4. Silas
4
SILAS
I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel while waiting for Maverick and Killian to emerge from the gas station.
It was two and a half hours of air travel before we landed in New Orleans.
During that time, we tried to figure out what had prompted the girl to escape the night of the attack.
Why now? Especially when we knew Daniel was a possessive bastard, and I assumed that would be the case with his daughter.
The daughter he had kept secret about living with him. No way would he have let her out of his grasp.
The only logical explanation we could think of was that she knew about the attack.
Knew it was going to happen, so she ran.
I sat up in my seat when the passenger side of the rental truck opened, and Maverick plopped down on the seat. I glanced at him as the back door opened and Killian climbed in.
“What?” I asked, taking in Maverick’s dark expression.
“The mom left New Orleans.”
My grip tightened around the steering wheel. “No shit? When?”
Fuck, had we been too late? We couldn’t go on the hunt right away. Not when there was so much business to deal with, now that we had taken control. But fuck, it had only been a two-day delay.
“Yesterday.”
Killian leaned over in his seat. “Hold on. I’m texting Eli. He might know if there’s someone new to the city.”
I leaned back against my chair and stared straight ahead.
Eli was the president of the Road Sinners chapter here in New Orleans.
He might know about Kaley.
After all, it wasn’t common for the old lady of a patch member, especially the president’s, to just up and leave.
I was surprised Daniel never tracked her down.
Surprised he let her leave in the first place.
That was one of the many differences between my brothers and I and that spineless fucking sleazeball.
We wouldn’t have let our woman go.
Had there been a woman, I would have tied her to me in any and every way possible.
I would risk suffocating her before she would ever think about stepping outside of my orbit.
And divorce?
There would be no such thing.
I looked over at Maverick.
I knew both of my brothers felt the same way.
We’d been with plenty of women.
Way more than I cared to admit. Some by ourselves—but mostly, we share.
I didn’t know what it was about sharing a woman with my brothers that appealed to me so fucking much, but it did.
It just fucking did.
Nothing was sexier than seeing my woman exhausted after a night of being used by my brothers and me, then thanking us in the morning.
I shifted a little in my seat from the thought alone.
Not that there had ever been a woman I wanted to keep permanently, but I was much more optimistic about the possibility than either of my brothers.
A side effect of being the youngest out of the three of us, I supposed, but I was sure our woman was out there, waiting for us.
We just needed to find her.
Find her, then fucking keep her.
“Got it,” Killian said, driving me out of my thoughts.
I looked up and met his eyes in the rearview mirror. “Did the girl leave with her mom?”
He grinned nastily. There had always been something unhinged about Killian. Ever since that night, when the entire house was massacred and we realized it was with Lilliana’s help—Killian’s first and only long-term relationship.
“She’s still here in New Orleans.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go greet the club’s princess and give her a warm welcome.” Maverick grinned.
The corners of my lips curved up in a small smile, and I started the car back up, though I didn’t say anything to that.
For some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something big was about to happen.
Something fucking life-changing, and I wasn’t sure if either my brothers or I would be ready for it.
We followed the bike to a dingy motel.
The driver held up his hand before taking off without saying a word. I supposed we should be thankful he showed us the way in the first place.
Who knew how long it would have taken us to find the girl otherwise?
Killian looked down at his phone.
“Room 33,” he said.
Maverick frowned, locating the door right away.
“What?” I asked.
“Why do you suppose she’s still here in New Orleans when her mom already left?”
I shrugged. “’Cause we got lucky.”
“Or because they didn’t think anyone would look for her,” Killian added.
“Do you think she knows her dad and his men were slaughtered?” Maverick asked.
My eyes narrowed on the blue door. The place might be rundown, but it was peaceful. It didn’t look bad. Just old.
“Why would it matter?” I said absently.
Maverick turned to me. “Just curious.”
I didn’t say anything when I opened the car door and got out. My brothers followed suit.
We silently walked up to the door, and Killian knocked. We waited.
It was almost comical how the three of us stood in front of the door, waiting for it to open.
Killian tapped the outside of his leg impatiently. He let out a small sigh and pulled out the lock-picking kit from the pocket of his jeans. “I don’t think anyone is home.”
“Or there’s a woman in the motel room. I doubt she would want to open the door for three unknown men standing in front of it,” I added.
Killian muttered something under his breath as he got to work. Maverick stood there impassively while I scanned my surroundings.
There wasn’t a soul in sight.
A sound clicked through the silence, which seemed to echo in the space between us as Killian stood up and pushed the door open.
He waved his hand like a magician, grinning a little.
Maverick walked in first, then I followed, tapping Killian's chest as I passed him.
I looked around the small room.
Although it was decorated with old furniture and peeling walls, it was surprisingly clean. The bed was made, and the only mess was a light scattering of clothes on the bed and near the table.
A sweet floral scent tickled my nose, and I couldn’t decide if I hated it or wanted to find out what kind of perfume this girl used.
I shook away the stupid thought and watched as Maverick started to look through the room, careful not to leave anything out of place.
Killian found a bra hanging across the back of a desk chair and picked it up with his index finger.
Our eyes met, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. This girl was obviously into pink lace.
Pink lace with little daisies sewed on the cups. It was both sexy and innocent.
My favorite kind of woman.
I looked around one side of the room, then went to the dresser.
I pulled the top drawer open and found the treasure trove.
Silk, lacy, and soft panties.
Fuck, but I could feel my dick twitching inside my pants, even if I didn’t know why that was. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen a woman’s panties.
But I always did have a thing for ’em.
“What are you doing?” Killian asked.
“Looking for the matching panties,” I answered, letting my fingers run through the soft fabric. I paused when I found a small black thong that wouldn’t cover anything.
I realized a bit too late that we should have looked for a better picture of Mila Hayes. Instead, we had a photo taken from a distance that showed us nothing except the fact that the girl wasn’t bad to look at. Hell, I knew she had blueish, green eyes, but not the tone of them. If they were deep or light and cold.
She had long blonde hair and was thin.
I shoved the thong in my pocket and shut the door when I couldn’t find its match. What if she was wearing it right now?
I felt my lips curving into a small smile.
“Perverted fucker,” Maverick commented, obviously having seen the whole thing. My smile widened.
“Fuck me, look at this,” Killian said by the bed. Maverick and I walked over to him.
Maverick’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Fuck. How much is there?”
“At least forty grand. Maybe fifty.”
Cash.
The little thief definitely had guts, I had to give her that.
We’d found the open safe in Daniel Hayes’ office, and though that grabbed our attention, the money he might have had in there was the least of our concerns. It wasn’t like we didn’t have money, but after we took over the club, what had once belonged to the former president should have gone to us.
Or it would have, once we figured out where Daniel stashed most of his loot. It wasn’t like the fucker was stupid enough to put it in the bank or keep it all in one place.
The club might be knee-deep in debt, but I knew the fucker didn’t go without.
And we just found fifty grand of it.
“We’ve killed men for taking less than that from us,” Killian commented.
Maverick and I shared a look.
We were both worried about him.
Worried about the unhinged, calloused man he was becoming. Whatever empathy might have been in my brother as a teenager was destroyed by Lilliana’s betrayal.
Killian turned to Maverick. “You know we can’t let his blood go free, right?”
I didn’t exactly agree with him. What was one girl going to do? I didn’t agree with killing women, though Lilliana was the exception, and if I ever saw that bitch again, I would fucking shoot her point blank.
Maverick nodded. “Leave everything as is, and let’s go wait in the car. There’s no need to make this kill personal.”
“Not personal? This is Daniel’s blood,” Killian said.
“Yes, his child. She doesn’t bear her father’s sin. The only reason we can’t spare her is because we can’t afford any loose ends.” Like us. We had been Daniel Hayes’ loose ends. But the girl—she wasn’t us.
I shook my head. “I still don’t think we should kill her,” I said.
Maverick looked at me. “She knows enough.”
I didn’t say anything to that. I knew my brothers wouldn’t listen to me, and it was as Maverick said: Daniel Hayes’ kid was a liability we couldn’t afford.
That bastard Hayes met his fate because he was stupid enough to leave Declan Tiernan’s children alone.
He didn’t think we would come back nineteen years later and destroy his club. He had thought he was invincible. We wouldn’t repeat his mistakes and let his spawn live.
Killian nodded, his brown eyes glinting.
I didn’t tell him how fucking much he looked like our abusive shithead of a dad at this moment.
Killian always hated the fact that he took after our old man, but he always had our mom’s softness growing up.
I wondered when that had disappeared altogether.
Maverick looked at me before following Killian outside. He wouldn’t say anything about our brother. He never said anything about our brother, and I wondered when he’d started to accept the fact that Killian was more savage than man most days.
My eyes squinted against the harsh, intrusive glare of the afternoon sun, and I could already feel sweat beading at the back of my neck. It was hot as hell here. Why would anyone want to live here?
Fuck, but I couldn’t wait to go home.
I was the last one to climb into the truck.
Behind me, Killian prepared the long-range rifle as I started the car and drove us up the small hill we’d passed on the way in.
Maverick found a good spot for us to lie low while we waited for the girl to come back. The three of us crouched down and watched the door.
The number 33, though no longer visible to me from this distance, seemed to pop into my mind.
My chest felt like a two-ton brick was pressing down on it. I didn’t know why, but my gut rebelled against the idea of killing this innocent girl.
This wouldn’t be the first time I killed for the organization or for my brothers.
It also wouldn’t be the last time, I knew that.
And we were being merciful.
The kill would be quick.
Painless, even.
So why the hell was I feeling like this?
This was fucking wrong. What would one innocent woman do to us if we let her live?
I rubbed my hand down my chest, and Maverick looked sideways at me. “You okay?”
“Yup,” I answered, glancing back at the motel.
Killian was silent, looking into the scope of the rifle, his focus on this mission.
That was all this was for Killian.
Sometimes I wished I was more like him.
Wished there was an off switch to my humanity.
Maverick handed me an extra pair of binoculars he had grabbed from the car. I took them from him without saying anything. Not that it mattered. He was already looking through his own pair.
We were silent as we kept watch.
It wasn’t very long before a small blue Camry pulled into the parking lot. Somehow, I knew it was her.
I held my breath as the car parked in front of the motel door. The engine idled for a moment that felt more like two eternities before the lights switched off. Then the driver’s door opened.
A long, lean leg appeared, ending in a black leather ankle boot.
I let out my breath as the girl—a small one at that—pulled herself from the driver’s side and stood up to her full height.
It was hard to tell from where we were, but I estimated her to be around average height, or one or two inches below it.
She wouldn’t even reach up to my shoulders.
I would easily tower over her. My heart pinched.
Long, dark-blonde hair fell all the way to the small of her back.
A trim waist and slight figure donned in tight denim shorts and a black tank top that accentuated the paleness of her alabaster skin. Lips in a ruby-red shade that I could make out even from this distance.
She turned away from me before I could study her face, but the pinching in my heart turned into a full-blown squeeze. It felt like a metal hand was treating this useless organ of mine like a stress ball.
My eyes scanned down to her perky ass and pale legs.
Jesus, for being so short, her legs seemed to go for miles.
My breath caught.
I felt Maverick tense beside me, but I didn’t know what to make of his reaction. And a second later I didn’t give a fuck, because she suddenly turned, giving me the first full glimpse of her face.
Angel.
My heart stalled.
Four seconds.
All it took was four seconds.
Four measly seconds.
One…
As if she knew we were there, her light eyes aimed directly at us.
I felt that gaze like a piercing of an arrow straight into the heart I’d thought died a long time ago.
Two…
She smiled when a stray dog made an appearance from the corner of the building. Her innocent smile affected me more than all the other seductive smiles I had received from all the other women before her. If I were a whimsical kind of man, I might even have convinced myself she was smiling at me.
Three…
My heart rate sped up. The weight on my chest seemed to have magnified and lessened in the same breath. How the fuck could that be possible?
Four…
I fucking fell.
Killian shifted, and I moved without thinking, climbing over Maverick and jumping on top of Killian.
“What the fuck?”
I distinctly heard him muttering—I couldn’t be sure. Not with the roaring in my ears.
I grabbed the gun and threw it out of reaching distance.
“No,” I said.
I turned him around and pressed my hand on his chest.
He glared up at me. “You always did have a fucking thing for strays. This shit is going to get you killed one of these days. Now, get the fuck off me.”
I hardened my voice. “No, we’re not killing her.”
“Silas—”
I shook my head, cutting him off. “No.”
Nothing more needed to be said.
My breath got caught in the middle of my throat, making it hard to fucking think straight.
I pressed my hands harder on him.
I wouldn’t fucking let anyone touch the girl. Not now, not fucking ever.
“She needs to go,” Maverick said beside me, though he didn’t sound as sure as he had moments before. Did he fucking feel it too?
I looked over at him.
Killian relaxed under me.
Maverick was the biggest motherfucker I had ever seen, but Killian and I were evenly matched, even though I was slightly bulkier. Even still, I knew he could have pushed me off him if he really wanted to.
My brothers and I conceded to no one.
No one except each other.
And they were going to concede to me on this, because killing Mila Hayes was no longer an option.
Maverick looked back at the motel room. I was sure she had already made it inside by now. Safe from Killian. For now.
“What do you suggest we do?” Maverick asked. “She’s a loose end. And we can’t show any weaknesses.” There it was again. That uncertainty in his voice—a weakness I had no problem exploiting.
The words were out of my mouth before I thought better of it.
“We keep her.”
And I knew it was true.
We were going to take her and keep her.
Maverick didn’t say anything to that.
Beneath me, Killian let out a long sigh. “Fucking hell.”
I pressed my weight down, so the fucker knew I was serious about this. About her. “Killian.”
He grunted in response.
I turned to Maverick. An unnamed emotion flickered across his dark blue eyes, but it was gone before I could guess what it might be.
He didn’t say anything when he looked at me, but I didn’t need the words.
I had won this round.
Taking her wouldn’t be a problem.
Making sure she stayed kept was.
But I wasn’t dealing with this alone.
I had my brothers.
Hell, I wouldn’t even mind sharing my new toy. I was a good brother, after all, but it would only be with my brothers. No one else.
No other fuckers were going to touch Mila Hayes.
That was a fucking vow.