Road to Victory (Dogs of Fire Book 5) Read online

  No I wasn’t up for a party. I wanted to climb into bed for a week and sleep. I groaned. “Tonight?”

  He chuckled. “Kiddin’, babe. Saturday.”

  “Jerk,” I joked. “Saturday’s good.”

  As we hugged and greeted our “crew,” I reached out for Cash, itching to snuggle my “nephew.” “I can’t believe how much he’s changed,” I said, once Booker handed him over.

  “I know,” Dani agreed. “It’s a daily thing.”

  Cash grinned up at me. “Oh, he’s smiling now,” I exclaimed. “Hi, buddy. How’s my little man?”

  As I continued to coo and devour the attention of Cash, Knight took my bag from me and we moved as a group to the elevators and then down to baggage claim. All the men (except Knight) were wearing their club cuts, jeans, and motorcycle boots, and I had a feeling we must have all looked a little intimidating as we took over the carousel area.

  “Holy crap!” Dani whispered.

  “What?”

  “What’s that on your finger?” she demanded.

  “Shhh,” I hissed.

  “Did you get engaged?”

  “No. It’s a promise ring.”

  She grabbed my hand and pulled it closer to her face. “Promise ring, my ass. You could skate on that diamond.”

  “Ohmigod,” Darien exclaimed. “You guys got engaged?”

  “No,” I said.

  “That looks an awful lot like an engagement ring,” Dani countered.

  “I knew I should have packed it,” I ground out.

  “And run the risk of it being lost or stolen?” Knight countered. “No way in hell.”

  I glared up at him. “You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?”

  “What?” he asked in mock innocence. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “So, you got engaged but didn’t talk to me about it?” Mack accused. “I can’t give my blessing if you don’t ask for it, Knight.”

  “Fuck you—”

  “Whoa,” I warned. “Baby ears, honey. No swearing.”

  Dani did a little dance as she clapped her hands. “Ohmigod, this is going to be so perfect. We’ll plan your wedding and then you’ll have babies and we’ll raise them together.”

  I grabbed Knight’s arm. “You did this.”

  He laughed, leaning down to kiss me. “Evil genius.”

  “Nope, just evil.”

  We retrieved our bags, and while I continued to hold the baby, the men carried everything to Mack’s car. I was sad to hand Cash off to Dani, but with the promise of a visit in a couple of days, I released him, and climbed in the backseat with Knight.

  Mack and Darien dropped us off at my place and, after showering the plane away; we climbed into bed and slept for almost sixteen hours. It was bliss.

  * * *

  “Mornin’, sugar,” Knight whispered, sliding his hand between my legs.

  I arched against his palm, gasping when he slid his fingers inside of me. “What time is it?”

  “Almost ten.”

  Knight kissed his way down my body then settled himself between my legs. I wove my fingers into his hair as he covered my core with his mouth, sucking my clit gently. He brought me to the edge, then removed his mouth and moved back up my body, focusing on my nipples as he thrust into me.

  “Baby,” I rasped, and wrapped my legs around his waist, giving him deeper access.

  “Love you, Kim,” he whispered.

  “Love you too, baby.”

  He slammed into me again and I came around him... he joined me seconds later. Rolling onto his back, pulling me with him, he settled me against his chest.

  “That’s one hell of a way to wake up,” I said with a giggle, kissing his chest.

  “Let’s make a habit of it.”

  “Deal,” I agreed.

  “Ready to get up and go see the horses?”

  “Yes. More than ready.”

  He grinned and slid from the bed. “Buzz is on today, so I know he’s wantin’ a break.”

  We dressed quickly and headed out to the barn where we found a very excited JoEllen rushing to greet us. “Congratulations!” she crooned. “I can’t believe I have a bona-fide gold medalist at my little barn.”

  I grinned, hugging her. “Thank you.”

  “Do you know how busy we’ve been? I’m overbooked! I might need to build another building just to house the horses of the owners who want in. Aidan, you and I are going to need talk about you coming to train here.”

  He chuckled. “I’m happy to have a conversation, JoEllen, but I’ve got some plans of my own.”

  As Knight and JoEllen chatted, I hugged Buzz and let myself into Fozzie’s stall. “Hey big boy,” I whispered. “How’s my Olympic winner?”

  Fozzie whinnied quietly and nuzzled me, no doubt seeking out the peppermints in my pocket.

  “Smart devil, aren’t you?” I fed him his treat and took some time to brush him down.

  “Your mom’s been here pretty much every day since we brought Fozzie back,” Buzz said, leaning into the stall.

  “Ohmigod, seriously?” I sighed. “I’m sorry.”

  He chuckled. “Just a heads up she’ll probably be here today.”

  “This is what I get for not returning her calls,” I grumbled.

  “More like, this is what I get.”

  I giggled. “True. Sorry, buddy.”

  “No worries, babe.”

  “Get Fozzie tacked up,” Knight said with a smile. “We’ll head out on the trail.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” I said.

  He chuckled and headed over to Apollo’s stall.

  “I’m gonna head out,” Buzz said. “Flea’ll be here later tonight.”

  “Thanks for everything, buddy.”

  “No problem.” He grinned and I heard him call, “See ya brother,” to Knight as I finished brushing Fozzie down.

  We finished saddling our horses and led them out of the barn in order to mount up... and ran smack dab into my mother.

  “Shit,” I hissed in Knight’s general direction.

  “Oh my word!” she squealed. “My daughter’s a gold medal Olympian.”

  What I’d failed to notice was she’d brought someone with her... someone I recognized immediately.

  “Miss Church, I’m Candace Walker with Portland Seven News.”

  “Ah, hi,” I stammered.

  “Congratulations on your gold medal.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Can you tell me how long it took for you to train?” She shoved a microphone in front of me and I gave Knight a grimace as I hemmed and hawed for a few seconds.

  “Oh, my daughter is such a hard worker,” my mother crooned, forcing the reporter to focus back on her. “She’s trained her whole life for this.”

  Knight turned to me and smiled. “Jump up, sugar.”

  “Huh?”

  “Mount up. I’m gonna handle this, but you need to be on Fozzie when I do.”

  I nodded and mounted him from the ground (something I rarely did, because it was safer for both rider and horse to use a mounting block), but desperate times as they say.

  “Ms. Walker,” Knight said, oozing with charm. “I’m afraid you’ve caught us unprepared. We have an important task that needs to get done and now is not a good time for an interview.”

  “But I set all of this up!” Mom cried.

  “I understand. However, you set it up without checking with your daughter first, and it’s not a good time.” He turned back to the reporter. “If you’d like to contact Kim directly at another time, I’m sure she’ll fit you in as soon as she can.”

  “But—”

  Mom didn’t get another word out as Knight jumped onto Apollo and we took off toward the trail. Once far enough away from the prying eyes of cameras, we pulled the horses to a walk and I turned to Knight. “Ohmigod, she’s insane.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t disagree, sugar. Shit, she really thinks this is all about her.” />
  “Do you still think she’s twirly?”

  “Yep. But I think she’s delusional and twirly.”

  I smiled. “Twirlusional.”

  Knight laughed. “Nice.”

  “I just hope we can ward this off,” I said. “I’m all for celebrating our win and being all Portland proud and stuff, but if we lose our anonymity, I might lose my mind.”

  “We’ll figure it out, Kim.”

  “I’m holding you to that mister armor.”

  He grinned. “Ready to keep up?”

  “Bring it, baby.”

  Knight took off and Fozzie and I followed with gusto.

  * * *

  A few days later, my mother called and I figured if I didn’t answer, she’d just show up again. Knight was at the clubhouse, so I was on my own for the afternoon. “Hi, Mom.”

  “I don’t appreciate being dismissed so rudely.”

  I bit back a retort and took a deep breath. “Mom, you hijacked my ride time with Aidan. If you’d let me know you were coming—”

  “You wouldn’t have shown up.”

  Well, she wasn’t wrong.

  “What can I do for you?” I asked, willing the conversation to end faster.

  “I was wondering what you were planning on doing with my house.”

  “What house?” I asked, although I knew exactly what she meant.

  “You know exactly which house, Kimberly.”

  “I’m not planning on doing anything differently than what I’m currently doing. Why?”

  “Because I want to buy you out,” she said.

  I rubbed my forehead. “Mom, I haven’t changed my mind. I don’t want to sell because I eventually want to live in it.”

  “It’s not your house!” she snapped.

  “Mom, Gran left it to me and I’m sorry that upsets you, but I’m not going to sell it to you.”

  “You ungrateful, selfish—”

  “Mom, I’m sorry, I have to go.” I didn’t wait for her response before hitting the end call button. My phone buzzed again. Determined to ignore it, I dropped it on the island, and pulled out the chicken I was going to cook for dinner. I didn’t understand why the sudden interest in Gran’s house, but I hoped Mom would take a hint and drop the subject.

  * * *

  One week later, life had calmed down a little. Knight had essentially moved in, I’d set up an interview with Candace, and I’d warded my mother off with a promise of lunch the following week. All had been quiet on the Fozzie front also. No one had attempted to get near him and I was growing more and more comfortable as the days went on. Stupidly thinking my life was nearly perfect and relaxing into a new normal.

  “I’m back, sugar,” Knight called, closing the front door with a slam.

  “How was church?” I asked. Wednesdays were meeting nights for the Club and they referred to them as “church.”

  He met me in the kitchen where I was attempting to make spaghetti, leaning down to kiss me quickly before grabbing a beer. “Good.”

  “Good, good, or good but some issues you can’t talk about?”

  He smiled. “Good, good.”

  “Oh, yay,” I said.

  “How about you? How did your visit with Dani go?”

  “Very well. Cash’s so cute.”

  “Makes you want one, huh?” he asked, sliding his hand to my waist.

  I wrinkled my nose. “Um, no. Not right now, anyway.”

  “Carter asked if we want to babysit Maverick next weekend.”

  “Fine by me. I love that kid.”

  Cassidy had Maverick when she was a teenager, but when she and Carter had gotten married, he’d adopted Maverick. Looking at the two of them, no one would ever guess Mav wasn’t actually his.

  “Good, ’cause I already told them yes.”

  I giggled. “Of course you did.”

  My phone rang just as I dropped the pasta in the boiling water and I reached for it. “Hello?”

  “Kim?”

  “Yes, it’s me.”

  “Oh, honey, it’s Linda Sadler, I hate to tell you this, but the house is on fire.”

  “What?” I snapped. “Are you okay?”

  Linda was married with four kids, all under the age of eleven. “Everyone’s out and safe. None of the outbuildings have been touched and the fire department has it under control, but I thought you should know.”

  “Ohmigod, Linda, I’m so sorry! Please get a hotel and I’ll pay for it.”

  “You don’t need to do that.”

  “I insist. I’m coming over.”

  “Okay,” she said. “We’ll see you in a bit.”

  I hung up and turned off the stove.

  “What’s goin’ on?” Knight asked.

  My stomach roiled and I couldn’t fully wrap my mind around what Linda had just said. “Gran’s house is on fire.” Saying it out loud made it impossible to ignore.

  “I picked up on that, sugar. What do you need?”

  I bit my lip and stared up at him.

  “Kim?”

  “I think you’re going to need to drive,” I whispered. “We need to go down there.”

  He smiled. “Pretty sure I can do that for you, sugar.”

  “Thanks, baby.”

  He grabbed my keys and we headed out to the car.

  * * *

  Knight pulled the car to the curb about a hundred yards from the house and I jumped out and made a run for the fire trucks and cop cars, lights flashing, but no sirens.

  A police officer stopped me as I approached. “Ma’am, this is a restricted area. We need you to stay back.”

  “This is my house.”

  “Kim!” Linda called and closed the distance between us. “She’s our landlord,” she explained to the officer.

  “I still need you to step back, Ma’am. There isn’t anything you can do right now.”

  “But what happens next?” I asked, looking over his shoulder. Firemen were still spraying the east side of the building. The air around the house was full of either steam or smoke, probably a combination of both, and smelled like burnt wood and plaster. I couldn’t tell how bad the damage was. “It looks like the fire is out.”

  He nodded. “They extinguished it, but now they’ll need to make sure nothing flares up. They’ll watch it throughout the night.”

  “Do they know what caused it?”

  “No Ma’am. They’ve been focused on putting it out, but they will do a full assessment of the cause. Let me get the captain so he can get your contact information.”

  The officer waved over a gentleman who appeared to be in his mid-fifties, gorgeous with salt and pepper hair and freshly shaved face. “I understand you’re the homeowner?”

  “I am.”

  “I’m Captain Bennett,” he said.

  I shook his hand. “Kim Church.”

  We exchanged contact information and he promised to get in touch with me after their investigation before telling me to go home.

  I nodded, but as he walked back to his crew, I covered my face with my hands, suddenly unable to breathe, my heart was racing so fast and I couldn’t seem to focus.

  Strong arms wrapped around me again, pulling me close. “Breathe, sugar.”

  “Someone could have been hurt.” I sobbed into his chest. “She has little kids. What if I did something wrong? I tried to keep up with the maintenance, but what if I didn’t do it well enough?”

  “Okay, sugar, it’s okay.” He rubbed my back. “No one was hurt.”

  “But they could have been,” I sobbed into his chest.

  “I know,” he said. “We’ll get them settled somewhere safe, yeah?”

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  He cupped my face and lifted my chin. “It’s okay, Kimmie.”

  I nodded as he wiped the tears from my cheeks.

  “I’m gonna call the brothers. Get a couple of ’em to watch the house.”

  “That’d be really helpful, honey, thank you.”

  He kissed me gently an
d I went to find Linda and her family.

  Falling into bed that night, I tossed and turned until Knight literally pinned me to the mattress. “Sugar... if you’re not gonna sleep, we’ll do somethin’ else.”

  “I’m too stressed to have sex,” I complained.

  “Sex is a great stress reliever,” he said.

  I groaned.

  “Sugar, we can watch TV or fuckin’ play Monopoly if want to, I don’t care, but I’m not lyin’ in this bed with you tossin’ and turnin’.”

  “I don’t have Monopoly,” I retorted. “But I do have Boggle.”

  “So fuckin’ funny,” he said, kissing my collarbone, then moving down my body.

  “Okay, maybe I’m okay with sex,” I breathed out when his mouth covered my core and he sucked at my clit. Moving back up to my breasts, he linked his fingers with mine and held my arms above my head as he slid inside of me.

  “Baby,” I whispered, letting my worries fall away as he brought me to a sweet climax. “I love you.”

  He grinned, sliding out of me and pulling me against his chest. “Yeah?”

  I shoved at him gently. “Oh, don’t get all smug on me.”

  “Can’t help bein’ right all the time, sugar.”

  “Suck it.”

  “Just did that.”

  I giggled. “Yeah you did.”

  “Feel better?”

  “Kind of.” I took a deep breath. “I’m worried about what the fire investigators are going to find.”

  “I get it, but there’s nothin’ you can do right now.” He kissed my temple. “Not sleepin’ will only make you more stressed.”

  “I know, but I’m not sure how not to worry.”

  He chuckled. “Boggle it is.”

  I sat up on my knees. “You’ll really play Boggle with me?”

  Knight smiled dragging his hands down his face. “You wanna play Boggle, sugar, we’ll play.”

  I scrambled off the bed and headed toward the bathroom.

  “Naked Boggle, Kimmie, or no deal,” he called.

  I grinned. Naked Boggle it was.

  Kim

  THE NEXT MORNING, I contacted the insurance company and initiated the claim. Then the fire investigator called to let me know he’d be over just after two that afternoon to discuss what they’d found.

  I was a bundle of nerves and I’m pretty sure I must have paced my apartment a hundred times before the investigator arrived. Knight let me pace, occasionally handing me water or something to eat, letting me prepare for the news in my own way.