Little Bird (Caged #1) (15 page)

The Rolls does nothing for me, but he's always been a car guy so I'm sure this one will see a junk yard as soon as the newest model comes out. 

Speeding through the streets, Jasper is silent and I'm mulling over everything I've learned tonight. She fucked someone else? Fuck no. I know we haven't claimed exclusivity but she's fucking mine. Not Jaspers, nor B.K's. No ones. I'm not sharing her. I refuse to let Jasper have her again. 

The thought of her being with Jasper is almost as nauseating as never getting to see her again. The things I've seen he's done to her has changed my view of him completely. I've always known he isn't one of the good guys, but I've never truly seen what he does to those that he claims he cares about Probably because he's never truly cared about anyone until her. 

Fuck!

"Lose the silencer," he says staring at the building.

"Are you finished telling me how to do my job?" I quirk an eyebrow at him and he growls.

"I want these assholes to know not to mess with my girl!" 

"Jasper, that's not—"

He cuts me off mid sentence.

God fucking dammit, he's pushing it tonight.

"Just fucking do it!" he bellows, hitting the steering wheel.

I feel like the longer tonight goes on, the more and more Jasper is losing every sane cell in his body. He's never talked to me like this, even in the most stressful of events. 

I'll go along with it, and only because I still hold trust in him, but zero bullets are being shot out of this gun unless I decide they need to be.  

I silently nod and get out of the car, adjusting the holster holding my piece in place. The rush of a kill starts coming over me. The dark night. The silence in the air as we approach the building. I've never done a kill with Jasper in tow before, but this is more personal than any other kill I've done. This is a revenge kill for touching my girl. If she wasn't mine I wouldn't even be here right now, but I can't seem to stop the euphoric feeling of being able to get rid of the bastard that fucked her. My Megan. 

"Open the fucking door, B.K.! I know you're in there!" Jasper is pounding on the door while I stand here stone-faced, ready to finish this job.

I typically don't like to torture people, but I can make an exception tonight. I don't like the way he's acting though. Like his whole world is crumbling. Maybe he does have real, true feelings for her. And however fucked up they might be, he thinks he's the best thing for her. 

He's dead wrong. 

A man opens the door and his face falls and eyes go wide. "J-J-Jasper?" The kid couldn't be more than twenty years old. The tremble in his voice tells me they weren't expecting us. 

Good. 

I love the reaction people get to him. Like they think his face means it's the end. 

If they only knew.

"B.K., now," Jasper growls walking into the building.

I let the door slam behind me, forcing an echo throughout the warehouse. The man that opened the door and let us in - more like was pushed aside as Jasper let himself in - scurries away as I keep a sharp eye on him. Unfortunately, one wrong move tonight could ruin it all. Everything. 

"You need to cool your shit, Jasper," I hiss as he paces the room. "It's hearsay until we have proof, you got that? Let me fucking do this." 

He grunts and looks up at me, eyes still bloodshot. "She's my fucking girl, Luke." 

"She's a human, Jasper. She belongs to no one." I roll my eyes as he flips a table nearby and screams.  

"Ah, Jasper," B.K.'s voice booms from the small hallway at our left. "I guess I didn't like that table anyway." He chuckles. "Always the dramatics." Still smiling, he nods at me. "Lucas." 

"B.K.," I say then Jasper shoots me a look. 

"What can I help you boy—"

"Shut the fuck up," Jasper interrupts. The growl that comes out of him is pure evil. One I've never heard from him before. He's almost shaking and his face is bright red.

I slide my gun out of its holster and grip it tightly. I'm not stupid, I see the men waiting in the shadows. And I see their guns. If they pull them on me, I'm more than willing to take every one of those fuckers down before they can fire a shot. 

B.K. stops and furrows his brows at Jasper, then turns his face to me. "Mind telling me why you brought your right-hand man to my establishment, Jasper? He's a killer. There's nobody to kill here tonight." 

"I beg to fucking differ." Jasper reaches out and snatches B.K. by the throat and I hear the guns around me cock. 

"Jasper," I say then cringe, nodding toward the corner. 

"Goddamned piece of shit," he growls pushing B.K. to the ground. He lands and looks up at him, face red with fury. "Knees, fucker." All confidence B.K. had earlier has flown out the window at those two words.

He looks at me and I grit my teeth, absentmindedly wiping my gun off. 

"What do you want, Jasper? I didn't do anything to warrant this!" He's on his knees and a mixture of anger and fear is rising to the surface. Fuck, I love this feeling.

Walking towards him, I cock my gun and glance at Jasper before raising it to B.K.'s forehead. 

"Arm. Arm first, Ace. Then the other arm. Then the legs, and the kneecaps. Then the dick," Jasper snarls. "Blow it off so he can't fuck with my girl anymore."

I shake my head at him, not moving my gun quite yet. 

I'll decide when, fucker. 

"Wh-Wh-What?!" B.K. stammers. "Your girl?!" He's so fucking high pitched at this point it's making my ears hurt. 

"Birdie. She's fucking mine. You don't fuck with MY girl!" He flips another nearby table. He's completely lost his shit, but at the same time I feel the anger inside me as well.

This fucker, rich and beautiful as he may be, fucked with her and I'm not okay with that. 

"I didn't touch anyone, I swear!" 

Jasper pauses in thought then storms over to B.K., getting down on his level. "I don't deal well with liars, Vig." 

"I'm not fucking lying! I swear! I haven't had a girl in weeks!"  

One clean shot to the kneecap should make him talk. The echo of the shot rings through the building and my nerves start to immediately calm. Funny how one simple act can do that. 

"Jesus Christ!" he wails, grabbing onto his knee and rolling to the floor. 

We're swarmed by guys, but B.K. raises his hand, holding them off.

Jasper laughs then leans down by him. "You mean one week, Vig. One fucking week. More like five days ago, you fucked my girl and left marks on her and THAT'S MY MOTHERFUCKING SKIN! That same fucking night, Vig! That same night when I fucked her, I had to look at the marks that you left!" 

The air is knocked out of me and I'm doing my best to control the anger raging inside. The marks? I left marks on her last week. 

Holy fuck. 

I won't ever forget leaving those marks on her. It was the best sex I've ever had. I left those marks that day. That's what all this is about? That fat lip... I had assumed it was because he was pissed, but now I'm starting to think it was because of something else. 

Holy shit. This whole thing is because I left those goddamned marks!

"Jasper," I say, trying to calm him and myself before I murder everyone in this goddamned room. "Jasper! Calm the fuck down!" My bellow silences the entire room. 

Fuck. 

He turns toward me with narrowed eyes, silently asking if I really just spoke to him like that in public. 

The finger on the trigger of my gun is shaking and for the first time in my life, I want to kill out of anger and not just because I'm doing a fucking job. I want to murder every fucking person in this room for no reason other than pure rage at B.K. and Jasper for fucking my girl. 

"Jasper, please. You know I wouldn't mark up anyone. I didn't know Birdie was your girl, but I swear to God I never fucked her!" 

Jasper chuckles then pulls his phone out. "Don't say another fucking word. My Little Bird never lies to me." His voice is sinister and he grins as he pulls up her picture on his screen.

I glance over to get a better look and it's a nude from some time ago. Her hair is shorter and she isn't looking at the camera, but I know it's her just by the scars. Fuck me. 

He puts her on speakerphone as soon as she answers and the room goes quiet. 

"Little Bird," Jasper swoons. Fucking swoons! Who the fuck is this guy?!

"Jasper." Her voice through the line is one I haven't heard from her before. Annoyance? Exhaustion?

"I'm here with B.K. He's lying to me and I need you to spark his memory. The day he marked you. Where'd it happen?"

There's silence from the phone, she's obviously not sure how to answer this one.

"Bird!" Jasper yells. 

"The office. It was the office. Just us, no one else saw," she blurts; her breath over the line turns me on and pisses me off at the same time. 

How can you love hate someone so much?

"Good girl," Jasper croons then hangs up on her.  

"She's fucking lying! Cameras! There's fucking cameras everywhere, even my office!" He's sweating and almost in tears, holding his leg while blood starts to flow to the floor. 

Jasper looks at him, then me and shrugs. 

"Show me. Then we finish this." 

B.K. nods to one of his men and they walk away to bring us a laptop. I keep a steady eye on B.K., who at this point hasn't moved from his spot. My gun is aimed and ready to go straight through the arm as I stand behind Jasper and wait for the video playback to start. I have to keep aim, even though at this point my mind is on Megan and how shit is going to go down once he watches this video and doesn't see her on it. I know she won't be. She was with me the day the marks came. And apparently the day she shoved Bronson off on me, Jasper had her. There was no time for anyone else. All I know is this: Jasper has lost his damn mind and I have a feeling he's about to go on a killing spree.

We stand here for what feels like for3ver watching sped up footage of the day in question. Then the day before and the day after. When it runs through once, Jasper asks for it again, and again, and again. Each time he starts to shake a little more. His fists clenching. His eyes red rimmed. 

There's never any sight of Megan in any of these videos. 

None. 

Fuck me. 

"Motherfucker!" Jasper bellows, throwing the laptop across the room. "I want her dead, and I want whoever she's fucking head on a fucking platter!" he screams before storming out of the building.

I glance at B.K., who's in complete shock, then follow my ride out the door, trying not to think of the order I was just given in front of a ton of men who will make sure I see it through. That's the thing about this business. Your so-called allies are the first to point out any sign of failure just so they can succeed a little further. 

In the car, I slam the door. Jasper is seething, white knuckled on the steering wheel, heavy breathing, sweat dripping from his face.

"You." He looks over at me and grins. "You're going to kill her. And I'm going to watch. No guns this time... I want to peel that beautifully scarred skin right off her fucking body." 

"Excuse m—" I start in but he interrupts me, slamming his hands on the steering wheel. 

"She's fucking lying to me and fucking other people, Ace! I need her gone! I need her tortured, bleeding and begging for her life before I squeeze the last breath from her beautiful little throat!  Nobody fucking lies to me and lives to see another day!"

I don't say anything because I know at this point in his meltdown he's not going to hear any of it anyway. This game is going to be the motherfucking end of me. What's happening right now is my fault because I didn't realize what she actually told me about Jasper was true. I thought she was trying to scare me away from her, I didn't realize he's actually psycho over her.

"Sharpen your knife, Ace. As soon there's a replacement lined up for this district we're going to have a lot of fun skinning the life from my Little Bird."   

Fuck. Me. 

Bronson won't stop talking about Luke, and I do need to pay a visit to Aron Cooper; the first of my employees that said he would stand by me to bring Jasper down and then would help my empire grow. Plans have changed recently and I need Jasper gone sooner than later before he catches Bronson here one day and kills me and Luke.

I stare at my phone before hitting dial, not even sure if he's home because I haven't seen or talked to him in almost two days.

"Hey, hi. Megs?" His voice is gruff and sounds like he just woke up; it's after noon already. 

"Lucas?" I say in confusion. "Are you okay? Are you drunk?"

"What? No. What? I'm fine, how are you?" 

"Fine." I narrow my eyes and of course thoughts of who the fuck is he with fills my head. Not that I care, no reason to care. He can fuck a hundred other girls for all I care. "Bronson misses you. I was wondering if I could drop him by for maybe an hour? I have to run to the store." I bite my lip a minute but before he responds I say, "Unless your busy? Company or something?"

"Oh um... Yeah, sure. I guess I'll see you soon." He hangs up without so much as a goodbye, leaving me staring at a very excited five year old. 

"Let's just make it sooner than he's expecting," I mutter to myself and scoop up Bronson and am out the door before even turning off the TV.

The jealousy burning inside me right now has potential to burn his house down. And if he's got some bitch over there, I will burn that fucker down. I'm not his girlfriend but honestly... how many people does someone have to be fucking? Why the fuck would he be fucking someone else when I'm more than willing? Maybe it's me. I know he's not wanting to be with me but... maybe it's me.

Bronson is laughing hard by the time we make it to Luke's because I ran the entire way with him on my back.

"Luke!" I yell, pounding on the front door.

I watched this house the whole time I ran here and didn't see anyone slip out, so if he's with someone, she's still here.

He whips open the door staring at me like I'm insane.

"Hey," he blurts.

God, he looks like shit. I really hope he wasn't fucking anyone looking like that.

"Hi, come on." He glances around the block quickly before ushering us inside the house and closing the door behind him.

I hear the lock engage and notice all the blinds are closed tight. 

Putting my hand on the gun at my back, I slowly put Bronson down realizing Luke wasn't fucking anyone, but there's something fucked up going on.

"What's going on, Luke?" I slowly ask, letting my eyes peruse the room because this could be a fucking trap I just walked right into. 

"I was uh... I was napping. It's too bright." He forces a chuckle and looks around the room then takes Bronson in his arms. "Ready to play, big kid?" 

"I want to race again!" Bronson scurries down and across the living room to the TV.

Luke shoves his hands in his pockets and looks at me. He hasn't reached out to touch me. He hasn't smiled at me. Nothing. And that's unusual for him.

"So what, an hour or two?" 

I land my eyes on Bronson and keeping my hand on my gun, I slide my other hand in my back pocket so he doesn't notice.

"You know what? I can just take him. It's fine." I head for Bronson.

"What? No, he's good. We're fine. I'll... I'll get some light in here and shit. It's good, go take a break." 

"I don't need a break," I growl. "He's my responsibility, he's just been asking to see you since we left the other day. You probably shouldn't have gotten him so attached." There's definitely something going on and the excitement I felt that we were going to see him has turned to anger that I stupidly thought we had built a friendship and I could put some trust in him.

"I want to spend time with the kid, okay? Go do what you have to, we'll be fine, Megs." He smiles at me but it's not a true Luke smile. 

"Yeah," I mutter and walk up behind Bronson kissing his head. "Okay. Thanks." I look at Luke again. "Why do you look like shit, Luke?" I quietly ask while heading to the door. "And you've missed your run the last two days." I pull it open and glance around, trying to see if I notice any suspicious cars I might have missed on my way over. I was too busy acting like a damn psycho worried he was fucking some woman when I should be worried he might try to kill me.

"I've been under the weather," he mutters rubbing his head and resting his hand on the top of his mussed up hair. "I can't run when I'm sick." 

I almost roll my eyes. He doesn't seem like the type of guy that gets sick that often, and me and Bronson didn't get sick. He's fucking full of shit. 

I push open the door because I need distance between us in case he tries something.

"Ya know." I head backward down the steps. "If you got shit to tell me, you can just tell me so we're on the same page. I'm not your fucking girlfriend or anything, if you got other chicks, you just gotta tell me." I shrug. "If you have other problems. Just tell me because... well." I turn around so my back is to him and take the last two steps, my hand on my gun that's visibly sticking out of the back of my jeans. "We're in the same business, and sometimes business gets tough."

"See ya in a few, Megs," he mumbles then closes and locks the doors. 

Nothing's out of the ordinary when I return, and I make sure to scope for any unusual vehicles. As I get out, Alice is staring at me, watering her grass next door.

"Megan!" She waves me over and I inwardly groan but head toward her. "My granddaughter is staying the night," she boasts.

"How nice." I have no patience for this fake shit tonight. 

"How about that sweetheart comes over and plays with her for a little bit? Just in the kiddie pool?" She points toward her yard and I almost decline, but it was my stupid idea to try and give Bronson a normal life.

"Sure." I nod. "Let me just see what him and Luke are up to." I knock on the front door but pull open the screen because the door's cracked. "Bronson?" I call out, slowly entering, expecting to have to dodge gunfire.

"Birdie, be quiet!" Bronson whispers from somewhere in the dark room. "We're playing hide and seek and I'm hiding!" By the time he's finished talking, he's ousted himself and Luke is walking into the room.

He smiles at Bronson then glances over at me, and the smile immediately falls. "Hey, that was fast." 

"I said an hour." I shrug, finding it eerie they're just playing. "Bronson, you want to go swim with Mrs. Springer's granddaughter for a little bit? She invited you over."

"Can I, Luke?" he asks in excitement and I furrow my brows because apparently I'm not in charge anymore.

Luke chuckles and looks over at me expectantly. "Can he?" His eyebrow quirks up and I see the Luke I know underneath the unshaven, probably unshowered mess. 

"Yeah. Go. Thirty minutes," I grumble with authority as if I ever put his playtime on a time frame I actually stick to. "Uh... I guess just pull off your shirt and you can wear those shorts. Let's go see if Alice has sunscreen."

I hear Luke clear his throat from across the room and look up at him. "It's um... It's eight at night, Megs. There's no way he's going to get sunburned right now." He shoves his hands in his pockets and waits for me to respond, but I don't, because he's right, and I'm too annoyed with him to admit it.

"Come on." I take Bronson's hand and plaster on the face-numbing smile. "You sure he's okay? I'm just going to grab a bite to eat at Luke's."

"He's fine, dear, go ahead." Alice waves me away and when I look at Bronson, a real smile spreads my lips at the fun he's having with her granddaughter already.

When I head back to Luke's front door I snicker because he closed it. He fucking thinks I'm just going to go away! I head to the back of the house and on my way, make sure my silencer is on my gun then walk through the back door. Fuck knocking. Lifting my gun, I find him sitting in the dining room with his head in his hands.

I keep my distance but he looks up, no surprise when he sees my weapon, and I notice his eyes study it a minute.

"Fucking talk. Now!" I grit out, and will not hesitate to fire.

He sighs and rolls his eyes. "Put the gun down, Megs. This isn't what you're thinking." He lifts an eyebrow at me but I don't budge. "Look. Mine is out and on the table. Unloaded and everything," he says showing me the empty casing. I'm not going to shoot you." His tone sounds like he's too tired or defeated to put much effort into anything. 

"I can't promise the same courtesy. Fucking tell me what the hell is going on. Right now, Lucas." I circle the table, not taking my eyes from him. "Where is he? He on his way here?"

"What? Who the fuck are you talking about?" He's looking at me like I've lost my damn mind as he stands from his spot at the table. 

"Jasper," I growl. "Stop playing fucking stupid. I've been around Jasper too long, in this business too long, not to notice something's going on. You look like... like you're worn down. What've you been doing for him and what do you still have to do for him? Did you tell him about the kid, Luke? Huh?" Rage starts to make me tremble that he'd betray me when I thought we were building up a trust between us.

He fucking acted like he liked Bronson! He's got that little boy so wrapped and I don't know how he broke down some of my guard. But I think he's told Jasper and I will take them both out before they hurt Bronson.

"What?" The look on his face slowly morphs into anger. "You really think I'd fucking rat you out like that?" he snarls. "I'm a lot of things, Megs, but I'm no fucking rat." 

"You're a fucking lackey for Jasper, Luke!" I shout as this rage is about to explode. "The only person you wouldn't rat out is Jasper. I'm not fucking stupid. I know how this works and I've played the game for seven years. How the fuck do you think I got where I am today?"

"I think you took a liking to being the whore to a powerful man. I think you like the money and that's why you let him leave you scarred and battered. And for what? A new fucking car? That's a fan-fucking-tastic thing to be proud of." 

I snicker and push the switch to the safety down. I see mine and Luke's relationship going one of two ways. He dies. Or we work together. At this point in the game, there's no going our separate ways.

"Cars and money." I chuckle aiming my gun a little higher. One shot between the eyes. "I've continued being his whipping post and whore for the last five years because I will be sitting where he is soon. I will kill Jasper, Luke. He's mine to kill."

The laughter that comes out of him is full of shock. 

"You really think you're going to kill him, Megs? You think that's the plan to fix all this?!" He narrows his eyes at me before he starts pacing like a wild man. "Megan, how long do you think it took Jasper to realize you were lying to him?"

Now I narrow my eyes at him and he cocks his head, giving me a look like I'm stupid.

"B.K., Megs. How the fuck long did you think it was going to take for Jasper to figure out that you lied about him, huh?!" He shoves a side table over and a string of curses comes from his mouth. "Goddammit! Who the fuck lies to Jasper? He's a fucking madman!"

The rage pot has spilled and I storm him, grabbing the collar of his disheveled shirt and shove him against the wall while snarling, "It was your fucking marks that started this! I would sooner have Vig killed than..." I can't say it out loud. "B.K. Vig is expendable. Fuck B.K.! I couldn't tell him it was you that did it."

"Yea, well. The night after, you spent the night here and completely forgot to tell me about Jasper fucking you mere hours before you crawled in bed with me? We went down there. I was fucking livid, Megs. I thought... 'how could she?' I thought we fucking had something! I'm a fucking killer, Megan. You said it yourself! How goddamned stupid have I been to fall for a girl like you?! It wasn't until we watched hours of videos and you never showed on the fucking screen that your fate was sealed. B.K. is alive, but you won't be for too much longer if Jasper has anything to do with it." He hangs his head, not even attempting to get out of my grasp. 

"I didn't fucking crawl in bed with you," pathetically mutters from me as I let his shirt go and take a step back unable to look at him. "You know what I am to him. I do what I have to do or I get hurt worse than complying. You wanted me in your fucking bed." I pull out a chair and sit. "I would have rather been here than forced to do what I did."