Chapter Four
Caymen
“It’s not fucking funny.”
“Man, it’s fucking hilarious, actually,” Dixon said as he worked on the handcuff lock with a pin he found in one of Arty’s drawers.
Honestly, if I didn’t have to confess what happened to the club and my damn little brother, I would have thought it was pretty fucking funny too.
It was the whole ‘I screwed up the job’ part that I didn’t like.
Because if it had just been me and Noa, I’d have been sitting there impressed as hell and even more turned on by how she’d pulled that off.
Everything about that woman was hot as fuck. Her face, her body, her voice, her confidence, and, yes, her competence.
If I had anything nearby to open the cuff myself, I would have chased after her, caught her, and fucked her right there up against a wall in the middle of Miami until she was panting and begging and crying in release.
I loved the chase.
In some sort of primal way, I guess.
And it seemed Noa was all too happy to run.
“Give me the fucking pin,” I grumbled when Dixon failed for the third time.
“What are you in such a rush for?” Dixon asked. “I know you aren’t eager to get back and tell Huck all about this.”
He wasn’t wrong about that.
But it had to be done.
After that, though, I was going to track down Noa.
“It’s just pathetic to watch you struggle with a damn handcuff lock, man.”
“How many times have you picked a handcuff lock?”
“Off the cuff… five or six.”
“Well, what I’m hearing is you need to stop losing your key,” he said. Then, finally, there was the telltale click of the lock disengaging.
I twisted my wrist as I moved to stand.
“Was my bike still out there?”
“Worried she stole it?”
“It’s been a fucking night, Dixon. Just answer me.”
“Your bike is there. Helmet too.”
“Good. Let’s go then.”
“You don’t think it’s kinda weird that Arty didn’t come back yet?”
“Dunno. Maybe he got laid.”
“Arty?” Dixon asked as I opened the door and flicked off the light.
“What? The man has to get laid sometime.”
“You see this computer setup of his? I’m not sure he does.” But he let it drop, locking and closing the door behind him.
It was a frustrating ride all the way back to Golden Glades, all the while knowing that Noa was likely floating around somewhere in Miami still.
But there were rules with a club.
They were hard to come to grips with at first. I’d always been the one in control. I had a little brother to take care of, provide for, raise up to be a man, all the while protecting him from the harsh realities I had to shoulder.
But I wasn’t the one in charge anymore. So I couldn’t just follow my gut when it told me something. I had to get permission from Huck.
No matter how embarrassing it would be to tell this story.
When we made it back to the clubhouse, I was a little surprised to find Zayn’s car still parked in the driveway.
I hadn’t ever seen the man hang around for more than a few minutes if a good time wasn’t involved.
Daniyal was standing in the side yard, staring off into the distance as my brother and I made our way in through the front.
“What the fuck was with that radio silence?” Huck snapped as soon as we walked into the kitchen.
“Fuck… you, Benny,” the macaw, startled awake, croaked.
Zayn was leaning up against the sink, a coffee cup in hand, looking calmer than I’d ever seen him before.
It was a hint at the international arms dealer behind the fun-loving billionaire facade he was always wearing.
There was a darkness that clung to him, an intense look in his eye that I’d never seen before.
But as soon as he spotted me, his lips twitched slightly.
“So, you met Noa.”
“I did.”
“The broker?” Huck asked.
“Yeah, that’s her name,” I explained.
“What happened?”
“I got her out of there like I said. She got herself out of her cuffs as we went to Arty’s. I wanted to get us out of sight in case the cops got suspicious.”
“How is Arty? I haven’t seen him in a long time,” Zayn said, gaining a little of his pep again.
“He wasn’t there.”
For a second, Zayn watched me, his eyes unreadable, then a smile cracked his features.
“She used those cuffs on you, didn’t she?”
I exhaled hard. “She did.”
“She got away?” Huck asked.
“Yep. Lucky she didn’t take my bike with her.”
It was Velle, of all people, who started to laugh first. After him, it was my brother, York, Coast, and, finally, Huck.
“Shit,” Huck said when he recovered. “That’s a hell of a story.”
“She’s a hell of a woman,” Zayn agreed.
“How do you know so much about her?” Huck asked, suspicious. “I thought she was new on this.”
“She was. Is. But I do my due diligence before I hire someone. Noa isn’t the busiest broker in Florida, but that’s because she is the best… and very selective.”
“Then how did this shit go so sideways?”
“Are we sure it has?” I asked. “Aside from her getting away.”
“The cops didn’t find any guns in that warehouse,” Huck informed me. “We’ve been listening to the scanner. And Seeley talked to a contact in the Miami P.D. Nothing about a stash recovered.”
“So someone stole from Noa,” I said.
“And us,” Huck reminded me.
“And me,” Zayn said, that darkness in his face again. “And my clients.”
“We have to track down the weapons before they disappear for good.”
“And to do that, we find Noa,” I said.
“That’s the plan,” Huck agreed.
“I’m gonna go to her place,” I said.
“I was already there,” Dixon said.
“Yeah, while she was at the warehouse.”
“And why would she go back now?” Dixon asked.
“Because she’s gearing up now. And likely packing to go on the run in case the cops can track her down.”
Huck looked over at Zayn.
“Seems like a sound assumption.”
“Alright. But I want all four of you in Miami. Seeley is already there, hitting up old contacts. I want you guys doing the same, in case no one can find Noa. But that is top priority. Oh, and Caymen…”
“Yeah?”
“You might need this.”
He tossed something in the air, making me snatch it automatically.
I unfolded my fist and found a damn handcuff key there.
“Yeah, thanks, man,” I said, rolling my eyes. But I went ahead and tucked that fucker in my pocket. Just in case.
“If no progress is made by the morning, the others and I will head down and you guys can sleep while we put our ears to the ground. Won’t do us any good if we’re all sleepless.”
“Sounds good,” York said. “Zayn, you coming?”
“I’m going to put my own ears to the ground,” he said. “I’ll keep Huck apprised of any progress on my part.”
With that, he moved out of the kitchen.
“He’s fuming,” Velle said once he was gone. “Never seen him like that before.”
Huck nodded.
“He’s got a dark side for sure. I’m assuming whoever he’s supposed to be selling these guns to are some scary fucks, and he doesn’t want to have to tell them we lost the guns.”
“There’s no way to replace them?” York asked.
“Some, maybe. Possibly. If we reach out to the mother and sister chapters. But not all of them. This was an insane lot. It’s why I was pissed that we didn’t have direct eyes on them after helping get them here.”
“Can’t undo what’s done,” Velle, always the voice of reason, said. “But we can find whoever stole them.”
“Yeah. Keep me updated. And try not to get yourself detained,” he added, shooting me a smirk before walking off.
The ribbing was expected.
Hell, I’d even earned it.
I’d been thinking with my dick.
While she’d been manipulating me.
Though, only partially.
She’d been as into that kiss as I’d been. She’d even admitted it.
But she clearly had shit she had to handle. And I was in the way.
I respected that.
Even if the blue balls had been painful.
“How about I go with you?” Dixon suggested as he grabbed a bagel out of the brown bag on the counter. It was probably half stale and he just took a bite out of it like a damn sandwich.
“Why?”
“I’ve been there before.”
“That’s not really a reason to have you there,” I said, walking through the house.
“Alright. How about making sure you don’t get yourself tied up like that again?”
I turned back, surprised he said it. And maybe a little impressed.
Admittedly, I had a tendency to look at Dixon like he was still the frustrating teenager who followed me around like a lost puppy. But he was an adult now. And especially since joining the club, he’d been coming into his own.
Which meant he no longer took my word as law, but pushed back when he didn’t agree with me.
And he snarked at me when he never would have in the past, back when I was taking the blows so our old man didn’t bash his face in, back when we were struggling to make our way on our own, back when I was the only reason there was food on his plate or a roof over his head.
It had been an adjustment, this new version of my brother.
That said, once I stopped having that knee-jerk discomfort at the change, I decided I was happy about it.
I worried at times that by protecting him so he didn’t have to hurt like I did, I’d accidentally removed his chance to become his own man.
It was good to see him pushing back.
“You’re not too old for me to kick your ass,” I reminded him. Even though we were both fully aware that I’d never put my hands on him in our lives. Not even when he’d been playing ball in the house and broke the laptop I’d saved up to buy for six months.
“Dunno. Think I could take you. Been working out.”
“Playing chicken fight with girls in the pool doesn’t count.”
“It’s weight training.”
“Oh, please. Say that to one of the girls. I dare you.”
He chuckled at that.
“I’m gonna go with you,” he said, taking another bite of his bagel. “But I will stay outside unless I see her heading out without you.”
I wanted to do this alone.
But I knew there was no lone wolfing shit when you were in a club.
“I’ll meet you there then,” I said, hopping on my bike as he continued to stand there and eat his bagel.
I heard him following by the time I got to the end of the street.
By the time we made it back to Miami, I was following my brother since he knew the way.
“This is the place?” I asked when we pulled up not to a house, townhouse, or apartment building, but to a small strip mall with a dry cleaner, a comic book store, and an empty storefront. The door to the second floor was to the side of the dry cleaner.
“Yep.”
“Didn’t Zayn say she’s a big deal?”
“Yeah.”
Then why the hell did she live above a dry cleaner?
“For what it’s worth, I think she has the whole top floor, not just a small apartment,” Dixon explained.
It still seemed a little strange for someone who had to be bringing in bank.
Maybe it was some kind of security thing—having businesses below so she never felt alone.
“Huh,” Dixon said, making me turn to look at him.
“What?”
“That light wasn’t on before,” he said, nodding toward the far end of the top floor.
Maybe we hadn’t missed her.
I was off my bike and running before I was even conscious of telling my body to move.
This wasn’t over.
I was going to get her.