“When are you going to tell them?” I asked for the hundredth time.

“They’ll find out eventually. Hey! Get the fuck down!”

Diesel and I crouched down against the wall of the rooftop. We were trying to be inconspicuous as we surveilled The Gremlins new domain. They’d taken over Los Perdidos’ territory and they’d set up their headquarters at the old Mexican bar a few miles away from Ravenous. Wolf had sent us out to do a quick recon of our current situation. A situation that had been intensely building in the last week.

Diesel crawled over to the ledge and looked down below. He waved his hand, signaling for me to join him. We could make out seven men, one was hanging out up front, a few others were in the garage adjacent to the bar. I could see another three going in and out of the bar dragging hand trucks packed with cases of liquor.

“Looks like La Cruz found a way to infiltrate his shipments,” Diesel pointed to the pallets that were waiting just around the corner, a large white truck was neatly tucked away in the alley.

I shrugged. “Go figure. So, you’re not going to tell them?” I went back to the same question.

A few nights ago, Seth had finally asked Diesel what exactly he was into. I knew what he’d kept hidden away all these years because we had been in the same unit for years, and besides I made it a point to know everyone who surrounded me. Diesel was my brother in and out of the Hellbound Lovers, we’d been through a lot together and seen a lot of shit. After three tours together in Afghanistan we knew each other pretty well. We even knew our darkest fucking secrets, although why he wanted to keep from telling this one was beyond me. It was more emotional than anything.

“They don’t need to know.”

“Seth and Cain want to know. Shit they all deserve to know. You can’t keep it a secret forever.”

“As long as you keep your mouth shut…” He gave me a pointed glare and I quickly changed the subject. “ How ‘bout you worry about your own shit and stop fuckin’ around with mine.”

“I have no shit,” I placed a hand on my chest faking shock.

“Oh please. You can’t stay in one place longer than five minutes and you have a serious commitment problem, even to your own brothers!”

“Hey! That doesn’t mean I don’t love you.” I placed my hand on his shoulder in mock reassurance.

He shrugged me off and shook his head, giving up for the time being, but he was right. I had some serious shit messing with my head ever since our last tour. The shit that was being brought on by La Cruz, and now The Gremlins, just made the nightmares worst.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, that’s what my military shrink had diagnosed me with years ago. It’s the reason why I was always on the road. If shit got too dark, like right now, the nightmares would return and when they got to be too much, shit got bad. It was why I didn’t get married, why I don’t have children. I once woke up next to one of the girls from the club with my hand held tightly around her throat, the poor girl was turning purple, a couple more seconds and I would have killed her. Another time I’d pulled my knife out on another girl, her shrilling scream brought in Cain who was in the room adjacent, and he’d yanked me off her. Let’s just say I gained a nasty reputation at Ravenous and after that I was never given the same attentions my brothers had. The girls were afraid of me and they were in their right.

After that night I started to take the odd job here and there, travelling to other regions of the states for Wolf. I got to make connections for the Hellbound Lovers all the way up to New York. I liked being on the road, and although I was pretty much a loner I always remained loyal to my brothers. I’d never let them down, especially Wolf who’d done so much for me. Coming back had been hard, but I was willing to give it a try...for now.

“How many do you think there are?” Diesel’s voice brought me back to the present.

“Last time I counted ten, but you never know.”

“We need to get in there.”

I nodded, already putting a game plan together in my head. The roar of a motorcycle engine announced its arrival. A red Harley Davidson Sportster appeared rounding the corner and making its way to The Gremlins doorstep.

“Who the fuck is that?”

Diesel grimaced. “I’ve seen that bike before. It was parked a couple blocks down the street from Ravenous the other night.”

“I wouldn’t put it past them to spy on us, D. Especially if they were brought in to do La Cruz’s dirty work.”

La Cruz had disappeared about a week ago. No one had seen him for days, and so far there were no leads at to where to locate him. The son of a bitch was probably trying to gain territory further up along the harbor. In his wake, he left these pieces of shit to deal with- a fucking motorcycle gang- one that was well known for looting, murdering and drugs. I’d heard of them before, left a trail of blood back in New York. The leader of the Fallen Kings, Father they called him, was the one to lead the FBI to them. Not sure what the outcome was, but I know The Gremlins were on major radar. Unfortunately, they were also the only leads we had to that murdering bastard.

I watched the rider of the Sportster get off. A pair of black leather pants tightened against the firmest ass I’ve ever laid eyes on, and the rider wore-red fucking heels? I couldn’t keep my eyes off the rider, the curvy figure took their time taking off the helmet. A cascade of strawberry blonde locks flowed down her back and as she whirled around I became mesmerized by the sight of her. She was fucking gorgeous. Big brown eyes and pouty red lips matched her red stiletto boots. Her black leather jacket molded to her sexy frame and highlighted her small waist and the broad expanse of her hips. She bent over to tuck the helmet away and the sight of her ass nearly made me groan. My cock jumped to attention and I shifted so that Diesel wouldn’t notice. I should’ve known better as I heard him chuckle behind me.

“Now there’s a beauty.”

His words couldn’t have been truer. The blonde was a stunning bombshell and she looked fucking badass riding that bike. I wondered if she’d ride my cock with that kind of confidence.

“Where the fuck did she come from?” I whispered.

“Who the fuck cares, man? She’s one of them. So keep your dick in your pants and your mind on the mission brother.

I watched as a big brawly guy met her out front and lifted her up in a bear hug. She laughed and wrapped her legs around him, giving him a big kiss on the lips.

“Looks like she’s spoken for,” Diesel patted me on the shoulder and I grimaced. “Is that who I think it is?”

I narrowed my eyes on the male holding my beauty. “Rafael “The Porcupine” Espino, better known in the Spanish community as El Puercoespin, in the flesh. Fucker’s been wanted by the LAPD, NYPD, FBI, shit even the CIA at one point. That’s one fucker you don’t want to cross paths with. I heard he murdered his own mother just because she dumped his goods down the toilet.”

“Shit,” Diesel murmured. “That’s shit’s harsh. Why do they call him The Porcupine.”

“Cause if he gets his hands on you, he’ll rip you to pieces from the inside out, just like porcupine needles.”

“Fuck,” he whispered.

“Oh, it gets better. He’s wanted for rape, drug trafficking, teen trafficking, money laundering, murder, the guy has a rap sheet a mile long.”

Diesel frowned. “So, what is that pretty girl doing with her legs wrapped around his waist?”

A sudden anger flooded through me as I glared at the couple. “Beats me.”

“Maybe he has a long ass pecker to go with his long ass history of violence,” he pinned me with a smirk and I shoved him back.

Joking aside, something didn’t feel right. An odd feeling came over me in that moment. One I didn’t like. My hands itched to wrap themselves around her body and not let any other fucker come near her. I watched fixedly as she hopped out of Espino’s arms and turned slowly. I could make out her high rosy cheekbones and heart shaped lips as the sun set. Her eyes roamed the rooftops, a clear sign she knew how to watch her back. Diesel and I quickly ducked down.

“She’s smart,” Diesel whispered as we both watched her take in her surroundings.

I nodded. “She knows how to play the game,” I replied angrily.

I clenched my fists, feeling unease as my control suddenly wanted to slip away from me. I’d never felt a pull like that before and I’ve had plenty of pussy to prove it. But this one beauty had me wanting to rip her from that asshole’s side and hide her away to keep for myself. This beauty, I wanted to keep.

“We should go give Wolf an update,” Diesel patted me on the shoulder and we both made our way down the roof’s fire escape. The sun was quickly making its descent in the sky, aiding us in hiding along the shadows of the alley. We’d parked a few blocks away so we needed to walk, if they heard our engines roaring to life it would give us away. Diesel and I knew how to use our stealth techniques to the max. It always worked to our advantage.

“We’re going to have to get in there,” I murmured as we made our way down the desolate streets, making sure to watch each other’s backs. The empty warehouses only added to the eeriness of the night.

“Detective Lowery wouldn’t like us getting involved.”

“And when did you start trusting a fucker like Lowery? You know he’s fucking crooked. Just look at him.”

Diesel grimaced. “I don’t trust him. I just want to see what lies he comes up with when I get someone on his ass.”

Lowery was the detective in charge of this whole fucking mess from the beginning, ever since Luna and Rahyne had gotten assaulted by Los Perdidos almost a year ago. The fucker had never gotten back to us, on the contrary, he hadn’t done shit. Every time we wanted to help, he’d get in the way instead of helping us to resolve the problem. Now that La Cruz was running things I had a feeling Lowery was in on the whole thing, which is why Wolf kept telling us he didn’t trust anyone with a fucking badge.

Leaping onto our bikes we made our way down the back streets towards Ravenous. I was focused on the mission, but my mind kept wandering back to the blonde beauty I left behind. I was going to fucking see her again, there was no doubt about that. There was no leaving a woman like that. That mouth belonged on mine and those curves…God, those curves belonged in my bed. That tight little ass bouncing on my lap and not in the hands of The Gremlins.