Breathe Page 7

  This man has demons.

  We all do, but I think Gringo might like to take his out and play with them sometimes.

  Aren't we all just a lovely bunch of misfits.

  “Looks like another day in the park,” Gringo answers Rock’s question. Gringo’s gaze shifts to Rock.

  “Weather forecast?” Snake asks.

  I peer at the sky outside. They sure as hell aren't talking about that.

  “Still clear,” Gringo replies. Then he adds, “That could change of course.”

  I look at each of their faces. Gringo’s studying me. Still.

  “Gringo, this is Raven,” Summer makes our introduction.

  One corner of his mouth lifts and his eyes narrow just a little. Yeah, he’s definitely studying me.

  “What wind did you come in on, little bird?” he asks.

  I don’t cringe from his stare. “A black one.”

  He gives me a wide grin, although he isn't trying to be pleasant. “My favorite.”

  Seconds pass as we stare at each other. He doesn’t trust me, that’s no secret. I don’t care. I don’t trust him either.

  Finally, Summer breaks the silence.

  “Gringo, why don't you go and visit cream puff and get yourself some coffee, and get something for Raven as well.”

  His dark eyes flick to the table and the empty spot in front of me. “What would you like?” he asks me politely. At least he knows how to behave.

  “A smoothie, something green.”

  That earns me a grin. “One green smoothie coming up.”

  As he walks away, I let out a breath.

  “Don’t let him scare you, his bark is worse than his bite,” Summer chuckles.

  “I doubt that,” I mumble.

  That makes her laugh, her laugh makes me smile. She’s nice, very nice, which makes me wonder what she’s doing with these men.

  “Smart girl, angel,” Snake comments beside me.

  I know he hasn’t taken his eyes off me, his friend Rock hasn't either. Neither of them have moved, I mean, they have been absolutely still, both of them. Like they’re either waiting for me to strike, or they’re waiting to lunge. Maybe both.

  Smart.

  I’m the one that should be freaked out. Snake practically ambushed me, took my bag, and has me sequestered within their circle. I should be wondering if they’re part of the MC club looking for me because I have their shipment. But I’m not. They’re either experts at what they do, or they’re just regular people here for the expo.

  I’d bet everything in my bag it’s something else entirely.

  No, I decide they have nothing to do with me, my anonymity is still safe.

  “I hope we can hang out this weekend. These boys have some work to do they won’t tell me about. I could use the company,” Summer smiles at me again.

  My eyes meet Snake’s. He gives me a small grin and nods his head. That unfamiliar heat slips through me once again and makes my heart pound. My eyes move to Rock. He still hasn’t moved, his gaze still fixed on me. Another tremor. My eyes meet Summer’s again. There’s something about her…

  My eyes slowly slice to the man sitting beside me again. Snake. He's dangerous, they're both dangerous, but I am too. He's also intoxicating and lethal. A combination that screams warning.

  It doesn't matter, I don't get involved.

  "Yeah, sure," I murmur.

  I decide I’m going to enjoy my time with them, at least right now. Why not? I could use a front. Besides, she seems safe. Like Rock and Gringo said, things can always change.

  “Great. We can walk around the expo together while the guys talk shop with their friends, and get some lunch…,”

  Summer’s still talking but I didn’t miss how both men reacted to her suggestion.

  They don’t want her with me.

  Smart, but probably not for the reasons you’re thinking.

  This just might be exactly what I need. If I’m with her, the MC club is not likely to fuck with me in public. I don’t know anything about Snake, or any of them, but my gut tells me these men are important. Only men with a certain confidence about them tells the world everyone’s their bitch.

  These guys are stinking with it.

  Summer’s got all that power and authority to herself.

  Does she need it?

  The question is very real. The next one is why. Furthermore, which part does each of these people have to play in it?

  Snake flinched, it was barely noticeable, but he did, when she suggested we hang out.

  “That sounds like a great idea. Just us girls,” I put out the bait to see if my hunch is right.

  I’m the last person to wants to do the whole bonding crap thing, and I’d probably want to slice my wrists before I spent an afternoon shopping and getting my nails done, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

  Something tells me there’s a lot more to this happy family than meets the eye.

  I'm going to accept Summer's offer. Who knows? It might be a once in a lifetime opportunity, Rock, Snake and Summer might just be the kind of connections I need. Exactly the kinds of 'friends' I've been looking for. I'll get what I can from them and then disappear.

  Summer jotted down their room number on a napkin and is sliding it across the table to me. The men’s eyes watch as I take it and slip it in a jacket pocket without saying a word. I smile and nod as she talks while Rock and Snake follow every moment.

  The men share a hard look.

  That’s right boys, take the bait.

  “Fuck that,” Rock growls.

  I almost want to laugh.

  “Why not?” she questions.

  “Because I said so.”

  Oh, this is just too good.

  “I don’t see why I can’t spend some time with a friend, Rock.”

  Rock shoots Snake another look.

  “Tinkerbell,” What the hell? He’s got a pet name for her. The plot thickens, “we’re all going to get to know each other. Very well, I’m sure.”

  Snake comes in with the save, an unexpected one.

  I turn my face to him, And that means what exactly?

  He meets my gaze with another one of his wicked smiles. “That’s right, angel, you, me, Rock, and Summer. Get used to the idea.”

  Just like that, shit got complicated.

  Time to get the hell out of here. I got people to see and a hot shipment to unload.

  Sliding from my seat, I stand as Gringo returns with the drinks.

  “I’ve got to go. I’ll come find you Summer,” I say to her. To Gringo, “Thanks for the drink,” I pick it up. “Nice to meet you,” I tell the hard-ass Rock. Finally, I turn to Snake. “It’s been fun, but gotta go. See you around.”

  “I guarantee it, angel,” he smirks at me. As I step around his chair to grab my bag with my free hand, he grips my arm and stops me. “I’ll be down here later.”

  If this were any other time, if I were any other girl, if he were any other guy, if this were any other situation, that might sound like an invitation.

  But this is now. He’s no doubt the kind of guy I’m trying to hide from. And I’m all kinds of bad with more bad right behind me.

  I meet his stare. “Good for you.”

  He laughs, it’s not the same one he gave cream puff. It’s real and genuine, and it pisses me off. Because I fucking like it. I tug my arm free, bend down, and snatch the strap for my duffle. As I pull it on my shoulder, I tell Summer, “See you later.”

  Then I’m gone. I’ve got shit to do. If I’m lucky, Joey will help me. If I’m not, things are about to get really, really bad.

  CHAPTER 8

  Snake

  Who the fuck is she and where did she come from?

  A girl like Raven doesn’t just show up off the streets for something like this event. Alone. Everyone here has some sort of affiliation. She’s got an agenda; I'd bet my ass on that. What I have to find out is who is it with and why is she here?

  And if I didn’t admit I want
to tie her ass down and fuck the truth out of her, I’d be a lying sack of shit. Because I do.

  That truth has its own set of problems. Problems none of us need.

  First, wanting to fuck someone who just might be the person we have to eliminate could be a major distraction. Not to mention a massive complication.

  No, she's not a complication. She's a goddamn explosion.

  And, fuck me, I'm ready to blow.

  Do I think she's part of The Program? No, I doubt it, but everyone is a possibility, therefore a threat, until we know otherwise.

  Summer wants to have fucking tea and crumpets with her. Is the woman out of her mind? No more than me. Fuck the tea, I want to sip on that pussy. For hours.

  I scrub a hand over my face in frustration, then shake my head trying to clear it and all the filthy images I have of her out. I called her angel. She's an angel alright, a dark angel with black wings, a messenger of doom and foreboding, maybe even the fucking angel of death herself. Goddamn it! What I really need to do is get Rock to punch me in the face a few times to knock this shit out of my mind.

  It wouldn't help. Every temptation that is her is just as vivid as if she were here now in all her evilness.

  She has a mouth on her that should be registered as a lethal weapon. That fucking mouth, the things I could do with that mouth and those lips. Keep them busy. Constantly. Not let her utter one fucking word. Because I'm positive not a damn word she'd tell me would be the truth. From the instant I saw that tiny Medusa standing behind me, I knew everything I needed to know. She acts like she doesn't care, and that's dangerous. She's smart, deceptively smart, and she doesn't trust a soul. That much was obvious. She's got badges, fucked up medals of honor marking her flesh beautifully from every war where the world has fucked her. Only people with nothing to lose are like that. And only people like that have lost everything. They don't have a goddamn thing left.

  Yeah, I know those kinds of people well.

  But there is one thing.

  The duffle bag.

  She cared about that. Nobody worries about clothes or panties as badly as she was protective of that bag. She's hiding a shit ton of things, but what is she hiding in that bag?

  If it has nothing to do with us, STAY THE FUCK AWAY, Snake!

  Right. But if it does, how will I know if I don't get closer?

  Forget her. She's not a part of it.

  How the fuck do you know?

  We've never heard of her before.

  What? Now I'm having a full blown argument with myself?!

  Yes, you are.

  Shut up!

  I can't because I'm you!

  Isn't this just fucking wonderful?

  With all the shit about to go down, this is what I get? A little angel demon? A damn nuclear bomb disguised as sin? She would plunge the knife in me I'm sure she's got hidden in her boot while she fucked me, wipe her blade on my lips, kiss me goodnight in my own blood, then tuck me in for the final time. But, it would be sweet.

  Yeah, I'm so screwed.

  And the real problem here?

  My commitment to Rock and Summer. I'm not inviting any more complications to an already volatile situation, even if we do get out of this smelling like roses. They don't need the bomb named Raven involved in their lives. Just because I get off on women who reek of crazy doesn't mean I should drag trouble into their lives. Raven probably wrote the fucking book 1001 Ways To Do Crazy Right. That machine gun is missing its safety and is just one cunt hair away of taking everything out. Rock and Summer come before anything and anyone else.

  But I wasn't the one who asked her to hang out. Sure I brought her to the table, but that was only to avoid any unwanted attention, and that delicious and dangerous mouth was getting all sorts of attention. It was Summer who practically asked her to be her new best friend. Gave her our fucking room number for Christ's sake!

  Fuck.

  I pace our two-bedroom suite. Yes, ours. Mine, Rock's, and Summer's. One bedroom is basically only being used to hold our suitcases, the other with the king sized bed we've already christened. Rock is sitting in the chair by the window on the phone with Gringo.

  Gringo's getting updates. He hacked into the hotel servers and has been tracking all of the guests, cross-checking them with the list we had with who's been checking in. We've added one more name to that list.

  Raven. No last name, no more information. It doesn't matter, how many people are named Raven? According to the guest list, no one. At. All. For the time being, she's still a mystery, a dark-haired beautiful angel demon who I'd bet my right nut, (I told you I love my nuts), is packing, and according to all of our information, doesn't exist.

  "If anything unusual pops up, I want to know immediately." Rock ends the call.

  This is the first time we've had a moment without Summer. She's in the bathroom. I hope she stays there for an hour. We need to talk about shit, and don't need her privy to any of it. Nothing gets past her, nothing, not a look, not a cloaked innuendo, not a damn thing. Therefore, Rock and I haven't been able to talk about anyfuckingthing.

  "Little Miss Sunshine still doesn't exist here," Rock glares at me.

  That doesn't surprise me.

  "News flash," I grumble.

  "What the fuck were you thinking?"

  Fuck him and fuck that. I was thinking that the bimbo behind the counter was getting on my nerves, but it was the demon behind me that grabbed me by the balls. "A situation was arising. I did what I thought was necessary."

  "What situation exactly?" He still hasn't moved from the chair. If he did, he'd probably slam me against the wall. I'd let him.

  My heart squeezes and my dick stirs remembering the last time. Was it just yesterday we were all home? A few miles makes it seem like a lifetime ago.

  "I told you. The chick behind the counter wanted me to fuck her. Raven made a comment, then they started going at each other. If I didn't stop it, cream puff might have called security and we'd have had unwanted attention. I did what I had to in order to diffuse the escalating situation."

  "Did you ever think," Rock's voice is deceptively low, "she did it on purpose?"

  My pacing halts as our gazes’ clash.

  No, that's impossible, I would have known. If it had been a set-up, I would have seen it all over she-devils face.

  "No, I don't."

  He's silent as he considers this.

  We're all on edge, every single one of us, even Summer and as far as I know she's still in the dark as to what we're really doing here. If she does know, then she's fooling everyone.

  Rock doesn't disagree with me. It's not the first time he and I have been in bed together with death, stroking its ruthless flesh and whispering promises into its unforgiving ear. There was always an element of fun in our missions, as sick as it is. There had to be. If not, we'd be dead from the fear alone.

  This time is different. It's personal.

  "Raven knows who we are. The worst part is Summer wants her around." His tone is cold as ice.

  I don't like it as much as he doesn't. But this is the situation and we'll deal with it. Maybe work it to our advantage.

  "If Raven is involved, having her close will remove the trouble of trying to find her. My guess is no one knows we're aware of the contract and the mission, if there is one, except Hawk. That gives us the upper hand. Whatever reason Hawk had for contacting us is irrelevant. We know, so that allows us to be prepared for anything."

  A long stretch of silence passes as Rock thinks. Sounds drift from the bathroom in the other room as Summer gets out of the shower and does whatever shit women do when they get dressed. We’re aware we're on borrowed time and we still have things to discuss.

  Finally, Rock nods, agreeing with me.

  We're on the same page. That's good.

  I move on from the demon of my fantasies. "Anything from Hawk yet?"

  To the devil you know from the devil you don't.

  His expression locks down into a mask of controlle
d fury. "No, not yet."

  That is exactly the crux of the problem. Not having control of the situation, waiting and being at the beckon call of someone else, being at their mercy. Hawk is infamous for not having mercy.

  "Has anyone seen him? Is he here yet?"

  "No fucking clue," Rock's fists clench. He's wound so tight, he's ready to explode.

  While we’re at it, I might as well lay everything out on the table.

  “When we get the call, I’m going. You’re staying with Summer.”

  He glares at me, his eyes hard as steel.

  “He contacted me.”

  “Ask me if I fucking care.”

  “I could give two shits if you care or not, I’m going.”

  I walk over to him where he’s still sitting in the chair, immobile and all kinds of pissed off. I lean down, my face an inch from his with my hands on each armrest, boxing him in. He still hasn’t moved. A slow grin spreads across my face.

  “If I have to get Gringo to help tie your ass up, you’re staying with your woman while I go deal with this shit. This is not negotiable.” My voice is barely a whisper.

  If I didn't know Rock, I wouldn't see all of the turmoil boiling inside him. On the outside, he's stone. But on the inside he's a fury of emotions. He's a fucking volcano ready to erupt. I don't move, my face in his. Our gaze boring into the others, it's a battle, one I'm not going to lose. Bring it.

  Finally, his eyes narrow and he growls, "Goddamn it, Snake, we're not doing this."

  "No, we're not. I'm going, you're staying with Summer." I press a hand firmly on his chest pushing him further into the seat cushion, "She needs you."

  "She needs both of us," Rock's voice is tight.

  "Come on, Rock," the sudden stone in my throat makes it difficult to breathe.

  I push off on his chest and turn my back on him, stepping away. I don't want to look at him, I don't want to see the truth, despite knowing it all along.

  "Snake," he's got his hand gripped tightly on my shoulder. "Don't fucking do this."

  I don't want to do this, who wants to admit they've got absolutely no one, that there really isn't a fucking place in this God forsaken world they can truly call home.