Chapter Thirteen
Hollywood
“Y ou sure you don’t want to go to class today?” I stared at Winter and cupped one side of her face in my hand as we stood outside the clubhouse while the sun shined down on us. “I can move this visit to later if you want to go.”
Her lips spread into a wide grin. “I’m sure. It’s just a lecture and I have my laptop with me so I can work on my paper. Is this visit about the guys scamming my dad?”
I nodded to avoid lying. Technically it wasn’t a lie, I was going to talk to Winston because it had been a few days, and I wanted to make sure he was okay since he wasn’t answering my calls. Or texts. There was a small part of me that thought he somehow knew I’d spent all day buried deep inside is daughter, and the guilt of that threatened to overwhelm me. I knew I was actually doing anything wrong but there was a code among friends, and I’m pretty sure don’t fuck my daughter is a core tenet of that code. “I need to look into a few things.”
Winter studied my face as she nodded, searching my eyes for something. She exhaled and finally nodded. “I guess that means I can’t come with you?”
“Sorry babe, I gotta do this on my own.” There was no way I could take her with me to see Winston when I could still smell her on my body, when my cock still felt as if he was buried deep inside her sweet pussy. I wouldn’t be able to not touch her in front of him and I wasn’t sure what this was between us, which meant we shouldn’t be making any public announcements.
“Fine.” She let out a fake pout that turned into a smile. “Be safe and I’ll be here doing homework. ” She rolled her eyes and then licked her lips as her gaze darkened. “One kiss before you go?”
“Fuck yes,” I groaned and speared my fingers through her hair before I slammed my mouth down on hers. She tasted like coffee and pineapple lip gloss, and I couldn’t get enough of it. She tilted her head back and wrapped her arms around me as she pressed her hips, her belly, and her gorgeous tits against me. But when she moaned her pleasure, my cock grew long and hard behind my zipper and Winter felt it immediately, moaning again and pressing harder against me.
Her lips were soft and sweet, her tongue aggressive and greedy. We were at the point where this kiss had to end, or I would be forced to carry her inside the clubhouse and fuck this need out of myself before I left to see Winston. “Hollywood,” she moaned, the sound raw and hungry, breathless that same way she said my name when I fucked her.
I pressed my forehead against hers and groaned. “I need to go, Winter.”
She smiled. “Who’s stopping you?”
Her question made me laugh and I shook my head, taking a step back because we needed the distance. “You are, you fucking temptress.”
She tossed her head back and laughed. “Me,” she asked innocently. “I just asked for one little kiss.”
I groaned and adjusted my hard cock in my jeans. “Just remember sweetheart, payback’s a bitch and when we get home tonight? You’re all mine.”
She shivered and licked her lips again. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.”
I kissed her again hard and short before I spun her around and shoved her into the clubhouse. “Stay here and don’t leave without one of the guys. Got it?”
She spun with a mischievous smile on her face. “Yes sir.”
“Save that for later.” I winked and looked around until my gaze landed on Hawk. I gave him a nod and slid a glance to Winter, to let him know what I needed. Watch her. “Be back soon.”
***
The ride to Winston’s place was short, the ride incredibly familiar even though my heart thumped against my chest. I wasn’t scared of much in this world, not being shot—did that and got the scar to prove it. I’ve fought some of the toughest bastards in the California prison system and lived to make sure nobody else tried to fuck with me. I could handle gangs, MCs, cartels and even the fucking cops. What I couldn’t handle? Hurting or losing my oldest friend in the fucking world.
The walk up the steps felt eternal and the long wait for Winston to answer the door was even longer. But there he was with a crooked smile on his face and no new bruises, at least none that I could see. “Hollywood. Come on in, man.” He looked relieved to see me, which put me on edge.
“Expecting someone else?”
He shrugged in the way he always did when he didn’t want to talk about something. “I figured you’d drop by soon enough.”
“That’s not an answer, Win.”
He shrugged and let out a heavy sigh. “A few people knocked on the door yesterday. Strangers, every last one of them. I didn’t answer the door, of course, but I have no doubt they knew I was home.” There was tension around his eyes and his mouth.
“What else, Win?” I raked one hand through my hair and waited for him to tell me the whole truth.
“Times like this I really hate that you can read me so well.”
“Yeah well, that’s the downside to a lifelong friendship. Tell me.”
“Yeah. Yes. Okay.” He leaned forward, forearms resting on his legs and his gaze fixed on my face. “They doubled their ask and threatened Winter again. More graphic this time.” He shoved the phone across the coffee table. “Really fucking graphic, man.”
I snatched the phone off the table and found that Winston had the message queued up as if he was actually expecting me. “Fuck,” I grumbled when I read the message and the accompanying picture of a woman tied up, screaming with a tear-streaked face.
“Swipe it,” he demanded.
I did and my jaw clenched so tight I thought I might crack a tooth. “That’s an old photo,” I assured him as I tapped the screen. “She’s been wearing denim, pants and skirts, since she’s been with me. Nothing flowery that I can remember.” And I remembered it all, the skintight jeans, the teeny-tiny miniskirts. I sure as shit would have remembered if she was dressed up like a sexy schoolteacher. “And other than now, she hasn’t left my side.”
His brows dipped. “Where is she now?”
“At the clubhouse with my brothers, under strict orders to stay there. They’ll make sure she does and if she tries to leave, one of them will go with her.”
“Thanks, Hollywood. You’ve saved my ass. Again.” He managed an unamused laugh and shook his head. “I appreciate it, more than I can say.”
“I know and I don’t need your appreciation. I just want you and Winter safe.” The threats to her pissed me off and if I ever got my hands on those assholes, I would make them pay. “Is this the only communication you’ve had with them?”
“No, they’ve shown up at my office. The parking garage at work. Pretty much everywhere I go even semi-regularly.”
“Yeah, you ought to change up your schedule until further notice.” I didn’t want him to have to live his life like a caged bird, but Winter would crumble if she lost him.
“I’m not exactly trained in evasive maneuvers, Hollywood.”
“Yeah, I know Win, but this is important. Winter needs you around, which means you need to pick a new favorite restaurant this week and another one next week. Visit a gym on the other side of the city or even the next city over if you have to. Make it impossible for them to know where you are outside of work hours.”
He blew out a long breath. “Okay. Fine.” He studied me for a long moment, reminding me so much of Winter that my guilt, temporarily forgotten, returned. “How is Winter? Driving you crazy yet?”
“No. She’s worried as hell about you so it’s not hard to get her to take her own safety seriously. I’ve been going to classes with her and she’s at the clubhouse working on a paper now.”
“Good. Yeah, that’s good. I hate that she has to upend her life like this. Does she hate me?”
“No,” I answered honestly. “But she is pissed off that your efforts to make up for not being there for her before means you might not be here now. She just wants her dorky dad.” We shared a smile at that, but Winston’s expression cleared.
“She really said that?” He looked so hopeful that I couldn’t say anything that would wipe that look off his face, but I had to tell him the truth.
Didn’t I? I nodded and leaned back against the sofa. “Yeah, she said that. Almost word for word.”
His shoulders sank in relief. “Okay. Yeah. That’s good. Mad I can handle. As long as she doesn’t hate me, I can deal with it.”
“But not on your own, right?” The last thing I needed was to have my best friend go off half-cocked and get himself hurt. “Right?”
“Yes. Right.” He nodded energetically to get his point across but still I didn’t believe him.
“Winston.”
He held his hands up. “Not on my own, I swear.” He covered his face with both hands and groaned. “Have you found anything new?”
I nodded. “Nothing you’ll want to hear. Just stay the fuck away from them Winston. They’re scammers first and foremost but they are survivors and if they even feel like you’re getting too close, they’ll do whatever it takes to keep them ahead of the law.” It was my worst fear, that they would kill Winston just to keep him quiet.
“I get what you’re saying but I just don’t have the money.”
I frowned. “Oh hey, hang on, I’m not suggesting that you pay these assholes another fucking dime. I’m just saying do your best to avoid them altogether. Don’t let them get you alone and don’t meet them anywhere. Period.”
“I get it, but why me? Surely there are other investors with access to more money, right?”
That was my suspicion too. “Who says they’re not shaking them down too? This isn’t the type of crew who works in six-figure increments. The goal is to maximize their profits. Period.”
“That makes sense. What else?”
“Just lay low and watch your back. Always. If you need help, give me a call. Okay?”
“Yeah, I will. I promise.” He nodded absently, his gaze fixed on a spot near the ceiling. “I just want this to be over.”
“It will be. Soon, I promise.”
“Maybe I can come to your place for dinner soon? I miss seeing Winter every day.”
I shook my head. “Not my place. Right now no one knows where I live and that’s helping keep Winter safe. I’m happy for us to meet you somewhere or come here though? I know Winter misses you too.” And there was no fucking way I’d bring him into the house where I fucked his daughter on almost every surface.
“Soon.”
Now why did that sound more like a threat than a promise?