“The fuck are you doing? We need to go get Gigi.” I walked to the door.

  “Peek out the window.”

  “They followed us.”

  “I called Beast. Help is on the way. If we go to that club now, they’ll kill us both.”

  I reached for my phone. “Sonofabitch!”

  “I saw it on the floor at the bar but didn’t know if it was yours. I kicked it under a booth seat.”

  “I need that fucking phone.”

  Trixie shook her head as if I were being a pain in her ass. She had no idea how big of a pain in the ass I could be. “The bar closes at noon. We can break in after it closes.”

  What the fuck was she up to? “Gigi isn’t safe.”

  “She is. I have an inside connection to this club, and she tells me they are keeping her safe. Nobody is allowed to touch her. They are trying to figure out what’s next.”

  Trixie patted the bed, and I shook my head. “It ain’t happening.”

  “My sister was good enough, but I’m not?” She frowned and pulled the covers over her naked body. I couldn’t believe I passed up pussy. Gigi’s influence. Fuck, maybe I loved the woman.

  I removed my kutte, put the gun on the table, and undressed. Trixie watched me walk to the bathroom. She got up from the bed and stood in the bathroom doorway, pulling back the curtain to watch.

  “I told you.”

  “Yeah, I know, it’s not happening.” She grabbed a towel and waited. “I thought bikers fucked every piece of pussy that came within reach.”

  Persistent. She seemed to want to fuck every dick that walked within reach. “Everything has to come to an end.” I switched off the shower and grabbed the towel. “So, when do you plan on telling Beast you’ve been spying on the club?”

  “I wasn’t spying on the club.” She took a step closer. Her titties were small but perky, and her ass was not big but rounded. She put her hands on her hips, legs spreading enough to show her lips. It took every ounce of willpower to do what I did next. I walked away and dressed.

  “I need you to hit up your contact. Make sure Gigi is still okay.”

  Trixie grabbed cigarettes from her purse and smoked while she texted. She smiled and shook her head. The shit was not funny.

  “She’s still fine.”

  “What the fuck do they want with her?”

  Trixie shrugged.

  I called Beast, and his ETA was seven in the morning, meaning I had to wait another eight hours. I sat in the chair by the window and saw the bikers across the street. There were four. The odds were in my favor. A rainstorm sent them inside to a cheap motel. I told him I was in likewise.

  “They won’t harm her, you know.”

  “Your friend needs to know I won’t leave anyone standing if they do. The absolute hell that will come down on that club? Won’t be any fucking way to recover.” I got up and walked to the bed. “You’re hiding something. I’m gonna find out what it is.”

  “You’re paranoid, Diesel. Always think someone’s out to get you.” She moved across the bed, making room for another. “Still not going to partake?”

  “Still not,” I said. “I’ll sleep in the chair.”

  I killed the lights in the room and sat in the chair, putting my feet on the table. I missed Gigi. Everything about her. I can’t say that I’ve ever missed a woman before.

  Trixie fell asleep a little after midnight, and, leaving her behind, I climbed on my bike and returned to the bar where I’d left my phone. No bikes, and only one car sat in the parking lot. I pulled around back and parked in the shadows. A single, flickering light buzzed above the backdoor.

  I got to within a few feet of the door, and it opened.

  “What the fuck?”

  She started back inside but fell against me when I grabbed her arm.

  “You told me to come back after midnight,” I said. “Looks like my timing is impeccable.”

  “What do you want?” She nodded at the bar. “There’s a dozen bikers inside waiting for me.”

  “There’s you and nobody else, sweetheart.” Taking her by the arm, I walked her back into the empty bar and over to the booths. “I need you to find my phone. It’s under a booth. I’m going to let you look. Try to run, and shit will happen. Understand?”

  “Don’t be a dick.” She shrugged away. “I found your phone after you left. It’s behind the bar.”

  “With a shotgun?” I walked behind the bar and found my phone between two whiskey bottles. I took the phone and a bottle. “You have a name?” I sat at a table in the middle of the bar.

  “Taylor.” She leaned over the counter and retrieved two glasses. “Nobody should drink alone.” She poured two shot glasses full of whiskey, slid a glass over, and drank from hers. “You grabbed the good shit.”

  “You know where they took Gigi?”

  “Down the road.” She poured another glass. “You gonna go all hero and shit and rescue her?”

  “You’ve been there?”

  “Of course. I live there.”

  I swallowed my surprise. “That where you’re going when you’re done here? If it is, I’m going with you.”

  Taylor laughed. “All by yourself? You’ll be dead before you have time to raise a gun.”

  “I prefer using the backdoor.” I downed the shot of whiskey and poured another.

  “They would kill me if I brought you to the club.”

  “And I will kill you if you don’t. So, who do you believe in more? Me or them?”

  Taylor drank the shot and poured another. “I’ll take you if you can out-drink me.” She downed the shot. I poured another, and we had an empty bottle five shots later.

  I stood and started toward the backdoor. “Come on. No more games.”

  I opened the door, and Trixie stood there, gun in hand. “Back the fuck up, Diesel.”

  She had the gun, so I did as she said. “You’re digging your own fucking grave, Trixie. Put the fucking gun down.”

  “I told you we’d go in the morning. Now sit your ass down.”

  Taylor went behind the bar, and before I could tell her to stop, she pulled the shotgun, Trixie pulling her trigger first.

  The bullet knocked Taylor back several feet, blood and bone exiting her back. Trixie turned the gun, but a second too late. Her wrist popped between my hands, and she screamed, dropping the gun and dropping to her knees.

  “Give me your hand,” I said.

  “Fuck you!”

  “Fine by me. It can stay dislocated.”

  “Fix it, asshole.”

  I pulled up a chair and sat. “You gonna tell me what the fuck is going on?” I grabbed her hand and squeezed.

  “Fuck!” Trixie jerked her hand away. “Big biker asshole hurting a woman.”

  “You threw etiquette in the trash when you pulled a gun on me. Now, fucking start talking.” I pointed at the counter. “You killed that woman like it’s something you do all the time. Fucking ice in your heart and veins. That shit didn’t bother you at all.”

  “I told you.”

  “Bullshit.” I reached for her hand, and she slid back. “What agency do you work for?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She leaned against a post, her dislocated hand on the floor. I had to give her props. She was a trooper. “Talk, or I turn you over to the club. Tell me something worth knowing, and I’ll let you live.”

  “I told you. My sister was last seen with you. I know you killed her.”

  9

  Gigi

  “Your entire club is fucked,” I said.

  The Prospect left and locked the door. The barred window offered no escape solution. I was told to keep my mouth shut and that everything would be okay. Why take me in the first place?

  I sat on the cot in the room, and the door opened. A biker came in and closed the door.

  “Cigar Stevens,” he said. “I’m President of Three Kings MC. Hope you’re comfortable. Everyone has been told not to lay a hand on you.”

  “The smartest thing you can do right now is let me go.” I remained seated. Trying to escape would have been stupid, and so far, I believed what they told me. “Diesel will come, and when he does, you better believe he’ll tear this place apart.”

  “The Brothers are hours away. We’ll be ready.”

  “You don’t understand.” I stood and peeked between the window curtains. “Diesel will come here by himself. He won’t wait for help.”

  “I’ve thirty bikers around this compound. Nobody’s getting in without being shot dead.” He pulled a phone from his pocket and sent a message. He was afraid. “Now, we need to discuss what’s happening with you.”

  “Better hurry. There’s not much time left.”

  “Got a call yesterday that you were heading this way.” He got up and walked around the room. His size surprised me. No more than five foot ten or so, skinny, broken nose, a scar over his left eye, I was sure he couldn’t fight his way out of a wet paper bag.

  “My father called you, didn’t he?” He was going to get people dead. “Just let me go because I’m not returning to Arkansas.”

  Someone knocked on the door, and the door opened. “The van is ready,” a Prospect said.

  “Send two extras. Tell Capone he needs to go.”

  The Prospect nodded and left the room.

  “You can either go quietly, or we can drag you out. Either way, you’re going.” He walked to the door. “And it wasn’t your father who called. Some guy named Charles or Charlie or something.”

  I said nothing. Charles had made a critical mistake, thinking that having me followed and kidnapped would ever bring me running into his arms. In fact, it made me want to let Diesel punch him in the face.

  Outside, Cigar handed me off to Capone and three Prospects.

  “Last chance,” I said. “Let me walk, and you live.”

  Cigar chuckled, amused that a single man could bring his club down. He opened the van’s back doors and motioned me inside.

  I took one step toward the van, and Cigar’s head exploded. The Prospects and Capone drew their weapons and spun in a circle. Not wanting to get shot, I dove inside the van as a bullet smashed the window. Another few shots and the Prospects dropped.

  Capone dove into the van, pointing his gun at the open doors. Sweat raced down his face, and his hands shook.

  “Why do they call you Capone?”

  “What? Fuck you, lady.”

  Something to our right explodes, and the fireball lit the night sky. They’d had fair warning.

  Capone slid toward the open doors when everything fell quiet. I considered telling him to wait. To throw out his gun. But I knew the voices were talking in Diesel’s head. Nothing but carnage would remain.

  Someone hopped in the driver seat, and the van sped forward. Capone slid out, his head hitting the van’s hitch. I’d been around too much shit the past two weeks to be afraid. Instead, I held on for the ride.

  “Diesel will join us shortly,” Trixie said. “The asshole must really love you to do something so stupid. He killed at least a dozen men on the way in.” She shook her head and tore out onto the open road. Moments later, a motorcycle caught up. Diesel blew a kiss and pulled alongside the van.

  I didn’t want to think about the number of men he killed because Charles couldn’t let things go. I hoped word got back to Charles what he’d caused.

  We stopped at a cheap motel, and Trixie parked behind the building. Diesel pulled next to us. He opened the back doors and scooped me into his arms.

  “Fuck,” he said and held my face in his hands. “You whole?”

  “I think so. Whatever that means.” I smiled, and he squeezed the air out of my lungs. When he knew I was okay, a dark shadow crossed his face. “This shit wasn’t random, G. What did they tell you?”

  “Can we go inside?” I needed a minute to figure out what to say without him going back to Arkansas to kill Charles. I would do everything I could to prevent that, but Charles didn't have a prayer if the voices were already in Diesel’s head.

  We walked around the hotel. The warm night created a sweat I didn’t care for. I really wanted a good night’s sleep in a high-end hotel bed. Diesel opened the motel room door, and I wanted to return to the biker compound I’d just left.

  “You gotta be kidding me.”

  “Only the best for you, babe,” Diesel said and walked inside. Trixie left me standing at the open door alone.

  I stepped inside and closed the door. One bed, a table, one chair, and shitty wallpaper. The shag carpet, orange, needed burning. I pulled the comforter off the bed, leaving behind two sheets. A picture of horses running on an open range hung above the bed headboard.

  “I’m gonna go to the lobby and grab some more towels.”

  Diesel kissed me, filling his hand with my ass, and left me alone with Trixie.

  Trixie lit a cigarette and sat at the single-chair table. “How long do you think it will take until he’s tired of you and moves on to something younger?”

  “Approximately never,” I said. “Jealous much?”

  “Then you’re fooling yourself. It’s what bikers do. They move on.”

  “I’m not concerned. I know how to keep a man.”

  I went to the bathroom and started the shower. As I undressed, Trixie came in. She leaned against the door and watched.

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Enjoying myself.”

  Skittles had told me once before that competition between old ladies in clubs was fierce. I figured Trixie wanted to see what the competition had. “Don’t back down,” Skittles reminded me. “Ever.”

  I moved closer to Trixie. “Take your clothes off,” I said.

  “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  “Fuck you.”

  I grabbed Trixie by the neck and shoved her against the wall. I was sure she could probably kick my ass, but the look of surprise in her eyes prevented that from happening.

  “I said, take your clothes off.”

  I reached between us and unfastened Trixie’s jeans. She pushed them to her ankles and kicked them away.

  “Now, the panties,” I said.

  She shimmied from the panties, and I glanced down to find a perfectly smooth-shaven pussy. I turned Trixie around so that she was facing the open doorway. I lifted her shirt off and unsnapped her bra, tossing both aside.

  “So, you go both ways,” Trixie said. “I guess we both have secrets.” She turned her head. “Wait a second. You, Wendy, and Carmen.”

  “On the bed,” I said.

  Trixie climbed onto the bed, the shitty smile on her face making me wish I’d not started something I knew I couldn’t finish. But I didn’t particularly appreciate being egged on.

  “Do Beast and Diesel know you swing both ways?” Trixie laughed.

  I stood at the end of the bed, unsure of what to do next. I’d moved into a corner and didn’t know how to get out. Trixie spread her legs and laid her hand between them. She parted her glistening lips.

  “Like what you see?” Trixie asked. “Oh, I get it. You’re scared. All fucking talk and no action. I bet Diesel would. Bet he’d lick my cunt clean.”

  There was that word. Used by a woman. “Keep going,” I said. “No, wait. I get it now. You tried to fuck Diesel, and he wouldn’t do it. Now, you’re all pissed off and trying to get back at him by fucking me.” It was my turn to laugh. “Basically, I have something you can’t.”

  Trixie moved with cat-like speed, springing at me from the bed. We rolled around on the floor, pulling hair and clawing until I found myself on top of her, pinning her arms above her head. She raised her head and kissed my left nipple, sending a tingling sensation straight between my legs. She kissed the other nipple, and the same thing happened. Fuck, I enjoyed what she was doing.

  “I knew you’d like it,” Trixie said. “They always do.”

  I couldn’t move my lips. I didn’t know what to say. I sat back, releasing her arms, my pussy against hers. I was fucking terrified.

  Trixie looked between us. “You’re wet, Gigi. Don’t fight something we both know you want.”

  “I don’t want it; it would be cheating on Diesel. I’m not going to do it without his permission.” I knew I should have rolled away, but something made me stay where I was. I wanted to see what would happen next.

  “Does he own you?” Trixie asked softly. “I’d bet my career on him wanting to watch us. Hell, I’m sure he’d want to join us.”

  “No,” I said, knowing that was not true. Diesel did own me. I couldn’t deny that. I also couldn’t deny he wouldn’t want to join us. What man would pass up a threesome?

  “Kiss me,” Trixie said. “Just once. See if you like that the way you like sitting on me the way you are.”

  “What’re you doing, Trixie?”

  She rested her hands on my thighs. Her touch, soft, made me shudder with desire.

  “Why fight it, Gigi?”

  “Because I care about Diesel.”

  Trixie held my breasts, her thumbs moving back and forth across my nipples. If I told the truth, it would be that I wanted her. She raised her hips, our pussies pressed together. It f made me swallow hard, want and desire clouding my head.

  “If it’s what you want, G, you can do it.”

  I turned, and Diesel stood there, watching us, the large outline of his dick pressing mercilessly against his jeans. He sat in the chair and kicked his feet up on the table.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean . . .”

  “Don’t be sorry, G. You did nothing wrong.” He stared at Trixie. “Trixie’s just trying to find out who killed her sister. No big deal.”

  “You going to just sit there or join us.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “You okay with that?”

  “Come here, baby,” I said.

  Diesel stood and crossed the room, stopping next to me. “You sure about this, G?” Diesel smiled. He wanted every bit of this.

  “Think you can drop your jeans for me?”

  Diesel unfastened his jeans, and in seconds he stood next to me naked, his dick hard, inches from my mouth. I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening in my head, but the club life was not going in the direction I’d thought it would. Trixie had been wrong about Skittles, Wnedy, Carmen, and me. For the first time in my life, I was naked with another woman. I could deny the eroticism, the carnal temptation, the exquisite scent of the woman beneath me.