Sexy Bastards Anthology: Bad Boy, Biker, Alpha, Motorcycle Club, Contemporary Romance Collection (15 page)

Chapter 10

Lucky

I stopped by Dane's after visiting with the guys at the club for a few minutes.

"You sure you don't want to go with me? You didn't go the other night, either." I tried to goad him into going with me, but in all actuality it was probably better than he didn't.

Selene had invited me, which meant there was a damn good chance that she was coming home with me. I hadn't figured it would take too long for her to call on me to return the sweet favor she gave me earlier that day.

Besides... I needed to sit her down and have a serious conversation about her dad and the shit I saw at the drug store. He was at the heart of destroying lives in our town. She had to know that, but I prayed like hell she didn't.

"No. I'm good. Black Hearts are going to be there. So just count me out." He shook his head and took a bite of the sandwich in his hands.

I'd finished mine fast, Dane's mother being the best cook ever. Even her sandwiches rocked my world.

I hope Lena can cook.

I dismissed the thought and stood up, plucking the half eaten sandwich from my best friend's fingers and walking toward the door as I inhaled it quickly.

"Fucker!"

"Dane Miller. That's no way to talk," his mother yelled from down the hall.

I lifted an eyebrow at him and shook my head at him as if disappointed. "That's not the way cops talk."

"Yes it is." He rolled his eyes and pinned me with a hard stare. "I know why you want to go to that party. You need to be careful, Luck. I'm serious. You don’t need this kind of stress. Selene is trouble."

"I know, and I want to dive head first into anything she offers. Have your momma pray for my soul. Tonight, I'm hoping to dance with the devil." I smiled and walked out of the house as the sound of his grumbling followed me out.

“You’re blinded by her looks,” he said. “And you’re not giving one thought to the fact that her dad is the grim reaper.”

He was a good friend, and I was grateful to have him.

My stomach growled as I got on my bike, but I ignored it. I would find something to munch on when I reached the party. I just hoped like hell that Dane was wrong. The only thing I hated more than a Delgado were their nasty, life-destroying drugs.

The image of the boy in the drugstore pounded through my skull. I closed my eyes, trying hard to burn it from my thoughts. What a horrible way to die. Vomiting, shitting all over yourself and shaking uncontrollably. And all in the name of getting high.

She would have to listen to me after I told her about the boy. She wasn't involved in the drugs. No way.

I pulled up to the party and locked my Harley to a large tree out front, setting the alarm on it. The guys gave me total hell about it when I had it installed but then, three days later, Viper had his taken.

"Should have listened to the kid," I mumbled and walked toward the sound of music and laughter. Everyone seemed to have shifted from the open field where I stood to the car lot not thirty feet in front of me.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out, seeing that it was Dane.

"Miss me already?"

"You at that party?" he asked.

"Yeah... why?" I could hear a mixture of panic in his voice.

"The cops are headed that way. Someone called in and said that there were drugs everywhere. Get out!"

"What? You fucking kidding me?" I picked up my leisurely walk to a full on run, trying hard to get to Selene should she still be there. I didn't want anything to happen to the pretty girl, but on a more selfish note, if we got taken downtown by the cops, our night would likely be over.

I didn't want the night to end until the sun came up on us in my new bedroom.

"No. Get out of there!" Dane barked in my ear. "Like fucking now."

"Alright, dude. Shit. I'm getting Lena and I'll head out."

"No. She's probably the one handing them out, Lucky. Get out of there."

"Gotta go, bro." I hit the button to end the call and slipped the phone in my back pocket. I wasn't leaving my girl to fend off the cops. No matter what Dane said, there was no way she was involved with the drugs.

I stopped at the edge of the crowd and tried to still my breathing. The sound of the sirens weren't filling up the air around us, which didn't mean much. The smart cops never did turn them on. Why the hell would you warn everybody, anyway?

My eyes moved across the crowd and landed on a big motherfucker in the middle of the dance floor, his jeans and shirt fitting him well, but it wasn't him I was focused on. The girl in his arms was grinding her ass against him in a way that made my heart skip a beat.

"Surely not." I moved around the crowd until I got a good view of her.

My blood ran cold. Lena.

Instinct kicked in and I walked to the center of the dance floor and pushed him back with all my might. He fell into the crowd and I bent over, pressing my shoulder into her midsection and picking her up.

I half expected her to fight me, but she didn't. She lay limply against me, singing with the song that was playing. I scanned the field for her pink bike and came up empty.

Waiting until we reached my bike, I dropped her, letting her fall on her ass hard.

"Ouch." She laughed and lay back on the ground, stretching out and sliding her hand down into the front of her jeans. "I'm so horny."

"Lena. What the fuck are you doing?" I bent down and jerked her hand from her jeans, pulling her up roughly and getting in her face. "Did you take something?"

"Nope." She smiled as her eyes rolled back in her head. "I need something though, and I think you might be just the guy to give it to me."

Her words were horribly slurred and anger burned through me that she had let herself get so messed up. What was she thinking?

I pulled her close and wrapped my arms around her as I lifted my gaze to try and lay eyes on the fucker she was dancing with. I was going to kill him for taking advantage of her, but I had to find him first.

The sound of cars behind us caught my attention and I jerked her back with me, under the cover of the trees. Several cop cars pulled into the field, not stopping by the side of the road.

"Cops!" she cried out before lifting to her toes and brushing her lips along my neck.

"Selene. Stop it. Be quiet or they're going to hear you." I jerked her back and narrowed my eyes at her. Small red bite marks lined her neck, the evidence of her passion on display for anyone to see. Had she been taken advantage of?

"Fuck me, Lucky... here. Now." She giggled and reached down, cupping my dick and squeezing painfully hard.

"Ouch." I moved back and swatted at her, feeling confused all of a sudden. "Who was that guy you were with? Did he touch you? Did you take something?"

"I was the life of the party tonight." She pulled a bag of white powder from her pocket and pressed it to her face, breathing in deeply and laughing again.

"Selene. What the fuck is that?" I reached for the bag, but she jerked it away.

"No! Stay away from it, Mister Grabbie. Only me and my new boy get to play with the goods." She laughed again and spun around once in front of me, stumbling a little, but catching herself.

I didn't know this girl at all.

"Your new boy?" My heart shrunk inside my chest as pain roared through me.

"Yep. Dante. He's a big guy." She lifted her hands and smiled like a child at Christmas. "Not like you. You're a pretty boy, but he's big and strong."

"And you're here with him tonight?" I crossed my arms over my chest as bile rose into my throat. I was a fool to believe that anything good would come of crossing paths with a Delgado. They were all shit. Apparently, Lena was no exception. I wanted so badly to believe that she was, but all evidence pointed to the contrary.

"Yep. Going home with him, too." She smiled and waved the bag at me. "Want some? All the kids are raving about it."

I'd seen enough. I shook my head and turned from her, working to get my bike undone before starting it up.

"I can't believe you're one of them." I pursed my lips. "Just like your father... and a two-bit whore to top it off."

"Once a Delgado, always one, right?" She laughed loudly and I nodded, driving off as my heart shattered in my chest.

She was right, and I was done caring what exactly that meant for her.

Chapter 11

Selene

The high started to wear off about the time we walked into the police station downtown. The cop behind me had a tight grip on my arms, but it was nothing compared to the pressure raging through my skull.

Why had I taken the damn pill? I'd never cared before what anyone thought.

Glancing to my left, I narrowed my eyes at Dante, which rewarded me with a drunken wink.

"Fuck you," I growled before getting pulled into an open door to my right.

"Sit down and shut up, kid." The large, bald cop in front of me was one I'd seen at the high school a few times during the bigger sporting events. "We're processing your information, and then I'll be in to ask you a few questions."

"I want to speak to my lawyer. I know my rights." I lifted my cuffed hands to the table and glanced down at them, not giving the man the respect he probably deserved.

What did it matter? I was a Delgado, so I was guilty by association if nothing else.

"You'll get your one phone call when I get around to it." The door slammed as he left me to sit in the whitewashed room.

I leaned over and pressed my forehead to the cool steel table as I let out a long groan. Lucas had come to the party from what I could remember, but I couldn't really place us together. Had we talked or danced or... anything?

"Why the hell would you leave me there with the cops coming?" I mumbled to no one and rubbed my cheek on the table. I was burning up. Had to be my body fighting back against the drug lingering in my system.

It seemed like forever before the cop came back, but his demeanor hadn't changed at all.

He dropped down in the seat on the other side of the table, and I sat up, leaning back and trying to appear as if everything was fine when nothing was.

My one call would be to my grandmother, not a lawyer and sure as hell not my dad. She would come get me and take me home with her for the night. The thought of her being disappointed with me promised to bring tears to my eyes, so I cleared my mind and stared deadpan into the cops face.

"You wanna tell me what type of drug you and Dante across the hall were dealing?"

"No clue what you're talking about." I shrugged.

His lip lifted in a cruel smile. "Bullshit. He's already told us that much. You're both implicated in dealing."

I knew better than that. Anyone who wanted to work for my dad knew that death or dismemberment would be the reward for turning into a rat. Even if Dante was toked up to high heaven, he wouldn't say shit.

"Right. Where are the drugs? Show them to me and place my fingerprints on them, and I'll make some shit up that will get you a round of beers from the guys here." I nodded toward the hall.

I should have been scared, and I was, but not of anything the cop could do. My father was too powerful for anything to happen to me long-term. I was terrified of what happened with Lucky. He left me in the field and drove off, his expression angry and hurt. I couldn't push into why, though. We should have been having a good time, but obviously the drugs bent my reality horribly.

"Pay attention right here." He hit the table in front of me three times in quick secession. "We have the drugs and I'm not showing you anything. How do I know you wouldn't grab them up and have yourself a heyday right here in the interview room?"

"How many times have I been popped for carrying, dealing or using narcotics?" I lifted my eyebrow, knowing I had him on at least that point. "Just because I was born into a family doesn't mean I'm like them."

"Your papa would be quite heartbroken to hear his only child say that." The cop chuckled. It was an ugly sound and grated on my nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard.

"I didn't take drugs to the party, didn't hand them out and only ingested one pill because some frat boy forced me to." I tilted my head to the side, watching the older man with intensity.

"Someone forced you, a Delgado, to take drugs? That seems highly unlikely."

"I don't care what it seems like. He peer pressured me into taking this little green pill and I did. I slipped it under my tongue and was waiting for a moment to spit it out, but he forced himself on me and poured half a beer down my throat. Hard to not swallow something when you're forced to drink." I leaned forward and tapped my hands on the table. "I want my phone call. I did nothing wrong and I want to go home."

There was a rap at the door and the cop stood, shaking his head. "You're not going anywhere, missy. I have enough on you to keep you overnight... and I shall."

A younger cop stood at the door with his eyes wide and face as pale as the clouds in the sky. "The girl's father is here and has posted bail on her."

"She's not going anywhere." The large cop who'd been questioning me replied.

"We don't have a choice, Mike. The levels came back and the girl had a slight buzz. Nothing else." He shrugged.

I got up and extended my wrists toward the bastard as a smirk lifted my lips. "Key?"

"This isn't the end of this, girl. I know you're just like the rest of them. Watch your back, because you just landed yourself on our watch list."

"Sounds fun."

He undid the cuffs roughly and I jerked free from him as soon as I could. Slipping past him, I walked down the hall, pausing only as Dante was pulled from a room near the foyer.

"Mr. Delgado," Dante spoke with reverence.

I walked past him to my dad, who opened his arms for me. There was no way I was disrespecting him in front of the police station, no matter how much I wanted to kick him in the groin and keep walking. It was his fucking fault that we were there. Who sends two eighteen-year old newbies to sell drugs at a party?

My dad. That's who. Asshole.

"I'm taking Selene home. Find your own way out of this and when you do... call me. The clock is ticking." My father's voice was low and ominous beside me.

I pulled back and looked up at him. "I'm ready to go."

"Good." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders as we walked to the car. "I'm proud of you, butterfly. Consider the first test marked off. I wasn't sure you were going to make it."

I got in the front of the Lincoln and looked over at him. "What? I failed miserably. I ended up at the police station. We were busted."

He chuckled and started the car, pulling it into the quiet street before speaking again.

"We called the cops, Selene. The task wasn't to sell the drugs, but to withhold information from the pigs. We have guys that do our dealing for us, but you will face lots of situations where information is expected from you and you cannot ever give it."

He looked over at me as my jaw dropped open. "Do you understand, baby? Never. No matter what. Your first responsibility is to me, and then your own safety."

There were no words for the level of deception I felt. My own father thought to teach me a lesson by sending me into the hornets’ nest and then lighting the fucker on fire?

He handed me my phone and I nodded my thanks, truly unable to trust myself to talk. Cussing him out would have been my first course of action, and my last, most likely. He wasn't one to put up with anything, especially from his family.

"I want to be dropped off at Grandma's. Please." I looked over at him.

"It's eleven o'clock. She's probably asleep, butterfly."

"I doubt it. Please. I really need to see her for a little while. I miss momma." I tugged at my seatbelt, trying to sound sad, but not devastated. My father would attribute any real emotion to weakness, and I wasn't interested in being dissected at the moment.

"Alright. If there is a light on in her house, you can stay."

I started to tell him that I was eighteen, and would stay wherever the hell I wanted to, but it wasn't worth the drama. Besides, I'd had enough for one evening.

I checked my messages and found nothing. Lucky hadn't even texted me to make sure I was alright.

Anger burned through the center of my chest and I bit my lip to keep from crying out in fury. I was disgusted at myself for giving into him for the afternoon, but it was only because he didn't seem to care all of a sudden.

I texted him as tears burned my gaze.

Juliet: Fuck you, Lucas.

My father pulled into my grandma's driveway and put the car in park. The living room light could be seen through the front window and the front porch light was on.

"You didn't text her and tell her to turn some lights on did you?" He chuckled and pulled me into a quick hug.

"No, Dad." I opened the door and got out, pausing to look back at him for a minute. "Thanks for coming to get me."

He nodded and turned back toward the front window, not saying another word.

I closed the door and jogged up the stairs before knocking twice and calling out.

"It's Lena, Grandma."

The older woman opened the door and let out a surprised sound before pulling me inside.

"How did you get here?"

"Dad brought me." I moved into the warmth of her small house, the smell of apples lingering in the air. There was only
one
thing she could cook, and that was empanadas. "Did you make empanadas?"

"Sure did. I was going to bring you some tomorrow, but come to the kitchen and let's share some while they're still warm." She rubbed my back softly as we walked into the tiny kitchenette.

I turned and pulled her into a hug as my tears started.

"Oh, baby. What's the matter? Did something happen."

I nodded and let out a sob as the night came crushing in around me. "I'm in love with a boy that doesn't want me."

"What boy wouldn't want you, Lena?" She moved back and handed me a handkerchief. "He's an idiot if he doesn't want my beautiful girl."

"It doesn't matter anyway." I moved to the table and plopped down.

Grandma got a small plate and sat it in front of me with two empanadas, then worked to get me a glass of chocolate milk. She'd been taking care of me since mother left me at seven. I wasn't sure what I would do without her.

"Are both of these for me?" I mumbled through a puffed out bottom lip and tears.

"No, you hungry little piggy. One's for me." She pinched my chin and I smiled, unable to help myself. I could be sixty and she would still make me feel ten.

She sat down and reached for me, brushing her fingertips over my upper chest. "What on earth is this? There are bite marks all over you, baby. Did this boy attack you?"

"What?" My sadness disappeared as I jerked up from the table and jogged down the hall. After flipping on the light in the bathroom nearest the guest room, I leaned in toward the mirror and inspected myself. "What the fuck?"

"Watch your language, Lena." Her voice was strict.

How she heard me whisper from down the hall was beyond me, but she'd always been able to do stuff like that. I studied the marks a few more times and moved back, chalking it up to Lucky getting a little too rough.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out, looking down to see he'd replied.

Romeo: Feelings mutual, chick. Next time you invite a guy you pretend to like to a party that you're at with your new boy toy, might wanna just kick him in the nuts instead. Probably would feel better.

Juliet: What the fuck are you talking about?

Romeo: Typical.

I growled and slid the phone back into my pocket. I wasn't diving down in the dark hole that he was pulling me toward just yet. I wanted to talk to my grandmother for a little while longer and then I would get to bed and text him a little more. Maybe.

My fingers played over the sore skin just beneath my throat as I took my seat across from Grandma again. "No clue what happened. I went to a party tonight and someone spiked my drink. Next thing I know, I'm at the police station and dad's bailing me out."

"Oh
mija
." She reached across the table and took my hand. "I hope no one hurt you, child."

"No. Just shook me up a lot." I laid my phone face down on the table beside me. "The boy I'm in love with showed up at the end, but something must have happened to us while I was drugged. He's mad and I've no idea why. He left me there. I should be the mad one."

"Just call him and talk it out. He must have seen something that upset him, or is he one of these girly men that flies off the handle at any type of drama?" She lifted her eyebrow.

I picked up the apple-filled treat and shook my head. "No. He's not that type at all. He's actually pledging with the Stone Wolves."

Her eyes widened as she stopped chewing and stared me down. "Have you lost your mind, baby?"

"No, Grandma. My heart."