Rock Chick 08 Revolution (9 page)

I’d do anything.

“There is nothing stronger and
there is nothing that’ll get you as fucked up as love,” Darius finished sagely,
and I looked back at him.

There was a wisdom borne of
experience behind that and I wanted to know what it was.

But, again, that was his to share.

The Rock Chicks, hell, anything
(and this evening’s activities proved it), I’d stick my nose in and not give up
until I had it all.

Darius… I loved him enough not to
go there until (hopefully) he gave it to me.

“You gonna be able to walk away?”
he asked.

“Yeah,” I answered.

He studied me before pressing, “Is
that yeah firm?”

He so totally knew me.

My eyes moved to the side for a
second before going back to him.

“Yeah,” I whispered.

He held my gaze.

Then he nodded.

After that, he let me go and turned
toward the wheel. Then he started up his truck and drove me home.

Chapter Four

Wash Him Away

Rock Chick Rewind

Two
hours later…

There was a banging on my door.

My eyes fluttered open and I
focused on the clock.

It was twelve seventeen.

I smiled to myself. I’d left my Lelo
in the nightstand before going to sleep. This was not because, after that
night, I didn’t need some form of relaxation.

It was that I was hoping Ren would
be the source of that relaxation, as these days he always was. He’d texted me
earlier saying he had a late meet, but was hoping, if it didn’t go
too
late, that he’d come to my house and
spend the night.

It was late, but as ever with Ren
and me (and we both knew it), no late was too late.

I threw the covers off, got out of
bed and moved out of my bedroom.

I was wearing a sexy sapphire blue
nightie with deep edges of black lace.

Everyone now knew Indy’s former
secret (a secret that was leaked by Indy herself during a Girls Night Out; it
wasn’t me who shared, swear) and that was that she always wore sexy underwear.
This was because her grandma bought her some on her sixteenth birthday and told
her every woman should have that particular secret. Indy took this to heart and
lived it from that day forward.

Unfortunately, seeing as he’s my
brother, I also knew that Lee very much appreciated this now-not-so-secret.

As in
a lot.

I couldn’t say I very much
appreciated knowing this about my brother. I could say it wasn’t much of a
surprise. I’d been underwear shopping with Indy, and often. She had good taste.
And Lee was all man (of the Ren variety) so it wasn’t a big leap that he’d get
off on something like that.

What everyone
didn’t
know was that because I’d known Indy since I was born (which
meant I knew Grandma Ellen since I was born, and Grandma Ellen was like a
grandma to me too), she gave me the same life lesson.

I just took it further. I wore sexy
underwear, no exceptions, no holds barred. I had never owned a pair of granny
panties from age sixteen onward.

And I never would.

I also never slept in anything unsexy
unless I didn’t sleep in anything (and that was the sexiest of all).

I’d learned that Ren was turned on
not only by the tactile but also the visual. He liked watching me go down on
him. He liked watching me ride him. He liked watching my face as he rode me. He
also liked my nighties. The look
and
feel.

And I knew he’d learned if he
showed late at my place he was in for a treat, because over the last couple of
months I’d given him a lingerie cornucopia of delights that he showed his
appreciation for in a variety of righteous ways.

And tonight’s nightie was actually
new. I bought it just for him.

Though I’d never tell him that.

I checked the peephole just to be
certain and saw Ren again gazing down the hall. Since there was nothing there
but carpeted hall and doors, I wondered what fascinated him about that.

Then wondering got in the way of
opening the door and getting to Ren so I quit doing that, and I unlocked and
opened the door.

He heard the locks so he was
looking at me when I did.

I was lamenting the fact that when
we had the chance to hook up, he usually had time to get home and change. That
meant I didn’t get him in suits very often. Like now, he was wearing a
lightweight white shirt, sleeves rolled up, and faded jeans.

It wasn’t a suit I could peel off
him, but those everyday items of apparel looked better on him than any other
man could pull off, so I wasn’t quibbling.

I tipped my head back, smiled at
him, leaned in and fisted a hand in his shirt. Then I pulled him in my
apartment.

He kicked the door closed as I
moved into him, my hand sliding up, my mouth aiming for his.

But he surprised me by putting a
hand to my waist and holding on there even as he set me slightly back. He
twisted and flipped the light switch.

I blinked at the sudden brightness
and caught his eyes.

Then I smiled.

Yeah. Ren was visual. Whatever he
had planned, he wanted to watch. And to be able to watch, he had to see.

It was always good, but I was
thinking tonight was going to be better.

I leaned in and got up on my toes.

When my mouth was almost on his,
Ren’s head moved back an inch and his other hand curled firm at the side of my
neck, holding me warm but steadily away from him.

What the fuck?

“Zano—”

“That night,” he said, his eyes
looking into mine in a weird way that felt intense and probing. “What were you
doin’ at Club?”

My head gave a little confused
shake and I asked, “What?”

“That night I apologized,” he gave
me more info and I, unusually belatedly, sensed the danger and my body
stiffened. His hand at my waist wrapped around it to hold me to him as his
fingers at my neck dug in as he kept talking. “What were you doin’ at Club?”

“Why are you asking this?” I
queried.

“Why aren’t you answering?” he
returned.

My brows drew together. “Because
it’s none of your business.”

He ignored that and tried a
different tactic.

“Were you with a man?”

“No.”

“A friend?”

“No, Zano,” I snapped. “Why does it
matter?”

“’Cause you weren’t with anybody.
You stayed a few minutes after I left you, took off to the bathrooms and never
came back. I know. I watched for you.”

He watched for me.

Nice.

“But you disappeared,” he finished.

“So?”

“The exit’s at the front,” he
informed me.

“So?”

“That means you exited out back.”

“Jeez, Zano!” I clipped, pulling
out of his hold, taking a step back and putting my hands on my hips. “What’s
with the interrogation? Who cares how I exited Club
two months ago?
”

He ignored my question—and my
outburst—and kept at me.

“A few minutes after you took off
toward the bathroom, some guy shot outta that hall lookin’ freaked, as well as
clearly so stoked on blow it’s a wonder his heart didn’t explode. You know that
guy?”

“I know I’m not a big fan of being
woken up in the middle of the night and getting treated to random twenty
questions about a night that happened months ago.”

“Just sayin’, babe, you’ll get a
very
not
random twenty questions if
Benito Valenzuela decides to make a meal outta you.”

I clamped my mouth shut.

Oh shit.

That was the dealer who had his
hooks into Garden Girl’s brother.

“Yeah,” he whispered, examining my
face carefully. “Though, if Valenzuela gets more interested in you, you might
not be available for twenty questions.”

Okay, somehow Ren had cottoned on
to my activities, and I knew this was definitely not good. He might not be a
member of the Hot Bunch, but he was a full-blooded Italian hot guy member of a
crime family. So I was thinking his rabid alpha behavior either equaled or
rivaled any member of the Hot Bunch, including Luke, who, in my opinion, was
totally OTT.

And the Hot Bunch guys had a
definite aversion to the women in their lives being around danger.

“How do you know this shit?” I
asked quietly.

“Dom gets around,” Ren answered
immediately. “Had a meeting with him tonight. He doesn’t know about us, but we
share an acquaintance with your brothers. Both of them. I think you get why,
without me explaining, we tend to keep our eye on their activities. And
tonight, in passing, Dom says that he’s heard
you’re
getting around.”

Fuck.

Not good.

Ren kept talking.

“He thinks you’re doin’ shit for
Lee. He heard a coupla nights ago you were with Darius Tucker in one of the
bars Valenzuela’s girls work. Says he also heard Tucker was makin’ some
enquiries about some new talent Valenzuela has for sale. Sweet piece. Catholic
schoolgirl type.”

Crap.

Again not good.

Ren didn’t know a little. He knew a
lot.

He leaned slightly into me, his
eyes no less intent
or
probing. “The
real
kind of Catholic schoolgirl type.
In other words, somehow her shit got fucked, and this is not an unusual situation
for Lee Nightingale to sink his teeth into. Problem is, even Valenzuela thinks
Lee swung you out there, and this guy is a lunatic. Anyone else, even a whiff
Lee’s involved, they steer clear. This guy, he’s likin’ that your piece is on
the chess board. Thinks it’s interesting. Wants to keep his eye on that shit,
which means he wants to keep an eye
on
you.
”

I kept my mouth shut, but mentally
added a phone call to Darius to discuss this unpleasant news first thing in the
morning.

Ren kept going.

“Dom told me and Vito. Vito is not
about swingin’ women’s asses out there. He knows you, likes you, and if he gets
in the mood to blow, he blows. So it’s late and he still doesn’t hesitate
pickin’ up the phone and tearin’ your brother a new asshole. Problem is, Lee
has no clue what the fuck he’s talkin’ about.”

This also wasn’t good.

“Figure, though,” Ren went on. “He
intends to find out.”

That was a definite.

“I—” I began.

“What were you doin’ at Club,
Ally?”

“I was—”

“And what the fuck were you doin’
in a bar that Valenzuela works with Darius fuckin’ Tucker?”

I felt my back snap straight.
“Darius is a friend.”

“Darius was a friend, he wouldn’t
be sittin’ with you in that bar havin’ a chat. He’d be haulin’ your ass
out
of that bar and laying into it to
get your head sorted for bein’ in that bar in the first fuckin’ place.”

Oh no.

He didn’t say that.

“What the fuck are you into?” he
bit out.

“None of your business,” I snapped.

“Right.” He leaned back. “Was gonna
have this discussion with you when I wasn’t pissed at you, but it needs to be
said, and now’s a fuckin’ brilliant time to say it,” he started in a way that I
didn’t find very promising.

Then he kept going.

“I’m thinkin’ the nature of our
relationship is movin’ beyond casual. I’m thinkin’ it’s gettin’ into the
non-casual zone, seein’ as we spend practically every night together, even if
you roll into my house at three thirty in the morning after a shift at
Brother’s. This suggests to me that we can’t get enough of each other, and
since you haul your ass to my place most of the time, you can’t deny that.”

This was true. I couldn’t deny it.

He wasn’t done.

“So I’m thinkin’ we’re in the zone
where we actually go out and eat a meal and get to know each other better. Not
wolfing down breakfast, you go your way and I go mine. Or I make you spaghetti
because you’ve been behind a bar all night and haven’t eaten, then the minute
you’re done, we fuck each other’s brains out. So, to end, if we’re not casual,
it
is
my business.”

“I’m not feeling the love for not
casual right about now, Zano,” I shared.

He lifted a hand, palm out my way,
and shook his head.

“Sorry, my mistake,” he began and
dropped his hand. “That came out like you had a choice. Which you don’t.
Tomorrow, you’re in a nice dress. My pick is the one you wore to Club, unless
you’ve got another one that makes my dick harder faster, which, babe, just
sayin’, will be a feat. Then I’m takin’ you out to a nice dinner, and you’re
gonna share with me all your hopes and dreams. But right now you’re gonna tell
me what the fuck you’re into.”

Although one could not say I didn’t
like that he liked my dress—and why—I still crossed my arms on my chest and
declared, “We’re not going out on a date.”

“You wanna get laid tonight?” he
asked, and I felt my brows shoot up.

“Are you using sex as a way to get
me to go out with you?” I clipped.

Suddenly he threw his arms out in
exasperation.

“Jesus!” he exploded. “Ally,
usually a guy’s gotta take a girl out as a way to
get
sex.”

“I told you, I’m not like other
girls.”

“Well, you’ve proved that statement
correct a dozen fuckin’ times since it came out of your mouth.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“You over that guy?” he asked back
instead of answering and my head twitched.

“What guy?”

Ren’s chin jerked back, and his
heavy angry vibe that was weighing in the air became stifling.

“What guy?” he whispered.

Uh-oh.

He was referring to Carl, probably
because I used Carl as an excuse to keep our relationship casual. And since he
wished to discuss us going out of the casual, he would naturally bring up Carl.

Shit.

“I, uh, I’m still working through
that,” I replied lamely.