THE OUTLAW’S BRIDE Read online

  He wanted to believe that was true, he really did, but deep down, Ace knew the reason he left last night was because of the weird, sick feeling in the pit of his stomach he couldn’t name. It was that feeling that made him run from Fiona’s bedroom last night, and it was what kept him from kissing Katie earlier.

  Either not wanting or not ready to face whatever it was that was growing inside of him, Ace shoved his emotions all the way down to the bottom of his gut and put on his game face. He would be all business when he saw Fiona, that was for certain.

  ***

  “Ugh, that was so good. I needed that,” Fiona said, patting her distended belly.

  “I don’t know whether to be impressed or disgusted,” Melanie said in awe.

  She and Melanie had just returned from Denny’s, where Fiona had completely inhaled six strips of bacon, two biscuits with honey, three sausages, three sunny-side up eggs, two and a half glasses of orange juice, and four pancakes loaded with strawberries, syrup, and butter, courtesy of Melanie’s mom’s credit card.

  “Be jealous,” Fiona said, sighing contentedly.

  She wanted nothing more than to fall back on her couch and pass out, but her sofa was still shot to shit and, more importantly, she still had to find Ace again. She was growing more and more concerned that he hadn’t stopped by, or at least called her.

  What if Melanie’s right? Fiona thought worriedly. What if he played me—played on my situation?

  Oh, right, her cynical side replied, the leader of a motorcycle gang has nothing better to do with his time than to trick someone like you into letting him eat your pussy, sure.

  “What’s wrong?” Melanie asked, seeing her friend’s sour face.

  “Huh?” Fiona was startled out of her self-deprecating thoughts. “Oh, nothing. I just remembered that Ace is supposed to come over soon to tell me his plan for Alexei,” she lied.

  In reality, Fiona needed to figure out how she was going to get in touch with Ace, and since she wasn’t ready to admit to Melanie that she might have been conned, she was going to have to do it herself.

  “Do you want me to stay? Give you an excuse to avoid…anything?” Melanie offered kindly.

  “Um, I think he would probably see through that. You should just go,” Fiona said hurriedly. “But, thanks, really,” she added genuinely. Melanie was a better friend than she deserved right now.

  There was a knock at the door that startled both of them. Melanie let out a little scream. “He must be early!” she said, laughing at her own reaction.

  “Yeah…” Fiona said slowly, staring at the door, confused. “Must be.”

  She walked over to the door, a small wave of cool relief washing over her. She didn’t know why Ace would just randomly show up to her house without notice, but she didn’t care. Fiona was just glad he was here.

  She opened the door to see what could quite possibly be considered the very antithesis of Ace.

  “Fiona!” Ash exclaimed, throwing his arms around her—a difficult feat considering one of his hands held a massive bouquet of red and pink roses. “I’m so glad you’re okay! I pulled up and saw the house! What happened?”

  Fiona gently but firmly pushed Ash away from her, taking a deep breath now that she wasn’t being suffocated to death by a floral arrangement. “Ash, what are you doing here?” she asked.

  “You haven’t responded to any of my calls or texts for almost a week, so I thought I would pop by with a little surprise,” he waved the oversized bouquet, “and say hello!”

  Fiona sighed and turned back to look at her friend. “Melanie…” Melanie cut her off with a wave of her hand.

  “Got it,” she said, picking her bag up off of the floor. She gave Ash a sympathetic little pat on the shoulder as she walked past him, shutting the front door behind her.

  Ash looked at his shoulder as though Melanie had wiped rat shit on it. “I don’t know why you talk to her,” he said, glaring after Melanie.

  Fiona ignored him. She’d had that argument with him far too often for someone who wasn’t even her boyfriend. “Ash, this isn’t a great time right now. I’m kind of in the middle of something,” she told him.

  “I can see that, Fiona!” he gestured to the destroyed living room. His dull brown eyes narrowed at her. “This has something to do with your deadbeat brother, doesn’t it?”

  Someone knocked on the door again, loudly this time. Figuring it was Melanie, Fiona went to answer it. Maybe she overheard Ash and came back, she hoped.

  She opened the door and was met by a pair of dark green eyes.

  “Ace,” she breathed.

  It wasn’t until Fiona felt this rollercoaster of expectations that she grasped how attracted she was to this man. Shoving this realization far into the deep recesses of her mind, she stepped back to let Ace inside.

  “Who is he?” Ash asked indignantly, a touch of fear in his voice.

  “He’s helping me with my deadbeat brother,” Fiona said contemptuously.

  Ash’s face swiftly changed to one of regret. “Oh, Fiona, you know I didn’t mean that. I just worry about you.”

  “I think the lady would prefer if you left,” Ace interjected menacingly, his hands unconsciously tightening into fists.

  He felt extremely territorial coming over to Fiona’s house and finding a man already there—one with clear romantic intent, judging by the rosebush sitting on the table. Ace wanted nothing more than to take those roses and shove them somewhere they would never see sunshine again.

  Deep down, he knew he had no right to this feeling. Obviously this…person had history with Fiona, one that predated all of the eighteen hours Ace had known her. That’s what makes it sting, though, he decided. His only claim to Fiona was the deal she was bound to. If it weren’t for that, she would probably be with what’s-his-face over there—the kid who couldn’t stop staring at Fiona with big, pleading puppy-dog eyes.

  Ace snorted softly to himself, rolling his shoulders. That’s the problem with getting attached to people—it’s never what you want it to be, but you’re so dependent on them you become weak, he thought, looking over at the two of them. The sap was holding Fiona by her bicep, whispering agitatedly to her and glancing at Ace as though to make sure he was keeping his distance. Even worse, you don’t even see how pathetic you’re being.

  He couldn’t think of anything more appalling.

  Ace strode over to the pair, clapping his hand on the sap’s narrow shoulders. “Sorry, but the lady and I have business to attend to, and you’ve overstayed your welcome.”

  Fiona tried not to giggle as she watched Ace steer a highly indignant and spluttering Ash towards the front door, pushing him out rather unceremoniously. She felt a little guilty that she enjoyed seeing that so much.

  Ace slammed the door, a firm sense of satisfaction clicking into place as he locked the deadbolt. “Goddamn,” he cursed. “I don’t know how you can stand even to talk to that guy, let alone fuck him.”

  Fiona’s temper suddenly flared. “At least he’s there when I wake up in the morning,” she snapped.

  Should have seen that one coming. “So suddenly I’m boyfriend material? That wasn’t the deal, sweet cheeks.” He grinned lustily.

  “You are most certainly not boyfriend material,” Fiona vehemently agreed. “That’s the whole point with Ash,” she explained. “I don’t have the time for a full-fledged relationship right now, but…something’s better than nothing,” she said, shrugging.

  “Is that why you’re still helping your brother, despite the fact that all he does is weigh you down?” Ace asked suddenly. “Because some family is better than no family?”

  “What?” Fiona said defensively. “No! Of course not! Niko is my brother and I love him. He does not weigh me down,” she informed.

  “Oh, okay,” Ace said casually. “I only ask because I talked to his friend Paul today, and he told me that your brother is a drug addict who willingly got involved with Alexei and his gang,” he accused her.

&nb
sp; “I told you right away that my brother had problems!” Fiona fired back.

  “So you did know about him?” Ace said in disbelief. “You know all about the coke, and him running drugs? Everything?”

  Fiona nodded defiantly. “So?”

  “So I’m willing to bet this isn’t the first time you’ve had to bail out your brother, and because you refused to cut ties with him, now it’s about to be the last!” Ace said, letting out a small laugh. Fiona said nothing to dispute him, and he knew he was right. “I get you’re stuck on the family thing because of your dad, but let me be the first to tell you: families suck, and people suck, too. And if you rely too much on them, you’re just giving them more and more opportunities to let you down,” he told her regretfully.

  Fiona didn’t say anything for a long time after that. Ace began to wonder if his bluntness had triggered some kind of emotional breakdown, when she smiled brightly at him.

  “I know you had a really bad childhood—far worse than mine, not that mine was great either. But one thing I remember is that when I was sixteen, my dad promised that he would take me to The Shops at North Bridge to get new clothes, and I was so excited,” Fiona said, her blue eyes shining. “Not because of the clothes, though that was a bonus, but because I was going to get to spend the day with my dad. He was going to be my dad again.” She fell silent.

  “It didn’t happen like that, did it?” Ace said flatly.

  Fiona shook her head. “He was supposed to come home straight from work, but I guess he stopped at the bar first.”

  “Sounds about right. So what’s so great about that? Why would that make you want to cling to your brother?” Ace asked skeptically.

  “Because after about two hours of waiting for my dad, Niko, who was barely ten at the time, scraped together his savings to buy us two train tickets so we could go to The Shops and eat at the food court.” Fiona looked at her feet. “We spent the day window shopping, pretending to be a rich family. I know it sounds dumb now, but at the time…”

  Ace understood. He would have given anything for someone to do something like that for him. Instead, when he was sixteen, he’d walked in on his mother’s corpse and ended up killing his father. Not exactly the memories family photo albums are made of.

  Feeling terribly unsure about what he was doing, Ace felt himself walk over to Fiona and stiffly gather her into his arms.

  “Listen to me,” he said, looking down at her soft, tanned skin. “Paul told me some other things. Alexei isn’t going to let you or your brother go.”

  “What do you mean?” Fiona said, confusion and worry clouding her pale blue eyes. “You said you were able to get rid of Alexei, so that won’t matter if you do what you said, right?”

  Ace could hear the panic growing in her voice. “Fiona, relax,” he said calmly. “It just means that we’re going to have to do a little more than simply run Alexei out of town. I know Alexei’s type; if he wants someone dead, there’s no stopping him. We’re going to have to kill him.”

  “I’m not seeing the problem,” Fiona said darkly.

  Ace chuckled. “Well, as long as we’re on the same page, then,” he said, kissing the top of her head, surprising them both.

  He pulled back, a yearning look in his eyes as he gazed at Fiona. She looked up at him, her mind a swirling mess of thoughts and emotions. The only thing she knew was that she was going to fly into a million pieces if Ace didn’t kiss her right this second.

  Thankfully, she was rescued just in time. Ace’s lips crashed down on her, wiping away everything except the sensations currently brewing down below. She brought her hands up to entwine her fingers through his shaggy hair, pulling him even closer to her.

  Ace groaned, loving her urgent mouth. He hugged her curves, sliding his hands up and down her body. “Holy fuck,” he moaned. It was incredible how hot she made him, just from making out. Ace thought he could survive on kisses alone for the rest of his life if they were all going to be like that.

  She probably kisses the sap like this all the time, that horrible, self-doubting voice said. Ace thought about Fiona and the younger man in bed together, and he gripped Fiona roughly. He pressed her up against the fridge, wanting nothing more than to be the only man she ever touched again.

  He knew, of course, that once The Hell Brothers managed to kill Alexei and the rest of the Russians, Fiona would most likely go back to her sap, and he would return to Katie. Until then, however… Ace slid his hands under Fiona’s ass and picked her up. Her long legs wound around his waist and he walked down the hallway to where he knew her bedroom lie.

  ***

  Ash stood on Fiona’s doorstep for a few moments, processing what had just happened. Eventually he realized he had been kicked out of his own girlfriend’s home, and by a man he strongly suspected was a criminal, no less!

  This is insane, Ash said to himself. That man is most likely involved with her brother and holding her hostage! I need to save her, he decided imperiously.

  Hurrying back to his car, Ash made sure he drove far enough away that he wouldn’t be spotted. Something told him that if the heavily tattooed man found out he was calling the cops, he wouldn’t be able to do much calling as he would have had his tongue removed.

  He punched in 911, anxiously waiting for the operator to answer.

  “9-1-1, what is your emergency?” a cool voice on the other line said.

  “Yes, hello, I think there’s someone inside my girlfriend’s house,” Ash replied, agitated.

  “What is your girlfriend’s name?”

  The woman sounded calm, but Ash could hear her typing furiously in the background. “Fiona Brown. I went over to her house and there was a man inside.”

  “So there is someone inside the home threatening her?” she asked.

  “Yes. I mean, no. I mean…” Ash slammed his fist against his steering wheel and took a deep breath. “I went over to her house and there was a man inside, and he didn’t look like the kind of guy she would hang around with. She seemed nervous and scared, and when I tried to ask who he was, he pushed me out of the house and locked the door,” he clarified, listening to the rapid tic-tac of keys as the woman typed. “There’s one other thing,” he added. “Her brother, Niko, has a habit of getting into trouble.”

  “And you think her brother might know this man, or have something to do with the man being at Ms. Brown’s house?”

  “It’s possible,” Ash said.

  “It looks like there is a record on file for Fiona Brown, and her brother, Niko,” the operator told him.

  “What?” Ash was stunned. Niko, of course, but Fiona? Ash wondered. “Is it recent?” he asked.

  “I’m sorry, that’s confidential,” she said evenly. “There is an officer assigned to the case. If you would like, I can contact him and send him to Ms. Brown’s home.”

  “Do that, please,” Ash said.

  “Could I get your name as well, sir?”

  Ash hung up quickly; he didn’t want this to get traced back to him. Starting his car, Ash drove away. If he was going to keep an eye on Fiona, he would need supplies.

  ***

  William jumped at the screeching static of his CB radio.

  “Unit 41, please respond,” the operator crackled.

  He quickly zipped up his pants, pushing the prostitute off of him and grabbing the walkie. “This is Unit 41 responding. What do you need, Radio?” he asked, frustrated. He had been seconds away from coming.

  The girl in the passenger seat wiped her mouth. She flipped down the visor to check her makeup and fixed her smudged lipstick.

  “I got a call for you on one of your cases.”

  William frowned. “What case?” he asked.

  The girl had grown bored already and started to tug on his uniform, whining quietly. William gave an exasperated sigh and dug into one of his utility belt pouches, pulling out a small baggie of white powder.

  He tossed it to the girl, who immediately opened it and began to rub it on her
gums.

  “Looks like Brown, Fiona and Niko; siblings. Someone called 9-1-1 about a possible intruder in the sister’s house. Need me to send you the file?” the operator asked.

  “No, it’s fine. I’ll do a drive by,” William told her. “Any description?”

  “No, and no name on the caller either.”

  “All right. Thanks, Radio,” he said, putting the walkie back in its holder. William looked at the girl next to him. She was already high; her pupils were huge. He reached across her lap to open the car door. “Time to get out,” he told her, giving her a rough push.