Road to Passion (18 page)

“Go pack a bag, I’ll get the
dog.”

“Thanks.” I rushed to our room
and did as he asked.

I
PACED THE common room of the club, all
the while biting my thumbnail down to its nub. I didn’t stop until I drew
blood, but by then, I was so worked up, I didn’t really care. Millie had been
sequestered in a room with bikers for the last three hours.

“Darien?”

I turned to see Dani, Kim, and
Payton walking in, shopping bags in their hands. “Hey. What are you doing
here?”

“We’re the distraction
committee,” Kim said.

I sighed. “Mack’s doing I
presume?”

Kim nodded with a grin and held
up a bag. “Wedding planning. Pauley said she’d come by after her shift.”

“Cassidy has Lily,” Payton said.
“But she said she’d bring the kids by later and we’d all cook. Susie’s picking
up food.”

“That actually sounds really
fun,” I admitted, albeit reluctantly.

“We know,” Dani said, and
giggled. “It’s why we were called.”

I laughed. “He’s very good, my
man.”

“Yes, he is,” Kim said.

For the next three hours, I was
adequately distracted, and by the time Cassidy walked in with Maverick and
Lily, we had planned my entire wedding, made an appointment for a cake tasting,
and started a feast to end all feasts. By the time dinner was ready, there was
still no sign of Millie or Mack.

I pulled out my phone and texted
him.
*Where are you?*

“Right behind you,” he whispered
as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed the back of my neck.

I spun in his arms. “Is Millie
okay?”

“What’s for dinner?”

“Oh, hell no,” I snapped. I laid
my hands on his stomach and pushed him out of the common room and onto the back
patio. “Where is my best friend?”

“She’s upstairs makin’ a
decision.”

“About?”

“About whether or not she wants
to do the right thing.”

“Logan,” I said in warning.

“Yeah, baby?”

“Whose room is she in?”

“Knight’s.” I moved to walk away,
but he grabbed my arm. “She’s gotta make a decision... on her own, Dare.”

“She’s a verbal processor, Logan.
It will help her make a “decision” if she can talk it out.”

He studied me for a second and
then gave me a slight nod. “I’ll take you.”

“Thank you.”

Mack took my hand and led me
through the common room and up the stairs to Knight’s room. Train was sitting
on a chair across the hall, watching the door.

“She’s being guarded?” I snapped.

Mack squeezed my hand (like that
was going to answer my question or appease me in some stupid way) and pushed
open Knight’s door. Millie stopped her pacing and scowled, but caught sight of
me and looked relieved. She’d been crying. “Hey.”

“Hi, hon.” I dropped Mack’s hand
and glanced up at him. “Close the door behind you, okay?”

“Dare.”

“Honey, I’m going to talk to
Millie,” I said, with saccharin sweetness. “Please close the door behind you.”

He frowned, but then gave me a
slight nod. “I’ll be right outside.”

I rolled my eyes and stepped into
the room, pulling Millie in for a hug. “What’s going on?”

“I did something really bad,
Darien.”

I pulled her to one of the chairs
by the window. “Tell me.”

“I didn’t mean to do it.” Millie
dropped her face in her hands.

“Millie, I know you. I’m
confident you didn’t do it on purpose. But you need to tell me what’s going on?
Mack’s only giving me partial information.”

She sat up. “I hate to admit it,
but that’s because he’s trying to protect me.”

I smiled. “I know that, honey.
He’d do anything for me and protecting my best friend falls under than mantle.”

“The simplest explanation is that
I found a deposit of twelve thousand, four hundred dollars and eighty-six cents
in my account and when I asked payroll about it, they said it was a signing
bonus.”

“But it wasn’t.”

She shook her head. “It was
leverage.”

“For what?”

“I don’t actually know,” Millie
admitted.

“Okay, back up a bit. How do you
know it was leverage?”

“The amount deposited into my
account was the exact amount stolen from one of their clients. So, they said I
had to do whatever they told me to or they would ruin me.”

“But you could have gone to the
police.”

Millie shook her head. “They
threatened my family. They know everything about them, Darien.”

“So what’s this decision Mack
says you have to make?” I asked.

“I have to hand over
everything... I kept records—” she sighed, “—or Mack turns me into the FBI.”

“You have to give Mack everything
then.”

She shook her head. “They will
kill my family, Darien.”

“Honey, Mack isn’t going to let
anything happen to your family.”

Millie rose to her feet and paced
again. “You don’t know these people.”

“You don’t know Mack.”

Millie bit her lip. “Do you
really think he can protect them?”

“Without a doubt.”

“I don’t know,” she whispered.

“What’s the alternative?” I
challenged. “If the Dogs turn everything over to the FBI, your family’s in just
as much danger from these people, right?”

Millie nodded.

“Let Mack help.”

“I don’t know if he can.”

I gave her what I hoped was a
bolstering smile. “You have nothing to lose at this point, right?”

“Just my life... or freedom.”

“You’re not going to lose your
life or your freedom, Mill.” I rose to my feet. “I’m going to get Mack, okay?”
Millie grimaced, but nodded, so I didn’t hesitate and pulled open the door.
“She’s ready, honey.”

Mack walked back in and raised an
eyebrow. “Where’s the info, Millie?”

She sighed. “In my purse.”

“Which is...?”

She crossed her arms.

“Millie?” I urged.

“I need to know my family will be
protected.”

“Babe, we’ve had recruits on
every one of them for the last six hours.”

“You have?” Millie and I said, in
unison.

“Not my first rodeo,” he
grumbled.

I smiled and slid my arm around
his waist. “How about, Millie gets you what you need and then we have some
food?”

“That sounds good, babe.” Mack
smiled. “Millie?”

Millie nodded and rummaged in her
purse, pulling out a flash drive. “This has everything I did, along with all
the money the company was siphoning and the clients they were stealing from.”

Mack took the drive and stepped
into the hallway, handing it to Train who walked away. “I’m hungry,” he said.
“Let’s eat.”

“It’s going to be okay, Mill,” I
promised.

“I hope so.”

We followed Mack downstairs and
spent the rest of the day attempting to enjoy the company.

Since the club was the safest
place for us and I could work anywhere, we holed up with Millie and a few of
the recruits for a few days. Mack had to run home for more dog food for Barney,
but for the most part, we were set.

When it was time to turn in, I
made sure Millie was comfortable in Knight’s room (he was staying with Ace and
Cassidy for the night), and then joined Mack. I closed and locked the door and
turned to find Mack walking out of the bathroom, buck naked.

I giggled. “What if it wasn’t
me?”

He grinned. “Then someone else
would’ve been as lucky as you.”

I raised my hand. “Don’t move.”

Mack gave me a slow smile. “Why?”

“Because I want to taste.”

His cock hardened immediately and
I knelt in front of him, wrapping my hand around him before sliding my lips
over his tip. Mack’s hands slid into my hair and I moved my mouth over him,
using my tongue and my hands to bring him to the brink.

“Dare, we’re at the point.”

I nodded and took him deeper. He
let out a hiss, gripping my hair tighter, his hips bucking. I reached behind
him and grabbed his ass to hold him still and then focused again on the task at
hand.

“Fuck, Darien,” he hissed, and
then his body went rigid as he came.

I grinned and made a smacking
noise with my lips as I rose to my feet and kissed him quickly. “I love that.”

“I can tell.” He slid his hand to
my neck and chuckled. “The lip smackin’ might be a bit much, though.”

“Nope, it’s about right.”

“Get your clothes off, baby...
it’s my turn.”

“To return the favor?”

“Yeah, baby.”

“What? No, you don’t have to do
that,” I droned sarcastically, deadpan.

Mack laughed and smacked my
bottom, and I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

* * *

Something evil
swirling in my stomach woke me at an ungodly hour, and I took several deep
breaths, while shoving Mack’s arm away from my body. I shot out of bed and slid
in front of the toilet just as I emptied said evil.

“Babe?” He gently pulled my hair
back from my face. “You okay?”

“No, your child is killing me.” I
didn’t look back at him, just spoke into the bowl. “Obviously.” My hair was
released, I heard the faucet, and then Mack knelt beside me and laid a cool
cloth on my forehead. I sighed. “That feels
so
nice.”

“When you feel like you can
handle it...,” he stroked my cheek, “...I have some Sprite in the fridge and saltines
ready for you.”

I licked my lips. “You bought
saltines and pop?”

“And Ritz.”

I smiled. “I love you.”

“I know, baby. Come and see if we
can’t get this under control.”

I stood slowly and flushed, then
washed my hands and face, brushed my teeth, and pulled my hair back into a
ponytail before I contemplated stepping away from the toilet.

I walked into the bedroom and sat
in one of the chairs by the window where Mack had opened a Sprite and laid out
some crackers. “Just sip, Dare.”

His over-protectiveness, although
unnecessary, was sweet and made me feel squishy inside. He’d taken the time
(and put thought into) buying things that are supposed to calm a pregnant
woman’s morning sickness, and he was awake with me while I tried them.

After a couple of nibbles on a
saltine square, the queasiness started to ebb a bit. I took another sip of pop
and felt even better. Mack sat on the end of the bed and watched me as I smiled
and drank a little more.

“Better?”

I nodded with a sigh. “Much.”

“You think you can sleep?”

I laid my hand on my belly. “As
long as your little parasite can quit digesting all of the vitamins and
minerals in my body for a few hours, yes.”

He slid off the bed and held out
his hand, pulling me up and kissing me gently. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“For going through all of this.”
He stroked my cheek. “I love you.”

“Wow, that’s such a coincidence.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I smiled. “Because I love
you too.”

Mack grinned and took me back to
bed.

* * *

Mack’s cell phone
buzzed on the nightstand and he reached for it before he’d fully awoken.
“Yeah?” he whispered.

“We got trouble,” Train said.

“Here?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, be right down.” He
scrubbed his hands down his face and sat up.

“Honey?” Darien whispered,
rolling over and reaching for him.

He pulled on jeans, T-shirt, and
boots, and grabbed his gun. “No matter what you hear, you stay in this room
with the door locked.”

She sat up with a gasp. “What’s
going on?”

“I don’t know.” Pulling open his
nightstand, he grabbed his Glock. “I want you to keep this close.”

“No!” Darien argued, and jumped
from the bed, holding her hands as though to ward off evil. “Ohmigod, Mack,
I’ve never seen a gun in real life, let alone shot one.”

“You won’t need to shoot it,
Darien... unless someone other than one of us comes in.”

“You’re freaking me out,” she
snapped, and yanked on a pair of sweats.

Mack closed the distance between
them and pulled her against him. “Just keep your wits about you and if someone
comes in that is not one of the dogs, pick up the gun. The safety’s off, so
don’t pull the trigger unless your life is threatened.”

“Oh, that’s helpful, honey, thank
you,” she snapped.

Mack kissed her quickly and
walked out the door, making sure it was closed, and listening for the top lock
to click. He rushed downstairs and heard the distinct sound of Crow’s voice
coming from the common room.

“I wanna know who let them in!”
Crow bellowed.

“Put the gun down, Crow.”

“Shit,” Mack muttered to himself,
and walked into the fray. Jaxon, Brock, and Dallas stood backs together, guns
drawn, in an effort to protect themselves against no less than fifteen club
members doing the same. “Crow.”

Crow spun, his gun raised, and he
scowled. “What the fuck, Mack?”

“Put the gun down, Crow.” Mack
holstered his own. “We’re tryin’ to sort this shit out with the Kozlovs’ and
Brock and his team are helping make it permanent.”