Integrity Has No Bounds (2 page)

She was intelligent, and could really keep
him on his toes to hold a conversation with her. It was damn
difficult to multitask when she laughed. There was no restraint
when she laughed, he’d been like a damn dog every time he caught
sight of her, and if he were on his deathbed, the sound of her
laughter would wake him up. Something he would do to just to see
that smile.

He stayed away from this place as much as he
could because of the woman on the stage. She took the place over
when her brother left, and she was actually doing better at
managing the business than her brother had been. She never made
excuses, and was never late on a payment. It was why he was here
tonight. Burger asked him to pick up the money for him, and since
John couldn’t come up with a legitimate reason not to come tonight,
here he was, torturing himself with listening to the woman whose
voice haunted his nights. The more he knew about her—the harder it
was to keep himself from begging her for any little scrap of
attention she might give him.

The reason he hadn’t made any advances toward
the pretty woman was she had no need of him. He knew it was fucked
up thinking, but he liked things straight forward in every aspect
of his life. Everything and everyone had a place or a niche in
life, hers would be labeled as a possible lover. But where did he
fit in her life? The second, and probably the most important reason
was her brother. Viking had warned his MC brothers away from his
little sister. A real man didn’t cross the line when dealing with
family, and John understood the man’s reasoning, even if he didn’t
like it.

She was talented, and smart. She didn’t need
her vehicles worked on that she couldn’t pay for. She didn’t need
him for protection, she had the entire MC chapter of Lucifer’s
Breed to take care of that. No one would fuck with her that had any
sense. Her brother was a full patched member when he left her, and
now that she was alone in the world, the brothers kept a close eye
on her safety.

“Walk away, or kiss me” was the final words
of the last song she sang, and she stared at John Handy as she
voiced them. The big mechanic was far too tempting for her peace of
mind. Every time she saw him, she wanted to ask him why he never
asked her out. She could see and sense his interest in her, but he
always collected the mortgage payment and left without allowing her
to introduce any small talk between them. They had exchanged
complete sentences maybe four times that she could remember, and it
gave her hope each time they spoke. Yet he kept his distance, and
she had no idea how to make him understand that she wanted him. She
laughed at his jokes, tried her best to flirt with him without
being too whorish, hell, the only thing she hadn’t done was to
install a stripper pole and invite him for a private show. The
thought of his face if she did that made her smile.

She’d sung the last song, one she had
written, just for him. It was doubtful he understood what it meant,
but she could always hope. She set her guitar on the stand behind
the stool she had perched on while she sang, and made her way
toward the office where the safe was located. She needed to give
him some information to take back to the club’s president too, so
when she got to the end of the bar, she tilted her head toward the
door and looked at him.

He stood and set the empty on the bar, and
she shifted her gaze to Leon, the bartender, who got her meaning
and handed John another bottle as he made his way to where she
stood.

He opened the door for her to pass through
ahead of him, and she liked that—he had manners. She unlocked the
office door with the key hanging on her wrist. He shut the two of
them in the small room and stood by the door with his arms crossed
and the unopened beer still held in his hand.

She went to the safe and placed her hand on
the screen under the panel, which appeared to be a combination
lock. It was a nice trick, and John nodded approvingly while he
watched her.

“I needed to talk to one of you guys any way.
I know that you don’t want to be bothered, but could you sit down
for a few minutes while I show you something?” She pulled the
envelope from the stack of bills, and shut the safe, before turning
to walk to her messy desk.

She sat down and watched as he sat in the
chair in front of her. She handed the envelope to John and waited
to see his reaction. He looked puzzled for a second, until he read
the note she’d put in the envelope with this month’s mortgage
payment.

It was essentially an extortion note.
Complimenting her on owning such a “popular, and well run
establishment” and “we want to continue to see the place thrive, so
for the meager price of one thousand dollars a month, cash only,”
they would provide security for both her, and the bar.

She could see the anger building in the big
man.

His head came up, and his eyes pinned hers as
he asked, “When did you get this, and why didn’t you call the
club?”

“I found the note last week. It was in a
stack of invoices I was paying, and it kind of jumped out at me. No
one seemed to know how it got on my desk, and no one remembers any
strangers walking back into the hallway, so I figure it was
probably one of the staff that dropped it in here. I didn’t take it
seriously enough before, because I didn’t believe someone would be
so stupid as to threaten a business the Breed had their tentacles
into.” She looked away to hide the pain she was felling from him.
“My cat was a grouchy old Tom with a bad attitude toward strangers,
and a habit of attacking men with bad intentions.”

She stood, and came around the desk to stand
in front of him, before saying, “This isn’t a peep show so don’t
fear for your virtue, big boy.” The long sleeved sweater she wore
was pulled off her head, leaving her standing before him in a
peachy-colored tank top with bruises on her upper arms, and around
her throat.

The purple dots across the top of her breasts
enraged him. One bruise would earn the fucker a beat down. This
earned him death. There was a small cut on her neck where it was
obvious to the man seeing it, was caused by a knife or another
sharp object.

“I had a visitor night before last, he was in
my place when I got home, sitting in the dark. He was on me before
I could turn the lights on, or even scream. He said that bad things
happen to good people, and that I should take the offer of
protection seriously or he’d be back.” She pulled the sweater back
over her head and settled the cowl neck to hide the low lying
bruising from prying eyes. “He killed my cat, and cut the mattress
on my bed. I called the cops, and they have the report, and a
sample of the man’s blood and DNA. Tom must have scratched him, and
he tried to wash the blood off in the kitchen sink.”

She turned away and went back to her desk
chair, still feeling shaken, but determined to remain as matter of
fact as possible. There was no way she was going to break in front
of this man. If it had been any of the other brothers of the Breed,
she knew she’d probably be blubbering like a baby right now. John
Handy had a habit of making her want to gain his respect, and
crying like a five-year-old was not going to cut it around him. The
one thing she needed from him was comfort, but it was the one thing
she was sure he’d consider a glaring weakness.

“I need a gun. I have a puppy coming, but he
won’t be ready to leave his momma for at least another two weeks,
and he won’t be much help until he gets older anyway. I heard a
motorcycle start up and leave when the man left, so I’m pretty sure
it’s an MC making the threats. Since it’s not the Breed, I figure
it’s either the Burning Bastards or the Swamp Kings. They want the
money in an envelope, and told me they’d be by to pick it up on the
first of the month.”

John hadn’t expected this. Maybe problems
with a patron, or a brother, but extortion? The bruises made him
want to find the fucker who hurt her, and put the cocksucker in a
casket. He’d damn sure never touch her again.

“Did he rape you?” He forced the words out
through gritted teeth, because he wanted to do damage to someone or
something right this minute, and he didn’t want to give her the
impression he might hurt her.

She kept her head down, pretending to look at
the papers in her fingers that showed the way she was trembling
from the way the corner edge appeared to be vibrating.

“I asked you a question.” He stood and she
jerked her head around to watch him, he could see she was spooked
and he had his answer without her having to voice the words. She
looked ashamed, and there was no way he would let her believe there
was any reason for that.

He kept his steps short but continued toward
her, cursing a blue streak very low under his breath, but she heard
him and cringed inside. No matter how many times she’d told herself
it hadn’t been her fault, that she was not trying to entice the
bastard, it didn’t help. She looked at herself as less than she was
three days ago, and the knowledge hurt her independent nature. She
had to snap out of this feeling, like she had given herself to the
pig. He’d laid that knife on her neck and pressed the blade into
her flesh, which stopped her from fighting him.

John reached down and pulled her to her feet
as she cringed backwards. He refused to stop pulling her to his
chest, and she stomped on his booted foot, but it did no good. She
opened her mouth to scream at him to leave her alone, but his lips
were already sealing themselves with hers, and it confused her. His
arms wrapped her body tightly to his and she stopped trying to push
him away. She couldn’t decide if it was the feeling of security she
had while he held her to him, or the way her mind seemed to accept
him as if he belonged in her arms like this.

How could she feel this way, especially after
that animal had held her on the floor and took her body as if he
owned it. The only pain she’d felt at the time was where his filthy
fingers and hands held her down. His dick was not the weapon he
must have delusions about. To her it was a loss of choice, and she
almost hadn’t called the cops. If her assailant hadn’t promised her
a repeat visit, she might not have told anyone.

“I will find the fucker who hurt you and you
won’t need to worry about him again. You are beautiful, smart, and
talented, don’t let him take any of that from you, Stevie.” John
kept his hold on her and rubbed his hands up and down her back. He
dropped his forehead onto hers, “I promise, if it’s the last thing
I do, I’ll make sure you’re protected from him and his Swamp Rats.
I plan to ask Baron, but I don’t think it’s the Bastards, the men
I’ve met are assholes, but they seem like decent assholes. The
Swamp Rats, now those fuckers are not above any crime or dumb
scheme. Extortion is one of their main incomes, too bad they
decided to enter Breed turf.”

He loosened his hold on her and leaned down
for a quick kiss. “Yeah, I know I act like a caveman, you seem to
bring out that quality in me, and truthfully, I like it.” He set
her back in her seat and went back to his own. “Now I need you to
tell me exactly what happened, start to finish.”

“John, I’ve already told the police
everything that happened, I went to the hospital and they did a
rape kit, and took pictures. I already told you everything that
happened, so what exactly do you want to know? Will it make a
difference in what happened for you to know I quit fighting the
bastard when he put a knife to my neck? Believe me, I felt the same
things any woman would when her choices consist of dying or giving
in. I never saw his face, I felt his breath on my neck, and was
creeped out when his whiskers dragged on my skin while he
threatened to keep coming back because he liked me.” She stared at
him for a few minutes, then turned her head toward the plant in the
corner.

“I was as frightened as I ever want to be in
my lifetime, and he knew it, he liked it, and told me so. After he
was finished, I laid on the floor for a long time, hating my
weakness. I should have fought harder, I should have let him slice
my neck up, I should have been more careful.” She shook her head,
not paying attention to the tears sliding down her cheeks. “He told
me not to think his fucking me would let me off the hook on the
payments. The next time he had to come and talk to me, he would be
bringing a few other men with him.” She drew a deep breath, let it
out, and took another one for good measure to calm herself.

“I tried to tell him that he was making a big
mistake, that I had a mortgage to pay to Lucifer’s Breed, but he
kept slapping me every time I tried to speak. Will it add to the
story when you tell your friends about what happened, to know the
inside of my cheeks are like hamburger from my teeth when he hit
me? Will your club brothers laugh when they hear I can’t go back to
my home because I’m too afraid to?” She laughed bitterly, and
turned back to look him in the eye.

“Will they think I’m a coward for giving into
him, for sitting on the floor of my shower scrubbing my skin until
it hurt to touch it? How about the hour I sat at the drugstore
waiting for them to give me a morning after pill to make sure I
wasn’t carrying my rapist’s kid. They might get a chuckle out of
the fact I had to have blood drawn to check for STDs. It’s routine
now, did you know that?”

Her sinuses were so full of snot she had to
grab a tissue and blow her nose noisily. She looked up at John,
who’d sat through her pity party, and wondered what he was going to
do now. “Look, I know I am coming off as a weak-kneed bitch, but
that’s how I feel. I know you’re a good guy, but right now, men are
not my favorite people. I’m just a little bit bitter.”

John heard every word she spoke, and he
understood her questioning his discretion, but she needed to learn
he wasn’t her enemy. “Stevie, look at me, I’m going to tell you
this one time, and one time only. The next time you question my
integrity, I will put your ass over my knee and spank it. I’m not
getting off on hearing that some fucker had his dick in a woman
I’ve been interested in for myself for a long fucking time now. The
fact he hurt you and made you cry sealed his fate.