Episode 42
Episode 42
Above the Law
MAIA
I woke to the sound and smell of coffee brewing. My body was warm, covered in a blanket I didn’t have when I crawled out of Rhodes’ bed last night after he fell asleep.
Memories of the night filtered through the fog of sleep as I allowed myself to stretch and burrow into the couch.
Rhodes and I talking to the cops.
Pictures being taken of the mess and the threatening message spray-painted on the wall above my bed.
A grim-faced Sam, rolling up on his Harley to find police cars camped in his driveway, their flashing red and blue lights spinning.
Not long after he arrived, another ten motorcycles rode up, led by Torch, the club president himself. He walked the perimeter of the house, checked out the mess, and then approached me. He put a hand on my shoulder, dipped his head, and looked me dead in the eye. First, he asked me if I was okay, to which I nodded. Then his lips pursed, his nostrils flared, and he growled, “The Hounds will handle this. You’re family and under our protection.” The cops had a few words to say, none of which Torch bothered to listen to. Instead, he instructed his men to roll out.
After statements had been taken, we boxed up as much of my things as we could and stored them in Sam’s garage for now. Then we locked it up and Rhodes took me straight to my hotel room where he helped me pack up those things and moved them to his suite. He put mine in what I assumed was Emily’s room, for which I was eternally grateful. He didn’t need to know there wouldn’t be a time where we’d share space in the same way normal couples did. That discussion would come later. I could fake it for a while, but eventually he’d figure out that I wouldn’t be sleeping in a bed next to him each night. It just wasn’t a possibility for me. Sex was fine, but the actual sleeping together…
Even the mere thought of such a thing made my skin crawl and itch.
I rolled over onto my back and sighed then heard a cursed, “Shit!” and the sound of water running.
I sat up and the blanket Rhodes must have placed over me at some point fell to my waist.
“Oh, hey, good morning. Sorry I woke you.” Rhodes winced as he held his hand under the water.
“Did you hurt yourself?”
“Spilled coffee on my hand. I wasn’t paying attention when I was pouring, and yeah.” He sighed. “It’s okay though. Coffee?” he offered.
“Yes, please. But I can get it. You don’t have to.” I popped up and crossed the living room to the open kitchen, then promptly stopped in my tracks.
So much bronze male skin was on display.
My mouth went dry as I stared at Rhodes’ bare chest and legs. His hair was wet, slicked back, and curling around the ends as it air-dried. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, his skin still a bit dewy from the shower he’d just taken.
He was my every fantasy come to life. Tall, broad, muscular, not so toned and shredded that his abdomen was a washboard, but there was some obvious definition of his abs. A smattering of hair spread across his chest, just enough that I could already imagine the soft, feathery feel of it under my fingers if I placed my hand there. And those two indents at his hip that led to his groin…I gulped. I had never wanted to place my mouth on something more than I did at that moment.
Rhodes cleared his throat, and my gaze snapped up to meet his. Fire burned in his eyes as he took in my body. Which was when I realized I was wearing only a pair of black panties and a rather sheer tank top. My erect nipples pressed tightly against the cotton as I watched him look his fill.
He swallowed slowly, both of us silently staring at the other. The sexual tension instantly ramped up a thousand degrees, but neither of us was ready to pull the plug on that particular well. Because, once we did, who knew where it would lead us.
“I should probably, uh, put some clothes on,” he murmured, but didn’t so much as move a muscle.
I didn’t want to break the spell or the weighted electricity weaving between us as I responded, “Yeah, that’s probably a good plan. Me too,” I shook my head as if clearing the cobwebs and spun around to get my jeans.
Rhodes groaned as I did so. I looked over my shoulder to find his gaze planted right on my ass. If I had to pick a feature on my body I was most proud of, it would be my tush. It was high, rounded, and toned naturally. I didn’t have to work at it, I’d just been blessed with good ass genes.
I watched with a bit of feminine pride as he closed his eyes, bit his bottom lip and breathed slowly, clearly in need of a minute to pull himself together. I took that time to dart to the couch where my pants were pooled on the floor. I slid them on and turned to face him.
“So, what’s next?” I asked.
“Next?” He fumbled toward the coffee and finished pouring two cups. He added milk and sugar before setting one up on the counter for me to take.
I moseyed back over, this time on the opposite side of the counter in order to put some much-needed space between me and his very beautiful, very naked underneath that towel body.
“I spoke with Alana this morning. She also received a threatening message before they left for France yesterday.”
“What!” I gasped.
His jaw firmed, and he braced his hands against the top of the counter. “Apparently, she received a note, passed to her by courier through the hotel. Christophe called ahead and made sure their home hadn’t been infiltrated, and the authorities in both countries were notified. I shared what happened with your place and the message you received. They are both connected. However, your message was a little different. Yours said, She ruined my life .”
“Okay, and what did hers say?” I asked then took a calming sip of my coffee.
“Hers said, You ruined my life. Which, to me, means the person doing this wants to hurt Alana. They likely threatened you to get to her. To scare you both.”
“Well, it sure as hell worked. I’m definitely scared,” I admitted.
Rhodes sighed and then drank from his cup. “I need to get to Emily,” he announced.
I nodded. That made total sense. “But, Emily is in France. Isn’t that the safest place for her if the threats are happening here in Las Vegas?”
“We don’t know how far these people are willing to go to scare or hurt either of you. I cannot have my daughter caught up in this, and me not there to protect her. You understand that, right?” His tone brooked no argument.
“Yes, of course. I know Emily is the most important thing in the world to you.” Emotion tightened my chest. I’d never had a parent that cared that much. To want to protect me and keep me safe above anything else. Mom tried in her own way, I guess, but she had her own problems.
Suddenly, Rhodes was in front of me, his warm hand around my nape. “You’re important to me, too, Maia. I’m going to protect you both.”
My bottom lip started to tremble, and I hated my stupid traitorous body for all of these unchecked feelings flooding my system. Before Rhodes, before Alana, before all of this, my focus was entirely on making ends meet and looking for ways to help my family back in Colorado. I had been on my own for years. No one to answer to, no one to really care. Then Sam and his club became part of my world. And Alana too. Now I felt like I had precious things to lose. People outside of my mom, brother, and sister were at risk to a new danger, one I didn’t recognize or understand, and I had no clue how to handle it.
I nodded, not sure my voice would even work at the sincerity filling his tone. Rhodes was proving to be a man of strength, honor, and follow-through. When he said he’d keep me safe, I believed him.
“So what do we do now?” I swallowed down the fear chilling my very bones.
“I can’t be thousands of miles away from Em. We have to go to France. As soon as possible.”
“Okay, I understand if you have to go. I can stay here with Sam.”
Rhodes huffed and shook his head. “Maia, I’m not leaving you behind. You’re my fiancée. We’re getting married. You’re coming with me.”
My eyes widened so large they stung as I took in the repercussions of that decision. “But…Emily,” I whispered.
“Is going to have to meet my fiancée a bit sooner than expected. It’s not how we wanted to do it, but there really is no other option.”
I licked my lips, and he tightened his grip on the back of my neck, his thumb swiping over my cheek in soothing strokes.
“But…I need to get to Colorado. There are things I need to see to there. Important things.” My voice cracked.
“Your family lives there. That’s where you were born.” It was a statement more than a question.
I nodded but didn’t offer anything more.
He waited patiently for me to continue but I clamped my lips shut, not knowing how to go into all that was my upbringing, what happened to me, or even how my mom suffered daily. And then there was the unrelenting bone-quaking fear of what my siblings might be experiencing at the hands of monsters.
“Sweetheart, I can’t help you or your family if you aren’t willing to share. Right now, we have a very real concern. Both you and Alana have been threatened by someone who could, right this very minute, have their eyes on my daughter, all the way in France where I can’t get to her. Do you understand how pressing this is to me?”
“Yes, I do. And you’re right. I just need to, um, get in touch with my mom. Check in on her and my siblings.”
He tilted his head to the side. “Are they in some kind of trouble?” His question was gentle, not pushy, but held a thread of real concern.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. My focus was on getting a lot of money as soon as I could, but that has taken me years. Last I spoke with my mother was six months ago when she was visiting my grandmother. She’s in a nursing home.”
“I’m sorry, honey.” He squeezed the back of my neck.
“It’s okay. She’s been there a long time. But that’s, um, the only way I’m able to reach my mother.”
“Why can’t you just call her?”
I moved back, removing myself from his hold and crossed my arms over my chest protectively, not sure how much I was ready to give. He already had a major concern to worry about. And his thirteen-year-old needed him. Me and my family issues were not his and shouldn’t be. Technically, I was nobody to him. Regardless of our signed contract, or our mutual attraction to one another, he didn’t owe me anything. I was the one that owed him. My time. My body. My life for three years.
“Talk to me, Maia. I can’t help if I don’t know what’s happening.” His eyes and voice were pleading.
“My, uh, stepfather is not a good man,” I finally admitted.
“In what way?” He hitched a hip up and onto the barstool while I stayed planted a couple feet away, rocking myself as I decided what all I should share. The kind of man Rhodes was, he might take matters into his own hands, contact the authorities on my mother’s behalf. That couldn’t happen. I’d been down that road too many times, and it only ended with my mother severely beaten.
“He…” My throat was so dry I couldn’t even get the words out.
“Does he abuse her?”
I nodded.
“Physically?” he asked.
Another jerk of my head in the affirmative.
“And your siblings? Does he hurt them too?”
“Probably. I mean, it was his MO when I lived there. But I wasn’t his blood relation. They are. Mom went into the marriage as a single mother. I honestly don’t know. I was kicked out of the house as a teenager. I haven’t seen my mother, brother, or sister in person in years.”
Rhodes inhaled a full, deep breath. “And the money you’re getting from our marriage…”
“I plan to use it to help them escape him. Start a new life far from him and his demon spawn.”
“He had a child of his own when they got together?” He confirmed.
“Yeah.” I whispered, not wanting to get into anything regarding Derrick or my history with him.
“And since you’re referring to him as a demon, I can’t imagine he’s any better than his father?” He surmised.
“He’s worse.” I deadpanned.
Rhodes’ closed his eyes. “Okay.” He rubbed at his forehead tiredly. “First things first. We’ll meet up with Emily in France, while also trying to get ahold of your mother. What did she say the last time you spoke with her? Was she okay?”
I shrugged. “She always says she’s surviving and to take care of myself. And to stay far, far away.”
His nostrils flared, and he grumbled under his breath while scraping at his jaw, his mind at work.
“What about calling the cops? Having them do a wellness check on her and the kids at the home?”
My entire body went stone cold as gooseflesh rose on my skin. “We can’t call the cops,” I croaked.
“Why not? Wellness checks are a normal part of their job. We can make an anonymous call…”
I started to shake. “We can’t!” I snapped, my voice rising while renewed fear coiled low in my gut.
He sighed. “Why not? You have to give me more, Maia, if I’m going to be able to help. I need as much information about what’s going on as possible.”
“We can’t call the cops,” I said so low I could hardly hear myself speak.
Rhodes was done being at a distance. He stood up, came to me and pulled me into his arms. My cheek was pressed against his bare chest, the warmth a welcome respite from my frayed nerves. I locked my arms around his back and held on. He nuzzled the top of my head.
“Please trust me, Maia. Whatever you need, whatever is making you afraid, just give it to me. And I’ll do whatever is within my power to help. I swear it.”
My voice hitched as I clung to him. “If we’re not careful, he’ll kill her. I know he will. If he so much as sees me step foot anywhere near their home, he’ll shoot me on sight. He told me he would.”
“He can’t get away with this. He’s just a man,” he murmured against the crown of my head.
“But he’s not just a man…” My body hitched as the anguish threatened to buckle my knees.
“Sweetheart, he is.”
I shook my head. “He can do anything he wants. He’s proven it time and time again.” I closed my eyes as the tears slipped down my cheeks.
“He’s not above the law, Maia,” he insisted.
I huffed and more tears fell. “You see, that’s where you’re wrong.”
“Why do you believe that? What made you think one man can get away with beating his wife and possibly his children and nothing befall him?”
I shifted just my upper body back so I could look into his steely gray eyes. “Because my step-father is the law. He’s the Chief Marshal of the town, and his father is the Sheriff for the entire county. Everyone in town answers to him and no one goes against him.”
“Fuck.” He let out a sharp breath then pulled me back into his arms. “We’ll handle this. One step at a time, okay? First, we head to Emily. Then we figure out what to do about your family in Colorado. In the meantime, you can try contacting your mom to check in again. How does that sound?”
There really was very little I could do all the way in Las Vegas. And I did want to make sure that Emily and Alana were okay. Here in Vegas, the authorities, not to mention Sam and the club were on the prowl for whoever destroyed my place. We wouldn’t have any answers on that issue until the perpetrators were found and questioned. And I still had no idea how to extract my mother and siblings anyway. Whatever we did, would have to be well thought out, and done completely outside of my stepfather’s or stepbrother’s knowledge.
I needed to be smart. And the smartest thing I could do would be to trust Rhodes.
“You’ll help me save my family?” I pressed.
“I swear it on my life,” he promised.
I hugged him tightly.
“Then let’s get ready to go to France.” I backed up and patted him on the bare chest, my cheeks heating at the easy intimacy we’d just shared. “But first, you should probably put some clothes on.”