“Yep.” When I started walking to the door, she asked, “Are we going to your room at the clubhouse?”
“No.”
“Then, where are we going?”
“My place.”
“But I thought—”
“We’re going to my place, but only for tonight,” I explained. “Tomorrow, we’ll be going to Billy’s.”
“Wait... Who’s Billy?”
“The man who is going to put an end to all your troubles.”
Maybe it was curiosity or just plain fear, but she didn’t respond. Instead, she simply stood up, grabbed the rest of her bags, and followed me outside. We locked the door, then made our way out to the truck. After we tossed her things in the back, she walked over to the passenger side door and got in. Again, she said nothing as she buckled her seatbelt and stared out the front window. I got in next to her and started the truck. I’d just backed out of the driveway when Parker muttered, “You know, just because we had sex doesn’t mean you have to do all this. It was just sex. It wasn’t a big deal. You can just take me to my car, and we...”
“I’m doing all this because I want to—not because I have to.” I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, then added, “And as far as the sex goes, it was fucking incredible, but it can’t happen again.”
“Ohh-kayy?” A puff of air slipped through her lips. “I didn’t realize it was such an issue, but if you don’t want to, we certainly don’t have to.”
“Didn’t say I didn’t want to. I said it couldn’t happen again.”
“Same difference, but whatever.”
There was no way I could explain how bad I wanted to fuck her again. Hell, it was all I could do to keep myself from pulling that fucking truck over and having her right then and there. That was the problem. I needed to keep my head in the fucking game, not on getting in her fucking pants again. It was the only way I’d be able to keep her alive. I didn’t bother saying anything more. There wasn’t any point dwelling on something neither of us could change.
When we pulled up to my place, I got out and started collecting Parker’s things. She, on the other hand, remained in the SUV. I closed the back, and when I came back around, she turned to me with a gaping mouth. “This is your house?”
“Yeah.” I chuckled at her reaction. “You seem surprised.”
“Just a little.” She got out of the truck and closed the door, then stood frozen at the front of the truck as she studied my two-story colonial with its wrap-around porch. I’d had a decent amount of work done on the place, but it still needed a good bit more—a fresh coat of paint for starters. Parker didn’t seem to notice the areas that were peeling or the untouched yard as we climbed up the front steps. “It’s really nice, Menace. Like really, really nice.”
As I unlocked the front door, I asked her, “What? You expected me to live in a dive or something?”
“No, not at all. It’s just really beautiful... and big.” Parker was all wide-eyed as she stepped inside the house and took a quick glance around. “Do you live here alone?”
“Yep.” She followed me as I carried her things down the hallway to the guest room. I dropped her things on the bed, then turned to her and said, “We’ll head out at seven in the morning.”
“Why so early?”
“We have a stop to make on the way.” As I continued out of the room, I told her, “Let me know if you need anything.”
Without saying anything more, I forced myself out of the room and closed the door behind me. It wasn’t easy. I wanted nothing more than to throw her on the bed and spend the night fucking her senseless, but I swallowed back that all-consuming need and continued down the hall to my room. After I packed a bag, I took a shower and got into bed. We had a long day ahead. I needed to get some sleep, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw her—arching her back and moaning my name, begging for more as I fucked her over and over again. Knowing Parker was just a few feet away wasn’t helping matters. Hell, my cock stood at attention as I lay there and stared up at the fucking ceiling. Damn, it was going to be a long fucking night.
Parker
When I told Menace the truth about my past, I thought he’d freak out and send me on my way, especially after he’d heard about the Brants, but he didn’t. To my surprise, he seemed even more adamant about helping me. I thought I’d found my knight in shining armor, but when we pulled up to the federal prison, I was beginning to think I had this thing with Menace all wrong.
Acting like it was no big deal, Menace pulled up to the guard at the gate and announced, “We’re here to see Dalton James.”
“Name?”
“I’m Jared Hughes, and this is Aubrey Cash.”
“You got identification?”
“We do.” Menace grabbed his wallet and pulled out his driver’s license, then waited as I did the same. I was more than a little nervous about giving the guard my fake ID, but Menace had left me no choice. “Here ya go.”
I held my breath as the guard gave them the once over, then offered them back to Menace. “You can pull through.”
Without responding, Menace buzzed up his window and drove through the gate, then parked in the front lot beside the entrance. When he shut off the ignition, I turned to him and asked, “What are we doing here?”
“I got someone I need to see.”
“Yeah, I figured that much.” It was moments like these when I wanted to ring Menace’s neck. He knew exactly what I was asking, but he was skirting around the answer. So, I pushed, “Who is Dalton James?”
“He’s one of my brothers.”
“One of your brothers is in jail?”
“Yeah, but it’s not like what you might think.”
“Then, what’s it like?”
As we headed inside, Menace told me about Dalton and his sister, and how she’d called him after her boyfriend attacked her. There was no missing the anguish in Menace’s voice as he gave me the details of what ensued after Dalton and the boyfriend got into a heated exchange. He described how they’d fought and fought hard. A grimace crossed his face as he told me about the final blow that sent the boyfriend sailing. He ended up hitting his head on the edge of the coffee table, killing him instantly. By the time we reached security, Menace went on about the trial and explained how he’d gone to see Dalton as often as possible. Hearing him talk was the distraction I needed to keep from freaking out over the numerous armed guards. It seemed like it took an eternity for them to get through all the paperwork and IDs, but we finally made our way into the visiting area.
We hadn’t been sitting there long when one of the prisoners started walking in our direction. By the way Menace told the story, I was expecting Dalton to be an average Joe kind of guy, but there was nothing average coming in our direction. This guy was huge with muscles bulging from the short sleeves of his orange jumpsuit and fierce green eyes that pierced straight through you. He was a force to behold, making me feel more than a little intimidated when he sat down at the table and glared at me like I was encroaching on his territory. “Who’s this?”