Damaged & Dangerous: The Sacred Hearts MC Book VI (7 page)

“I knew people were
being hurt, that some of the pieces that were showing up were priceless or
family heirlooms… But I was scared, and I didn’t want to die or to disappear, and
I thought it was better the devil you know. You know?” I sniffed and he nodded,
“So I told Pig-Pen that if they gave me the jewelry, that I could take it and
melt it down, make new pieces and reset stones so that it could be sold on the
internet or pawned and no one would be the wiser that it was stolen.”

It became more than a
means of survival though. It became
mine
. They didn’t care what I made
as long as it sold, and made the club money. So I could design my own stuff and
it became a way to escape this bullshit for a little while. Something that they
couldn’t touch, that they couldn’t spoil or take away from me.   

“Pig told Griz, made it
sound like it was all his idea. Griz told Sparks and Sparks liked it, so the
jewelry started coming to me. I’ve been doing it ever since. They don’t really
care what Pig does to me as long as I keep producing. I threatened to stop
once.” I shuddered, “I’ll never do that again.” That had been the one and only
time that Pig-Pen had let the brothers have their turn at me, after I’d said I
would stop, tried to run. I’d made sure to behave ever since, there were no
more brave proclamations. I never wanted to pull a train ever again. It had
been a nightmare and taken me a long time to recover. Truthfully I couldn’t say
on
if
I were really fully recovered. Some damage couldn’t be repaired.

Thirteen looked me over
and picked up my hand where it rested on my tray. He pressed the jeweler’s loop
into my hand and said softly, “I’m sorry all of this has happened to you. I
never would have kept it from you, not even teasing, if I’d known.” He sighed a
broken down and weary sigh, and I knew just how he felt.

“You’re a beautiful
woman, Dani, and you deserve so much better than any of this.” I looked at him
sharply.

“Don’t you
ever
let any of them hear you talk like that!” I held my breath and willed him with
all the strength that I had left, to promise me. He stared at me, his
blue-green eyes, more blue right now, searching my face. He’d gone very still,
his expression unreadable, and finally he straightened as if a decision had
been made.

“You don’t gotta worry
about that,” he said, “It’s just you and me here for now. I think I can buy you
a couple of days more to recover, then I just need you to keep doing what
you’re doing for a little while longer.” He pursed his lips, and nodded with
finality before getting to his feet. He bent at the waist and before I knew
what he was going to do, he pressed his lips to the top of my head.

“Just hang in there,
Rocket,” he murmured into my hair. I closed my eyes, his breath was warm against
my scalp as he spoke and it sent a rolling rush of pleasant tingling down the
back of my neck and shoulders. I swallowed hard and nodded, confused. It was
like something had flipped the prospect’s switch and I didn’t know if that was
a good or bad thing.

I knew with absolute
certainty, though, there was more to Thirteen than met the eye. I’d been
watching men scheme and play each other against one another for a really long
time and Thirteen had that feel to him. He had another feel too, though.
Thirteen was dangerous. I could see it in the way he moved around the apartment
and in the way he took everything in. I just couldn’t decide if he was going to
be dangerous to me or not and so for now, I simply and wisely kept my mouth
shut.

Red-XIII…

I didn’t know exactly what it was about Rocket,
but the girl flipped just about every switch into the ‘on’ position where my
protective instincts were concerned. The more I learned about her, the more I simply
just
liked her
. She was as smart as I thought she was from the
beginning, maybe even more so. She adapted pretty quickly and the thing that
got me about her was just how fucking selfless she was, even in the face of all
she’d been through.

The girl, for all the fear she held inside,
was incredibly brave. After all was said and done, for her to fucking warn me
about not being overheard saying anything kind? Damn. She was incredible… and
speaking of adapting, I needed to do some of my own because my mission of
destruction had suddenly become a mission of mercy, too. I had to figure out a
way to not only take out the Suicide Kings, but I had to do it in such a way
that there would be minimal blowback on Rocket while I was at it. I wasn’t sure
how I was going to do that.

Losing Axe and Corbin had lit a rather
substantial fire under The Suicide Kings’ asses and the more their members 
started dropping like flies, the more unglued the council was going to become;
and Pig-Pen had already proven that he wasn’t above using Dani as his whipping
boy – er – girl, as an outlet for his anger and frustrations. The problem was,
she was right. I couldn’t care, I couldn’t put myself in front of her and act
as a meat shield without drawing suspicion onto my self and exposing my
ulterior motives.

I was sitting with Rocket as she ate another
bowl of soup when Pig finally decided to show up to check on his woman. The
front door to her place just opened and he walked in like he owned the place
which, seeing as he thought he owned
her
, shouldn’t have come as a
surprise. It shouldn’t have surprised me either that he had a fucking key, but
I’d been so absorbed in keeping her alive it’d slipped past me. So when I heard
the door open, I automatically went for my gun and had it pointed when Pig-Pen
appeared in the door.

“The fuck you doin’?” he demanded.

“Sorry, Man.” I pointed the Beretta skyward,
“Didn’t expect you; after Axe and Corbin can you blame me for being jumpy?” I
raised my eyebrows and put up my gun, tucking it into the back of my waistband.
His expression crushed down into a scowl.

“I don’t check in with you, you check in with
me. Don’t you forget it, either.” He turned to Dani, who was still pale and wan
and looked like ever-loving shit.

“You finish it yet?” he demanded. She nodded
her head rapidly flinching back from his looming presence.

“Yeah, Man, it’s out here.” I got up and put
myself between them, subtle enough to keep Pig’s hackles from going up but
enough to cause some of the fear and tension to ease from the set of Dani’s
shoulders. “You done?” I asked her. She nodded and lifted the tray from her lap
feebly. I looked to Pig and jerked my head toward the door.

“Might not want to get too close, my guy said
she could still be contagious through the end of the week.” Which was total
fucking bullshit and anyone with half a brain would know that, but I was
betting the only person in the club that would tell Pig to his face that he’d
been had, let alone laugh at him, was Griz. All the rest of them were either
afraid of his temper or would keep their laughter to themselves so they could
get off on it behind his back later.

Dani’s eyes went real wide and Pig made a
disgusted noise and ducked back out into the hallway. I dropped the tray in the
kitchen and went to the workbench. I picked up the ring she had finished that
day, a gold band in the shape of a crown. She’d needed one last diamond for it
and had found the perfect sized one with the right cut in amongst the latest
lot of jewelry I’d brought her.

I hadn’t wanted her working, but she promised
all she needed to do was set the one stone and polish the ring and she’d be
done, and she’d done exactly that. It still had taken her some time though. The
girl was absolutely precise and the result of her effort sat, stunning,
gleaming softly in the palm of my hand as I held it out to Pig. He picked it up
and held it up in front of his face, squinting at it. He smiled and gave a nod
then fixed me with a hard look.

“You sleeping with her?” he demanded,
narrowing his eyes.
Yes.
But I was only sleeping, and I sure as hell
wasn’t going to tell him that.

I blinked, put my thumbs through my belt loops
in the front of my pants, and gave the Suicide Kings’ VP a hard look. The thing
about most MCs, when they got a prospect, they look for certain traits.
Loyalty, an ability to keep their fucking mouths shut, a willingness to learn,
and a certain level of badass are all looked upon favorably. When it came to
The Suicide Kings, if it was one thing I’d picked up on quickly, was that they
prized a certain level of servitude. The guys they brought in tended to be
followers. Easily cowed to a certain extent. Non-threats to the upper echelon
of the club’s hierarchy, which was total bullshit and made for a weak ass club.

I could see that I was being tested here but I
wasn’t one hundred percent on what exactly Pig was looking for. It was always
hard to tell, especially when you were dealing with a dude who was using as
much as him. I postured myself with that level of badass, nonchalantly, like I didn’t
give two fucks, my body language screaming
sure, all right, you wanna throw
down? I’ll throw down.
But I schooled my expression into lines of worry and
picked my words carefully.

“Naw, man! I been out here the whole time.” I
gestured to the couch, which was still made up from when Doc was sleeping on
it. I’d been lucky. I had all kinds of excuses as to why Pig should have stayed
away while Doc was here but I hadn’t had to use a single one of them. Pig
really didn’t give two fucks about Dani except for her ability to generate him
cash, make him look good to his club and his Pres., and for when he felt like
fucking her. My reasons for wanting to bury this son of a bitch were growing
exponentially by the hour, never mind by the fucking day.

He inspected the couch, which was made up like
a bed with the sheets and blankets I’d washed after I’d arrived while Doc had
treated Dani, and finally he nodded and sniffed.

“You can have a taste if you want,” he said. I
felt my brows crush down into a frown.
Was he for fucking real!?

“Naw, man, that’s yer
Ol’ Lady,
” I
stated and crossed my arms over my chest, tucking my hands flat under my arms
to resist the urge to punch him in his smug, smiling face. His mood turned on a
dime and he scowled at me, leaning in, menacing. I wanted to stand my ground
but I didn’t know what he was playing at so I leaned away from him.

“You saying my woman’s pussy ain’t good enough,
Prospect?” he demanded.

“No, man! I’m not saying that either! Your
woman is damn fine, she’s just
your woman!
I got mad respect, Dude! No
disrespect here!” I put my hands out as if to ward off any offense I may have
caused and his laughter boomed through the tired old apartment.

“I’m just fucking with you, Prospect! You did
good here, keeping my bitch alive. When we going to see you back at the club?
Tonight?” he asked.

I tried to look relieved and really only had
to half fake it. Fucking Pig-Pen, man, with as much shit as he did and as
squirrely as his moods were, you never really could tell. I shook my head and
answered him with a total fucking lie that I hoped sounded remotely believable,
“Naw man, not tonight, maybe tomorrow night. My guy said someone should be here
to make sure she took her pills at least through tomorrow night, that after
that she should be good. I know she’s pretty valuable to you and the club so it’s
better that I do what the doctor ordered and protect your investment. You dig?”

He eyed me with some suspicion and I found
myself praying silently,
please buy it, please buy it, please buy it…
Finally he nodded and pounded me on the back as we turned for the door.

“I knew I did right by you, letting you hang
around. You’re smart and loyal and I like that,” we got to the door. “Coon!
I’ll deal with your ass later! You’d better have some shit done and ready for
me to sell by the end of next week, you hear me?” he called down the hall in
the direction of the bedroom.

“Absolutely! I will, I promise. Don’t you
worry,” her voice called back and then dissolved into a fit of coughing from
trying to project it that far.

“Tomorrow night,” Pig said and I nodded.

“I’ll be there.”

He ducked out the front door into the evening
and I shut it behind him. Once I heard his bike start up, I threw the locks and
let my shoulders sag. Fucking-A, I hated that cock sucker. I drifted up the
hall and leaned silently against the doorframe to her bedroom. She sat up in
bed, still looking so small and frail, staring at her hands. Her eyes drifted
shut and tears slipped silent down her face. She sniffed and took a wretched
breath and let it out slowly. I knew she’d heard everything and I knew it
bothered her; that it hurt, and filled her heart with resentment and anger and
such a feeling of hopelessness. It was plain to see in the way she held
herself.

“You okay?” I asked. She took a breath and
nodded, and I pushed off the frame of the door.

“You didn’t get sick on purpose, but you
damned sure let it spiral out of control, didn’t you?” I asked softly. She
looked at me, her blue eyes sparking and flashing with anger and resentment,
which slid out of her eyes just as quickly as they appeared. As if the emotions
had been thrown at her wall and instead of sticking, just slid to the floor,
regret and resignation revealed underneath.

“Oh Baby, you can’t give up,” I said.  I
sighed and sat down by her feet.

“Why?” she asked, her lips parted. Her chin
trembled and fresh tears welled in her bright and intelligent eyes and slipped
free, down her porcelain skin. The whole effect, surrounded by her raven dark
hair, was breathtaking. She jerked back and her expression turned confused. I
reached out and thumbed a tear from her chin.

“What is it, Baby?” I asked her, ignoring her
question.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she
asked.

“Pig’s an asshole.”

She gasped but I pressed on. She’d told me
some of her secrets, things that could get her in trouble, I owed her to say a
thing or two that could land my ass in the fire. To even the score between us
once more. “He’s got this smart, beautiful, fiery woman right in front of him.
A treasure that should be treated like the jewels she flips for him to line his
fucking pockets, and look what he does to you.” I felt my mouth set into a line
of resignation. If anyone from the club heard what had just come out of my
mouth, I would have had my teeth knocked out by one vicious curb stomping. If I
was lucky it would stop there, but I didn’t think luck had much to do with
anything when it came to The Suicide Kings.

Dani raised her cornflower blue eyes from her
hands to meet mine and I could see the keen intelligence there. She knew what
I’d just done by saying that. She sniffed and her tears started to dry on her
face. She nodded carefully.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and I gave her a
smile.

“Sure thing, Rocket,” I murmured.

“This moment, right here, right now, this
stays just between me and you, right?” she asked carefully. I considered her.

“Yeah. Yeah it does.” I didn’t know what she
had in mind but I was willing to give her this.

“Come here?” she whispered barely loud enough
for me to hear. I edged closer to her, shifting from sitting by her feet to
sitting up by her hip.

“What is it?” I asked. My heart was squeezing
down tight in my chest.
Was she gonna do what I think she was gonna do?
She leaned forward oh so carefully, her eyes holding an intoxicating mixture of
bravery and fear with an undercurrent of determination. I held stock still and
didn’t do anything. Oh man. This was some heavy shit.

She brushed my lips with hers, oh so lightly
in a chaste kiss, her breath warm against my skin. I felt my eyes slip shut and
my world went dark for a heartbeat so I could capture and hold this feeling
forever. Secret it away for when the whole fucking world was on fire and I needed
a small hope to cling to.

Dani Broussard had been trashed six ways to
Sunday by the Suicide Kings MC, yet she still held inside her this pure and
innocent… just…
fire,
and she shared a little bit of that with me just
then. Her lips left mine and my eyes snapped open to meet her somber yet
beautiful stare.

“Thank you,” she murmured against my lips
before withdrawing completely.  I sucked in a breath, remembering finally that
I was supposed to breathe.

She’d kissed me. Knowing what it could cost
her, knowing what it could do to me, she pulled out an incredible moment of
badass and fucking kissed me even after everything she’d been through. Years of
Hell, years of abuse at the hands of that psycho, drugged-out fuck. She’d
bravely given of herself to me after so long and so many men just
taking
whatever
the fuck they wanted from her, and she sat there and
thanked me!
? I
blinked at her. I just couldn’t comprehend how incredible she was, and she had
no fucking idea what she’d just done.