Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
HUNTER
“Fancy seeing you here,” I chuckled as I sat down in the prison visitation room at a table beside Violet’s. Violet was one of Archer’s best dancers at Wet Dreams, and it was the only reason he probably hadn’t strangled her for continuing to sleep with Lexi.
The girl was gorgeous as well as discreet, so she was popular among the guys when they held meetings in the club. Her honey colored eyes and long signature violet hair gave her almost an innocent vibe.
“Hey. What are you doing here?” she asked with a smile, seeming confused.
“Seeing Rory. You visiting Lex?”
I liked the idea of getting to see both girls on the same day. Checking in with both of them separately was a pain in the ass.
“Yep. It’s nice of you to keep coming up to see both of them. Some of the girls at Wet Dreams said you’re here three or four days a week,” she said softly.
“That’s an exaggeration, but I’m here usually twice a week. Once to see Rory and once for Lexi. Mark comes up on other days too though.”
Marco’s interest in Rory was strange. He still didn’t really like her, but he understood her and had a fascination with her violent streak. He definitely wanted to fuck her, which I wasn’t a fan of.
“How do you find the time?” Violet asked, and I scoffed.
“I make time. Just means I’ll be working late tonight to make up for it.”
“You sure you don’t want to marry me? I’d be a good wife,” she teased, and I gave her a sly grin.
“I know you would, but making my cock hard and my heart race are two very different things. My wife will have to do both.”
“I suppose Rory does that?” she asked dryly.
“Usually, the racing heart is due to panic and stress, but I guess it counts. Wouldn’t that piss off Skeet? Marrying her?” I chuckled, and she gave me a knowing look.
“It would be Archer and Justin all over again.”
The door opened and Rory stepped out while chatting to Lexi, my heart beating a little faster like it always did. The smile Rory shot me made her entire face light up, and Lexi risked it by dropping a quick kiss on my cheek on her way past.
“Hey, Rivera,” she murmured, and I gave her arm a gentle squeeze before letting her go so she could sit down.
“You girls staying out of trouble?” I asked lightly, hearing Lexi snort behind me as I stood to hug Rory, burying my face in her neck. She gave me a squeeze before stepping back to sit, chuckling a little.
“We’re always staying out of trouble. How was the drive up?”
“Got my bike back on the road, so I brought her up for a ride.”
“No Marco?”
“He’s dealing with a few things for me. Faris and Preston followed me in the car and are waiting outside, so I didn’t come alone,” I promised, reaching out to take her hand. She let me take it, and I held on a little tighter as if she’d change her mind. “What’s new?”
“Not a lot. A guard got fired for fucking an inmate, and one of the girls in the kitchen gave me extra jelly yesterday, so there’s that,” she shrugged, her eyes flicking behind me to Lexi.
She looked like she was confused about something.
I eyed Lexi when she walked past me, leaning down to talk to Rory quietly.
“Oh? That’s all that’s new?”
“Would you fuck off?” Rory hissed back, giving her a dirty look, but Lexi just huffed out a breath of laughter and headed over to the vending machine with Violet’s card to buy a snack.
“What was that about?” I asked, Rory’s dirty look sliding to me.
“Absolutely nothing. What’s new with you?”
“Things have been quiet on the outside. Too quiet,” I sighed, her hand slipping from mine so she could rest her arms on the table.
“Nothing from Skeet?”
“Not really. Bobby had a stand-off with him at the gas station the other day, but that’s it. Diesel visited again? He said he was here on Tuesday. How did that go?”
The soft smile that took over her face had a pang of jealousy hit me. They shared something deeper than what I had with her, and since I knew Diesel, I knew how strong it was.
For him to consider anything with her, it had to be serious.
He wasn’t the type to share though, so I had no idea how it would play out with the other guys, let alone me.
“It was nice. He looked better than he did the first time he visited.”
“I’m not surprised. You’ve become something to hold onto, so he’d be working hard to get his shit together for when you get out. You’ve got a lot of power over a lot of people, you know?”
“Must be that magic pussy,” Lexi said on her way back to her table, and I raised an eyebrow at Rory as her face flushed.
“What’s that face for?”
“Nothing,” she gritted out, but Lexi leaned back in her seat with a grin.
“Don’t be shy, Donovan. We’re prison wives now.”
Rory looked ready to punch her, and I put a hand up to calm her before she could lose her shit and get herself put in the hole.
“She’s a conniving wench, babe. She gets the best of them. Although, I can’t believe she got into your pants before I did.”
“Try harder. It wasn’t that difficult,” Lexi offered, patting me on the back before returning to her conversation with Violet.
Rory looked annoyed and slightly embarrassed, so I forced myself not to tease her about it or she’d get up and leave.
“Hey,” I said quietly, not wanting Lexi to join back in. “Did she push you? She can be a little intense sometimes.”
“It wasn’t a bad push. I learned I’m definitely straight, but it was nice to get off and just have someone there for the night,” she mumbled, holding my gaze. “I don’t really know what to make of that.”
“It gets lonely on the inside. I know a lot of people who hook up with others for convenience and comfort. Can’t hurt to have someone.”
Her eyes watered, and I noticed one of the girls across the room eyeing us. It didn’t appear to be one of her friends, so I really didn’t want them to see her with her guard down.
“Hey. Pull it together until you’re alone. Listen to me, okay? It’s okay to use Lex as a security blanket. She knows it’s just for fun and you have people on the outside. If it isn’t something you’d like repeated, just don’t do it again.”
“Like I said, it wasn’t bad,” she huffed, blinking at the tears to stop them from falling. “It was just missing something.”
“Yeah, my cock, but we can deal with that once you’re out,” I joked, making her smile.
“You have no chance, Rivera.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” I chuckled, reaching over to take her hand again. “We’re working on something, so hold tight for me. I’ll have you out before you know it.”
I couldn’t exactly tell her that Diesel had managed to find out they claimed to have the gun used, we needed that kind of information to stay quiet. We’d taken the real gun, so what gun was being held as evidence? We couldn’t exactly break in and take it.
If we did, we’d have to find any piece of written evidence to erase the proof too.
“If you get me out, we’ll go for that beer,” she said seriously, her grip tightening in mine.
“I promised I’d get you out, and I meant it,” I replied, her face hardening with a new determination.
We made small talk for the rest of our time, and I hated watching her walk away at the end as always. It was so damn difficult to not throw her over my shoulder and drag her out to my bike.
I walked Violet out to her car, Faris perking up when he saw her.
“Hey, V,” he smiled, and I rolled my eyes as he escorted her the rest of the way to her car, opening the door for her and everything. It was a shame she just saw him as a client because as much as he was a pain in the ass, he was a decent person and would have looked after her.
“Hey, Faris,” I called out, flicking my hand at him. “You go with Violet. Make sure she gets back safely. I’ll get one of the guys to swing past the club and pick you up.”
“You don’t need him?” Violet asked, but I could see she appreciated it.
“Not at all. Preston can follow me. Make sure Faris buys you lunch on the way back too, but be careful of your surroundings,” I warned, getting an amused smile in return.
“Thanks, Hunter.”
I nodded, a little annoyed that Archer had let her come all this way alone in the first place. Violet wasn’t anything like Lexi or Rory, she couldn’t defend herself if someone tried to hurt her. She was sweet, and sweet girls in our world were always used as easy targets.
Once they left, Preston eyed me. “Straight home?”
“No. We’re heading to the Heights.”
“What for?” he asked with a frown, leaning back against the car to cross his arms.
“If Rory’s getting out soon, I need to secure her safety. Razor’s been using that warehouse in the Heights as his turf lately, so we’ll go there to see if anyone’s home,” I replied, making him wince.
“We’re going to the Soldiers’ alone?”
“I’ll get Mark and Hammer to meet us on the way.”
He sighed, not seeming annoyed, just curious. “This girl’s going to be a permanent issue, isn’t she?”
“She’s not an issue.”
“You’re risking war over her.”
“She deserves someone who would go to war for her.”
“How many of us are going to be collateral damage? You know the Soldiers won’t just back down because you asked nicely,” he warned, and as much as I wanted to shoot him for it, he was right.
“I’m not asking nicely, I’m going to try and cut a deal with them,” I answered, only seeming to confuse him.
“She’s Psychos—”
“She’s nothing to them. Skeet can turn his back on her, but I won’t. That girl’s going to be mine, do you understand?” I bit out, his eyes widening slightly.
“Yes, boss.”
“Good. Let’s go. It’s going to be a long trip home,” I grunted, walking over to my bike and grabbing my helmet and gloves.
Hopefully, we didn’t encounter any issues on the way back.
Marco
“You’re being crazy,” I sing-songed lightly, earning a dirty look from Hunter as we climbed off our bikes at the abandoned warehouse in the Heights. Walking into the Soldiers’ hiding spot was the kind of dumb shit I’d do, but not him.
“I have to do something,” he grumbled, taking his helmet off.
“We don’t have the kind of money or resources they’d want. Unless you have a better girl to take her place, they won’t accept a deal,” I warned, making him shrug.
“It’s worth a try.”