Chapter 12
“What the hell happened?” Kane asked from his seat on the sofa in the living area of the clubhouse, where he and Cara lounged with her tucked beneath his arm.
Cara sat up quickly pulling a T-shirt over her head, hiding her leopard-skin brassiere Kane was just seconds away from divesting her of. Being that both Kaleb and Grayson were out for the night chasing tail, he hadn’t thought they’d have company for hours. Kane stood, pulled his own shirt back over his head and fastened his jeans, not bothering to hide the erection paining him. Had he not been so perturbed, he might have chuckled at Cara’s reddened cheeks. Only a woman would be embarrassed by being caught in a compromising position. Men were just annoyed.
His gaze landed on Alexander’s healing wounds. He must’ve laid his bike down to cause the road rash that marred the right side of his face and arm. His chaps likely saved him from further damage.
“Run into trouble?”
“More likely some bitch with an ax to grind,” Alexander grumbled. Anton standing to his right remained untouched. “Thankfully Blondy saw the steel cable before I did and brought my attention to it not a moment too late. I had to lay my bike down to keep from getting beheaded. I’m starting to think I have nine lives and two are now gone.”
“You see Rosalee?” Kane’s blood simmered just beneath the surface at the thought of his ex being behind the recent targets on the Sons. He’d kill the bitch with his bare hands.
“I smelled primordial blood. If you say they are all accounted for in Italy besides your bitch ex-mate.” Alexander’s gaze flitted to Cara. “Sorry.”
“No need,” Cara commented. “She is a bitch. I’d take her out myself if she presented me the opportunity.”
Kane glared down at Cara, who wrapped one arm around his back. “You’ll do no such thing, mia bella. You aren’t near strong enough to take out an ancient and I’m not about to lose you.”
“No.” She smiled at his concerned gaze. “But my Glock pointed straight at her cold heart would work wonders. I’m a good shot. She wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“You best be if you think to pull that trigger on Rosalee. As much as I like your spunk, I think I prefer your head attached to your shoulders.” Kane leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. “You leave Rosalee to us.”
He turned back to Alexander and Anton. “Give me the play-by-play. What the hell happened? Anyone else get hurt?”
“No. It happened after Anton and I followed the Knights to the border. Once they crossed over, we turned back. About twenty-five miles back down the road, Blondy saw something shine off the headlights. He managed to shout over the sound of the engines,” Alexander said. “He slowed his bike. By the time I glanced from him back to the road, the only chance I had was to lay it down. I have to have my bike hauled back to K&K. It’s not drivable, so I’ll need to borrow the covered trailer tomorrow to go back out there and pick it up.”
“You ride back with Blondy?”
Anton chuckled. “Xander wasn’t too happy to have to ride bitch. I kept reminding him that at least he still had his head. Still didn’t keep him from complaining the whole way back though.”
“Someone had to know about the run,” Kane said. He looked at Cara, “Why don’t you start us some coffee, mia bella? I think a call is in order to Red. No one could’ve known about the run other than the Sons and the Knights. It was too last minute. Hell, I didn’t even have time to get back here after receiving Hawk’s call. I’ll insist Red make a trip here with his VP tomorrow—no one else. At this point, I don’t trust anyone in his MC. Someone with an inside track is working with Rosalee.”
Cara walked over to the bar area, the only kitchen the clubhouse had. She pulled out the coffeemaker, and began prepping to do as Kane had asked. Damn he loved her. Unlike Rosalee, she had no problem being there for him, or helping out where she could. He sure as hell would miss her when she went back to work on Monday. He’d much rather have her next to him. He supposed, though, it would give her something to do rather than hanging at K&K, he and Kaleb’s motorcycle shop.
Kane pulled out his cell and found Red’s number and hit the number to dial. He placed the phone by his ear as he started pacing the scarred wood flooring. After several rings, Red’s hoarse voice came across his answering machine, indicating the caller to leave a message. Kane supposed he wasn’t back yet from the run.
“Red,” Kane said. “This is Viper. We have a situation that needs your complete confidence. You aren’t to speak about this to anyone. Stop by the clubhouse tomorrow after lunch and only bring your VP. See you tomorrow.”
Punching END with his index finger, he gave Alexander and Anton his attention again. The smell of coffee filled the room as Cara returned to the living area. Kane leaned down and briefly kissed her lips, though he’d prefer to take up where they’d left off before the interruption. There would be plenty of time for that later. Cara pulled her blonde hair off her shoulders, and wound it in a knot at her nape as she headed for the sofa. Just the sight of her pale throat had his cock standing to attention again. Damn, he couldn’t get enough of her.
“Thanks, Cara,” Alexander said as he headed for the bar to get a cup of the fresh brew, drawing Kane’s gaze back to his brothers. The wounds on the side of his face were barely visible anymore.
“Pour me a cup too, will you, Xander?”
“Sure thing, Viper. Blondy?”
“Ah, hell … wasn’t planning on sticking around, but maybe we should wait it out until the Pres and VP gets here.”
Cara barely got situated under Kane’s arm again before the door banged off the inside wall of the clubhouse and Kaleb stormed into the room, slamming the door behind him. His twin looked ready to do battle, and he had yet to hear the latest club news. Kane couldn’t help wonder what had him in a mood. No matter, Kane was about to make it worse.
* * *
Kaleb ran both hands through his hair as he stared at all the extra bodies in his house. He sure as fuck wasn’t in the mood to entertain. Not after leaving the Rave with a raging hard-on. He hadn’t felt like jerking one off, not after having Suzi’s sweet lips wrapped around his cock. So instead, he had stormed from the club, past Draven and ignoring his impulse to beat the bastard, and out the exit. He hadn’t even bothered looking for Grayson. He undoubtedly had already gotten busy with no less than two ladies and Kaleb wasn’t in the mood for his antics. So instead, he crawled on the back of his chopper and headed for the clubhouse hoping to find solitude.
No such fucking luck.
“Someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?” Kaleb’s gaze landed first on his twin, then on Kane’s mate.
“I had nothing to do with this.” Cara raised her hands up, palms out. “But it is something you need to hear, Kaleb.”
“Someone tried to take Xander’s head, bro,” Kane supplied, gaining Kaleb’s attention. “And I am pretty sure they were hoping it was you.”
Kaleb glanced at Alexander, seeing the healing road rash for the first time on the right side of his face. “You okay?”
“Just a bad rash, P. No biggie. Thankfully Blondy saw the steel cable or you guys might be ashing a couple more brothers tonight. We need to catch this son of a bitch before she accomplishes what she’s setting out to do.”
“She? Rosalee?” Kaleb asked. “You see her? Know for sure it’s her?”
Alexander shook his head. “Just the scent in the air laying proof to a primordial. But who the fuck else is that hungry for our blood? Jesus, P. I don’t know how many more lives I have left. I’m in no hurry to lose my head.”
Cara jumped up and headed for the counter, her sudden movement cutting through the tension in the room. She pulled a couple of stoneware mugs from the cupboard and started pouring the hot liquid.
Kane walked over to her, placed his hand on the base of her spine and placed a kiss at the crook of her neck. “Thanks, mia bella,” he said, grabbing a cup.
Alexander inclined his head, and said softly to Cara as she reentered the room, “ I’m sorry to have interrupted your evening.”
She waved a hand at him. “Please, the Sons have much more important business at the moment. I don’t want to see any of you guys hurt.”
A smile turned up the corner of one side of his lips. “Sure is different now than when Kane first met you.”
Cara laughed. “That’s because I was trying to pin a crime on him that he didn’t do. Trust me … he never fails to remind me of it,” she said with a wink.
“Only when I’m trying to get in your pants, Cara.” Kane wrapped his arm around her waist and led her back to the sofa.
Kaleb growled. His gut churned with the consumed whiskey from the club. He was in no mood to watch his twin fawn all over his mate. It wasn’t that fucking long ago she hated all their guts. He clenched his teeth as he headed for the cupboard and pulled down a fifth of Jack. He’d be damned if he was going to sit around and shoot the shit with the likes of this group. If need be, he’d set out on his own and find Rosalee, separating her head from her shoulders just as he had Alec Furner. Mircea be damned. Kaleb didn’t give a rat’s ass what the patriarch would have to say about it. This landed on Mircea’s doorstep. It was his stepdaughter he hadn’t been able to control.
After knocking back a couple of fingers of the amber liquid, his gaze landed on Kane. “So what the hell is being done about this?”
“I left a message on Red’s answering machine, told him to stop by tomorrow and only bring his VP. I think there’s a rat in his club and we need to flush him out like yesterday.”
“What happened that you no longer trust the Knights?”
“Think about it, Hawk. No one knew about tonight’s run … including me. It was so last minute. No one knew that you wouldn’t be at the head of the run as you and Gypsy normally are. Instead, you both headed for the Rave. The only ones who knew you and Gypsy wouldn’t be there were the Sons.” He paused, his stare holding Kaleb’s. “It was your head they were gunning for again.”
“We need to set a trap. Find out who the hell the rat is. He needs to answer for his crimes.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Kane said. “I trust Red. And since Red trusts his VP to be his right-hand, I think the rat is further down the line. Let’s get Red here tomorrow and see what he has to say about all this. Not much more we can do tonight.”
“No there isn’t, bro.” He looked at Alexander and Anton reclining on the sofa across from Cara and Kane, sipping from their mugs of coffee.
What the hell was this? A book club?
Kaleb raised his voice. “So why the hell is everyone still here?”
Cara looked at Kaleb, unfazed by his outburst. “You go to the Rave tonight?”
“Your first clue?”
“Your color … you’ve fed. So why so cranky, Hawk? Suzi have anything to do with your foul mood?”
“Seriously? You can’t be that stupid. She has everything to do with it.”
Kane’s gaze darkened. “Watch yourself, Hawk.”
“Hawk’s made us all promise to keep our hands off,” Anton added. “Suzi is to be his personal blood bank.”
“Shut the hell up, Blondy.”
He certainly didn’t need Cara privy to his self-inflicted drama. If Cara knew how he treated his donor, more specifically her close friend, she’d be all over him like a hellcat.
“So you’ve seen her. And you’re using her as your personal donor, Hawk?”
“None of your damn business, Brahnam.”
Kaleb growled again, feeling his fangs lengthen. Just the thought of his little pain in the ass donor had the animal coming out in him. Problem was he wasn’t sure if he wanted to wring her pretty little neck or fuck her into tomorrow. He was pretty sure he wanted to do both, which aggravated him further. Cara’s intuition kicking in wasn’t helping.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Cara smiled. “You got a thing for Suzi.”
Kaleb’s eyes heated as they blackened. “You don’t know shit, Brahnam. Why don’t you two go back to playing house and leave me the hell alone. And you two,” he glared at the other two Sons on the opposite sofa, “hit the road. I’d like to brood in fucking silence if you don’t mind.”
Kane stood, and approached Kaleb. Just fucking great. Big bro to the rescue.
He placed a hand on his shoulder. “Sounds like you need to get laid, Hawk.”
Whatever he expected Kane to say, it sure in the hell wasn’t that. Pouring a quick finger of whiskey, Kaleb downed it, then slammed the cup so hard on the bar surface it shattered. He didn’t bother cleaning up the mess. Instead, he headed for his room, hoping to hell he’d get some peace yet this evening. But as soon as he stripped naked and crawled into bed, visions of Suzi Stevens’ mouth wrapped around his cock danced behind his closed eyelids. Every inch of him hardened in remembrance.
Shit!
He wasn’t about to get any peace this night … or any night for that matter. Not until he either gave into his desire to fuck her or let her out of his ridiculous demand that she be his personal blood bank. He had thought to punish to her, when in reality it was he who was being tortured and left unappeased.
Cara Brahnam had just hit the nail on the head. He did have a thing for Suzi and damn if he didn’t have it bad.
* * *
The little bastard hung by his throat, his feet dangling as he gasped for much needed life-giving oxygen. Rosalee allowed him to hang there, her hand tightening around his throat ever-so-slightly as she contemplated whether or not she’d allow him to live. His brown eyes nearly popped from their sockets and his fingers clawed at her hand. His incompetence had cost her sweet revenge yet again. Kaleb Tepes should be ashes by now and yet he still breathed air.
Had she seriously misjudged the little ass-kissing biker hanging by his neck?
Rosalee had zeroed in on him the moment she spotted him in a tavern next door to the Knight’s clubhouse alone, bitching nonstop over his lack of love for the leadership within his MC ranks to the bartender or anyone near who would listen. He hated the fact the Knights were in bed with the Sons. They were no one’s puppet club, by god. He’d teach them sons of a bitches a lesson himself if need be.
His cocky attitude appealed to her, that and his desire to please. He had been all over her the minute she pulled out the stool next to him, promising sexual favors that he had unfortunately fell short of. Hell, she should’ve taken his sorry ass out then and there had she not needed eyes and ears within the club. Unfortunately most humans had trouble matching the stamina of a vampire … and no vampire alive today could match the thrill of fucking Kane Tepes. That vamp certainly knew his way around the bedroom, the kitchen, and every damn room in the house. She still hadn’t gotten over his dismissal of her, or the fact her bastard of a stepfather had allowed their union dissolved. Once she finished with Kaleb, she’d personally take out Kane’s newly acquired, supposed mate. Cara Brahnam would beg Rosalee for death by the time she finished with her.
No one crossed a primordial and slept with their mate.
Kane belonged to her … always would. They had been mated and mating was for life, regardless of whether her stupid-as-fuck stepfather had granted Kane’s wish to annul it. Cara’s days were numbered. Then she’d take out the rest of the Sons, one by one, until Kane agreed to take her back and forgive her for her involvement in their son’s death. They should’ve suffered their loss together. Instead, he had sent her to Italy, banished her for a misjudgment that had unfortunately caused Ion’s death.
Didn’t he know that she suffered too?
Rosalee would be damned if she’d ever allow the little detective to carry his next child and spend an eternity with him. She’d behead the bitch. Of course, she’d allow someone else to do the dirty work or Kane would never forgive her for such a deed. Then she’d be there to help him pick up the pieces. Remind him that she was his one true love, that Cara had been just a passing fancy. Who wouldn’t rather mate with a primordial than a newly turned vamp? Kane should feel lucky that she, Rosalee, had chosen him over all the primordials, for crying out loud. Any vampire would be honored to walk by her side. For that alone, Kane needed to be taught a little respect.
The biker kicked feebly and gasped, drawing her attention back to his dangling form. The fight seemed to drain slowly from him as he started to run out of oxygen. Rosalee sighed. Hell, she still needed the pain in the ass. Letting go of his windpipe, he dropped to a heap of tangled arms and legs, his hands surrounding his neck as he took in large gulps of air. He’d undoubtedly be hoarse for a couple of days, but no real damage done … yet.
“Now, are we ready to get serious?” She glared down on his form as he scrambled backward from her, stopped only by his back hitting the wall again. She raised one of her brows. “I will not allow your incompetence a third time. Is that clear?”
Hand still at his throat, he looked at her through bugged eyes. “How was I to know that Hawk and Gypsy had left the run to their Sergeant at Arms? They didn’t even tell Red. No one knew the Pres and VP weren’t there to help escort the Knights through Oregon.”
Rosalee advanced on him, flashing him her fangs. His limbs trembled as he cowardly placed a palm out as if to stop her. She’d show him pity because she was not yet done with him. But should he fail her a third time…
“You still live because I have use of you. Don’t fail me another time or you won’t live to see another day, biker.”
“How could I have possibly known?”
“You eat and sleep club business. You make it your job to know everything that goes on behind the clubhouse walls. Your president has gotten into bed with the Sons. And you … you are his right-hand, for fuck’s sake. As VP, you should know everything that the president does. He should be confiding in you all things Sons. You make that clear with him. I don’t care what you say, or how you do it. There will be no more excuses.”
The man quickly nodded. “I promise. If Red knows what’s going down, I’ll see to it that I am in the loop.”
“See that you do, Bird. I won’t show you mercy a third time. Cross me and the Knights will be looking for a new VP and you’ll be fitted for a casket. Do I make myself clear?”
“Absolutely. You’ll see. I’ll deliver Hawk to you on a platter next time.”
Rosalee gripped the front of his tee and pulled him to his feet, their gazes mere inches apart. “You do, and I will see your wish come true. I’ll turn you and you can live your days out as a vampire. Cross me and you’re a corpse. Got that?”
He quickly nodded again.
“Good. Now I find that I’m hungry.”
Without waiting for consent, Rosalee tipped his head to the side and sank her fangs into his flesh and began to take her fill. Bird’s gasp filled the air and his penis hardened. She could easily drain the bastard and probably would once he outlived his worth. Stupid human. Did he seriously think she went around turning humans into vampires?