Page 51 of One for the Money

“We had a meeting last night with a customer who wanted to see the quality of the goods before delivery. I told one of the others to seal everything up, but I never should have trusted they’d do it,” Ion said, words spewing out of him in hopes he’d say the right thing. “This place is my responsibility, and I should have been the one to protect the merchandise.”

“You’re exactly right,” I agreed, dragging him over to the crate. “Erik, take his right hand and lay it flat on the crate.”

Erik gave me a questioning look but did as I ordered. Ion tried to fight against his hold, but Erik’s elbow snapped out and hit Ion right in the nose. The crunch of bone and the blood spurting out told me Erik had broken it, but Ion was far too distracted to fight him. Grabbing one of the nails that had been pried out of the crate, I positioned it in the middle of Ion’s hand, grabbed the mallet, and slammed the mallet down on the nail. It took two hits before it passed through his hand and into the wood of the crate. Ion howled in pain, tears, snot, and blood streaming down his face. Erik let the man go when his legs gave out, and we watched as Ion crumpled to the concrete floor.

I tossed the mallet to Erik, who caught it on instinct. “Make sure it’s good and snug. Ion needs to sit here a while and think about his mistake. Oh, but don’t make it too easy for him to rip his hand off when he gathers the balls to free himself.”

Erik’s amber eyes bore into mine, and for half a second, I thought he might tell me no. Then his demon he’d been working so hard to keep locked away stepped up to play. There was no hesitation in his swing as he drove that nail further into the crate. He stopped when an inch still protruded above Ion’s bleeding hand, forcing his victim to suffer like I’d asked.

“What do you know, maybe I’ll be taking that collar off you sooner than later,” I commented, then turned on my heel, heading farther into the warehouse. “Come on, Big Red, we’ve got more important shit to do.”

Passing through a wide barn door entry, I found Bear checking over his bike. We didn’t have a mechanic on hand here to look after our rides as we did back home. Instead, they went for service every other month to make sure these beauties stayed in working order. The thing people never tell you about motorcycles is they take a lot of TLC, and if they’re neglected, they turn on you fast.

“Log book says they were checked out five weeks ago,” Bear shared as he straddled his bike. This one was all black and covered in silver spikes, making it look like something hell spat out.

“All of them?” I asked, heading over to a tarp.

Bear’s grunt gave me the answer I was hoping for. Fighting back the urge to do a happy dance, I yanked off the tarp and looked over the bike. I’d never used this one before, probably because I never would have bought it if I hadn’t been high while watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Erik came to stand next to me, helmets in his hands, and let out a heavy sigh. “Well, there goes my dreams of pretending to hold on by cupping your tits.”

“Don’t even pretend you’re not excited about this,” I said, shoving him with my arm. “How many people get to say they’ve ridden in a vintage sidecar?”

“No one human,” Erik muttered. “Seriously, Von, first with the nickname, then the collar, now this… you know I’m not a dog, right?”

Reaching over, I cupped his crotch. “Trust me, I’m well aware of your species. No dog would be able to rearrange my guts the way your cock can.”

Feeling his dick starting to harden, I released him, took my helmet, and got settled on the back of the bike. Erik continued to stand there, a shocked expression on his face.

“Dude, if my touching your dick is going to make your brain melt, this is gonna be a problem,” I pointed out.

He shook himself out of whatever la-la land he’d been in and walked up to the sidecar. “Sorry, I was more distracted by the fact you like the idea you might choke on my cock no matter what hole I put it in.”

“Don’t tell me you’re into that animated tentacle shit, are you? Look, I don’t care how long that fucking thing is, you can’t put it in her ass and have it come out her mouth,” I argued. “Let's not even mention the whole puking up cum because they’re so full. Porn is already a bunch of made-up bullshit, so why go and teach men something that will never happen?”

As I ranted, Erik managed to figure out a way to get himself into the sidecar and strapped in. “You feel way too strongly about that not to have a good story to go along with it.”

My answer was to start the engine, flip him off, and slap down the face shield, ending the conversation.

Bear took the lead, and we peeled out of the warehouse, heading for the train yard near the city’s edge.

It’s amazing how fast you get to places when you don’t play by the rules. Yes, it was trickier with the sidecar, but once I got the hang of it, Erik only suffered one bruised shoulder, cutting it too close to another car. It’s a good thing he made sure to grab a helmet, or that side mirror would have really hurt.

Once in the train yard, it was smooth sailing to the far back corner where all the old rail cars were abandoned. No one really knew what to do with them so what they couldn’t repurpose just sat and rusted. The layout of the space hadn’t changed, so I weaved my way to an open area I’d used the first time I’d met Mamba. Our deal then was rather small compared to the business we do today. In the center of the space was a golden metal box shimmering in the sun with a giant red bow.

Killing the engine, we rolled to a stop at the edge of the open space but were still protected by the metal walls on both sides. I tugged off my helmet but didn’t get off the bike. Contrary to Bear’s opinion, I wasn’t taking this interaction with Coronis lightly. This asshole knew exactly what kind of crack to tease me with, making it incredibly fucking hard to say no to the hit. Yet here I was in a graveyard of train cars like a sitting duck for anyone to pick off.

I tapped Erik’s shoulder and motioned for him to stay silent. “No talking, only signing.”

Erik acknowledged my order, and made an effort to get out of the sidecar as quietly as possible. Bear knew the drill and had cut his engine before I did, making it harder for anyone lying in wait to know how many of us there were. I caught his gaze and signaled him to go left while I went right.

“Look high and low,” I warned, knowing if it were me, I’d be flat on my stomach watching from the high ground.

“Try to keep in mind we need at least one alive to give us information,” Bear countered.

I flipped him off and turned on my heel. “You’re with me,” I told Erik, then pulled my gun free.

Silent as a ghost, Erik fell in behind me, gun at the ready. He’d seen what I’d said to Bear, so I didn’t bother repeating myself. Besides, he was Mr. Special Ops—out of all of us, he knew what to do. We moved together seamlessly through the cars in a way I’d only ever been able to do with Bear. Panic started to burn in my stomach at the thought Erik truly did fit in my life almost effortlessly. Needing to control my emotions, I dug my canine into the side of my cheek as I bit down, drawing blood. The spark of pain was just what I needed to clear my mind and focus on the job at hand.