Biker (Bad Boys in Big Trouble Book 1) Page 11

  “What’s going on, Diego? Who the fuck is this? Why the fuck should I make his acquaintance?”

  Demarco bent to make a shot in the corner pocket before he answered. “There has been a little change in our initial plan. This man,” he pointed to Miles, “is someone who comes highly recommended by another well-trusted compatriot of mine. He’s offering a similar deal to yours. I am put in the difficult position of having to choose where to put my narrow business interests. I can sell my product to you. Or I can give this new man, who is favored by someone I already trust, my business. Or you can relax your rules on working alone and compete.”

  “Why does there need to be competition?”

  Demarco looked thoughtful for a moment. “As you know, I’ve had traitorous activities persist in the western region of my business. They have been resolved, but I continue to look for more, just in case. My compatriot has informed me of a rat in my organization. This possible deal with Miles is like compensation and gratitude for that timely information.”

  “Okay. That’s reasonable,” Zak said, not liking where this conversation was going.

  “Yes. Well, I am considering a new business partner for that area to help control that aspect of my business. I need people I can trust to run things in remote locations.”

  “Who is this compatriot of yours?”

  “An old friend from long ago, someone I trusted. We’ve renewed our friendship and other unrelated commerce dealings. In fact, he came into town early to catch up on old times before getting down to business. You may have noticed him last night as you were leaving. The well-guarded gentleman?”

  “Not to cut you short, but I don’t see how this involves me or a possible competitor for the same business.” Zak sent a purposeful gaze over to Miles, along with a healthy what the fuck stare added in.

  “Cheeky bastard,” Miles said with a laugh, taking a swig of his beer and giving Zak a look that suggested he should change his attitude.

  Demarco smiled, but Zak could tell it was barely tolerant. Clearly, he didn’t like Zak’s refusal to fall in with his plans.

  “Do you have the money this time?” Demarco asked.

  “Yes. I always had the money. I just don’t carry it on me.”

  Demarco made a face, as if uncertain of his facts. “Are you certain you have the correct funds available to me?”

  “Yes. My funds are solid. What do you know that I don’t, Diego?”

  “With regard to my business being infiltrated by traitors, the troubling news given to me by my old friend involves someone you know. In fact, it was the man who introduced us.”

  “Oh?” Fuck. Julio. Now what?

  “I need to know, my friend, was Julio helping you gather the funds?”

  “Julio?” he managed, but the spit in his mouth had dried up like he’d just swallowed half a desert’s worth of sand. Fuckety fuck. This was very bad.

  Miles scratched his face twice with two fingers before hooking them around the mouth of his bottle of beer, giving Zak the silent signal they’d established long ago. It meant that everything up was now down. Or rather, it’s opposite day, so act accordingly.

  Zak immediately said, “No. Julio hasn’t been helping me at all. The truth is, I was going to talk to you about him last night before I was rushed out. He’s been acting very strange. I don’t know if we should trust him.”

  Demarco, who’d been walking around to the other side of the pool table for a better shot, stopped mid-stride and stared at Zak like he’d grown a third eye. “Is that so?”

  “Yep. In fact, he wasn’t at the garage today. And it isn’t the first time that’s happened either. I don’t know what he’s up to, good or bad, but I wanted to ensure you understood that it’s got nothing to do with me. We just work at the same place. He told me about you and set up our first meeting, but that’s it. I work alone for a reason. I don’t trust easily.”

  Zak casually scratched behind his ear, at the same time pushing the button that activated his ear bud. Another member of Miles’s crew was already speaking. The message whispering in his head repeated over and over.

  —owledge. Julio is dead. His body was found with our marked money in the gas station bathroom. The new stash is in the backyard shed of your next-door neighbor to the north. Shit. Kaitlin’s house. Acknowledge. Then it repeated that Julio was dead and so on. Zak turned the receiver off and stared at Miles. Catching his gaze, he brushed his left index finger down his right eye, meaning he understood the message.

  Miles seemed to relax a bit. “So, are you ready to do this deal? Where’s your money, hotshot?”

  “None of your business. I don’t know you. Friend of a friend or not, I don’t trust you yet.”

  Miles laughed, but underlying his amusement was relief. He’d obviously inserted himself into this mess as the only way of keeping Zak from telling Demarco to pick up the payment at a place where he knew a traitor had been caught. He’d have to process Julio being dead later. Miles’s presence was dangerous as hell. But Zak was more than a little grateful. Miles had once again proved himself an excellent handler in the risky business they both worked in.

  Demarco said, “This man comes recommended by someone I trust. He was vetted long ago. Given my level of suspicion of late, you know that is saying quite a lot.”

  Zak shrugged. “Fine, he’s been vetted. That doesn’t mean he’s the best man for this job or someone I need to know.”

  “I’m proposing that the two of you do this deal together.”

  “What the fuck?” Zak wasn’t truly opposed to working with Miles, but he had to pretend to be hostile at first. Demarco had to believe he’d talked Zak into it. It would be far more suspicious if he just agreed to this new change right out of the gate. “As I said, I prefer to work alone.”

  Miles raised his arms. “Just hear me out, hotshot. We can put our money together and make this initial deal double the size. We split the costs and the profits, but Diego makes a bigger sale at the outset. Trust me. It’s a win for all of us.”

  Somehow, Zak didn’t feel like any of this would end up being a triumph. He remained silent, calculating how long to dispute the change before coming around.

  “Where is the lovely Kaitlin tonight, Zak?” Demarco asked abruptly.

  Zak frowned, mentally preparing himself for the battle to come. Demarco’s stance became belligerent. “Isn’t that your woman’s name?” Without waiting for an answer, he persisted, “Did you satisfy her before you came here tonight? You know how demanding she can be, right?” He laughed at his own stupid joke. The sycophants around him smiled and nodded like he’d told a real zinger.

  Caught off guard by the inappropriate question, Zak answered without thinking it through. “What the fuck is it to you?” Fuck. The second the words crossed his lips, regret filled him.

  What was wrong with him? He was supposed to be respectful to Demarco—to a point—not hostile. Arrogant, power-hungry people didn’t respond well to aggression.

  Demarco ignored his slip and grinned evilly. “I was wondering if she might show up again, although given your attitude, perhaps it was you who went unsatisfied this time,” he added, chuckling like he referenced an inside joke they shared. He didn’t.

  Cold rage consumed Zak. He stilled, readying himself to strike Demarco hard for his offensive insinuation.

  Miles looked like he’d swallowed his tongue for a moment. Then he verbally stepped into the suddenly arctic blast of air between the two men. “You have a woman, Zak? Is she hot? Is she a blonde? I like blondes.”

  What was Miles blathering about?

  Zak came back to reality. This was all for show. Demarco shouldn’t be able to play his emotions in such a personal way. His fury receded. Relaxing his shoulders and forcing his body to also unwind, Zak replied, “Of course she’s hot. She’s my woman.”

  Demarco nodded. “I can confirm. Zak’s woman is quite beautiful, in a prim, proper, virginal sort of way. Is that why you are so attached to her? Wa
s she a virgin when you took her the first time, Zak?” A maniacal stare filled with inappropriate sexual hunger accompanied his query. Zak had calmed considerably. While his ire was up, he made every effort to keep it under control. Demarco was being a deliberate prick, trying to instigate a fight. And what was with the taunt about Kaitlin being a virgin? It wasn’t like she was a teenager. Demarco was fucked up.

  Zak refused to play.

  “What do you think, Diego?” he asked, keeping a lid on his volatile emotions.

  “I think it’s convenient that your woman lives next door to you. Is that how you chose her? She was in close proximity?”

  Zak forced a laugh. “That’s exactly right. She’s less than a minute away whenever I want her. Perhaps I should call her my convenient woman from now on. Just don’t make any mistake about the part where she’s mine regardless of her location.” He stopped laughing, giving Demarco a threatening death stare.

  Miles walked toward them, inserting himself between a furious Zak and a maniacal Demarco. “Enough talk about bitches. Let’s hammer out this deal, yeah?”

  Diego turned his attention to Miles and his antagonism bled away in the relaxing of his body language. Zak wasn’t as quick to forgive.

  Prompting the question, was Zak really about to ruin this whole undercover operation because Demarco was being a perverted prick with regard to a woman Zak had no business being involved with in the first damn place?

  ~ ~ ~

  The doorbell rang half an hour before nine, breaking into Kaitlin’s growing despair that Zak wouldn’t show up. Or that he was a hardened criminal and, additionally, that her sister was just setting her up for an even crueler trick at dinner tonight, which she would have to face alone.

  She shook off her foolish fears and headed for the door. Maybe she’d win points since she was ready to go and he wouldn’t have to wait. They had plenty of time if Zak wanted to, say, kiss her lipstick off. She’d have time to repair the damage. A smile shaped her mouth at the thought as she popped the door open.

  He hadn’t stood her up. Gratitude filled her completely.

  “Wow. You look great,” Zak said, his eyes widening in appreciation. His gaze slid up and down her body a couple of times before settling on her face.

  Zak wore a suit with a tie. He’d shaved, and he’d even trimmed his shaggy hair, slicking it neatly back. He looked like a power broker ready for a nine-to-five workweek and poised to take over the world. “You look really different,” she said, trying not to sound shocked.

  He grinned. “Do I?” He rubbed one hand across his cleanly shaven jaw. He shrugged. “It feels good to clean up on occasion. You aren’t disappointed, are you?”

  “No! Not disappointed.” Maybe a little. But only because now every single female they met tonight would hunger after him, not just the ones seeking a bad boy to fulfill their darker fantasies. Then again, he’d likely turn women’s heads wherever he went, regardless of whether he’d shaved.

  Zak hooked a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the front of her house. “Is that limo for us?”

  She peeked out her door and saw the same stretch limo that had whisked Brooke away earlier waiting for them. “Yes. Brooke’s boyfriend insisted. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Nope.” He gestured to her dress. “I don’t imagine that dress would be easy to wear if we rode my motorcycle to dinner.”

  Kaitlin glanced over at where his bike was parked in its usual spot, wondering how she’d failed to hear him come home. He must have arrived when Brooke was still blasting music from her phone through a portable speaker.

  She looked down at the shimmery sequins attached to her expensive hand-me-down, and paled at the thought of arriving at the exclusive Prendergast restaurant valet parking station straddled behind Zak on his Harley with her dress hiked up to her business for the ride over.

  “It’s doable, but no, not easy.” She gestured for him to come in.

  Gaze still over one shoulder at the limo, Zak stepped over the threshold, but not far enough to shut the front door. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yes and no.”

  His gaze shifted to her, right where she wanted it. A grin surfaced. “Well, which is it?”

  “Yes, I’m ready to go, but if you kiss me like I want you to, then I’ll have to fix my lipstick before we leave. So will you?”

  “Will I?” he asked, his brows furrowing.

  Kaitlin licked the center of her upper lip. “Will you ruin my lipstick before we go?” She stepped into his personal space, one hand resting on the front door’s brass knob, the other snaking around his neck. She pushed her body into his. “You know what to do, right?”

  “I have an idea,” he said against her lips. “But be forewarned, I’m a bad boy. You should always plan on getting more than you bargained for.” She drew back, winked at him as seductively as she could, and licked the entire length of her bottom lip this time in invitation. He seized her offer, and her, in a fevered and very passionate kiss.

  Excellent, her libido whispered. She let go of the doorknob.

  His arms tightened around her torso, crushing her deliciously into his chest as his mouth twisted against her lips, licking his way through to plunder her thoroughly. He not only ruined her lipstick, he overwhelmed her. The smooth feel of his face was different, but the intensity of the kiss hadn’t wavered. Through the haze of the volcanic kiss, she heard the door close rather forcefully. He must have kicked it shut. Perfect.

  Before she knew it, she was flat on her back on her own formal dining table. She was grateful she’d moved the floral centerpiece earlier, but nothing would have prompted her to stop what Zak was doing. Zak’s body covered hers completely and she liked this aggressive show of dominance.

  His hand bunched the fabric of her dress against her thigh. She wasn’t certain what he was doing until his fingers scorched the bare skin of her inner thigh on a path straight between her legs. Just as one long finger edged beneath her panties, she managed to break the kiss and ask through her panting breaths, “What are you doing?”

  He rose up slowly, a satisfied grin shaping his lipstick-stained mouth. “Thought I’d put some color in your cheeks before dinner. We have a little time before we have to leave. What do you say?”

  Kaitlin weighed her options. Have sex with Zak and be a little late for dinner with her stepsister. Or forgo sex with Zak and…that was just stupid. She’d never consciously sacrifice any possible sex with Zak. Ever.

  “I say yes!”

  He didn’t speak. His gaze remained on her face—the hint of a seductive half-smile lifting one corner of his mouth, like he knew she’d agree—as his finger continued its naughty journey into her panties. He stroked her once, twice, three times, hitting her hot spot each and every time. Her pleasure spiked. Zak leaned down, resuming the carnal kiss as he fingered her with expert precision.

  Kaitlin was seconds away from another epic climax when her phone started ringing across the room. The interruption didn’t change Zak’s determination one single bit. He continued kissing her and stoking her like there wasn’t a limo waiting outside, like her phone wasn’t ringing a warning to check the time.

  If anything, Zak sped his strokes. An orgasm she didn’t expect pre-dinner rose within her like a pervasive sensual fog ready to take over the night. She broke the kiss, sucked in a deep breath, spiraling out of control as she came in a hard, gratifying rush.

  She screamed Zak’s name to the ceiling of her dining room more than once as wave after wave of wave of riotous pleasure filled her body and soul. He pressed his face into her neck, nibbling her sensitive skin as she finished writhing in utter madness from her recent climax.

  Zak lifted up and pulled his hand from between her legs. Completely boneless, her body flattened against the rumpled tablecloth, arms wide and legs dangling. “Want me to get your phone?” he asked in a low, amused tone.

  “I don’t care,” she said truthfully, speaking from her very satisfied soul.

>   He chuckled. “Think it’s your sister checking up on us?”

  “I don’t care,” she repeated to his further amusement. He slipped an arm beneath her back, lifting her from the table. The tablecloth was not only wrinkled from the erotic foray, but askew and about to slither to the floor.

  She didn’t care about that either. She felt too good to do much more than attempt to make her legs work so she could stand up.

  Zak helped steady her as she leaned heavily into the table’s edge. “You were absolutely right,” he remarked with amusement. “Your lipstick is totally messed up after kissing me.”

  “I see that.” She brushed a fingertip over his lower lip. “You’re wearing half of it, too.”

  He shrugged and tightened his hand around her upper arm, getting very serious. “One thing I need to know for future reference,” he paused, staring deeply into her eyes, “was that the way you wanted to be kissed?”

  “Absolutely. Yes.”

  His grin surfaced again. “Good. I’ll note that and tuck it away. Are you ready to go fix your lipstick? Because the limo is waiting, you know. We don’t want to be too late for dinner. We’d have to explain.” He winked conspiratorially, wearing her lipstick all around his mouth. “And I would.”

  “Explain?”

  “I’d be willing to tell your stepsister exactly why we are late tonight. That’s what bad boys do.”

  He pointed her toward the half-bath in the hallway, and then helped her walk a few steps in that direction. “Okay. I’m going. No need for explanations.” It took her a minute to get herself under control once she stepped into the small bathroom. Holy wow, he was so intoxicating.

  She revived a bit upon seeing her rose-colored, lipstick-smeared mouth. She looked like the worst of all the bad girls she’d ever known. A thrill rode down her spine as she fixed her lipstick, wiping off the old and applying the new coat, noting Zak was also right about the heightened color in her cheeks.

  Sixty seconds later she exited the small room, grabbed her purse and phone as Zak opened the front door. He closed it behind him. She locked it, and together they strolled down the walkway to the street. He’d wiped her telltale lipstick from his face, too.