Chapter 11
Riot
“I’m going to send this into the lab for fingerprinting,” Agent Lane says once we’ve put the quad bikes away. “Then I’ll come back and get prints from everyone who had access to the knife. We’ll rule them out one by one.”
“I’ll make sure they all know you’ll want to see them.” I shut the doors behind us.
“You should stay aware,” Lane tells me. “Until we know more.”
I jerk my chin. He can’t rule out my stalker, so he’s obligated to say that no matter how slim the chance that we find my stalker among the people on the ranch. “Okay.”
He heads toward the cabins, and I go in the opposite direction. With that unpleasant business behind us, I have a promise to keep to my girlfriend. Multiple orgasms in the middle of the day.
My lips twitch up. My step lightens. Fuck yes, she’s mine.
I stop outside the barn. It sounds like Sonatina is having a rehearsal behind closed doors. She’s singing something I haven’t heard before. It’s ethereal and laced with emotion. Her voice is raw and powerful. Far more complex than I thought when I heard her on the radio.
I slip inside for a second.
She stops when she sees me. Her face lights up. “Riot, you came.”
“Don’t stop on my account.” I pull out the closest seat and drop into it.
“You should come up here and sing with me.” She stretches out an arm to beckon me.
I shake my head. “I’m good listening.”
“We could sing 'Chokehold'.” She follows up with the first verse of my song.
Holy shit! She makes my words her own, layering in depth and emotion. What Carmine has her singing—pop songs and dance tracks—totally doesn’t do her justice.
There is something beyond the raw quality that bothers me. It’s not her voice… I can’t figure it out.
“Isn’t she wonderful?” One of the queens, who has snuck in and has stars in his eyes, gushes when Sonatina steps down from the platform.
“She is.” I clap for her.
“But you still won’t sing with me.” Her deeply glossed mouth forms a pout while she walks to me. She places her hand on my shoulder. She’s wearing a pretty perfume. It’s not overpowering but I can’t help catching a whiff.
“Not 'Chokehold'.” But I might be warming up to the idea of working with her talent. “We’ll write something.”
“I meant for the wedding.” She looks up at me through her lashes as the queen lets himself out of the barn. “I’m sure we could find something that encapsulates the emotion of the event.”
It would be good to know what it would be like to work with her before we enter the studio, but I made Kelsey a promise. “Why don’t you pick something out, and I’ll let Kelsey know.”
Sonatina leans into me. Her other hand slides down my chest to rest on my abs. “This doesn’t seem like the kind of thing we need to worry your manager over. Let her enjoy her little respite. I’m sure Daddy doesn’t give her any rest.”
“Kelsey is more than my manager.” I collect her clingy hands and remove them from my person. “And I think you know that.”
“She’s your minder.” Sonatina sulks.
“Kelsey is my girlfriend,” I clarify, putting space between us.
“Let me guess. She gets jealous of the attention you’re paying me.” Sonatina’s gaze is playful. “She doesn’t like the idea of us working together.”
Accurate. I fold my arms across my chest.
“But what you’re not telling me is that you’re not interested.” She touches me again, this time circling me.
“I’m not.”
“Of course you are. Because you know that you and I as a couple would be powerful for our careers. The brand we could build.” Her eyes darken. She takes my hands and places them at her waist. Lifting her own, she twines them around my neck. “If we were together.”
“I’m with Kelsey.”
“For now.” She leans in.
I duck to the left and her lips find my cheek. She’s not used to hearing no. It’s nothing I can’t handle. I extricate myself from the tangle of her arms. “For always, Sonatina.”
“Sonny.” She lifts her chin, gaze full of anger.
“If you’re serious about working together, tell Kelsey what you want to sing.” I turn my back on her and walk out of the barn. Balancing Sonatina’s insistence and Kelsey’s jealousy is going to be hard work, but I need to keep Carmine happy. L.A. Riot’s future depends on it.
Kelsey is in the kitchen with Adira when I enter the ranch house. She’s pacing one side of the island counter with her phone to her ear, deep in conversation with someone who doesn’t seem to be giving her what she wants.
On the other side of the counter Adira too is pacing and on the phone. “Name your price. Oh, there is no amount?”
“Salazar is a no.” Kia hangs up her phone as she enters the kitchen. “Ruben and Freddy are a no.”
Adira hangs up too. “Damn it. Who’s left?”
“That’s everyone in first and second tier.” Kelsey hangs up as well.
Adira covers his face with both hands, scrubs them up and down, and then flings them to the side. “I don’t know why we’re bothering. This wedding isn’t going ahead. It’s clear fate has other intentions.”
“We still have all the names on the third tier,” Kia says. “And Burke said there’s a local baker—”
“I called her already,” Kelsey says, spotting me. She offers a weak smile. “Her kids have hand, foot, and mouth disease.”
“Shit.” Adira sobs.
“What’s the problem?”
“The cake designer cancelled on us.” Kelsey walks around the counter to give him a big hug. “We’re going to work it out. Even if we have to bake it ourselves.”
“You bake.” Adira perks up.
“No. I…” Kelsey winces. “I burn everything I cook. But surely Summer does know how to bake a cake.”
Adira glances at the time. “I’ll have to ask her when she gets back from picking up the ingredients he ordered. She’s going to freak when she finds out about this.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Kelsey assures her.
“Well, I can’t worry about it now.” Adira has caught sight of the time. “I need to check on the setup for the bridal shower. And then get dressed.”
The harried queen scurries from the kitchen. I envelop Kelsey in a supportive hug of her own. Press my lips to her temple. “It’s been like this the whole time we were gone?”
“The cake designer has the stomach flu.” Kelsey sags into me. “We’re calling every designer we have a number for.”
“And no luck,” I guess.
“Not so far,” Kelsey says. “I think Adira is struggling with this being one thing he can’t make happen. He’s usually the queen everyone turns to for hard-to-get items.”
“We’ll work it out.”
“I’m going to start crossing names off the last tier,” Kia says, grabbing the list of names from the counter and racing out of the room.
Kelsey rests her head on my chest and inhales deeply. Her breath catches. She lifts her gaze to mine and wrinkles her nose. “Why do you smell like a pretty floral perfume?”
“I ran into—”
“Is she for real?” The color in her cheeks rises. Her gaze narrows. “She must have rubbed herself all over you.”
“Nothing happened.”
She searches my face. “You told her about us to her face, right? It should have been the first thing to come out of your mouth when she tried to put her scent all over you.”
“I made it clear that you and I are dating.” I take her hands. “Can we not let her cause any more friction between us? We have too much to deal with.”
“You’re right.” She simmers down. “How did it go with Agent Lane?”
“He didn’t think it was my stalker who killed the goat.” I rest my arm on her shoulders as we walk through the house. She’ll have to get ready for the bridal shower too, but not before I get her to myself and prove that she’s my only one. Leave her covered in my smell.
“That’s good.” She softens like she’s been waiting for this news to put her at ease. “That’s a relief at least.”
“He did want to talk to West. And Dizzy. I can’t imagine how either conversation is going to go after that kiss though.” My oldest brother doesn’t seem like the type to share. He was probably the kid who beat the shit out of other kids who tried to touch his stuff.
Weirdly, Rebel didn’t seem at all suspicious of him when he revealed that West found a knife.
I’m a bit more apprehensive. But perhaps that’s the point. It could be someone is trying to fuck with us… all of us… right?
I push it to the back of my mind when we enter the room and shut the door. I made her a promise before I left her. “Panties off, candy head.”
She whimpers and gets busy doing what I told her to. Reaching under her pretty skater dress, she skims the lacy panties down her thighs and shows them to me.
“Bend over the bed,” I order, “and spread your legs for me. I want to see you.”
She bends at the hip and places her hands on the mattress. Ass in the air, she watches me over her shoulder. Anticipation glistens in her gaze as I stalk to her. That sweet pussy is on display and blushing already.
“How quiet can you be?” I ask her, as I undo my pants and shove them down to my ankles. I land one hand on the curve of her ass and soften the sting when I knead the flesh.
“Do I have to be?” she asks, trouble darkening her pupils.
We’ve been sneaking around for so long… restraining ourselves where people might overhear or walk in…
but that’s not why she wants to be loud.
I’m sure it has more to do with the woman in the barn.
If we were anywhere else… I’d be inclined to let her.
If only so she can get over her obsession with Carmine’s daughter.
“Just try it,” I warn as I slip two fingers into her entrance and roll my thumb across her clit. “I can give you those orgasms I promised. But I can also take them away.”
“Damn you, Riot Maddox.” She grabs her panties and stuffs them in her mouth. The moan she makes as I thrust my digits roughly in and out of her is garbled and thick.
All too soon she starts to crest.
I ease up, making each stroke shallower and lighter.
Avoiding her clit when she gets too close and then reapplying the pressure when I can tell that the sensation starts to fade.
She makes tiny, wanton noises that the panties barely keep quiet.
The longer I tease her, the closer she gets, the more she begs.