Chapter 2 Texas
TWO
TEXAS
“Stone sent you, didn’t he?” Ella asked.
The way her cheeks flushed with her agitation was very cute on her.
Hell, Ella had always been cute, but she’d also always been claimed.
First, some pussy asshole she met at community college.
Then, Jett. And when the crew had found out what Jett had done, I wanted to wring my hands around the fucker’s neck.
But now, as I stared down at Ella’s bright green eyes, her voice rose.
“You need to tell that brother of mine to stay out of my business,” she spat.
“I’ll make sure to relay the message,” I said coolly.
“No, Texas. I’m serious. This is none of his business.
He did enough, botching the fucking restraining order I tried to take out on that bastard when I was fighting for sole custody.
Had it not been for Stone’s interference, that man wouldn’t be able to come within a thousand feet of me or Keva. Tell him to stay. The fuck. Out.”
Her brother did send me, but that was beside the point.
And yes, Stone really did fuck up with that one a couple years’ back.
Jett had caught Stone tailing him, and Jett used that as leverage in court to get the restraining order tossed out.
He used the argument that if he was gonna be tailed by some “bullshit crew”, then the least the judge could do was throw out the order so he could have some semblance of freedom.
I couldn't believe the argument had actually worked. And all of us were almost certain Jett had paid off that fucking judge in the first damn place.
“I mean it, Texas,” Ella said.
“You could call him and tell him yourself. I’m not the messenger boy. Not my job,” I said.
“No. You just blindly follow orders.”
Had she not been so smoking hot when angry, I might have taken offense to that.
Even in her polyester grocery store uniform, Ella always had a body that knocked the wind right out of me.
Long legs. Thick thighs. A waist any man would whistle at.
Tits I knew would overflow in the palms of my hands.
Having Keva slapped curves onto her that made me fucking salivate.
She was so tempting. But also, very off limits.
Stone would have my cock and balls in a jar on his shelf if I even so much as looked at Ella wrong. So, I needed to stop looking.
Even though she was still yelling.
“I can handle all of this on my own, you know. I put up with that man for three solid years before I finally got the guts to leave. And I left. I didn’t call Stone.
Or you. Or any of the other guys. I packed my shit, left in the middle of the night, and went to a shelter.
I can handle Jett. I don’t need some babysitter moving in next door to make sure the frail little blonde doesn’t get too scratched up! ” she exclaimed.
“Well, based on what I just saw, you could use someone around to at least keep an eye on things,” I said.
I could see the anger fuming under Ella’s skin as my grin grew into a full-blown smile.
Holy fuck, she was gorgeous when she was flustered.
“I won’t get into your business unless you want me to. I’m more so doing this as a favor to Stone, honestly,” I said.
“And why is that?” Ella asked.
I shrugged. “Because he asked.”
Stone was the president of The Lost Boys, the head of this “organization” of ours.
Though, we used that term loosely. And interchanged it with “gang” frequently.
Whatever he said, went. And not only that, but Stone had helped me out with some real shit when I first joined a few years back.
Plucked me right out of high school because I didn’t have shit for brains and had absolutely nothing going for me.
Traditional jobs weren’t cutting it. I fucking hated taking orders from some part-time high school nutjob who thought he owned the damn world as a manager at Burger World.
Stone gave me a fresh start. Stone and those men became family.
Which meant Ella was family.
“My brother never just asks anything. You know that,” Ella said.
“Fine. I’m doing it because we’re family. Stone’s my brother, so you’re—”
She held her hand up. “You’re not my family, Texas. Not even kind of.”
I chose to smile at her instead of offering a rebuttal.
She scoffed and shook her head as her eyes panned back out over the street.
Her shoulders locked up as her head fell off to the side.
She wrapped her long, slender fingers up in the excess fabric of her work pants, denoting just how nervous she was.
Whether she needed the help or not, it was clear Jett had rattled her.
Whatever the hell he’d come over to say, it stuck with her.
To her, like glue.
“You good?” I asked.
Ella jumped then turned back around to me. “Just late for work. I gotta go.”
“See ya around then.”
I watched her scramble into her car as I stood at the edge of her driveway.
When Stone asked me to move in next to his sister to keep an eye on her, I’d tried to get out of it.
Tried pawning it off on anyone else in The Lost Boys.
I mean, for fuck’s sake, I was the vice president of the damn thing.
I wasn’t someone’s glorified babysitter.
But I needed a new place to stay anyway after getting kicked out of my old place.
Apparently, rager parties were frowned upon.
Along with my late-night sexual escapades.
I stood there watching Ella drive off in some beat-up rust bucket of a car. And as her blonde hair reflected in the sunlight that illuminated her as she drove off, I started thinking that maybe this wasn’t a bad job after all.
At least I’d have something nice to look at.
I walked back over to the small house I’d just moved into and dropped my helmet onto the couch.
Even though I’d gotten the notification that morning of my approval at a new place across town, I had already committed myself to this job.
Thank fuck the house was furnished because all my shit was currently being hauled by the guys over to my new place.
I sat down on the plastic-covered couch and picked up the phone, dialing Stone.
“You getting settled in okay?” he asked.
I shifted around on the plastic. “Sure. You could say that.”
“We just moved the last of your shit into this new place. It’s nice. Way to go.”
“Figured I’d at least get something that felt like a home.”
“Instead of a rat’s nest-infested apartment?” he asked, chuckling.
“Yeah. Sure. Other than that.”
“You calling because you don’t trust us with your shit?” he asked.
I heard something break in the background before I groaned.
“The fuck was that?” I asked.
“Nothing we can’t replace. We’ll get it taken care of. Stop being a little shit,” Stone said.
“Well, I’m at the house. My shit’s in the room. And Jett was bothering Ella again.”
He paused. “What?”
“I’m not sure what the hell was going on. She wouldn’t talk about it. But whatever it was had her rattled a bit. She’ll be late for work. But I’m gonna keep an eye on her. Don’t worry about that shit.”
“He was there? That fucker was at her place?”
“Had her blocked into her own driveway with that stupid convertible of his,” I said.
“Son… of a bitch!” he roared.
Something else crashed in the background and I sighed.
“Can you not destroy my new place?” I asked.
“I’ll fucking replace it,” Stone growled.
“Take some breaths.”
“I’m counting on you to keep her safe, Texas. That’s your job with this.”
“I know that. And she will be safe, no matter what it takes of me,” I said.
“Promise me, Texas. Promise me you won’t let that bastard lay a finger on my sister.”
“I promise I won’t let you down.”
“That rat bastard has taken enough from her. And I swear to hell, if he lays a finger on Keva—”
“If he does, you won’t get a chance to kill him. Because I’ll slay him myself,” I said.
The hairs on the back of my neck bristled.
Just the idea of someone touching that beautiful, vibrant child made me sick to my damn stomach.
I stood off the plastic-covered couch and paced around, listening to Stone rattle off all the shit they’d moved.
My couches. My bed. My coffee table. My television that was apparently one of the broken items. I didn’t worry about it too much, though. I knew Stone was good for his word.
If it was broken, I knew he’d replace it.
I wrapped up my conversation with him then hung up the phone.
And as I peered out the window over toward Ella’s place, I couldn't stop thinking about her.
How sexy she was. How beautiful her creamy skin looked flushed with that red tint.
I closed my eyes and shook my head. I drew the blinds to try and put a barrier between myself and the images of what she might look like fucking naked.
Tits swaying. Thighs jiggling. Her ass all—
Damn it, Texas. Stop. You can’t think about her. Stone will murder you next.
Oh, if Ella only knew how much blood was on her brother’s hands.
I might have been the enforcer for the crew, but Stone was downright sadistic at times. It was almost as if he lusted over blood. Over the spilling of a guilty life. I knew he’d take the chance to slay Jett in a heartbeat. Hell, we all would. But, for Stone, it would be a bit too pleasurable.
Which was why I had to make sure he wasn’t the one that pulled the trigger if it came down to it.
I stepped away from the window and tried to occupy myself.
I went into the back room and unpacked my clothes.
I stripped the musty sheets off the bed and tossed them into the washer.
I even tried making myself some fucking bacon.
All in an attempt to wipe Ella from my mind.
I couldn't think about anything other than the assignment. My job.
I had to keep Ella and Keva safe. That was the only thing I needed to do.
But I knew it was going to be hard. I knew I’d have a hard time keeping my hands to myself. Especially with a slim waist like hers that practically called to the carnal animal within me.
I sat down with my plate of bacon and my whisky on the rocks.
I turned on the box set television and found some black and white sitcom.
Holy hell, this house was straight out of the fucking seventies.
Then again, my attention really wasn’t there.
I had my ears trained on the outside world.
My gun was crammed against my hip, reminding me that it was there in case I needed it.
I crunched on my bacon and rolled through I Love Lucy reruns as the minutes ticked by.
Anything to stop thinking about Ella.
My best friend’s sexy-as-hell sister.