Makes it hurt more.
We park our bikes and get off, walking towards the cottage where she’s just appeared from. She’s wearing a white, halter neck dress that hangs onto her every curve. That blond hair is down in loose curls, flowing around her back. She’s wearing cowboy boots, and fuck, she looks so damned good my cock twitches.
It doesn’t care if we fuckin’ hate her right now.
I’d still bend her over and make her scream my name.
Only this time, I’d make it hurt.
“Hi,” she says softly when she reaches us, her brown eyes scanning all the bikers, most of whom are sitting on their bikes still.
“Don’t got time to introduce you to everyone now,” I tell her, trying to keep my voice steady, when all I want to do is explode at her. “Just want to check everything out, make sure you’re safe. Can we go into your cottage and chat?”
She looks at all the bikers. “All of them?”
Her voice is soft, a whole lot hurt, and a whole lot guilty. I can see it on her face. She can’t hide her sins well. She knows what she’s done, she just doesn’t know that I know. What she does know, however, is that something is wrong with me. Her brown eyes keep trying to lock onto mine, but I won’t have a bar of it.
No.
She had her chance, and she stabbed me in the heart.
“No, they’ll wait here, scan the area, make sure nothin’ has been planted and no one is around,” Mal tells her for me. “That ok?”
She nods. “Of course.”
She stares at them once more, and then turns and walks back towards her cottage. Mal and I follow her.
This should be fuckin’ interesting.
~*~*~*~
SCARLETT
“Pardon me?” I whisper, staring at Mal who is glaring at me.
We were sitting around, talking about security, and then Mal got called outside by another biker. As if things weren’t horrible enough, with Maverick staring at me like he wants to snap my neck, now something else is going on. I feel like they know something is wrong, but I’m not sure they know what it is. Maverick’s voice is strained, and I thought maybe it was because I rejected them, which would make sense because they have helped me so much, but now I’m starting to think it’s a whole lot more than that.
Especially now Mal is standing in front of me, his face tight, arms crossed, asking me, “Where are they?”
Where are who?
“I didn’t stutter, Scarlett. You have four seconds, tops, to tell me where the fuck those drugs went from your bus, before I lose my shit.”
Mal is scary when he’s angry.
Shame fills me.
They know.
How the hell do they know?
“H-h-h-how do you know about that?” I stammer.
“We’re not fuckin’ stupid,” Maverick barks. “We know about your lying, fuckin’ cheatin’, actions. Now answer the fucking question.”
Oh. God.
He’s angry at me.
He thinks I betrayed him.
Lied to him.
I guess I did...didn’t I?
“You don’t underst-”
“Don’t have time for your bullshit fuckin’ lies,” Maverick roars so loudly I flinch, and stumble backwards, “save it for someone else. Now. Tell us where the fuckin’ drugs went?”
“I...I...I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Mal demands, arms still crossed, eyes still scary.
“If you’ll let me tell my side of the story, I can-”
“Answer, Scarlett!” Maverick barks, and tears burn under my eyelids.
He doesn’t want to hear what I have to say.
Of course he doesn’t. This entire club probably thinks I’ve been using them, and helping Treyton this entire time.
They won’t let me speak.
To tell my side.
Fuck them.
Fuck them to hell.
“He put them in the bus,” I say, my voice stone cold. “He was going to get them when I arrived here, in Denver. Last night, someone stole them. I don’t know who.”
“Have you heard from him?” Mal asks, voice rough, and scratchy. Gone is the friendly man I’ve come to like.
“No,” I whisper. “I was scared. I was going to wait until I came home, and I was going to come to you, and tell you about it. I can see now why that would have been a bad idea.”
“Save your pity party for someone who gives a fuck,” Maverick snaps.
It burns.
His eyes are cold, but mostly, they’re broken. I’ve hurt him. After everything he’s been through, after all he’s endured. I’ve hurt him.
He thinks everything we’ve shared has been a lie.
He’s wrong.
Dammit.
So wrong.
Mal turns to Maverick. “Get her, we’re takin’ her back to the club house. Lock it down until we find Treyton. If he didn’t take the drugs back out, someone else has them, and he’s goin’ to be comin’ after her.”
“We should fuckin’ let him,” Maverick says, his voice cold, and my heart explodes. Pain unlike anything I’ve ever felt courses through my body.
It hurts like hell.
Heartbreak.
Pure. Raw. Heartbreak.
“Emotion out of it. We need her. Only link to that fucker. Let’s move. Now.”
Maverick steps towards me without question, grabbing my arm, and hauling me outside.
“Stop!” I cry.
I try to pull backwards, but he doesn’t stop.
I don’t have my security team here at home, because as soon as I’m not on tour, they are officially off duty. Of course, I could have requested them, but when Maverick said the bikers would take care of it, I told Susan to let them be. I wish like hell I didn’t make that choice now that I’m being dragged across the dirt towards a pack of men that think I’m some sort of lying bitch.
“Maverick, please!” I cry. “You’re hurting me.”
“Shut your mouth. Do not say another word. Get on the bike. If you argue, I will make you get on the fuckin’ bike.”
My bottom lip trembles, but I get on the bike behind him. I don’t touch him, I just very lightly grab the back of his jacket. He’s so tense. So angry. He wants my head, and I don’t blame him, but my own rage is fighting with my guilt. Rage that he’s not letting me explain. Rage that, after everything we’ve shared, he hasn’t even considered that maybe I had no choice, and I had to do what I did.
He’s not giving me a chance.
None at all.
The ride back to the club house doesn’t take long. The moment we’re in, Maverick pulls me off the bike, and drags me into the massive house that’s seen better days. It’s run down on the outside, old faded wood, and chipped white paint. But the inside is a different story. It’s actually quite nice, with dark tiled floors, and grey walls. There is a bar, a living area, some bedrooms, a kitchen, and a massive open area full of chairs and sofas.
Maverick drags me down the hall to a bedroom, shoving it open and stepping inside, pushing me in and closing the door behind him.
He’s wild.
Angry.
Furious.
I swallow, and take a step backwards. I don’t know what he’s about to do. But whatever it is. It isn’t good.
“Did it feel good?” he growls.
“Maverick, you’re scaring me,” I whisper, taking a step back when he takes a step forward.
“Did it?” he roars, fists clenched.
I flinch, and my bottom lip trembles. “Did what?”
“Using me? Letting me in? And then fuckin’ betraying me?”
“I didn’t-”
“Don’t lie to me!” he bellows, “I’m so fuckin’ sick of your lies. I trusted you, dammit. I fuckin’ trusted you. Worse, I fuckin’ loved you.”
He loved me?
He loves me?
My heart explodes, and tears roll down my cheeks. “Maverick, please, just listen...”
&
nbsp; “Done listening to the filth that pours out of your mouth. When we’re done with Treyton, I’ll deal with you.”
“Just listen-”
He steps forward, hand lashing out and curling into my hair. He pulls me forward, pain shooting through my scalp. He slams me against him, and he’s rock hard between us. Heat pools between my legs, and damned if I know why. This is the most volatile situation I’ve ever been in, and yet, I’m so incredibly turned on. The way his panting breaths tickle my lips, makes me want to take him right here.
He tugs my hair harder, and in a raspy tone, says, “Beautiful, but your beauty is just a mask, isn’t it?”
I whimper.
“Did it feel good to know you hurt me? That you won? That I let someone in, finally, and that someone was you? Did you get satisfaction out of knowing what you did?”
“Maverick, please,” I whimper. “It’s not what you think.”
“Lie to me again,” he threatens, stepping even closer, hand curling around my hip and jerking me against him so I’m rocking against his cock, “and see what happens?”
“I’m not lyi-”
He moves me so fast, I can’t even finish my sentence. He spins me around, bending me over the edge of the bed, and then he jerks my dress up, exposing my white panties. He brings his hand down over my ass, hard and firm, and I cry out in pain and pleasure.
“Maverick, stop!” I cry, but deep down, I don’t want him to stop.
Heat pools between my legs, like lava travelling through my body.
He slaps me again. “God fuckin’ damn you, Scarlett.”
Tears roll down my cheeks.
Tears for him.
“Maverick.”
“Want me to stop, I’ll stop, won’t take what isn’t handed to me freely. If you don’t want me to stop, then I’ll keep goin’, but don’t you fuckin’ open your mouth and lie to me again.”
“I’m not lying, I swear to-”
Thwack.
I cry out as a burning pain shoots through my bottom.
“Fuck you, Scarlett.”
Anger joins in with the hurt, and the frustration, and the pleasure.
“No. Fuck you.”
Thwack.
“Say that again,” he warns, and I can hear the button of his jeans pop open as he jerks my panties to the side.
“Fuck. You.”
Thwack.
I cry out, gripping the sheets, as his hits become harder, rougher. He’s angry. He’s taking it out on me. And I want him to.
Am I sick for loving how good it feels?
He steps forward, and the head of his cock finds my entrance. Without warning, or build up, he slides inside with one, angry thrust. I cry out. He grunts. And then he starts fucking me, hard and dirty, one hand curling into my hair and jerking my head back, the other continuing its assault on my ass. I scream out. I don’t care who might hear. A mix of pain and pleasure takes over my body, and I can’t see, I can’t think, I can’t do anything but feel the burn of his cock inside my pussy.
“Fuck you, Scarlett,” he barks, fucking me so hard our skin slaps, echoing through the room.
“Hit me, you fucking asshole!”
He slaps me again.
Thrust.
Slap.
Thrust.
Slap.
I scream out as an orgasm unlike any I’ve ever felt, rips through my body. My knees give way, and Maverick moves quickly, hooking an arm around my stomach and hauling me up against him as he fucks me harder, slamming into me until a feral grunt escapes his lips, and he finds his release.
Rage fills me.
Rage and hurt.
And guilt.
And I’m so damned tired of nobody listening to me.
So damned tired.
He had his moment.
Now I will have mine.
When he pulls out of me, I calmly lean down and pull my panties up, pull my dress down, run my hands through my hair, and then turn, striding towards the door.
They will listen.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re goin’?” Maverick barks.
I ignore him.
I step out of the door, and walk down the hall to where all the bikers are sitting, gathered around, talking amongst themselves. No doubt about me.
Some of them smirk when I come in.
Others just glare at me.
Mal is the one that steps forward, but I put my hand up.
“You think you all scare me?” I say, my voice loud. I see Maverick appear out of the corner of my eye, but I don’t acknowledge him. “You think that even for a single second, that you would frighten me?”
Mal stares at me, eyes narrowed. I pull out my phone, bringing a picture up, and walk towards him.
“I’ve known fear far worse than anything any of you have showed me today. But you won’t let me speak. You won’t let me tell you. So now, I’m not giving you a choice.”
“Be very careful what your next words are,” Maverick warns.
I turn and glare at him. “Have you ever been afraid, Maverick? So afraid your skin crawls? So afraid you can’t breathe? So afraid you don’t know left from right, up from down? That’s how he made me feel. For years. That’s still how he makes me feel. But you know what I fear more than I fear him? Losing someone I love. Have you ever felt that?”
I know damn well he has, and he jerks like I’ve punched him.
“Then you’ll understand that when it comes to someone you care about, or love, you’ll do anything. I did not betray you. Not one word I ever told you was a lie. But yes, I did help Treyton. It wasn’t by choice. It was out of fear. Should I have come to you? Absolutely, but this is why I didn’t.”
I turn the phone towards Mal, and on the screen, is a photo of Amalie as we were waiting for the ambulance the other night after she was beaten. She looks terrible, and is covered in blood. As I’m showing him, I move towards the open door leading out onto the porch.
I am leaving this club today.
Whether they like it or not.
“That was simply a warning. That was him showing me what he would do to anyone I loved, if I did not obey. That girl, is the sweetest, kindest girl I’ve ever met. She is now lying in a hospital bed, because of me. I wasn’t going to risk anyone else. So, hate me, if you will, but I will not apologize for protecting someone I love. Which, I’m sure, is something every damned person in this room would do, if they had to.”
Mal stares at the phone, his face going tight, his body straightening with every passing second. “He did this to her?”
“Yes. He did that to her.”
“Is she okay?”
“You don’t get the right to ask that,” I whisper, my voice low. “Now I’m going to leave. If any one of you tries to stop me, so help me, I will throw down. Bikers or not, you will not stop me from walking out of this room, and going to my friend. I need to see her. I owe her that.”
“Scarlett, that ain’t goin’ to happen,” Maverick says, stepping forward.
I spin around, jabbing a finger in his direction. “You,” I snarl, my voice rising. “You were meant to believe in me. You didn’t even give me a damned chance.”
His face looks like I’ve slapped him.
I don’t care.
I’m done caring.
I’m done being held against my will.
And I’m done being afraid.
“Can’t let you leave,” Mal begins.
But I spin.
And I run.
“Fuck!” Maverick barks.
“Scarlett, stop!”
I leap off the porch, stumbling a little when I hit the dirt, and then I high tail it towards the entrance of the club. There are a few streets near it, a main road, and a fair amount of traffic. Once I get out there, amongst that, they won’t have a hope in hell of getting hold of me.
And one thing I know for sure.
I’m a damn good runner.
-23-
MAVERICK
What t
he fuck have I done?
Fuck.
God dammit.
What have I done?
I just fucked her like some sort of cheap whore.
“Get the fuckin’ bikes!” I bellow, launching off the porch, watching Scarlett disappear down the street.
She moved like lightning, and fuck, can she run.
“You won’t catch her now,” Mal yells from behind me. “By the time you get on that bike, she’ll be in a cab, or hiding somewhere. You won’t find her. She knew exactly what she was doing then.”
And now she’s in danger.
“Why the fuck didn’t you just chase her?” I roar at Mal, spinning around, fists clenched. “You were fuckin’ closest.”
“Did you see that bitch run?” he barks back, “fuck me, she was out of this club and down the road before I even got out the front door. Don’t fuckin’ put this back on me, Maverick.”
“Fuck!” I bellow, spinning around and slamming my fist into a pole.
Pain shoots up my arm.
“Need to calm down, find where Amalie is, and we’ll find Scarlett,” Mal says, trying to keep calm.
“He’ll find her before then!” I bark.
“I’ll track her down,” Koda says, coming out of the club and stopping at the top of the steps. “That’s what I do.”
“We don’t have time,” I say, jaw tight.
“Don’t think Treyton is after her,” Mal says, exhaling, big shoulders slumping. He’s had enough. I don’t blame him.
This Treyton fucker is far smarter than we could have ever imagined.
“If he finds out his drugs are gone, he will be,” I point out.
“Got word on that,” Koda tells me, “while you were in there fuckin’ your girl. We’re almost certain Treyton took his drugs back, because he got word we were goin’ in for them. That would explain why he hasn’t hunted Scarlett down and gutted her yet.”
I blink. What the fuck are they talkin’ about?
“How in the hell would he know we knew about the drugs. Scarlett didn’t even know we knew. Who the fuck would have told him?”
Koda looks to Mal, and Mal looks to me. “Thinkin’ we might have a snitch.”
My skin prickles. “What the fuck did you say?”
“Only ones that knew we were goin’ to raid that bus when she got back, are the members of this club. Sources tell us Treyton was the one to take the drugs back out. He would’ve only done that if he suspected someone else knew they were there. I would guess he knew that was us. Which means someone in this club told him. Startin’ to add up. The fact that we couldn’t get any leads, couldn’t find information. If we didn’t meet Scarlett, we’d still be chasin’ our fuckin’ tails tryin’ to find him. Someone has played this from the start.”