Hidden around the corner from the mayor’s house I pace agitatedly back and forth on the sidewalk. Carduccio is in there with the mayor and my Angel. I don’t have a fucking clue why he’s here, but I do know he’s one dangerous son of a bitch and I don’t want him within a hundred fucking miles of my girl.
My fingers clench and unclench into fists, my chest is heaving, and my teeth are gritted together so hard my jaw throbs with pain. I want to stomp across the street, beat down the door and get my girl out of there.
“What the fuck’s up with you?” Blade asks.
I glare at him. “Nothing.”
“Bullshit. You’re pacing like a fucking wild animal. I’ve never seen you this wound up before. What you got against the mayor, you fucking his wife or something?”
I pull in a steadying breath and force my fists to unclench. “The mayor is a fucking dick, that’s all.”
Blade laughs. “Yes he is. You still didn’t answer my question though. What’s got you so riled up?”
Pointedly ignoring Blade, I pull my cell from my pocket and check my email, still nothing. It’s the fifth time I’ve checked since Carduccio, a woman, and five other men, trailed into Angel’s home forty-five minutes ago.
The cell phone is yanked from my hands and I swing round ready to attack Blade. “You might be my V.P., Blade, but I swear to fucking God you need to back off, right now. Now give me my fucking cell.”
Blade ignores me, his eyes focused on the screen of my cell. “Who’s Angel?”
I growl. “That’s none of your goddamn business.”
“She the girl? The one that’s different.”
I nod begrudgingly. “Yes.”
Blade’s face darkens. He looks over his shoulder to the mayor’s house, back to me, then down to my cell that’s still gripped in his hand. Slowly he raises his head until his eyes lock on mine. “You meet her at the wedding?”
I nod.
Blade’s eyes fall closed for a moment and his shoulders sag. “That’s why you were asking about Jefferies having a daughter. Angel is the fucking mayor’s daughter.”
I straighten my spine and keep my gaze locked on his, refusing to break the stare. “Yes.”
Blade lifts his hand and rubs at his eyes. “So, you’re telling me, that your girl is in that house over there with Eric fucking Carduccio?”
I nod.
“Well, fuck. How close to breaking down that door are you?”
“Pretty fucking close. It’s new, me and her. But she’s different, she’s important. I don’t know what the mayor’s doing to her, but something’s not right, all the warning signs are flashing.”
Blade’s eyes soften. “She got you all wrapped up in her, brother?”
“She looks like she needs saving. I wanna be the one to save her.” I admit
Blade hisses air through his front teeth. “I hear you, brother, but if she’s mixed up with Carduccio she might already be beyond saving.”
The front door to the house opens and the woman and two of the security guys exit. They quickly climb into one of the Range Rovers and drive away. Thirty minutes later the door opens again and Carduccio and the other three men exit. Carduccio and the younger guy shake the mayor’s hand and Mayor fucking Jefferies smiles and waves them off.
“Let’s follow them, make sure they’re not planning on paying anyone else a visit before they leave town,” Blade orders.
Reluctantly, I throw one last look at the mayor’s house before I start my bike and ride away. A sick feeling pools at the bottom of my stomach. What the hell is a small-town mayor doing getting involved with a US Senator who’s as dirty as they come?
We discreetly follow Carduccio straight out of town until he hits the freeway that will take him away from Texas and back toward New Mexico. Blade makes a U-turn and heads back to the clubhouse and I follow behind, even though all I want to do is ride straight to Angel and make sure she’s okay.
When we enter the club, Blade disappears, and I head to the bar and take a seat. Billy, one of the retired brothers, is stood behind the worn wood and after taking one look at me, he drops a shot glass onto the bar and fills it to the top with whiskey. He fills another for himself and lifting his, he gestures for me to do the same. I pick up the glass and lift it to my lips; the whiskey burns as the liquid coats my throat and I slam the glass back to the bar. Pulling out my cell I scowl when there’s still no email from Angel, so I write her instead.
From: [email protected] Sent: 10/02/17 14:24
Subject: I’m Worried
Angel,
Something fucked-up happened today. I ended up following a really dangerous guy straight to your house.
What the fuck is going on?
Eric Carduccio is bad news on an epic fucking scale. You need to stay the hell away from him.
I have a really bad feeling, Angel.
Remember what I said—you can come to me anytime and I’ll keep you safe. This is an offer without any expectations. I’ll keep you safe as your friend, or your guy; I just need you to be safe.
The Sinners clubhouse is on Deer Lake Road. Day or night there’s always someone here. Ask for me, tell them you’re mine.
Daisy.
I click send and blow out a hard breath. I literally just met this girl. How the fuck did I go from single and carefree, screwing as much pussy as I could handle, to completely hung up on an eighteen- year-old that I’ve only kissed a handful of times? This isn’t how I operate. I don’t get emotionally involved. I just like sex and lots of it.
I’d lay money on the fact that Angel’s a virgin; she exudes innocence. Her huge desolate eyes say she’s lived a hard life, but she’s a sea of contradictions and I want her more than any other woman I’ve ever met.
“Daisy, get in here,” Anders voice bellows from his office and I blow out a resigned breath. I knew this conversation was coming. Standing from the stool, I tap the wood of the bar before I make my way through the clubhouse to Prez’s office.
Anders is standing in the doorway when I get there, and he moves to the side, signaling for me to enter. I walk past him and into the smaller room. Blade is sat in a chair to the right-hand side and I slide into the empty one next to him.
Anders slowly walks around his desk, lowering himself into the large chair behind it. He steeples his fingers and rests his chin on top of them. “Son, want to tell me what’s goin’ on with you and the mayor’s daughter? Normally I wouldn’t give a fuck where you’re sticking your dick, but Carduccio drove all the way in from New Mexico to see our illustrious mayor and I need to know what the fuck’s going on.”
I scowl. “You’re right, Prez, it isn’t any of your goddamn business.”
Anders lifts his head and clenches his hands into fists, banging one down onto the desk. His face darkens and his lips twist into an angry line. “Watch your mouth, son. Carduccio is a fucking viper, he’s into everything: drugs, guns, human trafficking. I don’t want him in this fucking town. So I’m not asking you, I’m ordering you, as your president, to tell me what the hell you’re doing with the mayor’s daughter.”
Gripping the arms of the chair tightly, I force my anger down so I don’t launch myself at him. “Her name is Angelique. I met her at Echo’s wedding and then again in town four days ago. She’s eighteen,” I say begrudgingly.
Anders stares at me expectantly. “And…”
“And that’s it. I haven’t seen her since. She doesn’t have a cell phone and the only way I can contact her is through email. She replied for the first time in four days today. I can’t prove it, but I think the mayor’s abusive. She flinches and cowers, I’ve seen the signs before. She had a sister that died a couple years back. That’s all I know,” I say.
“So no way she’s using you to get intel for Carduccio?” Blade asks.
“No,” I roar. “She’s not like that; she’s innocent, practically scared of her own shadow.”
“Calm the fuck down,” Anders says, his voice cutting through the red haze that’s started to descend upon me. “You barely know this girl.”
“She’s different,” I say, my voice quiet but laced with warning.
“Well, fuck, let’s hope she’s not mixed up with Carduccio, else this one’s gonna want us to start a war because she’s different,” Blade says snidely.
I stand from my chair and angrily turn to face Blade. “Fuck you, Blade. She’s not mixed up with Carduccio. Mayor asshat might be, but Angel isn’t. She’s never asked a single question about the club, not one.”
“Shut up the pair of you,” Anders shouts. “Sit your ass back down,” he points at me and I slump back down into my seat.
“Why doesn’t this girl have a cell phone?” Anders asks.
“Her dad won’t let her have one. Apparently, she’s been home schooled since she was thirteen. She doesn’t have any friends. She’s hardly ever allowed out the house. The mayor has her on lockdown. When I met her at the wedding, asshat was ripping into her for being there, then sent her home before she could even speak to me. She told me he’d kill her if he found out she was talking to me, that he hates the bikers,” I say.
Anders looks at me and blows out a breath. “Email her and see what you can find out about Carduccio. If Jefferies has got into bed with him, we need to know why, and she might know something.”
I scowl. “I already emailed her, but I’m not using her for information, Prez, and honestly I don’t think she’ll know anything anyway.”
“Well, I hope for your sake that she’s not already involved with them. Let me know when she replies,” Anders says and dismisses us.
I follow Blade from the office and into the main room of the clubhouse. I head straight for the bar and seat myself back on a stool.
Blade sits next to me. “You need to keep your head straight, brother. I know you like this girl, but you don’t know what games she’s playing. This innocent thing could just be an act.”
I shake my head. “I thought it was; fuck no one is that innocent. But she is. I’m telling you Blade, if her dad and Carduccio are planning something she hasn’t got a clue.”
Blade looks skeptical but his hand slaps down on my shoulder and he squeezes lightly. “Billy, we’re gonna need some shots.”
Two shot glasses full of whiskey appear in front of us and I lift mine to my lips and down it. I signal to Billy for another and he fills the glass again. I throw that one back too. The whiskey calms my fraught nerves, but I still pull my cell out and check for an email. Yet again there isn’t one.