Soldiers of Chaos- Chaos Abounds: Book 1 in the Soldiers of Chaos series (36 page)

They stood in silence hands linked until the doctor came into the room to check Trace over. All was going well according to the Doc and Trace could be out of here in a couple of days in the meantime Nikki planned to stay right by his side. After the doc left King came bursting through the door his eyes scanned the room then narrowed in on her. He stomped across the small space his anger filling it as he approached her. "What the fuck is wrong with you? I said we'd handle this shit and we would've. You nearly got Trace killed." "King this is not the time or place for this and Trace is fine" Tex's attempt to protect her wasn't necessary. His anger came from his concern for his surrogate son. Nikki knew she'd fucked up big time "Leave it Tex I deserve it." "Damn right you deserve it. I don't know what the fuck is going on with you Ace but if you disobey a direct order again I will be forced to place consequences in front of you, ones you will not fucking like." He used her club name, she was not darlin' today. "Do you understand me?" Nikki nodded "Loud and clear Pres." He stared her down for a moment longer then nodded his head obviously satisfied with whatever he saw in her face "Good, now how the fuck are you brother?" King turned his attention to Trace lying in the hospital bed still holding her hand. "Fine old man, nothing a little r and r and a sponge bath won't cure." Trace winked at her and she smiled back. As banter flowed between the men Nikki shrunk backwards. She didn't get far with Trace's hand attached to hers he glanced over at her "Going somewhere baby girl?" "Just out to grab a drink anyone want something?" King grumbled in the negative. "I'll come with you" Tex stepped away from Trace's bed and held the door open for her. The look on his face told her she was probably about to get a second lecture "Ok."

They walked in silence down the hall till they reached a small waiting area with some vending machines. She asked the question that had been niggling at the back of her brain for the last few hours, "How'd you know where I was?" "Earlier in the day we'd followed some niner to get info on Lenny. He led us to that warehouse he was holding you in. Trace got a phone call then tore off out of the yard and headed for the warehouse. From what I could get outta Slick he rang Trace to say Lenny had taken you from the casino and some contact of yours was trying to track your phone. Trace just linked that warehouse with Lenny taking you and he was right." A contact tracking her phone? So that could've been Cole she glimpsed in the warehouse. He can't have been there long. Tex reached into his pocket and handed over her phone. "Brodie found it. Said when he picked it up there was an active call on it." Shit. She'd forgotten all about Cole being on the other end of that phone. "The display read Sir. What’s going on there Nikki?" She didn't. No way in hell did she ever wanna discuss Cole with them again "I can’t get into it with you Tex." He stopped abruptly and she turned to face him. He wasn't happy with her answer. "Thought we were done with this shit. Did the conversation we had the other night mean nothing to you?" His voice was taught with emotion. "It is done Tex or at least it will be as soon as I end it. But you need to leave it at that because I don't wanna share that shit with you or Trace for that matter. I know you think this guy wronged me and you feel the need to avenge that but that's not how it is or was. Just please leave it be it's better off that way for everyone." He stared at her for what felt like ages. "You're ending it?" "I'm ending it" the words coming out of her mouth sounded much surer than she felt about it. "You're conflicted about it?" How is it they could read her like that? "Yes I am but only because I got myself in deep and getting out is gonna be difficult." "In deep how? You love him?" The question came out on a growl. He couldn't hide the jealous anger on his face. She shook her head she'd never loved anyone but him and Trace "No but that doesn't make it any less complicated." "He loves you?" "He thinks he does." "Jesus Nikki if that's love I'd hate to see what he'd do to someone he hates." And he was bound to hate her after this "So do I."

Nikki sat at the clubhouse bar fidgeting with her phone as she stared blankly at the bar. The monster inside her was slowly eating away at her insides while she tried to hide it from the boys. She hadn't heard from Cole in over a week. No calls, no messages, nothing. She had a heap of questions rolling round in her head. What had Lenny meant when he said it wasn't their first rodeo? Who were these enemies that wanted to fuck with him and consequently her? What the fuck happened to Carla? Was the silhouette she'd seen at the warehouse him? She'd called and texted him but got no response. He was avoiding her. The question was why? Maybe he didn't want to answer the questions she had. Movement next to her dragged her out of her daydream. "Hey Nikki." She turned to find Slick perched on the stool next to her. "Hey. I wasn't expecting you to be here." "Couldn't miss a chance to partake in a little booze and amenable company" he winked at some of the girls at the end of the bar. Nikki rolled her eyes, typical man. "Plus it's not every day the MC labels you a hero of sorts." He was laying it on thick now. "I don't know about this hero bullshit but I would like to say thanks." He nodded "You're very welcome." "Have you seen Cole lately?" Slick's cheeky expression dropped immediately his face turning dark. "No he's been AWOL since that night no one's seen or heard from him." She knew it was something else. "No one?" "Talk around the Casino is he hasn't left his apartment in nearly a week." So he was isolating himself from everyone not just her "And no one's checked on him?" "No one's been able to Nikki. We know he's alive he's issued a few orders over the phone or through Roger but that's it." Fuck. Something was obviously not right with him, something she probably had a hand
in; she couldn't sit around here and do nothing about it. If he wasn't going to come to her she'd just go to him. Her gut twisted with both trepidation and anticipation. Shit. She still needed him but she was going to have to give him up. "I've gotta go. Tell Tex and Trace I had something I had to finish up, they'll understand what I mean." "Don't do this Nikki you don't know what you're gonna find when you get there." "Maybe not but I have to go all the same." She gave Slick a quick kiss on the cheek and slipped out the door.

As she pulled into the car park of the Mint her phone began ringing. Expecting it to be Tex or Trace she pulled it from her pocket fully prepared to end the call. The display read Roger. “Roger?” “Miss Jones. Slick called to say you were on your way here and as Mister Cole took your key card from you I thought I’d better meet you somewhere and return your card.” Shit. She’d forgotten about that. “Thank you Roger. Where should I meet you?” “If you enter the private parking I’ll meet you at the elevators. The code for the gate is 4927.” Nikki ended the call and rode into the private parking. She parked near the elevators and climbed off her bike. Roger was waiting for her. “It’s good to see you Miss Jones. I thought maybe…………. It’s good to see you.” “And you Roger. Where is he?” Roger’s eyes flicked away from her “He’s in the apartment. He’s not been answering the door for anyone so you’ll need your card to get in.” He handed over her old key card “Thanks.” She stepped into the elevator. "Whatever it is please just give him a chance to explain. He's a good man deep down." Nikki just nodded her head in response and swiped her card pressing the button for the penthouse. As the elevator rose her guts twisted constantly and her conflicting emotions warred with one another. She took a deep breath and exited the elevator. Crossing the lobby she scanned and slipped through the penthouse doors.

The space was eerily quiet and Nikki couldn’t see Cole anywhere "Cole?" She wandered into the main space towards the windows and called out to him again but there was no response. Something felt wrong. She slid the door card into the pocket of her cut as she ran her eyes over the room. The black door was open. She moved slowly towards it swinging her eyes left and right. She made it to the door in silence then stopped listening to nothing but the quiet. The lights were not on and the room was dark except for the light from the open space behind her. She slipped into the room and peered through the darkness. A slight movement in the corner caught her eye. A silhouette in the big leather arm chair became clearer as her eyes adjusted. "Cole?" her voice came out a whisper. "Angel" His voice was dead, no emotion in it at all. "Are you ok?" He stood from the chair and wandered over to the cupboard throwing the last of what looked like a glass of bourbon down his throat. Then he flipped the lights on creating a soft glow around the room near candle light level. "I'm fine and you?" He didn't look at her as he leant against the chair. "I'm confused." "Really? And why would that be?" She frowned at his distant response. "I wanted to ask you about some of the things that Lenny said." Her voice got less certain as the conversation went on. "There's a lot you don't know about me Nikki. Like you I had a life before we met a rather difficult and sordid one. One I don't like to talk about. Is that the only reason you came here."

"No it's not but I need answers Cole and I won't leave without them." He finally looked her in the eye and the darkness in his gaze made the monster
inside her quiver with glee. Without thought a shiver of arousal passed through her. She wanted badly for him to quell the ugly dark inside her one more time. He continued to stare at her with his intense glare "If I give you the answers you want what will you give me in return?" What will she give him return? Was he serious? He wanted to trade with her for answers she deserved "What the hell do you mean what will I give you?" "You want answers I want to play." Nikki's tongue swept out to moisten her suddenly dry lips. Why did that word zap the moisture from her mouth? "I don't think that's such a good idea Cole." He stood from the chair and stalked towards her like an animal stalking its prey. The man pushed her buttons in all the wrong ways but she couldn't help that connection. Her breath hitched and a knowing smile slid across his face. "Really? Because your mouth is saying no but your body" his hand swept up from her hip to her breast as he leaned forward his mouth mere millimeters from hers "your body is saying yes." His thumb flicked over her hardened nipple and her breath left her in a short quick exhale. "Is that a yes?" Was she really going to do this with him? The dark monster inside her reared its head and smiled with glee. She guessed she was "Yes." Cole stepped back from her with a smile of triumph "Take off your clothes Angel. Everything. Leave them on the chair." She undressed slowly her eyes not leaving him. He slid off his shoes and stripped himself of his suit jacket and his shirt. She turned away from him to place her clothes on the chair. No sooner had she dropped them then Cole's hand was in her hair gripping it tightly and pulling. She gasped at the pain and her body began to warm. He maneuvered her to the vacant space in which the chains hung from the ceiling. No Kiss? He moved around in front of her pulling her cuffs from his pocket. He placed them on her wrists and ankles hooking her ankles to the shackles on the floor. He took her wrists hooked them together then to the chain hanging in front of her. The silence continued as he pressed the button that hoisted the chain and her hands into the air. That uneasy feeling sat in her guts.

He returned to the chair across from her "Well Angel ask your questions." Now she was restrained confronting him seemed far less favourable. "Lenny said you have enemies, enemies who think my death would make a great bonus. Who was he talking about?" Cole scoffed "He's delusional. My enemies don't know who you are. They don't know anything about you and me." Sure they hadn't been traipsing around in public and the only place they'd been seen together was in the nightclub or in the jazz lounge. Anyone could've seen them though and Carla had known "They don't? Anyone could’ve seen us in the club, in the jazz lounge and what about Carla? You don't think she might've found someone to tell? She certainly found Lenny easy enough." Cole's eyes flashed with guilt then he turned his head "Carla was my fault. The whole thing was my fault. I should've seen her for who she really was. She knew Lenny in the intimate sense of the word, something I was not aware of otherwise I wouldn't have hired her. That's how he contacted her and how she became involved in this shit." "And where is she now Cole?" The question came out a growl but any mention of that bitch turned her thoughts to violent retribution. If she could get her hands on that woman she would make her suffer. "She had an accident. Her vehicle went into the lake and she drowned." Simple but efficient. Now for the hard question. "Lenny said this wasn't your first rodeo together. What was he talking about?" Silence followed the question. "Cole?" "You're going to want to run after I tell you the answer." Nikki glanced up at the chains above her head and at her ankles. She wasn't going anywhere. "I'm restrained Cole I can't go anywhere." Not physically anyway. "We met years ago before all this bullshit we were friends, of sorts. He was like me in so many ways. I showed him the lifestyle, what it had to offer men like us. We would often work women together." He paused as if remembering something. "Normally we'd pick up women together, people who were in the lifestyle. One night he asked me to meet him at the place we had set up for our entertainment. He told me he'd picked up a girl already. I went there and I found he already had the woman bound her face covered with a hood. This was not an unusual game. I asked about her safe signal which he explained would be her holding her three middle fingers up. I figured they'd discussed all this shit and I trusted him so I went along with it. As the session went on Lenny became more aggressive. He handled her more roughly said things to her that crossed way over that line. Not once did she use the signal she just lay there sobbing behind the gag. I just wasn't into it. That sort of shit is not for me so I left."