Chapter 41
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
PIGGY
As I walk into the clubhouse, I glance down at my phone and see that Scar has messaged me. He’s at Millie’s place with Heidi. All is well, and tonight they’ll be coming back here because the girls have a day off tomorrow.
Thank fuck.
I am more than ready for Millie to have a day off, and then it’ll be my turn to go back to work.
We need to figure out a schedule that works, because I know this won’t last the way it is.
She works too many days, and with me being on light desk duty for fuck knows how long, I’m going to be working five eight-hour days a week instead of my usual three to four twelve-hour days.
Which means I’ll basically have one day with her, and that shit does not work with me or for me, and I know it won’t for her, either.
“You good?” Bullet asks as soon as I send a response to Scar, thanking him for being there. He’s standing near the hallway’s entrance with a laptop in his hand.
“Yeah,” I grunt. “Not liking this whole fucking light-duty thing and the schedule it leaves for availability to spend with Millie. Bennet has her fucking working.”
“Bennet,” he grunts.
No doubt he’s been fully briefed on the situation by Ivy. And he probably knows more than I do, which I’m perfectly fine with. I don’t want to know anything at all. The less I know about it, the better. All I did was offer the suggestion that Ivy look at the contract.
I sat in the meet with Lorenzo, but the only thing I did was buy Bennet a little more time breathing on this earth. I almost ask about the situation, but decide against it. That’s above my fucking pay grade.
“You gonna go and talk to Juliet with me?” I ask. “Viking is with her now. Hasn’t let her out of his sight with that second phone.”
“Hell yeah, I’m going,” he grunts. “I want this fuck dead, and I want to help make sure not a single fucking person in this clubhouse or affiliated with this club gets flagged or tagged as being involved,” Bullet mutters.
We walk into the bedroom where Juliet has been staying since we kidnapped her and brought her to the clubhouse. I’m a bit surprised to see Viking with his arm around her, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“We interrupting something?” Bullet asks.
Viking snorts, then stands. He acts somewhat offended, but as I watch him, I know he was trying to get in there, not for any other reason than he likes to fuck different girls.
He likes them sweet, he likes them nasty, he likes them shy, and he likes them forward. He’s always got someone in town, a clubwhore, or someone like Juliet who will only be here for a short time before she’s gone and will never be seen again.
He’s in his element.
“Manny was his normal, terrible self. Although he was shocked to see me there. I told him I missed him and wanted to work on us.”
She extends the phone to me with the thumb drive balanced on the screen. I thank her and hand the thumb drive to Bullet so he can figure out what’s going on with that and what’s inside. I watch as he sets the computer on top of the chest of drawers, then opens it. I shift my attention to the phone.
“What’s the password?” I ask.
She snorts. “It’s super original, but that’s about as smart as he is. It’s 0-0-0-0-0-0.”
I can’t argue with her on that. Manny Garcia is a fucking idiot, although he did play the long game. He got a job here, worked through his probationary period, and became a full-fledged officer before he started shit with me.
Although I’m fairly certain it was more because we never had a shift together than anything else. He was biding his time, then saw me in the precinct and decided to shoot his shot. It’s fine that he couldn’t wait. I’m ready to be rid of him.
The first thing I do is swipe through the apps.
He’s got some restaurant and shopping apps, which aren’t very interesting, but then I see a dating app.
It logs straight in because the idiot has his passwords saved.
Which is comical. Especially since this is supposed to be a second secret phone or some shit.
He’s got several messages, but nothing other than some dick dates with some random women in Raleigh. Then I go to his photos. That’s where I find the good stuff. There are some pictures of parties, but not just parties.
He’s not just drinking beer and hanging out with friends.
In one picture, he’s snorting a line of coke off a table.
In another, he’s got a naked girl in his lap, she’s got her back to him, her legs spread wide, and his fingers are buried deep inside her while they both smile for the camera.
More cocaine on the table in lines waiting.
Then I flick my gaze to her face, and I realize she’s a sergeant.
Interesting.
This could ruin two people’s lives.
And I’m supposed to be the dirty cop in this situation.
As I flip through the other images, I see money, more sex, and different people in different positions. There are two other guys from the day shift in the pictures, and then I recognize the evidence technician.
And that is it.
One phone call, and I can bring them all down. Turning to Bullet, I clear my throat. He shifts his gaze from the computer screen to meet mine.
“He’s partying, fucking, doing coke, and whatever else with two officers, an evidence tech, and a sergeant. Nobody will look into his death.”
Bullet grins. “We’ll kill him, burn the house, and then send this phone to the department in care of that sergeant.”
“You are diabolical,” Juliet says from her place on the bed.
Bullet smiles. “Yeah, it’s kind of our thing, being diabolical and shit to our enemies.”
“And what happens to me in all this?” she asks.
She probably doesn’t believe we’d just let her go. But honest to fuck, I can’t imagine putting this woman through any more bullshit. She’s been through hell and back with Manny.
“You think you can keep all this shit to yourself until the day you die?” Bullet asks.
“Manny who?”
I chuckle and take a step backward. I am ready to nail this fucker to the wall, and I know he’s home tonight.
“Sounds good to me,” Bullet says. His gaze shifts to meet mine. “You good with that?”
“I’m good with whatever you decide.”
Bullet jerks his chin toward me, then shifts his attention back to Juliet. “Then after tonight, we’ll get Viking to take you home. You live your life.”
“And forget Manny Garcia ever darkened my door. And for the first time since I was eighteen years old, breathe easy.”
She lifts her hands to wipe the tears that have silently fallen.
I watch her for a moment, and I feel for her.
At eighteen years old, she didn’t know what the fuck she was getting into.
I think about my Millie at eighteen and how fucking perfect she was.
I wasn’t good to her, but I didn’t physically hurt her. I couldn’t ever do that.
“Juliet,” I call out.
She lifts her eyes to meet mine. “Move somewhere. Start over. Live.”
I don’t want to hear her response, so I slip out of the bedroom and head to the bar, where I see Goose and Maverick. I make my way straight for them. My phone buzzes as I approach them, and I look down at a text from Bullet.
BULLET: GET FOUR GUYS TOGETHER. END HIM TONIGHT. WE HAVE ALL WE NEED. SEND THE PHONE IN THE MAIL BEFORE YOU GO.
And that is fucking that.
MILLIE
My phone rings as I’m adjusting my sparkly top.
Reaching for my device, I slide my thumb across the screen with a smile on my face.
It’s Axton. I’ve been worried about him since he left early this morning.
I haven’t heard from him at all, but I didn’t call him, either.
I didn’t want to bother him in case he was doing something dangerous.
“Is everything okay?” I ask as a greeting.
He laughs softly before he lets out a cough. “It’s going to be, Mill.”
“Am I going to see you later?”
He clears his throat. “Scar is going to bring you to me. You’re sleeping at the clubhouse tonight.”
“Okay.” I close my eyes slowly.
“Millie?”
I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m feeling very off balance about this. I know whatever he was doing was necessary, but is he any different than any of the other unforgivable men in the world? Is he any different than Dante?
“I’m trying to wrap my head around everything,” I confess.
“Nothing to wrap around, Mill. I love you, and everything I do, whether it’s at the club or the department, is to protect you and Lainey.”
“Me?” I ask.
“Protecting myself protects you.”
I guess that’s true. I just don’t want him to do something that will take him away from me. I want to keep him right next to me, in front of me, inside me always. That is my selfish need.
My want? Him—always with me.
I want to tell him that I never want to be away from him again. That I want him to stay safe and out of trouble so he’s never taken from me. I don’t know if I’ll be able to live another decade without him.
“I just love you, Axton Colter, and I don’t ever want to lose you.”
“And you never will.”
He says it as if that is that. And maybe it is. Maybe it’s just that damn easy.
“I love you, too, Mill. I’ll see you later, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I exhale.
“You sore still?”
My lips twitch into a smirk, but I know he can’t see me. Clearing my throat, I turn around and rest my ass against the edge of the vanity as I cross my ankles. I am seriously so smitten with this man.
“You know I am,” I breathe.
“Good girl. I’ll see you later and lick your sore pussy all better.”
Yes. Please.
He ends the call, and I drop my phone beside me, but my breath is coming out labored as I think about his mouth between my legs. I can’t fucking wait. I feel like a little kid at Christmas.
When my phone buzzes, I almost jump out of my own skin. I flick my gaze to the screen, and my giddy smile consumes my entire face at the sight of the text.
AXTON: I LOVE YOU, MILL.
I love you, too, Axton.
AXTON: I CAN’T WAIT TO SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH YOU.
And I melt. I simply melt.
I wasn’t sure coming back to North Carolina was the right move to make, but I came here anyway, knowing it was probably going to be the smartest decision. And my instincts were right. It was the absolute best thing I could have done for myself.
I made my dreams come true in the form of a tall, muscular, tatted biker who has held my heart in his hand since I was eighteen years old. And I’m never going to let him release it.
It’s his.
Forever.