Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
COOPER
A large guy with jet black hair pulled back into a low bun wearing a black motorcycle jacket and dark jeans steps out of the car with a lit cigarette between his lips.
He’s older than us by a few years and his olive skin tan as though he’s spent his days riding out in the wilderness on a Harley.
Ezra mentioned his connection to a local biker gang when we spoke, and I made it my business to research who we would be working with. I like to keep our circle small.
“Jose Vergari,” he says as he extends a hand out to me. I reach out and shake it. It can’t hurt to have a biker with intel of body disposal in the fold. It’s too easy to murder people where our Dove is concerned.
“Looks like you’ve been in the wars. Who did you piss off?
” he asks, wincing with a hiss as though he can feel my pain as he leans forward to get a better look at my face, clearly disgusted by the state of it.
He chuckles when both Ebony and Caleb put their hands in the air proudly to claim their parts in the rearranging of my features.
I deserved the punch from Caleb for many reasons.
A: for touching Ebony when he explicitly told me not to.
B: for making him watch as she came apart on my fingers, and C: for being so mesmerised by our hot-as-hell session that I lost her in the crowd and almost left her at the hands of Bobby over there, Hell Haven’s local douchebag rapist. The headbutt from my Dove however, after the stellar orgasm I gave her in the closet, feels a little unwarranted, but I plan to tie her up and punish her for that one later, so for now I’ll let it slide.
“You were here for a purpose?” Caleb snaps rudely, and Jose clears his throat to continue, wisely sticking with his spot closest to me as he reaches into his pocket.
Of the two of us, Caleb is the harder one to read but the easiest to piss off.
I think he’s what the psychiatrists referred to as temperamental.
Beckoning me over to his vehicle, he lowers his tone, glancing Ebs’ way to make sure she isn’t listening in.
“Ezra asked Jax for the latest software update with the smallest hub. There’s two in there.
” He hands me a black velvet pouch, and I check out the trackers.
Small enough to hide on our Dove without her knowledge—perfect.
“And the uhm, other things,” he continues sheepishly as he hands over the holdall that has the equipment for the cameras that I plan on installing in Ebony’s apartment later this evening.
I don’t know happened to the ones we’d already installed, but the chips were fried last time we checked.
“Undetectable,” he adds with a nod of his head as he glances Ebony’s way again.
“Who the fuck are you?” Ebony cuts in coldly, failing to hide the uneasy wash of fear from me that tickles up her spine as she shifts uneasily on her feet.
I have to give it to her though, her stern tone never wavers.
I’ve been watching her every day since she arrived here to Hells Haven, and I’ve become attune to every microscopic show of emotion, even when she bolsters them with a show of the confidence that doesn’t quite reach those glassy grey eyes flecked with violet that I want to lose myself in.
Even when she’s inflicting pain on me, I’m a sucker for our girl.
Jose walks around me and approaches her, Caleb shifting instinctively to bridge the gap between them protectively.
Jose nods Caleb’s way, assuring him he means no harm, and Caleb relaxes, stepping to the side, close enough that if he needs to fly into action, he can.
“I’m the man who makes this little problem go away. I’m also pretty skilled with a tattoo gun and a car engine if you’re in the market.” Jose pauses with a chuckle, seemingly unfazed by the bloody girl we have tied up.
“I’m standing beside a dead body in a ripped dress with my hands bound. Maybe we can talk about possible artwork and motor repairs at a more convenient time,” she fires back, and her ire has my dick hardening in my jeans again. Poor sod is going to be exhausted if she keeps this up.
We all laugh light-heartedly in unison at her spirit in the face of adversity.
“I am channelling all my inner strength right now to deal with you fucking heathens—let’s not push me.
” The sick fuck that I am, all I want to do is continue to push her.
I’ve missed her feistiness, but my desire to live past tonight has me holding back whatever smart remark is lingering on my lips.
Ebony is small and sweet-looking, but appearances can be deceiving, and I know more than most what our Dove here is capable of.
My face aches as my split nose twinges as though to second the thought.
We’re using kid gloves with Ebony right now, but as her anger simmers to near boiling point, I know it won’t last for long.
My twin clearly didn’t get the memo when he unwisely asks, “Without angering the beast, can I ask what personality we’re dealing with presently?” If I remember rightly, this back and forth teasing between these two is like no time has passed at all.
“What personality?” she snaps. The dominant energy bouncing between them is electrifying, my skin prickling with heat as I watch their exchange, remembering the feel of her pussy in my grip as I groan aloud.
They both whip their heads around to stare at me like I have three heads—and I couldn’t care less.
Leave me with my little ball of happiness.
I don’t know when the lines had blurred between us.
I want her, and the harder I try to deny it, the more frustrated I feel.
I know Caleb is still pissed that I deviated from our plan to punish her and stole a taste of our girl, but I refuse to feel bad about the fact.
It’s worth all this pent-up brooding anger he’s slinging my way.
I’d happily fall to my knees and face a shooting line just to hear her whisper my name as she came again.
“We’ve known you for more years than you care to remember, little Dove—last time I checked, you were fighting between ten personalities,” Caleb retorts smugly, trying and failing to hide the desire that echoes beneath his stare as his eyes trail the length of her body.
“Introducing Carrie 3.0. Don’t fuck with me,” is all she says as she shoves her pointer fingers into his chest, gulping down air when he doesn’t move and simply growls at the connection. She assumes he’s angry. I know better. Just like me, my brother is desperate to claim her as ours.
“Someone get her a drink; Ebs is known to get grab-happy when someone pushes her to the brink —shit is about to hit the fan, and our girl here isn’t the best at regulating her feelings.
” My brother is playing with fire, and I’m ready to cook some marshmallows on a stick.
This is their foreplay, but both of them are too pig-headed to realise it.
Nothing new there.
“Grab happy?” she counters, seemingly affronted, even though I know she remembers. “That boy tried lifting my skirt and copping a feel. So he only has one ball left, I’m sure the fucker still found a way to procreate.”
“Little Jimmy was in primary school; I don’t think he expected the twisted eight-year-old with the ribbon braids to jump straight to attempted emasculation.” Caleb chuckles, and her fists tense.
She spins to face me. “You laugh, and I’ll show you just how adept I’ve gotten at following through,” she spits at me, and I trap the laugh bubbling up in my throat like a fish in a net as it gulps at the land air.
I have maimed and killed more men than I can count, but this little wildcat knows exactly how to make me pause and rethink my next move.
I’m quick, but I know for a fact she’s quicker.
Fuck, I’ve missed her.
“You don’t need to tell me how strong your grip has gotten, Dove.
” I arch an eyebrow playfully as the smile spreads across my face.
I see the moment the mental image of her small hand wrapped around my cock as she swallowed me down flashes through her mind.
The sheepish pinking of her cheeks warming her pale skin as she chews on her lower lip it a definite tell.
“Don’t call me that, I’m not your fucking Dove.”
She is though, whether she wants to admit it or not.
Both her and I know it was mine and Caleb’s names she uttered breathlessly in that closet as she found her release with my fingers buried up to the knuckles inside her.
“So you’re pissed off? That’s to be expected,” Caleb rebukes with a smirk. She diverts her gaze from me, her brows pinched again as she locks stares with my brother. “I don’t know when I asked for this level of attitude though,” he finishes.
“It’s free. Consider it a welcome home gift,” she seethes, trying to prise her bound hands apart and huffing when she realises she isn’t getting free. “Cut me loose, and let’s make it a fair fight at least; I don’t remember you two being cowards.”
She thinks I don’t know about the blade itching to be pulled free from her boot. It’s actually quite sweet how our girl here underestimates us. I could have taken it from her when I was changing her into Caleb’s t-shirt, but I know it’s a comfort blanket of sorts for her.
“Keeping the prey bound is the smartest decision we’ve made so far.”
The fizzle of heat permeating the air between the three of us as Jose packs up his bag in his car dissipates in a rush as Bobby groans on the floor and ruins the moment.
A swift kick in the ribs from Ebs has him groaning louder and her smile widening.
“I deal with dead bodies, not unconscious bodies,” Jose chuckles as he pulls another cigarette out and lights it, gesturing towards our friend coming to on the ground.
Caleb pulls a syringe from his back pocket and uncaps it, holding it between his teeth as he flicks open his knife.
Roughly grabbing a handful of Bobby’s hair, he pulls him up onto his knees and slices the blade across Bobby’s throat easily, like he’s dissecting butter with a branding iron.
Bobby’s eyes fly wide with panic as a crimson wave drenches his football jersey.
It’s deep enough to drain him but not enough to kill him immediately.
Caleb wants him to suffer for what he did to Ebony—even if he won’t say that’s why he’s doing it.
“Have fun in hell, fucker,” Caleb whispers in his ear loud enough for all in attendance to hear, his muddy green gaze flecked with amber as he dead-eyes Ebony who stumbles back in shock.
Emptying the syringe into what’s left of Bobby’s neck, Caleb rises to his feet and lets Bobby slump to the ground.
He shakes violently as the last vestiges of life drain from his body as he bleeds out, writhing in the last moments of pain as the drugs work their way around his system.
“Problem solved,” Caleb announces chipperly in offering to Jose with his arms outstretched.
“Well, that’s my cue to leave I think,” Jose comments brightly as he stubs out his cigarette under his boot, making sure to pick up the butt and tuck it into a plastic baggy he pulls from his jeans.
He moves over and opens the passenger door to retrieve his clean-up kit, unzipping the body bag and laying it out next to a now eerily still Bobby.
Caleb hands him an envelope splattered with tattoo ink full of bank notes, and he slides it into his inside jacket pocket.
“Pleasure doing business with you boys.”
“You’re gonna leave me here—with them?” Ebony cries out. Obviously deciding our friend here is the lesser of two evils.
“Not my monkeys, not my circus, darlin…” he quips. Caleb growls possessively his way, and Jose takes a wary step back with his hands raised. He’s not as stupid as he looks; he should definitely drop the sweet pet names. He may be useful, but Caleb has a short fuse right now.
“Bullshit—you’ve witnessed the monkeys murder a man in cold blood. Jump on the crazy train—you’re now a full-fledged member of this fucking circus.”
“She’s feisty,” Jose chuckles warily, not yet knowing what will set us off—wise move where she is concerned.
“Adorably so,” I snicker with a sigh, opting for carefree because it seems to rile her up.
If only she knew this had been set in motion the second she’d applied to this university.
We hadn’t anticipated an active serial killer roaming the streets when she would finally saunter back into our lives.
But Grimmville is known to harbour the most depraved members of the population—fucked up and frenzied are attributes everyone here has had to deal with in their lives at one time or another.
Stalking Ebony while also trying to keep her safe has meant hating her has been harder than I’d first thought it would be.
Caleb holds on to the hate with a tighter grip which is why we agreed he would be the one to restrain her.
I was ready to bend her over the car, bury myself balls deep inside her, and fuck her into next week while whispering sweet nothings into her ear.
Anything to have her scream for me. I shudder at the thought as Ebony wrestles against my ropes binding her wrists.
Caleb, the fucker, grins from ear to ear; he gets off on that spark of fight in her.
“Fuck my life. First, this dickbag tries to rape me.” She kicks the dead man at her feet before Jose rolls him up in the plastic, hauling him over his shoulder with a grunt as he drops him into the boot of our car.
“Then I get taken hostage by you fuckers. You had six years to come and find me. SIX YEARS. Do you know how much shit I’ve had to deal with since you left?
” She struggles to hold back the emotion attached to the day we got carted off.
She wasn’t to know we tried everything we could to get back to her.
For now, she thinks the anger she is feeling is protecting her from us. But we’ve always been able to read her—she can’t hide herself from us. She won’t admit it just yet, that she wants us here, but she will soon enough.