Distraction: An underground kings novel (17 page)

“What do you take me for?” he asks, taking a step back, holding his arms out at his sides.

“What the hell happened to you?”

His eyes go darker, a darkness that comes from seeing too much, doing too much. I don’t know what the fuck happened to him, but something flipped in him. But right now, I don’t have time to talk to him about it.

“Go get your girl,” he rumbles as he hits the hood of my SUV once then walks back to his bike and throws one leg over it. He starts it up, the loud rumble sounding through the quiet desert as he takes off.

Turning down the dirt drive toward Maggie’s parents’, I see houses scattered here and there, and lots of green houses between them, along with pens holding goats, chickens, cows, and such. I know from rumors that this community sticks to itself, most people living off the land or using the barter system to live among each other. They make their own rules and don’t accept outsiders often. When I turn down another dirt road, a two-story house appears in the distance. The bright blue color stands out, even in the dark.

Pulling in a deep breath, I let it out and stop in front of the house. The moment I park, the front door opens. As I hop down from the cab, a woman who looks like an older version of Maggie steps out onto the front porch.

“Are you here for my daughter?” she asks in a soft voice that reminds me of the way my mom used to sound when I was a kid before she stopped taking her medication.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“She cried herself to sleep. Didn’t think we could hear her, but the house is old and I heard,” she says as I step onto the bottom step.

Rubbing my chest over my heart, I’m at a loss for words.

“My MoonPie is tough, always has been,” she says quietly, looking over my shoulder. “I don’t know what happened between you two. She didn’t tell us anything, but I know she must love you,” she whispers studying me.

“Maisy,” a man calls, stepping out on the porch, stopping when he spots me. Just from looking at him, I know he’s Maggie’s dad. They have the same eyes, and the same expression when they’re pissed, which he obviously is.

“Who are you?” he demands, letting the door slam close behind him.

“Sven, sir.” I take the last two steps up the porch and stick out my hand. His eyes drop to it then lift to look at his wife.

“Go inside, Maisy.”

“Monroe.”

“Go inside, check on Morgan, and make sure she’s okay,” he tells her, and she looks at me then at her husband before nodding and heading toward the door, stopping when she has it open an inch.

“I hope to see a lot more of you, Sven,” she says quietly before disappearing inside.

Monroe’s eyes go from the closed door to me and he nods toward the desert as he takes the steps down the porch. Maggie told me her parents were hippies, but I’m not getting the peace, love, and happiness vibe from her father. In fact, he looks ready to commit murder.

I follow him into the sand and dirt off the side of the house, where he stops and places his fists on his hips. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to bring Maggie home,” I tell him honestly. There is no sense in lying about what’s gonna happen, and whether he likes it or not, his daughter is going home with me.

“You know about what’s happening with her sister?” he asks, and guilt assaults me when I answer.

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re the man my baby girl’s been living with?” he asks, locking his eyes on me.

“Yes.” I nod, shoving my hands in the pockets of my slacks.

“Figured,” he mutters, looking me over, and for once in my life, I feel unsure and on edge. I’ve never sought approval from anyone, never given a fuck what anyone thought of me, but standing outside of Maggie’s parents’ house with her father’s eyes on me, I hope he sees something worthy of his girl. “She’s upstairs. Tomorrow, her sister’s going into rehab, so I ask that you both stay here until she’s there.”

“I’ll do that,” I agree, and his eyes move over me again.

“Are you a model like my girl?” he asks, and I smile for the first time in hours.

“No, sir, I own a club and have a few other businesses around Vegas.”

“Good,” he murmurs then walks off, leaving me standing while he heads toward the house. “You coming, or you gonna stand out here all night?” Without a word, I follow him into the house. “She’s upstairs, second door on the left.” He dips his head toward the stairs.

“Thanks,” I tell him, seeing his wife come to his side, wrapping her arm around his waist.

Heading up the stairs, I stop outside the door then push my way through. The room is dark, but I can still make out Maggie’s outline on the bed. Taking off my suit jacket, I place it on the chair then kick off my shoes and socks, strip off my shirt and pants, and then go to the bed. I pull back the blanket and settle myself in, pulling her against me and feeling her wet cheek hit my chest.

“Wha—” she whispers sleepily.

Rolling her to her back, I cover her mouth with mine and her arms wrap tightly around me for a moment before moving to push me off. Pulling her arms above her head, I hold them there and whisper, “I’m so fucking sorry, baby,” against her lips. “I was a fucking dick, and you didn’t deserve that.”

Turning her face from me, she sobs, and that sound cuts me. Placing my mouth near her ear, I tell her softly, “I love you, Maggie, so fucking much. The idea of something happening to you kills me. I’m a selfish fucking bastard when it comes to you, baby.”

“Shut up,” she whispers through her tears.

“So fucking sorry,” I repeat, dropping my forehead to the side of her head.

“You—”

“I know,” I agree without knowing what she’s going to say. Crying harder, her fingers wrap around mine and I kiss her forehead, cheek, and neck then let her hands go and roll to my back, pulling her up my body. Her face presses into my neck and tears wet my skin as she cries.

“You let me down when I needed you,” she breathes when her body has stopped shaking and the tears have died down.

Fuck.

“I know,” I agree, and her arm moves from where it was tucked between us to slide over my waist. Feeling her settle into me, my body relaxes. We lay there for a long time in silence before I finally ask, “Why’d you lie?” Her body tightens, and she goes to pull her arm back, but I grab her wrist and hold it in place against my abs. “I won’t be pissed. I just need to know so it doesn’t happen again,” I tell her gently, using my free hand to run my fingers through her hair.

“You hate my sister,” she whispers, and my muscles lock.

“I don’t hate—”

“Every time I mention her, you get a look on your face.” Her cheek moves against my chest and her hair slides over my skin. “It’s not a nice look.”

“I don’t hate her, Mags. I worry about you and what will happen if you let her in again. There is a difference.”

Her head lifts and she looks down at me. “Because of your mom?”

“Yeah.” I nod, wrapping my hand around the back of her neck under her hair.

“Our stories are not the same, honey,” she whispers with concern in her tone. Lifting her hand, she places it against my jaw, and her fingers trail toward my chin. “I hate what happened to you. I hate it and I’m so sorry.”

Closing my eyes, I let her words settle through me and her touch heal a wound I didn’t even know was still wide open. Only she could do that; only she could heal me with a touch and a few soft words.

“I love you, Sven. I know I shouldn’t have lied about meeting up with Morgan. I don’t know that she’ll get better, but I know I love her enough to want her to have the chance to get help.”

“Family,” I whisper, and her face goes soft. She’s right; family does that kind of shit and our stories aren’t the same. My dad fucked up, even after he was released from the hospital. He tried to plea for my mom’s return home. Thankfully, the judge sent her away to a place where she wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else. On weekends, my dad would go stay near the facility to spend time with her, and when I graduated high school, he moved to be closer to her. Every time my father left me to be with her, my resentment grew a little more.

If I was honest, I felt abandoned. To this day, we talk rarely. He checks in sporadically, and I do the same. Our phone conversations are never long, neither of us willing to talk about the shit that’s bothering us.

If it weren’t for Asher’s family, I wouldn’t understand the way family worked. I wouldn’t know that parents, real ones, never turned their backs on you. They didn’t push you aside to get what they wanted or needed. I wouldn’t know that family stuck by you. No matter what, they didn’t abandon you; then again, I knew how badly I fucked up with Maggie when I asked her to choose me, testing her loyalty instead of doing what she needed me to do.

“I should never have asked you to choose.”

“You shouldn’t have. I understand why you did, and that killed me, but even knowing it’s just a hope that Morgan will get help, that hope is enough for me to want to help her.”

“You should feel that way. She’s your sister,” I tell her, and she presses a kiss to my chest then lays her head back down.

“How did you know I was here?” she asks after a long moment.

“A friend of mine followed you.”

“Seriously?” she asks, lifting her head once more.

“Yeah, I was gonna, but didn’t want you to spot me and do something stupid that would cause you to end up getting in a wreck in that death trap.”

“I’m a good driver.”

“Baby, you almost ran me over then pulled out on the road without even touching the brakes.”

“I was upset.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I didn’t follow you,” I remind her.

“How did you get in the house?”

“Your dad and I talked. He told me what room you were in and sent me up.”

“What?” she whispers.

“Though I gotta say, baby. I thought you said your dad was a hippy. He sure as hell doesn’t strike me as one.”

“I don’t know what’s going on with my dad,” she mutters.

“He’s probably seeing that his brand of parenting hasn’t been working.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen my dad look disappointed or angry, and he was both tonight. It was freaky.”

“Freaky,” I repeat with a smile that she must hear, cause her hand smacks against my chest.

“Freaky, and it’s not funny; it’s weird.”

“I think it’s a good thing. He cares, baby, and he’s showing it.”

“I guess you’re right,” she mumbles, and I run my hand down her back and pull up her shirt so I can run my fingers over her skin, and realize her ass is bare. “Sven,” she whispers as I tug her up to straddle me.

“Gotta be quiet, baby. Your mom said she heard you cryin’ through the walls, which means she’ll hear if you’re too loud.” I shift and pull down my boxers, feeling her wet heat against my abs as I do, and then whip her shirt off over her head.

“I don’t know if I can be quiet,” she whimpers the truth as I adjust her again and fill her with one stroke. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I hold her in place, drop my forehead to her chest, and grit my teeth to keep from coming. No matter how many fucking times I get inside her, nothing can prepare me for it.

Her hands move to my shoulders and her hips rock forward ever so slightly.

“Fuck,” I hiss as I tilt my head back, smooth my hand up her back and into her hair, and pull her mouth down to mine. I then use my grip on her waist to rock her against me as I swallow down her moans. Her hands wrap tighter around my shoulders and her nails dig into my skin as her rhythm picks up. Lifting her, I get to my knees then put her on her back. “I want to fuck you,” I whisper against her mouth, keeping my pace slow, knowing I can’t do what I want to do. Maggie’s parents are somewhere in the house along with her sister, and Maggie doesn’t know how to be quiet.

“Sven,” she whispers back as her walls contract. Covering her mouth with my hand, I dip my head and tug her nipple. Her walls contract again, this time pulling me deeper. Kissing the tip of her nipple one last time, I move to her other breast. As she moans against my palm, her legs lock around my waist and her hips buck as she comes. Lifting up, I cover her mouth once more with mine and groan down her throat as I come hard, planting myself deep, and pull my mouth from hers.

“I love you,” she says, sliding a hand up my back.

“Love you too, baby.” I kiss her softly then roll us and settle her against my side.

“We’re upside down,” she whispers then giggles, burying her face against my chest to cover her laughter. Smiling, I fix us both in the bed, settle her at my side, and drag the covers up over us.

“Tired?” I ask, feeling her smile against my chest before she answers softly.

“It’s been a long day.”

“We need to talk about one more thing before you go to sleep,” I tell her quietly, running my hand up her back again, wrapping my fingers around the back of her neck.

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not,” I agree, and her body tenses.

I smooth my hand down her back again. “Some shit’s been going down for awhile, shit that you don’t need to know the details of, but shit that has put me in the position of telling you about it, regardless.”

“Okay, now I’m freaked,” she mutters, pressing closer.

“Don’t freak, baby. Just listen and know that no matter what happens this shit won’t touch you,” I say softly then tell her the rest, filling her in on Kenton and what happened with him and his wife, Autumn, about Kai and his wife, Myla, and then I fill her in on Paulie and his now dead son, and what that means for me and her.

“Holy cow,” she whispers when I finish, and I fight it, but I can’t help it; I feel myself smile. I just told her that we are planning on taking out one of the biggest crime bosses in Vegas, and her response is ‘Holy cow.’

“You okay?”

“I don’t know that I would say. I’m okay, but I will say that no matter what happens, I’ll have your back.”

Shaking my head, I roll her to her back and loom over her. “You’re not going to be involved in this, Maggie. When the time comes, we’ll stay at Kai’s place. Myla and Autumn will be there as well. You girls will stay put and under radar, where you will be safe.”