ROUGH RIDER (10 page)

W
hat the fuck was that
?
I wondered, as I slowly made my way back into the cabin. At first, I’d thought it was kind of sweet that he’d been all protective, showing up with his gun drawn like he was ready for anything. To be honest, it fucking turned me on to see him like that. It reminded me of those first few moments at Otto’s, that look in his eye that was so bad-ass and confident, like there wasn’t anyone or anything he wouldn’t take on to protect me.

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t fucking hot.

But then, he’d just turned into a straight-up asshole. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that bit about Maggie, but all of a sudden it was really clear what was going on. I mean, maybe I was wrong, but from his reaction, it sure did look like I pushed one of his buttons. And not a good one.

By the way he stormed back into the cabin, it didn’t appear as if I was going to be able to un-push it anytime soon, either. Which was a shame, because I was hoping for another amazing session in bed with him this morning before everyone came back. My body was still buzzing from his touch.

When I walked back into the cabin, I was shocked to see him talking on a cell phone.

“What the fuck?” I mouthed to him, as he put up a hand to silence me. Anger welled up inside of me. He told me he didn’t have cell service out here! Another fucking lie, apparently.

“All right, Gino, thanks for checking on her,” he said, before hanging up the phone and turning to me.

“You bastard!” I yelled at him, crossing the distance between us. “You lied to me!”

“About the phone? Yeah, I guess I did,” he said, shrugging. “Sorry about that.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I yelled. “How could you fucking lie to me about that? I’ve been asking you for a phone this whole time. All I wanted to do was call my dad!”

“What did you expect me to do, Gabby? Think about it!” he yelled back. “If I let you use my phone to call your dad, it would be traced within seconds, then the whole fucking mob would be here, along with the cops. How do you see that ending? You think I’m fucking crazy? I value my life, thank you very much.”

“I wouldn’t let anything happen to you!” she cried, her eyes full of disappointment.

“I’m sorry, Gabby, but there’s no way it would go down well. Men like your father shoot first and ask questions later. We’ve already gone over this. Don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about. We grew up in the same place.”

“But he wouldn’t —,” I began.

“Gabby - we both saw it. We were just kids and we saw what he’s capable of doing.”

“But you didn’t even know who I was the first night. You still didn’t give me your phone. You still lied, Dante! Before you knew who my father was!” I yelled.

“Well, you weren’t exactly up front with me, either, goddammit!”

“That’s no excuse!”

“I didn’t know what I was dealing with, Gabby. I had to wait till morning to make any decisions.” His jaw clenched together, the muscles flexing as he stared down at me. I looked up at him, matching his anger.

“Nobody told you that you needed to make any decisions for me!”

“Maybe not,” he replied, “but here we are.”

“Yeah, here we are,” I snapped. “So now what the fuck do we do?”

Darkness flashed in his eyes and he drew in a slow, short breath as he peered deep into my eyes. I swallowed hard, every emotion under the sun washing over me. I wanted to be mad at him. I wanted to hate him. I wanted to slap him. I wanted to run away. I wished none of this had ever happened.

And yet, I’d never wanted another person to touch me more in my life.

His lips came crashing down on mine, my world falling down around me, everything I’d ever known now colored with his existence, with my feelings for him.

There was no turning back. There was nothing but now.

There was nothing but him.

And whatever future we were hurtling towards.

“
Y
ou can do this
,” I said to myself, an ache forming in the pit of my stomach. I opened the door to Otto’s, leaving the bright sunshine behind as I allowed the darkness of the bar to envelop me.

I stopped just inside, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness.

It looked completely different during the day for some reason, even without the sunlight to remind you it was daytime. There were less people here, the music wasn’t so loud, and it was much less rowdy than the last time I’d been here. I told myself one more time to relax and I put one foot in front of the other, slowly making my way to the bar.

Even though there were only a few people in here, I still felt all eyes on me. I was out of place, there was no denying it and everyone knew it. But I didn’t care. I wasn’t here to get laid this time. I was here to gather information.

To help find my friend.

My very stupid friend.

I still couldn’t believe she’d come here on her own, but the guilt I’d felt from the beginning had only grown, which had brought me here today. I’d tossed and turned in bed all night, waking up with the certainty that I had to do something to try to find her.

Yeah, the cops and the mob were both looking for her, but I figured I might approach it from a different angle. I’d learned a lot growing up in New York, and if I knew anything, it’s that a pair of tits can go a long way when necessary. You just had to use them correctly.

When I saw the way the bartender glued his eyes to my chest as soon as I walked up, I knew I was off to a good start.

“Corona, please,” I asked, flashing him a sultry smile. I knew better than to ask for wine at a place like this. The likelihood of them having a decent cabernet was nonexistent. Beer wasn’t my thing, but if I drowned it in lime juice, then I’d be able to get it down.

There were two bikers at one end of the bar and another guy dressed in normal clothes at the other end. He was incredibly handsome, with dark, smoldering eyes and long dark hair. If I’d been here for any other reason, I’d have sat with him, but instead I choose a stool between the two bikers, hoping I’d be able to pry some information from them.

I felt their eyes on me, and I turned to the one on my right and smiled shyly. He nodded without smiling, his face lined with wrinkles, his wild curly grey hair framing his round face. He was wearing an Iron Godz cut and a large bowie knife was secured in a leather case hanging from his weathered leather belt. He intimidated me immediately. I swallowed a drink from the bottle, hoping for the courage of the beer to hit me sooner than later.

I turned to the man on my left and smiled at him. He was younger, handsomer than his friend, and also wearing a Godz cut. He had a patch on the left side that said “Bonz” on top and “Vice President” below it. He smiled back at me, his eyes a bit kinder than the other guy.

I took a deep breath and began talking to the bartender.

“I saw this place on the news the other day,” I said.

“Yeah,” he grunted, without turning around.

“Looked pretty dramatic,” I said, turning to the biker on my left. He nodded slowly, his eyes raking over my tits and then back up to my face.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he replied.

“Were you here?” I asked him, doing my best to sound innocent and young.

“Yeah,” he grunted, taking a swig from his whiskey. “The news makes it out to be more than it was.”

“Oh, really? I guess that girl is still missing, isn’t she?” My stomach quivered.

“Probably won’t be for long. Someone’ll find her,” he said, his voice low and quiet.

“Where do you think she is?” I asked, flipping my hair over my shoulder as I smiled at him again. He turned in his seat and leaned in towards me.

“You always ask this many questions?” His eyes peered into mine and my heart sped up.

“I - um - I was just curious, you know?”

“No, I don’t know,” he said, bringing his face even closer. “You a reporter or something?”

“Me?” I exclaimed, putting my hand over my heart and leaning away from him slightly. “No way, not at all!”

“Then why else would a girl like you come to a place like this?”

“I just wanted a beer, that’s all,” I said, my heart feeling like it was about to pound its way out of my chest.

“There’s only one reason a girl like you comes in a place like this,” he growled, the kindness I’d thought I’d spotted in his eyes earlier draining away. “And it ain’t beer.”

“Oh!” I said, grabbing my beer and putting it between us. Thankfully, he pulled back and sat back on his stool. I took a deep breath, and tried again. “Do you think that’s why that girl on the news came here?”

“For what? To get fucked?” his friend asked, and then began roaring in laughter. “Of course she did!”

The bartender nodded and then joined in the laughter. I giggled nervously, now at a complete loss for words. Once again, I wished that I’d thought this out better before coming in.

“And you know that fucking asshole from the Deadly Sinners is fucking her every which way right now,” he said, slamming his hand on the bar loudly and laughing.

“Well,” the handsome one growled, “he better enjoy it, because once everyone catches up to him, he ain’t gonna be fucking anyone. He’ll be ripped to shreds!”

They howled in laughter together and I nodded silently, an awkward crooked smile on my face.

“Does anyone know where they are?” I asked quietly.

“Not yet. But it won’t be long before they find them. Hell, half the fucking city is looking for them. They’ll be found and soon.”

I took another swig of my beer and nodded.

“Well, have a nice day guys,” I said, before throwing down a ten dollar bill on the bar.

This was a really bad idea, in fact, it was the last of a string of really bad ideas. Coming here the first time was the first. Bragging about it to my best friend was the second.

I suppressed a groan as I walked out back into the sunlight.

Gabby’s disappearance was all my fault, and I shuddered to think about what she must be going through right now. She might not even be alive, for fuck’s sake. Tears stung my eyes as I walked back to my car. I was the worst friend in the whole fucking world.

“Hey!”

I turned toward the voice and saw the handsome guy from the end of the bar walking towards me. He was young. Extremely hot. And there was something about his eyes that yelled mysteriousness and mischievousness, all at the same time. He reminded me a little of the boys from the neighborhood, the Italian guys that walked around like a bunch of peacocks like they were born with confidence dripping from their veins. The cocky guys that I’d always had a weakness for, even if I knew they were full of shit.

“Yeah?” I asked, feeling him out, just as I did every man who approached me. It was a constant game you had to play with yourself as a woman. Danger or safe? Murderer or nice guy? It could go either way, and all I had to go on was my intuition, which unfortunately steered me wrong every now and then. For the most part, though, this guy seemed harmless. Maybe it was the playfulness in his eyes, or maybe the smile that disarmed me, but I wasn’t afraid of him.

“You looking for Gabby?” he asked, grinning.

“You know Gabby?” I asked, my heart jumping in my throat.

“I heard you asking about her. Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m her best friend. Her roommate. Bella Balducci,” I said, putting out my hand. “What’s your name?”

“Romeo,” he replied, grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it, flashing me that smile, drawing me in closer. “Why don’t you come with me? I know where she is. I’ll take you to her.”

“Why should I trust you, Romeo?” I replied with a playful smile, my nipples hardening under my black lace bra.

“Who else you gonna trust, right?” he asked. “Not for nuttin,” he said, his eyes raking over my body, undressing me, “but you look like my kind of girl. Maybe we can get to know each other a little better.”

I smirked and walked closer to him, bringing my lips inches from his gorgeous face.

“Maybe so,” I whispered. “But right now, I’m worried about my friend.”

“She’s safe,” he said, with a grin, “trust me.”

“My Ma told me to stay away from men like you,” I teased.

“You always do what your Ma tells you?”

“Pretty much never,” I smirked.

“Good girl,” he growled, his eyes hungry with lust.

“So, you’re going to take me to Gabby, huh?” I asked. “Why don’t you just tell me where she is? I can go myself.”

“I would, but it’s easier to show you,” he said, running his hand through his hair. He was sexy, beyond sexy, actually. Just drinking in his mysterious sexiness made my body sing. He was one of the hottest guys I’d ever seen, and yet I had to remind myself that he was a stranger. Was I really just going to disappear with some handsome stranger -
again
?

For fuck’s sake, Bella, what are you doing?
I thought. I sighed, knowing I was going to give in, despite the warning signs. What else was I going to do? He said he knew where Gabby was.

“Alright,” I said. “Let’s go,” I said, turning to my car.

“No way,” he replied, shaking his head slowly, his eyes raking over my body again. My nipples hardened under my blouse and my stomach quivered.

“Get on my bike,” he said, pointing to a shiny black Harley parked behind me.

“You’re a biker, too?”

“I guess you could say that,” he shrugged, strutting past me, dripping with confidence that I would follow.

“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered, doing just that. I followed him like a desperate puppy, those first threads of desire beginning to grow in my belly.

He handed me a helmet and I pulled it over my head, ruining the blow-out I’d spent so much time on earlier. I slid behind him on the bike, my stomach filling with butterflies as I assumed the intimate position behind him.

My pussy, my breasts, the insides of my thighs pressed against him like we were already lovers. I shook my head as my body shuddered with desire, my nipples hard as diamonds as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

We roared out of the parking lot, the gravel kicking up behind us as we headed out of town.