Witness (8 page)

“But…this is impossible.” Rennie shook her head. “Who on earth would believe that?”

“It’s not a matter of belief. It’s a matter of evidence. And in Gunner’s case, reasonable doubt.”

“But he’s a madman!”

“A madman with deep pockets.” Funny how one little phone call could change everything. At the start of the day, Dash would have bodily threatened anyone who dared speak against Gunner. Even now, voicing the words proved difficult. But there were certain truths a man didn’t fuck with, and the only one Dash had upheld at all in the years since Dalton’s death was the purity of Serenity Jones.

It wasn’t feasible that Rennie would understand the depth of his betrayal, just how far he’d gone for her in the span between her waking in the garage and now. Despite everything, the chasm between their worlds remained very much intact. She didn’t know how he’d changed, nor did he know how she had. He saw enough to understand the parts of her he’d loved were still there, but the little girl dreams were gone in place of the woman.

A woman he very much wanted to know.

Yet, if anyone could understand what he was saying—what he was
not
saying—it was Rennie. She wet her lips. “Deep pockets. You mean he’s paid someone.”

“Yes.”

Dash held his breath as he watched her work through it, assess the information, compile the evidence and arrive at the conclusion.

“It was Ellison, wasn’t it? That motherfucker paid off the prosecutor.”

“And the judge,” he added unhelpfully. “And hell, maybe all of Jasper County. It was all a show. Something flashy for when election season rolls around, but Gunner’s clean because of you, and reasonable fucking doubt.” He laughed, as though any of this could be funny. “Why did you ever come home, Rennie?”

“For you,” she said, though the second the words were out, he knew she hadn’t meant to betray as much. He also saw they were true for the flash in her eyes, and the wind knocked out of his chest. However, before he could fully latch on to this new, golden revelation, she was talking again. “Why did you not kill me?”

“Because I don’t kill people.”

“Not even for Gunner Pierce or your precious gang?” Rennie crossed her arms. “Not for Lucifer’s Legion?”

“No. That was never my role. I made deliveries. I harassed vendors. I hurt people sometimes, but not…not like that. I collected money owed. I looked intimidating. I was the fucking muscle.” Dash looked away. “I wasn’t—I’m not—a good person, but I was never that bad. He couldn’t make me be that bad.”

“Even if he could make you believe you owed him your life?”

“That’s different.”

“How?” she demanded, throwing her arms out. “How the fuck is it different? The man didn’t kill you, Dash. That’s
not
saving your life. That’s creating a victim. That’s… You see it all the time in battered women’s shelters. Women who stayed with their abusive asshole of a husband because they deserved it. He made you a victim.”

“I am not a fucking battered woman.”

“And you’re not indebted to Gunner!” Rennie was screaming now, her eyes blazing.

He thought about reminding her that the walls were thin, but knew she wouldn’t hear. He thought about slapping a hand over her mouth, but knew she’d bat him away. He thought about throwing her on the bed and fucking her until they passed out, but sex would only confuse things even more than they were already.

“I had nothing,” Dash said. “He gave me a reason to go on. Lucifer’s Legion…it was fucked up, a lot of it. It still is. But it was my whole world. It was the only thing that gave me purpose. So yes, Rennie, he saved my life. And I swore I’d do anything to protect that life. I made that promise to him.”

A long, tense beat ticked between them. “So why didn’t you kill me?”

Dash stared at her, his chest heaving. He didn’t know what to say, how to say it. How to tell her without unmasking himself. How to make sense of something he wasn’t even sure he understood. Yet he wanted to try. He owed it to her. “Because I made you a promise too,” he said.

“What?”

“I loved you. Then. God, I probably still do, fucked as this all is.” He laughed, the sound hollow and strained. “That’s a promise from me. To put you first. I was never gonna hurt you. It’s bad enough that I even…” He eyed her shoulder, the one so recently popped back into place, the one he knew had to be killing her, even if she wouldn’t admit it. “I don’t like it that you got hurt at all. But I knew I’d never do it, and I think Gunner did too. I think he was trying to test me. He wanted you dead and he knew me doing it would be what made it hurt.”

“Dash…”

He didn’t look at her. He couldn’t. “I owed him my life. I didn’t owe him yours. And now I don’t owe him shit.” He drew a ragged breath and waved behind him. “I gotta get clean now. I’ll understand if you’re gone when I get out.”

He hadn’t planned that—giving her an out, but it was the right thing to do. No matter that he didn’t know where she’d go, he wouldn’t blame her if she took off. She might have come back for him, but she hadn’t asked for any of this. And even if she couldn’t go back because of Lucifer’s Legion and the planted evidence and all the other shit he’d brought into her life, that didn’t mean she had to stay here and work out her next move. Rennie owed him precisely nothing.

Dash didn’t bother glancing at her before he stomped toward the bathroom. He was certain whatever he’d see in her eyes would break him, and a man could only take so much in one day. So instead, he left her to silence and closed the door between them to give her the space she’d need to decide.

Chapter Six

There wasn’t much warm water left, but Serenity barely felt it. Her mind was still reeling, churning, pushing her past her exhaustion to consider life as she knew it.

But it was no use. There was too much shit to get through, too many revelations to dissect. Ellison being in Gunner’s pocket this whole time really shouldn’t have shocked her, but Serenity had always lived in a world where the good guys were good and the bad guys weren’t and there was no crossover between them. Perhaps that was why she’d had such a difficult time reconciling Dash in the role of villain, even after discovering he was responsible for her current predicament.

God, that revelation paled when shoved beside the others. Dalton’s death, and Dash’s role in it. The fact that the authorities might be looking for her as a suspect rather than a victim. The mind-blowing sex. The look on Dash’s face when he’d exited the bathroom and realized she hadn’t seized the out he’d provided.

Serenity closed her eyes as the cooling water rushed through her hair. Truthfully, leaving had never been an option for her. She had nowhere to go, for one. At least, nothing that immediately leaped out at her. Somewhere, her rational mind forewarned that stalling or disappearing would only make her look guilty, when in truth all the police could pin on her was circumstantial evidence that any good forensics expert could promptly invalidate. But that wasn’t the worst of her problems. Tanner and now her own attorney had proven to be corruptible—her fate in the eyes of the law was nothing compared to what Lucifer’s Legion could do to her on Gunner’s behest.

Paranoid thoughts interjected every few seconds. How far would she have to run? Would she ever not need to run? Would she ever feel safe?

These questions triggered her panic, the same that had fallen quiet since she’d learned Dash was with her. Serenity stemmed off the threatening attack by reminding herself that she was running on fumes. Thinking clearly right now wasn’t possible. She needed sleep, and lots of it. Her situation wouldn’t seem as dire in the morning.

Though knowing this was true, it still felt impossible. As did the prospect of a good night’s sleep with Dash in the room.

With her body still warmed from their lovemaking, and his earlier bombshell bouncing around her head.

He’d been in love with her. Once.

And she…

Well, she’d loved him too. Then. She’d been sent away because of it—or rather, because one of the girls at church had gotten her to confess her plans to let Dash take her virginity. There had been many threats prior, but that had been the straw that had broken the preacher’s back. The thing that had put Orson’s words into action.

Serenity had tried so hard to convince herself she hadn’t come back to Joplin for Dash, that she had moved on, that she was a different person. That leaving home had ultimately been the best thing for her, because it had provided an escape from the Jones household. Her life post-Dash hadn’t been fantastic, but it had been good. And for the most part, she
had
moved on.

She’d just kept one foot in the past.

Serenity rinsed her hair free of shampoo, fighting a shiver. The water had officially turned icy, which was her cue for an exit. She couldn’t stay in here forever.

And out there…

She sighed, shutting off the water, and was immediately consumed in a deafening quiet. For everything that had gone crazy in her life in the past twenty-four hours, Dash was the one variable that confused her the most. He was so different than she’d remembered, and so many things had gone wrong, but when he looked at her, she could convince herself it didn’t matter. His crimes, his actions, his bad decisions. Everything could be forgiven or forgotten. Everything could be ignored.

And what scared her most was she wasn’t sure if his past bothered her because of what he’d done, or because she felt like it should.

And if she really gave a damn.

Serenity stepped onto the shower mat and reached for a towel. She patted herself dry, wrung out her hair then gave the clothes she’d shed a long, considering look before concluding she couldn’t put them on again. She didn’t want to smell like that garage, or like a member of Lucifer’s Legion. The shower might not have been fantastic, but she felt clean at least.

She exhaled a wobbly breath and raised her gaze to the door.

Whatever happened tomorrow was going to happen. Dash was not comprised of his mistakes. Despite everything, he was a good man. A flawed but good man. Of this she had no doubt. She didn’t want to hide. She didn’t want to worry. She didn’t want to ruminate on the whys or why nots. She didn’t want to say no. She just wanted him. Right now. On her terms.

Admitting this to herself fueled her with a surge of adrenaline. Her heart pounded and her palms sweated, but it also provided comfort. Relief. Little of what happened in the coming days would be in her control…but this was something she could keep. Something that would be hers.

And she was damn tired of fighting it.

Serenity exhaled again, then padded across the small bathroom and opened the door.

Dash was sitting on the bed, wearing a pair of boxers and a white tee. His shirt contrasted sharply with his inked skin, making him look more provocative, more dangerous…yet somehow more vulnerable at the same time.

His eyes went wide when he saw her then immediately began to wander, prowling over her naked body. Her nipples pebbled under his scrutiny. Nervous tension tightened in her belly and spread outward. When she saw his reaction, visible in the tenting of fabric at his crotch, she went from damp to soaked.

“Fuck, are you trying to kill me?” he growled at last.

Serenity took a step forward. Then another, and another. She managed to swallow her nerves and shove back her insecurities long enough to straddle him. His hands immediately went to her ass, holding her against him. She palmed his cock, stroking her hand along the straining length.

“Rennie,” he murmured. “What are you doing to me?”

“Everything is fucked up right now,” she replied, whispering her lips across his, and feeling more powerful and womanly than she had in the whole of her existence. “Everything but us.”

He laughed, the sound strained and nervous. Still, his hands told a different story, fingers kneading her ass and holding her tight against him. “I don’t know how you can say that.”

“I don’t care.”

“You will tomorrow.”

She shook her head. “Not about this. You know why Orson sent me away? What made him follow through?” Serenity waited, then continued, “It was because he found out. I was planning on seducing you.”

Dash barked another laugh, this one incredulous. Then his eyes narrowed. “Wait, what?”

“I wanted you to be my first. He found out.”

“What?”

Serenity smiled. “I loved you too. I wanted you then. I still do.” She coaxed one of his hands off her ass and placed it against the swollen lips of her pussy, then released a long moan when he began to delve and explore. “I want this with you. Right now.”

“You’re exhausted. And you’re hurt.” He kissed the shoulder he’d realigned. “And obviously not thinking clearly.”

“You’re kidding. We did this already, Dash. I wanna do it again. In a bed this time.”

He shook his head, but his fingers betrayed him. He had her clit under his thumb and was manipulating her with smooth, tender strokes. “That was…impulsive.”

“It was awesome.”

Dash grinned, but his eyes remained serious. “This isn’t gonna fix anything, Rennie. And I…I don’t know what’s gonna happen.”

“Neither do I,” she agreed. “Except the one thing I want to happen. I want you. Your hands. Your mouth. I want your cock. Inside me. Right now.”

She punctuated these words by squeezing his erection through his boxers, then freeing him through the front opening. She moved her hand in a rhythmic pump, one that matched his own tentative strokes against her clit. She was hot and desperate, and if he didn’t fuck her soon, she was going to explode.

Dash moaned. “You’re gonna kill me.”

Serenity kissed him, and unlike earlier, there was nothing feral behind this touch. It was sweet and tender, a caress of her lips against his, a playful swipe of her tongue into his mouth. Every nerve in her body went on overdrive. She needed him.

“Let me have this,” she whispered. “I don’t know what’s going to happen either. But this is mine. Please.” She paused, swallowed, then added, “Please, Dash, make love with me.”

That was it. She knew the second he snapped. A flicker of emotion, something deep and tangible, stole through his eyes then he was moving. His mouth found hers, hard and demanding, as he pushed two fingers into her pussy. Serenity whimpered into his kiss, her hips bucking as she ripped his T-shirt over his head. This time was on her terms, and she wanted skin. She needed to feel him, all of him, and refused to settle for anything less.