THE OUTLAW’S BRIDE Page 59

  “No!” Ace said defensively. “I’m just tired, Katie. There’s a lot going on. I’m fucking stressed out, okay?” Why can’t she just cut me some slack? Ace thought angrily.

  Katie got off the bed, pushing past him. “If you can’t hack the stress of leadership, maybe you shouldn’t be the leader,” she hissed, slamming his door behind her.

  Ace sighed, tightening a fist as he fought the urge to go after Katie. If she were a man, he would have beaten her senseless, but he refused to become his father.

  Throwing himself onto his bed, Ace punched his pillow and closed his eyes, trying to calm his mind so he could sleep. He dozed fitfully through the night, his dreams and nightmares intertwining with each other. One second he was fully inside Fiona’s tight pussy, the next, Alexei was standing over a pile of his friends’ bodies, with Fiona on top.

  Ace woke suddenly, early the next morning, the bright light filtering through the holes in his curtains. He was filled with the powerful idea that Fiona wasn’t safe.

  Logic told him his dreams were making him paranoid, and Fiona was probably safe and sound at home, but he had to be sure. He stealthily crept out of his room and down the stairs, waiting until he was out on the porch to put on his boots. He even duck-walked his bike all the way down the block before starting it, he was so concerned about getting busted by someone in the gang.

  Ace drove down Fiona’s street, killing the engine as he approached her house. He didn’t want to wake her unnecessarily—or give anyone else the head’s up that he was here.

  “I feel like a fucking creep,” Ace muttered to himself as he walked around to the back of Fiona’s house to where he knew her bedroom window was.

  Peering inside, he spotted her sleeping inside, still wearing only her panties, as far as Ace could tell. Now I’m really being a creep! Ace thought ashamedly as he felt his dick grow hard. He hurriedly walked back to the front of the house, glad she was unhurt.

  As he got on his bike, Ace noticed a black car parked across the street at the exact perfect angle to see the entrance to Fiona’s house. Its windows were heavily tinted, Ace noticed as he silently rolled his bike down her driveway.

  Once he was down the road a way, he started his bike and drove away, his heart pounding fast. He was certain he’d seen that same car driving in and out of Alexei’s warehouse yesterday.

  Alexei knew where Fiona lived, so he didn’t need to put a tail on her. That meant the car was most likely there to collect her. Ace couldn’t wait; he needed to act now.

  Circling around the block, Ace once again killed his engine, but this time, he was one street behind Fiona’s house. Grateful it was still fairly early in the morning, he pulled his bike up next to a line of hedges at one of the houses close to Fiona’s. He wanted it to be close so they could be ready for a fast getaway.

  He crept through the neighbor’s backyard, entering Fiona’s, once again approaching her bedroom window. She wasn’t in her bed anymore Ace noticed as he squinted through the glass.

  Fuck! She must be in the bathroom. Ace waited for a minute, but when she didn’t come out, he began to lightly tap on the window pane. A few seconds later, Fiona popped out of the bathroom, wearing a fluffy yellow robe with daisies on it and wielding a pair of scissors, looking for the sound.

  Ace raised an eyebrow, thinking, As long as I live, I will never be able to predict this woman. He tapped on the glass again to catch her attention and waved for her to come over. When she got a little closer, Ace motioned for her to open the window, putting a finger to his lips, telling her to be very quiet. Fiona looked confused, but did as she was told, noiselessly unlocking the window and pushing it open.

  Ace did his best to pull himself through the opening as silently as possible, but he knocked his head against the window frame, making a loud cracking sound. He instantly froze, listening for any movement from the front of the house. Hearing nothing, Ace stepped the rest of the way into the room, holding onto Fiona for support.

  “What’s going on?” she whispered.

  Ace shook his head, still too worried to speak. He walked over to her closet and opened the doors. Grabbing a small bag from the top shelf, he gestured for her to pack some clothes. He tapped his wrist—hurry.

  Fiona grabbed a couple of shirts from her closet, and a pair of pajamas from her dresser. She tiptoed into the bathroom, returning a few moments later after changing, holding a zipped bag in hand. Slipping on a pair of sneakers, Fiona nodded to Ace, telling him she was ready.

  Ace eased himself out of the window first, turning around to offer Fiona a hand. However, she effortlessly folded herself through the small square and landed in a soft crouch.

  Grinning at her, Ace took Fiona’s hand, leading her through the yard to where his motorcycle was still partially hidden by the hedge. Ace mounted the bike, shaking his head and handing Fiona a helmet when she gave him a questioning look. She wanted to know if it was okay to talk yet, and he wasn’t willing to risk it—not without knowing who exactly was in the car.

  It was a little harder to gain momentum walking the bike with two people on it, but Ace managed to get them down the street without too much of a struggle. Starting the engine, Ace quickly threw it into gear, tearing down the road with complete disregard to both the speed limit and the neighbors’ morning schedules. The last thing he wanted was for the dark car to catch up to him because he was too busy obeying the traffic laws.

  Unsure of where else to go, Ace drove back to The Hell Brothers’ headquarters. It was a little before nine in the morning—most of the gang wouldn’t be up for at least another hour. He snuck into the house and up the stairs, Fiona following silently behind him. Once they were in his room, Ace shut the door with a tiny click, and let out a sigh of relief.

  “Now can we talk?” Fiona whispered hesitantly.

  Ace nodded. “Yeah,” he said, though not loudly. “We just gotta keep it down, okay?”

  “What’s going on?” she said, repeating herself from earlier.

  “There was a car parked outside your place this morning, watching you,” he told her. “Only it wasn’t there just to watch.”

  Fiona gaped at him. “How…how did you know that?” she asked.

  Ace shrugged. “You learn to pick up the signs after a while,” he said vaguely. In a situation like this, he didn’t think details would be very helpful.

  “So…what am I doing here, then?” Fiona looked around at Ace’s room, trying to keep her face void of judgment.

  It was right about now that Ace noticed a pair of boxers with some embarrassing stains on the floor about ten inches away from Fiona’s foot. He hurriedly reached down to grab them, tossing them in a pile of clothes in the corner that were equally clean or dirty.

  “Alexei has obviously decided to speed up the timeline here and go after you directly,” Ace explained. “You’re not safe at home anymore. You’re going to have to stay here where I can keep an eye on you.”

  “‘Keep an eye on me?’” Fiona said mockingly. “What, do you like me or something?”

  “I still have yet to fully collect on my end of the bargain,” Ace teasingly reminded her. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt comfortable enough to simply joke around with someone, where he wasn’t concerned with someone taking something the wrong way and a fight possibly breaking out.

  He had to admit, he was impressed with her fortitude. Finding out a dangerous mob boss was hunting her down apparently hadn’t shaken her too much. Feeling bold, Ace took a step forward and kissed Fiona lightly.

  “Oh, you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” a voice exclaimed behind Ace and Fiona, causing them to spring apart.

  Katie stood in the doorway; apparently they had been so absorbed in each other, neither of them had heard her enter.

  “I knew it,” Katie hissed. “I knew this was about that fucking cager!” she screamed, stabbing a finger at Fiona. “Did you even really find Alexei?”

  “Of course I did!” Ace said indignantl
y. “After the meeting last night, how can you ask that?”

  “Cager?” Fiona whispered to Ace, hiding behind him.

  He glanced back at her. “Someone who drives a car,” he muttered under his breath.

  “Well, that doesn’t exactly seem fair considering I don’t really have a car anymore,” Fiona said belligerently, raising her eyebrow at Katie.

  Katie took a step forward. “I swear to god, if this bitch doesn’t—”

  “Relax, Katie,” Ace said, putting his hands on her shoulders.

  Katie violently shrugged him off of her. “Don’t!” she yelled, not caring if the entire house overheard her. “Don’t do that!”

  “Do what?” Ace asked, confused.

  “Talk to me like I’m the crazy one just because I refuse to let you continue lying to everyone here!” Katie accused him. “You’re supposed to be our leader, Ace,” Katie added, calming down now. “That means putting The Hell Brothers first; over everything and everyone else.” She looked pointedly at Fiona.

  “Alexei’s after her, Katie,” Ace explained. “She doesn’t have anywhere else to stay.”

  “So you fucking brought her here?” she asked rhetorically.

  Ace’s phone rang and he didn’t know whether to curse or be grateful. He looked at the screen to see a restricted number. “Katie, shut up,” Ace said in a calm voice that immediately silenced her.

  An unknown number probably wasn’t a good thing, he thought, his stomach sinking as he answered the phone. “Who is this?” he demanded.

  “Someone you should speak to a little more respectfully if you don’t want to watch your girlfriend die a bloody death,” a voice said imperiously.

  “Cut this shit, Vlad,” Ace said, recognizing the slight Russian accent in the man’s voice. “Put Alexei on the phone.”

  “Unfortunately, Alexei is out picking up a few special items for when Fiona and Niko come to visit,” Vlad replied, sounding magnificently bored. “He does wish to talk to you, though, so do you think you could pop on over sometime today?”

  “Sure,” Ace said evenly, refusing to be baited. “I look forward to it.”

  “Wonderful,” Vlad replied. Ace could practically hear him grinning. “Stop by around six; I’ll call around then with directions.”

  “Don’t need ’em,” Ace said gruffly. “I know where you live.”

  He hung up the phone, looking between Fiona and Katie. “We’ve got a problem.”

  ***

  Alexei walked up and down the aisles of a dark basement in an abandoned building, looking at all of the tools and equipment hanging on the walls. After this morning, he had decided to come visit an old friend who dealt in specialty items.

  Last night, William had come barreling into the warehouse without a care in the world how a cop car might look to some of the clientele—many of whom were prone to violence when surprised.

  He had been ready to shoot William right then and there, when the little zadnitza began squeaking about The Hell Brothers and Ace Connor. Alexei had almost panicked, thinking they had planned some kind of ambush, but, apparently, he was somehow connected to the Brown siblings.

  Alexei hadn’t believed him at first, but William had insisted that he’d seen Ace Connor’s motorcycle—a very distinct bike, Alexei granted him—parked at Fiona Brown’s place. After a few minutes of convincing, Alexei returned with William to Fiona’s home to see it for himself.

  Sure enough, they parked the dark car across the street just in time to see Ace Connor exit the house, get on his bike, and drive away. Alexei wasn’t sure, but it looked as though Ace was only partway dressed.

  Alexei had wondered what that meant as they drove back to the warehouse. He ordered a detail to stay with her until he decided what to do. Is Ace fucking Fiona? Did he know her before Niko and Paul came to work for me, or did she go to him for protection? No, he decided, it didn’t make sense that Fiona was paying The Hell Brothers for protection if she couldn’t afford to pay off her brother’s debt. Paul! Alexei realized. That’s it!

  “Paul!” Alexei had roared when he entered the building that night. “I need to talk to you!”

  Paul poked his head out of the upper security office, and hurried past the guards and down the steps. “What do you need, boss?” he asked nervously. Alexei was standing at the base of the steps, tightly flanked by Vlad and William. Paul began to feel trapped—and he was right.

  “You still haven’t heard from Niko, have you?” Alexei began interrogating him.

  Paul emphatically shook his head. “No, sir. I would have told you right away if he had.”

  “What about his sister? Have you spoken to her?” he asked, carefully scrutinizing him.

  “Uh, no,” Paul was genuinely confused now. “I didn’t talk to her much even before everything started to—uh, even before,” he replied, managing to stop himself before he said something too closely resembling a critique of Alexei’s management skills.

  “What about Ace Connor?” Alexei asked, his face uncomfortably close to Paul’s.

  Paul felt beads of perspiration form along his hairline. “Ace Connor? The guy in charge of The Hell Brothers?”

  “Yes,” Alexei said shortly. “That Ace Connor. Unless you know another one?” he asked sarcastically.

  Paul fearfully looked at the floor, hearing Vlad and William snigger like schoolboys. He shot them a sullen glance. “If I had seen him, do you think I would be alive right now?”

  “That’s true,” Vlad drawled from behind Alexei. “Ace Connor would eat him for breakfast and shit him out before lunch.”

  Alexei looked him over closely, then shrugged and walked away, Vlad and William trailing after him, both of them shooting him a smarmy grin. “You’re right.”

  Alexei settled into his white leather throne, his sycophantic followers fanning out around him. Vlad sat in the chair opposite from Alexei.

  “We need to know why Ace was at Fiona’s,” Alexei said.

  “That’s easy,” Vlad said smoothly. “He’s fucking her.”

  “That is one theory, Vlad, but I’m not as confident as you are,” Alexei said. “If we act upon that and we are wrong…”

  “I’m right, and here’s why,” Vlad declared. “She’s into him because he’s the one last bad boy she can feel dangerous with before she goes off to marry Mr. Right, and after all the whores he’s had, he gets to see what fucking a putana is like,” he said, using a phrase for upscale prostitutes.

  “I don’t think the girl is exactly what you claim, but even if she were, how did they meet?” Alexei insisted.

  Vlad shrugged. “Who cares? Tomorrow morning we will go and take her; you can ask her about their love story then.”

  Alexei shot a glance at Vlad. “You need to take more care when you speak,” he said warningly. “For a moment there, it sounded like you were giving me an order.”

  “No, no,” Vlad said quickly. “Just a suggestion.”

  Everyone looked at Alexei, tensely waiting his reaction.

  “It is a good one,” Alexei said, pretending not to notice the collective sigh of relief that came from the room. “Tomorrow, we collect the girl. Early—she’ll be disoriented.”

  The next morning, however, only a few minutes after they had parked across the street, they saw who else but Ace Connor walking up to Fiona’s house. Alexei was convinced now that the girl meant something more to him than just a high-end fuck. Why else would he be coming by this early in the morning?

  Ace went around to the back, however, and suddenly, Alexei wondered if maybe his original theory was correct—that Niko had pissed off Ace, and now Ace had also shown up to collect.

  The poor girl, Alexei thought, having to pay so much for her brother’s mistakes. Alexei watched curiously through the windshield as Ace returned quickly, but empty-handed. Is she not home? he briefly considered, then quickly dismissed the thought. His detail should have noticed if Fiona had left in the middle of the night. It doesn’t matter, he reassured h
imself, soon we will go in and know for sure.

  Nodding to Vlad beside him, the two men stepped out of the car and walked up Fiona’s drive. The garage door had not been fixed yet, so Alexei motioned for Vlad to take that entrance, while Alexei headed for the front door.

  “Odin,” Alexei shouted, counting to three in Russian, “dva, tri!” He kicked in the front door and heard Vlad do the same thing half a second later.

  They stormed from room to room, tearing the already heavily-damaged apartment to pieces.

  “Motherfucker!” Alexei cursed, kicking an ottoman. “He took her; he had to have.”

  “Not to worry,” Vlad said. “We can still get her back.”