25. Zeiden
TWENTY-FIVE
zeiden
“Alright, who’s staying behind?” I spoke through the Bluetooth coms in our helmets. One of us always fell back to make sure there was always a plan B and C.
“Got you.” X’s bike slowed, increasing the gap between bikes as Cas and I rode up to where two cop cars had three bikes pulled over with a car that sure as fuck wasn’t ours.
“Rylee and I will stand by and let you handle this for the moment.” Cas pulled over to the curb, letting me cut in front. I parked the bike and reached back to grab Daisy’s leg.
“You ready for your debut?”
I couldn’t see her, but the way she hugged me tighter felt a lot like a yes and I didn’t even know why that bothered me.
Why the fuck was I hesitating getting off the bike?
Fuck.
The cop’s spotlights showed our guys in cuffs on the curb. What the fuck kind of protocol was this anyway? The illegal kind, that was certain.
Breathing in a deep breath, I pulled the helmet off and then tapped on Daisy’s leg as I gripped her arm and helped her get off the bike before I did that same.
She’d flipped her visor, and fuck if the most beautiful pair of eyes didn’t look back at me. Lucky fucking bastard I was for once in my life.
And that’s when the sour churning in my stomach seemed to explode and I had to fight the urge to buckle over. This feeling, the one that said I was about to do something stupid, finally clicked. I was about to put Daisy, my dove, into harm's way.
Shit.
“Nope. You head back to Cas.”
I grabbed her shoulders and started to turn her toward him and Rylee. She ducked, and although the helmet hit my arm, she still managed to get around me.
“Daisy, don’t you push me.”
She grabbed the helmet as she slowly backed away from me.
“You said I could help. So let me help. Now, point me to those cops.”
I reached for her and she stepped back again, this time finding uneven payment. I lunged for her, grabbing Daisy just in time.
“You will be the death of me if you get hurt. Go back to Cas.”
Those fucking police lights sure as shit lit up this seedy little alley, and I hated what I saw on her face. Determination.
“You said you needed me. Guess you should have thought about that first. So either let me go do whatever it is you think I can do, or, or…”
I smirked at her. “Or what? You’ll try to wiggle out of my arms again?”
And that was the moment I realized how fucked I was.
“No, prince asshole. You don’t let me help, then you don’t get laid. Simple as that. This vagina is closed. She’s shut up like a bank on a Sunday. She's out of order like an atm in?—”
I couldn’t win. It was pointless.
“Just shut up and follow my lead. Fucking hell, those are the worst analogies a little rich princess could come up with.”
Righting her, I spun her around and pushed her behind my back as I approached the cops.
They noticed and turned guns our way.
“Gee, officers, to what do I owe this pleasurable greeting?”
They didn’t budge but someone came around them, gutsy enough to take the frontline.
“You’re the one in charge of these boys?”
I nodded and tightened my grip on Daisy’s arm as she tried to move around me.
I ground my molars.
“Your boys here have a lot of illegal shit in that car. Seems a little stupid of you to come all the way over here just for three worthless thugs.”
I couldn’t see their faces, but I didn’t need to. Our boys were our business. Our gang was family.
“Seems a little stupid for you to try and frame our gang.” I nodded to the car.
The guy didn’t say anything for a minute; we just glared at each other.
“How do we make this shit go away, skippy?”
The cop’s crooked-ass face lit right the fuck up.
“Aw, now you wouldn’t be trying to bribe a police officer, would you?” The second cop pushed down the other asshole's arms, pointing the gun at the ground rather than my face.
“Never. I wouldn’t dream of doing something illegal, just like you planting shit on my boys there. Why would you go about framing innocent civilians?”
The cop took off his hat and scratched at his hair before putting it back on.
“Well, well. Innocent? Doubtful. It is rather interesting that none of these three brought up any warrants or priors though.”
Daisy tried to push me away, but she underestimated my drive to keep her safe.
“Yeah. Strange. Stranger yet is some cops pulling over a few guys on bikes. I know for a fact that car isn’t theirs. Not a single judge is going to believe this pile of crap, so cut the shit and tell me what you want.”
This guy was really working for someone else and as much as he tried to be scary, the intimidation tactics wouldn’t work.
“Something tells me that I would get a lot further in the ranks if I were to bring in a head of a gang rather than some little minions. These characters here? They had no problem telling me that they needed to call their boss. That you would take care of this. Not the typical reaction really.”
Daisy kicked my calf, and damn it if I didn’t let her go enough she got around me before I could tuck her away again.
“What do you mean go up further in the ranks?” she asked.
Her presence got more than just one of the cops’ attention.
“Look what we have here. You guys into human trafficking too? Fuck me, this night is getting better and better.”
Daisy’s foot slapping on the pavement put those borrowed boots to use.
“What? Heck no. Shut your mouth. Do I look like they can control me?” And on cue, she yanked her arm out of my hand. “The thing is, I am new to all this.” She circled her hands around the area as she yanked the helmet from her head and it nearly went flying from her hands as she fumbled to catch it. The cop laughed.
The thing about Daisy is that I saw the repressed desires behind those eyes. She had no idea who she was or what she was capable of, not yet. Like any of us, until you get backed into a corner, you don’t know just what you can do. So instead of reaching for her like my hands itched to do, and instead of pulling her back into the security of my arms, I watched her.
I let her free. I inched along with her. Slow and steady. They didn’t seem to notice me moving as they watched her. The power of being female really never should be underestimated. She stepped, I stepped, until she was closer to the other man than I was comfortable with.
“You’re cute. Want to change sides?” one of the cops said.
My knuckles cracked as I flexed them.
His eyes glanced in my direction, but he looked back at Daisy.
“Cute? Hmm. That’s nice. Thanks for the offer, but I don't see you satisfying me with, what? All three inches? Look at your hands,” she said.
The laughing stopped.
“Shit, dove. Stop toying with them. Let’s get this all sorted out so we can go home.”
The guns were no longer pointed at any of us. Daisy’s little antagonistic comment seemed to have disarmed the pricks. This wasn’t part of the plan, but I could form a new one as we stood here.
“You won’t be saying that when I have you bent over my car. Fuck. Who do you think you are?” The cop turned to me. “Throw the bitch in, and I dunno, a few grand, that should cover the protection tax. You don’t want to be on our bad side.”
I cracked my neck, rolling it side to side.
My resolve cracked. If he touched her, he was going to die.
“Maybe it’s us you don’t want on your bad side.”
They laughed and pulled the guns back out.
“Not everyone is on payroll with the gangs. What the hell gang are you anyway? Actually, I don’t fucking care. Although I guess by looks of the bikes all around you sure as shit aren’t Vipers.”
The cops chuckled like that was some kind of joke. And the Vipers were certainly a joke.
“Right. Well, here are the terms. I give you a decent amount of cash and my boys walk away, and you make that car disappear on someone else’s turf. This is Spector territory, and I’m pretty sure you know that.”
You could almost see the wheels turning as they looked back and forth between each other.
“Spectors, huh. I think maybe we have a few more requests then.”
Daisy got to the lead guy and every muscle in my damn body tensed.
“Maybe you know my father? Senator Ashford?” she said.
She reached her hand up and rested it on his forearm. The other two dipshits seemed a little less prepared to shoot me at the very least. It was clear who was dirty and who was following for the payout.
“Senator Ashford? No way is his little princess out here with the likes of these guys.”
Daisy flipped that little switch, the one that went all scared damsel in distress to coy with the surprise of crazy, only they didn’t know that. I did the second her tone seemed to sweeten up.
“But wouldn’t she? Daddy’s little princess fucking the bad boy? I’m sure if you brought me home, there’s a finder’s fee.”
Fuck me if that guy wasn’t playing into her bullshit little story.
Daisy was too close, but it was better to distract them. This made our next move easier. Made my patience a bit more controlled for the moment. Something that had changed the Spectors' success had been the way we were all dedicated to our lifestyle. Cas, X and I had made sure when we reorganized that whoever was accepted into our ranks knew what the price was. Loyalty for safety. And aside from organization, we had talent. We allowed members to find their niche, and one of those options was using guns. I knew that even if we were the only three the dirty cops saw, there were more they couldn’t, and all it took was one single signal.
We didn’t abandon our own. Not ever.
I held up my arm, crooked at the elbow, and clenched my hand into a fist, and I waited.
“So, tell me, officer. You think I’m a princess? Even now?”
Fuck me. The thundering of my blood pumping inside my ears had me damn near blind with rage as she talked to him like that. Her sugary sweet words invited him to look at what was mine.
“There’s no way you’re a princess.”
A second cop approached and I took a step closer, but he held up a phone.
“That’s her. She’s engaged to that new judge.”
The way the head cop’s face slid into a slimy little grin was all it took for me to open my hand, and within seconds, all three cops were down.
“Oh, well, that was unexpected,” said Daisy as she turned toward me.
I closed the distance between us in two long steps and grabbed her around the waist.
“He touched what was mine.”
The bastard at my feet moaned. I pulled out the gun in the holster under my riding jacket and looked down at him.
“Accept this as payment for threatening my dove.”
The crack of the gun echoed, but not a damn person in this area would come running. These cops had known what they were doing, until they didn’t.
“I guess that’s three more cops off the payroll for daddy dearest.” X stopped talking as he headed for our three guys, still handcuffed, but no longer sitting uncomfortably on the ground.
“Hey, Daisy. Have you ever heard your dad talk about any poisons or anything?” I asked her, still refusing to let her go. Rylee and Cas strolled up as Cali checked the cops for pulses.
Daisy shook her head. “Sorry. I don’t know. I gave my dad a wide berth. I didn’t want anything to do with him. The run-in’s I’d had with him as a child left me with bruises and scars. I learned young to just stay away.”
I pulled her closer.
It didn’t matter. All the pieces were fitting together. Something told me if the senator was out of the picture, one large issue would be gone for good.
“Dove, I’m taking you home now and you won’t be leaving my bed until I’m good and ready to let you go. Never, ever touch another man again.”
She nuzzled into me before I shifted us, heading back toward the bike. Maybe something about this should be terrifying, but with Daisy everything just seemed to finally be right.