Indulgence (293 page)

My back door opened up onto a cemented outside entertainment
area that then led to a brick path that took me down the side of my house to
the front. I found one of my pot plants had been knocked over, the dirt
spilling onto the cement.

Shit.

My breathing picked up and my heart thumped in my chest.

“Can you see anyone?” Maree whispered into the phone.

“No, but someone’s been here because the pot plant is knocked
over,” I whispered back, not really sure why the fuck I was whispering when
this was my house.

And then I heard my side gate latch, and my heart fell into
my stomach.

I wasn’t sure whether to move towards the sound or away from
it, but my instincts took over and my legs began walking towards the gate. I
switched my phone’s flashlight on and shone it down the side of the house,
expecting to come face to face with the intruder any second.

I saw nothing. The gate was shut and the path was clear. I
hurried through the gate to the front yard, just in time to hear a squeal of
tires and a car speeding off down the street. The car was so far away I
couldn’t even work out the make or model.

I switched off the flashlight and put the phone back to my
ear to hear Maree screeching at me.

“Shhh,” I said, “he’s gone, and I’m okay.”

“Oh my god, don’t ever do that to me again, Evie! I was
asking you if you were okay and you weren’t answering me! Do you have any idea
how many grey hairs you just gave me?”

“Sorry, but I needed the flashlight to see.”

“Fuck, so there
was
someone there?”

I tried to calm down from the fright and get my breathing
under control. “Yes, there was definitely someone here.” I’d made it back
inside and locked the door behind me, but I was leaving the outside lights on
tonight. It probably wouldn’t stop someone intent on getting in, but I felt
better having them on.

“Christ, you need to call Kick and get him over to stay with
you tonight.”

“No, I don’t want to bug him. And besides, there have been a
few break-ins around here lately so it was probably someone trying to get in,
and now I’ve scared him off. I doubt he’ll be back. I’ll call the police in the
morning,” I said, feeling too exhausted to wait for them to come out tonight.
And besides, what could they do anyway? It wasn’t like the cops had the
resources to position someone on our street just waiting for a burglar to come
by.

“Do you want me to come and stay?” she asked, being the
wonderful friend she was.

“No, I’m okay,” I said, “but thanks, babe.”

“Mmmm . . . I’m not convinced I shouldn’t come over.”

“Maree, I have security on the house. I’m locked up tight
and no fucker is getting in tonight. I promise, I’m all good.”

She was silent for a few moments and then conceded. “Okay,
but you call me the minute you are worried. And I’ll be calling you in the
morning to check on you.”

We ended the call, and I crawled into bed.

It was probably a good thing Kick wasn’t here. He’d go all
crazy protective, and while I loved his bossy way in the bedroom, I didn’t need
him trying to control my every movement.

Kick

I pocketed the cash we’d just collected for King, and turned
to Nitro as we headed towards our bikes. “I like it when jobs are that easy.”

He nodded. “Yeah, makes it a lot fucking easier when they
just pay up with no encouragement needed.”

Just as we reached our bikes, my phone rang. King. “What’s
up, brother?” I answered it.

“Have you been to Hawk’s to collect yet?”

“Nope.”

“Good, cancel that job. I’m gonna give him an extra week to
pay,” he said, stunning me. King rarely gave extensions.

“Yeah, the motherfucker’s mother needed cash for an
operation so I figure she needs it more than us.”

“You believe him?”

“He wasn’t the one who told me. Jen told me when I saw her
yesterday before she left.”

I was so confused, not understanding the connection between
Jen and Hawk, but I figured King knew his shit. “Right, so we’re done for the
day then. I’ll bring the cash back now, but do you need me after that?” I
hadn’t seen Evie since yesterday afternoon and was fucking craving her.

“No, you and Nitro can call it a day.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you soon with this cash,” I promised
before ending the call.

Nitro raised his brows. “We done for the day?”

I nodded. “Yeah, man.” I reached for my helmet. “Did you
finish working on the engine?”

“It’s nearly done. Thanks for your help the other day.”

“Sure. Just call out if you need a hand again.”

My phone buzzed with another call, and my face broke out in
a grin when I saw the caller ID.

Evie
.

Nitro chuckled. “Looks like some good pussy there, brother.”

“Yeah, you could say that,” I said as I answered it. “What’s
up, baby?” I said into the phone.

“Someone’s broken into my house . . . can you come over?
It’s okay if you can’t, but -”

I was instantly on alert; Evie sounded panicked. “I’ll be
there in about ten minutes. Are you okay until then?”

“Yes. Thank you,” she said softly, relief clear in her
voice.

“Fuck,” I muttered as I shoved my phone in my pocket.

“What’s up?” Nitro asked.

“My girlfriend’s house has been broken into.”

“You need help?”

“Nah, should be alright,” I said, turning over the engine of
my bike.

He nodded, and I gave him a chin lift. “I’ll catch you
later, man.” And then I took off for Evie’s place.

Whoever had broken into her house would pay dearly.

*****

I’d expected to find Evie still panicked, but she’d calmed
down by the time I got there. I took in the mess as I walked through the house
to find her in the kitchen. The place had been trashed and it looked like we
had a big clean up ahead of us.

She looked up from the table where she sat. “Thank God
you’re here,” she said as she got up and came to me.

I opened my arms and pulled her close. She gratefully
stepped into my embrace and rested her head against my chest. I felt the
tightness of her body, and rubbed my hand up and down her back. I held her
until she lifted her head and looked up into my eyes.

“Why did they have to wreck the place as well?” she asked,
her voice cracking a little.

“Fuck . . .” I swore, “because they’re assholes.”

“Yeah, they are.” She let me go and walked to the sink. “I
need a coffee. You want one?”

“No, I’m gonna take a look around.” At her nod, I headed
into the lounge room and surveyed the damage. It didn’t look like anything of
real value had been taken. The television and stereo were still here. I walked
around the entire house and then back into the kitchen. “Babe, what’s actually
missing?” I asked, because I couldn’t work out what had been taken. All big
ticket items seemed to be in place.

She was on the phone, on hold, and she answered, “That’s the
weird thing. I can’t work out what’s been stolen.”

“Who are you on the phone to?”

“The cops.”

I reached for the phone and she let me take it. Ending the
call, I said, “I don’t think anything’s missing, unless they took jewellery or
something smaller like that?”

“No, I checked that, and nothing is missing.”

“Do you want to claim this on insurance?”

She frowned. “I don’t know. Why?”

“If you want to claim it you’ll have to involve the cops. If
not, you can forget them and just let me and the boys find out who did it, and
deal with them for you. Either way I’ll be finding out who did it, but I’d
prefer not to have the cops involved.”

She thought about it for a moment and then said, “I’ll just
let you handle it.”

I gave her a quick kiss and said, “Okay, I’m gonna get
started on it now. Will you be alright on your own?”

She gave me a smile and nodded. “Yeah, Maree said she’d come
over if I need her, so I’ll give her a call. She’ll help me clean up, too.”

Thank fuck for her friend. I didn’t really want to leave her
on her own.

As I headed out, I mulled it over. My natural instinct would
be to suspect Gambarro because I was a paranoid bastard, but this didn’t seem
like a job he would pull.

It seemed to me that if he were involved, Evie wouldn’t be
breathing anymore.

But it wouldn’t hurt to check in on him.

*****

“Mr Gambarro is out of the country.” His security guy glared
down at me, challenging me to argue with him. He was refusing me entry to
Gambarro’s building and feeding me stories about Gambarro not being here.

“You expect me to buy that?”

“I don’t give a fuck if you do or don’t; it’s the truth. Now
fuck off and leave me alone.”

I assessed the situation and decided to confirm that
information with my other contacts before pursuing this any further, but I did
ask, “When will he be back?”

The guy glared at me harder, in a
‘you’re-fucking-kidding-me’ look. “I said, fuck off.”

I pulled out my phone and began dialling as I walked away.

Bones answered on almost the first ring. “Kick. What’s up,
my man?”

I liked Bones, simply because he usually had solid
information, and he was always willing to share it with me. He ran strip clubs
and girls, and, in general, had his finger in a lot of pies. “Do you know if
Gambarro is out of the country?”

“Yeah, he left last week. Pretty sure he’ll be back this
week, maybe in a couple of days.”

“Thanks for that.”

“Why do you ask?” Bones was a nosy motherfucker and while he
had his uses, I didn’t trust him with my secrets.

“Just checking some shit out for a friend. Their place was
trashed, and they suspect him, but I don’t figure him for that kind of thing.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t sound like something he would pull.
Gambarro would be in your face; you’d know it was him without a shadow of a
doubt.”

“My thoughts exactly. Thanks, man, I’ll keep investigating
and figure out who else it could be,” I said and then ended the call.

No doubt that information would start spreading and perhaps
whoever was responsible would come to light sooner rather than later.

*****

I headed to the clubhouse after that and found King in the
bar.
The newly painted bar.
He was on one of the old couches with one of
the club whores. Brittany had gotten her way with the new paint but not with
the new couches. There’d been no point really; new couches would only get used
in the same way the old ones did.

King dragged his attention away from the ass he’d been
admiring to look at me. “You come to play, Kick?” he asked with a wicked glint
in his eye.

“No, I’ve got your money for you, plus I need to talk to you
about something.”

He slapped the whore’s ass and moved her so he could stand.
“Wait here, I won’t be long,” he ordered her before leading me to the office.

I shut the office door behind me and handed him the envelope
of cash. “My girlfriend’s house was broken into today. They trashed it, but I
don’t think they stole anything.”

He punched in the code to the safe and dumped the cash in
it. Turning back to me, he asked, “Are you thinking this is retaliation from
Gambarro? Or Silver Hell?”

“Fuck, I hadn’t thought of Silver Hell, but I
had
considered Gambarro for it. Doesn’t seem to fit his usual style, though.”

Shaking his head, he said, “No, it doesn’t.” He sat in the
chair behind the desk, a thoughtful look on his face. I waited for him to speak.
“What about Silver Hell, though? Did you find out anything else about where
they are at with Marco’s death?”

“Last I heard they were chasing up a lead that Black Deeds
were involved in that. They weren’t even looking in our direction so I don’t
think this is their work, either. It’s too subtle.”

He shrugged. “Maybe you and I are just too fucking paranoid
for our own good, brother. Maybe this is your run-of-the-mill neighbourhood
burglary and has nothing to do with us.”

“Yeah, could be. I’ll keep looking into it.”

King’s eyes narrowed on me. “This chick means something to
you?”

“Evie means everything to me,” I stated, aware this would
trigger further questions from him.

“As much as the club means to you?”

“My loyalties are even.”

He was silent for a moment, and then he blew out a long
breath. “Well, fuck, I never thought I’d see the day,” he murmured.

“Is that a problem for you?” I really fucking hoped it
wouldn’t be because it might force me to admit to myself, and everyone else,
that my loyalties actually weren’t even. That my loyalties were fast becoming
slanted more in Evie’s direction.

Standing, he said, “No, brother. She means something to you,
then she means something to the club. We’re behind you with this. Whatever you
need, you’ve got.” His eyes bore into mine and told me he meant every word he
said.

I let out the breath I didn’t realise I’d been holding.
Nodding, I said, “Thanks.”

Contemplating that conversation as I headed back to Evie’s
house, I realised how deep I was in with Evie. Seventeen years of club loyalty
meant more to me than anything else in my life. But not more than Evie meant to
me.

And fuck, I didn’t know what to make of that.

Evie

Kick arrived back at my house about two hours after he’d
left. Maree and I had cleaned up most of the mess the intruders had made, and
we were now in the kitchen discussing the break-ins that had been occurring in
the neighbourhood lately. Kick entered the kitchen and the energy shifted
immediately. He stopped and stared at me, a look of pure need in his eyes. But
there was something else there, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on
straight away.