All In: ALL IN KNIGHTS OF MAYHEM (27 page)

I sigh, ‘no
, I guess not.” I exit the bed on my side and head around to the bathroom, Leo grabs my arm as I pass him stopping me, ‘what?”

“Avery,’ the way my name rolls off his tongue gives me a shudder that doesn’t go unnoticed, ‘baby.” He turns me into him, ‘what they have there has nothing on what I have lying in my bed next to me every night.” My heart jumps at his declaration to me, ‘I love you Avery.” And then my heart stops.

Not sure if I should say it back I wait too long and the moment passes. He kisses me again and goes to the bathroom to shower leaving me reeling from his words. I slump to the bed and wonder if I have just screwed up by not saying it back.

Coming back out of the room he is wearing a towel, ‘why the long face baby?”

I shrug my shoulders, ‘I dunno.” I roll to watch him get dressed and regret my hesitation.

As if he can read my thoughts, ‘
if you are worried because you didn’t say it back baby don’t,’ he turns to give me his full on smile and view, ‘actions speak louder than words and I know how you feel.” He turns back to his dresser.

I prop myself up on my elbow, ‘you do?”

“Yeah if you didn’t like me so much you wouldn’t get so pissed at me for going to the strip joint. Or you wouldn’t have forgiven me so many times. Hell I’m afraid I am running out of chances.” He wiggles his eyebrows up and down at me.

I lay back laughing, ‘there is
the inflated ego of yours again.” I scream as my ankles are grabbed and I am dragged down to the foot of the bed.

He buries his face in my belly and begins to plants kisses over the exposed skin, ‘if you would stop making me feel like superman
, I would become the usual shrinking violet I am.” His evil little laugh incites my body with goose flesh.

Rolling from side to side with laughter
, I try to force him to stop by pushing my arms between us, ‘oh Leo stop!”

“Had enough?” He continues his assault on me.

“Yes! Yes!” I exhale when he finally stops the tickling.

“You are so damn ticklish,’ placing one last kiss on my belly button, ‘and I love it.” Standing he pulls up his jeans the rest of the way and buttons them, ‘and I promise I won’t be drunk tonight.” He adds as he tugs his shirt over his head.

“You gonna walk me down and tell me bye?” He waits at the door as I scurry around the room picking up my discarded clothing from earlier.

I see the three off and turn to Beeker, ‘so what now?” I throw my hands out to each side of my body, ‘oh I know let’s call Kayla and cook dinner?” My eyes are bright with anticipation.

Beeker looks down smiling, ‘Avery I never have gotten around to thanking you.”

I slump down onto the couch next to him nudging him with my shoulder, ‘I to
ld you everything would be okay, didn’t I?”

He just nods, ‘Beeker he isn’t mad.”

“I know he’s not, it was just a little awkward for us both.”

I jump up from the couch, ‘okay enough about
it, get Kayla on the phone and get her little tail over here. I will go and start dinner.” I rush to the kitchen and stop short, ‘but Beeker she can't sleep over.”

I hear him laugh, ‘I know Mom.”

****

Beeker
, Kayla and I fix chicken quesadillas on Leo’s monstrous grill, ‘I swear everything that man has I huge.” I exclaim, setting Kayla and Beeker into a laughing tirade. I clap my hands over my mouth, ‘that is not what I meant guys, get your minds out of the gutter.” I chastise them like children.

Kayla is waving her hands in the air as she laughs, ‘I think beer just came out of my nose, and shit it burns.” This starts me to laughing and beer does come out of my nose.

“Hello?” A deep raspy voice echoes through the cavernous house, I jump and run to see it is Zach.

A little bewildered I pull the door behind me closing out prying ears, ‘Zach
, what are you doing here?”

I step behind the island in the kitchen, Zach whistles as he looks around the interior of our home, ‘nice digs Avery.”

“Not mine, this is Leo’s house. Again, Zach what are you doing here?” He has his hands shoved into his pockets and is closing the distance between us.

“Just came to say hi, didn’t think I would be walking into a mansion. You did well Avery.”
He whistles as he checks out Leo’s cavernous home.

The patio door clicks open and Beeker peeks his head in, ‘Avery,’ he starts then he sees Zach, ‘
what the fuck are you doing here?”

“
Is this how all biker guys greet people?” Zach tries to act offended.

Beeker steps all the way in, ‘no just how we greet people who walk in
to our homes uninvited,’ Beeker leans in, ‘what the fuck are you doing here?”

I swallow as Zach looks to me
and I in turn look at Beeker, “do you know him?”

R
ealization hits Beeker’s eyes, he stumbles to find words, ‘uh no your Dad and Leo showed me a picture of him and told me to keep you away from him.” Beeker pins Zach with his eyes.

Zach’s eyes have glassed over and he hasn’t taken them off of me since he caught sight of my nervous twitch.

“Um Zach, I don’t think it is best you be here,’ I try to coax him into leaving, ‘Leo is due home anytime and he will flip if you are here.” I lie in hopes that he doesn’t see my tells, I suck at poker too.

“
No he’s not, I just saw him down at the titty flop with a tight ass little blonde riding his lap like he was Secretariat.” My stomach clinches at the thought he might actually be doing that very thing right now.

Regaining my composure, ‘no
, he is not Zach.”

“What
, you think you can just lay that sweet ass you got on him and it will keep him from getting strange on the side?” He has taken another step in my direction. Beeker sees this and places himself between us.

“So Beek how about you go on back out to
the little piece of ass you got out there and leave me to this one. Leo, I am sure, has been neglecting it.” His eyes are dark and heavy, his features have morphed into a snarl, ‘I have a message to deliver and I would like to do it alone with Avery.”

“Zach!” I scream in shocked disgust, I have only known him for a few months but he hasn’t ever acted like this.

“Yeah Beeker go on back outside and give the boys a call, I can handle it from here.” Leo’s dark timber rattles the boards I am standing on. He has once again appeared out of nowhere to save the day. He strides through the door wearing blue jeans, a tight whit tee and a badge hung on his belt, a badge? He has a hand gun drawn and is holding it pointing down with both hands, like you see on all those procedural cop shows.

Zach
’s smug smile has faded as he turns to face Leo, ‘hey man, like your home. But it is the decorations I am most interested in, especially the bedroom decor.” I look at Zach for the last time, because Leo has murder in his eyes.

Leo has closed the distance from the front door to Zach and is standing toe to toe with him, ‘so why don’t
you deliver the message now you little bitch.”

“
Wasn’t the kind of message you tell, it was more along the lines you come home and find precious Avery here,’ he shrugs his head in my direction, ‘near death and extremely violated.” His eyebrows go up as he smiles in the face of death.

Leo’s shoulders are pinched as his br
eathing is fast and furious. He tucks his gun in the back waist band of his jeans. He raises his hand taking Zach by the throat slamming him into the door leading to the garage knocking all the wind out of his lungs and making me jump a foot off the floor.

Leo’s eyes are demon black and his lips are curled into a snarl, ‘you litt
le fuck, I thought the last time we met you were told to stay the hell away from Avery?” Leo’s voice is dark.

I
am standing stock still with my mouth hanging open trying to process all the information and commotion going on in front of me. The door busts open and Roman, Dalton and Cowboy come striding in. Dalton comes rushing over to help Leo with Zach, ‘you got this for a minute?” Leo asks Dalton who takes over holding Zach about six inches off the floor by his throat against the wall. Zach is struggling against the men with no progress of being let down.

“
Hold still you little piece of rat shit.” Dalton snarls into Zach’s face.

Leo runs to the French doors
leading to the patio flinging them open, ‘Beeker! Get the girls and get them out of here!” He shouts as he stalks back over to the group of large men surrounding Zach. Completely ignoring me, which is fine I am just surveying the commotion going on around me.

Eno and my father enter
the house right after the other three, ‘is it under control Leo?” My father asks as he nods for Eno to step in. I look from one to the other. They are all sporting the same badge as Leo, also the same hand gun he had drawn when he entered the house

Leo turned
to my father nodding his head, ‘yes sir we have swept the grounds he came alone.’

He
strolls in with his hands clasped behind his back over to Zach. Dalton lowers him to the ground so my father can look him in the eye, ‘what did I tell you about coming around my daughter again?” His voice is controlled and his words are measured.

Zach tries to speak but Dalton back hands him across the face, ‘it was a rhetorical question you dumb ass.”

“Dalton there is no need for that with company.” My father flicks his eyes in my direction.

“Sorry sir.” Dalton rights Zach’s limp body as a whimper escapes his throat.

Leo redirects his attention to me, ‘Beeker what is taking you so long?”

“I
can’t get Avery to move.” Beeker pleads with Leo to help him move me. I am trying to take in the flurry of activity, the men move with elegant speed as if they are tactical combatants and they have been doing this for years, as a team.

Leo comes over and takes my face in his hands, ‘baby it is time for you to go I will come for you when I have squared things away here.” He looks down at me, ‘do you understand?”

His voice is muffled because I am suffering from some sort of shock, my feet will not listen to my pleas to run from the house screaming in a panic. I survey the area around me and look at all the sets of eyes trained on me waiting on my response, when none is offered, I am hoisted up into Leo’s arms,’ Beeker get the SUV ready and move it to the front of the house I will have the girls meet you out there. Take them to the compound and wait for further contact.” Beeker nods and is out of the kitchen in a flash.

Leo looks over at Kayla, ‘help me with her.” Kayla kicks into gear and grabs some of my things and follows Leo out the front door as we are followed by Roman and my father.

I am placed in the back seat of Leo’s black SUV my father comes over, ‘Avery baby?”

Shaking my head, ‘what?!” the shock has wore off and the anger of my home being breached by that rancid man Maxwell Cain has settled in.

He turns to Leo, ‘she will be fine,’ turning back to Beeker, ‘get them out of here.”

Leo leans in, ‘I will see you in a little bit okay?”
He places a fast kiss on my lips and we are whisked away down the driveway, I turn to watch as the men file back into the house and close the door behind them.

I swivel back around in the seat, ‘will someone please tell me what the fuck just happened?” I demand.

Kayla glances over at Beeker and they both train their eyes forward, ‘Leo will fill you in when he comes for you, it is not for us to say.” And with that Beeker turns up the music successfully tuning me out.

I let a screaming tirade of curse words fly into the
noise filled air. The frustration of not knowing a fucking thing about the goings on around me is going to drive me insane. I feel like I am a leaf fluttering around on an autumn wind with no chance landing anytime soon. My life is as if a hurricane has crashed landed my shores with no eye of relief in sight.

****

Leo

I watch as
Beeker and Kayla take Avery to safety, I turn with a renewed sense of murder. Slamming the door behind me I cross the distance to Zach. Taking the piece of shit up again around the throat he gasps for air and I think if I just jerk my hand slightly to the left I can divest the world of this parasite.

“Leo!” Kent yells to call me down.

“He came into my house where Avery was and threatened her,’ I train my eyes back on him, ‘
my house
. Did you not think you were being followed fucker?”

His eyes are starting to bulge out and his face is a pleasant shade of purple. I feel a hand grab my arm, ‘drop
him, that is an order solider.” Relinquishing him to a heap on the floor I give him a swift kick for good measure before I make myself walk away.

“You good now?” Eno comes over to me.

“We need to take him in.” Thank you, captain fucking obvious Roman.

“Handcuff him and set him in a chair, I would like to have a few words with him before we turn him over.” Cowboy and Dalton haul
the sniveling heap into one of my dining room chairs Eno has drug out into the middle of the floor.

Kent begins to pace back and forth in front of him, ‘so Zach where is he?”

Spitting blood on my hardwood floors he looks up and laughs at Kent’s question, ‘I don’t know.”

Kent backhands him, ‘that was for Avery, now tell me you little fuck where he is.”

Shaking the fog from his head, ‘I couldn’t if I wanted to. I have never really met the man, only phone calls to a burner phone.” He was too easy to break, the ease in which he gave up the information makes me nervous.

“This is going nowhere.” My patients are running thin.

“Your right,’ Kent turns to Roman, ‘tag him and bag him.” He turns to me, ‘you need to get to Avery and make sure she is still sane.” He squats in front of Zach bringing himself eye level, ‘we will let the boys at the office take care of him.”

Zach literally shakes with fear, as well he should, those boys are not so worried about messing up a pretty face
like Zach’s.

I watch as Dalton and Roman heave him out of the chair, he turns his head to Cowboy, ‘how is my
niece doing.” I barely get a hold of Cowboy’s arm before he lunges for Zach.

“Easy man.” I am the one talking someone down now, ‘he will get his, I have a buddy who owes me a favor.’ I say it loud enough so Zach can hear me, ‘have fun, shithead.”

“Calvin, go home and check on Caden. Leo you need to get your ass to the clubhouse and check on my daughter. There isn’t anything else we can do here,’ he turns to walk out of the door, ‘and Leo get the security system upgraded in this house.”

****