16. Paige
16
PAIGE
Heavy knocking on the door wakes both of us up. Poe still has his arm around me, and at some point during the night it shifted so he could cup my boob. There's a casual, sexy familiarity in that that makes me grin.
More knocking on the door, and Savage yells, “Poe! Get your ass out of bed!”
So much for ‘in the morning’.
“Jesus Christ, this better be good,” grumbles Poe, but he pulls the covers back and throws his legs over the side to stand.
My breath catches at the sight of his naked body, fully on display in the sunlit room. He’s facing away, but the back view is amazing. And I finally see the end of his dragon, where the tail actually winds down past his perfect, tight ass and ends in a spike on the back of his thigh. He pulls his long hair back, then goes to get the door.
Still butt naked.
A moment later, the guys come in. “Put some fucking pants on,” Crank says. “We’ve got business.”
That has me scrambling out of bed in a hurry. I'm not as free as Poe, so I grab the t-shirt he gave me off the floor, and hurry across the room to put on my shorts from yesterday. It’s all I have until I get the rest of my meager wardrobe back.
Savage and Crank both watch me, making no attempt to be discreet about it. Or about the fact that they’re appreciating the view.
Poe is still naked, and going through his makeshift dresser. And he's still half hard. Doesn't it bother him to let his buddies catch him like that? They don’t seem to care much either, aside from being mildly annoyed at the time it’s taking. I wonder what they think happened last night. It’s pretty obvious something did, and I’m not sure how I feel about them knowing. I’m not ashamed, but it feels a little like shutting two doors before knowing which one I want to go through.
Savage holds up his phone. He points at me. “You need to be quiet. I’ll explain later. As far as the people on the other line are concerned, you have been located, but you aren’t here yet. Got it?”
I nod, determined not to screw up whatever they've got going.
Poe returns, still barefoot, but wearing jeans and a tight black T-shirt. He nods.
Savage unmutes his phone. “Alright, my team’s all here. We’re ready to deal.”
“About damn time.” The voice is deep and smooth, almost oily. “For calling yourself professionals, you people could use some lessons in doing business.” I can totally imagine him putting air quotes around “professionals.”
“Maybe that’s so, but how about you get off your high horse and tell us who you are, instead of shit-talking. All I know is that you're calling from Walter Holland's phone and I’m pretty fucking sure you aren’t Walt.” Savage's tone is hard and no-nonsense.
The man on the other end sighs deeply, like dealing with us is a burden on his day. “Stefano Fabbri. You might not know me, but I'm sure you've heard of the Fabbri Family.”
Crank shrugs and looks at Poe, who shakes his head.
Savage rolls his eyes. “Sure I've heard of you. Family. I get it. But that doesn’t explain shit. I need to talk to Walter about a bounty he listed about a week back.”
“Mr. Holland decided it was in his best interest to let us handle the little matter of his difficult niece. Your message mentioned some extra luggage that she had with her? I believe that property belongs to us.”
The more he talks, the less I trust him, but the guys seem to take him seriously, which means I'd better, too.
“I'm not sure I like this. The deal was supposed to be with Walter. Can I talk to him?”
“Not at the moment. Why do you care? Hand over the girl and the bag, and you'll get your money. As personal thanks, I'll even give you a little bonus if the bag is intact and has everything it's supposed to inside.”
Crank makes a grimace, like he just stepped in dog poop. Poe shakes his head, his talented mouth twisted into a nasty sneer.
Savage nods at them, and keeps his voice steady as he responds. “Yeah sure. Like you said, same for us either way. She’s still in transit, though, so it’s going to take a couple days. The girl got pretty far for a junkie. How about you give me a number where I can reach you directly.”
There's a pause, like Fabbri is thinking. Then he rattles off a number. “It's my personal number. Call me when you have my things. Some errors have been made, and we need to straighten them back up as soon as possible. A little bit of cleanup. I'm sure you understand.”
He's talking about me. Obviously. My heart skips at the thought that there's someone out there who sees me as a loose end to tidy up. Where’s my uncle? I don’t want him to get away with what he’s been doing, but I don’t want him hurt, either. God, what kind of person acts like this?
The pieces slot into place as I sit there listening. Family. Family. The boys mentioned Mafia yesterday. The idea of an organized crime boss coming for me sounds so absurd, but nobody here is laughing.
“What's in this bag?” Savage asks casually. “Just so we can make sure not to lose anything along the way.”
Another hesitation. “Don’t play dumb with me. The Fabbri’s don’t tolerate thieves. I expect every single fucking bill to be in there, or your shitty little operation is done.”
Savage nods to himself. “And if we're forced to prioritize, what's more important? The bag or the girl?”
“What the fuck is this? Twenty questions? I thought you said you had both.” Fabbri sounds ready to hang up in irritation. “Or are you just wasting my damn time?”
“Nah, but shit happens. We got them. I just wanna know my priorities.”
He mutters something that sounds foreign under his breath. “Get me both, and you get paid. Lose either one, and we'll take it out of your mangy hide. That clear enough for you?”
“Crystal.” Savage grins like he's imagining putting a bullet through Stefano’s skull. It's scary. “I'll call you back when we’re ready.”
“How long?”
“Like I said, a couple days.” Savage looks right at me when he says it, but he's hard to read. I'm very sure they're not planning on handing me over, but why are we waiting? Wouldn’t it be best to just get it over with?
“I expect to hear from you.” The line goes dead, and Savage makes sure the call's actually ended before he puts it away.
“Not surprised, but mob raises the stakes by a fucking lot,” Crank growls.
Savage nods, thoughtful.
“Why are you making him wait?” I ask.
“Because we’re obviously not handing you over. He can go fuck himself as far as I’m concerned, but this buys us some time to figure out how to keep the fallout to a minimum. Your uncle we could handle on our own, but if the mob is involved, we need to take this to Hellfire because it could affect the whole club.”
The president. Poe made him sound scary. “Me too?” I ask nervously.
“All of us. Let's go.”
“Can I shower first?”
Savage looks me up and down and smiles. “Feeling dirty this morning?”
My cheeks are on fire, but I hold my head high. If they aren’t going to be embarrassed about sex, neither am I. “Maybe. Jealous?”
His eyes flash and he actually laughs. “Not unless you make me wait too long, kitten.”