Chapter 15 #2
She was actually taking the situation well, all things considered. Seeing someone killed in front of you wasn’t an easy thing to wrap your head around. Getting held at gunpoint wasn’t either. Knowing that there were people that were actively trying to kill you would’ve been a mindfuck for anyone.
“Good news is,” I said, pushing her hair away from her face, “you don’t gotta worry about it anymore. We’ll find ’em, and until we do, everyone’s on high alert. No one’s gonna get close to you.”
“I feel really bad that I brought this home with me,” she said quietly. “Gram could’ve been really hurt.”
“Men underestimate Farrah at their peril,” I told her, smiling. “I’d have her at my back any day.”
“Is life going to be like this for us?” Harper asked carefully.
My heart pounded at the implication.
“You grew up in the club,” I reminded her. “You ever feel anythin’ but safe?”
She thought about it for a moment. “No.”
“I’m sure we’ll deal with shit,” I said, wrapping my hand around the side of her throat. Her pulse beat steady against my palm. “But you know I won’t let anythin’ touch you. Not ever.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Fuck that,” I replied. “I can promise that. Nothin’ will ever touch you or our kids.”
“Our kids?”
“You gonna have babies with me, Harper White?” I asked, leaning forward until our noses were nearly touching.
“It would be a crime not to,” she whispered back. “I’ve seen you with the kids. You’ll be an incredible dad.” She paused. “Maybe we could foster, even.”
I felt her words in my chest, and I had to swallow a couple of times so my voice wouldn’t fucking crack.
“I’d like that. Yeah.”
“Oh, by the way,” she said, smiling. “I love you.”
“Coulda said that before you started promisin’ babies,” I teased. “But better late than never, right?”
“You’re the one who brought up babies,” she gasped, shoving at my chest.
“I’d already told you I love you,” I reminded her as she rolled on top of me, straddling my waist.
Looking up at her, the baggy sweatshirt covering her from neck to wrist, her hair a wavy, tangled mess, and her big dark-rimmed glasses, I felt a little overwhelmed.
She saw me—every part, from the screwed-up kid to the man who hadn’t been able to let go of the past even while he was running from it—and she loved me anyway.
“When this is over, move in with me,” I said as she traced my lips with her fingertips.
“Yes,” she replied simply.
“We can find a better place.”
“No rush.”
“I can afford to buy,” I assured her. “Just didn’t feel like a priority before.”
“Sebastian,” she said, covering my mouth with her hand. “You don’t have to earn me, okay? I like your apartment, and I still haven’t found a job, so we should probably hold off on any large purchases.”
I nodded.
“Because I’ll be paying my share, or it’ll be your house and not our house.”
“It’s your house either way,” I mumbled stubbornly around her fingers.
Harper rolled her eyes but leaned down and kissed me anyway. Her fingers found their way into my hair as the kiss deepened.
Sliding my hands under her sweatshirt, I groaned when all I encountered was bare skin. I’d forgotten that she didn’t have anything on under it. Wrapping my arms around her, I sat up and threw my legs off the bed, carrying her to the door so I could lock it without ending the kiss.
Her hands slid over my face and ears, around my neck, and down my hoodie in the back so she could drag her fingernails across my shoulders.
We didn’t even make it back to the bed before she straightened her legs so I’d set her on her feet. Within seconds, she’d stripped off the sweats and was standing naked in front of me. Her hands went for my belt as I tugged off my hoodie and the shirt beneath it.
My hand shot out and slammed against the cement wall when she dropped to her knees and took me into her mouth.
She’d done it before, but it was still surprising as fuck when it happened.
Ignoring the sounds of people in the hallway, I reached down and brushed the tips of my fingers against her cheek.
Her eyes fluttered closed, and I groaned.
When it became nearly impossible not to thrust into her mouth, I gripped her jaw in my hand and pulled her away.
“On the bed,” I ordered softly, my voice rough.
Harper smiled smugly as she got to her feet. Then, hips swinging, she walked to the foot of the bed and bent over it, her elbows to the mattress.
I took my time pulling a condom out of my wallet and rolling it on, knowing that she was growing more impatient by the second. Her feet widened. Back arched.
The moment I put my hand on her lower back, the entire top half of her body relaxed into the bedding.
Sliding my hand down the crack of her ass, I stopped when evidence of her arousal met my fingers.
Harper whimpered as I slid my thumb inside her, pinching her clit between my fingers.
When I couldn’t play with her for another moment without completely losing it, I pulled away. Instantly, her hand shot down between her legs to guide me inside her.
She came within minutes, pressing her face against the comforter to muffle her moans.
I was right behind her.
Leaning down, I kissed my way up her back, finally stopping at the baby hairs at the base of her skull.
“I love you,” I breathed against the back of her neck.
“Love you, too, baby,” she said with a sigh.
We took turns using the communal bathroom like a couple of teenagers who’d gotten away with something, then wandered out to the main room of the clubhouse.
“Oh, Myla’s here,” Harper said, her steps slowing for a moment.
“She’s probably here to check on you,” I said as we grabbed some pizza.
Harper snorted, making me grin.
“She’s been actin’ like an asshole, but she does love you.”
“Yeah, well,” Harper huffed. “She can fucking apologize if she wants me to talk to her. I’m done feeling bad or guilty about being with you. If she doesn’t like it, that’s her issue, not mine.”
“That’s a fair point,” Myla said from behind us.
Harper froze, her eyes squeezing shut for a long moment. Opening them again, she slowly turned to face Myla.
“I fucked up,” Myla said without preamble.
“Cian’s been on my ass about it, but I guess I wasn’t willing to admit I was wrong until Bas ripped me a new one last night.
You’re right, it’s none of my business. I guess I just didn’t want Lou getting hurt, so I went a little mama bear.
She set me straight this morning after listening to me bitch all night. ”
“You know me,” Harper replied stiffly. “You know I’m not the type of person who’d go for someone that was already taken.”
“I was mad at Bas,” Myla said with a wince. “Sorry, big guy. It’s wasn’t you, Harp. I was pissed that he was fucking around and you guys were together all the fucking time, so I just kept my distance.”
“All right,” Harper said, turning back toward the pizza selection.
“All right?” Myla asked in confusion.
“What, you want a fucking parade? All right. We’re fine.”
“Uh, okay,” Myla said tentatively. She glanced at me and then walked away.
“How was that?” Harper whispered once Myla was gone. “Did I seem, you know, cool?”
I let out a huff of surprised laughter and then quickly beat it back.
“Yeah, baby,” I choked out. “Super cool.”
“I didn’t want to be all, okay, Myla! Can we braid each other’s hair now?”
“You definitely weren’t that,” I assured her.
“I mean, sure, we’re fine. She apologized, whatever.”
“Right.”
“But I’m not the pushover they all think I am, and she was an asshole.”
“She was.”
“So, let her stew in it for a couple of weeks like I had to.”
“Thatta girl,” I murmured proudly.
“I’ll probably only last a couple of days,” she confessed.
I grinned as I followed her over to the table where her parents were sitting with Grease and Callie.
“How you doin’ pretty girl?” Grease asked as she sat down.
“I’m good,” Harper replied, waving him off. “But I’ll be happy when we figure out who’s trying to kill me.”
Callie snickered.
“Did Gram ever come to the club?” Harper asked, glancing around the room.
“No, she stayed home,” Lily replied. “I think she was worried that if she left, she wouldn’t be able to make herself go back.”
“Should’ve left that place in ashes,” Callie said under her breath.
Lily looked at her. “It’s home.”
Callie just nodded.
The rest of the table was silent. Callie had been shot, and her youngest son was killed when Casper and Farrah’s house had been attacked years ago.
Nearly every person in the club had strong feelings about that particular piece of property. I glanced at Leo, who was expressionless. He’d also been shot in that attack, a bullet bisected his face leaving a wicked scar. I barely even noticed it anymore, but it was impossible to miss.
Leo’s phone chimed, and he pulled it out of his pocket to look at it.
“Got a lead,” he said, leaning over to kiss Lily. “We’ll be back in a while. Harper needs to come with me.”
“Love you, Ma,” Harper said, rising to her feet.
“Love you, too,” she said with a wan smile.
Grease and I followed them outside, and we all piled into Callie’s SUV.
“Where are we goin’?” I asked as we pulled out of the gates.
“Ceecee’s,” Leo replied. “Woody’s got some information he wants Harper to take a look at.”
“He couldn’t come to her?” I asked, watching out the windows. Taking Harper off club grounds made me itchy.
“His computers are there,” Leo said flatly. “Not at the club.”
“Fair enough,” I muttered.
When we got to Cecilia and Woody’s place, we rounded the house and went inside through a back door that led straight to an office with more equipment than I could name. It looked like he could send a rocket to the moon from his home office.
“How you doin’, Harpy?” he asked, spinning in his chair to look at us.
“I should probably just write fine on a Post-it and stick it to my forehead,” she replied dryly.
Woody laughed. “Okay, then let’s get right into it.” He gestured to a chair next to him. “Basically, we’ve narrowed down a list of names that we could connect to the man that was in Casper and Farrah’s house last night. Why don’t you go through them and see if anything pops out at you?”
Harper sat down beside him and leaned forward to look at the list of names. Almost immediately, she jerked upward.
“Who?” Woody asked. “Which one?”
“Paige Brewer,” Harper replied faintly.
“You know her?”
“She was my boss.”
“No shit?” Leo asked in surprise.
“It doesn’t even make any sense,” Harper said dubiously. “I mean, yeah, she was pissed, but she doesn’t make hitman money. And how the hell could I have pissed her off so much she wanted me dead?”
“She was sendin’ you all those messages,” Leo reminded her.
“That’s a pretty big leap,” Harper countered.
“Is she still sending you messages?” Woody asked.
“No, I blocked the bitch’s number,” Harper replied. “I don’t work for her anymore. I kept the messages, though.”
“Can you play them for me?” Woody asked.
“Sure.”
Harper pulled out her phone. “I haven’t even listened to the most recent ones. She’s like a broken record.”
What followed was a slew of voice mail messages, each one worse than the last. It was like hearing someone lose their grip bit by bit.
They started out with the woman telling Harp how disappointed she was, then she was angry, then she was livid, then Harper was a bitch who didn’t appreciate the opportunities that she’d been given, then she was a cunt for not answering her phone, then she should watch her back because she couldn’t just ignore people and treat them like they were nothing and not expect retaliation.
Harper was pale by the time we’d finished going through them.
“I didn’t listen to the last ones,” she said, almost apologetically. “I didn’t know she’d gone so far off the ledge.”
“I think we have enough to assume that Paige Brewer was the one who put out the contract,” Woody said grimly.
“No shit,” Grease scoffed. “Crazy bitch.”
Woody nodded. “Now we need to decide how we’re gonna handle it.”