Club Ties (12 page)

Read Club Ties Online

Authors: Mara McBain

Tags: #Romance

“You want the truth? He’s a monster. He won’t stop until I’m dead or back under his Italian loafer.” 

“Neither is going to happen,” Mox said firmly.

“You don’t know Rocco.”

“Look at me.”

Eva fought the cold dread that threatened to crush her. Feeling his hand tighten on hers, she forced her gaze up.

“I won’t let him hurt you. Do you trust me?”

“I believe you mean that,” she whispered, emotion choking her words. “But he will kill you if you get in his way.”

“That’s the only way he’s going to hurt you.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

Mox’s smile was a little sad. “Baby, the choice isn’t yours to make. I’m your man, and I will protect you with my life if it comes down to it.”

Shaking her head, Eva tried to smile. She had envied this same devotion to Ginny, but it was so much more real when she pictured him taking Rocco and his men on. “You don’t believe in half measures, do you?”

“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”

“I’m not worth your life or that of your family,” she said, remembering Zeke’s questions the night she’d arrived. The Brawers were a very tight knit family, and just the little she’d gotten to know Mox’s club members told her that they would come to his defense as well. That made Mox vulnerable. Rocco was a master at exploiting people’s weaknesses and loved ones were a luxury he had never allowed himself.

Mox caught her chin and gently tilted her face back to his.

“You’re worth it to me. You’re the one I don’t want to live without. That’s good enough for me.”


 

Chapter ~ 12

 

Angry waves pounded the boathouse as the wind whipped in off Lake Erie. Rocco’s eyes narrowed as he watched the white caps break over the rocky shore. Like the lake itself, his gaze was cold, turbulent, and full of danger. Both man and nature had taken many lives over the years, and neither felt remorse. Taking a long drag off his cigarette, he pulled the smoke deep into his lungs and turned to the men behind him.

“Over a week and you’ve got nothing.”

It wasn’t a question. The silence was heavy. No one met his gaze. The plastic under their feet crinkled, and he caught Chelios eyeing it in knowing apprehension. Shaking his head in disgust, Rocco dropped his cigarette, grinding it slowly under his heel. A scream of anguish nearly drowned out the 9 millimeter’s retort as a bullet tore through the chauffeur’s knee.

The other three jumped back as the big man hit the floor, distancing themselves from the man responsible for losing the boss’s woman. The corner of Rocco’s lips twitched. He had their attention now. 

“I want the bitch back,” he said softly.

The hasty chorus of
yes sirs
would’ve been gratifying under most circumstances.

“Eva’s disappearance is bad for business. If the girls get wind of this, it could give them ideas. It would be unfortunate to have to break in a whole new crew.”

“If the burn on Coco’s cheek didn’t get the word out that you’re pissed, the tune-up I gave Angel last night will,” Chelios said coolly. “No worry about the girls.”

Rocco lit up another cigarette as he mulled over the stolid enforcer’s words. Caught between Chelios and the writhing chauffeur, the other two shifted uncertainly. The tension ratcheted higher at the silence. The enforcer’s expressionless mug didn’t falter. Rocco couldn’t help pondering what the exotic Angel had done to piss off Chelios. Business or pleasure? The thought intrigued and aroused him.

“Whatever it takes, I want the bitch found. No more excuses,” he said, heading for the door. Pausing with a gloved hand on the knob, he glanced back at the moaning chauffeur. Blood trickled over sausage size fingers as the big man attempted to keep pressure on the bullet wound. His dark eyes pleaded silently from the pale, sweaty folds of his face. Flicking ashes aside, Rocco met Chelios’ gaze. “Clean up the mess before you go.” 

 

His arm ached and his breath came in ragged pants and still he swung the whip. The tiny blonde swayed with the force of each blow, the chandelier she dangled from tinkling in acknowledgement. She had long ago stopped struggling. Her lack of fight only fueled his fury.

Kicking at her, he spun her limp body to face him. Flinging the flogger aside, he snatched up a stiff riding crop and plied it viciously across her heavy breasts. Her head snapped up, eyes flaring wide. Her painted lips stretched in agony around the ball gag. The crystal light fixture rocked dangerously as she kicked, squealing behind the gag.

Interest revived, Rocco struck viciously, unmindful of where the blows fell as she jiggled desperately. A sadistic grin curved his lips as a lucky strike found her shaved pussy. Her tortured scream left little doubt she didn’t consider it as lucky.

Her kicks left her vulnerable as he targeted her tender regions, regaling in her pain. His cock throbbed. One rosy nipple split, blood trickling down her pale skin. He lashed at the other until it wept as well. Her anguish was an aphrodisiac.

Releasing the chains, he let her tumble to the floor. His fist wound in her pale locks, and he yanked her up to fling her over the back of the couch. He was on her before she could move. Pinning her effortlessly, he fumbled for a moment with his zipper. Frustration added to his brutal nature, and when he freed himself, he took pleasure in wringing another scream from the battered whore, splitting her tight asshole with a single thrust.

Pounding into her, he reached up to release the gag. He wanted to hear the bitch scream unchecked. He got his wish as he twisted her bloody nipples. She bucked franticly under his rutting hips. Trailing a hand down her arched back, he scraped short nails over the welts that covered her pale skin. Her shrieks and tormented struggles spurred him on. Slamming into her writhing body viciously, his own back bowed and his lips parted in a victorious howl as release ripped from him at last.

When he could breathe again, Rocco slid from her body, staggering backward to lean heavily against the wall. It took another minute or two to assure his legs would support him. Straightening, he crossed to the door. The wide-eyed youngster on guard there instead of Chelios brought Eva’s betrayal back to the forefront, erasing the ease he had just found. His lip curled.

“Get her the fuck out of here.”

Spinning on his heel, he didn’t wait to see if his orders were carried out. Knowing sleep would elude him in his current state, he started the shower. He let his head fall forward as the powerful jets pounded his weary body. What was it about Eva that fired his blood like no other? His need for her bordered on obsession and made him weak. A roar of anger bounced off the tiles as he threw his head back, fury lighting his dark eyes. It was a weakness he fully planned on eradicating.  

 


Chapter ~ 13

 

Every eye in the place locked on her before the cheery bell heralding her arrival stilled its jangle. Self-consciously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Eva took a seat on one of the plastic chairs in the waiting area. Trying not to fidget on the hard fuchsia seat, she picked up a dog-eared magazine and idly flipped through it. She had found a cute dress at a second hand store for a little bit of nothing, so had decided to treat herself to a trim before the party.

Hearing the murmur of her name, she looked up in surprise. She met Becca’s narrowed gaze as the blonde whispered in her client’s ear. The older woman turned to stare as well, and Eva couldn’t help noting a resemblance in her pinched features. Blowing out a soft breath, Eva turned back to the magazine’s celebrity gossip and prayed the other beautician finished up first. Luck was not on her side. Sometimes she suspected that God just liked to see her squirm.

“So I hear you’re fucking my son.”

Eva’s head whipped up. Hands on her hips, thin lips set around a cigarette, the redhead’s demeanor was anything but welcoming. Could this brash woman really be Mox’s birth mother? Wetting her lips, Eva cocked her head to the side.

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t play cute with me. Becca already told me that you’re living with Miles. Are you fucking more than one man?”

“I don’t know a Miles, but I am living with Mox Brawer,” Eva said, a little steel creeping into her tone at the woman’s insult.

“I don’t care what that Brawer bitch told you. I gave birth to him and his name is Miles Sampson!”

“Rhys said he had it legally changed.”

The voluptuous redhead swung around, and she narrowed her eyes at Becca.

“I don’t give a damn what her pretty little whelp told you. You picked the wrong dick to pant over. My Miles is twice the man Rhys Brawer will ever be. My Miles is truly his father’s son. Rhys looks nothing like Zeke.”

Becca backed away from the woman’s scornful fury, hands raised in placation. Rolling her eyes when the older woman turned back to Eva, she twirled her finger beside her head in the universal sign for crazy.

“Why don’t you take a seat in the chair here and tell me what you would like to do today?”

Eva shook her head. There was no way in hell she was letting Becca near her with scissors after their run in at the apartment. After getting a look at Flo’s teased eighties do, it looked like she’d dodged a bullet.

“I’ve changed my mind. Maybe I’ll come back another time,” she said, shouldering her purse.

Flo put out an arm as Eva tried to skirt around her.

“I think you and I should get to know one another if you’re going to be shacking up with my baby. Don’t you?”

“I guess that would be up to Mox.”              

“It’s a woman’s place to keep families together. We’re supposed to be the nurturers.”

Eva’s lips twisted in disbelief. How could the woman even talk about nurturing after the way she’d treated Mox. “I’m not going to cultivate something that Mox doesn’t want.”

“He’s a man. He doesn’t know what he wants until we tell him.”

“You don’t know Mox very well if you think he doesn’t know what he wants. Now, excuse me.”

“Do you think my son would approve of you talking to his mother like that?” Flo asked, stepping in front of her this time.

Eva blew out her breath in frustration.

“Ginny and I have a wonderful relationship, and seeing as she’s the woman he thinks of as his mother, I’m not too worried about it,” she said sweetly. Shouldering past Flo at last, she yanked open the door.

“You’re going to regret this.”

“I already regret coming in here. Have a lovely day, ladies.”

 

Putting the last layer of cheese on the lasagna, Eva wiped her hands on the towel over her shoulder and glanced at the clock. Her stomach churned. She’d been replaying the scene in the beauty shop since she’d left, and she still wasn’t sure she’d done the right thing. It was one thing for Mox to verbally disown his mother. It was another for her to be disrespectful to the woman.

What if she’d misunderstood their relationship? The older woman had seemed pretty sure of herself when she’d warned her of regrets. What if his mother was at Handlebars and Hotrods right now, telling Mox that she had been rude to her? Ginny had thought nothing of stopping there to jack Mox up for leaving Eva alone without transportation, phone, or money. What was to stop Flo from stopping by to plead her case?

She rubbed at the knot in her stomach. There was nothing she could do until Mox got home. She wasn’t about to run down to the shop and bother him while he was working. Slicing the Italian bread down the center, she laid it open and reached for the garlic spread. Right now, all she could do was trust that Mox’s father was right and that there wasn’t much a woman couldn’t suck or fuck her way out of.

 

The smell of garlic assailed him the moment he opened the outside door. Grinning, Mox took the stairs two and three at a time. He loved coming home to a home-cooked meal and a hot woman. It was almost like growing up to be Zeke.

Closing the inside door behind him, he shrugged out of his coat and dropped onto the bench to remove his boots. The gas fireplace was lit, and its extra warmth was welcome after a frigid day with the bay doors open.

“Hey, handsome.”

Words froze in his throat when he looked up. Eva was peeking around the corner, her eyes sparkling, dimples out in full force. Dark hair spilled over the pale shoulder that was visible. He swallowed as his gaze skimmed down her bare torso and the silky expanse of shapely leg.

Kicking his boots off, he lunged at her. She spun and ran. He couldn’t hold back a laugh as he chased her cute, heart-shaped ass down the hall, listening to her giggles. The bed groaned in protest as he tackled her. Rolling her underneath him, he silenced her giggles with a possessive kiss. Her arms went around his neck, fingers stroking his nape in encouragement. Their lips clashed violently. A little voice in his ear wondered what she had done this time, but the rest of him didn’t care.

 

Swiping water droplets from his smooth scalp, Mox followed Eva’s sultry voice to the kitchen. He grinned, watching her groove across the kitchen, singing into the salad tongs. Damn she was beautiful.

“Did the shower help?” she asked, a blush flooding her cheeks as she spotted him.

“I hope you don’t need hot water anytime soon, but yeah.”

“And here I thought I’d warmed you up,” Eva said, coming over to wrap her arms around his waist for a squeeze.

“You were definitely hot,” he said, groping her ass and grinding her against him. “How’d you know that Rhys wasn’t coming up with me?”

“I heard your Harley and watched you come around the corner, so I figured we had at least enough time to make it to the bedroom.”

“Smart woman. Why don’t you tell me about your day?” Mox asked, a smile playing at his lips.

Eva made a little face and slipped from his grasp to check on the lasagna.

“I stopped into the beauty shop uptown today.”

“And you ran into Becca.”

“How did you ever guess?”

Mox snorted. “I see you were smart enough not to let the crazy bitch cut your hair.”

Eva shook her head, turning her focus to filling their plates. Frowning, Mox watched her. Something was still bothering her.

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