BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) (26 page)

“This is the other part of my business.”

The words of their waitress rang a delayed warning through Niall’s head.  The girl had said this part was in the back, so she obviously spoke on rumor since it was actually in the attic.

Angela resumed the stance she had taken on the ground floor; straight back with hands clasped in front of her. 

“It’s actually the larger part of my business.”

“Which is what?”  Sinclair bent at the waist to look at an object in a large jar.  Pale green liquid encased what looked like a monkey skull. 

“These items are used in Voodoo.”  Angela motioned towards the long counter with a wave of her hand.  With the other hand she gestured towards the rest of the room.  Everything else is used for…other practices.”

“Witchcraft?”  Sinclair’s eyes caught some of the pale light.  Angela stepped forward to get a better look at her.  Her odd green eyes had escaped her attention during their first visit, and even just moments before when they first arrived.  Angela was disappointed in herself.  Things of this nature rarely escaped her.  The young woman had potential.  It was a spark, albeit tiny, but a spark nonetheless.  It flickered for a moment, a promise of something great.    

“Yes, of various forms.”

Sinclair nodded slowly.  “So, why did you refuse to take the stone Joseph had?  A witch owned it.”

Niall bit the inside of his cheek.  He hadn’t wanted her to play that card just yet.

Angela sighed.  “Yes, and it’s a beautiful piece, but I’m not interested.”

“Why?”  Sinclair was like a child trying to find out why her parent had told her no. 

“Because it’s more dangerous than anything else in this room.”

Niall snorted and opened his arms wide.  “More dangerous than all of this?  You’re dabbling in everything here except the resurrection of Jesus Christ!”

Angela smirked and pointed to the back of the attic.  “I have a King James version of the Bible back there if you’re interested.”

“Look,” Sinclair interjected.  “We need to find Joseph and this stone.  A powerful man in Florida is hunting for both, and my future depends on us finding them.”

“And finally the truth is here to set you free.”  Angela stepped towards Sinclair again and touched her on each side of her temples.  Her pale blue eyes bore into Sinclair’s green ones.  “Tell me, do you have a witch in your family?”

Niall stepped forward, stopping in mid stride as an invisible force stopped him. 

“We have…we have a few
bitches
…but I don’t think they’re
witches
.”

Angela laughed softly and withdrew her hands.  She walked to the counter, her high heels clicking on the old wood, and pulled a card from a stack at the end of the counter.  She handed it to Sinclair.

Sinclair scanned the card, solid black with raised tan lettering, script like what was over her door.  It was the name of her business compete with address and phone number.  There was no other information, not even a hint of what type of business it was. 

“There may come a time when you will need to seek someone out...like me.” 

Sinclair reluctantly took the card and slipped it into her purse.  She didn’t know what to say.  “Thank you”.

“Of course.”  Angela’s eyes shifted to Niall.  She tilted her head to the side and Niall felt his mind explode with words. 

Mon Dieu, but you are beautiful, devil.  Pity.  Stay your distance and I may help your girlfriend
. 

Niall felt the unseen presence release him.  He immediately moved to Sinclair and guided her by the elbow to the stairs. 

“Leave your number.  Perhaps I will see the man with the stone again.”

Sinclair hastily wrote her number on the back of an old receipt from her purse and handed it to Angela.  Niall wasted no more time getting her down the stairs afterwards.  His eyes locked with Angela’s as he began the descent. 

The dark corners of the attic shifted as two tall, impossibly dark and devastatingly handsome men drifted to stand beside her. 

“Well?”  One spoke, his eyes rolling until the whites showed. 

“Stop that.”  Angela spat.  “There will be time soon enough.  You will assist in this, but only because I desire that young woman.”

The wraiths looked at her simultaneously.

Angela held up a hand absently.  “Not in the way you’re dirty little minds think.  I need a protégée.”  She grinned coldly.  “And she’s perfect.” 

“That was beyond weird, Niall.”  Sinclair clicked the seatbelt and stared straight ahead.  How could she explain what she had felt when the woman had touched her face?  Would Niall understand that it was like looking backwards through time as their eyes met?  She had felt secrets unraveling at the edges of her mind. 

“Dangerous is a better word.” 

“I don’t think dangerous.  I think weird.” 

Niall looked at her sidelong.  Angela wasn’t what she appeared to be, but he wasn’t sure he had a word for what she was.  Human, yes, and not a shifter of any kind, nor a vampire; but she was paranormal for sure.  Her appearance alone was startling and made one question.  She had long medium brown hair and pale blue eyes, but her skin was a light tan, and her features were large.  Mulatto of some sort, he suspected. 

“You should throw that card away.”

Sinclair touched her purse, her eyes drifting down to it.  “No, I think I’ll hold on to it for a while.”

Niall opened his mouth then snapped it shut, opting instead to just drive away. 

“Are you hungry?”

“I could eat.”

“Same place as yesterday, or something else?”

“I think we should just order room service.”

Niall shrugged, surprised she didn’t want to try and see more of the quarter, but said nothing. 

Sinclair’s phone began playing some kind heavy metal song, and she smiled sheepishly at Niall as she pulled it from her bag. 

“Hi, Tina.”

Niall tried to block out the conversation happening beside him.  The gist was that Tina hadn’t heard from her and was worried; and Sinclair’s mother had called twice, and why hadn’t she given her mother her cell phone number anyway?

Sinclair ended her call and blew a sharp exhalation of air between her teeth. 

“I guess your Mom is worried?”

“Yeah.”

“Why doesn’t she have your cell number?”

“I gave it to her, but I guess she forgot.  I don’t know.”

Niall left it alone.  It wasn’t his business anyway. 

The room service was cheaper than he expected and was surprisingly good food.  A member of the kitchen staff wheeled in a cart with fresh fruit and chicken salad sandwiches and freshly made potato chips. 

“Wow, I’ve never had fresh chips before.”  Sinclair mused as she popped another into her mouth. 

“I want you to take a nap.”

“Why?”

“Because tonight we are going on a crawl of the Quarter.  We are going to see if we can spot Joseph, or at least get a lead as to his where about.”  Niall began stacking their dishes and rolled the cart into the hallway.  As he turned back to the room, Sinclair was stretching lazily on the couch, her t shirt clinging closely to her breasts.  Niall closed the door quietly, keeping his eyes on her, unwilling to miss any other movement.  She was so beautiful, and his attraction was becoming a problem. 

“So, what kinds of places would he most likely go?”

Sinclair curled her legs under her and shook her head.  “Hard to say.  I mean it has become painfully obvious that I didn’t know him at all.”  She plucked at her shirt and lifted one shoulder.  “Before all of this I would have said he would choose the seedier places, places that had loud music and cheap beer, but now for all I know, he might show up at a five star restaurant and order champagne.” 

Niall hated how her mouth puckered and her cheeks grew pink.  She didn’t actually understand what had happened to her.  He sat down beside her and lifted her chin with a finger.

“Sinclair, you were a victim in Joseph’s world.  None of this was your fault.”

Sinclair dropped her eyes.  “No, I’m smarter than that.  I should have seen through what he was doing.”

“Many a woman has said that in hindsight.”

Sinclair raised her eyes, and it pained Niall to see tears welled in them.  It made the green deeper, harsher than the normal bottle green.

“I was so lonely!  I was so tired of being lonely!”  A fat tear escaped and rolled swiftly down her cheek. 

Niall drew his eyebrows together and wiped the tear away.  He didn’t want to see her this way.  He never wanted to hear her say she was lonely ever again. 

“Don’t cry.”  His words filled the space around her softly.  “Please, don’t cry.”

“I guess it’s stupid to cry.”

Niall leaned forward instinctively.  “No, not stupid; just painful.”

Sinclair’s eyes widened slightly.  “Painful for you?”

“Yes.”  It was barely a whisper. 

Sinclair remembered several times she had cried in front of Joseph, most of the times he had caused it himself, and never once did he feel pain from it. 

Niall ran his tongue over his lower lip, gently placing a hand at the base of her neck and pulling her to him.  The kiss was not a moment of passion, the instantaneous and uncontrollable type of kiss they had shared before.  As their lips met it was tender and meant to heal not arouse. 

Sinclair regretted it as Niall pulled away from her and the heat of where his hand had been vanished. 

“I don’t want you to ever feel that way again.”

Sinclair chuckled dryly.  “For someone like me it’s inevitable.”  Her attempt at the self-deprecating humor fell on deaf ears.  Niall stared at her intently before standing and walking from the room.

Niall watched Sinclair sleep on the couch of the sitting room.  Her mouth was open slightly and every now and then her lips twitched a small smile.  He hoped she was dreaming of him. 

He turned back to the open balcony doors with a scowl.  He had let her get to him.  She was under his skin so deep he was losing sight of the job at hand.  He may very well have to turn her over to the authorities once they were back in Florida, and he wasn’t entirely sure how he could do it.  She had been through enough. 

His eyes narrowed and he ground down on his teeth as he thought about the pain Joseph Overman had caused her.  She deserved so much better.  She was funny and bright and beautiful.  It was rare to get that combination in a woman.  Niall was reminded once again of American culture: she may have been all those things and more, but she was overweight, and unfortunately that dictated her worth, not only to others but to herself as well. 

Maybe I can change that for her
.

Even with the task at hand, Niall was happy with the way Sinclair’s face lit up as they stepped from their hotel front doors and onto the already crowded Bourbon Street.  Different types of music wafted from various establishments up and down the street and the aroma of food mingled with laughter and voices buoyed Niall as well.  Sinclair looked at him and giggled.

“This will be a fun night.”

“I think so.”  He smiled, and took her hand. 

She glanced at their hands, and back up to Niall’s face.  She couldn’t explain what was happening between them, and she doubted it would last, but for the moment she chose to enjoy it.  She squeezed his hand slightly as they started down the street. 

The first choice was a tiny bar where blues music was quietly heard from the door, but once inside, they soon had scanned the entire place and moved on to the next.

“Let’s eat.”  Niall said, leaning in to her ear. 

“Aren’t we on a mission here?”

“Yes, but…we need to eat.”

Sinclair nodded.  She was beginning to feel like this was more of a date than a quest to find Joseph. 

They chose a brightly lit restaurant with only a small crowd present inside.  Niall asked for a table towards the back so he could monitor who came in and out the front door. 

“So, tell me about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?”

“What’s your favorite music?”

Sinclair smiled.  “I love music in general.  I’m a big fan of rock, but I like a lot of other kinds too.”

“Contemporary, or classic rock?”

“Both.  And you?”

“I don’t listen to a lot of music.”

“Why?”  Sinclair tilted her head to the side and supported it on her hand.

“Just busy, and when I go home at night, I just want the quiet.”

“Quiet in Palm Beach?  Now that’s a funny joke.”

“There’s a few places that are quiet there.”  He cleared his throat.  “I, uh, go down to the beach sometimes alone at night just to hear the waves.”

“Me too!”  Sinclair’s head lifted abruptly from her hand.  “I love the water, don’t get me wrong, but I often just want a different environment.”