Chapter 12
LEGION
T he night I first crossed the state line into North Carolina, I’d been hit with an overwhelming impression of being in the right place at the right time.
Having finally tracked down the man responsible for nearly killing my brother, I attributed the euphoric, serendipitous sensation to Dean Keegan .
Little did I know that feeling had been the beginning tremors of a seismic movement that would come to destroy everything I was setting in motion.
My initial encounter with the beautiful disaster lingering just beyond the perimeter of my awareness had been at the bonfire party for the young prospect, Axel.
Upon my arrival that night, the alluring, gravitational pull I had initially felt outside The Twisted Throttle pulsated throughout the crowd of partygoers.
I’d recognized the perplexing sensation immediately and scanned the crowd for its source while Preacher gave his little speech on MC etiquette .
The moment my eyes found her, I felt the foundation of all I had been building crack beneath my boots.
In that moment, my body succumbed to her magnetism, pulling me into her orbit before I’d even realized I was making a Beeline in her direction.
I had every intention of mind-fucking Keegan throughout the duration of the Patch Party. Axel had initially been my choice pawn that night, a major chink in Keegan’s armor.
There had been others in his life, of course, the young child, Maddie, for one.
I was well aware of Keegan’s love and devotion to the girl, of all the family turmoil surrounding their strained relationship, courtesy of Maddie’s biological parents.
She was only a small child, however, so I opted for the next best weapon.
The boy, now young man, Keegan had rescued and cared for, brought up as if he were his own son. .. Axel Rose Jacobson .
All my plans changed the moment she breathed her name and placed her hand in mine. Though I knew it was impossible, there was something oddly familiar in her touch. The sensation intrigued me, pulled at something I did not recognize, somewhere deep inside my rotting soul.
“Forget about Axel,” I’d ordered my men the moment we were out of earshot from anyone with any meaningful ties to Keegan. “I want you to press up on that lovely thing...”
To say that it had been a struggle, keeping my eyes off her throughout the duration of that biker bash, is an understatement.
I knew she had potential in this game, yet every time a plan began to formulate regarding those potentials, an anxious, restless feeling wracked my system.
A force seemed to needle at those very thoughts within my mind… I’d never experienced anything like it.
The need to know more about her rapidly became something separate from my plans against Keegan… Something I instinctively knew was another secret I’d have to guard.
The gravitational sensation pulls even now, guiding me down a familiar dirt path in the woods I already know will lead me through the acres of forest butted up against her formal rental home, and the Keegan Family farm.
Though I know the old house, now devoid of her presence, isn’t the source of this magnetic urge, I still find my thoughts drifting to the day I obtained her information.
“ H er name is Giovanna!” The trifling little trick, Lucinda , busted into my office at the Demons’ Den one evening.
Up until this point, I had intentionally kept my distance from the trollop for the sole purpose of Daniel’s contentment within our ranks. I knew she was a power-hungry whore. That I especially, could have had her on her back, or any other position for that matter, at any moment of my choosing.
She shut the door and leaned up against it. For a long moment, she stared at me, waiting for a reaction of some sort. She quickly learned it takes more than a first name to pull praise from me.
I leaned back in my chair, folding my hands in my lap. She took the subtle cue to keep talking.
“I heard you were interested in her… Why?”
She was so… eager … hopeful … I knew there was potential in Keegan’s devious divorcee. Narrowing my eyes at her, I asked, “Why do you care?”
“I want her gone.”
That wasn’t difficult to decipher. She was still hung up on Keegan.
I looked her over slowly, making certain she took note of my appraising gaze.
Lucinda was a very physically attractive woman, in that societal standards kind of way.
Tall, slender, with curves in all the right places, blonde hair, blue eyes, and manicured nails that were digging into her leather skirt with an anxious, palpable, and pliable … desperation .
“And what makes you think I’d give a fuck about what you want?” I’d sneered as if the information she possessed about Keegan’s woman wasn’t appealing in the slightest.
“I’ll make it worth your while.” The tonality of her voice deepened suggestively.
They’re all the fucking same.
“Really? You think so, do you? And with which of your holes do you intend to convince me with?”
She had the gall to scowl at me, yet the moment I stood, her offended demeanor morphed to something more… malleable .
She shifted in her heels, caution flashing in her eyes when I stepped around the desk, closing in on her.
Trailing my fingers lightly up the bare skin of her slender arm, her body tensed, and I leaned into her.
Gooseflesh formed beneath my touch, betraying either her fear or arousal at my proximity.
Perhaps it was a mixture of both… They do pair delectably .
While I pressed my nose into the blonde hair curtaining her ear, I inhaled her honey-almond scent and brought my hand up her shoulder, and across her clavicle. When I gripped her throat, she let out a little gasp of surprise.
“You are a rather striking creature… Tell me …” I whispered, sweeping her hair back with my other hand.
I brought my lips to the shell of her exposed ear and squeezed her throat tighter.
“What gets your little gash wetter? A man’s hands on you …
” I dropped my other hand from her hair to squeeze her firm, gym-sculpted ass, “ Or fantasies of revenge?”
I’d felt the shift of her swallow against my palm. “What’s wrong with all of the above?” She attempted to entice me with her little taunt. “I’m not the settling type.”
That didn’t surprise me. She’d been unfaithful to the older Keegan.
As a former stripper, she could have easily crossed the line to whore in a private dance room, or beyond the club.
It was a regular, encouraged occurrence at The Morning Star.
These idiot brothers learned the hard way.
Some women aren’t cut out to be housewives… or mothers.
Though I didn’t require her intel to find out everything about Keegan’s dark-haired beauty, I knew the jealous little minx would serve to cloak my workings. This patch-humping pawn would prove to be useful to me at some point.
“ And what would you have me do?” I asked, permitting a false confidence in her feminine wiles.
Lucinda twisted to face me, though I didn’t release her throat. That half-lidded, seductive blue gaze darkened as she stared into my own, convinced I’d fallen under the spell of her pussy power.
“ I want her out of his life…out of this town… And I don’t care how you get it done.”
“Oh, but I’m a very busy man.”
She’d pressed forward, attempting to bring her lips closer to mine. “ I said I’d make it worth your while… with whatever holes you require, S ir .”
Sir… Clearly, Lucinda had been paying closer attention to me than I’d realized.
I allowed a grin to split my expression. She had the potential to be dangerous. That is, if she weren’t so quick to act on her impulses… If she could stave off her desire for instant gratification. Revenge is a delicate thing. It’s an art. It takes time, planning, patience, and oftentimes, skill…
“I’ll book us a room at the Waldorf.” I released her throat. “Ten o’clock… Sharp .”
That would give me plenty of time to make a few arrangements... Blackmail…insurance… These things come in handy when dealing with the devious.
Lucinda plucked an envelope tucked within her low-cut top, smiling up at me as if she’d already won this power play. “ See you later,” she purred, victory in her words, and handed me the curious parcel before she sauntered out the door.
After slashing open the envelope with my switchblade, I removed the contents. Within a folded sheet of stationery was a business card displaying the name, number, and location of a metaphysical shop located on the other side of the county…
The Ametrine Cauldron.
I tucked the business card into my pocket and studied the letter next . Scrawled in feminine penmanship, upon purple stationery depicting a faded jar of hearts, had been a name and an address:
Giovanna Vettriano
7 Farmhouse Lane
T he memory fades as I kill the engine and dismount my bike a few yards short of the main trail connecting The Keegan Family Farm to my right, and her formal rental.
Lighting up a much-needed cigarette, I remain standing beside my bike, staring through the foliage at the back of the old, neglected structure that is 7 Farmhouse Lane…
I could have ridden to the farm next door, but my anxiety over seeing her for the first time in three years got the better of me. I’m simply buying myself time. Besides, this will give me another opportunity to confirm Keegan is not present.
I wonder if she knew I’d been inside her home on several occasions throughout her occupancy of the old farmhouse… Though I doubt she’d been aware.
With every step closer to the ranch on the hill, the feeling grows stronger, and my thoughts wander back to the first time I succumbed to the magnetic pull of the little witch...