Wicked Nights (9 page)

He brushed his fingers along her spine. “You’re going on lockdown with me.”

She glanced over at him. “Do you not get that I’ve just lost everything? I don’t even want to be around you right now, much less on ‘lockdown’ with you.”

He held her gaze with a pointed stare. “The more you’re away from me, the more they will attack you. I told you that I’d protect you if you’ll fucking let me. I can’t protect you when you get huffy and throw a bitch fit, storming out of my house in the middle of the fucking night.”

“I don’t want to do this right now.”

“Too bad.” He sighed. “I’ve already got Lila shopping for you again. You’re staying with me at my place.”

She shook her head. “No. The more I’m with you, the more I’m involved in this war you’ve got going on. No. I don’t want to be around you. I don’t want to be with you.”

“You were involved the first fucking moment you took my case. I’m sorry they’re targeting you, but you’re mine, and I protect what’s mine. You don’t have an option anymore.”

“I’m
not
yours.” She shook her head. “Nowhere close.”

“You are.” He pulled his jacket off and wrapped it around her arms. “You’re just mad at me right now, but you’ll get over it. You’ll work through your hissy fit and reason will eventually enter your brain. Then you’ll see that I’m right and you do need me to protect you.”

She shook her head, furious at the whole situation. Her heart ached at the thought of losing everything she had. It ached even more at the thought of moving in with someone she had mixed feelings about. Mason’s jacket smelt like him, and the warmth from his body comforted her. Tampa usually had the good weather, but it was one of those rare nights, usually leading to a storm, when the temperature dropped to lower degrees. She didn’t plan on sitting outside in her little tank top and boxer shorts.

“Do you even know why I’m mad at you?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, Addy. I’m the one ruining your life in more ways than one.”

She shook her head. “Don’t play the martyr. There is a big fucking problem known as your rival MC and you’re not doing anything about it. First it was my job. Then it was me. Now it’s my home.” Angry tears filled her eyes. “Not to mention you have to complicate it with the personal shit going on between us. We should have never let it get this far.”

He wrapped his arm around her. “I can only do something about it, if I know you’re safe. You can only be safe, if you trust me to protect you. You’ve got to let me protect you.” He kissed her temple. “This bullshit of refusing prospects to guard you, or refusing to stay with me, because you got your panties in a wad over not using a condom, is not how this is going to work. This is not your call according to how you see fit. I will keep you safe, but it’s my way or no way.”

She’d known it would come to that, which was why she refused to submit to the club lifestyle. She didn’t want to be anyone’s bitch. Once she gave up her self-respect, she really didn’t have anything left.

“Why do you not care about how I feel?” She placed her head down in her palms. “You just laugh off the whole issue like it’s some kind of joke.”

“Tell me how you feel, then.”

“You push me.” She closed her eyes. “You don’t give me the option to back out. Sex tonight was you taking what you want and you don’t even bat an eyelash at the fact that we both made a stupid choice.”

“What do you want me to do?” He turned towards her. “You didn’t do anything you didn’t want to do, and I can’t rewind time and undo what’s been done.”

“Stop making light of it. I’m homeless and potentially jobless if I don’t fix up my office soon. I definitely do not need to be pregnant right now.”

He shook his head. “Addy, you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. I’m telling you to stop worrying about it. I’ll take care of you.”

“Yeah? You can’t even take care of yourself.” She stood, needing some space from him. “You make a phone call when something needs to be done. When’s the last time you actually took responsibility for anything?”

She left him, moving towards the captain to see how the progress was coming along. Even as the fireman spoke to her, she couldn’t stop thinking about her situation and how Mason fit into it all. She could move back home, she supposed, but living with her parents again didn’t sound like too much fun. She hated how the situations in her life forced her into Mason’s arms. It wasn’t that she hated being there, but she hated the fact that she had no choice over the matter.

Despite their quarrel, he didn’t leave her. She went back to him, annoyed to the bone about the situation. She pointed to his truck and he stood, neither of them saying a word as they headed towards it. She didn’t have a car either so that meant she really did have to depend on Mason for
everything
.

They drove to his home and Addison took in the scenery during the early morning hours. Mason didn’t seem to care too much about her life and she really didn’t want to think about it anymore. She laid her head against the passenger window and closed her eyes.

The next time she woke, the garage door was going up as Mason parked his truck inside. The grogginess from little sleep washed over her and she struggled to move from the vehicle. He came around the front and opened her door.

She didn’t fight him when he lifted her into his arms.

She didn’t protest when he carried her through his house, pausing briefly for the alarm before he laid her on his bed.

The soft mattress welcomed her tired body. She didn’t bother protesting about it, either. Mason’s sheets smelt like him and Addison hated how much she liked it. He pulled the blankets over her. She curled up on her side, hoping he didn’t feel the need to say anymore. She didn’t want to talk, but just to mope and pity herself and the situation for a little while longer.

“Get some sleep.”

He left her before she could say anything more.

* * * *

Addison had struck a nerve with him, one only she could strike. Mason went out to the garage and worked on his bike, pissed that she thought so little of him. He tossed his tools about, knowing well that he’d be even more pissed tomorrow when he couldn’t find anything in the garage.

He didn’t care.

The whole reason he’d fallen for her was because she actually seemed to give a shit about his sorry life. Every lawyer he’d ever talked to had said he needed to take a plea bargain. If he admitted to lesser crimes, he’d serve time, but it wouldn’t be a lifetime. Addison hadn’t even suggested it to him. She’d been convinced from day one that he’d get acquitted, and she’d been right.

Now, she made him feel like a fool. Maybe he didn’t show the type of care that she was used to, but he did care for her. He’d practically jumped at every call she gave him when she’d been in trouble. He didn’t do that for many women, least of all his flavours of the day.

He knelt beside his bike and wondered where the hell they went from here. The Skulls were up his ass about some damn turf war he wanted nothing to do with, but the entire MC was bad news to the city and the damn cops weren’t going to do anything about it. Half of them were probably in the Skull’s pocket, if he had to guess.

The Wicked Angels had taken it upon themselves to serve as a backup form of justice for when the law officials, clean or dirty, got it wrong. They took pride in their city too. So when an MC rolled into town looking to set up shop and bring all their bad deeds and wicked ways with them, the Wicked Angels had no reservations about stopping it. They knew the police couldn’t do anything about it, and if someone didn’t control the situation, their city would be nothing but a mess.

“Can we talk for a minute?”

He tossed a socket wrench down and glanced over his shoulder. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I’m not going to apologise for how I feel, but I will apologise for some of the things I said tonight. You’re right about a lot of things, and I am emotional. I could deal with my office being shot up. I could even deal with the damn branding on my leg. It really hurt to see my house burn, though. I’m sorry that I blamed you for it.”

He blew out a breath. “Addy, I get where you’re coming from. I’m not as dumb as I look, but you’ve got to understand that the pretty little lifestyle that you’re accustomed to doesn’t exist right now. You’re in my world—and my world is messy.”

She nodded. “I know. I’m going to trust you to protect me.”

He turned towards her. Her eyes were red from tears. He stood and went to her, pulling her into his arms. He kissed her forehead and held her tight, wishing he could somehow make all the bad stuff in her life disappear.

“It’s going to be okay. I promise you.”

She nodded. “I really need some sleep. My body aches from the fatigue.”

He rubbed her arms. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

She smiled and closed her eyes. “Yes.”

They went to bed, settling in between the soft sheets. Mason didn’t know how long he’d actually lay there before his phone went off. After checking the readout, he groaned, knowing there was more club business that he needed to attend to. He arranged for prospects to stay at the house while he went in to conduct a meeting he’d forgotten about.

“Addy?” He lightly rubbed her arm. “I need to leave for a few hours. Dave, Tony and Joe are coming to stay here so you can sleep.”

Addison reached for his hand. “Why can’t you just stay with me?”

He brushed her hair from her cheek. “Club business. You’ll be fine here. The alarm is set and the prospects are on guard. It’ll only take a few hours.”

She rolled to her back away from him. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

He left her in the bed and went out to meet the prospects.

“You stay in the living room, on guard, until I get back. If she needs anything, get it. If those dickheads come near her, blow their fucking brains out.”

All three men nodded.

Mason went to the garage and raised the door. Turf wars were for street gangs. He didn’t have patience for this bullshit and didn’t want to take time to play their little games.

He straddled his bike and started it up. The loud rush of the pipes soothed his soul. Something about the bike and the ride made him feel instantly better. He backed out of the garage and headed towards East Tampa.

It made sense to him to handle the business tonight and get back to the soft woman in his bed. His own fatigue wore him down and he wanted to escape this life for a little while.

He parked in his spot at the club and smiled at the women greeting him. Some of the guys partied all night long and he’d used to be one of them. He snapped his fingers and drew their attention to the meeting room of the clubhouse. The meeting lasted about an hour and the club took a vote on what to do about the Skulls.

The entire Skulls MC had many chapters, but the Clearwater chapter
that
had tried to cross over into the Tampa area was not welcome. The Wicked Angels had made that clear from day one. The notorious behaviour of drug trafficking and prostitution didn’t settle well, not to mention all the deaths owing to the Skulls inability to remain sociable with the people of Tampa.

They met and talked about the future events of the club. Mason wanted to end the nonsense with the Skulls but had to do so diplomatically. It’d be so fucking easy to go guns blazing and shoot all the fuckers that had had any part in hurting Addison, but technically he couldn’t. Not yet anyway. He figured that was exactly what the Skulls wanted and he wasn’t about to give them the satisfaction.

When the meeting was over, Mason exited the room after a few slaps on the backs from the other members. Lila motioned for him to come to the bar, so he detoured. She pulled out a mug and poured some coffee.

“You really shouldn’t be driving. Do you want me to take you home?”

He smiled and drank the hot coffee. “Won’t Jack get jealous?”

She snorted. “Jack is a trusting person. Plus, you’re not my type.”

Mason grinned, bringing a hand to his chest. “That bruised my ego.”

She leaned against the counter, studying his face. “Yeah. You look so sad.”

He nodded. “I am sad.”

She punched his shoulder. “Take it up with Jack. He’s the only one for me.”

He pushed the mug towards her. “Maybe later.”

“Be careful.”

Mason said his goodbyes and went to his bike. He started it up and headed out. Lila had been the queen of the Wicked Angels for a while. Even though she wasn’t his woman, the club had adopted her as one of their own. She manned the entire place, making sure it ran smoothly. Jack had made it clear all those years ago that if he joined the MC, Lila was part of it. They all loved her being there too. Mason considered her the sister he never had.

He pulled in the drive and punched the code to the garage door. After driving the motorcycle in and killing the engine he climbed off and went inside to meet up with the prospects.

“Any problems?” he asked, tossing his keys on the kitchen table.

“Nah.” Tony stood from the sofa and met him in the kitchen. “She’s still sleeping.”

Mason glanced towards the bedroom. “Did you check on her?”

“Yes.” Tony ran a hand through his hair. “I peeked in the door.”

Mason stared at the prospect. One rule he had for men wanting to join the club was having a sense of protectiveness and loyalty. If a prospect had neither, they didn’t get a rocker, the official membership patch, for their cut. Tony was protective. He knew how important taking care of Addison was and did so to the highest standards.

“You can crash here tonight. Tomorrow, we’re working on Addison’s office.”

All three men nodded. Mason left them and went to his room, tugging his cut off and laying it aside. He moved closer to the bed and pulled his shirt off, ready to hit the mattress and fall asleep.

Addison whimpered and he frowned, staring at her. She tossed, her head going from side to side as she cried out in her sleep. He knelt on the bed and gently shook her arm.

“Addy, wake up.”

She jerked awake and sat up, clutching the blanket to her chest. She gasped for air. Mason reached for the nightstand lamp and turned it on, nearly blinding them both.