THE OUTLAW’S BRIDE Page 50

  Smalls looked at the broken glass guiltily. Shoving himself away from the table, he picked his way through the crowd with his head hung low. He called over Blake, the bar’s owner, and rather abashedly handed over the pitcher, along with a twenty-dollar bill.

  Ace smiled a small smile to himself. Smalls was the biggest man in The Hell Brothers, at a couple inches over six feet tall, and almost five feet around, yet he was one of the gentlest men he knew. Smalls had joined the gang to follow in his older brother’s—and idol’s—footsteps, and remained after his brother died in a tragic motorcycle accident to honor his memory. Though Smalls was only in his forties, the members of The Hell Brothers liked to joke that he was a dinosaur leftover from the heydays of biker gangs.

  “He’s having a good time,” Ace said, taking a pull from his beer. The dim light shone on his hand; his knuckles were tattooed, spelling out, Never 4give.

  Katie snorted softly, shaking her head. Her long, black, wavy hair had thick blonde streaks in it and hung past her shoulders. She flicked it back, annoyed. “We should be planning right now, not playing silly drinking games.”

  Ace looked at her out of the corner of his eye. The first thing anyone would say when they saw Katie was that she was incredibly gorgeous. Part Egyptian, Katie had beautiful, regal features, with a prominent nose and golden-olive skin. Ace knew most people looking at her would notice her figure, which was soft and lean in all the right places, and fail to see her capabilities, which were many.

  Smalls was technically Ace’s second-in-command, but it was Katie who often came up with most of the ideas that kept the gang alive. Ace would promote her, but he was fucking her, and that wouldn’t sit right with the gang. Katie understood, though. She put the gang first, which was why she continued to help, even if she couldn’t have the title she deserved. She even refused the title of his old lady, wanting to be seen as more than a back-warmer within the gang.

  “Did you hear me?” she said, poking his side.

  Ace sighed and sat up, scanning the bar. He saw Smalls, but if they were going to talk about the gang’s options, he needed the rest of the higher-ups as well. Spotting Riley and Diego, Ace let out a sharp whistle; they were next two in the chain of command, respectively.

  Riley, a handsome man with skin blacker than the dead of night, immediately stood up, leaving his pool game. Stopping suddenly, he turned back and grabbed a short Hispanic man wearing a wife-beater who was hitting on Lucky, another member of The Hell Brothers, for the thousandth time. Diego had yet to have any luck with her, or any other woman, but from what Ace could tell, that didn’t seem to stop him from trying.

  Ace shook his head. Diego was always chasing women. It was his only weakness, if you didn’t count booze, drugs, cigarettes, or thrill-seeking. “Have a seat,” he said as the two men approached, kicking out a chair. “We need to talk.”

  Smalls lumbered over, settling into a wooden chair with a creak. “What are we talking about?” he asked, pulling out a cigarette. Diego nudged Smalls and bummed one off of him.

  “Alexei,” Riley said in a deep voice. “Right?” he looked at Ace.

  “We got lucky with Jackson,” Katie said, confirming Riley’s guess. “But Ace isn’t going to be able to outmaneuver Alexei like that every time. Eventually he’s going to get tired of this little back-and-forth he has going on with The Hell Brothers, and he’s going to come for us.” Her dark eyes snapped to each face at the table, commanding their attention.

  “Katie’s right, guys,” Ace said, signaling Blake for another beer. “I figure we have about a month before Alexei decides to come at us with everything he has. Unless someone does something incredibly stupid to speed that along,” he said warningly, looking at Diego. He had a reputation for being a bit reckless.

  “I swear,” Diego crossed his heart, “you will see nada from me.” Katie snorted disbelievingly and Diego put his hand to his heart again, this time as though wounded. “Mi amor, my love, why do you hurt me this way?”

  “Can we focus?” Katie said, ignoring Diego. “Ace? A little help here?” She nudged their leader, who, judging by his face, had completely checked out of the conversation.

  ***

  “This was a bad idea, Melanie,” Fiona said, panicking. “They’re going to know we’re lying!”

  It hadn’t taken too long to find The Crabtree—they just followed the deafening sound of motorcycles. Okay, not really. They had used Google Maps, but the closer they got to the establishment, Fiona had to resist covering her ears against the noise.

  Last night, after Melanie had come over to Fiona’s house, they had gone back to Melanie’s place, where Fiona promptly passed out for several hours. When she awoke, she worked with Melanie to come up with what Fiona was now realizing was a very, very stupid plan.

  Niko had mentioned that The Hell Brothers weren’t the only gang having problems with Alexei. So, Melanie suggested they pretend to be members of another dwindling gang from the outskirts of Chicago. It wasn’t much, but perhaps if they could pass as fellow bikers, their plea might carry more weight.

  Melanie pulled out every piece of leather Fiona had in her closet, which turned out to be a single pair of boots.

  “Really?” Melanie had said to her, holding up the bright, yellow galoshes. “This is it?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Fiona had replied to her sarcastically, “Had I known this was going to happen I would’ve asked Catwoman if I could borrow some of her clothes.”

  “Wrong kind of leather,” Melanie had corrected her. “It’s okay, though. I have some stuff you can wear.”

  Fiona had nervously tugged at the vest Melanie lent her the entire drive to the bar. Melanie was significantly smaller than Fiona, and the vest barely buttoned over her chest. At Melanie’s insistence, she left the remaining buttons on the top open, exposing her tan, toned skin.

  Melanie had put on a pair of black shorts, thigh high leather boots, and a tight black tank top that stopped just below her navel. The idea was that hopefully if they looked the part, everyone would be too concerned about Alexei to ask too many questions.

  They’re just bikers, Fiona had reasoned with herself. How smart can they possibly be?

  They had decided to park the car a few blocks away as Melanie’s Prius might have blown their cover as old ladies from a motorcycle gang. Walking into the bar, Fiona had done her best to put on her game face as both her and her brother’s lives were on the line, but looking around at the kind of debauchery going on, she began to have serious doubts.

  “They’re not going to know unless you keep standing there, staring!” Melanie hissed. “Stop looking like you’ve never seen someone do heroin before and move!” She tugged on Fiona’s elbow sharply, almost sending her to the floor.

  Fiona tried to look as aloof as possible as the two women made their way to the bar. It was a little difficult considering she was terrified she was going to burst out of Melanie’s vest at any moment.

  “What can I get you ladies?” the bartender asked, drying a beer mug with a stained rag.

  Melanie glanced back at Fiona, who froze, and said nothing. “Two specials, please,” Melanie ordered.

  Fiona took a quick look at the board hanging behind the bar. Underneath Tonight’s Special was a drink named Hawg Ear, which apparently consisted of a mixture of dark beer and rum. It was disgusting, but Fiona didn’t care. She gulped down a third of it, desperate for the false courage.

  Melanie arched a brow, but didn’t say anything, and took a liberal swallow from her own glass. Pulling out her wallet, Melanie paid the bartender. “Could you help us with one other thing?” she asked.

  “Depends,” the bartender replied, picking up another mug to dry.

  “We’re looking for someone named Ace, the leader of The Hell Brothers.”

  The woman frowned, a lock of blonde hair falling into her face. “What do you want with him?”

  “My friend needs to talk to him,” Melanie replied evasively.


  The blonde woman shrugged, uncaring, and nodded towards a large wooden table in the center of the room. “Shaggy brown hair, in the black t-shirt and leather vest,” she told them.

  Fiona managed to mutter a thank you, and they stepped away from the bar to plan their approach.

  “So, you’ll go up to him, and—”

  “Wait,” Fiona interrupted. “Why do I have to go?” she protested.

  “Because it’s your brother,” Melanie said, rolling her eyes. “I’ve brought you this far; you have to do the rest.”

  Fiona sighed, defeated. She eyed the imposing man, and a chill ran down her body. His long, lean form seemed to take up far more room than was physically possibly. He was discussing something intensely with the people around him; Fiona couldn’t take her eyes off of him. Suddenly she realized Melanie had been talking to her this whole time.

  “What?” she said.

  Melanie stopped and stared at Fiona. “Seriously? Fiona, you have got to pull it together here! We need to figure out how you’re going to approach this guy.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” Fiona said, still staring.

  “What? Why not?” Melanie asked, surprised.

  “Because he’s coming over here right now.”

  ***

  After spending five years in prison, Ace had becoming incredibly in tune with his gut, and his gut was telling him he was being watched.

  It had taken all of four seconds for the gang meeting to derail, when Ace felt someone staring at him. He looked up slowly, not wanting to give himself away, and immediately locked eyes with a tan, curvy woman with curly brown hair and quite possibly the thickest ass he had ever seen.

  She watched him like one watched a shark: carefully, with a barely-controlled fear. Ace dimly heard Katie talking to him, but he didn’t care. Whoever this woman and the friend she had with her were, it was painfully obvious they didn’t belong here. Even stranger, it was clear they didn’t want to be here.

  He stood up, the wooden legs of the chair scraping loudly against the floor.

  “What…where are you going?” Katie asked as Ace simply got up and walked away from the meeting. “Hello?” she cried after him, but he ignored her.

  Fiona had the strong feeling of being stalked—no, worse, of being caught. Ace’s dark green eyes pinned her to the wall like a butterfly on display. She watched, terrified, as he pushed his chair back to stand, and began to walk towards her.

  “Oh shit,” Melanie muttered. There was still time for them to turn around and run away. She slowly reached forward to grab Fiona’s elbow and pull her back, to tell her they would find another way to help her brother, but she only touched thin air.

  Fiona had stepped forward to meet Ace, her head held high.

  Melanie quickly moved to stand next to her. “What are you doing?” she hissed to her friend.

  “I have to try this! I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t,” Fiona whispered back.

  They hastily stopped talking; Ace had come close enough to hear them, even over the din of the bar. “Ladies,” he said, approaching them. “Might I ask what you’re doing here?”

  Fiona was five feet five, wearing four-inch heels, and yet she still barely came to his chin. “We’re with The Night Hunters from northern Chicago,” she said.

  Melanie was surprised at how confident Fiona sounded, but she carefully kept her face blank.

  Ace smiled patronizingly. “That’s nice, but it doesn’t explain what you’re doing here, and looking for me, no less.” He turned to nod to the blonde woman behind the bar, who had been blatantly watching their interaction.

  Fiona looked around. She saw a lot of faces staring back at her, faces that quickly resumed drinking or talking when she looked at them. Maybe Melanie was right, she thought, panic once again rising in her chest, maybe we should bail.

  “We need to talk to you about Alexei,” Melanie blurted out.

  There goes that chance, Fiona sensed, judging by Ace’s face. He looked like he had just bit into a lemon. He wasn’t going to let them go anywhere anytime soon.

  An incredibly attractive, olive-skinned woman came up to stand behind Ace. “What do they want?” she asked, nodding towards Fiona and Melanie.

  “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” he replied slowly, not taking his eyes off of Fiona.

  Katie followed Ace’s gaze, her face hardening when she noticed where his focus was. “Bring ’em over to the table and we’ll get it out of ’em soon enough,” she said shortly, abruptly turning and striding away.

  Ace continued to stare at Fiona, who was becoming extremely uncomfortable with each passing second. “Well,” he said after a long moment, “you heard her.” Ace stepped to the side, gesturing for the two women to follow Katie.

  Fiona turned to Melanie and gave her a look that was unreadable to Ace—a fact that strongly piqued his interest.

  Ace trailed behind the ladies, musing to himself. It was interesting enough that these two had come in to talk about Alexei of all things, but they had an air about them that Ace couldn’t figure out. The shorter one with the great ass, which he was able to openly appreciate as he walked behind her, looked like a biker babe, but her eyes…there was something about them he couldn’t place.

  Ace was pulled out of his reverie as they approached the table.

  “Who are they?” Smalls asked, his forehead wrinkled in confusion.

  “That is an excellent question,” Ace said, sitting down and turning to look at the two strangers expectantly.

  Fiona looked around the group and cleared her throat carefully. She had practiced what she was going to say here, repeating it to herself a hundred times over.

  “My name is Fiona, and this is Melanie.” They had decided to go with their real names; their story was already thin enough without adding the difficulty of remembering what they were called. “We’re members of The Night Hunters from up north. Our men dropped us off here to talk to the leader of The Hell Brothers about a serious matter that affects us all.”

  “I’m sure whatever you señoritas need help with, The Hell Brothers can handle it, no problemo,” Diego said, grinning wickedly at Melanie, who suppressed a terrified whimper.

  “They’re here about Alexei,” Katie said loudly, staring hard at Fiona, her hazel eyes boring into Fiona’s blue ones.

  “What do you two want to do with him?” Smalls asked the girls worriedly.

  “They want our help getting rid of him,” Riley correctly guessed, finally speaking up. His deep voice reverberated across the table as he addressed Fiona and Melanie. “Don’t you?”

  Fiona tore her eyes from Katie to look at the rest of the group. “Alexei has been slowly picking away at everyone’s territory. His reach is far, and strong. The Night Hunters know the only gang left strong enough to take him out is The Hell Brothers.”

  “You’re not wrong!” Diego cried, whooping loudly.

  “Diego,” Ace snapped, “shut up.” Diego glared at his leader, sipping his beer sullenly, but Ace ignored him. Instead, he carefully scrutinized Fiona, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Katie. “I’ve never heard of The Night Hunters before. Who did you say sent you?” he asked curiously.

  “Stake is the highest ranking member we have left. He’s the one who brought us to come find you,” Melanie said casually, though she had rehearsed this line several times.

  “Why didn’t Stake come in and speak to me himself?”

  “It’s not safe for our men to hang around so close to Alexei’s territory, so Stake and another member dropped us off here,” Fiona answered.

  “Are you his ol’ lady?” Ace asked her, surprising himself. He didn’t know why he said that. He tried to ignore the fact that his gang was watching him very acutely, especially Katie, and look as though the question was important.

  Fiona’s heart froze mid-beat. This was off-script; she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to wait too long to answer—that would be suspic
ious—so she blurted out the first thing she could think of. “Yes, I’m Stake’s old lady.”

  Melanie shifted next to her. She thought they should be keeping things simple, not adding details. On the other hand, perhaps if Fiona pretended to be the leader’s girlfriend, it would offer them extra protection.

  Ace couldn’t figure out why it was odd Fiona had claimed to be Stake’s property, but something about the entire situation was bugging him. He sat back in his chair, once again ignoring the rest of the gang’s stare. He was trying to focus and work whatever was bothering him to the front of his mind.

  “Interestingly enough, we were just discussing Alexei ourselves,” Riley said, standing to offer one of the women his chair. Diego immediately jumped up to also offer his. Fiona and Melanie sat, much to Katie’s displeasure.