Logan: New Crusaders MC (10 page)

Loving him.

She wouldn’t say it just yet, wouldn’t scare him away.  He wasn’t ready.  She wasn’t even sure she was there yet, but when he rested his forehead against hers, she was sure she was close to loving this man.  It was only a matter of time before she fell hard, and she was pretty sure she was already past the point of no return.

Logan settled himself on the bed beside her, one arm draped over her.  She was leaning on his other arm, using it like a pillow.

“What did I do to deserve something that good?” he asked her.  “More importantly, what can I do to get it again?”

“Just stay with me, for now,” she said.  “Hold me and make me feel safe.  We’ll figure out the rest.”

“I can do that.”

He turned her onto her side and spooned up behind her, burying his face in her hair, his breathing getting slow and steady.  She snuggled closer to him as he fell asleep and closed her eyes.  Tomorrow, she was going to have him take her to see her father.  Smiling to herself, Nicole snuggled further into Logan’s embrace and drifted off to sleep.

The sun woke her up the next morning.  It flooded through the window and illuminated the empty space on the bed beside her.  Groaning, Nicole sat up and looked around.  The covers were tangled around her feet, her dress in a heap on the floor.  Logan’s clothes, on the other hand, were nowhere to be seen. 

Nicole slipped out of bed and picked up the dress, her heart sinking.  She’d just fooled herself into thinking he’d stay.  Logan was who he was.  What he
wasn’t
was a one-woman guy.

A noise from the kitchen startled her.  She padded into the other room to find Logan standing at the counter, filling two mugs with hot coffee.  He turned and looked at her over his shoulder.

“Did I wake you?”

Nicole slowly shook her head.

“You take milk or sugar or anything?” he asked.

“No,” Nicole said.  “Black is fine.”

He considered her as he handed her one of the mugs, his eyes taking in her naked body, which was barely obscured by the dress she held.

“You alright?” he asked.  Worry touched his expression.  “I didn’t hurt you or anything, did I?”

“No, I’m fine,” Nicole said quickly.  “You definitely didn’t hurt me…”

“But?” he asked.

“But… I kinda didn’t expect to see you here.  When I saw your clothes were gone, I thought you’d split.”

Logan’s lips twitched up in a half smile.  He set down his coffee and walked over to her, stopping when his chest was nearly touching hers.

“Did I, or did I not, promise to stay with you?” he asked her.

“Well, you… more or less did.”

“If I recall correctly, you told me you’d be mine.  It was touching.  Memorable.  Or so I thought.  Did you forget?”

“I didn’t forget,” Nicole said, feeling a little defensive.  “I just learned a long time ago not get my hopes up about people.  That way I’d never be disappointed.”

Logan sighed and placed a quick kiss on her forehead.

“We’ve both learned that lesson,” he told her.  “I get it.  How about I promise to try not to disappoint you, and you can promise me the same?  We’ll take it from there.”

“That sounds really great actually,” Nicole said, taking a sip of coffee.

“Good.  Now that that’s done, how about I take you to see your old man?”

“Yes, please.”

“You should finish your coffee first,” he said.  “You didn’t get much sleep.”

“I want to shower, too.  I’m pretty sure I smell like all the worst parts of a strip club.”

“A shower might be nice.”  He raised his eyebrows at her.  “Is yours big enough for two?”

Nicole felt herself growing warm.  “It’s a little on the small side.  We might have to squeeze in.”

Logan’s gaze turned hungry.  “Finish your coffee.”

She drank it down in one breath.

Eager as she was to see her dad again, Nicole couldn’t help reveling in Logan’s touch as they showered together.  The way he made sure to lather her breasts, her back, her rear.  He kissed her under the flow of hot water as his hands traveled lower, washing between her legs.  She’d never had someone dote on her in this way, and she had to admit it felt good.  Too good to be true.  She wasn’t used to being happy for this long, and she was pretty sure something was going to come along pretty soon to ruin everything.

“Stop frowning so much,” Logan said gently as they toweled off.

“My signature expression,” she said on a sigh.

“You’re happy with me, aren’t you?”

She smiled sadly at him and leaned forward to nibble the sensitive skin at the base of his neck.  He groaned in satisfaction.

“I’m more than happy with you, baby,” she said.  “I just got a lot on my mind.”

“Come on,” he said.  “Let’s get rid of one of your worries.  Cork texted.  He’s watching over your dad, and he says he’s asking for you.”

Excitement took over again, and Nicole followed Logan out of the apartment.  She slid onto the bike behind him and held onto him as he pulled out into the street.  Buildings, people, and cars whizzed past as they rode downtown.  Nicole took the time to close her eyes and just breathe, without letting any intrusive, nervous thoughts invade her mind.

She didn’t open her eyes until the bike pulled to a stop, and she heard Logan cut the engine.  They were outside a little hole-in-the-wall bar that she’d seen before, but never gone into.  They were deep inside Crusader territory, so she knew this was as safe a place as any for her dad to hide out.

“We’re gonna go in through the front, in case anyone’s watching,” Logan said, putting his arm around her.  “Act natural.”

“Yeah, nothing more natural than walking into a bar at ten in the morning.”

“Depends on the person.  For some people, going to a bar this early is as normal as heading to church on Sunday morning.”

The front door was locked, despite what he said, but someone came by to open it when he knocked.  Nicole recognized Cork, Logan’s friend and surrogate father.  He was wearing his worn, leather kutte, and his hair was pulled back in a ponytail.  When he saw her, he nodded.

“Long time no see, Cork,” she said.

He grunted, then stepped aside so they could get in.  He glanced up and down the street before closing the door behind them.

The bar was empty.  Cork led them straight through to the back, where there was a small storage room.  With Logan’s help, Cork moved a shelf that contained boxes of napkins, lime juice, and rock salt away from the wall.  Behind it, barely visible, was the outline of a door.  Cork knocked twice, then pushed the hidden door open. 

On the other side of the door was a small room with a couple sofas, a mini fridge, and a table, as well as some other odds and ends.  Lying on one of the sofas, badly bruised and beaten, was Chuck.

“Daddy!”

Nicole ran forward and dropped to her knees in front of the couch.  Her dad opened his eyes and smiled, though it seemed to pain him to do so.

“Hey, baby girl.  It sure is good to see you.”

Nicole wanted to hug him, but wasn’t sure if that would hurt him.  He was a mess.  He was covered in bandages, had several stitched up wounds, and three of his fingers were in splints.

“Daddy, what did they do to you?  Oh my God.  Are you alright?”

“Doc patched me up good,” Chuck said, his voice hoarse.  “You’ve got a good man at your side, honey.  I owe him.”

“He’s probably gonna collect on that soon,” Nicole said, glancing over at Logan, who gave her a slight nod.  “You got yourself in some trouble, huh?”

“Wasn’t my smartest choice, selling out two MCs.”

“Two?” Logan asked, stepping closer.  “Only two?”

“Only two,” Chuck repeated.  “Ruiz asked me a little bit about the Crusaders, but nothing specific.  Don’t look too relieved, Logan.  I took that to mean he already had most of the info he wanted.  You need to keep an eye out for trouble.”

“Any reason your man, Clay, was seen chatting up two Devil Kings late at night on Crusader territory?” Logan asked.

“Clay?” Chuck asked.  “No… no, he wouldn’t.  He owes me everything.  I gave him a job and a place to live when he was two seconds from begging for his next meal on the streets.”

“It’s true, Daddy,” Nicole whispered.  “It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.  Clay’s bad news.”

“The Kings must’ve cornered him there or something,” Chuck said, still refusing to believe it.

“They looked real buddy-buddy to me,” Logan told him.  “Nicole has some more news for you where Clay is concerned.”

“Logan, no,” Nicole said, her voice a warning.  “I’m not getting into that now.”

“Getting into what?” Chuck asked, pushing himself into a sitting position with a grunt of pain.

“Your trusted associate roughed up your daughter back at the diner,” Logan said, ignoring Nicole’s angry look.  “Bruised her face, scared her half to death.”

“What?” Chuck demanded.

For the first time, he got a good look at Nicole’s face.  His good eye went wide when he saw the bruise that corroborated Logan’s story.

“Oh, baby,” he murmured, reaching out to take her hand.  “I’m so sorry.  I knew the kid wasn’t all there, but I thought he was harmless.  If I knew what he was up to, I wouldn’t have let him be in the same state as you, let alone the same room.  Please believe me, sweetheart.”

Nicole pressed her lips together to keep from crying.  She managed to offer her father a quick nod.  He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into a hug.

“He didn’t hurt you too bad, did he baby?  I mean he didn’t…”

“No,” Nicole said quickly.  “He threatened me with a lot of unsavory stuff, but he let me go after that.  I think he knows something, Daddy.  I think he’s helping the Devil Kings.”

“I didn’t want to believe it,” Chuck said, releasing her from the hug.  “But now that my eyes are open, it’s starting to make sense.  Ruiz wouldn’t let me in on the specifics.  Didn’t trust me, and he was right not to.  I know he’s planning something big, though.  He hinted he had some strong allies.”

“Got any guesses about the specifics?” Logan asked.

“Yeah, I got a guess, kid.  My guess is Ruiz has his eye on Castillo.  All of it.  He wants the Crusaders and the Iconoclasts gone.  The way he was talking, it seemed to me like he was pretty confident he’d be able to pull it off.”

“Killed Zeke,” Cork grunted.

Chuck looked from Cork to Logan.  “Zeke’s dead?”

“Prospect found him in a Dumpster outside the Rust Bucket,” Logan confirmed.

“In a Dumpster?” Chuck asked, frowning.  “What kinda message does that send?”

“Still trying to figure that out,” Logan said.  “Whatever it is, I don’t like it.  How much info does Ruiz have on the Iconoclasts?”

Chuck looked truly repentant.  “Everything.  Safe house locations, their snitches’ names, where they meet your guys to buy weapons.  Shit goes down, there won’t be a safe place for the ‘Clasts to hide.”

“This is looking worse and worse by the second,” Logan said, looking at Cork.