Chapter 16 Phantom
PHANTOM
When Poppy comes down the stairs in a little black dress, my cock and my heart leap to attention.
The dress is formfitting and low-cut, so I get the best of both worlds—a view of her cleavage on top and her long, tanned legs below.
Her hair is down and loosely curled, and she’s carrying two small gift bags—one from me for Stella and the other from Poppy.
When she reaches the bottom of the stairs, the girls rush to tell her how pretty she looks, and I watch as they compliment her hair, the glittery shadow on her lids, and the soft pink lipstick.
She hugs each of them, and they have a private laugh about something I can’t hear. I can only imagine what it was like watching their mother go out with her fucktoys. Douchebag guys looking for an easy hookup or a drinking buddy. I am damn sure that she never once went on a date looking like this.
I watch dumb struck as Poppy crosses the living room toward me. “Fuck,” I grit out. I slide a hand beneath her hair and stroke the back of her neck with my thumb. What I want to do is pull her against me, shove that dress around her waist, and fuck her against the wall.
What I have to do is control myself.
Living with this woman has taught me more about self-control than my years behind bars.
The doorbell rings, and Jax jumps up from his tablet. He’s been working on a project for me all day, something I had him start at the compound while I made calls. He runs to the front door with the girls, and they open the door to Poppy’s mom, Commissioner Lori.
“Grandma.” Jax hugs Lori, and she closes her eyes, rocking the boy back and forth in her arms.
“Hi, sweetheart. It’s so good to see you. I met your new friends today at the mall. I heard you were out with Owen. Did you have a good day?”
“Owen?” Jax looks toward me, and I give him a look. I told him my real name was lame. “Yeah, it was awesome.”
Lori gives my girls each a friendly hug, then strides right up to me with her hand out. “Owen,” she says.
She doesn’t say nice to meet you—because that would be a lie. She doesn’t say good to see you again. Because that would give away the fact that Lori and I know each other.
We, in fact, go way back.
I look from Lori to Poppy and have to make the call fast. I assumed that Lori would have told Poppy she knows me when they met up at the mall today.
But the way Lori’s acting makes me think otherwise.
Ordinarily, I would shake her hand and tell her to call me Phantom, but I don’t, because I know that will only piss Lori off.
“Thanks for doing this,” I say, shaking her hand. What I said doesn’t reveal anything, and I’m even more careful with the look I give her. I don’t know why the game matters. But I don’t want to do anything to blow up this thing with Poppy, so I’m going to fucking play.
Lori turns her attention to Poppy, asking for a tour of the house and for any instructions she needs. Poppy explains about the pool being out of commission while I kiss the kids and text Hawk to make sure he saw Lori come in.
Once we’ve said our goodbyes to the kids, Poppy and I head out to the party. And I wonder just how long I can go without telling her about my dealings with her mom.
We arrive at the party early. We park in the lot, and I help Poppy out of the passenger side of my truck, taking the minute to hold her close to me.
“You look good enough to eat,” I tell her. “Fuck this party. Let’s go to my room and make a party of our own.”
I kiss the side of her neck, the warmth of her hair and that gorgeous salon scent from her shampoo filling my nose.
This isn’t the stuff I bought her, so she must have picked up a bottle when she went back to work.
My mouth waters, and I want nothing more than to bite her, lick her, taste every inch of this body as I peel the dress right off her.
Poppy sighs, angling her head to the side to give me better access to her throat. “Phantom,” she murmurs. “This is technically our second date. Are you expecting me to go all the way with you?”
“Hoping, begging, needing,” I say, licking and suckling the tender, soft skin of her collarbone. “I want to be inside you, behind you,” I grumble. But then I grab her hand and lead her over the gravel toward the front door. “Let’s give these gifts away and fuck.”
“The most romantic second date ever,” she laughs.
I swat her ass as we walk through the compound door, and I immediately regret it because I don’t want to move my hand.
The compound is decorated with a few streamers and balloons.
“Phantom.” Penny runs up to me, her ass cheeks hanging out of her frayed denim short shorts. She’s wearing glittery flip-flops and a skintight leopard-print tank top. “So, this is her, huh?”
Penny looks Poppy over from head to toe. “I hope you’re not one of those snooty bitches.” Penny’s giving mean girl vibes, and I roll my eyes. This is a compound, not a high school clique. But Poppy works in a salon. She knows women. I cock a brow at Penny and stand back.
Poppy looks from me to Penny and gives her a confident smile. “If by snooty you mean sexy, that’s the look I’m going for.” She motions to her little black dress. “This is all for him, though, so I’ll let you know how he likes it later tonight.”
Penny cackles. “I like you. Come meet the girls.”
Poppy turns to me, and I nod, waving her off. Penny takes off toward the bar, and Poppy leans close to my ear. “Am I stupidly overdressed? Was this the wrong thing to wear?”
I cup her ass with both hands and pull her close to me. “Did you lie to Penny just now, or did you wear this for me?”
She laughs and leans her hips against mine. She laces her hands together behind my neck, her brown eyes blazing with heat. “Only for you,” she purrs.
“Then who the fuck cares.” I lower my lips to hers and kiss her so that every asshole in this compound knows she’s mine.
She parts her lips and groans, melting into me until, finally, I have to let her go. I’m going to be tenting my fucking jeans all night if we keep at this.
She licks her lips and blots the smudged lipstick with her fingertips, then follows Penny to the bar. I hear Stella squeal, lots of hugs, and chatter. Shadow’s at my elbow, holding out a beer.
“You got a minute?” he says.
I nod, and we retreat to a corner.
“Elliott’s happy with the work. He’s ready for another run,” he tells me.
“What about the fuck who jumped King?” I ask.
“He still won’t talk about it.”
Ever since Dylan got jumped last week and beaten to within an inch of his life, I’ve been trying to put together the pieces.
Somebody wants a piece of this Elliott gig.
With this amount of money and product moving, that’s just common sense.
But there’s nobody in town, no one that I know, who can put together the protection and power that we can. Something isn’t adding up.
“You think he got side work?” I have to ask it.
Dylan’s been a prospect for over a year now.
But time doesn’t mean shit. Some guys will turn on their mother for a blow job, a snort, or a couple of bucks.
You never really know someone until they’ve proven themselves—time and time again.
Dylan hasn’t done anything wrong—not that I know about yet.
But that doesn’t mean he has done enough right to convince me I can trust him.
“Been thinking that same thing.” Shadow looks troubled. “We got a new gig, he’s got a new hole in his mouth where his teeth were. You want eyes on him.”
I nod. “I want to know everything. Who he talks to, who he sees. I want to know how bad his shit stinks if that’s going to help us figure out what the fuck he’s into.”
Shadow nods. “Go back to the party. I’ll cover this.” He turns to leave but then stops. “How do you want to handle it if I see something going down?”
I down my beer, then set the bottle down and clench my fists. “You bring him to me.”
Shadow wanders off into the crowd, but I see him kiss Stella on the cheek and then slip out of the party.
I walk up to the bar, frustration practically blurring my vision. I run this club with one rule: loyalty above all else.
Trust is everything.
I just hope that Dylan doesn’t give me a reason to break any more of his bones.
“He’s so into you.” I overhear one of the ladies squealing at Poppy.
She’s holding her own with the girls, slowly sipping a beer and looking comfortable at the bar.
“He is,” I say, lacing an arm around Poppy’s waist. “Happy bday, Stel,” I say. “And thanks.”
I nod, and Stella comes around the bar and squeezes my arm.
“Poppy already thanked me like a hundred times. And this?” She fingers the silver necklace with a little birth month stone hanging from a silver charm.
“Too sweet.” She lifts up on her toes to kiss my cheek and whispers, “I know Poppy picked it out. She’s a keeper. ”
Before I can keep her, I must have her, and that’s something I plan on doing immediately.
I grunt at Stella and put a hand on Poppy’s lower back. The music is pumping, and more bikers and bitches are filling in the compound. The TVs are blasting a game, and a couple of the guys are playing poker at a table.
“We’re just about to put out the food!” Penny yells. “Let the birthday girl eat first, you fucks.”
Poppy turns and looks at me, her eyes laughing.
“Having fun?” I ask.
“No one’s naked or wasted yet, so I’m not sure what you warned me about,” she teases.
“I have ideas about that,” I tell her. I lace her fingers through mine and lead her back toward my room.
We’re silent as we walk down the hall, the only sound the pounding of my heart in my ears and the click of Poppy’s heels on the tile. Once we’re in my room, I shut and lock the door. The noise of the party fades away, and all that’s left is us.
“Sit,” I tell her, then open a mini fridge I keep beside the couch. “You want something, babe?”
She sits on the corner of the couch, feeling the soft leather. “No,” she says quietly. “I’m good.”