Marek (Knights Corruption MC #1) (21 page)

Marek

Two days.

I’d left her alone for two days with one of our prospects. Jagger. A young, good-lookin’ guy. A guy who looked like the boy next door, but with an edge. A guy who was probably jerking himself off every night just to the image of her.

Fuck! What the hell was I thinkin’? I should have made someone else watch over her, but my resources were limited. The other men in the club had better, more important things to take care of and couldn’t be saddled with such a shit assignment. Though, they might have thought differently simply because they would have gotten the opportunity to be around her. All alone.

No matter who I picked to babysit her until I returned, I would have driven myself half-insane, so I guessed it didn’t really matter.

Hitting the button on my phone, I frustratingly waited for the call to connect.
At least this will ease my mind for the time being.
“Hello,” Jagger answered on the third ring, seemingly out of breath for someone who had the easiest job in the world.

“What are you doing?” My tone was downright accusatory and he knew it as soon as he heard the growl in my voice.

“Nothing, Prez. Just helping Adelaide with some of the groceries.”

“What? Why is Adelaide there with food? I left the fridge and cupboards fully stocked.” Running my hands through my hair, I flicked a glare at Stone, but he was too busy focusing on the name I’d mentioned. He was practically hovering over me and trying to listen to my conversation simply because he heard
his
woman’s name.

Well, according to his prior reactions, Adelaide was his woman. But if Trigger ever found out something was going on between them, I’d be looking for a new VP.

“She’s stopped by a few times, telling me she wanted to cook dinner for Sully, seeing as how she’s still adjusting to being here.” I heard the hesitation in his voice and instant jealousy raged deep within me, tearing through my throat and out of my mouth before I could filter my words.

“If I find out you touched one hair on her goddamn head, prospect, I’m going to tear you apart,” I seethed. “Do you understand me?” Stone backed away as soon as he saw the volatile look on my face.
Smart move.

“No! I haven’t done any-anything,” he stammered, but his quivering voice told another story. I wasn’t sure what, but something was going on, and I couldn’t wait until I was back home and could keep an eye on her myself.

Why I cared at all was probably the thing which was pissing me off the most. Never before had any woman affected me, twisting me up inside until I questioned my motives, thoughts and . . . dare I say feelings?

“Let me talk to her,” I commanded. “Now!”

Hearing my heartbeat in my ears, I tried to take a few calming breaths, realizing I was more than likely blowing things out of proportion. But my mind only sped up my body’s reactions, a small bead of sweat breaking out on my forehead, my heart beating even quicker inside my chest.

“H-hello.” A soft voice sounded over the phone, and I’d instantly regretted leaving her.
What the hell is happening to me?

Instead of asking her how she was, making sure she was settling in okay, what did I do? I freaked out on her and accused her of something I was almost positive was false.

“What the hell are you doing with Jagger? You lettin’ him fuck you, Sully? Don’t think for one second that I won’t punish you both for going behind my motherfucking back! You think just because I’m not there I wouldn’t find out? Huh?” I couldn’t help myself. I kept going and going and when I was finally done, silence screamed in my ear. Tiny pants of breath came through the phone and made me even more infuriated.

Did her silence mean I’d hit the nail on the head? Or had I just scared the shit out of her for no reason?

Before I could start in on her again, another voice ripped through the line, her voice hysterical while her words crashed together as she spoke.

“What did you just say to her?” she cried, unease nestling deep in the timbre of her voice.

“None of your business, Adelaide. Now, put Sully back on the phone,” I grated. I looked to my right and Stone was already headed my way, no doubt hearing her name fall from my lips again. I glared at him and he stopped mid-stride. “Don’t even think about it,” I threw at him.

“Then don’t talk to her like that,” he said, bracing himself for a fight.

“Mind your own goddamn business, Stone. I mean it,” I warned, moving the phone away from my mouth while I continued to speak to him. “Just because I’m talking to your woman doesn’t mean it has anything to do with you. Back off. I mean it.”

Placing my cell back into position, I was ready to start arguing again when Adelaide’s shrill voice barreled into my ear. “I’m not his woman, Marek! Don’t start that rumor or else something bad is going to happen!”

“What’s she sayin’?” Stone asked, forgetting himself and walking toward me again.

She was screaming in my ear while Stone continued to talk to me, the back-and-forth noise sending me off the deep end.

To hell with this!

“Give me your phone,” I told my VP. When he looked confused, I hurried him along. “Give. Me. Your. Phone.” Tossing me his cell, I made an even exchange, giving him the one with Adelaide ranting and raving on the other end.

Scrolling through his contact list, I found Adelaide’s number, hitting the Call button while I shook my head. There was no reason whatsoever for him to have her number saved in his phone, unless they were fuckin’ around. Her digits were another nail in his coffin if her uncle found out. But that was between the three of them. I had other shit I had to deal with.

I heard a brief silence from the other room, Stone’s voice quieting long enough for Adelaide to answer her own phone.

“Hello?” she greeted, confusion evident in her voice.

“Where is she?” I grated. I swore if I were there in the room with her, I would have seen the disapproval written all over her face.

Another bout of silence passed before I heard her shift her phone to Sully.

“Hello?” I knew she had the cell pressed to her ear because I could hear her breathing. I hadn’t meant to go off on her like that before, but my building jealousy had gotten the better of me, hurling unfounded accusations at her before I could reason with myself enough to calm down.

“I’m not doing anything wrong,” she squeaked. I heard the tears in her voice and they instantly tore me apart. “I promise. He barely talks to me.”

I believed her. It took me exploding, her fear, and then the sincerity in her voice to calm me down and realize I’d overreacted. I would never admit it, though. Not to anyone.

I never apologized.

Ever.

Choosing to ignore her words, I switched topics. “I’ll be longer than I thought.” I sighed, running my fingers over my face in utter frustration. “I’ll call you in a couple more days and let you know.” Stone came strolling out from the other room, a pissed-off look on his face, one I knew wasn’t because of me, but instead because of the person he’d been talking to. Or the one who’d been shouting at him, to be more accurate.

“Okay. Did . . . Did you want to talk to Jagger again?”

“Yes.”
Short and sweet.

“I swear, Prez, I’m not doing nuthin’ to her. I’m just watchin’ over her like you told me to do,” he started in, his words coming so fast I almost didn’t understand him.

“Calm down. We’ll be gone longer than anticipated. I’ll call you soon when I know exactly when. And Jagger?” I waited for his acknowledgment. “Don’t make me regret my decision to leave you at the house.”

“You won’t. I promise.”

I hung up before he could say anything else.

I’d been staring down at the phone and hadn’t realized Stone was scowling at me from across the room. I was too consumed with all the new feelings eating at me to pay much attention to anything else. Wrapped up in not only the image of Sully, but in what I’d just done to her, I clenched my jaw and fisted my hands. I was pissed at myself, but what was done was done.

“What was all that, Marek? Have you gone off the deep end?” My VP’s voice startled me, and when I finally picked my head up to look at him, I saw true concern etched deep into every line of his face.

I was normally a pretty laid-back guy. Well . . . as laid-back as I could be running an entire MC. I wasn’t known for blowing up at the drop of a hat, or acting irrational for no reason at all.

I wasn’t sure if it was that Sully distracted me from my main goal, which was to remain unattached and focused solely on the club. Or if it was because she now belonged to me and another man being in her company, all alone, wasn’t sitting right with me. Even if they weren’t doing anything wrong.

But I’d been the one to make the decision to have Jagger watch over her in my absence, so I had to deal with the consequences. Like it or not.

“Nothin’,” I promised. “All good.” I thought if I tried to smile right then, he might’ve had me committed. Instead, I switched the subject. “Where we at with meeting with Carrillo?”

“I was gonna tell you before you went nuclear a few minutes ago, but he isn’t coming. Some shit about too much heat and not being able to get away. Instead, he’s sending his second in command, Yanez. He said we could finish things through him.”

Rico Yanez was a lecherous man. No morals of any kind. Almost worse than the Reapers. Almost. I didn’t like or trust him, but if he was who we had to deal with then so be it. The quicker we came to an agreement, the better.

Shrugging, Stone leaned against the wall opposite me. Tired and weary, the past couple days’ events looked to have taken a toll on my dear friend. He had something going on with Adelaide, no matter how much he denied it. Then there was the added dangerous element of finalizing our end with Los Zappas cartel. Even though the head honcho, Rafael Carrillo, had given me his word he would release the KC from smuggling in and selling their product, there was always the chance he would go back on it, although I seriously doubted it.

He was a man who hated to be indebted to another, and it was exactly what he was to me. Not that I held it over him or anything, but I would use the opportunity to get what I needed, exploit the fact that I’d saved his life.

On a drug run last year, we were intercepted by a rival cartel. Gunfire thickened the air around us and we scarcely made it out alive. Rafael’s men ran for cover, and he found himself without shelter. The look in his eyes reflected that he was prepared to die, although there was still hope underneath he would make it home to his wife and three kids that night.

I knew if I wanted to extract my club entirely from their grips, I had to make my move.

Save him from meeting his maker too soon.

If I knew anything about the man who hovered between life and death, it was his undying need to not owe anyone anything, and my saving his life would prompt him to do something in return.

My gesture paid off. In exchange for saving him, he agreed to let my club walk away, but only after they’d found another one to take our place. He’d also agreed to cut all ties with the Savage Reapers, crippling them and cutting their legs out from beneath them.

But still, nothing was guaranteed until I heard the head of Los Zappas cartel tell me we were no longer in business with them.

“Well, when are we meetin’ him then?”

“Tomorrow,” he answered, walking toward the door and circling the handle with his fingers. “But tonight, we relax and have a good time. Right?” he shouted over his shoulder, pulling the door open and heading toward the common room.

We were staying at our Laredo charter. The guys there were most accommodating, pulling together a last-minute ruckus. Not that it was a problem by any means—any chance to overindulge in alcohol and pussy was certainly a most welcome event.

Later that evening, when I’d buried myself inside some woman whose name I never asked, I tried my best to push aside all thoughts of the woman waiting for me back home.

But it was useless.

With every thrust and moan, I imagined it was
her
I had pushed against the wall, my hand wrapped around
her
throat while I fucked
her
from behind. I envisioned it was
her
pussy clenching down on my cock as she rode out her orgasm.

Sully was the woman I pictured writhing in front of me, and it was the only thought in the past few days which helped soothe the rising inferno inside me.