The sound of someone landing on the door startles me. I hear the sound of wood cracking and look that way, but the door still looks pretty much intact. The second hit, the woodwork looks to loosen up around the doorframe. The cabinet in front of it is holding its ground though. Now I hear two voices swearing loudly. The third hit splits the door down the middle. Knowing I don’t have much time, I brace myself on the seat of the toilet, running my plan through my head. Doing this keeps me from losing my ever-lovin’ mind. I run through all the moves my sensei taught me. I’m so glad I stuck it out. It was really rough because he never let me slide by. By the fifth hit, the cabinet falls backward, crashing to the floor.
“Come on, bitch, give up and we’ll take it easy on your ass. I give ya my word.”
Hearing the broken English, I now know where Jimmy got the money. The dumbass went to the Mob to borrow cash. What an idiot, considering our history and connection with our sperm donor father.
“You dumb goombahs, I’ll never just give up. Bring it on.”
Hearing a growl right before someone pounds the shit out of the door again, this time it gives way, though the cabinet is in the way, kind of lying on its side on the floor. Glancing carefully, I see the gun shoved through the broken section and I lean as far back as possible as the gun starts firing. I can hear the bullets going past me, but thank God the toilet was installed back a bit with a wall to my left. I’m leaning so far that my back is against the wall behind the toilet. The grunting is so damn loud, which tells me they are trying to push the cabinet out of the way. Shit, my time is up.
“Where is the bitch, Vincent? Don’t see anything.”
“Are ya sure you didn’t shoot her, you dumb fuck? We didn’t get orders to off her ass, just to bring her in so we had somethingto hold over Stash. Salvatore is gonna be pissed, and I’m not taking the fall for you again, Rocco.”
Listening to two grown men arguing while they prepare to either kidnap, rape, kill me, or all of the above, for some reason has me wanting to giggle. Knowing that isn’t appropriate at this time, but shit, no one has ever called me balanced. I can’t put a hand to my mouth, so I bite my lip so hard I taste my own blood so I can stop myself from laughing out loud. The cabinet suddenly comes sliding in front of the toilet and I think,is this it?Though I won’t go down without fighting; these assholes don’t know who they are dealing with.
Leaning as far back as I can with my back snuggled against the wall, I see the thick hand reaching around the corner, so I move to my right just as it reaches out toward me and misses. I hear the word “whore” right before the other thick fist comes right at my face, making contact. I barely hang on to the lighter and hair spray as I feel the cartilage in my nose give and blood comes pouring down my face. As the ugly pocked mug of one of the men comes into view, I raise the hair spray and light my lighter, aiming right next to his head. When it sets the spray on fire, I’m so close I can see individual hairs start burning just as he bellows, stumbling back. Leaning forward, I see him fall on his ass hard on the floor, grabbing the side of his head. His partner is caught half under him and, without thinking, I jump off the toilet—landing on the top drawer of the chest—trying to balance so I don’t fall on my face. Pushing the hair spray down, I flick the lighter while I aim it at the both of them on the linoleum flooring, hearing them scream like little girls, hands covering their ugly faces. I step on the first dude’s obnoxiously huge gut while my foot lands hard on the second guys gonads, totally by accident. The sound coming from him makes my stomach turn. My sensei was right, hit them where it will hurt the most. Justas I go to push off of their bodies to try to get the hell away, something catches my eye by the door so I look up.
My breath catches in my throat as I see the two most gorgeous men I’ve ever set my eyes on. They play off each other. Dark and light, though I can see how very dangerous they are with just a look. My eyes take in the guns in their hands right before I see them both in the leather vests, which tells me they must be part of the Kings of Anarchy motorcycle club. The dark-haired one has short, shaved hair with a dark beard. On each of his arms I can make out they seem to be tatted all black, which instantly I think is weird as shit. The other guy also has a military haircut, but it’s his eyes that hold my attention. They are such a deep blue and he’s huge. Well, they both are, but he has me thinking of things that are definitely not appropriate at a time like this. When I glance up, the dark-haired guy has a knowing smirk on his face and, without thinking, I flip him off, which has him chuckling. The other dude, the one I’m drooling over, doesn’t smile, just keeps his eyes on me and the two on the floor. When I hear my name in that deep smoky timbre in his voice, my entire body goes on high alert, while certain things come alive. That cadence works so well for me as my nipples get hard. Thank Christ I have on one of my good bras. When his eyes fall down to my chest and he tenses up, it dawns on me he isn’t like some of the dudes I’ve dated in the past. None of them made me feel as hot and bothered as I am right now because I got one look from this man. Just as I go to take in his gorgeous face again, a hand grabs my ankle and squeezes. Shit, for a quick second I forgot what the hell I’m in the middle of. Looking down, I see it’s the second guy. So I lean back, pressing my heel hard on his sack, then I grind my whole foot down on the soft bundle between his legs. His screams are immediate as I hear the two men at the door growling, no, more like grunting. Glancing their way, the dark-haired one is grabbing his balls, pain apparent onhis face. What the hell? While the other man has those blue orbs staring at me like I’m totally insane, which sometimes most people think that’s true.Oh well, guess I can be crazy at times, is my thought as he leans in, lifting me off the guy’s sack with his hands, then he walks backward, taking me with him right out the broken-ass door. Movement to my right catches my attention and I see the dark-haired man aiming his gun and, before I can look away, I’m pushed into a very muscular chest, though the sound takes my breath away. He just killed those idiots in cold blood. I mean, they would have probably done the same to me, but holy shit, what kind of person does that? Takes a life—no two—without any thought about consequences.
“Breathe, Julie, you’re okay.”
I gasp because this handsome stranger knows my name. Not able to take in a breath, I start to feel lightheaded right before he grabs my upper arms, shaking me.
“Julie, don’t you pass out on me, woman. We need to get the fuck outta here, but first I’m gonna need ya to grab your shit, now. You don’t want me to have Incubus gather your stuff, just saying, because he’ll throw it all together no matter what it is. Come on, take only what you really need, darlin’.”
Trying to comprehend what he is telling me; my travel bag is pushed in front of my eyes. I look up into the darkest eyes I’ve ever seen, but what scares me to death is the lack of anything in them. There is no visible sign of life. The black pupils are not even visible in the darkness surrounding them. I’m getting lost in them, seeing all kinds of danger—evil and worse, damage—until I hear a growl and then I hear, “Incubus, stop that shit, you asshole.”
“Darlin’, shit, ignore him. Let’s get your stuff, then we can get the hell out of here before their backup arrives. We are gonna have to answer for this idiot whacking them. We weren’t lookingfor and don’t need any more problems, especially with crazy-as-fuck Salvatore.”
Hearing his words, they finally penetrate. So I move my ass right to the bedroom and start pulling drawers open and throwing piles of clothes on the bed. I hear noises coming from where they are, but I try to ignore them as I grab my two large suitcases and begin the process of packing without taking my time. I run into the bathroom, grab my travel case, and put all my shampoo, conditioner, hair crap; along with brushes, combs, and the straightening wand in. Next is makeup, which has its own bag. Throwing shit in half-ass, I grab both and almost run into a huge muscular chest.
“Umph, shit, sorry, Blue Eyes. Didn’t see ya there.”
“Darlin’, slow down. Don’t want ya to forget anything ’cause you ain’t coming back. And not sure why you’re calling me Blue Eyes, just call me Cobalt.”
I stop, lean back, and look up at him and stare. Shaking my head, I try to find the words.
“Well, ‘Cobalt,’ your eyes are blue, duh. So if I call you Blue Eyes or Cobalt, it means the same thing.”
“No, it doesn’t mean the same thing, and if my brothers hear you calling me Blue Eyes, I’ll never live it down. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
The tone of his voice changed and it scares me so much I just nod. He moves closer and I take a step back, which has a huge frown appear on his forehead.
“Don’t ever be afraid of me, Julie. I’d never intentionally hurt you. Now, how much more do you have to pack? Incubus has grabbed all the things that look to be important to you. Yeah, I know that sounds like an oxymoron but outside of his looks and attitude, he’s a pretty good guy. Trust me on that. We’ve been friends and brothers for many years, starting with serving our country.”
“Take that back, asshole, I heard that. Don’t tell her that. I’m no pussy, for fuck’s sake.”
I watch as Cobalt slightly turns his eyes, looking directly where Incubus is standing in the doorway, arms crossed, face set in stone. That’s when Cobalt’s whole body starts to slightly shake, right before deep, warm laughter wraps around me like a warm blanket—right from the dryer—that smells like man, outdoors, musk, and whatever else is the essence of him. Oh dear God, I’m going to need to check my panties. When Cobalt looks back at me, the heat in his eyes shocks me. Did I say that out loud? No, I did not. So how can he know unless—oh shit—can he smell me? I’d die of embarrassment for sure. Without a word he smirks at me in a cute way then turns and leaves. I hear a commotion in the front room but ignore it as I finish filling all my bags. After one last look around, to make sure I didn’t miss anything, I start dragging one of my large suitcases out, leaving the other one and two duffels—along with my cosmetic bag and all of my hair products, medicine, and whatever else in the last carry-on bag. The loud noise, along with my grunts and moans, must have alerted Incubus and Cobalt that I am on the way because before I even enter the room, Incubus is there reaching around me and literally lifting my suitcase up and handing it to a newcomer. A young guy with almost white hair and the most striking dark gunmetal gray eyes I’ve ever seen. He doesn’t even look at me but turns, glancing at Cobalt.
“Yeah, Ghost, put all those bags and shit in the van. I appreciate ya coming out, brother, got the prospects doing other shit. Once you’re done with it, then grab everything Incubus has packed and put that in the van too. Take it to the clubhouse and put it in one of the empty bedroom suites. Thanks, brother.”
Before I can say a word, Cobalt looks my way and surprises me by putting a finger to his mouth, indicating I should stay quiet. Then I hear it, boots coming down the hall. Oh shit, pleasedon’t be those mob guys’ friends. When Ghost opens the door, I see it’s not the Italians but more bikers with their leather vests on, names and I guess position in their club on them. That has me looking first at Incubus to see his says Enforcer, which has me shivering. When I look to Cobalt’s, I almost pass the hell out because it says President. In our family the women have always been a bit blessed with being psychic, so I can barely breathe as I can’t think how many times my mom would tell me that one day I would meet the man who would own my heart. She would say he would be a man of importance because he’s the president of something she couldn’t make out. Oh my God, shit, fuck, no way. I won’t believe it. There is no way this sexy hunk of man would ever go for someone like me. I could only hope.
“Hope for what, Julie?”
Looking up, I see all the men looking at me, waiting for my answer, but I only have eyes for Cobalt. Oh God, did I say that out loud too?What is wrong with me?is my only thought while my eyes drift over at least eight of the hottest guys I’ve ever seen. What is happening? There is no way this is my life. Or is it?
THREE
