitch!” Poseidon exclaims. “Do you know what they were using?”
I shake my head. “Not a clue. I need to see a doctor or something but getting away was my first priority. I left, headed north and well, the rest, you know. Thank you for saving me, by the way.”
He grins before stating, “I’ve never had a pretty girl fall at my feet quite like you did, but I’m glad I was here as well. So, what are your plans now?”
I shrug, not having a clue what to do. “I don’t really know. I mean, financially, I’m set already, and when my birthday comes, I’ll never have to work if I don’t want to, but I don’t think it’s safe for me to go home. Do you?”
Poseidon
Her question startles me because my mind is still on how I can take care of this piece of shit in a way that she won’t have any blowback. When her question filters in, I immediately know that there’s no fucking way she’s going anywhere near those two snakes. “It’s not safe, but I have an idea. Just hear me out,” I state when I see her start to open her mouth. “I think you should come back with me. My club can help protect you and keep you safe, we’ll find a doctor to check you over and make sure your health hasn’t been compromised by what they’ve been forcing down you. Me and my guys will go with you to get your belongings. No one will hurt you on our watch, that’s a damn guarantee.”
I haven’t felt this kind of pull to someone since Winnie. While I haven’t been celibate, I wouldn’t say I was a manwhore. I just never saw myself settling down with one woman. Maybe if Winnie had lived, it would have happened, but who really knows? Yet, there’s something about Lillianna Rose that intrigues me, and I want to explore that feeling more. Subtly. Having her nearby will allow me to keep her safe because once this Anson character realizes she figured shit out, she’s going to be in imminent danger.
“I don’t want to be a problem or burden to anyone.” Her voice is low, yet the melodic cadence washes over me and I feel a piece of ice break away from my frozen heart. I had that locked up tighter than Fort Knox, but with her shared story, it’s crumbling away… small chunks at a time.
“Not a problem. How far away would you say your car is?” I have a snowmobile in the garage and feel like I need to check it out for her.
“No fucking clue,” she admits. “When all the lights came on, I pulled over and got out because I didn’t know if it was a legitimate issue, or they fucked with my car. I know I walked for a long time, but I was lost, so I could have been going in circles for all I know.”
She’s so smart. Winnie’s voice whispers across my soul and I close my eyes to embrace the voice I miss so much. From time to time, that’s happened, usually when I’m on the right track. It’s definitely saved my ass, as well as my team’s when we were all still serving, more times than I want to think about. “Well, it’s still daylight, so I’m willing to take my snowmobile and check it out for you. You need to stay here though, it’s still cold out and the last thing you need is to get sick after traipsing through the woods to get to me.” She thankfully nods in my direction and I smile back in response. “Okay, then. I’ve got a pot of beef vegetable soup on the stove and I can promise you that there’s nothing in there that’s not supposed to be. I can throw some rolls in the oven if you’d like. Got fresh butter in the fridge.” One of the things my men give me shit over is the fact that I can cook. I had no choice but to learn since my mom sometimes had to travel farther than she liked to in order to take care of her patients. I’m a guy and I like to eat, so I learned pretty fucking fast how to put a meal together. Over the years, I’ve gotten better, and while I’ll never admit it to those fuckers at the club, I have a serious collection of well-used cookbooks now.
Her nose crinkles up at the mention of soup and I frown. She won’t want to eat soup right now, not if those assholes have been using it to poison her. “I’ve got some lunch meat as well,” I tell her.
“No, it’ll be fine. Somehow, if you’re eating it, I don’t think you’d toss poison in, right?” she inquires.
“Hell fucking no. That’s a pussy move on their part and trust me, they’ll answer for it,” I promise with a vow.
“What do you mean when you say they’ll answer for it?” she asks.
“You fell into my arms, literally. That means that you’re mine.” I don’t stop to think of my words; right now, I mean them one hundred percent.
Lillianna
I stare at him and I know I’ve got a frown plastered on my face. I can’t comprehend his words; I mean, yeah, I did fall at his feet, but it’s kind of caveman-ish to say what he just said to me! “What exactly does that mean?” I question. I mean, he’s a helluva good-looking man, and I get tingles whenever he speaks, but for all intents and purposes, I’m still engaged, right? Doesn’t that make me a hussy or something?
“It means what I said. You’re mine. Doesn’t matter if that asshat thinks he’s still engaged to you or not. You fell at my feet and I’ve been taking care of you since you did. That makes you mine.” He appears almost happy about that fact, but he is out in the middle of nowhere, alone, so how can that be possible?
“That kind of sounds barbaric and Neanderthal-ish to me,” I chide him. “I mean, you don’t know a thing about me at all. And this isn’t the fucking eighteen hundred’s, ya know.” I mean, this sounds like he’s stating I don’t have much say so in who I end up with for the rest of my life. That’s white padded walls type of insanity!
“We’ll get to know one another, especially since we’re not gonna be going anywhere for at least a week.” Sarcastically I can’t help but think that at least he’s willing to get to know me a little… in a week’s time!
“A freaking week?” I stammer out, because I sure as hell don’t have anything clothes-wise to last a full week. Plus, the whole hussy thing is raging in the forefront of my mind. Is he expecting me to fall into his bed and spread eagle? Or what? Surely, he doesn’t think we’ll fall madly in love in seven days? I may grow to like him, but trust isn’t freely given by me after what I’ve been through. I’m not sure that I’ll ever trust another man as long as I live. I’m feeling like I’ll turn into that crazy cat lady that people speak of. At least they’re loyal and won’t try to kill me off.
“I see the look on your face. I promise, you can trust me. Yes, we’ll be in the same bed, but I know you’ve got shit to finish before you do anything else.”
“H-how do you know that?” I question. Is this fucker a mind reader or something? It’s as if he infiltrated my mind and pulled my thoughts out of my head. Freaky shit right there.
“It’s written all over your face, pretty girl. You’re not the type of woman who jumps from man to man.” Well, he’s got me there; I’m not that woman at all. Kassidy, on the other hand, apparently is that type and while I’m mourning the fact that my friendship with her is now over, I’m also pissed. We’ve been friends for almost half our life, ever since my first day in a new school! Friends don’t poach other friends’ men! He starts laughing, then says, “Don’t play poker, Lilli. You’ll lose every hand.” Why when he shortens my name do I get a thrill? I hated it when Anson did it; it made me feel like a pet or something.
Deciding now is a good time to change the subject, I ask, “Do you need my keys? I’ve got a suitcase in the trunk, too.” I just remembered that I did manage to grab that. Thank goodness that I hadn’t taken it out
from my trip to my parents’ house. I still need to finish cleaning their house out, but right now, I just can’t think of doing that task. The only reason I went when I did was to clear out the refrigerator so the stuff inside wouldn’t spoil and create a bigger mess. I know their things are safely tucked away in the safety of their home, and I brought back the small firebox that has their important papers. The only thing that has any meaning to me anymore are our family photos.
“Yeah, those would be good. Did you notice anything weird about how it was driving?” he questions. I stop to think about my trip. Normally, Esther, my car, is dependable as hell, but for some reason, she almost seemed to lag whenever I’d try to speed up.
“Now that you mention it, she didn’t accelerate like normal,” I reply. “Oh, and I have one of those small fireboxes in the trunk too. It has my parents’ important papers. Their attorney has the rest, but these are their copies.”
“She?” he questions, his eyebrow quirked up at me and a smirk playing on his lips.
“Yeah, she. My car’s name is Esther.” At my pronouncement, he starts laughing, and the sound goes straight to my girly bits. Dammit, Lillianna! You’re gonna be labeled a hoe if you throw yourself at this complete stranger.
“Anything else?” he asks when he’s finally gotten himself under control.
“Not that I can think of off the top of my head. Once all the dash lights came on, I pulled over and shut her off. I just had her serviced last month and there aren’t a lot of miles on her, so I don’t know what could be wrong,” I respond. “In fact, I had just gotten back from a trip to my parents’ house a couple of days ago.”
He stands and says, “I’ll get ready to go check it out. Are you going to be okay here until I get back?”
I look around at the small but cozy cabin and nod. “Yeah, I can read on my e-reader while you’re gone.” He grins and nods before heading to a small closet that’s near the front door. Okay, so he fibbed because this place has two doors. Seeing my look, he just shakes his head before grabbing a snowmobile suit out of the closet and a pair of heavy-duty boots.
“I know, I know. There are two doors here, but this closet is so tiny, I tend to forget about it.” I start laughing once he has all his outerwear gear on because he looks like something from outer space. “Go ahead and laugh but there’s another suit in here and if this snow keeps up like it is, I’ll get you out in the next few days.”
I feel my mouth go dry at the thought of being behind him on the snowmobile. I haven’t been on one in years, but I remember how exhilarating it was to fly through the trails. “S-sounds like fun,” I stammer out. Realizing I need to get him my keys, I stand and go to my backpack. Once I have them dug out, I hand them over. “Please be careful.” I have no idea where that came from because he definitely looks more than capable of handling anything, especially with the gun I saw him tuck into the side pocket of the suit.
“No worries, Lilli. I’ll be back before you know it, so just make yourself comfortable. My home is your home.” He leans closer and I hold my breath; part of me wants to kiss him and the other part realizes that technically, I’m not free to do so. He doesn’t kiss me, however; instead, he lightly runs his gloved hand down my cheek before saying, “Glad you found me, pretty girl. No clue where all of this is going, but I think you’re the answer to one of my mother’s prayers.” With that, he heads outside, instructing me to lock the door behind him. Once that’s done, I head into the kitchen. I might have an aversion to soup right now, but what’s on the stove smells so delicious that I decide to make a bowl and while it’s cooling, I pop a loaf of crusty bread I found into the oven to warm it up.
Poseidon
It takes me nearly thirty minutes by snowmobile to reach Lillianna’s car and that has me realizing how fortunate it is that she didn’t freeze to death before she found me. Shutting the snowmobile off, I grab my MagLite from the inner compartment and turn it on so I can look around and see if I can figure out what the hell happened to her car. Walking over, I see that all four tires are flat, yet the only tracks are those of her vehicle. Frowning, I unlock her car and pop the latch to open the hood. Moving to the front of the car, I prop the hood up, grateful that it’s a newer vehicle and it’s on hydraulics. I’m somewhat mechanically inclined, even though that’s more Trident’s forte than mine. He might still take shifts at the hospital as a trauma nurse in the ER, but he helps out at our repair and body shop and I trust him implicitly with anything that has an engine. He also runs our bar; now that I’m thinking about it, the fucker needs to slow down before he gives himself a heart attack. Flicking the heavy-duty flashlight on, I start looking at the engine and my frown deepens when I notice small nicks on several wires and hoses leading to the alternator and the fuel pump. The battery cables appear loosened at the leads as well and I can smell oil and transmission fluid. Dropping down to my knees, I shine the light under the vehicle and am not surprised when I see various fluids coating the ground underneath the car.
Son of a bitch. She’s more fortunate than she realizes because it’s obvious to me, even with my limited knowledge, that her car has been tampered with and I suspect it was either her fiancé or her best friend who did the dirty work. They didn’t want her making it far. They definitely intended for her to become stranded and at the mercy of others.
I pull out my phone and call Trident.
“Yo,” he says when he finally accepts my call.
“Can you get the tow truck up here?” I ask by way of greeting.
“Jesus fucking Christ, didn’t you say it was snowing?”
“Yeah it is. Got a situation that I don’t want to go into on the phone. There’s a car sitting off the road on the way to my granddad’s cabin. Literally on the way; you can’t miss it. Need it brought into the shop and gone over with a fine-tooth comb, brother. Doesn’t matter if it’s you, Atlas, or Reef. I know any one of y’all will check it over thoroughly.”
“Got it, Prez. Anything else?”
“I’ll be texting some info to Specks once I get back to the cabin. Need him to check into what I send him and get it back to me as soon as he possibly can.” I feel like I need it yesterday because whether she knows it or not, her ex has her in his sights and she’s not safe.
“I’ll pass it on. Can you put the keys somewhere?” Trident queries, pulling me from my thoughts.
I think about what I’ve got in the compartment that the snowmobile has for stowing things and remember putting some zip ties in just in case they were ever needed. I also have some small baggies in there as well. Strange shit, I know, but in my experience, that strange shit is often needed at the craziest times. “Gonna zip tie the keys underneath the front bumper.” There’s a small area that will let me do this without them being seen. I don’t expect the car to be messed with; the weather has gotten worse and this isn’t a heavily traveled road.
“Got it. I’ll be there when I get there, especially with this weather,” he says before disconnecting. That’s one thing about Trident; he says what he needs and hangs up. Can’t fault him; we all tend to do that very thing. I spend the next few minutes getting her stuff from the trunk, grinning when I see that she has it organized and neat. Once I have the keys where I told Trident I’d put them, I make sure the car is locked up and head back to the cabin. Even with the suit, I’ve gotten cold.
I’ve been back at the cabin for thirty minutes and for the past ten, I’ve watched Lilli pace the cabin, ranting and mumbling to herself. I’ve heard her mention castration, mutilation and something about feeding him to a hippopotamus. Shaking my head, I reach out on her next pass and pull her down onto my lap. “Shh, Lilli, I didn’t tell you that to get you all worked up,” I quietly state. “You need to calm that fine ass down, pretty girl.” I try soothing her by rubbing my hands up and down her back, but she’s having none of it and she jumps off my lap.
“I can’t believe he’s so damned despicable! And to think I thought I was in love with him. Ha! More like
I was in shock or something from losing my parents and I let him buffalo me into everything.” I find myself hiding a grin because she looks like a tiny pixie ninja on a rampage, her hair flying all around and her fists clenched. It doesn’t hurt, either, that she isn’t in love with the prick.
“I’ve got you,” I repeat, standing and pulling her back into my arms. “It’s going to be fine. We’ll take care of it all.”
“We?” she questions.
“Poseidon’s Warriors, Lilli,” I reply. “And that’s all you need to know about that.” I keep my voice firm but once again, she surprises me by poking me in the chest.
“First of all, it’s not your concern. Second of all, I need to deal with Anson.” She’s riled up and it has my dick as hard as steel. She’s gonna be fun to get to know. The first time I incite club business, she’s liable to chop my balls off.
“It is my concern. I told you I’ve claimed you, woman. You need to get with the program. What that means is since you’re mine, I will deal with that fucktard.” He’s done enough to her and her things, that I don’t trust the weasel anywhere near her.
“There you go again with that claiming shit. We’ve known each other for less than a day, which defies even the fastest insta-love fiction book out there!”
Deciding that enough is enough, I claim her mouth with my own. Fuck, she tastes like cinnamon and something uniquely her. When she gasps, I slide my tongue into her mouth and begin exploring. I don’t miss the hitch in her breathing or the slight moan that she emits as she curls closer to me. Right now, I don’t give that first fuck that she’s still technically tied to another man. They’re not married and based on the fact that he’s trying to kill her, I think that makes her a free agent. Long moments pass as I kiss her and as I pull slightly back, I realize that what I told her was the absolute, motherfucking truth.
Poseidon's Lady (Poseidon's Warriors MC) Page 3
