Chaos Bound (42 page)
“And?” she prompted.
“The band is called Snark Bite, and Connie is the front woman. Fractured Skyway is her parents’ band. Looks like she started something up on her own. You never met her, but she’s the one…” He cleared his throat—“… who got away.”
“And you need a wingman or woman?”
Tank toed the dirt. “Yeah. I don’t know if she’ll want to see me. She kinda started seeing Sparky, and then up and left one day without saying good-bye.”
“Sure, I’ll go.” Naiya brightened at the thought of hitting the road and getting out of town. Holt hadn’t had much time for her over the last few weeks. He was either working in the shop, visiting other clubs, or meeting with his soon-to-be-appointed board. Although she had been leery at first about him getting involved again in the biker world, Holt had assured her nothing he did would touch her or her work. His new club would operate in the gray—not quite criminal but not legitimate either. She couldn’t take it away from him. Like Tank said, he had biker in the blood.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Shaggy stalked over to them, his Sinner cut swinging around his narrow hips. She hadn’t seen him when she drove up but she knew he would be around. After they had settled in Auburn, Shaggy came to see her. That first meeting had been gut-wrenchingly awful. She hadn’t dealt well with finding out Shaggy was her dad, especially after what she’d gone through with Viper and her mom, and she’d turned her back on him and asked him to leave. He had left her with his ring—the Skull Ring—and a promise to try and make up for all the missed years if she ever forgave him. It had taken six long months of soul searching and Holt’s full support before she made that first call. Even then the first few visits had been awkward as hell. But Shaggy—she couldn’t bring herself to call him dad—didn’t give up. They’d discovered shared interests in music, science fiction, and comic books and he’d slowly integrated himself into her life, limiting his visits to a few days every month.
At least until she told him that she was pregnant.
Now she couldn’t get rid of him. And with Doug and Ally coming to see her and Holt every other weekend, their small ranch house was never empty.
“My little girl’s five months pregnant,” he spit out. “Are you seriously thinkin’ of taking her down to Whitefish on your bike? Are you insane?” He scrubbed his clean-shaven jaw and scowled at a horrified Tank.
“No man.” Tank held up his hands, palms forward. “I was gonna take her in my truck. Wrap her in coats and bubble wrap in case—”
“Your truck?” Shaggy rounded on Tank, cutting him off. “Your bike is safer than that piece of shit. And she shouldn’t be goin’ to a concert. There’s gonna be drunks there and drugs, people smokin’ weed and shit, and the music’s gonna be loud and upset the baby. They can hear stuff and it should be good stuff. Not frickin’ Indie Rock.”
Tank bristled. “What’s wrong with Indie Rock?”
“Calm down.” Naiya put a hand on Shaggy’s arm. “It’s bad enough I have two overprotective men to deal with every day, but now that you’re in the mix it’s almost suffocating. I’ll be fine. Pregnant women go to concerts all the time. Maybe if the baby hears enough music, we’ll have another Robert Plant or Stevie Nicks on our hands.”
“Jesus Christ,” Shaggy muttered. “Not fucking likely if you’re going to see Fractured Skyway. You stay here tonight. I’ll play good stuff for the baby: Steppenwolf, Hendrix, Meatloaf, a little ACDC, Judas Priest…”
“Seriously?” Tank snorted. “You want him to have no musical taste?”
While Shaggy and Tank argued over what music would be best for her baby, Naiya headed over to the office and knocked on the door. Holt insisted that she come to him when she got home from work every day, no matter what he was doing. He stepped outside moments later and swept her into his arms.
“How’s my baby today?”
“Which one?” She leaned up to kiss his cheek, bristly with the now-usual four days’ growth.
“Both.” His hand slipped between them, and he stroked her rounded stomach.
“We’re both better now that we’re home.” She leaned her cheek against his chest and Holt hummed his pleasure. He had filled out so much since she’d first met him in Viper’s dungeon that she sometimes didn’t recognize his broad, muscular frame from a distance. He had a calm confidence now that commanded attention, and a way of getting people to do what he wanted without resorting to violence. Tank said he was a bit of the old Holt and a bit of the new.
“I could hear Tank and Shaggy arguing from inside.” He pulled her close, brushed his lips over her hair. “No way am I letting you go to Whitefish.”
Naiya stiffened and tried to pull away, but Holt held her tight. “Don’t try to boss me around. You’re not my president, Holt. If I want to go—“
His hand dipped down into her skirt, skimming over her mound, and his fingers brushed over her clit. “I had something else in mind for tonight.” His voice was low, raw with sensual promise. “I’ve been neglecting you, darlin’ and I want to make it right.”
Naiya laughed. “We had sex yesterday, twice the day before, and three times on Sunday. I hardly feel neglected.”
“But I do.” He leaned down, brushed his lips over hers. “Shaggy can go with Tank, and I can take you home and do all the things I’ve imagined doing to you all day.” He placed her hand over the bulge in his jeans, and she rubbed her palm over the ridge of his erection.
“Someone’s been a naughty boy,” she murmured. “How could you work when you were thinking about sex all day?”
“I’m a man.”
“Yes, you are,” she murmured. “All man and all mine.”
“And you’re mine. My sweet, beautiful geeky girl.”
Read on for an excerpt from the next book by
NICO
A Mafia Romance (Ruin & Revenge #1)
Coming soon from St. Martin’s Paperbacks
“You think I won’t hurt you because you’re a woman?” Nico tugged his weapon from its holster and held it under Mia’s chin, tilting her head back, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I don’t give a damn about tradition,
bella
. All I care about is making sure justice is done.”
“Holy shit. Oh god. Mia!” Jules sucked in a deep breath and Mia cut her off before she screamed.
“I’ll be fine, Jules. He’s not going to shoot me in a public place with family all around. But you go. Let Dante know we’re here.” She didn’t drop her gaze from Nico’s, didn’t want him to have the satisfaction of seeing her scared because, dammit, she hadn’t done anything wrong. And she wasn’t going to be intimidated by anyone ever again.
“You underestimate me,” he said softly as Jules’ footsteps faded away.
“And you misjudge me.” She palmed her knife and slowly moved her hand to his groin. “I suggest you lower that gun or you won’t be passing on the tradition of shoving your gun in the face of a woman to any Toscani sons.” She jerked her hand upward, just enough so he could feel the blade.
For the briefest of seconds, surprise flickered across his face, but it was so fast she wondered if she’d seen it. His jaw tightened, and he growled. “Drop the knife.”
“Drop the gun.”
He held her gaze for another heartbeat and lowered the weapon. “You are your father’s daughter.”
“If I didn’t hate him so much, I’d take that as a compliment.” Mia hiked up her skirt to tuck the knife away and Nico hissed in a breath.
She looked up, her body heating at the raw desire in his eyes. “You like women with knives?” She slid the knife into its sheath and looked down as she straightened her dress to hide the flush in her cheeks.
“There’s nothing as sexy as a woman with a weapon.” He gave her a slow, sensual smile.
Mia snorted a laugh. “I think sex was the last thing on your mind when I had my knife between your legs.”
The deep rumble of Nico’s voice vibrated through her body. “Sex was all I was thinking about.”
Electricity crackled between them, sparking the connection she’d felt the first time they met. “Are you trying to hit on me at a funeral after pulling a gun on me?”
Nico slid a hand around her waist and pulled her against him, his body hot and hard against hers. “I don’t try. I do. And when there’s something I want, I take it.”
For some curious reason, the intensity of his desire scared her more than his gun. Nico Toscani had clawed his way to the top, eliminating every obstacle in his way through a combination of brute force, fierce intelligence and ruthless determination. He missed nothing, and from the way the corners of his mouth lifted in a half smile, it was clear he hadn’t missed the way her body heated at his touch.
“Too bad for you I’m not available,” she said.
With his free hand he fisted her hair, tugging her head back, holding her firm as he studied her face. He had beautiful eyes, dark and deep with a hint of gold. His heated scrutiny made her blood simmer and pool low in her stomach.
“You got a man?”
“A man” in mafia speak meant a made man, someone who had jumped through the hoops to be inducted into a crime family. If she were attached to a made man—either as a wife, mistress or girlfriend—then he couldn’t touch her without causing the equivalent of a civil war between crime families. It would be considered the ultimate in disrespect.
Mia suspected Nico wasn’t the kind of man who would care if he started a war to get something he wanted. And right now, with the evidence of his desire pressed tight against her belly, she was pretty damn sure he wanted her.
“I don’t have a man. I’m my own boss, and unless you want me to pull out my knife again, you’ll let go of my hair.”
“Hmmm.” He nuzzled her neck, his erection thickening between them. “I’d like to fuck you,
bella
, with that dress off and only your little knife strapped to your thigh.”
Goddamn it. If he’d been any other devastatingly gorgeous man coming on to her so strong, she would have invited him home for a few hours of hot sex. Hell, she would have considered dragging him into the nearest alley and getting down and dirty with him before the reception. But Nico was the enemy, a powerful and dangerous man, and she couldn’t risk starting a war between their families.
Falling back on the self-defense techniques she’d learned from Bennett, she smashed her hand down on his, trapping it against her head. In one quick move she stepped back and bent over, tucking her chin down and forcing his trapped wrist backward. With a grunt, Nico released her and Mia backed away.
Far from being angry, or showing even a hint of pain, he seemed amused by her escape, and no small bit aroused. He licked his lips, his gaze locking on hers, his body tense as if he were about to pounce.
“You shouldn’t have done that,
bella
.” His smooth, sensual voice was dark with warning. “Now, I will never let you go.”
Also by
Available from St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Praise for
ROUGH JUSTICE
“Castille takes the MC genre and lights it on fire! I want my very own Sinner’s Tribe Motorcycle Club bad boy!”
—Julie Ann Walker,
New York Times
bestselling author
“A sexy and dangerous ride! If you like your bad boys bad and your heroines kicking butt,
Rough Justice
will rev your engine. A great start to a new series!”
—Roni Loren,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Nothing Between Us
“Raw, rugged and romantic,
Rough Justice
is so gorgeously written you’ll feel the vibration of the motorcycle engines in the pit of your stomach, smell the leather and fall in love with this story!”
—Eden Bradley,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Dangerously Bound
Praise for
USA Today
and
New York Times
bestselling author
SARAH CASTILLE
and her sizzling-hot romances …
“Castille’s debut is steamy.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“Hot, hot, hot.”
—
Nocturne Romance Reads
“Smart, sharp, sizzling and deliciously sexy … a knockout.”
—Alison Kent, bestselling author of
Unbreakable
“I highly recommend this spicy book!”
—
Paranormal Cravings
“It’s a book that’s gobbled up in giant bites”
—
Dear Author
“This book would be for anyone who likes a tough alpha male and a heroine who is just discovering the joys of a kinkier lifestyle!”
—
Harlequin Junkie
“Hilarious, hot, and occasionally heartbreaking. I loved it!”
—
Maryse’s Book Blog
“I really REALLY enjoyed this book:)”
—
LoveLivLife Reviews
“Sexy … I love a good alpha-male!”
—
About That Story
Sarah Castille
is an award-winning author who writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense featuring blazingly hot alpha heroes and the women who tame them. Her books have appeared on the
USA Today
and
New York Times
bestseller lists. You can sign up for email updates
here
.