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  Chloe sighed. “So… Perhaps I overreacted a little when you asked if I was crazy.”

  Susan was frozen. She didn’t even blink.

  Now it just gets awkward. “All I’m saying is that maybe you should be a little more empathetic to others’ problems. Keep opinions to yourself. Otherwise, hope your tongue will be okay.”

  Chloe turned and walked away—quickly. Just as she swung around, she saw a woman near the exit. Dark skin. Beautiful face. The same woman from last night at the Whiskey Lick Her. Once again, an evil smile curved her lips. Chloe took a step in her direction and the woman hurried out of the exit. She set her tray aside and followed, but by the time she’d reached the hallway, the woman had disappeared. Unsettled, Chloe made a beeline back to her tray of food, although she wasn’t hungry anymore.

  * * * *

  Romeo had stared after her as Chloe had left his room, a ball of energy that he wasn’t sure how to approach. Or capture. Did he want to capture her? Dax appeared with a mug of coffee in each hand. He held one out and Romeo took it, grateful to sip the hot brew.

  “I found out Chloe’s supplier,” Dax said.

  Romeo waited, instinctively knowing that this would change everything. “How’d you do that?”

  “I gave her an orgasm.”

  Romeo had taken another drink of coffee and managed not to choke at Dax’s calm statement.

  “I didn’t fuck her. I used my mouth.”

  “O…kay.”

  “I figured we have to be honest with each other if we’re going to have a relationship with her.”

  Romeo carefully set his cup on the nightstand. No way did he want to be holding scalding coffee as they talked about being in a ménage relationship. “Wait. I just met the chick. Who said we want a relationship with her?”

  Dax pursed his lips, and that’s when Romeo knew there was something he was missing. And that he might not like that missing something. He folded his arms and waited.

  “She’s Yakuza.”

  Romeo blinked. “Come again?”

  “Her grandfather is head of some branch of the Japanese mafia. So we get in bed with her, uh, yeah, we’re in a relationship. Probably for life.”

  Somehow, without even having sex, he’d fallen into a three-way relationship. For a second, Romeo’s brother, Branch, floated through his mind and he made a mental note to call him for advice. And following on the heels of that thought was the realization that he had no business thinking about a relationship when someone was threatening his club and killing his Brothers.

  “That doesn’t matter right now,” he said. “I can’t really concentrate on her offer when there’s a threat breathing down our necks. Babyface, Drifter, Candy Box. The girls. I don’t know who’s targeting us, but I won’t back down from their offense.”

  “Good,” Dax said with a nod.

  “Everything came into crystal clarity last night, Dax. More than likely from the morphine, but I realized somewhere along the line what I want for this club.”

  “And what’s that?”

  Romeo stood, suddenly so full of nervous energy he couldn’t sit still. He swung his arms around, gesturing in the air. “There are clubs in Omaha, in Kansas City, but we are here in Bair. There isn’t anyone around with our geographic accessibility. I mean, sure, those clubs could do runs up and down Interstate 80 but we’re here. Does that make sense?”

  Dax shook his head no.

  Romeo waved it away. “Never mind. The Men of Hell have the means to be great. Not just a small group of bikers running meth, but a club that lets others know not to fuck with us.”

  “Are you sure we want to get on the ATF and FBI radars?” Dax asked. “We’re small time, easily dismissed, but if we make a play for a larger piece of the pie, we’re going to have a lot of people breathing down our necks, and that includes the other one percenters who may not be happy with our expansion plans.”

  Romeo shook his head. “I want every bastard out there who thinks the Men of Hell can be taken down one by one to know that we are fierce motherfuckers who won’t hesitate to kill to protect.”

  “And just how do you intend for that to happen? We need contacts, money… Actual product.”

  “I know.” Romeo frowned, thinking fast. “Maybe we do need a relationship after all. Chloe’s connections are convenient.”

  “Just think about this, Rome. Be very sure this is the path you want to take.”

  Romeo searched Dax’s impassive face. “You not on board?”

  Slowly, Dax shook his head. “That’s not what I said. You’re my president and my best friend. I will support you no matter what.”

  Romeo held up his fist and Dax bumped it with his.

  “But… Maybe I should tell you the rest of Chloe’s story,” Dax said.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The second surgery Chloe was scheduled to assist in went smoothly and she finished early. Chloe clocked out, showered then dressed in a clean pair of scrubs before heading out for the day. As she approached her car, she again got the weird sense of being watched. She halted by her Mercedes to look around.

  The parking lot was half empty, but she noticed someone sitting in a dark SUV, observing her. Chloe took off her sunglasses and saw that it was the woman again. Unease solidified into outright suspicion, but just as she took a few steps in her direction, ready to hash out why the bitch was tailing her, the SUV started up and took off. Chloe watched it leave, more than aware of the irony of having a stalker.

  As she turned back to her car, she thought of the Whiskey Lick Her. Preliminary speculation had been a gas line leak, but what if…? Shit, what if the woman was somehow responsible? Hadn’t she read somewhere that an arsonist usually came back to the fire scene to see their handiwork? So what if this person was following Chloe around because she was waiting for something to happen?

  Chloe looked at her car. Was there a bomb on it somewhere, ready to detonate if she started it? Or had she seen The Pelican Brief one too many times?

  Still, paranoid or not, Chloe suddenly had no desire to ever start her engine. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and dialed Romeo.

  “Yeah?” he greeted.

  “It’s Chloe,” she said. “Can you come to the hospital and pick me up?”

  “Why?”

  “I just need a ride. Can you or should I contact a cab? Do they even have cabs here in Bair?”

  He sighed. “No. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

  “Great! I’m in the parking lot.”

  He disconnected without another word. She walked away and for twenty minutes, she simply stared at her vehicle. She felt vulnerable. Stressed. Slightly anxious. All because of the woman, and Chloe did not like this self-reflection one little bit.

  Romeo pulled the truck he had borrowed next to her and she hopped into the passenger seat.

  “What happened?” Romeo asked. “What’s wrong with your car?”

  “I don’t trust it,” she said.

  “Is something wrong with the engine?”

  She shook her head. “Last night there was a woman in the crowd, not a speck of soot on her, and she wore this proud-mommy grin,” Chloe said. “This morning I felt like I was being followed even though I never saw a tail. Then I noticed the same woman in the cafeteria and I swore she was in an SUV, watching me after work. When I tried to approach it, she sped off, but suddenly I got this feeling like I shouldn’t start the Mercedes.”

  “What did this woman look like?”

  “Black. Beautiful. Pissed off.”

  He frowned. “Shit.”

  “What? Do you know her?”

  “A whore, working in the Whiskey Lick Her. She gave me a blow job then ended up punching me in the nuts.”

  “What? Did she have a death wish or something?”

  Romeo snorted. “I don’t hit women. Ever. Although I almost went against my beliefs that night. I fired her.”

  “Seems a little extreme to kill a man over that type of vendett
a.”

  “Yeah,” he said. He brought out his cell phone from his cut and dialed a number. “It doesn’t fit. I’ll send Wrench over to take a look and make sure your ride isn’t booby trapped.”

  “Some part of me knows that’s ridiculous,” she murmured. “I mean, cars don’t blow up like in the movies.”

  “No, they don’t usually blow up,” he agreed. “Unless there’s a bomb on them.”

  She frowned at him. “I’m trying to be optimistic here.”

  He grinned. He talked in low tones into his phone and hung up moments later. She assumed her sedan would be taken care of. As he drove out of the parking lot, he made a right instead of a left, and she looked questioningly at him.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I thought we could talk, away from the noise of the clubhouse.”

  “Away from Dax?”

  “Him too. He and I talked earlier, about a lot of things.”

  Oh, boy…

  * * * *

  “Dax told me about your grandfather,” Romeo said as he drove. He didn’t look at her.

  “I suspected he would.”

  “Grew up with the Yakuza, huh?”

  She shrugged. “It sounds scarier than it was. Did he tell you everything?”

  “Yeah.”

  She bit her lip. “Where are we going?”

  Romeo turned onto one of the residential streets. “Wheels’ house.”

  “Wheels. Your mentor?”

  “That’s one way to describe him. Hold on.”

  He turned a few streets until he pulled into the driveway of a rather nondescript ranch-style house made entirely of red brick. The overgrown yard and drooping bushes spoke of neglect.

  “I just made a mental note to have Hawg come over and take care of things,” he said. “This place is starting to look a little old.”

  “It’s nice,” Chloe said.

  He snorted. “It’s suburbia.”

  “Hardly. I grew up in suburbia.”

  “Wheels left me his house when he died, but I never had any desire to move into it. I like living at the clubhouse.”

  “Then why don’t you sell it?”

  “Because it was Wheels’ house.” He opened his door and hopped out of the cab. He didn’t wait for Chloe to follow, although he was very aware that she’d jumped out of the truck and trailed him.

  He unlocked the front door and stepped inside. A mustiness hung in the air and her cute little nose wrinkled at the smell. He moved through the house, turned on lights and opened windows. Slowly, the old air dissipated.

  “You still pay utilities?” she asked.

  He shrugged, not bothering to answer. How could he explain how he needed to keep something of Wheels going?

  Chloe walked through the house looking at all the knick-knacks and odds and ends that Wheels had collected. The old man had been a procurer of things, all sorts of things from pictures to figurines to taxidermy animals and beer steins. The walls were covered with that shit, as was every available surface.

  “Was Wheels married?” she asked.

  “No. His only family was the club. Why?”

  “Well, I would’ve loved to have set him up with whoever decorated the break room at the hospital,” she said thoughtfully. “I have a feeling they were soulmates.”

  “Wheels died in that hospital,” he said softly. “Heart attack.”

  “I’m sorry,” she replied.

  He heard the sincerity in her voice.

  “You were close with him.” It wasn’t a question but he nodded anyway.

  “Yeah.” He walked over to a camouflage-covered recliner and sat. “My father was a nomad, and after playing house for two years in Wyoming, he left his son and baby mama to come here. He and Wheels were friends. He hooked up with another club girl and eventually he knocked her up with me. They both stuck around until I turned thirteen. That’s when they decided they didn’t want to be parents anymore.”

  “I was thirteen when I killed my mother.”

  She held his gaze, but he didn’t flinch at her words. When Dax had told him her story, he couldn’t imagine what she’d lived through. How her soul had survived such trauma. Maybe that was why she grabbed at idealistic scenarios with strange men.

  “Why me, Chloe?”

  She cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

  “Why do you want me?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, shrugging self-consciously. “I read the report about you and…it just clicked in my brain.”

  “You saw my picture. Were you attracted to my looks? Was thinking I was attractive part of this fantasy you built about me?”

  “Not all of it, no.”

  “You’re trying to tell me that if I’d been butt-ugly you would still have pursued me?”

  She sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Probably not. But there is a connection, Romeo.”

  “Chloe, look at me.”

  “I am looking at you.”

  “No, look at me,” he said and thumped his chest. “Not as a sexual object, or even a romantic one. Look at the man. Look at who I am. I’m not this perfect man you’ve made me out to be. Hell, up until the moment I killed Shepard, I thought my life was one big fucking party. Drinking. Pussy. If I wanted to escape, I had plenty of vices to take me away. But now, when I get five minutes to myself, damned if guilt doesn’t try to consume me.”

  “You’ll burn out, Romeo.”

  “Do I look like a fucking hero to you, Chloe?”

  “Yes,” she said. There was no hesitation at all in her tone or her demeanor.

  He couldn’t stop the growl and jumped from the chair to march over to her. “I’m just a man!”

  “I see the man,” she replied. “And I see the fucked-up mess. I see your indecision. Why do you think you’re not good enough?”

  “Because… Because I don’t want to fuck up! Wheels decided to step down and he looked at me to step up, and God damn it, I couldn’t. Shepard stepped in and fucked the club. That makes me the biggest goddamn pussy—”

  “No. It makes you human.”

  “See? That’s all I am, Chloe. Human.”

  “I know.”

  She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, he saw raw honesty shining from the depths of her dark gaze.

  “The first man I ever…obsessed over was my bodyguard. I was eighteen and he was forty-five. He saw me as a child and I saw him as someone who needed me. It felt so good to be wanted. He’s the one who taught me to shoot. Taught me to fight. One night, I seduced him, although, I realize now, having sex with a teenager must have been his fantasy come to life, so I hesitate to use that word. Anyway, I thought he loved me. I began dreaming of him, which led to following him. Fantasizing about a life with him. I took pictures of him when he wasn’t looking and framed them on my wall. He was my bodyguard almost twenty-four seven, except once a month he’d go home. And that’s when I found out the truth.”

  “You followed him home?”

  She nodded. “I discovered he had a wife. Children. I thought he needed me, and I came to find out he was just using me. I had a little meltdown. My grandfather put me back into the hospital and either fired or killed the bodyguard. I got on meds and back out into the world I went. I moved away from my grandfather. Tried to hide from his reach. He doesn’t know I’m here, that I came looking for you. But when he does, he’s going to tell you how fucked up I am. How I’m looking for a daddy replacement. But that’s not it at all.”

  With his one good arm, he grabbed her hand and linked their fingers together. “Then what is it?”

  “When I read your file, it dawned on me that maybe you would be the one person who could understand I’m not crazy.”

  Her head bowed and the utter look of defeat wasn’t one he expected to see, not from her. She was too fierce for this type of insecurity. He admired her for her gumption, because it took a lot of guts to move to a town simply because of a photograph and a feeling.

  He pul
led her against his body. When she looked up at him, he placed his lips on her mouth and breathed into the kiss. When Chloe moaned, he slid his tongue inside. Hot. Wet. Lust punched him in the gut.

  When the kiss ended, Romeo looked down at her flushed face. “I want you, Chloe. I want to fuck you until you scream my name in pleasure.”

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  He planted his lips upon hers again, licking them until her own tongue darted out, meeting his. She kissed him back, running her hands up his chest to encircle his neck. She was such a tiny thing that he stood almost bent in half. He went to touch her, but the damn sling got in his way, so with a muffled curse, he shrugged the damn thing off. Pain lanced through his arm and he winced, but he didn’t give a shit about his arm right then. All he wanted, all that kept streaming through his head, was the need to sink inside her body and burn this craving he had for her.

  He slid his tongue down her neck, licking and sucking on the tender skin until she panted. Her scrubs were loose so it was easy for his hand to slide up under the top to cup her lace-covered breast. She moaned and arched her back, so he swept the material up and over her head, then she reached behind her and deftly unfastened her bra. He shimmied it down her arm then took a moment to admire her trim little body. Her tits might be on the small side, but her pebbled nipples were ripe little berries begging to be sucked.

  He drew one turgid point into his mouth, rolling the nub between his teeth. His arm protested as he slid it around her waist, but he ignored it to pull her more firmly against him. The lust that pumped heavily through his veins trumped everything else as he lifted her up and walked her to the wall. Romeo used it to help hold her up, one hand traveling down to grip the back of one of her thighs to allow him to snuggle in the cradle of her sex. She curled her leg around his back, and his cock hardened even more, wanting inside her tight, hot body. He gripped her ass, drawing her closer.

  Chloe cupped his face, bringing his lips back to hers. Their tongues met, intertwined passionately. Romeo wrapped her long black hair into his hand, making a fist, holding her head still. She panted at the small bite of pressure he exerted. At her whimper, his dick jumped, wanting inside her so fucking bad. Foreplay was going to have to wait because he couldn’t seem to hold back. What the hell was she doing to him?