Chapter 16 – Dice
16
DICE
I t took three days for Lewis and Leah to return to their respective homes. Oddly enough, they both went home around the same time, and neither one of them seemed surprised to have bikers at their door moments later.
I hurried over to the clubhouse when I got the call from Phoenix and was relieved to find everyone in the basement. I took a seat beside Ink, who did not look like his normally happy self.
“You okay?” I asked quietly.
“Yeah,” he sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m just annoyed that this bitch decided to go home right after my shift ended. She made me miss out on grabbing her, and she interfered with my sleep.”
“Hopefully, we’ll get some answers from them, and then you can take a nap.” I couldn’t blame him. I’d be grumpy, too, if I’d stayed up night after night and missed the culprit by less than an hour.
“Spoiler alert. I don’t think we’re going to get anything out of them. They’re way too calm.”
“Fucking great,” I muttered as Phoenix called the meeting to order.
“We all know why we’re here, so we’ll get right to it and start with Leah.”
Shaker brought her into the room and secured her to a chair. She looked around at the bikers staring back at her and sighed. “I already told the other two guys I don’t know anything.”
“Why were you pretending to be Lewis’s wife?” Phoenix asked.
“Who?”
Phoenix gave her a droll look. “Lewis. The man you were with.”
“Because he paid me to,” she said simply.
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Part of my job is not asking questions.”
“And what exactly is your job?”
She rolled her eyes. “I provide services in exchange for monetary compensation.”
“You’re a hooker,” Phoenix said.
“I believe the preferred term is escort or companion,” she said without confirming or denying Phoenix’s presumption.
“Who did you call when you were locked in the basement?”
“I’m supposed to call the coordinator if I run into trouble, so that’s what I did.”
“Who’s the coordinator?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Phoenix asked skeptically.
“No, I don’t,” she insisted. “The powers that be don’t share a lot of information about themselves, for obvious reasons.”
“So, the car accident. Was that your coordinator’s way of sending help?”
“No, that was just luck.”
“You expect me to believe that a random car just happened to hit the one you were in, and the person driving got you out of the car and drove away with you?”
“Yes, because that’s exactly what happened. The driver got out to check on us. I showed him my bound hands, told him we were being kidnapped, and begged him to help us.”
“I see. And where did he take you?”
“To a hotel.”
Phoenix turned to Byte. “I didn’t find any records of hotel stays for either of them.”
“I used a fake name and paid in cash.”
“Now, why would you do that if you hadn’t done anything wrong?” Phoenix asked.
“Because you people obviously thought we’d done something wrong. I figured it would be best to let things settled down for a few days.”
Phoenix pinched the bridge of his nose. “Since she seems to have an answer for everything, let’s see what Lewis has to say.”
While they took Leah away and brought in Lewis, I leaned over to Ink. “Do you think she’s telling the truth?”
“Not at all.”
“Me, either,” I agreed.
Phoenix seemed to be on the same page because he had a lot less patience with Lewis. “This will go a lot better for you if you’ll save me the trouble of asking questions and just tell me whatever bullshit story you’ve concocted.”
Lewis tilted his head to the side like he was confused. “Um, I was going to tell the truth. Am I not supposed to?”
Phoenix sighed and gestured for him to go on. “Fine. Tell us ‘the truth.’”
“Well, um, I think this is a big misunderstanding. See, I, um, okay, there are ads for houses for sale with certain wording so you know it’s an ad for something else. You meet at one place and go to a new location. Then you say the specific phrase. I was confused about the other guy being there, but when Daphne answered the phrase with the correct wording, I thought maybe he was just her pimp or bodyguard or something.”
“Wait. What?” Phoenix said, which is exactly what I was thinking.
“She said the words, so I thought it was okay.”
“Yeah, I got that part. But what exactly was the ad for?”
Lewis shifted uncomfortably. “Uh, sex.”
I jumped to my feet, but Ink yanked me back to my seat.
“You thought Daphne was a prostitute?”
“Yes. I’ve never had a problem like this before.”
“What was the phrase and corresponding answer?”
“I said, ‘I’d like to see what the master suite has to offer,’ and she said, ‘I’m sure you’ll be pleased with it.’”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I bellowed. “That’s a normal response. Anyone could’ve said that.”
Phoenix turned and glared at me. “Sit. Down.”
Raising my hands in front of me, I dropped back into my chair. “Sorry, Prez.”
Phoenix turned back to Lewis. “What he said.”
“Yes, but there was the ad. The phrase is just an extra precaution. It’s also used as the signal to get things going.”
“You’re telling me prostitutes are using real estate ads to solicit business?” Phoenix asked in disbelief.
“Yes.”
Phoenix turned back and made eye contact with Byte, who immediately started typing. “Okay, fine, let’s say that’s true. How does Leah fit into this?”
“I hired her to participate,” he said.
“I see,” Phoenix said. “And the car accident?”
“Some dude hit us. When he came over to check on us, I told him we were being kidnapped. He helped us out of the car and offered to drive us somewhere safe.”
“Where did he take you?”
“Some run-down hotel. Before you ask, I don’t know the name of it.”
“Of course you don’t,” I mumbled so that only Ink and I could hear.
“I think that’s all for now,” Phoenix said and nodded to Shaker, who promptly removed Lewis from the room.
“Well,” Phoenix said. “Either they’re telling the truth, or they used the last few days to rehearse their story. Byte, do you have anything?”
“He’s telling the truth about the real estate prostitute thing. It’s a newer trend, but it is something people are doing,” he said. “From what I’ve been able to find so far, the ads come down once they’ve been answered. If there was one for the house Daphne was showing, I probably won’t be able to find it.”
Phoenix dropped heavily into his chair. “All right, let’s hear it, because I honestly don’t know what to make of what they just told us.”
Ink nudged me with his elbow, and I shook my head. As much as I wanted to demand they pay for their crimes with blood, I knew I was too close to the situation to look at it objectively.
“Let’s take a step back for a minute. Is this real estate prostitute thing even plausible? You can’t just walk into any house that’s for sale and do whatever you want. You have to have an agent and make an appointment,” Badger said.
“It’s not difficult to get a real estate license,” Byte said. “And scheduling appointments wouldn’t be much of an issue if they stuck to vacant houses.”
“When you think about it, it kind of makes sense,” Dash said. “They don’t have to pay for a hotel room, and it’s highly unlikely the cops will pick up on what they’re doing, especially if they have a valid real estate license.”
“Okay, it’s plausible, but do we believe them?”
“Believing them isn’t the issue. The problem is that we didn’t catch them red-handed, and we can’t prove what they’re saying isn’t true,” Badger said.
“We can’t just let them go,” Ink blurted, jumping to his feet.
“Ink,” Phoenix warned.
“Sit down,” I whispered.
“I’m sorry, Prez, but Daphne’s my friend. There’s no telling what they would’ve done to her if Flint hadn’t been there. And Leah is connected to the woman who had an affair with Daphne’s husband. We may not be able to prove they’re lying, but we need to make sure they know we know they’re lying and give them a reason not to do it again.”
“What did you say?” Phoenix asked in a slightly accusatory tone.
Ink swallowed thickly but started to repeat his words. “We may not be able to prove?—”
“Not that. Who is Leah connected to?”
“Oh,” Ink said, sounding relieved. “Byte found a phone number she calls often. It belongs to Victoria Bell, who is the woman Daphne’s husband had an affair with.”
Phoenix turned to Byte, who immediately looked at me. “That’s on me, Prez. Byte asked me to ask Daphne if she recognized the name. Obviously, she did, and I forgot to relay the information to Byte.”
“You forgot?” Phoenix asked incredulously.
“Daphne didn’t think it was significant. Yes, Tori had an affair with Sean, but Sean left Daphne for Tori. As Daphne put it, ‘She won. Why would she want to hurt me?’”
“Leah’s still here,” Flint said. “Ask her how she knows Tori and see what she says.”
“Shaker,” Phoenix said.
Shaker returned to the room with Leah. He stood beside her at the front of the room instead of securing her to a chair.
“How do you know Victoria Bell?” Phoenix asked without preamble.
Leah blinked and seemed confused by the question. “We went to high school together and recently reconnected,” she said. Then her eyes widened. “She doesn’t know what I do for a living. You can’t tell her. She’ll stop talking to me like everyone else does.”
“That’s all,” Phoenix said to Shaker, who promptly escorted Leah from the room.
“They did attend the same high school,” Byte said without looking up from his screen.
“Their interactions on social media seem to have started around six months ago,” Flint said from behind his own screen. Byte nodded approvingly.
“Have either of you found anything to confirm Leah’s line of work?”
“No,” Byte said. “But that one’s hard to prove without an arrest record, which she doesn’t have.”
“Well,” Phoenix sighed, “I hate to say it, but there isn’t much we can do here other than threaten them.”
The majority of the brothers in the room nodded in agreement.
“All right. Let’s start with Leah.”
Shaker brought her back into the room and secured her to the chair. Phoenix pointed to a camera mounted in the corner of the room. “We’ve recorded everything that’s happened in this room, including you admitting to being a hooker,” he said.
“I never said that,” Leah interrupted.
“You implied it. So, here’s the deal. We’ll take you back to your house, and you can pretend like none of this ever happened. You will also stay the hell away from Daphne and anyone else associated with the Blackwings. If you don’t, I’ll ruin you.”
“Deal,” she said without hesitation. “I don’t want any trouble. You’ll never see or hear from me again.”
“If I do, I promise it’ll only be that one time.”
“Understood,” Leah said.
“Good,” Phoenix said and nodded to Shaker. He left the room with Leah and returned with Lewis, who seemed much more nervous than he had before.
“Look, man, I’m really sorry. I didn’t know she was one of your people. Please don’t kill me,” he pleaded.
“What are you willing to do?”
“Anything. I’ll do anything.”
“Anything? Really?” Phoenix taunted. “What if I told you to leave town?”
“Th-then I-I’d leave,” Lewis stammered.
“I’m going to be really fucking honest. I don’t believe anything you told us, but luckily for you, I can’t prove you’re lying.”
“I swear I’m telling the truth.”
Phoenix grinned. “Good. I’m glad to hear you say that. Again.” Once more, he pointed to the camera mounted in the corner of the room. “Because if you don’t do what I want, I’ll make sure the video of your confession gets into the hands of the police. Then I’ll make sure it gets sent to the people who are running the prostitution ring—after all their girls have been busted.”
Lewis nodded in understanding. “What do you want me to do?”
“Find somewhere else to get your jollies off. Stay away from the real estate agents, especially Daphne. Stay away from us. And keep your fucking mouth shut.”
“That’s it?” Lewis asked in surprise.
“Yes, but,” he said and leaned down so he was eye level with Lewis. “This is the only leniency you’ll get from me. If there’s a next time, proof or no proof, there’ll be no mercy.”
“There won’t be a next time,” Lewis said.
“If there is, it’ll be the last time,” he said.
“I understand.”
“Good,” Phoenix said. “We have a few more things to discuss, and then we’ll get you out of here.”
As he was leading Lewis from the room, Carbon loudly volunteered, “I’ll take him home.”
Lewis looked over his shoulder and visibly paled.
Phoenix shook his head but waited until Lewis was out of earshot to say, “Not happening. Dash and Duke will take Lewis home. Badger and Shaker will take Leah home. For the next few weeks, I want us riding by their houses once or twice a day, so we stay fresh in their minds,” Phoenix said. “I’ll make out a schedule and send it out to everyone later today. Church dismissed.”
“Dice,” Phoenix called and waved me over as I was getting up to leave.
“Yeah, Prez?” I asked, bracing for the ass-chewing I knew I deserved.
“Is there more going on than I’m aware of?” he asked.
“Um, I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
“With you and Daphne, and Ink.”
“Oh,” I said and chuckled. “No, nothing like that.”
“You sure? He’s awfully protective of her.”
“She feeds him,” I said.
Phoenix laughed. “Well, that explains it.”
“And she includes him. Whenever he walks into my house unannounced, she doesn’t bat an eye. She brings him into the conversation or hands him a plate of food like he was there the whole time.”
“She sounds like a keeper.”
“She is.”
I was in a mood for the rest of the day. Despite understanding his reasoning, I was not happy with how Phoenix handled things with Lewis and Leah. Well, I wasn’t happy with the way Phoenix had to handle things with Lewis and Leah. In all fairness, he didn’t seem happy with it either.
I also needed to tell Daphne about the explanation Lewis and Leah gave, and I decidedly did not want to.
She’d been in the kitchen most of the day, so I waited until we were having dinner to bring it up. She’d made lasagna with pasta she’d made herself and garlic bread she’d also baked from scratch.
“This is delicious,” I said.
“Thanks. I’ve never made my own pasta before, so I was a little nervous about how it would turn out.”
“It’s perfect, and I’m sure Ink will agree if he has some.”
“Where is he? I haven’t seen him all day.”
“He’s probably been sleeping. He was up all night watching Leah’s house, and then we had the meeting at the clubhouse this morning.”
“How did that go?”
“Not as well as I would have liked, but something did come up that I need to talk to you about.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s … I don’t know what it is. Apparently, there’s a new trend where prostitutes are posing as real estate agents and running ads to solicit business. Lewis responded to one of those ads and came to your appointment thinking you were an escort.”
“What?” she blurted. “How is that even possible? He called our office to make the appointment.”
“He claims it was a mix-up. He said there was a certain phrase he was supposed to say to verify you were the actual escort, and you responded with the correct wording to confirm.”
“Which was what?”
“He said, ‘I’d like to see what the master suite has to offer,’ and you replied with, ‘I’m sure you’ll be pleased with it.’”
“You have got to be kidding me! What else was I supposed to say to that?”
“That’s exactly what we said.”
“What about Leah? Why was she there?”
“She’s a prostitute that he hired to participate,” I explained.
“Is that normal? I mean, it seems like it would be considered rude to bring a prostitute with you to meet another prostitute.”
I laughed. “I have no idea what proper prostitute etiquette is.”
She sighed. “Well, I guess that explains why they were acting so weird when they saw Flint.”
“Yeah, he mentioned that. He said he thought Flint was your pimp or bodyguard. Anyway, I wanted to make sure you were aware of this new trend for obvious reasons and in case you wanted to let your coworkers know.”
“Thankfully, I will have a bodyguard with me for the foreseeable future, but I will definitely let Andi know about it. I can’t believe this is something we have to worry about.”
“It might not be,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“To be perfectly honest, I thought the story Lewis told us was a load of crap. Byte did find evidence to support his claims regarding hookers posing as real estate agents, but I think Lewis is using that as an excuse.”
“What do you think the real story is?”
“I think someone hired him to hurt you. I have no proof of that, but it’s what makes the most sense to me,” I told her, even though I probably shouldn’t have.
“Can I ask what happened to Lewis and Leah?”
“Nothing really. Since we couldn’t prove what they were saying was true or false, there wasn’t much we could do. We warned them to stay away from you, and we’re going to keep an eye on them for the next few weeks.”
“Well, that’s slightly disappointing,” she said.
“I completely agree.”
After dinner, Daphne insisted on cleaning up and doing the dishes herself. I left her to it and went to my room to shower and change.
Once that was done, I went back to the kitchen to make sure she wasn’t still in there scrubbing the cabinets or mopping the floor. I wasn’t watching where I was going and bumped right into Daphne. My hands went to her hips to steady her, but she still lost her balance and fell against the wall. Since my hands were on her hips, I went with her. One second, I was walking down the hall, and the next second my body was plastered against hers, pressing her into the wall.
“Sorry,” she said and looked up at me with her beautiful blue eyes.
When she inhaled sharply and her eyes flicked to my lips, that was it. Everything I’d tried to keep tamped down came rushing to the surface and broke through. I moved, covering her lips with mine. My hands tightened on her hips while I devoured her with a desperation I couldn’t contain.
Her hands moved up my arms and wrapped around my neck as she tried to pull me closer.
I was trying to find the strength to make myself stop and step away from her when she broke the kiss and moved her lips to my ear. “Took you long enough.”
Those words were all I needed. Taking her lips again, I lifted her into my arms and carried her to my bedroom.
We fell onto the bed with a light bounce. Daphne reached for the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head. She barely had time to do the same with hers before I was on her again.
“Pants,” she breathed against my lips. I didn’t know if she meant mine or hers, but mine needed to stay put for the time being or things would be over before they really started.
Pulling away from her, I sat back on my knees and reached for the cups of her bra, pulling them down to expose her breasts. I loved the way it pushed her tits up like they were being offered to me.
“Fucking gorgeous,” I said as I ran my fingers over her nipples. As I continued my ministrations, she let out a soft moan and reached for the waistband of her leggings. I lightly pinched her nipple, causing her eyes to shoot to mine. “Not yet,” I said.
“Please,” she panted.
“Please what?” I asked and leaned forward to suck her nipple into my mouth. She groaned when my tongue flicked over the hardened peak.
“Please, touch me. Fuck me. I don’t care, just please make me come.”
When I continued lavishing her breasts with attention, she tried to take matters into her own hands and reached for my sweatpants. Her hand brushed against my hard cock, and I gently bit down on the nipple in my mouth. “Hands above your head, Daphne.”
She made a sound of excited exasperation but did what I said. “Can you keep your hands there?” I asked as I sucked hard on her nipple.
“I’ll,” she groaned, “try.”
Sitting back on my heels, I looked down at her swollen, red nipples as her breasts heaved with each breath she took. Then, ever so slowly, I reached for her leggings and slowly dragged them down her legs. I tossed them to the side and almost laughed when she widened her legs.
I cupped her tits with my hands and rubbed her nipples with my thumbs. “Are you wet for me?”
“Yes.”
“Is your pussy throbbing for me?”
“Fuck, yes,” she panted.
“Do you want to come on my fingers, my tongue, or my cock?”
“I don’t care. Whatever you want. Please.”
Hooking my fingers into her panties, I pulled them down her legs, revealing her beautiful, swollen, wet cunt. I struggled to keep myself in check at the sight of her splayed out before me with her hands clasped above her head.
Extending one finger, I ran it over her soft skin, tracing the edges of her lips, teasing her, enjoying the way she panted and squirmed.
“Dice, please.”
Moving to her center, I almost groaned when her wetness coated my fingers as they slipped inside. She raised her hips, trying to push them deeper. I watched in fascination as my fingers moved in and out of her and relished in every sound she made. Only once did her hands move, but she put them right back over her head when my hand stilled, and I gave her a pointed look.
“What were you going to do with your hands?”
“Touch my clit. Maybe rub nipples.”
Watching her play with her tits while I made her come was definitely going to happen, but not yet. Using my other hand, I started massaging her clit while my other hand pumped harder.
“Dice,” she panted. “Oh, fuck. I’m going to come. Please don’t stop.”
I didn’t. I continued what I was doing and watched as she exploded. Her pussy clamped down on my fingers before pulsing with waves of pleasure as she writhed on the bed.
Before she was completely finished, I moved to my stomach and brought my mouth to her center and flicked my tongue over her sensitive bud. Her hips bucked, and she let out a small yelp of surprise but didn’t protest. I lavished her with my mouth, enjoying every second of it, until I couldn’t take it anymore.
Pulling away from her, I reached into my nightstand and pulled out a condom, holding it up for her to see. “I want more than this,” I told her. “I want you.”
“Okay,” she nodded, with flushed cheeks and eyes glazed with desire.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “I want you, too. All of you.”
With that, I stripped off the rest of my clothes, rolled the condom down my shaft, and plunged into her. The groan of utter satisfaction that escaped her matched my own.
I wanted to go slow, to savor every moment, but I couldn’t. My need for her was too strong. Before long, I was thrusting into her with everything I had, completely lost in her. When she screamed as her orgasm rolled through her, the pleasure that had been building in me reached its peak, and we found our releases together.
Sweaty and sated, I rolled to the side and pulled Daphne against me. She stayed there for a few minutes before she got up. She was almost to the bathroom door when she looked at me over her shoulder. “How long until you’re ready to do that again?”