Chapter 9

Silk

Two hours after we arrived at my cabin, I still couldn’t get rid of my final guard. The place I rented each year wasn’t really a cabin. It was huge, with two bathrooms and four bedrooms. Plenty of room for us all to have our own space. Which was what I wanted desperately to have. I hadn’t read my father’s letter, or gone through his bag properly. I didn’t want help to do either of those things. I wanted to be alone. But Eagle was refusing to be reasonable. At least Mac and Taz had finally gone to bed. The two of them had scouted the landscape surrounding the place for nearly an hour before they returned, announced it was safe enough for now, and headed to their rooms.

We’d been on the road until well into the night and were all tired, but I couldn’t sleep. Not until I at least read my father’s letter. The bag could wait, but his letter could not.

“It’s late, Silk. Just come to bed already, and we’ll continue arguing in the morning.”

“You go to bed. I need a little alone time before I call it a night.”

His gaze darkened. “I’m not leaving you alone. Until we’re certain the threat from Sabella has passed, you’re not to ever be left alone. You getting taken while I stood by your shop’s entrance proved that point.”

I threw my hands up in the air in frustration. “You’ll be right next door!”

He shook his head. “No, I’ll be right beside you.”

I glared at him as my temper rose. This was such bullshit! With a growl, I shoved past him into the master bedroom. If he wouldn’t leave me alone, then I’d just pretend he wasn’t here. I dumped my handbag on the bed, the weight of it sinking deep into the fluffy comforter. Unzipping it, I pulled it open and began rummaging around for the letter.

“What the fuck is in your damn bag?”

I froze at the steel laced through his voice.

“What do you mean?”

He snatched the bag from me and up ended it on the bed, the contents spreading out. I snatched the envelope and held it against my chest as he pushed the rolls of cash into a pile, then carefully picked up the gun and checked it out.

“You had a gun on you the entire time and didn’t try to use it?” He shook his head again. “Why didn’t Sabella search you and take it away? Or the money. Isn’t that what he was chasing? Money? I don’t understand, Silk.”

“I don’t know what my father had that belonged to Antonio, but I assumed it would be money. It’s not my gun or cash. This is all the stuff that my father left me in a box at the bank. There were two boxes. When I went in with the key, they checked the system and there was a second box under my name attached to the key. I gave Antonio the key and his box, then once he’d taken them into a private viewing room. I opened my box, emptied it all into my bag and ran out of there.”

Silently he reached over and tore off the note that I’d stuck back on the envelope. I tried to grab it but stopped when Eagle gave me a glare.

“That’s not yours to read.”

“If it affects your safety, then it sure as hell is mine to read.”

I could feel my face heat with my fury. Who the fuck did he think he was?

“Personal messages from my father. My dead father. Are mine alone.”

My temper was close to breaking. He was already scanning the damn note so there was no point in arguing really. But he was infuriating me. First, with not giving me time by myself, and now, with not respecting my privacy one little bit. When he held the note out, I snatched it from him and tightened my grip on the envelope. No way in hell was he getting to look in there first.

“So, I’m guessing your pops knew he’d screwed up with Sabella and that his days were numbered. I’m also guessing he knew the bastard would come after you. Want to tell me what’s in the envelope you’ve got a death grip on?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t looked yet. It’s why I wanted you to go away for a while.”

His expression softened and he reached out to stroke his knuckles down my cheek.

“You know I’m here for you. The fact Bulldog put me in charge of keeping you safe, is nothing more than a really good excuse for me to be here. Trust me, even if I wasn’t anything to do with the club, I’d be chasing you down.”

Frowning, I looked him up and down. He was as beautiful as ever, but his eyes looked tired and his shoulders were slumped. Was he telling the truth?

“I don’t believe you.”

Any hint of his weariness disappeared, and in the blink of an eye he was standing right in front of me. He tore the envelope from my grip and tossed it on the pile of stuff from my bag.

“You think I lose my mind over every female that gets kidnapped? You think I don’t sleep with worry every time I hear a woman’s been taken? Or do you think I devour every woman I can get my hands on, like I did you? I have never felt like this in my life. You are the only one who’s ever had me so fucking twisted up in knots, I don’t know which way is up.”

As he’d spoken I’d backed away, his voice a whip that left me reeling. I couldn’t think of what to say. I didn’t even know what I truly wanted him to do. Did I really want him to go and leave me alone? The things I felt when he was near were both amazing and scary as fuck. I blinked as I licked my lips, his gaze tracking the movement. When he growled, I turned to run. I couldn’t handle this right now. Not with my mind still spinning from all I’d learned about who my father had been.

The breath rushed out of me when Eagle caught me around the waist and easily lifted me until my feet were off the ground.

“Put me down! Don’t touch me!”

He had my arms pinned, but my legs were free and I tried to kick him, but he managed to avoid each blow. My temper rose each moment he stayed silent while I thrashed against his tight hold. I needed to blow off some steam before I could think straight again and he wasn’t helping by keeping me captive.

Suddenly I was flying through the air. At the same time I landed on the mattress, all my stuff noisily shifting as I landed. A scream tore from my throat for a moment before Eagle clapped his hand over my mouth.

“Stop it. Or do you want Mac and Taz in here for this?”

He released my mouth and I got one breath in before Eagle’s hard body had me pinned down. I couldn’t move an inch. Especially when he shifted his hands to hold my face still between his palms. I was panting hard, my attempts to fight him off, had me worked up. Each inhale pushed my breasts harder against his chest. My gaze focused in on his lips of their own accord. They were soft and I kind of wanted to nip at the lower one, suck on it a little, but I wouldn’t. I couldn’t give in to him tonight. I’d stupidly fallen into bed with him earlier, but that didn’t mean I handed over my life to the man. I would never allow any man to control me, regardless of how good they were in the sack.

“I don’t want any of you here. Why won’t you let me have this? All I want is a little time alone.”

He lowered his face down to mine and my eyes slid shut when he gently pressed a kiss to my forehead. Something deep inside me settled and calmed at the strangely comforting gesture.

Eagle

Her body relaxed beneath me as I pressed my lips to her forehead. How could I make her understand that I wanted her, not because I’d been told to keep her safe, but because I adored her? I wasn’t sure if I loved her–I hadn’t known her long enough for that level of emotion yet. But I did know her well enough to know that if I left her alone like she wanted, to read that letter, she’d fall apart and be forced to attempt to put herself back together again. I didn’t want her to suffer through that alone, she didn’t need to. I would always be here for her, but I wasn’t sure how to make her believe it.

“Because, sweetheart, I don’t believe you really want to be alone. You’re going to want someone to vent to about whatever you read. Whether it’s crying or yelling, you’re going to need to let that shit out. You can unload on me.”

She shook her head. “Just because we’re good together in bed–”

With a finger pressed over her lips, I stopped her from talking. “Yeah, I love your body and want to have you in my bed each and every night–but I want more than that. I want to be your rock, Silk. I don’t know how else to tell you, how to make you believe. So how about you give me a fucking chance here, and let me show you.”

She blinked up at me, looking impossibly vulnerable. It made my heart bleed for her. I rolled off her and in a flash, had her settled between my thighs, with her back against my chest, as I leaned against the headboard of the bed.

“Grab the envelope and let’s rip this band aid off. I’m dog tired, and I know you must be too. So, just hurry the fuck up and read the thing so we can get some shut-eye.”

I bit back a groan when she leaned forward and ground her ass against my rock-hard cock. Dammit. I was trying to be a gentleman here, and she was teasing the shit out of me. With a huff, she sat with her back straight once she had the parcel. Stubborn woman. I shifted to sit forward, so my front was pressed against her back and I could wrap my arms around her waist as I rested my chin lightly on her shoulder. Naturally, she stiffened and stopped moving.

“What are you doing?”

“Offering you support.”

She twisted to stare at me a moment before turning back with a shake of her head and a huff. “Whatever.”

Carefully, she peeled the envelope open before she tilted it, so the contents slipped out on the bed. A crisp page of lined paper filled with messy handwriting was on top of a thick, bound stack of photocopied pages. From what I could see, they were ledger pages of some kind, but without a closer look, I couldn’t tell for certain. Silk dropped the now-empty envelope and lifted the bundle of papers. After pulling on the string that bound the pages, she took one hand from it to lift the note. I snapped my hands up and grabbed the bundle before we ended up with pages all over the damn place.

She gasped at my quick movement, but didn’t object when I held the bundle closer so I could read the first page. Definitely a ledger, of criminal activities by the looks.

“What is this shit?”

“It looks like a copy of the book I gave Antonio.”

I flicked through the pages, reading random entries.

“Fuck me. This is a detailed report of years of the mob’s dealings. No fucking wonder Sabella came after you to get it. Even with the time lapse, this shit would cause them one hell of a lot of trouble.”

She shook her head. “It wasn’t just the book that Sabella wanted. Inside the book was the key to the deposit box. I can only assume the box had either cash or bank account details. From what Antonio said, I think my dad stole a lot of money from them. And the L.A. mob wasn’t the only one he had dirt on. There were a number of books in his bag, but only one of them was relevant to Antonio.”

I set the pages down on the mattress before I used a finger against her chin to turn her face towards me.

“Books? He left more of these reports for you?”

She gave me a small nod. “There were six in the bag. It’s the real reason I left it behind when I was there with Antonio. I didn’t want him to get his hands on the others.”

My instincts flared that I wasn’t going to like what those books contained. “Who are the other books on, baby?”

She stiffened and her gaze hardened. “They’re nothing you need to worry about.”

“Like hell they are.”

As much as I wanted to stay wrapped around Silk here in bed. I knew I needed to see those other books. Detangling myself for her warm, soft body, I strode out the room and into the lounge area, where we’d tossed the contents of all the saddle bags from our bikes when we arrived. It had been late and we were all tired, so we’d dropped it all here. The boys had done a quick search of the grounds, then headed straight to bed. I was jealous as fuck of Mac and Taz, sleeping peacefully, while I was here about to open what I suspected was going to be a fucked-up Pandora’s Box.

“What are you doing?”

Mac’s deep voice startled me. I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings. Such a stupid thing to do. We still potentially had enemies after us. Without responding to him, I pulled her father’s bag free of the pile and dropped it on the table.

“Investigating. Fuck, it’s still locked.”

Mac was by my side in a heartbeat. “These things are a piece of cake to get off.”

My lips quirked as Mac pulled out a pocket knife. “Not that I have any doubt of your skills, brother. But we can’t destroy the lock. Not without Silk knowing what we’ve done.”

Mac returned his trusty Leatherman, the one that had earned him his moniker of MacGyver, to his pocket before leaning against the wall casually.

“You have any idea what’s in there?”

I rubbed a palm over the back of my neck. “Books. Ledgers Silk’s dad kept on various organizations.”

Taz stepped out of shadows where he’d concealed himself. “Her old man was an accountant?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. These ledgers are more about dirty deeds rather than tax returns. I have no idea who he’s got dirt on. Other than the L.A. mob, that is. She handed over a book to Sabella this morning, and just now when she opened the package her father left her, she found a copy of that particular ledger.” I sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh, fuck.”

Mac was instantly on alert. “What?”

I shook my head. “Nothing you two need to worry about. There was a letter from him in the package. I wanted to be with her when she read it. What’s the bet the reason she didn’t follow me out here to stop me getting the bag, is because she’s in there reading the damn thing.”

Taz tilted his head. “I don’t get why it’s a big deal you be there. It’s just a letter, what could he have put in it that would affect you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Fuck, Taz, are you really that clueless? No wonder you’re single. Silk’s my woman, that letter is going to tear her fucking heart out no matter what it says. She’s going to need a shoulder to cry on, someone to lean on. I intend to be that for her.” I snatched the bag off the table. “We’ll discuss all this in more detail tomorrow.”

“See if you can get a look in that bag before then.”

After giving Mac a nod, I headed toward the master bedroom and Silk, hoping like hell she hadn’t locked herself in the bathroom, or something crazy, trying to hide from me.