Chas's Fervor: Insurgents Motorcycle Club (Insurgents MC Romance Book 3) (42 page)

Stubbing out his cigarette, he looked through his sniper rifle. On cue, Mr. Nabiyev—adulterer, family man, mayor, and unlucky bastard—stumbled down the uneven street. Pulling the trigger back, Ian fired one solitary bullet. As if in slow motion, the mayor stopped in his tracks, shock masking his face before he fell face-down, blood and brain matter covering the cobblestones.

The minute he hit the ground, Ian was packed up and slithering on the dirt until a large rock blocked him from the town’s view. He picked up his concealed backpack behind the monolith, put on his sunglasses, discarded his camouflage attire, and made his way toward Tajikistan. In a couple of weeks, he’d be back in Pinewood Springs to finish his business and take his wife back to Chicago with him.

*     *     *

Two weeks later…

“I’ll be by
your place later tonight. I’ve got some business to do. Is that cool, babe?” Chas asked Addie.

“That’ll be perfect. I’ve some work I have to catch up on.”

“See you later. Wear your sexy yoga pants with the sheer white t-shirt. Love that on you,” he said, his voice thick and low.

“We’ll see.” Addie laughed, even though the sound of desire in his voice shimmied down from her head to her toes.

When she clicked off the phone, she glanced at the time. She had about forty-five minutes until the library closed. There was plenty to do, but Addie wanted to lean back in her desk chair and replay all the wonderful times she’d been having with Chas since she first agreed to go out with him. Each time she thought about his hands on her skin, how delicious his mouth and tongue felt on every inch of her, she’d blush and a heat would radiate through her until she was tingly and horny. Chas did so many wickedly pleasurable things to her body and to her emotions that if she had to leave him to save him, it would be pure torture.

Addie sighed. How had she married such a monster? Had she been that naïve and desperate when she’d professed her love for Ian? It still bothered her that she hadn’t been able to read the bullshit he’d dished out to her. How blind she’d been. And he’d finally found her. Each time she remembered that he knew where she was, she’d break out in a cold sweat, and her limbs would tremble. After all this time, he’d come to torment her. What the fuck was she going to do?

“Can I take off thirty minutes early? Snake wants to take me out for barbecue,” Jordan said as she leaned against the door frame.

Addie shuddered when she heard Snake’s name. She despised him, and he was the reason her heart hammered against her chest so much lately. He’d brought Ian back into Addie’s world. “Go ahead. Have a nice time.”

“Thanks. See you in the morning.” Jordan turned on her heels and hurried away.

Addie picked up a large bundle of papers, determined to make some headway in her work during the next thirty minutes.

*     *     *

Ian lurked in
the shadows on the side of the porch as an older lady, grocery bags in her arms, struggled to fit the key in the lock of Addie’s apartment building’s front door.

“Here, let me help you, ma’am.” Ian flashed one of his charming, boy-next-door smiles as he reached for the many plastic bags hanging low on her wrists.

The woman scrutinized Ian from his short, blond hair to his freshly shaven face. “Are you a new tenant?” she asked, suspicion tinging her voice.

“No, I’m a relative of Addie O’Leary. She lives in apartment twenty-four. Do you know her?”

A warm grin broke out on the older lady’s face. “Addie? Oh, yes. She’s such a lovely young woman. Are you visiting her?”

“Yes. I’m from out of town and have come by for a visit.” Ian chatted cheerfully with the woman as though she had been an acquaintance of his for years.

“I’m Harriett. I live two doors down from Addie.”

Ian had all the grocery bags in his hands and followed Harriett up the stairs. When she arrived at her apartment, she opened the door and let Ian enter to place the bags on her small kitchen table.

“How’s Addie doing? I haven’t seen much of her in a while. She seems so busy at the library and with that new man she’s been seeing. He looks scary, if you ask me—not clean-cut, like you—but she seems to like him, so who am I to judge?”

“Her new
friend
comes around here a lot, does he?”

“Yes, but I’m not snooping. The whole neighborhood knows when he comes over with all the racket his motorcycle makes. I don’t know why people want to ride those loud, dangerous things.” Harriett placed a tea kettle on the stove. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

Smiling wide, Ian said, “No, thank you. I have to be going. I want to surprise Addie. She doesn’t know I’m here.”

“How nice. She works so hard. I’m sure she’ll love seeing you. It’s always fun when family visits.” Harriett plodded toward the door.

Ian grinned, his face dark and his sunken eyes bright. “It was good meeting you, Harriett.”

“Same here. You have a key?”

“Yes. Addie gave it to me the last time I was here.”

“Tell Addie to come by and see me sometime. I miss our tea time.” Harriett closed the door, leaving Ian in the shadows.

His easy smile faded and malevolence spread over his face as he took out a small tool and unlocked Addie’s door in less than a minute.

Once inside, he looked around the small apartment cluttered with books, Victorian china, and other knick-knacks he’d never have allowed her to put in their pristine condo. Shades of yellow, blue, pink, and green assaulted his eyes. Addie needed him to set her back on track.

Glancing at his watch, he noted the time was six-thirty. Addie should be home soon. He walked into her room, switched on the lamp—cursing the tassels hanging from the shade—and glared when he saw a pair of men’s boots neatly by the bed. The biker was moving his stuff into Addie’s home.
No, my dear wife. Your days of living like white trash stop tonight.
Ian opened her closet and saw it was a small walk-in. Glad it was roomy enough for him to hide, he shoved her shoes over to one side, making room for him as he awaited his wife’s arrival.

*     *     *

Addie scurried to
her car. The cold wind howled through the bare trees, which had taken on new and ominous forms as nightfall crept in. The familiar sights, which lent comfort during the brightness of day, had transformed into shadows, which the encroaching nightfall swallowed up. Addie quickly opened her car door and crushed her body into the driver’s seat. She locked the door, and while turning the ignition, she gulped breaths of air as her temples pounded. With sweaty palms, she maneuvered the car out of the parking lot. Chiding herself for being so jumpy, Addie turned on the radio and hummed along to Brad Paisley’s “American Saturday Night.”

Since moving to Colorado, she’d grown to love country music, and when she felt anxious, a good country song with crazy lyrics always made her smile and sing along. By the time she arrived at her apartment building, she felt much better.

Lugging her tote full of work she had to try and finish that night, she opened the lobby door and climbed up the stairs. In a few short hours, she’d be on the couch tucked in next to Chas. But instead of pleasure tingling through her body, a sudden icy wave of fear washed over her. The hairs on the back of her neck and arms stood up while her heart hammered against her chest. In front of her, she could swear she heard a voice whispering to her to turn and run.
Why do I have the jitters so badly tonight?
She chalked it up to being tired, knowing Snake was in town, and
not
knowing where Ian was.

Nevertheless, a sense of foreboding forced her not to turn the key in the lock. For a few seconds, she had the urge to turn around and flee, but she didn’t. Chiding herself once again on being silly and very tired—Chas had been keeping her delightfully awake most of the night for the past couple of weeks—she turned the key and entered her apartment.

Darkness greeted her, and the fear, which had started several minutes before, was still with her, just under the surface. For a few minutes, her brain couldn’t comprehend why she was engulfed in blackness. It was her habit to leave the lamp on, but it was off. Addie knew for certain she had left it on when she went to work earlier in the day. She inched over to the lamp and turned the switch, expecting the bulb to be burned out. Bright light flooded her space, and her heart leapt to her throat as her brain short-circuited with dark thoughts—someone had come into her apartment and switched the light off.

Whipping her head around her small abode, Addie didn’t notice anything being out of place. Three deep breaths steadied her nerves.
I’m sure the power went out. Again.
The city was doing its ubiquitous road construction down the street, and the power had gone out at least three times in the past week. She’d been home each time, and she was certain that was what had happened that day.

A glass of red wine was what she needed. For some reason, she was on pins and needles. As she went through her mail, she sipped her glass of wine. After she finished, she stretched and rubbed the aching muscles in the back of her neck and shoulders. She padded to her bedroom, deciding a warm shower was what she needed for her achy body.

She switched on her bedside lamp, closed the window blinds then took off her blouse and skirt. Addie pulled out her pretty maroon sheer bra and panty set then went to her closet to retrieve her newly laundered shower robe. She loved how fuzzy it was. The robe made her feel decadent when she had it wrapped around her body after a shower.

Addie stepped in the closet and grabbed her robe off the hanger. From the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow coming toward her. Her insides turned upside-down as she jumped out of the closet, running toward the bathroom. A strong arm curled around her waist and slammed her backward into a tight, lean body.

“Missed me?” a deep voice asked from behind her.

Whirling around, Addie gasped when she met Ian’s piercing gaze. Black mist swirled at the edges of her mind as she opened her mouth and screamed—only nothing came out. Fear had frozen her throat, and all she could do was strain her vocal chords as she attempted to force any kind of sound through them.

Ian slid his eyes over her curvy body clad only in bra and panties. A cruel laugh rose from deep within as his gaze filled with lust. “You look real nice, Lizzie.”

Fear bubbled in her chest, but she couldn’t let it show. A few minutes before, he had taken her by surprise, but she had recovered from the shock of him being in her space. “What are you doing here? How dare you break into my place? I should call the police.”

“But you won’t. You don’t want them asking a lot of questions about your fingerprints being all over the murder scene in Glenview.”

As he took a few steps toward her, she backed up, the back of her knees hitting against the bed.

“I’ll tell them the truth. I’ll tell them you killed that poor woman because her bastard husband hired you to do it.”

Shaking his head, he continued to walk toward her. “No, you won’t. And do you want to know why? Because your fingerprints and shoe prints were all over the place. Mine were nowhere to be found because, dear, I’m the pro, not you. It’s a shame the fucking bitch bled so much. And it’s a bigger shame you couldn’t mind your own fucking business. You had to make sure I wasn’t having an affair. Fuck! You were always so provincial.”