Текст книги "Fear You"

Автор книги: B. B. Reid

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 21 страниц)

* * *

The restaurant where we had agreed to meet was just outside of town to avoid detection. It wasn’t until I made it just outside of Six Forks that I realized my gas light was on. I had no clue how long I’d driven with it on so I decided to stop. Being stranded on the side of the road was not my idea of a good time.

I filled up the tank and went inside for a pack of gum. I immediately regretted it as soon as I emerged from the store with my pack of winter fresh in hand. Two men were standing next to my car, which would have seemed normal except it was the way the men stood around my car as if they owned it. Instinct told me they were waiting for me.

A well-dressed man in his early to mid-fifties in a dark gray suit and a man dressed in all black typical of a bodyguard screamed trouble, and trouble found me.

“Hello,” the suit greeted when I reached my car. His dark brown hair was expertly styled. He wasn’t much taller than I was with his average build. He shouldn’t have been a threatening presence, and on a normal day in a normal life, he wouldn’t have been.

I took in the expensive looking watch while I nodded my head in greeting and waited for him to move. He didn’t. He was blocking the driver’s door, and though he attempted to appear casual, I knew he was purposely blocking me.

“Can I help you?”

“Might I say you are much more beautiful up close.”

Say what?

“Um… I think I should go.” I took a cautious step back but stopped retreating when I remembered I was moving in the opposite direction of my car. I was trapped without actually being trapped.

“Why? We’ve only just started talking. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for some time now.” His malicious grin spread wider with each word he spoke. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Oh, yeah?” I managed to speak over the nervous flutter in my stomach. “From who?”

“Let’s just say I like to keep an eye on my interests. Some are more valuable than others.”

There was only one person who could be the cause of this meeting.

“Keiran,” I guessed while hoping it would somehow summon him magically. Funny how my once tormentor became my unforeseen knight in all black armor. The man’s eyes twinkled at the mention of his name.

“Yes, Keiran. I’m very fond of his… potential, if you will.”

My mind furiously attempted to connect the dots, but I couldn’t figure out who was standing before me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name?”

“I’m Arthur Phalan.”

“Arthur Phalan?” I repeated.

“In the flesh.” He spread his arms wide in a magnanimous gesture, but when I continued to watch him silently, his arms fell. “I see he hasn’t been any more forthcoming with you than he has been with me.”

“I don’t know who you are so why are you here?”

“I believe you bumped into me, young lady. It is a mere coincidence we met here today.”

“Somehow I doubt that. I meant, why are you here in Six Forks?”

“Ah, well. I came here to collect. I paid a very fine price to get your little boyfriend out of a sticky situation.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was you who was going to testify against him for the murders of your little classmates, was it not?”

“You got him out jail?”

“That is correct.”

“Why? How?” I stumbled over my questions and each word came out harsher than I intended but I was stumped. Why would he help Keiran?

“Which answer would you like first?” He chuckled.

“Any,” I snapped. I didn’t miss the brief flicker of anger in his eyes or the way his jaw had clenched before he settled himself.

“I got him out because he promised me a valuable service. It was easy, although costly, to do considering I had to lace a lot more pockets than I cared to and call in a few favors. The thing about government and the law is it is very easy to corrupt.”

“What was his promise?”

“His servitude, Miss Monroe. And his undying loyalty... well, until he dies. The work can be a little… tricky… at times. There are a lot of risks and—”

“He’s going to kill for you,” I whispered. “Again.” I’d already pieced together exactly who this man was and what he represented.

“Yes, and I have the feeling he’ll be very good at it. He showed much promise as a child. I remember him most of all.”

“And Lily? What about her?”

“Who?” His brow rose in question at the mention of the little girl who suffered gravely.

“Lily. The little girl you were planning to turn into a whore before she even had the chance to learn what love was.”

“I’ve turned many little girls into whores, young lady. Their names don’t always resonate in my mind or matter.”

“You’re a sick fuck,” I spat.

“I’m a very rich fuck. Speaking of which… I am so glad I ran into you. Saves me the trouble of having to do this the hard way.” He signaled for someone in the distance and a burly man with a grim expression came forward.

“What—what are you doing?”

“Your little boyfriend has yet to deliver himself to me. I am tired of waiting so I’ll just have to find payment another way.” His leer as he stared at me and licked his lips was sickening. “You, my dear, can also provide a valuable service.”

The bodyguard gripped my arm, and I immediately began to struggle. The scream that was building up from my lungs was cut short by the deep voice and unmistakable sound of a round entering the chamber of a gun.

“Take your fucking hands off her, and I’ll let you live another day.”

Keiran? I said a silent prayer of thanks that my tormentor/ex-lover had a tendency to stalk me.

“Why, Keiran—”

“I’m not interested in small talk. Tell your dog to obey or this bullet goes in your head.” I followed the sight of the barrel down an extended arm encased in black until I was finally able to see Keiran’s formidable expression. He’s here.

“You are trespassing on dangerous grounds, son.”

“I’m sure I can make it up to you,” he retorted sarcastically.

“I hope she’s worth it then because this will cost you dearly.”

“Her worth is none of your business. His hands. Now.” Arthur nodded to the henchman and my arms were released. I wanted to rub them in comfort but didn’t want my hands where his had just been.

“Lake, get in the car,” he ordered without taking his eyes off the two men. I hesitated because I was more than reluctant to leave him alone, but when Keiran turned his head slowly and met my eyes, I moved to obey as a chilled shiver ran down my spine.

Chapter Seventeen

Keiran

“That was a bold move, son. Risky and stupid. It’s exactly why I need you working for me.”

I watched Monroe close the car door to make sure she was safe before I stuck my gun back into my waist. I was one wrong word away from blowing his head off his shoulders.

“Don’t ever touch her again. I don’t care how far your reach goes. I will kill you for her even if I have to die in the process. Are we clear?”

“I was prepared to take her as compensation. I haven’t heard from you since your release. The release I orchestrated. Why is that?”

“I’m busy with school.”

“Is that so?”

“I have to finish.”

“I’m not interested in your education. What I have in mind for you doesn’t require a degree or diploma. I don’t want your brains. I want your soul.”

“And you don’t think anyone will question if I disappear? You got me out on bail, but you didn’t make the charges go away. I still have a noose hanging around my neck and can’t leave the state or even the county. Do you really want to chance being brought down for aiding and abetting? And then there’s my uncle.”

“He can be taken care of.” It was meant as a threat, but what he didn’t know was I didn’t harbor any familial feelings for my uncle.

He chuckled after a while and turned to regard his bulldog. “Are you seeing this kid? No emotion. Nothing.” He turned back to face me with a curious expression. “You don’t have much give, do you, boy?”

“I don’t have time for this.” I spun on my heel and started for my car. I needed to make sure she was okay. I was kicking myself for letting her out of my sight. I told her about the organization, but what she didn’t know was I had only scratched the surface. She had no idea of the shit she was almost dragged into. If he had succeeded and taken her…

“Keiran.” My name caused me to stop in my tracks. His tone was no longer charming and easygoing. I had crossed the line but was beyond caring.

“Yes?”

“My fondness for you, and most dangerously, my patience, is wearing thin. I had to pull a lot of strings to get you out, and in return, you promised me an important package. However, my sources have reported to me you may not be able to deliver… or maybe that you had no intention to do so.”

Shit.

I managed to keep a straight face but felt my muscles bunch and strain. I’ve been too distracted with this mini war with Monroe to cover my tracks. He had me caught in a corner, but I wasn’t about to give anything away until I knew how much he knew. “Well, then, I guess you should recheck your resources.”

“Are you saying you aren’t collaborating with Mario to infiltrate my organization? Because if you are, I have to say…” he waggled his finger, “it wouldn’t make me the happiest man. I may be forced to do something irreversible.”

“There is nothing you can do to me I haven’t prepared for my entire life.”

A conspiratorial grin bared his white teeth. “I hear you have a brother. Is he still checked in at that hospital? Let’s see… what was it called…”

“Don’t fucking think about it.”

“I’ll do more than think about it. The question is—are you going to make me have to prove a point?”

“I said I’ll give you Mario and I will—”

“Not soon enough. I could just kill you and the girl right here and now, but that idea doesn’t appeal to me as much, so how about I sweeten the deal?”

“You don’t have anything I want.”

“No, but your brother does.” He made me wait a beat before he clarified. “He needs a lung, does he not?”

“How do you know that?” I gritted. I was going to have Mario increase security at the hospital as soon as this was over.

“Connections and money, dear boy. It is the very reason you are standing here now. It is also how I will be able to procure your brother a lung.”

“Come again?”

“To guarantee you will work for me and you will bring me Mario, I’ll procure a lung for your brother. I can have one ready as soon as you deliver.”

My eyes narrowed as I regarded him suspiciously. “And how do you intend to do that?”

“That’s for me to worry about, but you can call it an act of good faith. Do we have a deal?”

“I don’t have a choice, do I?”

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Maybe I should use your brains after all.”

“Look, if you want your mole, then we do this on my terms for now. I have a lot of eyes on my back. I haven’t forgotten what you did, and I remember what you can do if I don’t deliver. However, right now, I need you to back off. I need to be as unassuming as possible.”

Arthur studied me for several long moments, gauging my sincerity and also, letting me see the threat in his own.

“You have until you graduate and not a day later. I’ll be watching you, Masters. I want my mole, and I want you under my command. Nothing less is acceptable. Anything less and I start picking off your loved ones… even the one you hide in plain sight.” His gaze traveled over to my car and back, a clear indication.

“Understood.” I turned on my heel without saying goodbye and headed for my ride where Monroe sat safely inside.

Too close.

She came way too close.

And someone was going to die for it.

* * *

“What was that about?”

“What was what about?” I asked absently. My only concern was getting her away as quickly as possible. If Arthur decided to change his mind and kill us both, I wasn’t so sure I would be able to save us.

Just as I peeled out on the main road, I winced slightly at the unexpected jab in my arm. I realized it was a stupid question and blatant attempt to avoid the question.

“Don’t do that. You know exactly what I mean. Why is he here? What’s going on?”

“Which question would you like me to answer first?”

“The first one!” she growled.

“He’s here for me, Monroe, and until today, he knew nothing about you.”

“He sure as hell didn’t act like it.”

My head whipped around to watch her seething in the passenger seat. “What do you mean he didn’t act like it?”

She shrugged as if it was inconsequential, but I could see the nervous twitch she always got in her eyes. It used to be reserved only for me. I can’t say I miss her fear, but I sure as hell didn’t enjoy seeing it because of someone else. It made me want to hurt someone. “He said he heard a lot about me and had been waiting to meet me.

“Son of a bitch. Anything else?” She flinched at the hard edge in my voice, but I was too pissed to care.

“Just that he always kept eyes on his interests. Keiran, you have to tell me what is going on. Why is he here for you? How did he find you?”

“My bail was denied, and with Mitch on the loose and Keenan in the hospital, I had to find a way out of jail. There was no way in hell I was sitting by until trial. And then there was you.”

“What about me?”

“When I realized you turned me in, my resolve to stay away from you once and for all, vanished. I would have done anything to get to you. I wanted to hurt you, Monroe.”

“So what changed?”

“What makes you think anything’s changed?”

“Because all you’ve done so far is to give me severe whiplash.”

“What were you doing out here?” I asked, changing the subject.

“I, uh… I was meeting Jesse for dinner,” she answered nervously and began to fidget in her seat. I slammed on the brakes and jerked the car onto the side of road haphazardly.

“Come again? And before you answer, I want you to think real hard about the words you are about to let come out of your mouth.”

“What’s your problem? I don’t answer to you.”

My fist was in her hair, and the other followed suit, snapping open her seatbelt and yanking her by the waist of her jeans across the console. I ignored her yelp of pain and anchored her in my lap. Here I could get a good look in her eyes.

“Hear me now, Monroe. You will always answer to me.” I quickly kissed her lips and then bit down on her cheek to stifle the smart remark that was sure to come out of her mouth. God, I needed to keep her mouth shut. It did things to my dick that not even the world’s best blowjob could do.

“What world are you living in, Masters? I’m my own woman now. Your intimidation tactics don’t work anymore. It’s… old… news.” She smirked as if she’d won some great argument.

“No? Well, maybe I can just fuck you harder than I’ve ever taken you right here until you see things my way.” I returned her smirk when the pulse at her neck quickened.

“I would have to let you touch me, and we both know that isn’t about to happen again.”

“But you want it to.”

“Don’t be so sure about that. Your ego needs to take a nosedive.”

I let out a deep yet ironic laugh and tossed her into the passenger seat none too gently. If I didn’t take my hands off her fast, I would show her just how much she wanted me right against the steering wheel. “I kind of missed the fuck out of you, you know that?”

“It’s only been two weeks,” she snapped. Her eyes widened the exact moment she realized her slip. She had been counting. I could have taken it as an opportunity to humiliate her, but decided to show a little mercy.

Once she was settled back into her seat, I dialed Mario and headed back to Six Forks. “I need you to double security,” I said by way of greeting. He didn’t miss a beat or bother with the nuisance of conversational courtesy bullshit.

“What’s up?”

“I just saw Arthur. He touched my girl.” I heard the intake of breath from the passenger seat but chose to ignore my slip-up. I was still reeling from the reality that I’d just come face to face with the man who thought he could own me.

“Shit. Is she all right?”

“Yes. I want to know how he could possibly know about her?”

“What do you expect, man? You haven’t exactly been laying low when it comes to the girl.” I gripped the steering wheel tighter, realizing he was right. Monroe drew me like a moth to a flame, and even when we were practically enemies, I still found reasons to be near her.

“He was going to grab her as payment for not delivering you. We need to move faster.”

“We can’t move faster. I don’t have everything in place.”

“You don’t have what in place?” I barked. I could see Monroe jump from the corner of my eye. She turned her wide eyes on me while her hand fluttered near her chest where her heart lay. I wondered what she saw when she looked at me.

“I need to make sure I have concrete evidence in place to put him away forever. I’ve already lost my career to this motherfucker. I want him to get a lethal dose of what it’s like to fuck with me.”

“If you want him dead, you should have just said so. I can end this now.” I was tempted to turn the car around and do just that. I had to protect Monroe. She was part of the stakes now.

What about your brother?

I forced myself to shake off the thoughts. Arthur had successfully planted a seed in my head that was spreading faster than a deadly disease. I had no reason to betray the man who’d given me a shot at life. It was Mario who had brought me home, and it was Mario who was there when I was released from juvie, ready to do anything I needed to exact my revenge against the bright-haired, blue-eyed drug sitting next to me.

There was no way I could double cross him.

But there was no way I could let my brother die when there was a way to save him.

“No,” he rushed out. Suspicion naturally perked up at his rejection, but I shook it off. “We don’t kill him.”

For some reason, I heard the unspoken ‘yet’ in his statement.

“Why not?”

“Because if we kill him then another will take his place. It won’t bring down his organization. We need to do this carefully. We need evidence, and we need Arthur vulnerable. If we flush out everyone, we can take his organization.”

“I don’t want to take anything. I want him dead or rotting in a jail cell. Either way, he suffers.”

“You know that’s not what I meant,” he laughed.

“Just fix it, Mario.” I hung up the phone and texted Q and Dash to meet me at my place. First, I needed to get her home.

“How did you find me?” Her small voice infiltrated my attempt to block her out.

“Would you believe me if I told you I was passing by?”

“No.”

“It’s true. I passed you on the way into town. I wasn’t going to follow you, but that lasted only a few miles. I had no clue where you were going, but—”

Hell, I had no clue what I was doing. I was prepared to track her all night if need be. This had to be the first time when my obsession with her came in handy.

“But what?” she pressed.

“But nothing. I’m just glad I did.”

“So if he knew how to find me, why did he come after me and not you? He said he wanted to take me as an alternative payment.”

I felt my blood boil and my knuckles whiten further as I gripped the steering wheel tighter. I was surprised it didn’t bend under the pressure.

“He was likely going to use you as leverage rather than payment. He still wants Mario, and as long as I can deliver him, he won’t do anything drastic.”

“You don’t call public kidnapping in broad daylight drastic?”

“He could have killed you.” I couldn’t resist meeting her gaze if only for a moment.

“I am done getting caught in the middle of your shit storm, Keiran.”

“I tried doing the right thing and letting you go. You are just as much to blame.” When she turned me in, she broke any resolve I managed to build to stay away from her, and now my biggest enemy knew about her. Of course, I had no idea who was feeding him information, so it was likely she would have been a target whether I stayed away or not. It all began when I decided I had to have her and used revenge as an excuse.

“You killed Trevor and Anya!” she shouted.

“You’re beginning to sound like a broken record.”

“What are we going to do about my car?” It only just occurred to me that it was left behind. I wasn’t even sure what station it was we had just left. From the corner of my eye, I watched her pull out her phone as she sent a text message.

“What were you going to dinner with Jesse for?” I asked instead of answering her question.

“I don’t know. What do people usually go to dinner for?”

“Have I ever told you that I find your sarcastic nature sexy?”

“Don’t make this about sex, Keiran.”

“It’s always about sex.”

“Yeah, well… I’m not your sex toy anymore so you’ll have to get reacquainted with your hand.”

“I’d rather get reacquainted with your pussy.”

I enjoyed the answering, lustful growl disguised as anger that passed through her lips.