Exquisite Danger (11 page)

Before I could do something stupid, Swan said, “I’m going to go with
Star Trek’s
Khan.”

I had no idea how Khan had gotten his name. That bit of information was strictly between him, Beach, and Hustler but the corners of his lips twitched and his posture relaxed. “Why d’you think that?”

Swan moved a step back and sought me out, her hand gripping mine as soon as she found it. I know it was selfish of me, but I loved the fact that whenever she was scared she turned to me, even if she didn’t realize it. Khan’s gaze wandered down to our linked hands and that smile twitched on his lips again. I gave Swan’s hand a reassuring squeeze while the tension eased inside of me, and my muscles relaxed as the adrenaline drained from my system. That twitch of the lips was Khan’s version of a full blown smile, and for some reason, he seemed highly amused, in his own stone-cold way, at something he saw on my face before he turned back to Swan.

She licked her lips, then said in a soft voice, “Because of
The Wrath of Khan
, of course.”

Khan leaned back in his chair and linked his wind-roughed hands together, then studied my woman. “Clever girl.”

I knew it was a compliment, but Swan didn’t seem so sure. She pressed her body against mine, and I automatically wrapped my arms around her and gave her a soothing rub on her arm. This got some raised eyebrows, but fuck’em, this was my old lady, and I’d do with her whatever I wanted. Khan especially, had no fucking leg to stand on as he smirked at me. Even though he could be a monster, that fucker worshiped his wife—and we all knew it. Want to commit a painful suicide? Call Khan’s wife a cunt and you’d be dead within hours after Khan treated you to his unique brand of retribution.

“Wish I could say it was a pleasure to have you here, Swan, but it’s not. You’re bringin’ a shitload of trouble with you.” Swan started to say something, but I tightened my hold on her and she kept quiet. “Fortunately for you, I like trouble. Keeps my brothers on their toes and weeds out the weak prospects. Plus, you’re Smoke’s old lady and Beach’s sister-in-law. That means you’re family. So we’re gonna do whatever we can to help you find your Ma and Sarah, but we’re gonna do it quiet. Only the men in this room know why you’re really here though I’m sure rumors will spread.”

This caught my attention. I’d talked to Beach on and off but he was dealing with a shit storm back in Austin as they tried to weed out the traitor or possibly traitors. “What’s our cover story?”

He shifted his dark gaze from Swan to me and my woman sighed in relief. “Beach is spreadin’ the word around that you’re looking for a couple of new Enforcers and you’re up here checking out some men while we do business. The lovely Swan is with you ’cause you made her your old lady, and with all the shit going down over her Ma, you want to keep her close and away from Austin for a bit. I’ve told my men that keeping your old lady alive and well is part of the way to impress you so you’re gonna have prospects and brothers falling all over themselves to protect your woman.”

Groaning, I removed my arms from Swan and began to pace the room. Fuckin’ Beach. It was a good plan that would help keep Swan safe, but now I’d have to deal with recruiting a new Enforcer without my usual attention to detail. That position was no fucking joke, my Enforcers—Hustler was a perfect example—were my right-hand men, and each of them had a particular strength and purpose. Hustler was our con man. He could talk his way out of any trouble and get even the most reluctant marks to lower their guard.

Not only did I have to worry about whoever I picked fitting into my clubhouse, I also had to worry about what they would do at my company. All of my Enforcers worked for me along with my civilian employees. This allowed them to have access to the best surveillance equipment and weapons out there without raising the suspicions of the cops. I paid really fuckin’ well, and I only employed the best, so a new Enforcer who hadn’t been properly vetted would throw off my whole operation and weaken me in the eyes of the employees and brothers. In my world the weak were killed and eaten.

I made too much money and worked too fuckin’ hard building that company and my life to allow that shit to happen.

This was exactly what I didn’t need to deal with at the moment, but I couldn’t protest. It was probably the best way to keep Swan alive and gave me the freedom to work my way through Denver looking for any hint of Billie and Sarah. Swan, no matter what she wore, was too stunning not to draw attention, which was something I didn’t need while trying to blend in. My concentration would also be divided between protecting my woman and doing what I had to in order to get information. The bottom-of-the-barrel people who would know if Billie was in the area were the kind of people I didn’t mind torturing to get the answers I needed, but I sure as shit couldn’t do that if Swan was with me.

Khan placed his elbows on his desk and studied me then cut his gaze to Hulk. “Go set Swan up in her room. Me and Smoke got some shit to discuss that ain’t fit for a lady’s ears.”

My first instinct was to protest, but I knew Hulk and Khan would be insulted if I implied that their protection wasn’t enough and I didn’t trust them to take care of my old lady. Instead, I turned to Swan, and my heart ached at the fear in her eyes. While I loved that she looked to me for comfort, I didn’t want her to become totally dependent on me. She was an incredibly strong woman, and I would never take her hard-won self-reliance from her to satisfy my own selfish desires.

“Go on with him, baby. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

She frowned and chewed on that lush lower lip of hers. “Okay. Umm…what about the rest of our stuff?”

Hulk moved next to her and patted her on her bare upper arm below the short sleeve of her shirt. Swan recoiled instantly with a pained sound, and before I knew it, my hands were wrapped around Hulk’s throat. In his shock, he actually let me pin him there. It wasn’t the click of a round being chambered behind me that made me release him, but the soft sound of dismay that Swan made and her hand on my arm. The silver of the wrist cuff she wore marking her as mine gleamed in the light coming from the brass lamps scattered around the room.

“Smoke,” she said in a low voice, “he didn’t mean to hurt me. Please, let him go. He’s been nothing but kind to me.”

Anger rolled off of Hulk. “What the fuck? All I did was pat her shoulder.”

“Smoke, please.” The pain and embarrassment in Swan’s voice made me feel like an asshole as she looked at Hulk, her cheeks scarlet. “It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

“Smoke, let him go,” Khan said in a deadly voice.

We turned to him, and when Swan saw the gun, her hand twitched in the direction of her backpack. Thank fuck she didn’t go for her own weapon.

“Do not point a gun at my man.” Any hint of emotion was gone from her voice, replaced by a chilling tone that I wasn’t used to hearing from her. It was easy to get distracted by her stunning looks and her innocence, and forget that she’d been raised to be a merciless killer by a man I was pretty sure was half crazy. She purposely moved in front of me and Breaker snorted, which pissed me off. At some point, I was going to beat that fucker’s ass.

Khan narrowed his gaze and something dark moved through his expression. “Little girl, you’re playing in a man’s world now. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

I went to put my hand over Swan’s mouth, but she easily ducked out of my grasp. Goddamn Mike and his SpecOps bullshit he’d taught her made her nearly impossible to control.

“None of that matters to me, Khan. I love Smoke, and keeping him safe is above any law or rule, man’s world or not.”

Her words were so cold, I was surprised she wasn’t wreathed in ice and Khan blinked, clearly thrown off by this beautiful, sweet creature basically telling him that she didn’t give a fuck about his threats and would be more than happy to take him on. I wanted to grab her and drag her out the door, but she was strung as tight as a trip wire and ready to snap.

I was surprised that it was Breaker who stepped in between his Prez and Swan. He looked down at her and said in a gentle tone I’d never heard him use before, “Why did you act like it hurt when Hulk touched you? That wasn’t bullshit. He really caused you pain. I don’t see any injury that he could have hit, so what’s going on Ms. Swan?”

Her gaze met his and some of the life returned to her eyes along with an embarrassed flush. “I have an issue about being touched. If I don’t trust you, the feeling of your skin on mine is like bugs crawling beneath my skin, like spiders and centipedes are squirming through my muscles. I’m okay if I’m wearing clothes, but bare skin to bare skin isn’t good.”

Moving to my woman’s side, I guided her away from a frowning Breaker. “Baby, look at me.”

She reluctantly raised her gaze to mine, and I swept her hair back from her face. We stared into each other’s eyes for a moment before she let out a harsh breath. Tears turned the blue of her eyes to silver then she wrapped her arms around me. Her voice hitched as she whispered against my chest, “I’m sorry I overreacted again, Smoke, but I couldn’t let him shoot you.”

All I wanted to do was comfort her, but this was exactly the kind of shit I was talking about, her mouth getting her into trouble she didn’t need. Knowing my words would upset her, I kept my voice low but serious. “He wasn’t going to shoot me. Do you really think I would just fuckin’ stand there and take it? What did I say out in the truck?”

She flinched like I’d hit her and pushed away from me. “I understand.”

I was pretty sure she didn’t understand shit, but I needed to get her out of this room. We were both ready to argue and take out our tension and frustration on each other right now, and this wasn’t the time or place. Even worse, she looked hurt beneath her anger. That killed me, but she’d just have to deal with it for a bit. There were too many undercurrents in play. As much as I wanted to fuck her to sleep, she needed her warrior right now, not her lover. It sucked, but I kept my expression stern as she stared at me. “I won’t be long.”

Lowering her voice further, she leaned in and whispered, “I’m sorry. Please let me stay. I won’t do it again.”

Conscious of Khan and Breaker watching us closely, I had to keep my expression stern as I said, “Baby, go to our room. I’ll be there soon.”

“Right.”

Her lips tightened and I could clearly read on her expressive face that she thought this was a bunch of bullshit. I didn’t disagree, but like it or not, she had no place here right now. If I kept her around, Khan wouldn’t feel free to talk, and I needed all the information I could get. Shit, the last thing I wanted after a long day of driving was a fucking argument with Swan, but I didn’t have time to explain shit to her.

Hulk followed her out, being careful not to touch her as he held the door open.

As soon as the door shut, leaving me alone with Breaker and Khan, the older man glared at me. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell us about her phobia?”

I shook my head and returned to pacing. Anger filled me and I needed to swallow it down to stay control. “Did you talk to Vance?”

“Briefly.”

“He didn’t tell you about her issues?”

“Nope, we just talked about that clusterfuck of a mother of hers. Beach didn’t say anything either, but then again, he’s busy as fuck.” Yeah, I needed to have a long talk with Vance about priorities. “Los Diablos are pissed that Swan got away. They’ve been giving Beach a hard time on top of Sarah being missing and finding the traitor in the club, so the man has a lot on his mind.”

Khan put his gun back in his shoulder holster. I took a seat in one of the chairs across from his desk and Breaker took the other. The tension was still high in the room, and I wondered if I’d harmed my relationship with these men. If I had, I wasn’t gonna apologize for it. I was known for my explosive temper, and Khan had every reason to think I would have crushed Hulk’s throat. I’d calmed down somewhat over the years, but when I was younger, I’d given my temper free reign and done some extremely violent and extremely stupid shit. I could fuck a man’s world up in terrible ways without a second thought and sleep just fine.

“Brother,” Khan spoke with a tired note in his voice I wasn’t used to. “You’ve got a couple rats in your clubhouse down in Austin, and if there’s rats there then there are probably rats here as well. Billie came here for a reason, and it’s too big of a coincidence that some bad shit’s been happening around these parts. Nothing we can pin on anyone, but a whole lotta
coincidences
.”

“What kind of
coincidences
?”

Breaker made a low growling noise. “Deals going bad, cops being exactly where we were, and last week, one of our prospects died in a motorcycle accident. He was on his way home from the clubhouse. It looks like while he was here, someone fucked with his bike.”

“Motherfucker.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

For a brief moment Khan looked chagrined. “Didn’t want to say anything until I was sure. I know we’re a new chapter for Iron Horse, and I’ve been trying to make sure shit is going smooth. Beach pissed off a lot of people who thought their city should be next in line to start a new chapter for the MC when he made us official. We may be a new chapter, but we’ve got pride in our club, and I didn’t want Beach to feel like he’d made a mistake.”

If anyone thought that being in an MC was all about fucking women, fucking off, and getting drunk, along with some shady dealings they were way wrong. There were as many political pitfalls in the MC as in the US Congress, made all the more complicated by the strong egos involved and the fact that violence was a part of our lives. A man didn’t rise up in the ranks of the MC world by being kind and compassionate. Don’t get me wrong, we didn’t patch in serial killers—too much bullshit to clean up—but the men in this building were tough, arrogant, and deadly with a total disregard for any authority that hadn’t earned their respect. If it ever came out that Khan was unable to find who was fucking with him he would have been branded as weak, and someone would have tried for his position.