Chapter 7 Diego
SEVEN
DIEGO
Watching Ruby pull out that gun she had concealed beneath her floral dress made me salivate.
Not only was she ripe with curves and filled with sass, but she knew how to handle her own.
She was strong. Resilient. But she didn’t let that get in the way of swaying her hips for my viewing pleasure every time she walked away from me.
And even after she left me to rest, she filled my mind.
I dreamt of her lips against my cheek before she caressed them down my neck.
I dreamt of her hand wrapped around my thickened girth while she sucked at a patch of skin on my collarbone.
I thought about all the ways I could pin her to my bed; strapping down her ankles and tying her wrists to my headboard with her naked body spread for me in all its glory.
I woke up with a raging hard-on that took some very deep breathing to get back under control.
But I didn’t even get my legs swung over the edge of the cot before the door flipped open.
“Rise and shine,” Notch said.
I groaned as I sat up. “What time is it?”
“You slept the day away. It’s almost eight.”
I looked up at him before I nodded. “How many of them want to kill me out there?”
He shrugged. “Right now, I’m the only one.”
I drew in a deep breath. “So, you smoothed things over with them for now?”
“If by ‘smooth over,’ you mean Stone won’t be pulling his gun anytime soon, then yes. And by ‘not pulling his gun,’ I mean he’s not here to do it.”
I clicked my tongue. “Ah.”
He nodded over his shoulder. “Come on. Ruby says she came and checked you out about half an hour ago. She’s cleared you to go home.”
I furrowed my brow. “She came in, but she didn’t wake me?”
He chuckled. “She has her ways.”
I pushed myself to my feet as I swallowed down the pain. “Is that why you took her on? Because she has her ways?”
He didn’t get a chance to answer me, though, before Ruby’s sweet, delectable voice flooded my ears.
“How’s the pain?” she asked.
I cleared my throat and stuffed my things back into my pockets. “Eh, I’ll push through. Nothing some extra strength Tylenol won’t fix.”
She slipped inside. “Well, I’ve got a few of these for you just in case.”
She held out her hand and a small baggie with a few white pills appeared. I smiled kindly at her before I took them and shoved them into my pocket. I was grateful for her help, but I couldn’t thank her in all of the ways I wished with Notch staring between the two of us.
So, I shrugged. “What should I wear for a shirt out of here?”
Notch tossed me a button up shirt. “Found this in the lost and found. You can take it with you.”
I caught it and slid it over my shoulders. “Thanks.”
Ruby smiled kindly up at me. “Since I know where you live thanks to that little ‘Notch neighbor’ tidbit, I’ll come by tomorrow and check on you.
So, make sure you take those pills. One in the morning, and one in the evening.
It’ll help until we can get past these first three days. They’re always the worst.”
Notch folded his arms across his chest. “The absolute worst.”
I nodded. “I can’t thank you both enough.”
Ruby pointed up at me. “And make sure to rest. No gallivanting off and getting into trouble until it’s time to take those stitches out.”
“You have my word,” I said.
“She better,” Notch murmured.
I ignored his quip even though Ruby glared up at him. All I wanted was to get home and count down the hours until Ruby showed up at my house without a bunch of testosterone-filled men breathing down our necks.
I finally buttoned the shirt and held out my good arm. “So, how do I look?”
Ruby walked up and fiddled with the collar. “Looks good. A bit big on you, but it’ll pass until you get home.”
“Yeah, yeah, you look fine,” Notch said.
I managed a small chuckle without pain. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
Ruby placed her hand on my upper arm. “If you experience any pain that the medication doesn’t cover, though, or if you spike a fever of any sort—”
“And vomiting. Don’t forget vomiting,” Notch said.
Ruby snorted. “Yes. Any of those symptoms that aren’t good? You call me immediately.”
She handed me a card with her name and number, and I almost keeled over. I peered over her shoulder at Notch, and he nodded his head, so I slid it into my back pocket.
“I’ll call if anything happens,” I said.
Ruby nodded. “Good.”
I gazed into her eyes and had Notch not been standing right fucking there, I might have had the balls to pull her into a kiss.
I mean, she gave me all the signals. Her shoulders were rolled back.
She kept fiddling with her fingertips. Her eyes dropped to my lips a time or two.
Hell, she even had this lovely flush in her cheeks that started trickling down her neck.
I wondered what that color might look like on the rest of her body as I cleared my throat. “Well, guess I better head out.”
“Yeah,” Notch snickered, “before Puck kills you for looking at his sister that way.”
Ruby barked with laughter. “You know as well as I do that Puck is all bark and absolutely no bite whatsoever. Why do you think Stone and Texas keep him in the back for the big shit?”
Notch tilted his head. “Still. You’re his sister, and it’s my job t—”
She held up her hand. “I can handle my own shit. You guys, on the other hand, should focus on smoothing things over with the club first.”
I grinned. “And I should get on home.”
After a few more minutes of polite conversation, Ruby dashed off to a night class she had, and Notch walked me out to my car.
The blood-covered driver’s side seat made me sick to my stomach, but Notch came prepared.
He opened my door and put a towel over the seat before he stepped off to the side, then he grabbed my elbow as I eased myself behind the wheel of my car.
Then, he dipped down and commanded my attention. “You’re an idiot.”
I scoffed. “Trust me, I know.”
“You’re better than this. Stronger than this.”
I glared at him. “I. Know.”
He sighed. “Then fucking act like it.”
He slammed my door closed and I clenched my jaw.
Yes, he had every right to be angry, but I sure as hell didn’t force him to make some sort of batshit crazy promise to my dead-ass brother.
I cranked my car and fought through the dull ache in my back as I made my way home with my brain filled with thoughts of kissing Ruby’s plump lips the instant she walked into my house tomorrow.
But the second I pulled into my driveway, I recognized the black cars sitting there and waiting for me.
“There he is,” a man said as he got out.
I growled to myself as I cut the engine to my car.
The man who shot me in the shoulder had the fucking audacity to show up at my home yet again, probably to check and see if I was dead or alive.
I straightened my back and shoved the pain pills into my pocket before I got out of my car, and when my feet touched down onto the pavement, two other cartel goons got out of their cars, too.
New men, but bloodthirsty all the same.
“Back for the other shoulder?” I asked.
The man who shot me before stalked up to me, hovering and imposing his gargantuan stature over my lean figure. “Looks like you’re still alive.”
I shrugged. “That’s usually what pulses mean, yes.”
The man chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Well, you won’t be for long if you don’t get the information Carlos wants.”
I sighed. “Well, if you’d stop shooting me and let me do my damn job, maybe I’d have information for you.
You know these biker guys as well as I do.
They operate with the same sort of finesse and mistrust of outsiders that we do.
It takes time, and sometimes it takes more time than we’re willing to give.
But if this information Carlos wants is so damn important, then he’ll give me the time to get it.
Because when I get it? I get all of it.”
The man snarled. “Big words for a little guy.”
I held my head high. “You and Carlos can either give me the space I need to gain the trust of the crew, or you can keep rolling up in your black cars and tip every single one of them off. Your choice.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You’ve got two weeks, and if you don’t have anything in two weeks, we’ll get all of the information we need from Notch himself.”
One of the other guys I didn’t recognize finally spoke. “Yeah, and maybe we’ll pay a little visit to Mommy dearest, too.”
The other guy nodded. “You know, pay our respects to the woman in room eleven-ten.”
I was ready to beat the three of them into submission with my good arm until the man looming over me spoke. “Hell, maybe we’d even pay a visit to that pretty little thing that patched you up at the bar.”
I tried not to let them see my fear. “You let me do what I do best, and Carlos will get what he needs. But I can promise you that if you go after my family? You’ll only make it worse for yourselves.
The reason why it’s taking me so long is because Notch is a hard fucking nut to crack.
That man would die before he sold out his crew, which is why I have to get in good with him.
Give me the time or a shootout is all you guys are going to get. ”
I tried to talk a big game, but the truth of the matter was that I was scared out of my fucking mind.
I didn’t want my mother getting wrapped up in this.
It would break her heart to find out this shit.
But I also didn’t want Ruby getting hurt.
Out of all the people I had ever encountered in my life, she had been the kindest to me.
And I considered Notch to be a great friend of mine.
But the looming question still remained even as the men left me alone in my own driveway and tore down the road out of my neighborhood.
How the fuck was I supposed to get the cartel the information they wanted while also getting the club to trust me enough to get me out of that same cartel?