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

  “What do you mean, locked down?”

  “You’re gonna hang with Dani while I take care of some shit.”

  “Okay, I love ‘hanging’ with my best friend, but I’m not sure I like the sound of you taking care of some shit.”

  He smirked, but said nothing to alleviate my worry. The sound of Harley pipes roared and Knight left me briefly. I turned to Fozzie and did a more thorough check as I brushed him down. Knight returned a few minutes later with Cricket’s brother, Hatch. “Mack’s drivin’ you to Book’s place, got three guys on Fozzie, and Hatch and I need to head out.”

  “Where?” I asked.

  “Sugar, just come outta the stall.”

  “Honey,” I said to Knight. Hatch walked out of the barn, obviously to give us some privacy which I appreciated. “That world of hurt you mentioned? Promise me you’ll be careful.”

  “Don’t worry, sugar, I’m always careful.”

  “Why doesn’t that make me feel better?”

  “Come on, sugar.” He waved me out.

  Knowing I’d get nowhere if I argued, I put the brushes away and locked the stall. After giving Fozzie a peppermint, I followed Knight out to the vehicles. At least ten Harleys had been backed in and lined up against the fence by the house. Another half-dozen, trucks and cars were parked on the property (including Mack’s BMW).

  “Is the whole club here?” I asked.

  “Close,” he said.

  “Why?”

  “This is our hub for the moment. Closer than goin’ back to the compound. Four guys will stay here, the rest have other shit to do, but they wanted to be here for moral support.”

  “Hey, Kim,” Mack said as he approached, hugging me quickly. “Let’s get you to Booker’s.”

  “I’ve got my car... ”

  “We’ll have one of the guys drive it over,” Knight said.

  “Honey, it’s ridiculous to pull someone away when I can just as easily drive it myself.”

  He gripped my chin gently and frowned. “Not up for discussion.”

  “Okay,” I ground out.

  “Armor, sugar.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I get it. We can fight about it later.”

  “’Preciate it.”

  “You will tell me everything when you’re done with the world of hurt, get me?” I demanded.

  “Promise.”

  While Knight made plans with the Dogs, I grabbed my bag, handed my keys to Hatch, and found Mack. After kissing Knight (far too quickly), I followed Mack to his car.

  * * *

  Knight watched Kim leave, then Ace, Hatch, Buzz, and he gathered at the bikes. “Any questions?”

  “No,” Ace said. “Let’s just get this asshole.”

  Agreements came and Knight nodded. “Let’s go.”

  With both Kim and Fozzie locked down and safe, Knight rode with his brothers to Blush to put their plan into motion.

  Kim

  I WAS GUIDED into Dani’s apartment by the hammy hand of Mack on my lower back. “I can walk into a condo all by my little self, bud,” I snapped.

  He chuckled, dropping my bag on the floor and I hugged Dani. Darien peeked out from the kitchen with a grin. “Don’t forget about me.”

  I smiled and hugged her as well before Mack pulled her in for a kiss.

  “This is our prison for a while, huh?” I asked.

  “Well, it’s yours,” Darien retorted. “I’m along for the ride.

  “Nice try, baby,” Mack said.

  She groaned. “It’s ridiculous that we’re locked down. We aren’t the ones being threatened... no offense Kimmie.”

  I raised my hands. “None taken.”

  “How’s the baby?” Mack asked, laying a hand over her round belly.

  “Baby’s fine, honey. It’s Mama who’s a little irritated.”

  “Harper down?”

  “Yes, Harper’s down. Stop managing me, Logan.”

  He chuckled. “I have to go.”

  Before he could, however, the tiny little patter of bare feet on the hardwoods sounded as the curly red-headed fairy that was Harper MacKenzie Reed flew at her daddy. Mack caught her before her head connected with his knee and lifted her to his chest. “I thought you were takin’ a nap.”

  “Daddy,” she whispered, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck.

  “And this is why she gets away with murder,” Darien breathed out.

  “Oh, but she’s so cute,” Dani exclaimed.

  “God, she’s going to be pregnant before she hits high school if we’re not careful.”

  Mack covered Harper’s ears and warned, “Darien.”

  “This is on you, Mr. Pushover.”

  I bit back a giggle watching the little family. Mack kissed his daughter’s forehead and released her ears to whisper into them as he walked her back down the hall.

  Darien flopped onto the sofa and settled her hands on her ever-rounding belly. “He has to learn to say no to her, or we’re screwed.”

  Dani giggled, sitting beside her. “It’s kind of funny to watch.”

  “Yes,” I agreed. “Big bad, built like a truck, Mack... taken down by a red-headed sprite... well, two of them, to be exact.”

  Darien sighed. “If he wasn’t so good in bed, I’d—”

  “You’d do what?” Mack challenged as he walked back into the room.

  “Nothing, because the fact you’re so good in bed trumps everything else.”

  “Good answer.” He chuckled leaning down to kiss her. “Harper’s down again. I’ll see you later. Love you, baby.”

  “Love you too,” Darien, Dani, and I said in unison and then dissolved into giggles.

  “Y’all are crazy,” he said, and left.

  “Anyone hungry?” Dani pushed off the sofa.

  “Me,” I said, and Darien agreed.

  “Sandwiches good?”

  “Perfect,” Darien said.

  I rose to my feet. “You sit, Dare. I’ll help Dani.”

  “I won’t say no to that,” she said with a grin. I joined Dani in the kitchen and we whipped together sandwiches, arriving back in the living room to find Darien asleep on the sofa.

  “Ohmigod, I wish I could sleep like that,” Dani whispered. I gave her a sympathetic smile and she scowled. “Oh, bite me.”

  I giggled. “Come on, let’s let her sleep. We’ll go out on the balcony.”

  She grabbed the baby monitor and we stepped out into the cool afternoon, sitting at the little bistro table overlooking the water.

  “So, you gonna tell me about the ring?” Dani asked.

  I stared down at the rock and smiled, filling her in on the events that led up to it.

  “So, it’s a promise of a promise?”

  I giggled. “I love how you get me.”

  “Are you going to pull your head out of your butt?”

  I squinted as I stared out at the Willamette. “I don’t know if I can. I love him, but marrying him is just way too much pressure.”

  “I get it, honey, but it won’t be the same as your parents.”

  “I know.” I faced her again. “I just want it to be like your parents.”

  Dani laughed. “Or how about wanting it to be what works for you? After Steven, did you think I’d fall for someone like Austin?”

  “Hell no.”

  “Exactly, hell no. But he loves me more and better than any other human being on earth, and that goes for my mom and you know how much she loves me.”

  I grinned. “This is very true.”

  “Besides, he knows... divorce is not an option—”

  “But murder is,” I finished for her.

  “You know me too well.”

  “I feel like Rio was a turning point for us,” I said. “We were away from our world, forced into one with just the two of us... after the Olympics of course... and we could just focus on us. It was amazing. He was amazing.”

  “More amazing than when you’re here?”

  I shook my head. “Different amazing. God, Dani,
I love him so much it scares me, but the thought of not being with him scares me more.”

  She squeezed my hand. “I think you just kind of answered the question.”

  “Yeah. I’m going to marry him,” I conceded. “I just need to sit with it for a bit.”

  “Totally get it.” Her voice was full of controlled glee... okay, controlled was stretching it.

  I rolled my eyes. “Go ahead.”

  She jumped out of her chair and started dancing around the patio. I couldn’t stop a laugh when she bumped into a planter, but she started up again, looking like an idiot. A beautiful, sweet, and wonderful idiot who adored me.

  She hugged me, kissing my cheek and cupping them like a mother would. “I’m so unbelievably proud of you, Kim. Seriously. Your life has been a challenge and you’ve maneuvered through it with a dignity and sweetness that would be hard-pressed for most. You deserve him, honey. You deserve happy.”

  I blinked back tears and smiled. “Thanks, Dani. Love you.”

  “Love you more.”

  Cash’s squeal through the baby monitor broke our sisterly moment, so we headed back inside and left Darien sleeping while we took care of the kids. I was actually looking forward to the day when my friends would help take care of mine.

  * * *

  As much as Knight hated the Armani suit he currently wore, it did get him into the places he couldn’t go wearing his cut and cowboy boots. And today didn’t disappoint. Mack, Ace, and Booker followed, letting Knight take the lead. He smiled as he approached the receptionist, not missing her assessing gaze. “May I help you?”

  “We’re here to see Mr. Weston. He’s expecting us. Aidan Scott.”

  “I’ll let his assistant know you’re here.”

  Knight turned back to his brothers and they took a seat by the window, none of them saying a word. Just waiting. Their brother Jaxon waited downstairs with his FBI partner, Brock Williams, refusing to come up with them for plausible deniability. Not that they needed it. They already had all the evidence they needed for an arrest...they’d already tracked the money Bart paid two men to burn the home down, but the plausible deniability was more for what was going to take place during the meeting.

  A tall blonde woman approached with a smile. “Mr. Scott? Mr. Weston will see you now.”

  They stood and followed her down the hall and into a conference room with frosted glass walls which made it impossible to see in from the outside. Knight smiled to himself. Perfect.

  Kim’s uncle rose to his feet, his smug fat face breaking into a smile. “Gentlemen, hello. It’s not every day that I have my favorite niece’s trainer in my presence,” he said as he shook their hands.

  As Knight slid his hand into Bart’s, he turned him to the side and twisted his arm up behind his back, slapping his other hand over Bart’s mouth. “Your favorite niece? The one you raped?”

  Bart mumbled something, but Knight tugged his arm higher. “Or was it the niece whose horse you killed? Or was it the one whose home you tried to burn down? No, must have been the one whose horse you kidnapped and tried to kill. My brothers and I have a message... one we’re going to deliver here and now... and then if we ever see your face again, if Kim ever hears from you again, you won’t ever be able to receive anything again. Do you hear me?”

  When Bart didn’t respond, Knight tugged on his arm until he felt it pop out of joint.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear that.”

  Bart nodded, his face red, tears streaming down his cheeks like the pussy he was.

  “After we fill you in on our message, you will be contacting the local authorities to confess your sins... all of them, because if you don’t, we will know. Do you hear me?”

  Bart nodded.

  “I don’t think I believe him,” Ace said.

  “Well, it’s a good thing we have a contact that can help take that confession,” Knight said. “Give me two minutes, then text.”

  The Dogs turned their backs and Knight patted Bart down, finding a handkerchief. He gagged Bart with it before releasing Bart and punching him in the stomach. Bart doubled over while taking a wild swing at Knight. Knight countered and hit him again. Bart groaned, holding his stomach.

  “Not so fun when someone can fight back, huh?” Knight asked, stepping in to another swing. He kept his shots below the neck and above the waist. By the time Jaxon and Brock busted in to arrest Bart, Knight was finished. He held up his hands and stepped away from Bart.

  “He tried to leave. I had to detain him,” Knight said.

  Jaxon had to know he was lying but didn’t call him on it. Instead, he said, “We’ll take it from here.”

  Knight nodded and walked out the door, climbed in an elevator, and rode it down to the garage. Ace, Mack, and Booker were at his back, and followed him to Booker’s where he found his woman sobbing on the sofa with Dani and Darien, watching some fuckin’ romance movie.

  Dani paused the movie. “That was quick.”

  Kim flew off the couch and into Knight’s arms.

  “That’s the only reason you should ever cry, sugar,” Knight whispered.

  “Huh?”

  “A fuckin’ movie,” he said, kissing her hair.

  She giggled and stroked his cheek. “Are you okay?”

  “I am now.” He hid his bruised knuckles by sliding his hands into his pockets.” Ready to go home?”

  “So ready.”

  They said their goodnights to their family and headed out. “I want you at my back, sugar. We’ll get your car tomorrow,” he said as they stepped into the elevator.

  “Okay, honey.”

  They walked to his bike and he helped her with a helmet, sliding his leather jacket over her shoulders since she didn’t have one, and climbed on. Kim tucked herself against him, wrapped her arms around him, and they took off for home.

  Once inside their apartment, Knight kissed her gently and she smiled up at him. “What happened?”

  “Your uncle brought in goons to deal with Flea and Jo while he took Fozzie. They got the jump on Flea when he walked to his bike to get his smokes. Not sure on the details at that point, but they took him and Fozzie to some abandoned barn not far from Jo’s.”

  “The big blue one off the freeway?”

  “You know it?”

  “Sort of. I drive by it a lot. Probably a perfect place to hide a horse for a little while.”

  “That’s what he was countin’ on. Where they made one mistake was leavin’ Flea in the trailer with Fozzie. I think they were plannin’ on moving both of them again, but Flea came to, managed to get himself out of his bindings, and texted the info. By the time we got there, your uncle was long gone, but his goons’ll be hurtin’ for a while.”

  “What happened after that?”

  “Sugar, you don’t need to worry about what happened after that. Now settle. I need to hold you a bit.”

  “Okay.” She hugged him, settling her cheek to his chest. “I love you, Aidan.”

  “Love you too, sugar.”

  “When do you want to get married?”

  “Tomorrow... wait, what?”

  She giggled as she pulled away slightly. “How does two months sound?”

  “Fuck, seriously?”

  “Yes. I want at least two babies before I turn thirty.”

  Which meant they had about two years.

  “I can put a baby in you every year if you want me to.” He stroked her hair. “You really going to marry me?”

  “Hell, yes. Since I can’t live without you, I probably should.”

  With a holler, he lifted her over his shoulder, slapping her ass, and she wrapped her arms around his back. “Knight! Ohmigod, if you drop me, you’re going to be in so much trouble!”

  He did drop her, but gently onto their bed, where he peeled every stitch of clothing from her body, kissing as he went. He made love to her and it felt different this time. No better or worse, just more somehow.

  “I’m home,” she whispered.

 
“Yeah, sugar. We both are.”

  “Thanks for being my armor.”

  He chuckled. “Thanks for pullin’ your head outta your ass.”

  “Excuse me?” She straddled him with a disgruntled squeak.

  He shifted so she was under him and he grinned. “I don’t stutter.”

  “We’ve just had this beautiful moment. Are you really going to ruin it by being a butt?”

  “Shhh,” he whispered, kissing his way down her body. “I’m gonna make up for it right now.”

  He watched her lick her lips, her pussy already wet, waiting for what he was going to do next, and his dick went rock hard... again. He ran his tongue over her folds, sucking gently on her clit and she whimpered as she wove her hands into his hair. “You taste so good, sugar. Like fuckin’ honey.”

  Knight shifted so he was kneeling between her legs and he slid into her, leaning down to kiss her as he thrust into her over and over again, refusing to stop until they both came. As he pulled her into his arms, he knew he’d never let her go. She was his and he’d spend the rest of his life proving that men stuck around... and he’d treasure every second.

  Kim

  Two Years Later...

  I SETTLED FOZZIE in his stall... the one at my grandma’s home... and closed the door. Knight and I had moved his horses here as well after we were married, and our one-year-old daughter Cambry sat in her stroller in the barn alley watching me. “My future little Olympian, huh?”

  She grinned up at me. “Wozzie.”

  I giggled. “Yes, darling, Wozzie.”

  After making sure the horses were settled, I wrapped blankets more securely around Cambry and set off toward the house, memories flooding my mind.

  So much had happened in the last twenty-four months, starting with the arrest and subsequent confession from my uncle. Even though my uncle had confessed to raping me, I asked that it be kept out of the record. We were dangerously close to the statute of limitations end date, and I wasn’t ready to drag all of those memories up, especially considering how hard and long I’d worked to get over it. I felt that I didn’t care what he went to jail for, just so long as he went.