Killer Curves (Dangerous Curves Book 3) (5 page)

They fell silent as Gabi came back now, carrying a broom and dust pan. She started to sweep up the glass carefully, really focused on getting every little piece. The blond guy holding a towel to his back watched her every move, looked at her like the sun rose and set on her. His possessive demeanor was evident – and that made him an unexpected complication.

“You think they’re together?” Don said under his breath.

“Maybe. He did throw himself in front of a glass for her.”

“Yeah.” Don contemplated that. “Maybe they’re staying here together?”

“Let’s hang out a bit longer, see if we can find anything else out.”

“Sure.”

Gabi saw them now and she gave them a smile. “Exciting evening at Curves, huh?”

“Sure is,” Don drawled. “Is it always like this?”

“Oh, not always. Sometimes it’s very, very quiet.”

“I doubt that,” Lizard said. “
This
is where all the action is, for damn sure.”

“So can I get you guys anything else?”

“You don’t mind? You look busy.” Lizard was going for charming and failing, but fuck. The bitch was offering to bring him a drink, so he’d play along.

“No, it’s fine. Whisky?”

“Yep.” Don’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “We’re celebrating, you see.”

“Oh, yeah? Celebrating what?”

Don looked up at her. “A job well done.”

**

Kenleigh jumped to her feet when Curtis unlocked the staff room door. “Mac. Oh, thank God. I think she’s hurt more badly than we thought at first.”

Curtis’ gut clenched. “What do you mean?”

“She keeps saying she’s tired and it’s getting harder and harder to keep her awake.”

“Tessa?” Mac sat next to her, lifted her eyelids. “Tessa?”

“Can I go to sleep now?” she slurred.

“You sleepy?”

“Mmmmmm.”

“Listen up, sweet thing,” Mac said. “You can’t go to sleep, OK?”

“But…” Her eyelids drooped again.

“Honey.” Mac shook her a bit. “If you have a concussion, you can’t sleep. Fight it off for me… Tessa?”

She forced her eyes open again. “I – I’ll try.”

“I know you will.”

“What do I do?” Curtis asked him, feeling powerless and angry. “Tell me.”

“Try to keep her awake, though that may be impossible. I’m going to call the hospital and arrange a few tests and scans. I’ll have them lined up and ready to go when she arrives.” Mac left the room, pulling out his cell as he went.

Kenleigh and Curtis looked at each other.

“Thank God the man’s a world-class neurologist, huh?” Kenleigh said. “Comes in awfully handy around here sometimes.”

“No kidding.”

“So you OK to stay with her?” she said. “I think I should get out there and help with cleaning up.”

“Yeah, go on. Thanks, hon.”

“Sure. You take care of her now.”

“I will.”

She shut the door behind her and there they were: Curtis was staring down at the sexiest, sweetest woman he’d ever known and she was hurting and afraid. She was struggling to stay awake, he could
see
it, but she was losing the battle fast and hard.

“Tessa,” he said. “Stay with me, OK?”

“I’m tired,” she whispered. “I want to close my eyes…”

“I know. But you can’t.”

“Uuummm-hmmmm.” Those green eyes fluttered shut again.

“Hey.” Curtis touched her hand. “Hey, Tessa.”

She didn’t answer this time and he felt the worry moving across his chest. “Tessa?”

She sighed deeply and that helpless sound was what did him in; it’s what made him break his self-imposed determination to not touch her the way that he so desperately wanted to.

Fuck it. Just for a few minutes
.

Curtis lay down next to her on the sofa and took her in his arms. Gently, he tucked her head under his chin, his hand on the nape of her neck again. He closed his eyes and just let himself feel her curves and closeness.

“Tessa?” he whispered. “Can you hear me?”

A small sound of assent.

“Open those gorgeous eyes. Look at me.”

With a huge effort, she did. Their eyes met and locked and she suddenly looked more alert.

“Curtis?”

“It’s me. Stay here, yeah?”

“My eyes are so heavy… why am I so tired?”

“You’re hurt but I’ve got you now. You’ll go to the hospital with Mac and you’ll be fine. OK?”

“Hmmmm.” She was drifting away again and he took her chin in his fingers.

“Hey. Come on… stay awake, baby.”

She was out now, though, out completely and Curtis held her closer. He knew she wasn’t his girlfriend, that this astounding body wasn’t his to touch like this, but screw it. She needed the comfort and he needed to give it to her. The ambulance would be taking her away any minute now and then the sweetness of these few moments would just be a memory. Yeah, he was a selfish prick for wanting that sweetness – but he was going to take it anyway. He needed to take it.

**

“So she’s definitely at Curves, huh?” Trigger said.

“Yep, for sure.” Don grinned and did another shot. “Room Two.”

“Good.” Trigger stared around the clubhouse conference room, thinking hard. “Getting in to her ain’t a big problem, but getting that bitch
out
of Curves will be. Any bright ideas?”

“The crash rooms have windows, but they’re secured from the inside,” Lizard offered. “If someone can get through the door and open them from inside, it’d be easy enough to shove her through the window. She’s small enough to fit, no problem and so is Don. Me, not so much.”

“Yeah?” Trigger looked pleased. “You checked?”

“Uh-huh. I went to the other rooms and checked ‘em out. The windows are all the same, so I’m guessing the one in her room is too. And the best part? Her window faces away from the parking lot and main road – it faces the area behind the kitchen where the dumpster is. No foot traffic, no cars.”

“Fucking perfect,” Ace breathed.

“Right?” Lizard smirked. “Easy as hell.”

“OK, so.” Trigger was all business now and they gave him their undivided attention. “I need you two to go get her for me.”

Don and Lizard nodded. Kidnapping wasn’t really their bag, but if it gave them an in with Trigger MacGee, the Fallen Angels and Kirk Jensen, they’d do it, no fucking hesitation. They’d even get rid of Gabriela Torres if that’s what Trigger wanted – they knew they’d have rock-solid alibis for the time of her ‘disappearance’.

“I figure we need three people to pull this off,” Trigger said. “One to break in to the room and wait for the bitch and knock her out, one to be outside the window with a car and one to be outside in the hallway on look-out. Clean, simple, fast.”

“So who’s the third man?” Ace said.

“I was thinking Joker’s cousin.”

“That fucking prospect?” Ace said. “What’s his name?”

“Who the hell knows?” Trigger said. “But he’s perfect. Nobody at Curves knows him, he ain’t in the club yet and he’ll do whatever we tell him.”

“Yeah, good,” Ace said. “When do we do this?”

“Tomorrow,” Trigger said. “Sundays aren’t so nuts at Curves, so fewer potential witnesses, but still busy enough for Prospect and you two to pass through unobserved.”

“OK,” Don said. “What do we do with her when we’ve got her?”

“You bring her here. To me.” Trigger’s blue eyes were as dead as his human compassion and decency. “I’ll take it from there.”

**

Gabi sighed, exhausted. After the bar fight, the rest of the night had gone well – despite the fact that Tessa and Aidan were taken to the hospital. She was worried about both of them, but Mac was there and he’d called Jax earlier to pass on the news.

Aidan had needed nine stitches and he was fine… fine enough to want to work the next night. Jax had protested but Aidan had insisted, so he’d be working with Gabi again. She was ridiculously pleased about that, she was a bit interested to note. Their moment of connection came to mind again and she felt a bit breathless, remembering what it had felt like to be held in his arms, held against his body. God, it had been so hot, so sweet.

Tessa was a different story, though: full-on concussion, some bad bruising and a good-sized bump on the back of her head. They were keeping her overnight and her boyfriend Kevin was there with her – complaining bitterly the whole time, according to Mac – but at least she wasn’t on her own. Gabi suspected that Curtis would give anything he possessed to be the one holding Tessa’s hand right now… but that wasn’t his place. Unfortunately.

Gabi closed her eyes and stuck her whole face in the hot shower spray. The water was calming and she just let herself stand there for a few minutes, her mind wandering. When she started to think about Miguel, she tensed up, fought the thoughts. She didn’t want to think about the murder, didn’t want to face any of it yet. But time was running out and she had to stop hiding from the truth.

When she’d told Aidan that tonight was an escape, she’d meant it… and that escape was now coming to an end. No matter how hard she tried to forget and tried to pretend, none of this was going anywhere. She had to be more proactive now, she knew. Gabi had to take some steps to protect herself – even if nothing was actually coming to hurt her.

She ran her hands over her tense shoulders and thought about King. She wasn’t totally sure what the man did (something about security, or special-ops missions, or crime-fighting while wearing a cape?) but she knew that if anyone could help her, it was him. In his line of business, she assumed that he respected and understood both secrecy and information. Maybe he knew who Trigger and Ace were? And if so, maybe he could use the murder as some kind of bargaining chip with them? Maybe even to negotiate her safety?

Gabi thought about that for a while and finally decided that this was the best course of action. She’d tell King what had happened and then she’d do whatever he told her to do. If he said she should go to the police, she would. She trusted him completely and she was certain he’d make sure she was protected.

She turned off the shower and toweled off, her mind made up now. King wouldn’t be at the bar tomorrow night since he was picking up his girlfriend Naomi from the airport in the morning. She’d been down in Arizona and New Mexico for almost two weeks, meeting with art gallery owners who wanted to partner with her art program for autistic adults. Gabi was sure that King would be taking Naomi straight home from the airport and to bed. No way he’d be dropping by Curves at all the next day and she didn’t want to interrupt their reunion.

OK, so, she’d call him on Monday morning. Gabi figured she had one more night of work here – maybe more if Tessa wasn’t able to come back by Monday – and she was staying here tomorrow, too. She was as safe as she’d ever be. Monday, then. On Monday she’d ask King to meet her and she’d tell him everything.

One more day isn’t going to hurt, right?

Chapter Four

Aidan grinned at Gabi when she appeared in the bar area. Christ, it was good to see her and not just because she was in yet another of Kenleigh’s hot little numbers. A skirt tonight, tight but not too short, and a blouse casually knotted under her breasts. He took in her taut midriff, shapely calves and that incredibly sexy lower back. He swallowed, tried to keep his dick under control. It wasn’t easy.

“Aidan!” God, he loved how she said his name. Gabi had moved to the U.S. when she was eight, she’d told him once, so she’d been there for most of her life and her English was perfect. Still, she had a faint accent; just enough to make his name sound like music in her mouth.

“Hi,” he said gruffly. “You doing OK?”

“Me?” Her dark eyes widened. “Are
you
OK after last night?”

“Hell, yeah, darlin’,” he said. “I’m indestructible. Didn’t you know?”

“No, I had no idea. How’d you keep this to yourself for so long?”

He shrugged. “I don’t like to brag about it, you know. Makes the boys feel all intimidated.”

“Jealous too, I bet.”

“You know it.”

They smiled at each other now and suddenly, they both flashed back to that moment against the wall. The room seemed to get smaller and smaller until it was just the two of them and Gabi almost wanted to say something. She’d seen that flare of arousal in those golden eyes… maybe he wanted what she wanted? Maybe they wanted the same damn thing?

She opened her mouth to say something – what, she had no real idea – when she heard someone calling her name. Startled, she turned. It was the two creepy guys from the night before and tonight they had a friend with them. Young guy, a bit nervous looking and barely legal. She’d be checking
his
I.D., for damn sure.

“How do they know your name?” Aidan snapped, glaring over at them.

“I don’t know… I was their waitress last night. Maybe they heard Jax say it?”

“Yeah, OK. But why the hell would they
remember
it?”

“Because I’m such an awesome server?” she teased him.

“I don’t like them,” he muttered. “You want Kenleigh or Morgan to take that booth?”

“No, it’s fine, Aidan.”

He watched her walk over to the three men and wondered why he had such a bad feeling about them. Curves
always
had guys who gave off bad vibes, but these three, man… they didn’t just give them off in a general, all-over-the-room kind of way. It felt more – focused, somehow. More specific. More targeted.

On Gabriela?

Once upon a time, Aidan had been a damn good DEA agent – before his alcoholism had cost him his badge – and part of what had made him good was his unfailing faith in his own instincts. And right now, those instincts were hollering at him to get Gabi away from these assholes and to do it damn fast.

Morgan came over with her drinks order and Aidan started pouring, still keeping an eye on Gabi. She was standing back from the table, far enough to make him think that she also wasn’t too nuts about these guys, and her shoulders looked tense.

When she came to him to get the drinks, he leaned forward. “OK?”

“Yes.”

“What’s wrong?”

She paused. “Nothing, really. I – I don’t know.”

“Those guys?”

“Yeah. They just seem – off. You know?”

“I do. I do know. You want me to bring them the drinks?”

“No, it’s fine. I mean, what can happen to me?”

“You
were
here last night, right, when Tessa ended up in the hospital?”

A shadow passed over her face. “Yeah. Well, I’ll just stand back a bit.”

“Gabriela…”

“It’s OK. They’re ridiculously good tippers, so I’ll put up with a bit of weird. So long as they keep their hands to themselves, of course.”

“OK.” He didn’t like it, but then again, they hadn’t actually
done
anything. Being creepy wasn’t an offense, after all; it wasn’t even grounds for asking a customer to haul ass out the door. If it were, Curves would never see a profit.

When she’d gone back to the guys, Aidan made eye contact with Curtis and indicated with his head at the booth. Curtis turned his attention to Gabi and the guys, frowned at what he saw, looked back at Aidan and nodded. That was when Aidan relaxed a bit: he knew that Curtis was going to stay close. That was the best they can do with paying customers behaving themselves – and it’d do until the guys walked out the goddamn door.

Hopefully never to be seen again.

**

Gabi finished working at one o’clock. It had been an uneventful night, thank God, and she sat at the bar waiting for Aidan to check her receipts. Idly, she watched two guys from the booth head down the hall towards the bathrooms and back rooms. She glanced over at the last guy – the one with the flat, emotionless eyes – and he smiled at her. She returned it, looked away.

“OK, everything’s fine,” Aidan said. “You can clock out.”

“Excellent.” She stood and stretched a bit and Aidan averted his eyes from her breasts as they pushed against the thin blouse material. “So, goodnight.”

“Goodnight. You go back to your place tomorrow, yeah?”

“Ummm…. yeah,” she said vaguely. “I think so.”

“What? Why wouldn’t you go back?”

“Oh. Oh, I will. It’s just – Tessa, you know. I may ask Jax if I can take her shifts this week. The doctor told her to stay home for a few more days.”

“Right.” Aidan was staring at her, watching her body language. She was
dying
to get away from this conversation, he saw, and he wondered why.

“So, it makes more sense for me to stay here, right? Late waitressing shift, early cleaning shift?”

“Uh-huh,” Aidan said, still staring, still trying to figure out what the hell was really going on here.

“Anyway. Goodnight.”

She walked away from those eyes that were starting to look a bit too suspicious for her liking. On her way, she passed the barely-legal kid from the booth trio and he averted his gaze as she walked past him. No sign of the last guy. Maybe he was in the bathroom?

Gabi unlocked the door of the crash room she now called home and sighed a bit. It was going to feel so damn good to get these shoes off. They were hot, no doubt about that and she loved what they did for her long legs, but they pinched her toes. She had to admit that she preferred her running shoes – less sexy but way more comfy.

She kicked the nightmare shoes off with a groan and headed to the bathroom. A shower and bed and the end. She was wiped out and ready to sleep.

Gabi didn’t make it to the bathroom.

**

Aidan saw the young guy come back to the bar on his own; saw him talk to the guy sitting there. They had a fast, quiet conversation and the older man walked out the front door… and the kid went back around the corner. Everything about their vibe was secretive, tense, strained. It felt like a bank robbery was about to go down, or something. They looked like they were – plotting? Planning?

What the fuck?

He waited a minute and when none of the three reappeared from anywhere, he got curious. He called Morgan over to watch the bar for a minute and he walked down the hall, past Jax’s office, past the bathrooms and the storage room, down to the crash rooms.

The young guy stood there alone. He was standing right outside Gabriela’s room.

Standing guard?

Every sense in Aidan’s body went straight in to overdrive. Without one second of thought, he rushed at the kid and pinned him up against the wall, wincing a bit as the stitches in his back pulled.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he rasped.

“N – nothing!” the kid gasped, turning red. “Just – just standing here!”

“Bullshit.”

“Aidan?” Kenleigh came out of the storage room with a stack of paper towels and stood there, her mouth wide open. “What the hell?”

“Get Curtis.
Now
.”

She nodded and took off and within thirty seconds, Curtis was there, bringing his amazing calm and strength.

“What do I do?” he asked Aidan.

“Strangle him.”

“Done.”

They switched off, with Curtis’ huge forearm now digging deep in to the guy’s windpipe and Aidan was free to kick down the door of Gabi’s room. It burst off its hinges and Aidan stepped in. Empty. Then he saw the window.

He whirled and ran down the hallway, exploded out the front door, dashed around the building to the back lot. What he saw made his blood boil.

One of the dickheads was dragging a limp and silent Gabi to a car; the other asshole was in the driver’s seat. He had a phone in his hand and was looking down, about to make a call. Neither of them saw Aidan standing there, burning up with fury.

He reached down, lifted the leg of his jeans, slid out his boot knife. Without any thought at all, he threw it and hit exactly where he’d been aiming: he caught the guy dragging Gabriela smack in the middle of his chest.

Huh. Nice to see I haven’t lost any of my skill.

The man yelled in pain and surprise, reeled backwards, dropped Gabi on the ground. She didn’t move or make any sound and that made Aidan angrier. In the blink of an eye, the man dove in to the car, the driver hit the gas and they took off. Aidan had a choice now: to chase them or attend to Gabi. No fucking contest.

We have the idiot kid – he’ll talk. I’ll make sure of it
.

He launched himself at her, lifted her gently in to his arms. God, she was so small, so helpless right now. He looked down and her bare feet tugged on his heart for some reason.

“Gabriela?”

She moaned and turned her head. Her eyes flickered open and she stared up at him, confused and a bit frightened.

“Aidan?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” He stroked her hair. “Stay still.”

“What – why am I on the ground? Outside?” Her voice was hoarse.

“We’ll talk about that later. Right now, I need to make sure you’re OK. Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Are you OK?”

“Umm.” She shut her eyes and winced a bit. “I think so.”

“Does your head hurt?”

“No, not really. My throat and my neck.”

He lifted her chin and that was when he saw the redness and bruising. The fucker must have cut off her air until she passed out.

I cannot wait to get my hands on him. I’d just need two minutes, I swear to Christ
.

“Can you sit up?” he asked.

She nodded and he helped her. She touched her throat.

“Why does it hurt so much? What happened?”

Aidan didn’t want to answer those questions right now. “We’ll talk inside, OK? It’s chilly out here and I need to get you someplace warm. Can you get up, do you think?”

“Yes.” She sounded doubtful.

“OK, slow and easy. No rush.” He carefully pulled her up, watching her for dizziness. She was pale and trembling, but remarkably steady on her feet. No way she was walking anywhere, though, not in her bare feet. “Hang on to me.”

“What do you mean?”

Without another word, he picked her up, cradling her against his chest. She gasped and clutched his upper arms.

“Aidan!”

“Shush. Just relax, OK?”

He carried her to the back door to the kitchen, kicked at it until Luke opened it up, looking startled. When he saw Gabi lying in Aidan’s arms, he stepped aside.

“What’s going on?” he said, anxious. “Gabi? What happened?”

“Get her a coat,” Aidan said. “Quick.”

Luke nodded and grabbed his jean jacket from the hook next to the exit. He wrapped her up carefully using his hand and elbow, moving gently on her body. “Gabi? Hon?”

It was all coming back to her now: being grabbed from behind, lifted clear off her feet. Trying to loosen the arm around her throat that was squeezing all her breath out of her body. The foul whispers in her ear, telling her what the Fallen Angels were going to do to her before they finally took pity on her and killed her slowly. As soon as she heard the name of the MC, she knew that she was in even more trouble than she’d first thought. The kind of trouble that she was now
positive
only one man could help her with.

Aidan and Luke were talking over her head. Their voices were coming from very far away and she felt like she was floating; she was disconnected from what was happening around her. She saw Luke’s lips moving, saw Aidan touch her arm – but she heard and felt absolutely nothing.

Huh. Shock is kind of awesome
.

“OK, enough,” Aidan growled now. “We need to call the cops.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.” Luke moved to the phone.

The word ‘cops’ pierced Gabi’s haze and she gave a sharp cry that startled them

“No! No police!” Her shaking was getting worse and her voice shook too. “Please.”

The men paused, looking at her closely.

“Why not?” Aidan said.

“Because – because… they can’t help. Not with this.”

“Why not?” Aidan repeated.

She dropped her eyes and bit her lip.

“Gabriela.” Aidan was almost out of patience now; she could hear it in those four syllables. “You know what this is all about, don’t you?”

“I thought I’d be safe here,” she whispered.

“What?” Aidan leaned forward. “What did you say?”

“I thought I’d be safe at Curves… it’s why I came here. To – to hide.”

“From who?” Luke said.

The kitchen door banged open and they all jumped. Dillon came striding in from behind the bar, looking angry.

“What the actual fuck is going on?” Dillon said. “I come to start my shift and I see that Curtis is holding some guy hostage in Gabi’s room and the door is smashed in. What the hell happened in there? Where’s Gabi?”

Aidan moved to one side so Dillon could see her sitting there. He took in her shaking, the marks around her throat, her tears.

“Aw,
hell
no.” Dillon turned to leave the kitchen. “I’ll kill him myself.”

“Take a number,” Luke said tightly.

“Nobody’s doing anything to that asshole!” Aidan roared. “Not until Gabriela tells us
exactly
what is going on here.”

“Something’s going on?” Dillon said.