Hard Roads (8 page)

The seconds of silence answered my question before John could. “No. I thought he was with you.”

Fuck.

“I sent him home after he almost cost us the girl with his fucking stupidity. She laid him out flat with a tire iron and I got to chase her ass down because of it. Gave him his bike to ride back when I took her car heading towards the truck that was left for me near the border.”

Seconds of silence turned into minutes until the sound of Big John’s fist could be heard crashing into whatever objects he could find. “Are you fucking with me, JD? Tell me you’re fucking with me.”

“I ain’t fucking with you man. I’m too pretty for your fat ass.” Yeah, sometimes the sarcasm dripped out before my brain could stop it. The small cut didn’t seem to bother him though. He was too fixated on the fact that one of his brothers hadn’t reported back to camp.

“Be at Diablo’s tomorrow. You hear me? Don’t fuck this up.”

The phone went dead and I threw it on the desk, knocking the mirror and my last lines onto the floor.

Looking back at Holly, I realized that this little girl’s life was about to get seriously fucked up, but it wasn’t my score to settle. Her daddy had apparently left her in one hell of mess and there was no way I would get involved. My freedom was so close and there wasn’t a damn thing I’d let happen that could fuck it up.

Settling back in my chair, I continued looking at her until my eyes were too fucking tired to stay open any longer. Reaching into my bag, I grabbed a pair of cuffs I’d also brought for the job. After climbing into bed beside her, I locked one cuff around her bound wrist and one over my wrist. She was a shifty bitch and couldn’t be trusted, which, oddly, only made me like her more.

Chapter Eight

~ Holly ~

Almost immediately when I woke up, I tried to pull my arm to myself, but found that it was attached to a 200 pound dead weight in the bed next to me. Cracking open my eyes, I blinked him into focus, studying the features of his face before looking down to admire the strong cut of his muscles along his chest and abdomen. He still had his jeans on and I was thankful for that. Memories of the night before flooded my thoughts and a small shiver ran along my skin to remember the three fucking orgasms the man had forced through me.

No. I don’t feel shame for what I did and if you want to judge me for it, you need to take a look in the mirror and think of your own transgressions in life before you do. When you grow up in a MC, it isn’t easy to forget that women have a strange hold over men. I’ve seen too many fucking fights over some club bitch that wanted to play the brothers against each other. Men can’t use their brain when their blood is in their cock and I was attempting to take advantage of that fact with JD. It didn’t matter that I hated him. I ended up hating every other man after I’d fucked him, I didn’t see the difference in hating the man beforehand either. It just saved me the in-between part and the heartache of being betrayed in some way.

Unfortunately, however, it didn’t work. Even drunk and freshly fucked, he wasn’t stupid enough to untie me.

My bladder screamed suddenly and I rolled over wishing I could go to the bathroom. Rolling back in his direction, I tried to hold it, but the more I moved, the worse it became. Within minutes I was squeezing my legs together, terrified that something was going to slip out. Not able to take it any longer, I reached over and shook him. He groaned and raised his hand like he was swatting away a fly. I shook him again and on the second try, I got him to say some mumbled phrase that wasn’t exactly English. My bladder screamed again and that was it, I slapped him on the shoulder. “Wake up!”

He stood up almost immediately, his cuffed wrist dragging me across the bed with him. I reached out to grab the blanket to keep from landing on the floor. It didn’t work and when I hit the carpet, a little bit of pee trickled out and I yelped when my shoulder was slammed into the ground.

“Fuck, JD! Stop!”

He looked down at me, comprehension settling into his eyes about where he was. Sitting down, he scowled down on me, bringing his free hand to rub at his eyes. “What the fuck, Munch? You don’t wake a man up by hitting him. I was about to swing on your little ass.”

My feet were still tied to the base of the bed, so I was half lying on the ground with my legs held up and hooked over the mattress. “Could you please cut me loose? I seriously need to pee. I’m about to piss all over the fucking carpet!”

He laughed as he stared down at me and the sound was rough from sleep. His hair stuck out in all directions. When he smiled, the corner of his mouth crinkled, a small dimple flashing on his cheek. He had a boy-like quality to him that would be deceiving if you didn’t know the son of a bitch that he really was.

“Well, I don’t know. Looks like you got yourself into another fucked up situation. I’m not sure I should help you out.” Even rough from sleep, his voice was a gentle growl, laced at the edges with humor. I wanted to fucking slap him for still being able to sound hot as fuck when he was making fun of me.

“Please, JD. I’m about to blow. I’m not kidding.”

Maybe it was the pained expression on my face or maybe it was the fact that I was in a position that forced me to let go of my bitchy attitude towards him, but he didn’t argue again. Reaching down, he pulled me back up to the mattress before climbing off to retrieve his knife while still holding his one arm in my direction where we were bound together with cuffs. When he turned back around he laughed to see me lying stock-still and perfectly straight, doing everything I could to not lose control of my bladder.

By the time he’d unlocked the cuffs and cut the tethers at my feet, I eased myself off the mattress and high-tailed it into the bathroom, but when I went to shut the door a large hand reached out, preventing the door from closing.

Sitting down on the seat I looked up at a 6’4” biker with his arms crossed over his chest, leaning up against the opposite wall.

“Oh, hell no, JD! Get the fuck out so I can use the bathroom!” I was practically screaming at this point. There was no way I was going to pee in front of him. I had a shy bladder and it hurt more to know I was in an area where I could pee yet couldn’t let loose because of the extra person in the room.

“Nope. Sorry, Munch. I’m staying. Hurry up and pee and then we’ll walk out of here.” He was grinning as he spoke and I jumped when my bladder started to let loose regardless of his presence. My eyes closed out of irritation and the cramping in my abdomen was starting to resemble a stabbing pain. I had to go with or without the asshole standing in front of me.

When I’d finished, I was absolutely mortified. Sure, I have no problem fucking the guy, but somehow that felt less personal than having to pee in front of him.

Standing up, I wordlessly followed him into the other room and sat down on the bed watching as he packed up miscellaneous clothes and random stuff scattered throughout the room.

“Where are we going?” My words came out on a bare whisper. I was too afraid of finding out what he planned to do with me.

He half smiled in response, but his expression quickly returned to something bleak and angry within seconds. “I thought I told you it didn’t matter.”

“It’s my life. It matters to me.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, he froze. He didn’t look up at me, just stopped shoving things in the bag for a few moments before suddenly coming to life again and continuing packing up. “You’re going to Diablo’s. Gunner will pick you up from there.”

“Gunner? So you are with Hell’s Rebellion. Why the fuck would Big John send Gunner? This isn’t a job for a VP. Who the fuck is Diablo?”

“You don’t know when to shut up, do you?” He finally looked up at me, pain hidden behind the amber color of his eyes. After placing his bag down on the chair, he took a step towards me. Reaching out, he grabbed the rope tied around my wrists and pulled me into him. The heat of his body rolled over my breasts and I sucked in a breath, suddenly remembering how this man could make me feel. I still hated him, but I was cursed with a body that didn’t care what my mind thought. If he could make me feel good, I wanted him.

A long sigh escaped his lips before he said, “I’m going to tell you this because it might save your life. The men you are going to see have it out for your daddy…”

I looked up at him instantly, my eyes wide with shock. What the fuck had my father done that would make Hell’s Rebellion want me? They used to be friends, partners even, before Torch died. Even after Big John took over, the two clubs had always been on somewhat friendly terms.

“I don’t understand.”

“Ever since the Saint died, your daddy’s been doing some crazy shit. He’s been making deals that he couldn’t pay and having people killed that didn’t deserve to die.” His hand reached up and smoothed the hair away from my face. “I’m afraid there’s a bounty on your head, beautiful. So, I’m kind of glad it was me that got to you first. Two cartels and another club are looking for you as well.”

I was completely silent as I attempted to process what he was telling me. “So what are they going to do with me?” I looked down at his chest, my eyes focused on his tan skin as I attempted to hide the tears that started to fall.

He sighed again, letting go of me and walking back towards his bag. “Use you as bait. Their issue isn’t with you. It’s with the Joker. Most likely, he’ll have to pick you up personally if he wants you back.”

Tears fell harder. Normally I wasn’t the type to cry, but his words were a punch to the chest. I didn’t know what hurt worse: the thoughts of how I was going to be tortured and killed or the fact that, regardless of what they did to me, my father wouldn’t care enough to show up. My father didn’t give a shit about me. I was the worst choice for bait.

“So what will they do with me if he doesn’t show?” My words were spoken so low that even I could barely hear what I’d said. I didn’t think I’d said them loud enough for him to hear and I decided not to repeat my question. It hurt too much to ask.

Seconds passed, thick silence wrapping around us and filling the room. I watched him zip up the bag and throw it on the bed. He looked at me, long and hard, a grimace spreading over his lips. “That isn’t up to me. But I doubt the Joker is going to let his little girl get killed.”

And there was the stab to the stomach.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“’Cause you asked and because you might live through this if you learn to keep your fucking mouth shut.” His feet hit heavily against the floor as he marched up to me and tilted my face up with his hand. “You know the life and the players, Munch. I’ve been a hell of a lot nicer than most of the brothers in the club. You can’t expect them to be as nice as me.”

I laughed, a tiny burst of sound that escaped my throat before I could stop it. “You’ve hit me, you’ve left me trapped in a hot car, you’ve ripped off my clothes and you’ve fucked me…”

“Exactly.” The corner of his mouth quirked. “I was being nice.”

Letting go of my chin, he walked over to his bag, opening it again to pull out a black shirt. “Speaking of which, you need to be wearing something when we leave here. Your shorts and underwear are still in one piece but we need to cover up those tits. It will be impossible for someone not to notice us if those beauties are on display. He threw the shirt to me, but it just slid to the ground. I held up my bound wrists to remind him.

“Well, that appears to be a problem. It’s too bad I can’t trust you enough to remove them.” In two steps, he was in front of me, bending down to grab the shirt. When he stood up, he slipped it over my head, leaving it loose over my arms. “There, we’ll just pretend you were cold so you tucked your arms in.”

When he motioned for me to sit on the bed, I did as instructed. He picked up my underwear and shorts then slipped them over my legs. I stood up when he reached my hips, allowing him to button the shorts in place. Craning my neck, I looked up at him, noticing how the black waves in his chin length hair framed his face. His amber eyes locked to mine and we stared at each other for seconds, neither of us moving or talking. Our faces were so close that our breath was comingling. I was pleading with him to let me go and he was apologizing that he wouldn’t. I didn’t think he wanted to harm me and I wondered if I would be able to convince him to let me go.

As suddenly as his eyes had met mine, they were turned away. Clearing his throat he said, “Well, you’re dressed. Guess we should get out of here.”

Throwing the bag over his shoulder, he pointed to tell me to go stand by the door. After a few seconds, I felt his arm come around me to unlock the door and the barrel of his gun pushed into the center of my spine.

Chapter Nine

~ JD ~

Getting to the truck was no problem and within five minutes we were back on the road headed towards Diablo’s. I didn’t like the idea of taking her with me. Diablo was a nasty sonofabitch who was known for the fucked up ways he killed the people who crossed him. Nothing was sacred with that man. I’d heard stories about what was left after he caught up to you. He skinned men alive or cut them up using chainsaws, feet first and working his way up. From what’s been said, Diablo liked to make sure the death was as slow and painful as possible.

I hoped the Joker hadn’t fucked over Diablo like he had everybody else. I doubted it because Dominion MC was more into guns than they were into drugs. That’s what made them such perfect partners with Hell’s Rebellion over the years. Nobody was encroaching on the other’s territory, yet they could make referrals back and forth that could be trusted. Telling myself that there was no way Big John would send me over with Holly if there was bad blood between Joker and Diablo, I was able to convince myself to keep driving.

“So, you know they’re going to hurt me, right? I mean, even if they let me go when they get to my dad, they’re going to do stuff to me while they have me.”

Her voice was so small, her face turned to look out the passenger side window as we drove. The sun had just risen above the desert and the large rocks were bathed in a brilliant red.