Chaos Conquers All (6 page)

They stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby of the apartment. The cool of the marble space was of vast contrast to the anger burning inside her. Roger opened the door to the penthouse and gestured the both inside. She didn’t move.

“I’m here now Roger. Slick doesn’t need to be here. Give him the kids and send him on his way,” she demanded.

Roger shook his head, “It’s not my call Miss Jones.”

Not his call? Fine. She’d tell the person whose call it was.

Nikki stomped past him into the penthouse. She looked around the space and found it empty.

“I am not in the mood for bullshit Roger. Where is he?” she growled at him.

Roger gestured toward the black door at the end of the hallway. The thought made her stomach heave and her skin crawl with self-loathing. She had no desire to re-enter the arena of her sins.

“Well get him out here,” she demanded.

Roger shook his head again, “Sorry Miss Jones but Cole wants to see you in there.”

“Cole now is it? Is that who’s waiting on the other side of that door Roger? Or is it Bridges?” she asked him and watched as his eye twitched subtly.

So he felt bad for having deceived her but did his master? Only one person could answer that question.

She turned toward that door. The black surface was bathed in shadow and a feeling of foreboding emanated from within that room. Slick must’ve sensed her hesitation. He stepped forward and Roger put his arm out stopping Slick in his tracks.

“I’m sorry Nikki,” he said quietly.

She looked him in the eye and gave him a solemn nod. She was telling him she understood. She’d do anything for her family. It was also a silent promise to him. A promise that he would get his family back. She just hoped to god she could live up to that promise.

Nikki moved down the hallway toward the dark door. She grasped the handle in her hand and the cold metal against her burning hot skin sent a shockwave through her. She took a deep breath and shook her head. She needed to remember why she was here. This was the man that had her mother so brutally killed. The man who killed Rat and turned her father against them. This was the man that had led her to unknowingly kill two members of her club. He was the man who had deceived her at every turn. He was the one responsible for letting loose the monster inside her. And there it was. The hate she’d brought with her resurfaced, driving her forward.

She opened the black door and stepped inside that room. The amber lighting was set low creating an eerie glow. The air inside was warm in comparison to the cold of the marble penthouse. The heat made the air thicker and harder to breathe. She stood just inside the doorway waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dim light.

“Close the door behind you Angel,” Cole commanded, his voice coming from her left.

That voice. If she were a weaker person she would clamp her hands over her ears and scream just to drown it out. But she could not be weak.

She slammed the door shut behind her and turned towards the sound of his voice. He was leaning against the leather bench facing her. His feet were bare and crossed at the ankles. His arms were crossed in front of him with his shirt sleeves rolled up. His tie was missing and the top buttons of his shirt were undone. This was his Dom uniform. If he thought she came here to play, he was dead wrong.

“Where are you hiding Slick’s sister and brothers?” she hissed at him.

“Don’t worry they’re safe,” he replied, his voice deep and steady.

“I didn’t ask if they were safe. I asked where they are?” she said.

“Where they are does not concern you, Angel,” He answered, dropping his folded arms and pushing away from the bench.

Nikki held her ground as he slowly strolled toward her.

“Doesn’t concern me? I beg to differ on that one. You brought me here using those kids as bait. Where they are and what happens to them is my concern,” she stated firmly.

Cole moved around behind her. She kept her eyes straight ahead even though they wanted to follow him.

“I know what you sound like when you beg Angel and we aren’t there yet,” he growled close to her ear.

His heat on her back coupled with the heat in the room made her skin clammy with sweat. She hated the impact he had on her. That harsh pull that made the darkness inside her sit up and beg.

“We won’t ever be there again,” she hissed quietly.

“You think so do you?” he asked, clicking his tongue in admonishment. “Oh Angel. Denial is a wonderful place to live until reality moves in and the reality is, you have very limited options here.”

The arrogant prick. She had very limited options? Nikki didn’t wonder that he wasn’t projecting. After all it was he who was being hunted by the MC and the Soldiers would never give up.

“I have limited options?” she scoffed at him.

“Yes Angel. If you think for a moment your club is going to come out of this thing on top, then you are sadly mistaken,” he replied as he rounded her, coming to stand directly in front of her. “I will pick apart that club piece by piece until King is drowning in dead brothers,” he growled low and deep.

His words were not a threat, they were a promise.

She felt the monster spread through her as the hate grew. How dare he threaten her family?

“You touch a hair on any of their heads and I will gut you myself,” she warned him, lifting her eyes to his for the first time since entering the room.

She wanted him to see the fierceness in her gaze and the destruction she was harbouring inside. When her gaze met his, she saw the flash of recognition. His eyes darkened and his breathing accelerated. A smirk spread across his face like he had somehow won some game she didn’t realise they were playing.

“Oh Angel. How I’ve missed you,” he stated, “How are you going with controlling that darkness all on your own?”

So he was just baiting her. He was trying to prove that she couldn’t control the monster inside her without him. She had just proven him right. She barely managed to stifle a growl as the realisation hit her.

“Why don’t you ask my father that question?” she asked, a barely veiled threat.

He smirk grew into a dark smile, “I’m sure if he could talk Angel he’d tell me you weren’t controlling it at all. What about the prospects Angel? What would they tell me? As far as the club’s concerned I’d say your body count is far higher than mine.”

There it was, the killing blow. If anything could’ve reigned in the hate she had for him it would’ve been her own guilt. This time that wasn’t going to work. This time she knew he was the reason for it all and that knowledge fuelled the darkness inside her.

“I didn’t come here to play games, Bridges. What do you want from me?” she asked through gritted teeth.

Cole seemed to waver slightly in his resolve at the mention of the name Bridges.

“Do not call me that,” he warned with such aggression in his voice she nearly braced herself for an attack, “I am not Bridges.”

Was he honestly going to go on pretending he wasn’t Bridges? Could he possibly think she was that stupid? The silence that followed his rebuke was filled with anticipation and tension of the bad kind. Cole stared her down until he seemed to regain control of himself. All that was left in the air was the thick heat and the hate emanating from her.

“Don’t bullshit me Cole. I heard Black call you Bridges,” she didn’t get through the whole sentence before Cole cut her off.

“I don’t give a fuck what you think you heard. I am not him. Bridges is dead,” he roared the words at her and she actually took a step backwards.

He seethed openly at her insistence that he was Bridges. She could clearly see the conviction in his eyes.

Nikki stared at him in confusion. He had to Bridges. It just made too much sense. His father was dead. He was clearly that bastard’s son. Who else could Bridges be? Cole approached her as she tried to push her sleep deprived brain back to that road.

He spoke quietly as he loomed over her his darkened gaze locked onto hers, “Are you sure you heard him correctly Angel? You’d just learned you’d killed two innocent men. You’d just shot your own father. You don’t think that you might have been in a little bit of shock?”

Had she been in shock? She remembered what she’d done, the things her father had said. After that, when Cole showed up, things got a little fuzzy.

“Then I show up and I know that my presence makes this up here,” he gently stroked a finger across her temple, “go all haywire.”

He was right about that. Even now, when she knew she should loathe breathing the same air as him, her heart beat faster and her insides churned with need.

“You see Black with me and that really fucks with your head. Add in the noise of the bikes bearing down on us and I’d be surprised if you heard anything that was said.”

Had she heard Black call him Bridges? The bikes had been loud and Black’s voice had been faint. Maybe she hadn’t heard him right. His body drew closer to her and the air between them became stifling. She pulled in a ragged breath and tried to focus. If Cole wasn’t Bridges then he worked for him. He had to know who he was.

“Well if you’re not Bridges and your father is dead then who the fuck is Bridges?” she asked breathlessly.

“That is not something I’m going to discuss with you, Angel. We have other more pressing issues to talk about,” he replied.

“What other issues?” she asked him.

“The issue of you and me,” he stated.

“There is no you and me,” she told him with as much force as should muster, which wasn’t much.

“Hhhmmmm, I beg to differ on that one Angel. You might want to deny the connection between us but even now your body is telling me you want this, that you need this. I’m going to have you again Angel,” he said cockily.

“Over my dead body,” she said as she tried to resist the pull between them.

“Oh no Angel, I couldn’t have that but would Deveraux’s dead body change your mind?” He asked.

The mention of Trace and dead body broke the spell he had over her. The first emotion she felt was fear and he saw that. His eyes hardened and his jaw clenched.

“I swear, you fucking touch him,” She threatened through gritted teeth.

“Don’t worry Angel I won’t touch him. No one will touch him or your precious family. Not Black, not the Niners, not anyone,” He said as he brought his hand to her shoulder sliding it slowly up her neck as he spoke, “I will leave this city and the Soldiers will never have to endure another dead body by our hands as long as you come with me.”

She could sacrifice herself and save the club. She would be handing herself over to the devil if she took that shot and how did she know for sure that no one else would suffer? Plus if he wasn’t calling the shots then maybe he wasn’t even in a position to make such an offer?

“And what about your boss? What would the invisible Bridges have to say about this deal?” she asked.

“Forget about fucking Bridges. Bridges has no bearing on what I am offering you. You are mine Angel and one way or another I will have you or no one will,” he growled as his fingers closed around her throat and squeezed.

He pressed against her forcing her backwards into the wall. As her back hit the hard surface she screwed her eyes tightly shut. The press of his hard body against hers and the squeeze of his hand on her throat held her brain captive. She felt the rush of adrenalin as her body fought to suck in oxygen through her constricted airways.

“Who owns you Angel?” the dreaded question whispered from his lips.

The words were right there at the back of her throat. Some part of her told her not to say them, don’t let them sneak out between her lips. She needed to fight the urge created by the hold he had over her body. She needed to remember she wanted them all dead. She wanted him. A knock sounded at the door of the play room.

“What?” Cole shouted not moving from their position.

“Mister Black is here with Alvarez,” came Roger’s muffled reply through the door.

He growled with frustration and dropped his head.

“I’ll be out in a minute,” he yelled at Roger before turning his attention back to her.

His hold on her throat eased and his hand moved slowly back up to caress her face. His face softened as he looked into her eyes.

“I didn’t want things to happen this way Angel. I never imagined that in all this madness I would find you and then when I hurt you,” his voice faltered slightly and it knocked her guard down another peg, “When I hurt you and I thought I’d lost you, I couldn’t function. I spent hours sitting in that chair staring at the space where you stood. I spent days laying in my bed staring at the ceiling and wishing you were there, wishing that I could take everything back. Then you came back to me and I knew. I knew that if you could forgive me for what I did to you, then you could forgive me for who I was. I still believe that’s true and I’m not going to let you go Nikki. Not now, not ever.”