[06] Slade (21 page)

Looking away from him, she nodded. “Thank you.” Holding her hand out toward him, she sighed, “Now, can I have my keys back so I can leave?”

His phone rang as he answered her, “No.”

Caroline dropped her hand, gave him an evil glare, her face red with anger as she passed him to lean against her car.

“What?” Jax growled into his phone. “Yeah. No, she’s fine. Just take the Nissan back to the compound for me, okay, Sid. Yeah, that’s it on the median. Dammit, I said she’s fine.” He hung up.

“Why can’t I have my keys, Jax?” Caroline gave him a sideways glance.

“Because I want to talk to you…” Jax swallowed, looking away, “about my sister.”

“Oh, shit’s gonna hit the fan.” Jared glanced at Slade with a grimace as Jill and Dillon walked into Sloan’s office, laughing.

Leaning against the wall, Slade glanced up then away.

“You get his feet and I’ll take his arms.” Sid acted like he was ready to pounce.

Slade closed his eyes briefly, keeping control; he had to keep control. Sid and Jared weren’t making it easy, the fuckers.

“Do you have a fucking phone?” Sloan’s voice boomed, making Jill jump.

“Ah, who me?” When Sloan just stared at her and Dillon, Jill nodded. “But I was driving and didn’t get the group message until we were almost here.”

“I sent the message an hour ago.” Sloan still stared between the two.

“Well, I was driving and, ah…” Jill’s eyes went to Dillon for help.

“And we stopped for some pizza,” he added, nodding toward Jill.

“Pizza?” Steve frowned. “Well, thanks a lot for asking, assholes. I want pizza.”

Sloan rubbed his forehead as if trying to scrub his frustration away.

“Just makes you want to scream, don’t it?” Sid leaned toward Sloan, but was shaking his head at Jill and Dillon.

“I’m going to remove my hand, and when I do, you better be away from me, Sid,” Sloan warned.

“Done.” Sid nodded, straightened up and moved a step away.

Sloan did remove his hand, but his eyes zeroed in on Jill. “You stripper ready?”

“Ah, that’s an odd way to…” Jill stopped, nodded and cleared her throat when he sneered at her. “Yes, I think so.”

“What the fuck do you mean, ‘you think so’? Either you’re ready or you’re not.” Sloan looked at Slade. “Is she ready?”

“Yes, she’s ready.” Slade did his best to keep the growl out of his voice and sneer off his face.

“Well, she better be. Tomorrow night is the night.” Sloan rummaged around his desk. Finally finding what he was looking for, he handed Slade a picture. “This is the mark. His name is George Groper.”

Sid opened his mouth, shook his head and looked at Sloan. “Seriously?” Sid ignored Sloan’s glare. “I’m sorry, but how classic is that. I mean, we are doing a sting in a strip club and the mark’s name is George Groper. Nobody could write this shit.”

“You done?” Sloan looked up at Sid, his eyes narrowed.

“Yes.” Sid thought for a moment and nodded. “Yes, I am.”

Slade grabbed the picture out of Sloan’s hand, and then passed it around. “What if he doesn’t show?”

“Then we go back until he does,” Sloan responded. “Me, Slade and Duncan will be in the surveillance van.”

“Why am I in the van?” Slade’s head snapped up.

“Because I said so,” Sloan replied with his ‘no budging on this’ tone. “Jax and Damon will be inside, so you two make sure you have your suits. This is a high-class club. Sid and Jared will be stationed outside the building, ready for assistance if needed.”

“What about us?” Steve frowned, looking around. “What do we do?”

“Take the night off.” Sloan didn’t even look Steve’s way. Reaching in his desk drawer, he pulled out a box. “Jill, you will wear this at all times. It has a small camera and microphone. We will be able to see what you see and hear what you hear.”

Jill took the box and opened it, pulling out a beautiful studded choker with a pendent. “Okay.” Jill nodded, putting the choker back in the box, then lifted something else out. “What’s this?”

“It will go with the outfit the women picked out for you, and that is your earpiece so we can tell you what to do. It’s small enough that it won’t be detected by anyone, no matter how close they get.” Sloan looked up at her. “You won’t be alone in this, Jill.”

“I know.” Jill smiled, putting on a brave front.

Slade watched Jill and knew she was nervous, even as hard as she was trying to hide it. His protective instincts kicked in and he wanted to assure her she would be fine. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her, but that was going to be damn hard when he was in the fucking van. Yeah, he and Sloan would have a talk about that after everyone left.

“Any questions?” Sloan looked around, then frowned. “Where the hell is Jax?”

“He had car trouble,” Sid answered with no more information. “We’ll fill him in,” he told Slade.

“I have a question.” Jill’s voice shook. “How am I supposed to get there? I don’t test for my license until Monday.”

“Shit.” Sloan frowned, tossing down his pen.

“I can take her.” Dillon stepped up.

“No, she can drive. Jax said she did fine, and as long as she’s careful, there will be no problems,” Slade answered, glaring at Dillon.

“Yeah, but—” Dillon started again.

“And I said no, she can drive.” Slade’s eyes darkened. “You have a fucking hearing problem?”

“No,” Dillon snapped back, glaring at Slade. “I’m just trying to help.”

“Yeah, well don’t,” Slade warned. When Dillon started to open his mouth again, Slade took a step forward, his eyes deadly. “I said…don’t.” The deepening of Slade’s voice warned everyone in the room that shit was about to get real.

Sloan’s head was going back and forth between Slade and Dillon. “They seriously don’t pay me enough for this shit,” he sighed. “Next on the agenda is initiation. Wednesday is the start of your initiation. We will have a short meeting beforehand, which no one better be late for or I’m going to beat the hell out of you, so be on fucking time. I hope to hell you guys are ready for this.”

Steve, Adam, Jill and Dillon all voiced their readiness and each looked nervous as hell.

Sloan stood looking at Jill. “Have you fed?”

“Not in a while,” Jill answered honestly.

“You need to feed so make sure you do that before tomorrow night,” Sloan warned her. “I suggest you all feed before initiation.”

“Are there any donors…?” Jill looked embarrassed. “I still don’t have a donor.”

“I thought I told you to take care of that?” Sloan frowned down at her.

“You can feed from me,” Dillon replied with the innocence of a total idiot.

“Oh, hey…” Sid and Jared both stepped up next to Slade. Sid actually hooked his arm on Slade’s shoulder until Slade shrugged it off. “You’re on your own, kid.” Sid gave Dillon a sad look.

“No, she can’t fucking feed from you.” Slade’s eyes flashed black with a darkening red rim. “Neither can she have pizza with you, and you sure as hell cannot drive her anywhere.”

“What is wrong with you?” Jill frowned at Slade, then glanced at Sloan who was watching the scene closely.

Slade couldn’t help it; his control snapped and fuck it. He was done hiding his feelings and was ready to let any male within ten miles know that Jill was his before he killed someone.

“Everyone out!” Sloan yelled, and then leaned against his desk with his arms folded. “Except you three.” He indicated toward Slade, Jill and Dillon.

Once everyone was gone, Dillon spread his arms wide. “What did I do?”

“First off, I spent ten minutes sitting next to you in the bar listening to your remarks about Jill as she danced,” Slade growled, trying to get a grip on his raging anger. “And they are things I will not repeat.”

Dillon shrugged. “Hey, can I help it if she turned out to be hot.”

“Eww, Dillon.” Jill looked at him, shocked, before smacking him in the arm. “You’re like a brother to me.”

Dillon actually laughed. “Sorry, Jill, you’re gorgeous, but it’s cool.” He looked up at Slade. “I didn’t know you and the doc had a thing going. I mean, I wondered why you were glaring me to death, but it’s all good.”

“Now, you know.” Slade’s voice was deep with warning. He could see Jill’s eyes open wide in shock, but he didn’t look at her. “She is off limits.”

“I swear, I will only look at Jill as a sister.” Dillon tugged her hair. “See.”

“Ouch, you jerk.” Jill elbowed him in the stomach.

“Truce?” Dillon stuck out his hand toward Slade.

Slade took his hand in a strong grip and nodded, but his eyes gave the kid one last warning.

“Both of you get to the warehouse.” Sloan nodded toward the door.

Once Jill and Dillon were out the door, Sloan turned his attention to Slade and laughed.

“What the fuck is so funny?” Slade frowned, not finding anything about the situation humorous. When Sloan continued to laugh, Slade eyed him cautiously since Sloan rarely laughed. “What in the fuck is funny?”

“Oh, hell.” Sloan held his stomach. “I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.”

“Well, glad you find the situation funny,” Slade grumbled, wondering if Sloan had finally lost it.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment.” Sloan laughed again, then cleared his throat. “And for it to happen because some kid gets a hard-on for Jill and I was here to witness you losing it.”

“Hey, you didn’t hear the shit he was saying when she was dancing.” Slade pointed toward the door. “And he’s no kid.”

“Yeah, probably nothing we haven’t said in our years of watching strippers,” Sloan grinned.

“Jill is not a stripper,” Slade hissed.

“No, she’s not. She’s a beautiful young woman with a badass attitude and is going to make one hell of a Warrior.” Sloan nodded, but his grin faded quickly. “You need to claim her, my friend, because I can’t have you going around threatening every male who even looks her way.”

Slade didn’t say anything; he just nodded. Pausing, he looked at Sloan. “You knew the whole time, didn’t you?”

“Probably before you did, you dumb bastard.” Sloan straightened up, walking behind his desk.

“I can’t wait for the day a woman wraps you around her finger,” Slade grumbled. “I cannot fucking wait.”

“Not going to happen, so go to hell,” Sloan growled. “Now get out of here and do your job before I have to fire your ass.”

“So Jill is safe? You’re not going to kick her out of the program?” Slade headed for the door, but needed to make sure he didn’t just kill any chance Jill had in the program.

“I’d be a fool to kick her out. I figured you two were going to happen. I would ask you to wait until after her initiation, but I don’t see that happening. I’m not kicking you or her out no matter what I said, not that you’d listen to me anyway.” Sloan turned more serious. “But you need to keep a cool head, especially tomorrow night, and let her do her job without interference because some guy might run his hand up her leg or some shit. It could be dangerous for her if you have another fit.”

Slade sneered, but agreed, “I’ve got it handled.”

“Well, I hope to hell you handle it better than you did a few minutes ago,” Sloan warned, but laughed again.

Walking out of Sloan’s office hearing laughter ringing out behind him, Slade knew without a doubt if Sloan was making fun of him, Jared and Sid were going to be relentless. “Fuck!”

******

Training had been brutal, but Jill welcomed it. Of course, Dillon gave her shit for not telling him about her and Slade, but in all honesty, she hadn’t really known. Or at least she wasn’t for sure. Damn him. He confused her and she had no way of talking to him during training.

Stepping out of the shower, Jill toweled off quickly. Tossing the towel on the floor, she walked out of the bathroom determined to get dressed, find Slade and ask him if he’d lost his mind.

“You need to start locking your door.” Slade’s voice snapped her head up, making her jump.

Slade stood against her wall in old ripped blue jeans, no shoes and a white sleeveless tank that fit him like a second skin. ‘Holy shit’ was all that came to her mind. She knew her nipples automatically reacted to the sight of him. Turning, she started to go in the bathroom.

“Don’t!” His command stopped her.

Slowly, she turned back around and stood before him. His eyes roamed her body, setting her on fire. She wondered briefly if she could actually bitch him out while standing before him completely naked.

“What in the hell was that all about in Sloan’s office?” Yeah, she had no problem with it. “Sloan is probably clapping in glee just waiting to see me so he can throw me out. Did you tell him we…you know…also.”

Slade lifted his eyes to hers and smiled. “First of all, I don’t think Sloan has ever clapped in glee.”

“I don’t find any of this funny, Slade.” Jill frowned at his joking. She did turn then, went into the bathroom, grabbed a towel and walked out, her body covered.

Eyeing the towel wrapped around her body, Slade frowned. “Oh, Sloan found it really funny.”

“No, he didn’t.” Jill’s tone clearly called Slade a liar. “And why did you act that way toward Dillon? He’s just my friend.”

“Dillon was not looking at you as a friend at the bar.” Slade took a step toward her. “He needed to know he had no chance with you. If you would have hooked your little finger at him, he would have followed you in the back and been balls deep inside you in a heartbeat.”

“Okay, that was crude.” Jill held the towel tighter against herself. “I don’t look at Dillon that way.”

“Crude but absolutely true, and good thing for him you don’t,” Slade growled, his eyes narrowed. “And no, I didn’t tell Sloan anything other than you are mine.”

Jill’s eyes widened. “You told him that?”

“I also told you that. My exact words to you were, ‘once you are mine, it will be body and soul’,’” he reminded her.

“But I didn’t know if I was yours or not, Slade. You’re a very complex man and…” Her stomach dipped as she shivered. This man had such an intense stare, as if he could see into her soul. “… you confuse me.” She swallowed hard.

Slade smiled without humor. “Oh, you are mine, Jillian.” He held his hand out, the towel ripping away from her body. “Never doubt that.”