Break Maiden (Chrome Horsemen MC Book 3) (2 page)

Nicole curled and snuggled, but discovered that part of her attention was seeking the boys with her ears.
They're fine,
she told that part of herself, appeasing her mother-hen instincts --
we're all going to be just fine. And I'll make sure of that, today,
Nicole promised.

The bikes roared to life and Angie and Nicole stood on the sidewalk, waving them goodbye. Then the two women went back inside. They chatted for a while in the kitchen, which was new for Nicole. Her life never brushed up against such domestic events before. She found it felt so good she had to force herself to leave, to make the excuse of checking her stocks in order to pry herself away and get back to the bedroom.

She couldn't delay this, though, and there would be plenty of afternoons to spend with Angie, who she already thought of as a friend. Once in the guest room again, she sat down on the edge of the bed and took several deep, focusing breaths, and called him.

"Nicole?"

"Yes, Gabriel, it's me. So how much? Let's talk," she said, her voice all business now and all of her negotiation skills rising. She felt that Max would approve.

Gabriel paused and, with slight confusion, said, "How much for what?"

"I'm not stupid, Gabriel, and you are causing strife. So, let's talk cash. What's it going to take for you to drop all this bullshit and leave me alone?"

"I don't understand," he said, his voice still sounding confused.

"Yes you do. You would understand perfectly if this were Lou on the phone," she told him.

"Lou? How do you know about Lou?"

"You're kidding, right? The whole fucking city of Chicago knows you have brought Lou into this childish infatuation with me. You have what? Fifty suits walking around your house? It is very obvious who you ran to, Gabriel. They know it, I know it, and now let's get back on topic. How much is it going to take, Gabriel?"

"You're serious," he said, his voice changing to firmer ground. "You want to settle with me?"

She let out a long sigh of exasperation, "Yes," she said as if discussing things with a petulant child. "How much?"

"One million," he said, and she could hear the snide smile coming through the connection.

She had it. As of yesterday, the buy-in she did on a biotech startup brought her up and over the top of her first million. But, if she just said yes now, he wouldn't take her as seriously when she showed up to pay and she needed him to see this as a business deal.

"Get serious, Gabriel. You wouldn't ask that for Antonio and Davis together. Start reasonable, or maybe I'll tell Lou why he's wasting resources – the real reason. Think he would enjoy finding out that he's been exposed like this over a call girl? Half-a-million."

"I don't give a flying fuck what that old spic thinks. He's been paid, up front, for the month. That was the deal. Fuck him. Eight hundred and I'll close it all down."

She almost sighed with relief. Gabriel just stepped firmly into the negotiation. He was going to take this seriously. Thank fucking God.

They hammered at each other, insulted each other, brought up secrets the other didn't know were exposed. But when Gabriel dropped to $750,000, she said, "Done."

"Excuse me?"

"I said done. I accept. I'll take a cab, drop off your money, and we are quits," she told him.

"You have 750k?"

"Yes," she said patiently. "Yes I do and now I don't, but I consider it money well invested. Would an hour fit your schedule, because I have a flight to catch."

"An hour? Yes. That will work. Tell the guards at the gate who you are," Gabriel told her, his voice all business now.

She did call a cab, after checking her stock values to ensure that something hadn't gone terribly wrong, but they were fine. To Angie, she said she was leaving to shop and then got in the cab before she could think about it too much.

At the gate, she began wishing she had stopped to pick up something a little nicer to wear. The guards were wearing five thousand dollar suits, for crying out loud. She was escorted up to the third floor of Gabriel's mansion, to his office. There, the guards left and closed the door. Gabriel was across the room and two of his regular goons were on each side of her, which made sense, considering he was in a war.

"Good to see you again, Nicole," though he said this without turning around to actually see her as she walked to the middle of what could have been a master bedroom.

She stopped in front of his desk, "I would like, if only for politeness' sake, to say the same, but I can't. Let's do this and get back to business."

He turned around to face her and she saw what was in his hand -- a syringe.

Strong, unyielding hands grabbed her arms and shoulders, and pressed her hard into the desk, making her drop her laptop, "What is that? What the fuck is that?" she said, barely noticing the hands on her. Her focus centered on the needle in Gabriel's hand.

"I think you know," Gabriel smiled. "Heroin. The whore trainer."

"You keep that filth away from me! Gabriel! Don't fucking do this!" she yelled, her voice was breaking and her panic rising.

"You don't have to worry. We’re just going to do some re-training on you. I've got ten years of very good experience with excellent results. I'm very good at this, Nicole."

"We had a deal! A fucking deal!"

"You aren't a power, Nicole and I don't negotiate with whores. I mean, really, what would people say?"

She was scared out of her mind. Over and over she witnessed the results of that drug in the hands of Gabriel. He would hook her and then break her. She wouldn't be a call girl any more. She wouldn't be able to think well enough to be one after he was done. She grabbed a hold of that last thought, "Fine! I'll come back! I'll come back willingly. I'll take up my clients again. But I can't if you use that on me. You know it won't happen. I'll never be able to take my clients with that filth in my veins."

Gabriel stopped. He watched her for some time and then walked back to the window, "Well, that would take care of this stupid war and have you remain profitable at the same level," he mused. "But no," he said turning back around. "There's that driver of yours. It wouldn't work. He would still come after you and eventually he might even get you. I mean, the man took out Antonio in a close combat gunfight. You don't take a man like that lightly. It would be stupid."

"I'll call him," she panted, her fear nearly choking her. "I'll call him and break it off. I'll tell him I came back on my own. He'll have no reason to come after me."

Gabriel set the needle down on the desk and thought about that for some time. "You'll tell him that you don't want to see him? That you came back on your own?"

"Yes, yes, and no one can prove otherwise," she panted.

"Hmm, risky, though," he mused. "But all right. I'll take you back and put you back with your clients on the condition -- and I swear to you, honey, I'll so fuck you up if you try something -- on the condition that you make it so convening that even I believe you."

"All right, yes. Yes," she agreed, relief pouring out of her.

They let her up from the desk and she stood slowly. She begged the universe to somehow let Cole know that she didn't want to do this. She had no choice. She couldn't live with that shit inside of her, melting her Brian, taking her soul away, breaking her into a fuck-doll. She would at least be able to think after this and remain Nicole.

She calmed down, pacing a little with her phone in her hand, getting her voice and attitude, and memorizing lines. Then she called Cole. Her heart shattered and, for a moment, she thought she was going to die, right there. Just fall down dead. You can't live without a heart; everyone knows that. She hung up the phone and droped it, utterly defeated. Then she was slammed back on to the desk and Gabriel picked back up the needle, "Well that makes everything nice and tidy," he said, and then smirked at her, "You really are a stupid whore."

"No, Gabriel! No! Don't do it! Fuck! Cole! Help!"

The needle hit her vein and a fog was suddenly in her Brian, taking the world of fear and panic away, along with herself.

"Now, isn't that better?" Gabriel asked her. "Don't worry about a thing. I can take care of all of this. And I do need to take care of
all
of it. Now that you are under control, we'll take care of Cole Porter next."

CHAPTER THREE

Cole stood with a hole in his chest so deep he couldn't breathe past the suction it created in him. His mind wouldn't catch gears; it just spun with no intelligible thoughts. Things like, "it wasn't really her," and "she had a gun to her head," and "I can't believe this," would flash across his mind, but all the bases were covered. He could call Angie, but he knew what she would say. Nicole left on her own and went back to Gabriel to be a call girl. Her reasons were valid and her voice matter of fact.

Brian sensed something, because he came toward him, looking him over. But before he could ask, Jim's phone rang and Big Jim looked at the display and said, "What the fuck does this pimp think he's going to say now?"

Cole snapped out of it enough to walk past Brian, asking, "Is that Gabriel? Would you mind speaker phone?"

Jim looked at him and then looked harder at him, studying him, and then he said, "Yeah, all right. Everyone in this room is fully invested. Why not?" He set the phone on his desk and answered the call with the speaker, "What the fuck do you want?"

Gabriel laughed, "Well, I just thought I would call and tell you that it's over. I'm done. Back to business."

"What?" Jim bellowed.

"I said it’s done. You win. And that's how I'll tell it to anyone who inquires. I was far too impulsive and it was all for nothing, really. I've lost my two best enforcers for no reason at all. She came back all on her own. She’s going to see a client tonight. So, you win."

Jim snapped his eyes to Cole who looked slowly down at his phone still in his hand. Something black and angry came into Jim's eyes. "Well, that would be all nice and fuzzy if I gave a flying fuck about your call girl problems!"

"What?"

"I said I'm not interested in your girl coming back to you! You attacked my man! And I'm going to kill you for it. Do you understand me, you fucking twisted moron?"

"Oh," Gabriel said, "Oh, that. Right. Yes, I would be looking for your ball-sack as a change purse if you did that to me, as well. So, I agree. It was definitely out of bounds on every level. So, what do you want? How much?"

Cole could see he wanted to tell the man to fuck off, but that wouldn't be the best thing for the club. "Hold on," he said, and put the phone on mute. Turning to Cole, Jim told him, with a voice close to plea, "Give me something, Cole. Anything I can believe. Anything."

Cole looked at his phone, played the conversation back through his head, searching. Nothing. Not a damn fucking thing. Lifting his eyes back up to Jim, he slowly shook his head and felt the rest of his life draining out of him into that back hole.

Jim's shoulders sagged as he hit the button, "One million," he said into the speaker.

"Bullshit," Gabriel sneered. "That man is still alive! I'm the one who lost men! My best men! Half!"

Jim shook his head slowly and with the voice of death himself, he said very slowly and clearly, "No. One million by two o'clock today or I start dropping bombs. I swear to God, nothing will be left of that fucking house of yours but a big black, smoking, hole."

Silence.

"Hold on," Gabriel said.

Jim looked back to Cole, "She called you?"

Cole nodded but couldn't speak.

"She could have been forced," he offered.

His voice croaked when he tried to answer. He cleared it and tried again, "She went there on her own."

Gabriel came back on the line, "Fine. It's done. I've made the transfer using the normal methods. We can get back to business. I'll expect the drivers and guards to show up before five."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, no. We're done. If I ever see you again, I'll kill you. We are done." Jim said and closed the connection. Jim looked around the room at his officers, "I felt that this man is too insane, clinically insane, to put our men at further risk during future actions he might create. However, if you feel differently, now is the time to convince me.”

"You were right before Jim," George, the List Master, told him. "We should have distanced ourselves near the first of the year.”

Bear, the Sargent and Arms, said, "It was perfect win Jim. You got a million, ended the war, and got us away from a psychopath. I declare victory."

A round of cheers and shouts went through the room. Jim stood looking at Cole, his face still as stone. When the noise level dropped he said softly, "Victory never felt so bad before. I'll be in my office." Then he lumbered out of the room.

Cole made it to the bar before his energy ran out. It was wrong; it was all fucking wrong. But she went there on her own! She went there on purpose, back to her life and her wealthy men. And she was right! This life wasn't for someone like her. What the hell did he have to offer her?

But she said…