Stain (King's Harlots MC Book 2) (37 page)

Talking amongst themselves, Agent Smith glanced my way every so often. I wasn’t sure exactly what he thought I could tell him. Asher knew more so I had hoped he would be able to give the Feds what they were looking for. If we could bring even a brick of this organization down, the rest would crumble in time.

***

(Asher)

“Tell me how Tyler Bone or T-Bone contacted you? Has he been in on this the whole time? Have you ever run into him before?”

The questions hit me over and over. Agent Smith didn’t waste any time. I was holed up in the hospital with Meeka at my side, trying with everything in me not to drive my fist through the man’s face.

“Can you wait to ask questions?” Meeka placed her hands on her hips.

“No,” he gave her a once-over, lifted his chin, and focused back on me.

Dick
.

“Tyler didn’t contact me.” I told the Agent how Tyler showed up at the mansion. I also mentioned the fight between him and Angel and how Coby and I went to his place to force him to drop his shit. And that was when Charles was there.

“So you had no idea that Tyler was working with Charles?” Agent Smith raised an eyebrow.

“No. I told you that,” I huffed, sitting forward and winced through the onslaught of agony in my side. “I don’t know shit. I’m tired. Hungry as hell. And I would like to spend these last couple of minutes with my girlfriend before we’re separated for questioning.” And I wanted to fuck her. God, did I ever want to. I wanted to hold her and never let her go. The urge to mark her, to make every man aware that she belonged to me, was intense. Charles touched her. He laid his hands on her. My girl is strong but I can see the fear in her beautiful eyes. I needed to erase what Charles tried to take from her. I needed to bring my Meeka back to me.

“I’ll give you five,” the Agent mumbled and left the room.

“Asher.”

“Meeka.”

We spoke at the same time.

I laughed but a sharp pain shot up my back.
Fuck
.

Meeka only smiled, cupping my cheek. “I love you. I love you more than anything. Don’t worry about me.”

“I have to worry about you. Charles touched you. You were fucking—” I swallowed hard. “You were sold. He bought you.” I didn’t know where he was. Everything in me prayed that this was over. That we would be left alone. But I wasn’t stupid. It took more than us being kidnapped for—God, who knew how long we were gone—to bring him down.

“Asher?” Meeka’s forehead creased in the middle, a dark set of worry shadowing her gaze.

I didn’t know how to express my fear into words. Charles bought and paid for her. Fair and square in his eyes. But I knew my brothers. They had beat it into him that if he so much as breathed the same air as her, he would be skewered like a pig.

“I don’t know how long they will need to question us,” I grabbed her hand, pulling her down onto the bed beside me. “And I have no fucking idea how long they will keep us separated. The only thing I can ask is for you to tell them everything.”

She nodded. “I will.”

I had to ask. Something had been eating at me since we were taken. Just the mere thought of it, made the beast within raging with fury. “Meeka,” I growled, my voice harsher than I had intended.

Her eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”

Taking several deep breaths, I closed my eyes. It didn’t happen. It didn’t. It couldn’t have. Meeka was strong but even that would have broken her. “Did Charles …” I couldn’t say it, but that one word was on the tip of my tongue.

“Did Charles …” Her mouth formed a silent o.

“No.” She shook her head. “God, no.” She kissed me softly. “He didn’t hurt me. Not like that.”

A breath left me on a whoosh. It had been a fear I had been holding onto since her and I were taken a couple days before. I had come to learn that Charles had no intentions of keeping me alive. If I were him, I would have done the same thing. He didn’t need me. He only needed me to make Meeka break. Fortunately, it never came to that.

“What else happened?” I asked her, needing to know every single detail.

“I woke up in his room. He threatened me and had his girls clean me up.” She shivered. “It didn’t make sense. It still doesn’t. Why was Tyler there? What does he get out of it? Does he think Jay will take him back?”

“I don’t know,” I grumbled. “I don’t know anything. All I know is that there was a reason Tyler was there. He may have saved us but there is an underlying reason behind it. He’s not the type of man who gives without taking.”

Meeka scoffed. “Jay can vouch for that.”

As if she heard her name, Jay and the rest of the King’s Harlots made their way into the room. Much to Agent Smith’s dismay, his questions would have to wait.

Brogan came up to Meeka, wrapping her in a tight hug.

“Angel told us what happened,” Jay said, shifting her weight from foot to foot. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?” I asked. It wasn’t her fault we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because Charles wanted Meeka, I didn’t think it would matter where we were. He would get her no matter what. And I would kill him. I made that promise to myself as soon as I found out he had touched her.

Meeka touched me gently on the arm. “You’re growling.”

“Sorry,” I cleared my throat. “I can’t stop thinking about Charles buying you.”

Max gasped, shaking her head.

Brogan swore.

Jay stayed silent and immobile.

A soft knock sounded on the door. “Boss, that Agent is heading here to speak with Asher and Meeka,” Creena stated.

Jay nodded once. “We’ll meet you back at the clubhouse. I’m just glad you two are okay.” Much to Meeka’s surprise, Jay hugged her, not letting go for a couple of minutes. Soft whispers passed between them before Jay pulled back. “Let’s go.”

“Take care of each other,” Max said, her gaze sliding between us.

“We will,” we replied in unison.

And we would.

I SAW
him one last time before things ended.

Leaving my step-father alone in the alleyway, surrounded by boxes and garbage, the scene was made to believe that he was homeless. That someone had murdered him in his sleep and stolen what little property he had left.

A part of me stayed with him. The darkness that simmered inside of me since I was a small boy. Growing up, every shadow I saw reminded me of Elliott. The man who destroyed my innocence. Made me see things a young child shouldn’t see. Do things no human should be held accountable for.

Relief flooded through me. I should have felt guilty. I committed murder. Smiling to myself, I scratched the scruff on my jaw. But it was self-defence. He came at me with a knife. I would never say anything to get under his skin. In all of the years of training I had, one thing would stick with me forever. Get them to make the first move. And I did.

Pulling my phone out of my jacket pocket, I dialed the one person who could make anyone disappear. “It’s done.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew right then and there that I could spend the rest of my life being happy.

It was time to move on.

***

(Meeka)

It had been a week since I saw Asher. One-hundred-and-sixty-eight hours since I felt his touch and heard his deep voice. After everything went down at Charles’ mansion, I for sure thought he would make an appearance again. I didn’t know what happened when Vice-One left their mark on the guy. The screams of agony still haunted my nightmares. I was just thankful that we were okay and taken out of that hell. It could have been so much worse.

But I didn’t want to think about that. For whatever reason, Charles had been quiet. We still didn’t know who the front runner of the organization was. I had always assumed it was Charles but Asher made it clear that he was too much of a pussy to put something so powerful together.

“Meeka.” Brogan snapped her fingers in front of my face.

I blinked. “What?”

“I asked you when the last time you saw Asher was?”

“Oh.” I frowned, looking down at my folded hands in my lap. “Sorry. It’s been a week.” Way too damn long if you asked me. But Agent Smith refused for us to be together while he got all of his questions answered. I had only been holed up in that interrogation room for a couple of hours. With Asher, the agent was shoving his weight around and tried to intimidate him. But I knew it wouldn’t work.

“When are they releasing him?” Brogan asked, spinning on the stool and took a chug of her beer.

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“You would think with him being innocent and a victim, he would have been released days ago.” She shook her head. “The system fucking sucks.”

Yeah. It did.

As much as I missed Asher, at least I knew he was safe. But I wished we would find out what was going on with Charles. The guy just disappeared. He was needed to bring down the main hub of the sex crimes but how could that happen if we didn’t know where he was? A thought crossed my mind. Maybe I wasn’t told where he was to keep me safe. The less I knew, the better.

Squeezing the bridge of my nose, I breathed through the impending headache. The hairs on the back of my neck tingled. My body stiffened, sitting up straighter.

Before looking behind me, I met Brogan’s gaze.

She winked, smiling and jumped off the stool.

Turning around, I caught sight of the person who made every nerve ending on my body come alive.

Asher stood at the door, one arm in a cast and the other reaching out for me.

He didn’t even have to ask. I ran toward him, jumping into his arms.

He grunted, wrapping his good arm around my waist.

“Sorry,” I reigned kisses on his face, careful not to hurt his damaged arm again. “I missed you.”

He chuckled, kissing me back. “I missed
you
. A week is too fucking long.”

At that point, we were surrounded by everyone.

“I know you two just became reunited.” Angel clapped a hand on Asher’s shoulder. “But we need to sit down and talk.”

Asher nodded, grabbing hold of my hand, and led me to the largest booth in the club.

He sat, pulling me down beside him and waited.

My sisters, his brothers, everyone, joined us. Max and Dale, although they had their issues, were civil enough to focus on the main issue at hand. Angel and Jay had their own problems, but the past couple of weeks allowed them to work through whatever they had going on as well.

As I looked around the table, it was funny to me. There were five men and five women. We were being paired off. Life was unpredictable at times and this was one of those moments where I wished I knew what the outcome of our growing family would be.

***

(Asher)

“I told the Feds everything I know. I also told them that I will be medically discharged because of my mental health problems.” I took a deep breath, squeezing Meeka’s hand in mine. “I didn’t tell them about my step-father. They don’t need to know that shit.” My brothers had helped me clean up that mess anyway. And I knew Charles wouldn’t rat. He had too much riding on the line for him to say anything. If he did? I would deny it all. I killed my step-father. It was self-defense. I smirked to myself, pushing down that darkness that enjoyed watching the life leave his eyes.

“No one needs to know what happened,” Angel said, rapping his knuckles on the table top.

“We are your family, and we’ll keep that secret to our grave.” Stone’s words came out firm. “You can trust us.” Meaning I could trust him. We didn’t talk much. Hell, I hardly talked to any of them anymore. With being undercover for weeks, I wasn’t allowed on any missions. I met the new Colonel once. “I’m a shitty friend,” I blurted, the back of my neck heating.

“What are you talking about?” Dale asked, leaning forward in his chair.

“I don’t talk to you anymore. God, I sound like a fucking pussy,” I grumbled, scrubbing a hand down my face. “What I’m saying is, I haven’t been there when you needed me. You’re my family. The only family I have. After everything—” I swallowed hard. “I can’t thank you all enough for taking me in.” It had been a long time coming. I never thanked Angel for taking me under his wing. For showing me the ways of the Navy life. For giving me the chance no one else would. These guys were my brothers. And Meeka was my life.