CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
When and Where
Rio—
“Let’s go to my office.” I finish my beer and Zig follows me down the hall, beer in hand.
While I settle behind my desk, Zig takes one of the chairs on the other side.
“You and the boys make that trip to El Paso?” I ask.
“Yep. Had a nice little pow-wow with that club we talked about. They call themselves the Desert Dogs. They’re small time, but hell, let me tell you they were eager to talk to us. I think if you make the invitation; they’ll jump at the chance to be a Saint’s Outlaw.”
“They the kind of men you’d want at your back?” I ask the only question that really matters.
“They’re all ex-military. Young, and looking for something more than what their club has to offer. We did some target practice, and let me tell you those boys were good. I think they’ll do.”
“But will you trust them with your life?”
“Let me put it this way, I didn’t see any deceitfulness in their eyes. But, hell, we may not know for sure until they’re here with us. They don’t work out, they’re gone, way I see it.”
I consider his words. “I’ll need time to think about it. I don’t want to rush into anything, but circumstances with the DKs may force my hand.”
“I get that.”
I steeple my hands and press my forehead against them, closing my eyes.
He tilts his head, studying my posture, and frowns. “Something wrong, Prez?”
“Yeah,” I mutter, and look at my VP, dragging my palms down my face. “Something Shelby confessed to me.”
He polishes off the remains of his bottle. “And?”
I stare him square in the eye. “This does not leave this room, understand?”
“Absolutely.”
Dragging in a deep breath, I tell him. “One night Shelby was stopped by that goddamn Carson.”
“Carson?”
“The deputy,” I clarify, and see an inkling of understanding dawning in Zig’s eyes.
“Christ. What the hell did he do?”
“He took her to a secluded spot and assaulted her.”
“By assaulted, you mean…?”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
“Jesus, Rio. When was this?”
“Right before she stopped writing to me. Right before she completely cut off all contact with me the third year I was in prison.”
Zig lights a cigarette, watching me. “I can tell from your posture you’ve already decided, so what are we going to do about it?”
“I’m going to kill the motherfucker.”
Like the good VP he is, Zig nods. “Okay. When and where?”
“As soon as possible, and I don’t give a fuck where.”
“We need to get a plan together. Make sure this doesn’t blow back on us.”
I drag a hand down my jaw. “I don’t want it to be quick. I want him to suffer.”
“So, no double-tap to the head. Got it.” Zig grins.
“This isn’t a fucking joke, VP.”
His smile disappears, and he drops his cigarette butt in his empty beer bottle. “Sorry. You’re right. It’s not. However you want to do this, you know the club will back you. Hell, you want ‘em to walk up in broad daylight on Main Street and take care of him, you know these brothers would do it with no questions asked.”
“I don’t want anyone else doing it. He’s mine, understand?”
“Sure, sure. I get it.” He studies me. “But we’ve got to be smart about this. None of us want you going back to prison.”
“That man doesn’t see the sunrise tomorrow.”
Zig’s brows lift. “You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
He stands and paces, running his hand over his beard. “We could draw him out, make a fake call. Get him out in the middle of nowhere. Take care of it there.”
I stroke my chin, thinking. “I would love to do it at the abandoned glass factory where Shelby says he took her.”
“You know where that is?”
“No, but I could find out.”
Zig folds his arms. “Okay, if we do it at this old glass factory, we’ll have to scope the place out, and we’ll need time to make sure there’s no surveillance equipment at any place nearby. That’s gonna take a minute, so I guess the sooner you find out where this place is…”
“Yeah, okay. Give me some time with her. It’s not something she’s gonna want to talk about again.”
“And of course, we’re gonna have to dispose of the body.”
I look him dead in the eye. “You know anywhere we can get our hands on a wood chipper?”
“Are you serious? You know what kind of a mess that’s gonna leave? There’d be DNA everywhere.”
“Okay, fine.” I drag a hand down my face. “Figure something out. I’m going upstairs.” I shove out of my seat and stalk out, flinging the door open so hard it bounces against the wall.
By the time I trudge upstairs, I’ve done my best to let the rage dissipate before I walk in and see Shelby. I don’t want her to know what’s got me so worked up. Dragging in a slow breath, I open my door.
The sound of the shower carries to me immediately, and I don’t hesitate to strip. It only takes me about sixty seconds before I’m stepping under the hot spray with her.
She spins, surprised, but when I take her into my arms, she comes easily. Her wet skin glistens, and I’ve never seen anything sexier.
Her hair is still dry, like she was trying to keep it that way.
“Let me wash your hair.” I walk her back a step and get her pretty hair wet. Then I pour shampoo in my palm and massage it into her scalp. “Tilt your head, baby.”
She complies, moaning under my ministrations. Lather trails down her back and over her cute ass. Wrapping a hand around her nape, I ease her into the spray and rinse the shampoo out of her hair. I repeat with conditioner, and the way she moans and is pliant in my arms tells me she is enjoying the attention.
When I’m done, I grab a handful of body wash and soap up every luscious inch of her. I can’t get enough of touching her soft skin.
By the time I’m finished, my dick is hard as a rock and standing at attention.
I thread my fingers through her hair and pull her head back, then plunder her mouth, my tongue delving between her lips.
She moans into my mouth, and that’s all the invitation I need. Breaking off the kiss, I spin her around, position her hands on the tile wall, and spread her legs. Swirling my fingers at her entrance, I find her wet and ready for me.
I take my dick in my hand and circle the head around it, then up to tease her clit until she’s up on her toes, arching her back and thrusting her ass out and begging me so sweetly.
“Rio, please.”
I plunge inside, grab her hips and fuck her fast and hard until her breasts are bouncing.
Reaching around with one hand, I play with her until she’s close to orgasm, then reach up and pinch her nipple hard and she explodes, her pussy tightening around my dick.
I come long and hard inside her, wrapping my arms around her waist and holding us both upright.
Afterward, I gently wash her again between the legs, then shut off the water, wrap a towel around her and carry her to bed.
“Baby?” I wrap my arms around her and nuzzle her ear.
“Yes?” She turns her face into mine.
“I need to ask you something. That glass factory you talked about. Where was it? You remember the name of the place?”
She immediately stiffens in my arms. “Why are you asking me about that?” She waits, but I don’t answer. “Rio?”
“Shelby, what you said earlier today about how you hate I hid buying the garage from you?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want to hide things from you. So, I’m gonna lay my cards on the table. You’re not gonna to have to worry about that fucking Deputy Carson ever again. I’m gonna take care of that problem.”
She shoves me away. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you walking free of that fear. I’m talking about taking that off your shoulders.”
Her chin pulls to the side, but I think she already knows. “What do you mean, Rio? Tell me exactly what you’re planning to do?”
“I’m going to make that problem disappear.”
“You’re going to kill him. That’s what you’re talking about, isn’t it?” Her voice raises in anger. When I don’t say anything, she shakes her head. “You can’t.”
“Yeah, I can. No man touches you. I’ll kill any man who does, and that includes the past, too.”
“You can’t do that, Rio.”
“Yeah, babe, I can.” I climb from the bed, yank on my jeans and head to the door.
“Stop. Rio, wait.”
I pause with my hand on the doorknob and turn back to her. “Yeah?”
“There’s another reason.” She appears to struggle, trying to muster the courage to get her next words out.
I hesitate when I see her body language. She’s fidgety and nervous. She has all my attention now, my brows drawing together. “What is it, Shelby?”
“I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid of how you’d react.”
“Babe, you can tell me anything. Don’t you know that?”
“This… this is big, Rio.”
Releasing the doorknob, I take a couple of steps toward her. “Just say it, sweetheart.”
She hugs her arms to her body. “I… I have a daughter. Her name is Bella.”
I’m stunned speechless. It’s the last thing I expected to come out of her mouth. Silence fills the room that’s already thick with tension. I lick my lips. “You have a daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Carson is her father.”
I feel the blood drain from my face, and my stomach sinks. “What?”
“That time I told you about. I got pregnant.”
“Jesus Christ, Shelby.” I take a step toward the bed, wanting to hold her, but her body language screams don’t touch me .
“He doesn’t know. It’s another reason I left town. He can’t find out, Rio. I couldn’t bear it if he tried to see her or tried to get visitation or, God forbid, custody.”
“All the more reason I should kill the son-of-a-bitch,” I growl, fury replacing my initial surprise.
“You can’t . Don’t you see? What if Bella grows up and wants to know her father?”
“He’s not worth knowing,” I snap.
“That may be true, but that’s not for you or me to decide.”
“ May be true?” I lift a brow at her ridiculous reply. “Do you hear yourself?”
“If he becomes some kind of martyr in her head, she’ll believe the lie that he was a good guy. If she knows you killed him, she’ll never forgive you. Or me. That can’t be how this ends. Please, Rio. Promise me.”
I drag a hand through my hair, frustration radiating from me. She must feel the tension in the air; the room vibrates with it. There’s no way in hell I want to give in to her request. “Babe, that’s one promise I won’t make—can’t make.”
“Maybe it’s unfair of me to ask it. After all I’ve told you, you have every right to be angry, to want to defend me, to want to take away the problem perhaps the only way you know how. But I can’t let that happen.”
“Shelby—”
“Unfair or not, I’m begging you, Rio. Let it go.”
I pace the room, dragging my hand through my hair, then turn to her, my eyes filled with torment. “Don’t ask that of me, baby.”
“I have to.”
I stride out of the room, slamming the door.
Stalking down the steps, all heads turn my way. The men are at the bar, and I spot my VP. With a lift of my chin and one word, he follows. “Zig.”
Once we’re in my office and he’s closed the door, I take an arm and shove everything on the desk to the floor with a roar.
“Jesus, Prez. What’s wrong?”
I collapse in my chair, my chest rising and falling. Goddamn it, I don’t want to say the words, but I fucking have no choice. “We can’t kill him.”
“What? Why not?” Zig lowers into a chair.
“Shelby has a daughter. I didn’t know about that until just now.”
“So, she’s got a kid. What’s the problem?”
I glare at him from under my brows. “She’s a product of that night.”
Zig’s face goes slack. “You mean that fucking deputy is the father?”
“Yeah. She pleaded with me not to kill him. Said when Bella grows up, she might never forgive me or her. I don’t want to give in to her, but goddamn it, she’s right.”
“Okay, so now what?”
“We come up with a new plan.”
“Got any ideas?”
“There’s only one I can think of and that’s we get him sent to prison. We put him in a six by nine cell for the rest of his fucking life.”
“And how do we do that? Is Shelby going to testify against him?”
“No, I don’t want her involved.”
“Then what?”
I drag a hand down my jaw. “I don’t know. Maybe we set him up.”
“You want him sent up for life, it’s gonna have to be something big. We’re talking murder.”
“Or we get Sheriff Torres to turn on him. Turn him in for all the women he’s raped in the past. Some others must have reported it.” I lean back in my chair, stroking my jaw and turning it over in my head for a few minutes, then sit up, the chair creaking. “I think we need to pay our good sheriff a visit tonight. Set it up with the guys.”
“All right.” He stands. “So, what are you going to do about Shelby and her daughter? Is she going back to Cloudcroft?”
“I’ve got a plan, but I need to make a call first.”
When Zig leaves, I pull out my phone.
“Hola, mi amigo. What can I do for you?”
“You still lookin’ to sell that hacienda on the hill, Eduardo?”
“Can you afford it, my friend? My realtor just went over the listing she’s preparing. She thinks I can get two million.”
I whistle. That’s a lot for me to come up with right now, and until the garage starts showing a real profit history, I won’t be able to get a mortgage loan. “Can you lease it to me for a year? I should be able to come up with the funds to buy it outright by then.”
“I suppose we could work out that deal.”
“I need to get in there tomorrow. Is it empty?”
“We left the furniture in it. I was going to see if we could include it in the sale. It doesn’t fit in our new modern house.” He hesitates. “Are you sure about this, Rio? You’ve never seen the inside.”
“Send me the listing photos.”
“That I can do.”
“I’ll call you later tonight, and we can work out the details.”
“I’ll send the photos now.”
“Thanks, Eduardo. This works out, I’ll owe you one.”