CHAPTER SEVEN
DAMON
I couldn’t help the satisfied smile that spread across my face as I watched Athena frantically let herself into her apartment building. The taste of her sweet pussy lingered on my lips and tongue. She sure was a delectable little thing. I was going to have a lot of fun with this arrangement.
It was shortly after midnight when I arrived home. Having grabbed Athena just after seven, our time in the woods had stretched over several hours. I figured I would grab a beer and relax with a movie or something before bed.
Opening the door to the house, I was greeted by the sound of Noah and Dominik in the kitchen. Easing the door shut quietly, I turned toward the stairs, hoping to escape down to my bedroom in the basement without being noticed.
“Damon,” Noah called from the kitchen. “Are you trying to avoid us?”
Dammit. Redirecting, I entered the kitchen of our four-level split instead. “Now why would I want to do that?”
The two of them sat at the small table near the patio door.
Noah with his light hair and green eyes next to Dom with his dark hair and hazel eyes, the two of them were opposites in many ways.
The one thing they had shared was the desperate desire to kill the other.
And they’d tried. I had to give them both credit for that.
However, that need to destroy had become something else. Now they were head over heels for each other. I was all for my best friend finding his happiness, but boy, I was sick of listening to it.
“Where have you been?” Noah wrinkled his nose. “You smell like perfume. Who is the lucky lady?”
Pretty sure Athena wouldn’t consider herself lucky right now. Having no desire to discuss my whereabouts with either of them, I gave a dismissive shrug. “Nobody special.”
Noah studied me curiously. “Since when do you not brag about your sexual exploits? Who were you with?”
The two of them stared at me, awaiting a response. I really needed to get my own place.
“Athena Spencer. One of her flings hired me to mess with her a little. So I grabbed her while she was on a date, took her to the woods at the cemetery, and chased her through the forest for a couple hours. I caught her and gave her the choice to owe me in exchange for letting her go while punishing the guy who hired me instead. Then I ate her beautiful pussy and took her home.”
Dom and Noah wore matching expressions of surprise. Instead of encouraging them, I went to the fridge and helped myself to a cold beer. Popping the cap off, I pulled out the chair across from them and sat down.
“I knew you were up to something when you took a job without me,” Noah accused. “You were planning to force her into a deal all along, weren’t you?”
I tipped my head to one side as if considering his question. “I saw an opportunity and I took it.”
“Devious yet genius,” Dom commented with a slight nod of his head. “I can respect that.”
I raised my beer to him before taking a long swallow. Even though I didn’t particularly like most of the Graveyard Kings, I didn’t have a problem with Dom. He’d proven that he cared about Noah as much as I did.
Noah held up his burner phone, waving it around. “I got a call about an hour ago. A loan shark asking us to collect a debt he’s owed. He would like it done tonight if possible. We were just about to head out. Care to come along?”
Since I was still pretty wired from my evening so far, I decided a job like this could be fun. “Yeah I’m up for it. Who are we collecting a debt from?”
“Someone named Hazard. We were given an address. A place on the north side. We should probably get going.” Pulling keys from his pocket, Dom stood up. “I’ll drive.”
Noah repeated the address as we headed out the door. Something about it sounded familiar yet I couldn’t quite place it. A quick search online showed an area of town I didn’t frequent much. A building nestled in amongst others in an area that contained auto shops and home supply businesses.
When we arrived at our destination, I realized why it had sounded familiar. Two rows of Harley-Davidson motorcycles lined the parking lot. This was a fucking biker bar.
“Well, this explains why the guy hired us instead of coming here himself,” I muttered.
“How much did he offer us?” Dom studied the building, uncertainty lining his brow. “Is it worth the risk?”
Noah scrubbed a hand over the stubble marking his jaw. “Fifteen grand. Can’t blame him for leaving this part out. What do you guys want to do? We can say fuck it and leave right now.”
Walking into a place like this wouldn’t come without some serious risk. I couldn’t help but be intrigued. “Let’s do it. We’re already here anyway. Let’s go collect this debt.”
“Maybe I should text Casper first,” Dom suggested, pulling out his phone. “Doesn’t hurt to have a guy like him on a job like this.”
Couldn’t argue with that. Casper Callahan was a big motherfucker. A guy that intimidated without even trying. Bringing him in with us was a good idea.
We sat tight, waiting for Casper to arrive. He was smart enough to park his bright orange Challenger down the street and walk over to where we waited. Several bikers hung around in the parking lot, smoking and talking at an obnoxious volume. A few of them eyed us up as we approached.
Nobody stopped us from entering the bar. It wasn’t an exceptionally large building. Big enough for a few pool tables and a handful of seating areas. We made our way to the bar as if we belonged there.
“We’re looking for someone named Hazard,” Noah said to the bartender as he slid our beers across to us. “Any chance you can help us out with that?”
The heavily tattooed bald man looked us each over in turn. “What do you want with Hazard?”
Not wanting to beat around the bush, I chose to get right to the point. “He owes a friend of ours money. We’re here to collect.”
Noah shot me an annoyed glare. While I understood his approach, I knew we would have to come clean eventually. Why put it off?
The bartender snatched the cash for the beer from Noah’s hand. “Is that so? Probably should’ve told your friend to deal with it himself.” Turning to a man seated at the end of the bar nuzzling a blonde woman on his lap, he shouted, “Hey, Hazard, these guys say you owe their buddy money.”
Hazard removed the woman from his lap, setting her aside.
Slowly, he rose to his feet. He was almost as big as Casper.
Covered in tattoos, wearing a leather vest with the logo of his biker gang on the back.
He took a step toward us, making sure to flash the knife on his belt.
I doubted it was the only weapon on him.
“Did Chuck send you?” he barked. “I told him I would have the money next week.”
The four of us moved away from our barstools, coming to face Hazard. I wasn’t sure how the guy could take himself seriously with a name like that.
“All I know is that he’s done waiting,” Noah explained, tensing like he knew a fight was coming. “He wants the money tonight.”
Several other bikers in the vicinity took notice. A few of them came to stand around Hazard, ready to have his back. Yep, there was definitely going to be a fight.
Hazard stroked a hand over his thick beard. He glanced at his buddies and smirked. “Well, he’s not getting it. You guys might want to leave now while you still have the chance.”
Since I hadn’t gotten that much fight from Andy earlier, I was ready to go now. Taking a step forward, I raised my hands in invitation. “We came for that money, and we’re not leaving until we get it. If that’s a problem for you, feel free to do something about it.”
“Jesus Christ, Damon,” Noah hissed. “Shut the fuck up.”
It was too late now anyway. The challenge had been issued. These guys weren’t going to back down from a fight, and neither were we.
Fists started flying. Hazard cracked me across the face hard enough to make my vision swim. Now that’s what I was here for. Nothing like a few punches in the face to get the blood pumping. I was quick to retaliate.
All around me bodies collided in violence.
Casper easily took on two at a time. Knocking one out with a heavy punch before grabbing another in a headlock.
I dodged the next punch that came my way before landing a solid hit right to Hazard’s throat.
He coughed and choked, grabbing at his neck.
Giving me an open opportunity to kick him in the ribs.
While Noah defended himself against another biker, he cussed me out. “What the hell were you thinking? Do you have to do everything the hard way?”
I chuckled, grabbing Hazard’s wrist as his fist came toward me and twisting. “Come on now. You love it. We’re having fun, aren’t we?”
Throwing punches was always a good time, but it ultimately wouldn’t get us what we had come here for.
Knowing that this would eventually escalate into something more dangerous, I shoved Hazard aside, angling for his girlfriend instead.
At the same time, he pulled a gun from inside his vest, aiming it at me.
Only now I had his girlfriend pressed to my chest like the perfect human shield. My own gun against her temple. That brought everything to a halt.
“Let’s all calm down here,” I said, gripping the woman hard enough to make her shriek. “Pretty sure we would all like to get back to our night without further trouble. Give us the money and I let her go.”
The woman began blubbering and begging, pleading with me not to blow her brains all over the bar. That would be up to Hazard. He immediately lowered his weapon, silently telling me that she meant more to him than a random fuck. Good. I was banking on that.
Hazard’s face turned red, boiling over with anger. “Don’t do anything stupid, asshole.”
“That’s funny. I was just going to say that to you. Get us the money and we’ll be on our way. Nobody needs to get hurt.” I loved having control of a situation. The rush that swept through me was almost as good as fucking.
A long tense moment stretched between our groups. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Only the sound of Hazard’s girlfriend crying her eyes out and begging him to give us the money.
Finally, he waved to a guy at the back of the club. “Get the money we owe Chuck from the safe. Hurry up.”
Now we were getting somewhere. Noah released an exasperated sigh, shaking his head in my direction. We’d come to do a job, and I was doing it. Not sure why he was in such a mood.
We all waited for the man to return with a large duffle bag filled with cash. He handed the bag off to Dominik who stood protectively close to Noah. The two of them checked the contents of the bag, making sure the bills were legit and all accounted for.
“You got what you came for, now let her go.” Hazard stood stiffly, nervous that I might put a bullet in his girl’s brain anyway.
Because I wasn’t an idiot, I tightened my grip on her and began to drag her toward the door. If I let her go now, there was nothing to stop these guys from taking us all out.
“Stay here until we drive away,” I commanded. “We’ll leave her in the parking lot.”
They had no choice but to do as I demanded. I waited until the other three guys had exited the building before following with my hostage. She continued to beg and plead, asking me not to hurt her. Damn, she was annoying as hell.
Once I reached the vehicle, I gave her a shove away from me and leapt into the car. We quickly peeled away with a squeal of tires. I was ready for it when Noah whirled around in his seat to grab me by the front of my shirt.
“You could have gotten us all killed in there. Since when are you so fucking reckless?” He gave me a vigorous shake, making my teeth rattle.
“Calm your tits.” I pried his fingers off me. “I got the job done, didn’t I?”
That wasn’t a good enough response for Noah. He shook his finger annoyingly in my face. “I don’t know what’s with you lately but you’re becoming a liability.”
I sat back in my seat, staring absently out the window. “I don’t know, man. Maybe I’m just bored.”
Maybe I needed something else to hold my interest. It was growing more difficult all the time not to do something crazy just for the reaction I would receive. Perhaps it was high time to skip town. Find some new stomping grounds to entertain myself.
Not until I’d had my fun with Athena Spencer though. I knew that playing with her would be anything but boring.