by Lynn Burke
“What? The fact that’s who I am or that you’re a little intimidated by me?”
“Both,” he replied with a small grin.
I tugged on the back of his neck, but he didn’t need much persuasion to end the chit chat. Holy shit, had I misjudged him—thoroughly. He gave in to me, gave in to what I wanted without a second’s hesitation, without needing to put on an alpha-like show.
Dangerous…
Capone peeled off my clothing one piece at a time, kissing and licking every inch, sweeping responsible thoughts I might have into the wind. Still trapped in his leathers, he settled between my spread thighs and ate me out like a starving man, tongue, teeth, lips … every lick and nibble stirring the caldron of need boiling through my entire body.
My skin flushed, heated through. I clung to his hair, my thighs to the side of his head as he showed me how a woman ought to be treated. The second he slid two fingers deep inside of me, I combusted, my back arching and limbs trembling as I cried out his name.
I’m so damn screwed… The thought rang in my head as I lay catching my breath, my gaze on Capone as he yanked off his clothes. Dips and planes, muscles and sinew… I licked my lips, the aftershocks in my pussy clenching at emptiness.
“Hurry,” I whispered.
Capone
One command from her lips, a mere whisper, and my body obeyed. I sheathed myself in record time and climbed atop her once more. Her legs wrapped around me as I slid in, fully-seated with one flex of my ass cheeks.
“Fuck.” I groaned the word in her neck as she gasped against my ear.
“Yes.”
An agreement with my thought or another command, I couldn’t tell, but I went with the latter. Satisfying Helina lay at the forefront of my mind, driving me on with every slow roll and thrust of my hips. Keeping me in check from blowing my load too damn early.
Her pussy clenched around me, her whimpers and orders to go faster, harder, buzzing my brain.
Too fucking good.
Too fucking much.
I held her face in my hands and kissed her while sliding in and out of her soaked pussy. I devoured her mouth, tried to breathe in the exhales from her lungs in the hopes of trapping her inside of me.
She fucking owns me…
Strangely, the thought warmed my chest rather than knifing my gut. Groaning, I tilted my head back, lower lip between my teeth, eyes clenched shut as I thrust in and out of her, harder and faster, exactly as she wanted. Every muscle in my body trembled. Sweat dampened my skin. Helina whined beneath me, her thighs tight against my hips, her fingernails ripping at my back.
“Come, ‘Lina. Please, fucking come.” I slammed in deep and captured her mouth again, grinding my pelvis against her clit.
She let go, giving over to me. Back arching, she pressed her tits against me and clung fiercely to my shoulder blades, keeping our mouths fused as groans mixed between our lips.
My balls detonated, and with each thrust of my hips, I filled the condom with jets of my cum. “Goddamn,” I half-croaked, fighting for breath as my cock continued to jerk deep inside of her. “Fuck, are you divine.”
Drained and shaking, I propped on my elbows, our heavy breathing caressing the other’s face as our foreheads met.
I wanted to cuddle, our heads sharing a pillow as we shared our thoughts. Our feelings.
Fucking teenaged pansy-ass…
Jaw clenched, I backed off, her legs and arms falling to the bed as though boneless as my semi slipped from her hold. What a fucking sight… Dark hair spread everywhere, chest still heaving with those plump, dark nipples. A shudder rippled down over her body.
“So good,” she murmured before heaving a sigh.
“Does that mean you’ll go out with me tonight?” I asked, a grin working at my lips as I studied her gorgeous body.
“Maybe.”
Chuckling, I turned for the bathroom. A quick clean up, and I returned to find her unmoved. She reached for the warm, wet towel I had in my hand, but I pulled it back from her hand. “Let me.”
Helina settled back once more, and I took my time wiping the slickness of her cum from her thighs. From between the swollen folds of her pussy. One last swipe over her clit caught her breath, and my cock twitched in response.
“You’re like the worst drug,” I said, tossing the washcloth aside.
She stiffened and shifted away as I stretched out beside her. “I have to go.”
The fuck…
“Need to catch some of those zzz’s,” she said, grabbing her clothes up off the floor where I’d thrown them as though unfazed by what had rocked my world—the realization she owned me. Did she not feel it? Didn’t she see what she did to me?
Frowning, I watched her tug up her panties, hiding heaven from me. “You’re welcome to stay here—”
“I can’t.” She shook her head and continued to dress without looking at me, her movements jerky.
I found myself swallowing against sudden nausea. “What did I say?”
“Nothing.” A quick, fake smile tossed my way, and she started toward the open bedroom door.
Nothing. “I thought lawyers needed to be good liars.”
She pulled up short, hesitated for a few seconds—just long enough to send a rush of adrenaline through my blood—and turned. Eyes hard, she peered across the room at me, and I fought not to shrink against the mattress. “You might be a real man,” she deadpanned, “but that doesn’t dismiss what you’ve chosen to be.”
I stared, mute, as she turned and walked away. A minute later, my front door shut, the finality of that damn barrier between us knifing my fucking heart.
A drug… That’s what I’d compared her to, that’s what reminded her of what I’d chosen to be—a lawless dealer who profited from weak addicts.
I’m a fucking loser, I thought, pressing the heels of my palms against my eyes.
Digger had warned me a woman would someday break my heart, but never in my years had I expected a woman to wreck me in the way that Helina had done.
I fucking cried. An actual tear slid down my cheek, and both Dad and David’s voices rang in my ears, calling me all kinds of names.
****
“Don’t come in,” Jonny whispered harshly over the line.
I blinked in the bright sunlight streaming through my open curtains, failing to process what he’d said. “The fuck time is it?”
“Don’t come in,” he repeated.
“What?”
“Chief Rosedale had a heart attack last night.” Jonny’s voice remained low. “Cops are here.” He hung up.
Goddamnit. I glanced at the clock. Ten.
“Fuck.” I clenched my eyes shut, my mind waking fully as realization of what Jonny had said rushed through my brain.
Chief Rosedale had a heart attack, which meant the asshole Deputy had probably stepped in to do what he’d been bent on doing for a couple years—take down the Gliders.
“Fuck!” I climbed out of bed with a groan and tossed my cell onto the rumpled comforter while glancing around the room. Helina should have still been in my bed, her head on my pillow, my sheets and blankets tucked up beneath her chin.
Jaw clenched, I grabbed a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt from my bureau. Still bleary-eyed, I left my colors on the back of a kitchen chair, jumped into my truck, and pulled out of the driveway.
The fuck happened? While there’d been a hell of a lot of tension in Jonny’s voice, the club had sounded quiet behind him. Why the fuck had he told me to stay home?
I saw the flashing lights from three blocks away and pulled over when a shiver slid down my spine. Six cop cars parked askew in the club’s lot. The three brothers who had apartments on the second floor stood in cuffs outside.
Shelly and another of the club whores stood by one car, arms wrapped around themselves, staring at the club’s entrance.
Deputy Jenko himself strode out the front door, leading a cuffed Jonny.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath,
my hands clenched on the steering wheel. While the alpha skin I struggled with demanded I go find out what the fuck had happened, Jonny’s command rang in my ears, keeping my ass on the seat, and the truck in park.
If Jenko wanted to take down the Gliders, he wouldn’t hesitate to cuff every single one of us for some reason or another.
Staying out of their clutches and figuring out how to help became my priority number one.
I pulled my cell from my back pocket and rang Digger.
He didn’t answer.
I tried Maci.
“Capone!” She sobbed. “They must have found out. Oh fuck…” Another sob ripped from her throat.
“Calm down, Maci.” I slunk down in my seat as two cop cars with my brothers in the back pulled from the parking lot and started toward me. “What the fuck happened?”
“Cops showed up at the door. They took Digger. Janie just called and said they hauled Hawk off in cuffs—didn’t even give him a chance to put a shirt on!”
“They hit the club, too,” I said while pinching the bridge of my nose and closing my eyes.
“You think they know about those two men? They must. Why else would they arrest Digger?”
“They took three Gliders from the club. Jonny, too. It’s not because of that.”
Jonny had warned us the law might be listening in—we knew better than to discuss details of the night Digger had taken two lives.
“Where are you?” she asked, hysteria still lacing her voice.
“I’m a few blocks from the club.” I peeked up to find only two cop cars left in the lot. “They must have a warrant, so I’m sure they’re pulling the place apart.”
“They won’t find anything, will they?”
“Of course not.” Jonny didn’t allow anything but alcohol in the club. Any brother found with illegal drugs—or caught high from them—found their asses thrown out. Twice, he’d demanded a brother’s colors after a second offense. We might deal the drugs, but the using of said narcotics wasn’t tolerated.
Talk about a fucking double standard. Twisted my stomach.
“Stay put, Maci. Let me make a call, and I’ll get back to you.”
My nerves remained strangely calm while thumbing through my phone for a number I’d never had to call but Jonny insisted I keep.
“Mr. Stanton’s office.” A polite, feminine voice answered after two rings.
“Morning,” I said. “I … uh … need to talk to Mr. Stanton immediately.”
“And you are?”
“Jeremiah Caldwell.”
“Are you a client of Mr. Stanton’s?”
“No. Well, yeah. Sorta. I’m a friend of Jonny Hayes.”
“Jonny Hayes…” The secretary paused for a few seconds. “Oh. Yes.” She didn’t sound pleased. “Can you hold one moment.”
It wasn’t a question—she put me on hold where classical music flitted through the cell.
“Come on,” I grumbled and ran a hand through my hair.
The line clicked. “Mr. Stanton.”
“Sir.” I sat up straighter at the commanding, low voice. “Jonny Hayes and a few other Gliders were just picked up out front of the club.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Jonny called already?”
“No.” Mr. Stanton cleared his throat. “Mr. Caldwell, is it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll be honest with you, son. There’s been a lot of trouble lately, personal stuff I’m unable to share, but at this time, I’m unable to be of assistance to the Fallen Gliders.”
The fuck? “What?”
“Please inform Mr. Hayes that he’ll need to seek representation elsewhere.”
The line went dead, and I stared at my cell, fucking baffled. Jonny paid the Gliders’ attorney well—too damn well even though the club hadn’t had the heat down our necks for over twenty years.
“The fuck?” Cell clenched in my fist, I turned my attention back on the club.
Shelly still huddled beside one of the cruisers, unmoved from the last time I’d seen her, but a cop stood beside her, a tablet and pen in hand.
Frowning, I turned my focus on the front door. Cops came and went, empty-handed, thank fuck.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. They wouldn’t find any drugs, but we needed a lawyer in case they did find something that warranted bringing charges against us.
Another slew of curses flew from my lips. Couldn’t go home in case they had a probable cause warrant out for my arrest, too. Sure as fuck couldn’t go to the club.
The state would appoint an attorney, but I wouldn’t trust anyone outside of our circle. Knowing Jenko, he’d be fattening someone’s pockets to get what he wanted—the Gliders disbanded and out of town. My brothers needed a lawyer. Fuck knew I needed her, too.
Butterflies taking flight over the twist in my stomach, I started up my truck and pulled away from the curb.
Helina
A million “I never should haves” flitted through my brain, but the two then weighing heavy were sleeping with Capone and thinking I had what it took to open my own damn firm.
I sat behind my desk, staring at my black computer screen—again. Seemed that’s all I did while in the office. Trying to think up ways of getting clients before I ran out of money. Won’t be long, I reminded myself while moving the mouse enough to bring my screen back to life showing my online banking statement.
While I’d figured it would be a struggle for a while, I had really hoped a few of the clients I’d worked with at the firm in the neighboring town liked me enough to remain loyal to me rather than the bastards I’d slaved for. No such fucking luck.
I blew a breath between my lips.
Two months, tops. That’s all I had funds for—if I ate ramen noodles rather than visit Diane’s restaurant. If I ate toast and made my own coffee rather than hit the Dunks drive-through every morning. If I became vigilant about turning lights off when leaving a room.
Less than sixty days.
For the first time since setting my life on the course of becoming an independent attorney, a strong woman who wouldn’t bow to any man, I faltered in my confidence. My stepfather had told me I would fail. God knew my real dad would have said the same thing—if he’d even been in my life to begin with.
My throat tightened, and for the first time in years, my eyes stung bad enough I couldn’t keep the tears from welling.
Goddamnit. I swiped at my cheek as one broke free.
Failed…
I wanted to tell myself that I hadn’t yet. I wanted to cling to those sixty days like a needy woman, but that, too, would make me like my mom.
Opening my eyes wide to help my eyes dry, I tipped my head back and peered at the high ceiling. A few slow inhales while counting to eight both in and out, calmed my emotions, but didn’t ease the vise squeezing my heart.
Without help, I would fail, plain and simple. There was no way in hell I would succeed on my own. I swallowed back my disappointment, sending up a silent Hail Mary even though I’d left my mother’s faith far behind. Can’t hurt, I told myself, adding a second for good measure.
A knock sounded on the front door.
Seeing as how I couldn’t even afford a secretary, I made my way into the reception area. The glass door allowed me an eyeful of the one person I didn’t want to see again. The one man I needed to stay away from.
Every muscle in my body trembled as his stare liquefied my bones.
Goddamn him…
I unlocked the door but didn’t step back to let him in. “What do you want?”
“I need a lawyer.”
I snorted even though his eyes didn’t twinkle, nor did his flat-lined lips suggest a joke. “You’re not getting in my pants, Capone.”
“No. I need a lawyer.” The intensity of his gaze, and not the I want to fuck you kind, tightened my stomach.
I stepped back and motioned him in. “What happened?”
He strode into my office without answering.
; “Okay…” I dragged the word out while shutting and locking the door again.
Capone collapsed into one of the chairs across from my desk and slouched down, running a hand through his hair. “Cops hit the club. They took Digger and Hawk from their homes.”
I shouldn’t have felt bad for him, but I realized I did while sitting down across from him. “Tell me what you know.”
Took less than five minutes for him to fill me in on what he’d seen. “Can’t let Jenko have a hand in getting the state-appointed attorney. I need someone I can trust.”
Trust. I bit my lip as he studied my face, waiting for my answer.
“You’ve made it clear you don’t approve of my lifestyle,” he continued when I didn’t reply, “but you’re an incredibly strong woman, one who won’t shirk her responsibilities as an attorney.” Capone leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his blue-eyed gaze unwavering from my face. “I need that fire, Helina. That snap, crackle, and pop that has helped you win every single case you’ve argued.”
I opened my mouth and shut it again.
“Google has lots of great stuff to say about you.” A smirk crossed his lips, but dissolved within seconds. “I’ll do whatever you need me to. Help in any way I can. Hell, I’ll get on my knees and beg, Helina. Please.”
My Hail Mary? I heaved a breath between my lips. “Here’s what we’re going to do…”
****
Twenty minutes later, I waltzed into the police station as though I owned the place, briefcase in hand. Capone’s words of encouragement, his support, had boosted my flagging confidence. I’d ordered him to stay at the office in case there was a warrant out for his arrest, too.
I handed the secretary my business card and straightened my shoulders. “I represent the Fallen Gliders,” I said by way of a greeting.
The woman eyed me from my messy bun to the black pumps I’d thrown on earlier that morning after dragging myself out of bed. I hadn’t dressed for court, but slacks and a nice blouse at least made me appear professional.
“I’ll let Deputy Jenko know you’re here.” She turned away, but I stayed put and kept my attention on her as she made a quick call. “A Ms. Bodnar is here claiming to be the Gliders’ attorney, sir.”
