Primal Fury (Primal Howlers MC Book 5) Page 4
“I can’t breathe,” he bit out.
“That’s the least of your problems right now,” I snapped.
“Let him up, Hyde,” Indigo whispered. “Cliff was just leaving.”
Instead of releasing my hold, I dug my knee harder in his chest. Cliff squealed like a pig.
“Jekyll,” Indigo pressed. “Seriously. Let him up.”
I eased up and glared at him. “Consider this your first and final warning. If you ever come near her again, I’ll finish the job.”
I stood, letting Cliff get his own ass off the floor. He did it slowly, his hand on his throat. “You can forget any future donations from me or my company,” he threatened.
“I’ll put a note on my calendar to cry tomorrow,” Indigo retorted.
By the time Cliff got to his feet, an overweight security guard arrived, out of breath, but ready to do his job, escorting Cliff from the building.
“Who the fuck was that?” I demanded.
“Clifford Thayer.”
“Who the fuck is Clifford Thayer?” I hissed.
“No one,” Indigo said, ushering JJ out of her office, and closing the door. “What are you doing here?”
“Apparently what your so-called security can’t,” I growled.
“I had it under control.”
“Babe, you need to fill me in on what the fuck just happened here.”
“Cliff thought I owed him a date because he sent me more flowers. It’s so not a big deal.” She crossed her arms. “What are you doing here?”
I handed Indigo her wallet. “You forgot this.”
“Oh, shit. Seriously?” She took it from me and set it on her desk. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I crossed my arms and studied her. “Who was that?”
“No one.”
I stepped closer to her, pinning her to her desk. “Baby, who was that?”
She continued to rub her arms as she met my eyes. “Clifford Thayer. He’s a hedge fund manager who donates a good chunk of money to Walker House. Well, he used to, anyway.”
“He fuck with you on the regular?”
She shook her head. “Not physically, no.”
“Let me see your arms.”
“I’m fine.”
“GoGo, let me see.”
She rolled the sleeve of her T-shirt up and I saw red. Her red arms, and my hot rage. I narrowed my eyes and nodded. “Right.”
“I’m fine,” she whispered.
“Yep. Okay, I’m gonna let you get back to work.”
She nodded, her eyes filling with tears again, and I stamped down my fury as I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close.
“You’re okay,” I assured her, and her body shook as she buried her face in my chest.
“I was so scared,” she whispered sliding her hands up my back, under my cut. “God, it’s so dumb.”
“Why’s it dumb?”
“Because he couldn’t do anything to me here.”
“Baby, he did do something to you here, so you feeling scared is a perfectly acceptable response.”
She sighed, nodding. “Maybe.”
“Definitely.”
She took a deep breath and slid her hands down my back, releasing me but I took a little longer to do the same.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“About what?”
“I never cry. I mean, not about this kind of stuff. I cry at those stupid videos where dogs reunite with returning soldiers, or coffee commercials during Christmas, but not when I’m nervous or whatever.” She bit her lip. “I have to deal with difficult people and situations all the time. I don’t have the freedom to break down.”
“I get that.”
“This shouldn’t have bothered me.”
I smiled, reaching out to stroke her face. “Don’t ever be sorry for feelin’ shit, GoGo. Not with me.”
She closed her eyes and leaned her face against my hand, then nodded and stepped away. “Thanks for… well, everything. I appreciate it.”
“No problem.”
“I’ll walk you out.”
“You sure you’re okay?” I asked as she stepped to her door and pulled it open.
“I’m good.”
I followed her back through the secret room where she left me in the lobby. I headed out to my bike, pulling my phone out as I walked.
“Hey,” Scrappy answered.
“I want everything you can find on Clifford Thayer. If we need to go deep, call Rabbit.”
“Dogs of Fire Rabbit?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed.
“What do you want to do with this info?” Scrappy asked.
“I want enough to bury the asshole.”
I heard the smile in his voice as he said, “Roger,” and hung up.
I threw my leg over my bike and made my way to Potion.
* * *
Indigo
After leaving Jekyll in the lobby, I rushed back to my office and closed my door leaning against it as I tried to catch my breath.
What the fuck was that?
I settled my palm against my cheek exactly where Jekyll had. He’d shown a great deal of tenderness which belied his near maiming of Cliff.
God, he was an enigma.
I knew I should be afraid of him, but I wasn’t.
Not anymore.
Not only that, in fact, I was quickly realizing I liked him.
I shook my head and walked toward my desk just as my door burst open.
“What the hell is this about some biker beating the shit out of Cliff?” Bellamy demanded, closing the door behind her. “And why did no one come and get me so I could watch?”
I rolled my eyes as I sat behind my desk and opened my laptop. “It was nothing.”
“Bullshit,” she hissed, flopping into the chair across from me. “JJ said he threw Cliff to the ground and stomped on his head.”
“Okay, that is not at all what happened.”
“Well, you better start talkin’, missy, or I’m gonna fill in my own blanks.”
I told her everything, and I mean, everything. Bellamy was not the girl to hold back on, mostly because she knew me better than myself, which meant I literally could not lie to her.
“Okay, so he almost kissed you,” she mused once I was done.
“What? No,” I squeaked. “How the hell did you come to that conclusion?”
“I know men.”
“Because you’ve slept with two more than me?”
She snorted. “Because you don’t see your pure sex appeal.”
“Fuck off,” I retorted.
“See?”
I pulled up my email and frowned. “See what, weirdo?”
“Oh my god, you’re a lost cause.”
I focused on her again. “You’re probably right. But for now, I have to find out how we’re going to make up Cliff’s funding because I will never take another dime from him. Not that he’s offering.”
She sighed as she stood. “Fine. Be oblivious. But mark my words, woman, that man wants you. And I need to meet him A.S.A.P.”
I waved my hands, shooing her out the door. “Whatever.”
Bellamy walked out and I set about trying to find some hidden money.
* * *
Jekyll
I pulled up to the cabin, backed into my spot, then headed inside. I walked into the kitchen for a beer where I found Scrappy already halfway into a bottle. “You find anything?”
Scrappy pointed to the paperwork on the metal island. “I found what I could. Rabbit was able to get more.”
“Jesus, he’s quick,” I remarked, shuffling through the stack.
“No doubt.”
I read one particularly revealing piece of information. “This guy’s a real piece of shit.”
“Seems like it,” Scrappy agreed.
“Feel like teaching him a lesson?”
He grinned slowly. “Fuck yeah.”
“We’ll ride at ten.”
“I’ll be ready.”
I nodded, grabbed a beer, and took the stack of paperwork to my room.
Indigo
The day afteR the run-in with Cliff (which Bellamy and I referred to going forward as DNI, the ‘Douche Nozzle Incident’), I walked into my office to find Bellamy on the phone. She had a shit-eating grin on her face, and I was both excited, and terrified to find out why. I didn’t have to wait long.
“Holy fucking shit on a cracker,” Bellamy breathed out as she closed herself into my office with me.
“What now?”
“Cliff sent a donation of five-hundred grand.”
I snorted. “That’s a good one, Bell.”
“I’m not kidding. He wired it into the Walker House main account this morning. I was checking the books and thought it might be a mistake, so I first called the bank, and then called his office.”
“Bell—”
“No, wait, there’s more,” she rushed on.
I sighed, leaning against the edge of my desk. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh my god, bitch, if you would shut up for more than ten seconds, I could tell you.”
I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms, and nodding. “Continue.”
“So, I called the bank… they said it’s legit. I called Cliff’s office and discovered he was on leave for a couple of weeks due to some kind of ‘accident,’ but that he’d authorized the donation and said that it would be matched right before Christmas.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I squeaked.
“Right?”
“What kind of accident?” I asked.
“Car, I think,” she said. “Apparently, he had a couple of broken bones or something. I didn’t get into it with Carol, because I don’t really give a shit.”
Carol was Cliff’s third assistant this year, and she seemed sweet, but that meant he would probably eat her alive.
“Bellamy,” I admonished.
“What? He attacked you, Indy. Right here, in case you don’t remember. The only thing that would be better than him having a few broken arms, is that his dick is ripped off, it flies up into the air, and lands in his esophagus choking him on it.”
“That’s quite graphic,” I pointed out. “And is there a way one can break more than a few arms?”
“Both arms!” She threw hers in the air. “You know what I mean, but definitely the dick choking stuff.”
She had a point, not about the dick stuff… well, not just about the dick stuff… but I wasn’t bloodthirsty quite like that and I tended to feel guilty when thinking ill of someone. Especially, if they’d been hurt.
“Anyway,” Bellamy continued. “It’s all legit. Like, lawyered up and shit, so we’ll be getting another half-mil at Christmas.”
“That’s four times his normal donation.”
“I know,” she squealed, jumping up and down.
“We can add room for another fifteen kids.”
“Or, you could give us a raise,” she joked.
I rolled my eyes. “I need to process this.”
“I figured. I’ll forward you the emails,” she said, and walked out of my office while I lowered myself into my chair and dropped my head into my hands.
Shenanigans were afoot.
What kind of shenanigans, however, I had no idea. Frowning, I did a quick interweb search for car accidents near or around Monument yesterday, and as I suspected, I found nothing. Something low in my gut was stirring and I had no idea if it was a real premonition, or just the bagel I’d grabbed on my way out the door.
I decided to figure it out and picked up my phone.
“Potion, how may I help you?” a young woman’s voice answered.
“Ah, hi, ah, is Hyde Roberts available, please?”
“Hyde? Who?”
“Sorry,” I rushed out. “Jekyll. Is Jekyll available?”
“Oh, sure. Hold on.”
I bit my lip as I waited… and waited.
“Jekyll here.”
“Hi. Ah, it’s—”
“Indigo?”
I wrinkled my nose. God, his voice was sexy. “Yes. Hi.”
“You okay?”
“Yes, fine. Um, I have a question, and I think it might be a stupid one, but…”
“Spit it out, GoGo,” he encouraged.
“Cliff Thayer,” I said.
“Piece of shit asshole?”
“Yep, that’d be the one,” I confirmed.
“What about him?”
“He has apparently been involved in some kind of accident.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked, and I could hear the smile in his voice.
“And he’s donated five-hundred thousand dollars to Walker House.”
“No shit?” he said, but he didn’t sound surprised at all.
I swallowed convulsively. “Did you have anything to do with that?” I rasped.
“What could I possibly have to do with a couple of sizable donations some asshole decided to make.”
“A couple? I didn’t say there were a couple.”
There was a slight pause before he chuckled. “My next appointment’s here, I gotta go.”
“Hyde, what did you do?”
“Nothing but I’ll see you when you pick up Leo this afternoon.”
“Bryan’s picking him up, actually. I have a late meeting and I’m not sure if I’ll get out of here on time.”
“Then, we’ll talk when I pick you up for dinner.”
“Oka—wait, what?” I shook my head. “No, I’m not going to dinner with you.”
“Seven work?”
“Hyde—”
“I’ll pick you up at your place,” he said over me. “Wear jeans so you can ride.”
“I—”
I heard the click of the phone and let out a frustrated groan. I couldn’t go to dinner with him.
Jesus.
I’d be pregnant by dessert.
* * *
My doorbell pealed at seven-oh-one, and I let out a series of curses. Of course he was on time. How the hell he knew where I lived, I have no idea, but I’d secretly hoped he’d get lost bad enough not to show.
I took a deep breath, peeking through my peephole before pulling my door open. “Hi.”
“Hey, GoGo. You look cute, but I thought we talked about jeans,” he said.
I was currently wearing shorts because I honestly didn’t think he’d make it. “Um… well…”
“Quit fuckin’ around, baby. Go change.”
“I don’t think it’d be a good idea for us to go out to dinner,” I said.
“You hungry?”
My stomach grumbled and I sighed. “Obviously.”
“Okay, then I’m gonna feed you. We can talk about Leo at the same time.”
I gasped. “What’s wrong with Leo?”
“Nothin’s wrong with Leo,” he said. “Just want to run something by you. Now, go get jeans on so we can ride.”
“Um…”
“Indigo,” he pressed. “Jeans.”
“Right.” I threw my hands up in defeat. “I’ll be quick.”
I rushed to pull on jeans and boots, grabbing my leather jacket (that was cool as hell, in my humble opinion), and returned to Jekyll. He was on his phone and his distraction gave me a second to take him in.
He wore dark blue jeans, motorcycle boots that could probably kill someone if he chose to use them as a weapon, and a beat-up leather jacket with his club’s logo on the back. He ran his fingers through his beard as he talked, and I couldn’t stop myself from licking my lips.
Which he saw, raising an eyebrow as he continued his conversation.
Goddammit.
“Yeah, brother. Tomorrow’s good. Okay, see you then.” He hung up and grinned. “You look like a badass.”
I blushed. “Well, that’s what I was going for, so…”
He chuckled. “Ready?”
I nodded, grabbing my purse, and following him out to his bike. He took my purse and secured it in one of his side box thingies, then he handed me
a helmet. “You need me to show you how to get on?”
I shook my head. “I think I can figure it out.”
After putting our helmets on, Jekyll swung his leg over the bike and steadied it while I used the foot pegs on the back to climb on behind him.
“Wrap your arms around me tight,” he directed. “If you need to stop, tap my chest. Got it?”
“Got it,” I promised, sliding my hands around his unbelievably tight waist.
Oh my god. Can a woman get a boner? ’Cause, I’m not gonna lie, I had one.
He started the bike and the rattle of the pipes vibrated me in places not even my battery-operated boyfriend could reach.
Lady boner, indeed.
We drove for about fifteen minutes before I figured out where we were heading, and I got excited all over again. We left the suburbs of Monument and drove through Colorado Springs to a hole in the wall Mexican place that had become my favorite the second I first ate here. It was technically a food truck built into the side of a building and it was the best Mexican food in all of Colorado, in my opinion.
I gave Jekyll a squeeze and his hand settled over my arm. “You okay?” he bellowed.
“Yes!” I yelled back. “Excited.”
His body wobbled with a chuckle as he pulled into the parking lot beside the truck. He turned off the engine and I swung myself off the bike as gracefully as I could.
Once I was safely on the ground, Jekyll swung off and helped me with my helmet before dealing with his own. “I take it, this works?”
I grinned. “It’s only my favorite place in all the world.”
“You don’t get out much, do you?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Maybe not.”
He smiled, grabbing my hand, and tugging me toward the order window. “Come on, GoGo, let’s go pig out.”
We ordered and he paid (again), then we sat at one of the outdoor tables while we waited for our food.
“What did you want to talk about?” I jumped right in.
“Whatever you want, beautiful.”
“About Leo, I mean.”
“Right.” He smiled, but that smile didn’t meet his eyes. “His phone.”
“Is broken,” I said. “Dead, dead.”
“Yeah, well, he really needs a smart phone.”
“He can’t afford a smart phone,” I said.
“Which brings me to this.” He pulled a phone out of his pocket and slid it across the table toward me.
“That looks like a smart phone,” I said.