Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
GOOSE
PRESENT DAY
Dust in the goddamn wind.
That is where Jeffrey Hagerty is—dust in the goddamn wind.
I’m pretty sure it’s a fake name at this point.
We’ve all been trying to find a trace of him.
The apartment address Cidney had was probably some kind of sublet or Airbnb situation, because we can’t find his name or any name that we could link to who he could be at that address.
The cell phone was a burner. That shit has been turned off and ditched.
I walk into the gym and start my workout. Today is leg day. I need the burn and the sweat to take my mind off things. I’ve been so wrapped up in finding this asshole that I haven’t been focusing on my actual work.
My life has shifted in the past few months. I’ve decided to channel all of my pent-up anger into myself, into my body. I’ve been working out, bulking up, and focusing on myself. At least on my body. The rest of me is still a fucking mess.
I have my music turned up on my headphones, I’m doing my thing when my jam is interrupted by an incoming phone call. I try to ignore it, but when they call back a second time, I let out a grunt.
Ripping off my headphones, I wipe down my machine and slide my thumb across the screen of the phone. It’s Bullet, so I know it must be important. I walk away from the equipment to find a corner of the gym that isn’t occupied before I speak.
“Bullet,” I growl as my greeting.
“I need you to stay on permanent detail for Cidney,” he states.
“Excuse me?” I ask.
I can’t believe he’s just said what he has. I watched her for a few days, but then a prospect took over, and I got away from her sexy-as-fuck pussy as quickly as possible. I wasn’t just about to completely break all the rules again and fuck her.
“We got a run to make with Robin’s trucks, and we got a security job.
That’s taking all the manpower we have, especially with the prospects who betrayed us.
We’re running on a serious skeleton crew.
This feels like more than growing pains.
” His last words come out on a mutter. I almost don’t make them out, and it takes a second for them to register.
“What about Viking or one of the others?” I ask.
He doesn’t say anything immediately. Maybe he’s trying to calm himself down because I’m pushing back.
I try not to do that too much. Honestly, not much bothers me.
I’m fairly go with the flow. Whatever the majority decides, I’m good with, and whatever my president wants, I’m also usually pretty good with.
But this is something I’m going to have to push back against, because if I am alone with Cidney again, I’m not going to be able to control myself.
I will fuck her.
I barely made it out of there last time without whipping my dick out. Next time, it’s on.
“With Lightning still recovering, I'm down to less than bare bones. What’s the fucking problem? Her building has a gym if you’re worried about that.”
Holding back my growl, I try not to tell him to fuck all the way off. “Trust me, Bullet. You want someone else. What about Ivy?”
In the silence that follows, he exhales a heavy breath, clearly annoyed as fuck with me. He doesn’t tell me to shut the fuck up and do what he says, although I can tell he probably wants to. Instead, he attempts to be somewhat reasonable, given my lack of reasoning.
“I don’t know what went down between the two of you. I assume the last time you watched her, you fucked her, and you know Ivy has already made it perfectly clear she’s off-limits.”
Well, he clocked that shit immediately.
It shouldn’t surprise me. I didn’t advertise the situation, but I’m sure the fact that I’ve appreciated Cidney from afar, attentively, more than once and been called out on it by the guys is the main reason.
“It’s best if I’m not alone with her.”
Something in the conversation shifts, and it’s Bullet who shifts it. Clearly, he’s making a point to have me go over to her place, no matter how much I try to resist, but when he’s finished, I have to fucking agree with him, which annoys the shit out of me.
“There’s nobody else I trust right now who is here. It has to be a ranking member. She’s Ivy’s family, but beyond that, she’s Ivy’s father’s family.”
There it is.
Ivy’s dad was one of the original members. He was the club’s attorney before Ivy, and he is beyond respected. I don’t know what word could even describe him. But what I do know is that Bullet is right.
“You’re the only one who’s going to protect her with your life.”
“Lightning did,” I point out.
He clears his throat, ready to tell me to shut the fuck up and do it, but doesn’t. Instead, he continues speaking, laying it out for me and giving me no other option. He’s close to telling me it’s an order, but he wants me to make the decision for myself without him demanding it.
“He did, but I also know that you won’t let anything happen to her, Goose. It’s not your president telling you this. I’m asking you as a friend to protect our brother’s family.”
The fucking guilt trip.
“I’ll do it, but I don’t want to hear shit about shit when it comes to rules,” I grind out.
Bullet chuckles. “I don’t want to know what happens behind those closed doors. I just want to be able to sleep at night until we find this fucker. And, Goose?”
“Yeah?”
“Get as much fucking information on him as you can. I don’t think she’s intentionally hiding anything, but I wonder if she’s possibly forgotten to tell us something that could be useful.”
There it is.
He wants me to do some digging.
“I’m not going to tell you how I’ll get my information,” I say, thinking about all the ways I could possibly fuck it out of her. Because that would be a good damn time.
“I’ll never ask, either. She’ll be expecting someone today. She’s on house arrest until we get something solid.”
He ends the call, and my lips press into a thin line, then curve up into a smile. Guess I’d better go pack a fucking bag.
CIDNEY
When my cell phone rings, I frown at the name that flashes across the screen.
I don’t know that Bullet has ever called me before.
I stare at the screen a little longer than I should.
Then I realize that I should answer it before it goes to voicemail, so with shaky fingers, I pick up the device then slide my finger across the screen before I hold it to my ear.
“Hello?” I ask on a shaky breath.
“Hey, babe, it’s Bullet. Just wanted to let you know that Goose is gonna be staying with you for a while.”
Pressing my lips together, I roll them a few times but don’t respond to him immediately. I know I should say something, but my words get caught in my throat. Goose. He can’t come here.
Not again.
How embarrassing.
Last time, he left without a single word. Again. I mean, at least he didn’t fuck me and leave me like he did the first time.
“Cid?” he brings me out of my head.
“Yeah,” I say, my voice sounding far away.
“You good with that?”
He’s asking me, but I also know that he isn’t really asking as much as he’s telling me. I bite my bottom lip, then slide my teeth across the flesh before I release it.
“I’m good with it,” I lie.
He snorts. “You’re a liar, but seriously, babe. If you’re uncomfortable, you let me know. I’ll send someone else.”
I wonder who the hell else he would send. I’m not sure I want anyone else here. In fact, he’s who I want. I want him right here with me, staying here, sleeping in my bed, and inside me.
“I’m not uncomfortable,” I murmur.
“He’ll be there soon as he can. But you got any issues, just give me a call, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I exhale.
He ends the call, and I let my hand fall. I think about texting Posey, maybe Dakota, possibly Lainey, and maybe even Zadie, but I don’t. They’re my besties, but that doesn’t mean they need to hear all of my drama, and I would have a lot of drama to explain.
Well, I would at least have a great night of sex to explain—but I’m not ready to do that.
It’s been months, and I haven’t told a single person about Goose, about our night. I’ve wanted to tell anyone and everyone who would listen, but when I start, the embarrassment consumes me.
I head to the bathroom to take a shower. I’m not sure why, because I just got dressed for the day a few hours ago, but it seems like I should shower. I mean, Goose is coming over… to stay. My hands tremble just thinking about that fact.
And they’re still trembling when there is a knock on the door. I almost jump out of my skin. I walk toward it, look through the small peephole, and let out a shaky breath. It’s him. He’s standing there in perfectly fitting jeans, a T-shirt, and his cut.
God.
He’s beautiful.
Opening the door, I stand in front of him. His smile fades, and his brows snap together. “It was far too fucking easy to get to your apartment. Your security here sucks fucking balls,” he announces, his voice gruff.
Stepping to the side, I watch as he brushes past me. “Come on in,” I mutter.
He drops his bag next to the door as he moves toward my living room, then he stops in the middle of the room and slowly turns to face me. He crosses his arms over his chest.
Blinking at the sight of him, I take in his entire body. He’s bigger than he was a few months ago. Not just a little bigger, but his muscles are bulging. I open my mouth to say something, then snap my lips closed, because I don’t know what I would even say at this point.
“We gotta get your place set up with proper surveillance. Ivy did you no goddamn favors with this place,” he begins.
I interrupt him, because fuck that shit. “Ivy had nothing to do with this place. This is mine.”
“Then you did a shit job, babe,” he murmurs.
“I guess I did,” I snap.
His lips twitch into a smirk as he moves toward me, closing the distance between us. I suck in a breath and hold it as he lifts his hand, cupping my cheek. I feel his thumb slide across my bottom lip, his eyes tracing the motion before they meet my own again.
“I’ll get you all fixed up, my good girl.”
God.
Yes.