Authors: Jenika Snow
“Hello?”
The deep, slightly gritty voice that came through the phone was most definitely
not a teenage boy’s, but a grown ass man’s.
Her
heart started beating faster, and she pulled the phone away from her ear to
look at the screen.
“Hello?
Who the hell is this calling me this fucking late?” the man said again.
She
stared at the screen, blinked a few times, and then saw the number and name
that was brightly lit on the screen.
Lucien Silver.
He
palms started to sweat, and her heart raced even faster. She had called the President
of the Brothers of Menace MC, a man that was frightening, lethal, and hurt men
with his bare hands when they crossed him. She had heard the rumors when she
had been listening in on around her father’s friends’ conversations, and even
then, knowing he crushed his enemies as easily as if they were gnats, she
wanted him. He was also the same man she had been crushing on since she was
twelve years old.
Oh
God, she didn’t know what to say even as she brought the phone back to her ear
and stated to breathe heavier.
“Are
you fucking kidding me?” he gritted out, his anger clearly coming through the
receiver.
She heard sheets rustling, and
then heard a woman speaking on the other end. God, he had been screwing someone
and she had interrupted. She could hang up and pretend like this never happened,
but he’d find out who had called him, and then all hell would break loose.
“You better fucking answer me right now, because I
can find out who this is easier than you think.”
Oh, she had no doubts about that. “I’m sorry, I
didn’t mean to—” She closed her eyes when a wave of nausea settled inside of
her. She did not want to pass out on this street corner, and maybe it was a
blessing that she had gotten Lucien. He’d help her, maybe even not tell her
father about this. “I’m sorry I called you. I didn’t mean to actually, but I
need someone to come get me.” Had he understood anything she had just said? It
sounded like a mumble of words to her?
“
Christ
,
is this Callie?”
Her pulse skyrocketed at hearing him say her name.
She had to be sick in the head to have any kind of sexual attraction for a man
that was in his forties, but she couldn’t help it.
“Yeah.”
She licked her dry lips. “It’s me, and I swear to God I didn’t mean to call
you.”
“Fucking hell, Callie, are you drunk?” He may have
phrased it as a question, but she could tell in his voice that he knew she was.
She was slurring her words for fuck’s sake, and couldn’t even see straight
anymore.
“Can you come get me?” She heard him curse and then
heard the sound of more rustling. “Please don’t tell my dad.”
“Fuck, Callie.
Goddammit.”
He was stringing out curses now. “Where are you?”
She rattled off the address of where the party was,
and told him she would be a few blocks down from there on a bench. She hoped he
could find her with those shitty directions.
“Don’t move, Callie. Do you understand me?”
“Yeah.”
She leaned back on the bench and felt her stomach tighten again.
“I mean it, don’t you fucking move.” He breathed out
roughly. “Is there anyone with you right now?”
“No.” God, her stomach felt like shit.
“Fucking hell, Callie.
Okay, go somewhere that is discreet and wait for me, okay?”
She blinked back the dizziness, and nodded, but then
realized he couldn’t see her. “There isn’t anyone around with me, Lucien, and
this neighborhood is not good. I’m probably safest under this light, or if I
try and walk back to the party.”
God, did he understand any of that, because she sure
didn’t. The reality was even if he told her to go back to the party she didn’t
know if she would make it without either passing out on her damn face, or
getting mugged.
“Dammit.” He cursed again, and then once more, and
then she heard a door open and close. The sound of a car starting came through
the receiver, and she couldn’t help but feel this wave of relief pass through
her. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, and if someone tries to mess with you I
want you to fucking kick their ass, and worry later. But I want to stay on the
phone with you until then, okay?”
She nodded, but of course the sound of her phone
beeping because the battery was dying came through. “Okay, but my battery is
going to die.”
“Of course it fucking is.” He seemed to mumble under
his breath. “Stay on the phone with me until it does, Callie.”
She only managed to stay on the phone for another
five minutes before her phone died. She shoved the now worthless electronic in
her skirt pocket, which was a hell of a lot harder than it sounded, and leaned
back on the bench. She stared at the house across the street. It was rundown,
debilitated, and reminded her sometimes of how she felt on the inside. She
didn’t know how close Lucien was, but she hoped it was closer than the thirty
minute hike her dad had to make. She just hoped Lucien didn’t tell Kink,
because if her dad found this out, or found out she had called the President of
his MC, he would go fucking ballistic.
Chapter Four
Lucien should have called Kink right away when he
got off the phone with her, but dammit he hadn’t been thinking about anything
else aside from getting to Callie and making sure she was okay. Kink was surely
going to shit bricks when he found out his little girl was piss ass drunk and
sitting alone at some fucking bus stop.
Lucien had just kicked the woman he had picked up at
the club to fuck out of his house, thrown on a pair of jeans and a shirt, and
gotten the hell out of there. Callie’s mom lived about half an hour from River
Run, and the address Callie gave him wasn’t too far off from there. He turned
onto the street where Callie should be seventeen minutes later. To say he had
hauled ass to get to her was an understatement. When he scanned the sidewalks
with his gaze and couldn’t see any sign of her. But then this heavy knot formed
in his gut, and that dread intensified when he saw that there were two thug
looking guys sitting beside her on the bench. Anger the likes of which rivaled
his fieriest emotion came forth like a damn tank.
He pulled the truck to stop hard enough that he
heard the tires squeal on the pavement. The two guys looked over at him, but
Lucien was already out of the truck and storming over to where Callie sat. She
was leaning over the side of the bench, and he could see she had been sick.
“You two, get the fuck out of here before I beat your assess,” Lucien growled
out, feeling like a beast was bursting forth from him at the thought that
Callie was being hurt. They might have been trying to help for all he knew, but
he wasn’t a damn fool enough to think that they had been trying to do anything
more than take advantage of her.
The guys stood, and these scowls covered their faces
in identical expressions. One of them, the bigger of the two, pulled out a
switchblade and pointed it at Lucien. “Old man, you better get out of here.
This isn’t your business, and people around here know when to keep driving.”
“Dude, he’s a fuckin’ beast,” the smaller of the
two,
and clearly the smarter one, muttered to his buddy. The
guy with the blade cursed at his friend.
Lucien stopped, feeling a twinge of amusement move
through him, but his rage was far more powerful. He had been in such a hurry
that he hadn’t even put his cut on, and clearly these boys didn’t know who they
were messing with. He didn’t respond, just reached behind him and pulled out
the gun he had tucked in the waistband at the small of his back right. He moved
toward them and pointed it at them. The way their eyes widened and the clear
fear that masked their expressions, pleased Lucien immensely. “How about this,
you keep moving, mind your own fucking business, and I won’t put a bullet in
both of your dicks.” He lowered the gun and pointed it at the crotch of the
bigger guy that had spoken. “Because I don’t think you two know who the fuck
you’re dealing with right now.”
Both guys held their hands up in surrender and took
off like the pussies they were. He tucked his gun in the back of his waistband
once more, and quickly made his way toward Callie. Crouching in front of her,
he pushed some of her dark hair away from her face and looked at her.
“Hey, you okay?”
She closed her eyes tightly and moaned. “No, but I
feel better now that I don’t have anything left in my stomach.”
“Those motherfuckers didn’t hurt you, did they?”
She shook her head. “No. They had just shown up a
couple minutes before you came. They were trying to get me to go with them to
their place.”
Lucien curled his free hand into a tight fist and
clenched his jaw hard enough he was surprised his teeth didn’t crack. She
slowly straightened, groaned out something about never drinking again, and he
couldn’t help but chuckle. “Honey, everyone says that when they feel like shit
from getting drunk, but they always go back.” He’d make sure she didn’t though,
because although he had been young once, and had been sicker than a damn dog
more times than he could even count, he sure as hell didn’t want her put in
this situation ever again. “We need to tell your dad though, because if he
finds out about this and it didn’t come from one of us…” He shook his head and
stared into her blue eyes. “Honey, he’ll fuckin’ lose it.”
She shook her head, closed her eyes and groaned, and
then slowly opened them again. “Please don’t tell him. I don’t think he needs
anymore crap thrown his way. He’s already stressed over my mom and the custody
thing, and this will just piss him off more.”
Yeah, she had a point, but this was the VP of the
club, and a man Lucien considered as close as a brother. “Come on, let’s just
get you in the truck and we can worry about the rest of this later.” Before she
could stand he had her in his arms and was striding toward the passenger side
door of his truck. Once he had her in the seat with the seatbelt over her, he
reached in the back and rummaged around for a bag. He set it on her lap, pushed
her hair away from her face again, and looked at her. Her eyes were closed, and
she was pale and clammy looking. Yeah, she’d be feeling this in the morning.
“If you feel like upchucking, do it in the bag.”
She nodded and mumbled something, and clutched the
bag closer. He moved back, saw the outfit she was wearing, and growled low in
his throat. She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him.
“Your mom let you out of the house dressed like a
club whore?” He hadn’t meant to be so crass with her, but why in the hell would
Sarah let her wear a mini skirt and tank top that showed way too much of her
chest?
Callie looked down at herself and then glanced at
him with narrowed yes. “Did you seriously just compare my clothes with those
skanks’ that walk around your club?”
She was young, but had a mouth on her that rivaled
the members of his MC.
“Besides, my clothes are fine, and my mom doesn’t
give a shit about what happens to me once I leave the house,” she said while
still staring at him. “She just likes giving my dad a hard time and being a
mega bitch.”
He chuckled at that. Lucien should get his ass in
the car and take her to Kink’s, but after yesterday and talking with the other
man and the bullshit he had tried to pull, Kink had been on a binge of booze,
fights at the barn, and taking women back to his room at the clubhouse. In
fact, Lucien had seen Kink doing just that right before he left for his own
place with an easy woman in tow. Taking her to Kink’s was not an option, and no
way in hell was he taking her back to the clubhouse where there was shit going
down that a seventeen-year-old didn’t need to see. “Kink would bust your ass if
he saw his little girl like this.”
She didn’t respond right away, but finally licked
her lips and exhaled roughly. “I’m not a little girl anymore, Lucien, and I
don’t think my dad needs to know about everything I do.”
The way she said his name had
this strange sensation moving through him, and he didn’t much care for it.
“Can I just crash at your place tonight?”
He opened his mouth to tell her fuck no, but she
surprised him by grabbing his hand and squeezing it in an almost pleading
manner.
“
Please
,
Lucien, just for tonight. I don’t want my mom finding out I totally got this
shitfaced, and have to hear her bitch, and I really don’t have anywhere else to
stay.”
Even though he should have taken her to her mom’s
regardless of what she said, he knew how Sarah was.
“I know I shouldn’t have been so irresponsible and
reckless, and believe me it won’t happen again, but I also know you, as well as
my dad, have probably been in this situation more times than you can count.”
She slurred out her words and looked like she was fading fast.
“Fuck.” He was cursing more in the last hour than he
had in the past week, and that was saying something. “Kink is going to kill
me.” He shut the door and hurried around to the driver’s side door. Once he was
in and had the engine started, he headed to his place. This was a bad idea all
around, but at the moment it seemed like the best, and only, choice he had.