Princess (17 page)

“Nothing to worry about, you know I have your back.”

Nightmare enters the room, not knocking as well. We’re used to being in each other’s space. “Ex is ready.”

“Ex? You want to fill us in?” I ask and Nightmare sighs.

“No clue. I know as much shit as you. He’s shut me out. Whatever this is, it’s important to him.”

“That’s all I needed to know.”

Spider wads up his trash, tossing it in the miniature bin and makes his way outside.

Nightmare turns to me, “He good?”

“Yeah, he’s fine, starting to adjust.”

“Bet. He’s too smart with numbers and computers not to have him with us.” His voice grows quiet as he finishes, “I figured out that’s how Ex got money to pass through the border; he had Spider transfer rich fucks cash into a fake account.”

“Serious?”

“As a fuckin’ heart attack, brother. I don’t know where the fuck his head’s at, but we’ll find out soon enough.”

Nodding, I stand and roll my bike back outside, next to my brothers. We wait on Ex for a few minutes; eventually, he walks out as well pushing his bike and coming to stand with us.

“Here’s the deal.” He gazes over each of us. “This isn’t a regular run. We’re not here on drugs. Well, we are, but only if we find some, do we bring it back.”

Sinner cocks his head to the side. “Then why we wasting our time?”

“We’re not.” Exterminator meets his stare. “We were hired by an undercover cop—a very rich cop—who’s tied to the Russian Mafia. He’s been searching for one woman in particular over the past months and got wind she was in that Compound we passed yesterday. He’s paying us a fuck ton of money to obtain her.”

Nightmare interrupts, “So you didn’t have Spider steal money from a bank? Why didn’t you tell us about this sooner?”

Spider coughs when he hears Night’s conclusion and Ex growls angrily, “Fuck no, how well do you know me?”

Night cocks his eyebrow, and if either one’s temper raises a notch, we’re liable to be pulling them apart, or one would be setting the other on fire. They both have a fire and dumpster fetish.

“I didn’t say anything sooner because the cop swears these people hear everything. He thinks that once he gets close to finding her, that whoever is keeping her moves her again.”

“So we could be heading into a shit storm and not even come out with this bitch?” I mumble.

“Yeah, but we get paid either way.”

And everything’s right in the world for me again, knowing this is a paid job. Just wish he would have given us a heads-up sooner, especially communicating with a fucking cop. He better be careful. If one of the brothers thinks he’s turned snitch, he’ll never keep his spot in the club. He’ll probably be strung up somewhere with a cord wrapped around his throat. We don’t expend our skills on snitches; we just snuff them out as soon as possible to get them removed from the equation.

“We’ll leave here and enter from the southeast corner. Satellite shows the least amount of guards and people in that area at all times. I have a general description of the female, but no one’s seen her since she was a girl I guess. She’s supposed to be a tall Russian woman, thin and she used to be blonde. They don’t know if her hair will be changed, what language she’ll speak, nothing. She’ll most likely be one of the servants or maids. Let me know if you see one that looks Russian.”

We all nod and mount our bikes as he does. Before we start them up, he shouts, “As soon as we have her, bail the fuck outta there, shoot whoever you need to and we ride toward the border as fast as possible. This is the Cartel, brothers; they won’t fuck around.”

We should’ve brought more men. Fuck!

With a sound like thunder, we crank over our engines, placing weapons wherever we need them for easy access and as one unit we hit the road, ready to piss off the fucking Mexican Cartel. We may as well be headed into a bee’s nest because that’s exactly how crazy shit’s about to get.

PRINCESS

I still haven’t spoken
to my mom; I hung up when my dad answered. I don’t know why he’d be answering her cell phone anyhow. Bethany comes out of my room, hair pointing in every possible direction and mascara all underneath her eyes. She stayed the night since I knew Viking wouldn’t be stopping over at any given time. Knowing him if he shows up sometime with Bethany here, he’ll demand to smell my pussy again. That man can be so flipping pushy.

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty.”

“Ugh. That biker’s already rubbing off on you.”

“Huh?”

“With the nickname, I seriously doubt I resemble a Disney princess right now. I feel more like road kill.”

“Well, you do kinda resemble a dead bird.” Shrugging, I blow her a kiss.

“Shut up, some of us need sleep. Why are you up so early anyhow?” She passes me by, going straight to the fridge to get a glass of her favorite orange juice. I keep it around specifically for Bethany unless my brother stops over, then he’ll drink it all just to screw with her. They’ve known each other far too long that they like to torture each other in small ways.

“Dude, it’s noon.”

Her eyes shoot to the clock, verifying the time. “Shit! I was out of it. I didn’t pay attention to the clock in your room, with it dim in there; I figured it was pretty early.”

“Nope, it’s just cloudy out.”

“That would explain why I’m starving then. Did you eat?”

“I had a banana, but I’m getting hungry now. Do you want to go somewhere or make something here?”

Finishing her juice, she rinses the cup and places it in the dishwasher. Stepping away from the counter, Bethany twists back suddenly, launching her face into the sink bowl. Fisting her messy hair in one hand, she braces with the other, wrenching up all the liquid she previously consumed.

“Holy shit!” Rushing over to check on her, I snatch a hand towel on my way. “Are you okay?”

“Ohhhh.” She moans, expelling the water she had drunk before bed.

Flipping the faucet on beside her, I grab the sprayer, rinsing it down the garbage disposal, so she’s not stuck looking at and smelling it.

After a few minutes of hovering over the basin, she wordlessly leans back, bracing both hands on the counter, staring at the drain.

“Bethany? Honey, you okay?” Cocking my head, I try to meet her eyes and push the kitchen towel in front of her. Her brow’s dotted with perspiration but her skin’s very pale.

She stays quiet washing her palms with soap, then takes the towel from my hand, never glancing up.

“How do you feel?”

Tears build up, running over her lids, flooding her cheeks with wetness, truly worrying me. I hate to see my best friend upset, so I lean in, wrapping my arms around her and place my forehead on the side of her head.

“Oh babe, don’t worry. You can stay here and just lay in bed until you feel better. I’ll make sure you have everything you need.”

She breaks her silence as a sob bubbles up, and she finally faces me. “I need diapers,” she cries, looking heartbroken.

“Okay, in any other circumstance, I’d give you
shit
,” I giggle at the pun. “For the rest of your life, but I know you’re actually sick. We’ll just toss your undies out, and you can borrow a pair of boxers to wear.”

Instead of laughing or chuckling, hell, even calling me a twat face like I’m expecting her to do, she busts out in a pathetic wail. I’ve known Bethany nearly my whole life, and I’ve never seen her like this—including bad breakups or drunken moments we’ve shared.

Bethany hiccups, her tearstained face swollen from crying, as I hug her to me tightly. Maybe we should go to the hospital if she’s feeling this terrible. Shit, I hope whatever she has isn’t contagious.

She takes a few deep breaths, her crying finally slowing down as she whispers, “I’m not sick; not technically, anyway. There’s something wrong with me, though.”

“What do you mean? Why haven’t you told me sooner?”

“Because…I wasn’t sure.”

“You better not be fucking dying or something and just now telling me. I won’t let it happen.”

“I’m pregnant.”

Shocked, I don’t know if I should hug and congratulate her or cry, because in all honestly, there’s a good chance she won’t know who the father is. Her mom and stepdad will most likely kick her out even though she’s an adult. They’re dicks like that. She needs to find a better job so she can get her own place.

With my eyes wide, I mutter, “Wow.”

“I know.” She swipes her hand over her face, then fills a glass of water, chugging it down and refilling it.

“So that’s what the puking was about and why you’re suddenly drinking more water.”

“Yep.”

“Wow.

“You said that already.”

“Who’s the father?”

Grabbing the 409 from the opposite counter and a few paper towels, I spray the counter next to where Bethany puked. Once I’m done wiping it, she steps away so I can do the top of the sink. Coating the inside of the basin, I rinse it out and step back, still waiting for her to answer.

“B, do you know who the baby’s dad is?”

“It doesn’t matter, he doesn’t want it, and I won’t be letting him decide my child’s fate. He’s not the one carrying the kid around or who’s going to be taking care of it, so it’s not his decision to make.”

“Holy shit, he doesn’t want it?”

She shakes her head.

“What a dickhead; he should be castrated. Who is it?”

“I told you, I just want to forget about it. I have to figure out my life and how to support myself and a kid.”

“Wait, is this the real reason why you called me so much and freaked out with Viking?”

Shrugging, she places her other cup in the dishwasher and runs her hands through her hair. “That’s what started it, but then I did begin to worry about you when I didn’t hear back.”

“That makes sense. I’m sorry you’ve been going through these changes by yourself.”

“Hey, at least I have you now. Plus, it’s still too soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well two days after I had sex, I was massively ill and went to the hospital; they couldn’t find anything wrong with me, and then a nurse suggested that I could be pregnant. I thought she was crazy, but she said in certain cases a woman can be sick within days. She told me that my body may have registered the change immediately, where in others it takes longer to show pregnancy symptoms.”

“That’s crazy, so did they run a test?”

“Actually, I’ve had a fifteen-minute quick check with a nurse at my doctor’s office daily since then. Yesterday before coming here, they ran a blood test, and it came back positive. My doctor was thrilled. I guess she’s never had a pregnancy case like mine before.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, because my test came back positive yesterday morning, making it eight days since I would have gotten knocked up. Today makes day nine. According to her, none of her patients have ever found out that quickly before. I have to go back in a few weeks for another test, but I’m convinced now after being sick every single day and then fine later in the day.”

“I’m so sorry you’ve been sick. Is it that douche you were playing beer pong with, the night of the house party?”

“God, no!”

“But I haven’t seen you go home with anyone else, except…”

Her head tilts as she nods sadly, “Nightmare.”

“Ho-ly fuckballs.”

Monday and Tuesday drag
by with no luck on breaching the Cartel’s Compound. Princess hasn’t contacted me again, and I don’t know whether to be upset or impressed. She knows I’m with my brothers, and she’s either keeping busy or letting me handle my shit.

I’m getting real sick of being here, though. I’m ready to slide deep inside my woman and eat a fucking burger. I thought the hotel mattress in Texas was shit, but it’s a goddamn pillow top compared to the springy box I’ve been sleeping on here. It’s going to be straight hell on us riding back, sore and grouchy, most likely with some runaway bitch while dodging bullets.

Now here we are, Wednesday morning and attempting to sneak in once again. We figured that if the place is usually loaded down with cartel thugs, then a quiet, early approach is probably best. The brothers are just as antsy as I am, ready to get the fuck away from here.

Ruger catches up to Spider, talking quietly, “Look, all I’m saying is, it’s strange there isn’t anyone in this part of the Compound. Where the fuck did they all go?” He gestures around us at the huge abandoned space as we continue our trek.

The back corner where we’re located is littered with trees, a small brick building that we’re assuming is storage, and random, massive-sized rocks, nearly the same height as me. It’s weird, but who the fuck cares if it provides us some cover.

Shrugging, Spider glances around. “I showed you the satellite images. There were only a few heat signatures indicated with the program on the thermal mode. Unless they’ve decided to patrol, none of them are near this area.”

Exterminator halts suddenly, whirling toward them. “Quiet the fuck down. This isn’t school or some shit where you two can fuckin’ gossip. If they hear us, they’ll shoot. Now shut the fuck up,” he orders.

They keep quiet, and we continue on our path toward a specific building Ex was told to search first.