23. Nick
Chapter 23
Nick
As soon as I pulled my bike onto Oakwood, the prickle at the back of my neck—the one that I hadn’t been able to ignore the whole ride over—intensified. Up ahead, I could see a sleek black Escalade parked outside Alex’s garage, and that prickle turned into an electric current thrumming through my blood. Instinct told me to stay hidden for as long as I could. To keep my approach under the radar, I guided my bike to the side of the road and killed the engine. Running up the sidewalk—grit grinding too loudly beneath my boots—I kept my eyes on the strange car parked out the front. Reaching it, I found it empty but the hood still warm.
Looking up, I saw a faint glow coming from behind the curtains in Alex’s living room.
It was almost three in the morning.
She should’ve been asleep.
Suddenly, the silence was broken by Lucifer’s fierce barking.
Frantic.
Pained.
Urgent.
My gaze tracked down to the office door. It was splintered—barely hanging on it hinges. I was moving without conscious thought, clearing the office and into the workshop before my brain caught up, my boots crunching over the glass strewn across the floor.
When I was at the base of the stairs, I heard someone say, “Just shut that goddamned dog up.”
There was only one dog he could be talking about, and the idea of someone hurting my damned dog—the last thing I had of my brother—made my blood fucking boil.
Alex’s response was immediate. “No! No! Don’t hurt him.”
I took the stairs three at a time, bursting into her apartment. It took a second for my eyes to make sense of what I was seeing.
Shadows danced across the living room floor, the soft bedroom light interrupted by moving bodies. Beside me, the door to the bathroom rattled violently. Lucifer’s snarls echoed but before I could let him out, the bastard broke through the flimsy hollow door, tearing out of there. His mind so focused on getting to Alex that he didn’t even stop to acknowledge my presence.
Pulling out my gun, I followed on Lucifer’s tail, not knowing what I was running into. Not knowing what I would find when I rounded that corner.
As I stepped into the doorway, time slowed as I took in the scene.
Lucifer was mid-jump, his sole focus on the man dressed in an expensive suit straddling Alex on the bed. She was half naked, her breasts and neck covered in what I could only assume was his cum. I committed that man’s face to memory. He had touched what was mine, and I would take my pound of flesh. Another man with a thick neck and broad shoulders was standing off to one side, swinging his gun to point at Lucifer.
The man straddling Alex saw that Lucifer had him in his sights and rolled off Alex’s body and the bed. Knowing that bastard would get what was coming to him, I brought up my gun, took aim at the other man, and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Bang!
My bullet lodged into the big fucker’s shoulder, but he didn’t even flinch.
His burrowed into the mattress where Lucifer had been a split second earlier.
Alex screamed, shuffling backward on the bed, clutching the sheet to her chest. Lucifer landed on the mattress and stood guard over her, muscular legs planted, boxy head bowed, deep growls filling the room.
The first man got to his feet, pulling at the ends of his suit jacket, and gesturing for his bodyguard to stand down. Flicking me an irritated look, he sneered, “I shouldn’t be surprised that she’s spreading her legs for another man already.”
Keeping my gun up and pointed at the other man, I demanded, “Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m the man who French fucked your woman and gave her a pretty pearl necklace.” The smirk that tugged up his mouth made me want to shove my gun down his throat and pull the fucking trigger until the clip was empty.
Fighting hard to keep my rage in check, I asked her. “What’s he doing here, Alex?”
“Yeah, Alex,” he taunted, his dark eyes fixed on her.. “Tell him why I’m here.”
That possessive side of me didn’t want his eyes on her.
I didn’t want him to breathe in her direction.
I wanted him to be a bloody, beaten corpse at my feet.
Alex shifted her tear-stained eyes to me. “He’s nobody,” she replied on a shaking breath. “Nick, you have to believe me.”
The other man’s brows shot up. “Nick, is it?” His eyes tracked down to my cut. “Sergeant at arms. I can only assume you’re a Savage.”
In more fucking ways than one , I thought, already thinking of the ways I was going to hurt this man.
“You must also be the Savage that was released from prison only seven days ago.”
I felt Alex’s eyes go wide, but I ignored her questioning look.
“What business is it of yours?” I asked him.
He gave a dark chuckle. “Oh, it’s my business to know all about you and your little club.”
My hackles were instantly up. “Who the fuck are you?”
He looked to Alex. “I can see now isn’t the time. I’ll be seeing you again soon, Alex,” he told her.
“You will never come near her again, or?—”
“Or what ?” The bastard had the nerve to smirk. “I’d be careful who you threaten, Nick . This isn’t Rookwood. I can’t be bought off like Styles. You can’t threaten me to fall in line. You can’t shiv me in the yard without any consequences.” His brows rose in challenge before strolling from her bedroom, his bodyguard following behind him, the shoulder of his jacket dark and wet.
I waited until the door to the apartment was closed before rounding on Alex.
She was clutching the two sides of her shirt together over her breasts, her mouth parted as she panted with the adrenaline dump.
“Who the fuck was he?” I asked, my question coming out in a colder tone than I intended, but I was fucking incensed to walk in and find her in that situation. In that sort of danger. Violence against a woman was something I couldn’t ignore, and when I found out who the hell that man was, I was going to make sure I punished him for what he did.
She reached out and laid a hand on Lucifer before saying, “He’s nobody.”
“Don’t fucking lie to me, Alex. Who the fuck is he?”
She blinked up at me. “You were in prison?”
I ran a shaking hand through my hair, the other flexing in agitation with the need to physically shake some sense into her. “We’re not discussing that now. I want to know who that man was.”
She looked at where her hand smoothed over Lucifer’s fur. “This isn’t your problem, Nick.”
“No, it’s not,” I started, causing her to glance at me. “But I’m making it my problem because nobody touches what belongs to me and stays breathing.” I flicked my fingers in Lucifer’s direction, dismissing him. With a put-on groan, he lifted himself off the bed and walked into the living room, leaving Alex and I alone.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You can’t force me to talk, you know.”
“I know,” I replied. “But if you won’t talk, hopefully you’ll listen. What if I hadn’t come round tonight? What would’ve happened to you then?”
She lifted her chin defiantly. “I would’ve handled myself. I know how to handle him.”
Handle him. That told me everything I needed to know. She’d dealt with the motherfucker before. Shaking my head, I started jerking open the drawers on her dresser, pulling out clothes and throwing them onto the bed.
Alex jumped up from where she was sitting—still clutching the two sides of her shirt together—and yelled, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Packing,” I snapped back, yanking open another drawer violently before pulling out what looked to be denim shorts and jeans.
“You can’t do this.”
Rounding on her, I jabbed my finger in her direction. “That’s where you’re wrong, little voyeur. I can do this and you’re going to come with me without any goddamned complaint.” My self-restraint was hanging by a motherfucking thread at this point. Knowing how close I’d come to losing her… No . I hadn’t come close to losing her, because I’d not developed feelings for the woman. Rather, I just didn’t want to lose my leverage against La Croix.
She tried to pull me away from her dresser, snatching items of clothing from my hands. In her rush to take back what was hers, she’d let her shirt go—the two sides parting to reveal the swell of her breasts. They brushed against my bicep as she wrestled more shorts from my grip.
“Put them down,” she snarled, and I was glad to see she was back to fighting. That what had happened tonight hadn’t broken her spirit.
Turning toward her, I got into her personal space, taking over completely. I was out of control with regret. With anger. With volatility. I needed to touch her again and know she was all right. Still mine. Moving forward, she retreated until her back hit the wall, and still, I crowded her. Her breasts pressed against my chest now, her nipples hard points. Her mouth parted, her breathing fast, and I knew that if I reached down between her legs, that my fingers would be covered in her slickness.
Whether it was a subconscious thought or not, she tipped her head back and licked her lips. I would’ve bet anything that she was looking for comfort now too—a reminder that she’d dodged a fucking bullet tonight.
“You want me to kiss you, little voyeur?” I asked, my lips barely brushing against hers as I spoke.
“No.”
I smirked. “You want me to show you just how much you want me?” Before she could reply, I reached down between us, cupping her pussy. Feeling its warmth. Feeling how wet she already was. Alex made a soft moaning sound down in the back of her throat and widened her stance.
Rubbing the heel of my palm against her, I asked, “Want me to get on my knees and take this pussy? Claim it? Make you beg for more?”
“Yes,” she moaned, hips starting to flex with the movement of my hands.
Leaning forward, I kissed her jaw. The side of her mouth. “I will stay on my knees for you for hours, Alex.”
With her lashes fluttering against her cheek, she asked, “You would?”
I nuzzled her neck, letting my teeth graze over her delicate skin. “I would.” Moving my hips back to give myself some room, I slapped at her sensitive flesh, enjoying the way her eyes rolled into the back of her head. “If you stop fighting me, and help me pack.”
She blinked at me with lust-soaked eyes. “Where am I going?”
Even though it killed me, even though my cock was aching to be inside her again, I forced myself away and returned to her dresser. “Find a bag, baby. Something small that can go on the back of my bike. You’re coming back to the clubhouse with me.”
I honestly expected more of a fight from Alex, but she’d done as I asked, packing the clothes I’d thrown onto the bed into a small duffel she pulled from the closet. As I suspected it would, shock had started to set in, and she moved on autopilot, uncaring that her bare breasts were still out. Wrapping my hand around her forearm, I told her softly, “Get changed, baby. I don’t want anyone to see what’s only for my eyes.”
With a nod, she pulled a bra, clean t-shirt, and a pair of running shorts out from the pile and got dressed. I finished packing the bag, but before she could grab the bag’s handles, I hauled it up and slung it over my shoulder.
Her eyes landed on Lucifer as we walked out into the living room. “What about him?”
“He can stay here the rest of the night. I’ll send someone to get him in the morning.” I moved to the door, but Alex stayed behind, staring at Lucifer.
“Alex?” I called.
“He put his body between mine and Maddox. He would’ve gotten hurt to save my life,” she replied in a small voice.
Maddox . I filed that name away for later. Unable to think of any reason why Lucifer did what he had, I gently coaxed her from the apartment. While she waited in the hall, I went back inside to give Lucifer a scratch and set up a bowl of water.
“You did good, mutt,” I told him gruffly. “Be back soon.” Lucifer whined but settled more deeply into the couch, shutting his eyes.
I took Alex down to my bike, setting her on the rear seat with the duffel in her hands. Getting into position in front of her, I turned the engine over and began making my way back to the clubhouse.
The whole drive back, my mind regurgitated all the ways shit could’ve gone wrong tonight. What if I was ten seconds too late? What if Lucifer hadn’t escaped the bathroom? What if the bullet that had missed him had hit me instead? All the different possibilities—the different variables—were driving my anger higher. I would find out everything I could about this Maddox motherfucker, then I would tear him apart with my bare hands.
Alex’s hands tightened around my middle as I pulled onto Marion Avenue, and I knew it was a gut reaction. She’d found herself in enemy territory again. Turning into the driveway of the clubhouse, Marco opened the gate and let us in. The sound of the motorcycle was loud in the early morning air, startling the alley cats and rats that lived in and around the compound.
Lowering the kickstand, I killed the engine and waited for Alex to dismount before I swung my leg over. She hugged the duffel to her chest, staring at the dark building ahead of us. Practically tasting her trepidation, I took her hand and led her inside. The entryway was dark. So was the bar. As we entered the small hallway down to the bedrooms, though, sounds began to filter through. Music turned down low. Video games. Moans of pleasure that sounded more like porn than the real thing.
“There are only a few members here right now. Most are still on the run back from DC.”
Tugging on Alex’s hand, I pulled her closer to the safety of my room. I unlocked the door and pushed it open. Alex stood on the threshold for a moment, just looking at everything before carefully stepping inside. What people thought of my private space before had never bothered me, but I wanted her to like it—to feel comfortable in it. God help me .
“The bathroom is through there,” I said, gesturing to the door to the side as I took her bag and put it at the bottom of my closet. “And your clothes will be right here.”
She turned to face me, wrapping her arms around herself. Tears sat in her eyes, hovering there, waiting for the permission to fall. Moving toward her, I bundled her into my arms. She fit perfectly against me, her face tucked up under my chin.
We hadn’t spoken about my breakdown after I told her of Molly’s death. I had no desire to rehash that horrible moment again, but it felt like being vulnerable with her had given her the permission to be vulnerable with me.
With her shoulders shaking, and the sound of her soft, broken sobs against my chest, I held her close.
“I’ll kill him for you, Alex,” I vowed. The words had surfaced unbidden—just as my need to protect this woman had.
She continued to cry. Stroking her back, I waited until the sounds dried up before I scooped her into my arms. Carrying her around the bed, I laid her down, then settled beside her. She turned on her side, looking into my eyes.
“Even if you killed him, that wouldn’t be the end of it.”
“What do you mean?”
She nibbled on her bottom lip, curling her hands into the fabric of my shirt. “What I mean is, I think Maddox is just one cog in a much bigger machine. Killing him would only piss off the wrong people.”
“I’d kill anyone who threatens you,” I vowed.
“It’d be a long list.”
Swallowing down the growl of displeasure, I asked, “Who would be at the top?”
She blinked, looked away, then met my gaze boldly. “My father.”
I bit my tongue to stop the snarl that built in the back of my throat at the mention of Talon La Croix. “What did your father do?”
“What didn’t he do?” She got a faraway look in her eyes, and said, “He didn’t believe me.”
And I knew. Without her having to say the words, I knew.
My hands flexed with the need to hit something.
“He believed his club brothers over me,” she continued. “He thought I lied about what had happened. He believed… he believed them over me.”
Killing Talon La Croix was going to be that much sweeter knowing that. I pulled Alex in more tightly to me, trying to bring her the comfort she needed. Tonight, all those memories would have been dredged up for her again. She’d survived it once, though. She could survive this, too.
“Who is Maddox to you, baby?” I asked, sensing she’d let enough of her guard down not to notice me redirecting the conversation.
She heaved a sigh, her fingers tightening in my shirt. “My brother was the original owner of the garage. He got out a loan from the bank to buy it, and when he died, I took over the repayments and the deed. Business slowed though, and there came a time when I couldn’t repay the bank.”
“ Maddox , baby,” I pressed. She was dancing around who that man was to her—other than a dead man. “Who is he?”
“Maddox was my boyfriend at the time.”
The primal part of my brain didn’t like to acknowledge that Alex had been with other men, but I knew it to be a fact. But it didn’t mean I had to like it.
“How the hell did you meet him?”
“He dropped his car in one day. We struck up a conversation, and he gave me his number. Told me to call him. He was nice for a while,” she added in a small voice. “He would be really thoughtful. Bring me flowers. Take me out on expensive dates. He even told me he was going to marry me and offered to take on my debt so the bank would get off my back.”
“Let me guess, the bastard jacked up the interest rate.”
She bit her bottom lip. “And reduced the term of the loan from ten years to five. He said it had been his father’s money he’d borrowed to pay out the loan to the bank, and that he needed a return on his investment. After waiting six months for a repayment, Maddox gave me another option to pay back the debt.”
I was pissed off before, but now I was seeing fucking red.
“He said I could work off the debt,” Alex started in a small voice before clearing her throat. “If I… if I whored myself out to his business associates.”
“Jesus, Alex.” My fingers curled more tightly to her hip, letting her know that I wasn’t angry at her, but rather at the situation she’d found herself in. “How much do you still owe?”
“Over a quarter of a million dollars.”
“How much did your brother borrow originally?”
“Half a million. When the loan term was ten years, making those payments was manageable, but with the increased interest rate and decreased loan term, it became impossible for me to repay it. Maddox forced me into a corner and dangled the most abhorrent thing he could think of in front of me and called it a lifeline. Men have been using me, taking advantage of me, all my life, and I’ve fucking had enough of it.”
I stroked her hair, pulling her tighter into my body. Guilt was like a noose around my neck, tightening with each and every heartbeat. I was no better than Maddox. No better than her father. I was just as culpable as they were but getting revenge on my brother had to be my priority.
“Maddox is a dead man,” I reiterated. Pulling away, I held her eyes with mine. “A fucking dead man, you hear me?”
She nodded, tears sitting in her eyes. I never wanted her to feel like this again.
Helpless.
Powerless.
Alone.
Pressing my lips to the side of her head, I said, “I want you to stay at the clubhouse. With me.”
She immediately shook her head. “I made a promise to myself not to rely on a man for anything. I appreciate your offer. I really do, but I can’t stay here.”
“It’s not safe there.”
“I can’t miss work, Nick,” she replied, exasperated. “I have clients. Bliss is depending on me for a wage.”
“I’m not asking you to miss work, but I can’t leave you exposed. So, this is what we’re going to do. You’re going to work as normal, but you’re keeping Lucifer by your side as well as allowing two prospects to keep watch. One inside and in plain sight. The other will stay hidden and maintain a perimeter. After work, you will be escorted back here where I can keep you safe. I want you to sleep here. With me.”
“You’re being overbearing,” she replied without any heat in her voice.
“I’m being protective,” I shot back. She started to shake her head in denial, but I stopped her. “Alex, you were almost raped in your bed tonight. Do you really want to fight me on this?”
Chewing her bottom lip, she shook her head. “No.”
“Good. Why don’t you get some sleep.”
“You’re not going to leave me here, are you?”
“No, baby. I’m staying right here.”
As Alex drifted off into a fitful sleep, I began making a list of all the things I was going to do to Maddox before I pulled the trigger and put a bullet in his brain.