Duke (23 page)

“
That’s why you liked the fact there was already a wooded area on the lot? And that’s why the woods are off limits to girlfriends and wives unless there’s a paintball match going on?”

“
Yes. Wolves don’t like fences, so it isn’t ideal, but we like rooms and doors even less. Our wolves have learned that the woods in the compound are safe, but are only for napping and not for running.”

“
Duke once told my brother I called to his soul, and then looked at Isaac and told him,
both of them
. I never got an answer before of what he meant, but I’m thinking now that he was saying both his human and wolf soul? Do you have two souls?”

“
I’ve done more than my fair share of speculating about that, and I’m pretty sure we only have one soul, but I agree it’s easier to speak about it as if we have two, sometimes. Many werewolves consider themselves two entities, a human and a wolf. When they’re learning control, they see themselves as fighting the wolf in order to make decisions as a human, and in order to stay human when the wolf wants to take over.” He stopped talking to do something on the keyboard, and then resumed as if he hadn’t stopped. “In my case, I realize I’m one being, one soul, with two physical bodies. Fighting the wolf doesn’t work for me, but making a decision about which body serves me best at
this moment
helps me stay human when the wolf wants to take over. With that being said, the wolf inside of me needs to like whoever the man likes. I once thought I was madly in love with someone, and ignored the fact my wolf couldn’t stand her. Turns out, the wolf was right. She was a cold-hearted bitch and had managed to hide it from the man.”

“
So he was basically speaking in code to tell Isaac his wolf likes me, too?”

“
Sounds like it.”

“
I’ve seen something in his eyes, something wild, more than once. It kind of freaked me out. Was that his wolf looking at me, somehow?”

“
Possibly. Duke’s wolf stays a little closer to the surface than most of us allow. He has excellent control, and he trusts his wolf’s instincts. He’s faster than the rest of us when we’re human, and his hearing and smell is better than ours when we’re human.”

“
I smelled everyone in the room for a few seconds during the binding. Isaac was something that lives in the water, but not a fish. Abbott smelled cold. I could tell you and Duke were the same thing.”

“
Yeah, I picked up on the fact you had it a few seconds, but I’ve never known that to happen before. I don’t know what it means, but apparently you and Duke aren’t talking to each other telepathically, right?”

“
I haven’t heard his thoughts, if that’s what you mean.”

His voice grew sharp and he told her, “Hold.”

She went quiet, as he’d told her that was the word he’d use when the men on the op got back in touch with him.

She turned and saw a screen with red dots, all grouped together, showing up.

“
Look back to your own screens, please. I need you to be sure no one does anything to the compound. Their cellphones are coming back online, I expect to hear from them shortly.”

Gen had wondered why Brain wasn’t following them, and now she knew. They’d turned their cellphones off, and likely the GPS units on their bikes so there was no way to trace where they were. Made sense — if they’d gone to do something illegal, they wouldn’t want technological proof they’d been there.

“
Roger that,” Brain said, obviously talking to one or more of the men and not her. “We have eyes on us, but no activity. Lockdown level two implemented.”

“
Sending images of the vehicles now, as well as info I’ve pulled on visible people.”

Ten minutes later, Gen watched the bikes fall into line behind the two vehicles she had on camera at the moment. Four bikes behind each car. A quick glance told her Brain had the other two on cameras farther away from the compound, and those two cars had bikers behind them as well. They went off her screens and she turned to watch but Brain said, “Keep an eye on the compound, please. They’ll follow these cars out of our territory, but we need to make sure they don’t have another car close. They’ve used decoy cars in the past.”

Gen saw nothing else suspicious for a while, and then suddenly someone was standing on a corner looking at the entrance.

“
Brain, not sure, but this guy doesn’t look right.”

Brain took one look and started barking orders into his headpiece. Half the bikers peeled off from the cars they were following out of the territory, and Brain ordered all in-house brothers to battle stations.

“
I’m pulling your views to my monitors, but leaving them for you as well. If you see something just tell me the number of the screen, don’t go into detail, okay?”

“
Got it.”

When the bikers roared up to the man standing across from their entrance, he didn’t look at all afraid of the eight bikers practically surrounding him. The engines shut off and Duke got off his bike and walked to the man.

She had a feeling Brain could hear the conversation, but she heard nothing except the hum of all the computers.

The conversation lasted a while, but no one else got off their bikes. Duke and the other man both looked relaxed, as if they were having a normal conversation, but Gen had a feeling there was nothing casual about this discussion.

Gen zoomed in on them better and decided both men were equally hot, but for different reasons. The other man looked as if he had both African American and Latino features. He was about the same height as Duke, his chest not quite as large, but his arms much more defined.

A sleek looking black Jaguar pulled up beside them, and the man tilted his head and Gen read his lips this time as he said, “We shall see.” He stepped to the car, slid into the passenger side, and was gone.

Brain uttered a breathy, “Fuck me,” and said, “Everyone home. Lockdown level three. I need Duke straight to the control room.”

He clicked some keys and said, “It’s just us. I needed to pull in extra help, so don’t go ballistic when you walk in. I followed protocols.”

Gen heard the keys clacking again and Brain said, “You did excellent, Duchess. Duke’s gonna change clothes before he comes to you. When he gets here, go to him if you want, but let me talk at first, okay?”

“
Is he mad I’m in here?”

“
He isn’t pleased, but he trusts my judgment. My guess is he’ll do a walkthrough of the compound after he changes, and by the time he gets here he’ll be okay.”

Gen was still watching her monitors and said, “I think one of the drivers from earlier is back, but in a different car.”

Brain hit a few keys and said, “Bash, need you outside. Green piece-a-shit Honda. We just ran him off, he’s back.”

Gen watched her monitor as Bash strode out of the gates and down the sidewalk until he saw the Honda. Without pausing, he stepped into the street, rammed his fist through the opened side window, grabbed the driver by the back of the head, and slammed his head down on the steering wheel. He pulled his hand back enough to unlock the door, retracted his hand, and opened the door.

The skinny black man in the car pulled a gun, but Bash grabbed it and tossed it away before pulling the man from the car and slamming his fist into the man’s face and ribcage two dozen times.

Brains voice came softer as he said, “We give one warning, Gen. We don’t mess around with protecting our people.”

“
I can see that.”

“
You gonna freak out on me?”

“
I’m still processing everything, Brain. I promised Duke I’d wait until we talked before I started freaking out.”

“
Not sure if that’s good or bad, but it shows me once again you don’t just react emotionally, you take the time to think it through. You’re good for him, good for us. I hope you decide he’s good for you.”

Bash threw the man into his own passenger seat and drove the car off. A club Expedition followed him, and Brain said, “He’ll drive him outside our territory, and Gonzo will bring Bash back in the Expedition. He was an idiot for thinking he’d be okay just changing vehicles. We’ve already demonstrated that doesn’t work. Good call on your part recognizing him, though. Not everyone would’ve.”

“
Do I talk to you about the women, or are those Duke questions?”

“
Someone give you trouble?”

“
Some were ultra-nice, but it felt more like brown nosing. Some were passive aggressive bitches, and two were just outright snarky attitude.”

“
Duke needs to hear it. You can tell me, too, but he’ll have to be the one to give advice.”

“
What are the odds he’s… been with… them?”

“
Oh no. Not touching that one with a ten foot pole.”

When Duke finally walked in, Gen went to him saying, “Don’t be mad at him. He needed help, and I didn’t mind.”

“
Beautiful,” he said, his expression patient but unhappy, “there aren’t a lot of things I’m going to ask you not to do, but you can’t tell me how to be with my brothers, and you can’t boss them around. Brain and I’ll talk later, and our conversation isn’t your concern. It’s nice to know you didn’t mind your time in here, but I can’t talk about it right now. I came to get you in case you’re hungry. I’m starving.”

“
I could snack on something, actually.”

He nodded and pulled her into his arms. “Worried about you here with the women without me around to act as a buffer your first time. Probably not a bad thing you spent some of that time in here. I know you have stuff to tell me, and I know we need to talk about shit from earlier in the day, but I’m exhausted and I’m gonna ask you to just let me hold you without having to answer questions.”

“
Okay, but at some point in the future, I’ll expect the same courtesy.”

“
Not a problem, Beautiful, just as long as waiting doesn’t endanger someone I care about.”

“
Consider me support staff for the evening, then. I can tell you’re tired, you aren’t just putting me off because you can.”

Gen sat quietly with him as he ate with the other men. The women were under guard downstairs, so she was the only one with the men. Brain came out to eat, too, and though he said someone was spelling him, he had a tablet in front of him as he ate, cycling through various cameras.

Gen happened to be looking at it as she saw something off, and Duke felt her tighten up. “What is it, Beautiful?”

“
Maybe nothing. Brain, can you go back to what was camera five on my wall?”

Brain swiped back and she said, “The guy walking the dog. He’s dressed like an old man but doesn’t walk like one.”

Duke reached for a walkie-talkie in the middle of the table and sent someone to check it out. “You have a good eye, but Brain needs to head back to the control room and handle it from there.”

Brain stood with his food and tablet. “Good point. I’ve got it for another four or five hours, and things should settle by then enough for me to let JB take over. Get some sleep with your Duchess and I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

Gen’s alarm went off at seven forty the next morning. She’d told Duke she needed to leave by eight, but felt bad about disturbing him as it’d been a little after one when they’d finally gone downstairs and crashed. They weren’t in the big couple’s room. Apparently, the top guys were afforded their own area downstairs when in lockdown, so they were in a room with four other couples instead of twenty plus.

Duke shut off her cellphone alarm, lifted her, and carried her into the hallway, closing the door quietly before setting her down, pulling her into his arms, and reaching for his own cellphone.

He hit a button and barked, “Status update.”

Gen felt Duke’s body tighten a little at whatever the news was, and jumped a little as he gave a curt, “Thanks,” and disconnected.

“
Sorry you had to sleep in your clothes. C’mon, we both need coffee before we figure out how our days are gonna go.”

“
I have an eleven o’clock appointment, Duke. I told you last night.”

“
Coffee first, Gen.”

She was trying hard not to get too pissed off at him, but he wasn’t helping. She’d never dealt well with high-handed males trying to tell her what to do, and Duke had a way of pissing her off even faster than most.

“
Please, Duke. I don’t want to fight. I did what you wanted last night and kept my questions to myself, but I need to go home and get dressed today, and just to be sure we keep up the communication, you’re rapidly heading towards irritating me.”

A few women were in the room, making coffee and arranging baked goods on a table against the wall. They watched quietly, but at least one of them seemed a little shocked.

For his part, Duke downed his cup of coffee and poured another. “Ten minutes. Sit down and drink your coffee. I’ll be ready to talk about your day in ten minutes.”

“
What, you want me to bow to you or something? Yes, Your Majesty? I’ll do as you order? Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to find a bathroom and brush my teeth, pull my hair into a ponytail. Then I’m going to get in my car and leave. I realize I can’t open the damned garage door, so if you don’t arrange for someone to let me drive out, I’ll call a cab and I’m sure I can arrange to get my car back later. It’s eight o’clock in the morning. Bad guys are asleep. When you gave me the option of here or my brother’s house, I clearly chose wrong. Keep it up and I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

Gen turned on her heels and went down the hall until she saw a bathroom. When she came out, Duke was leaning against the wall on the other side of the hall, his arms crossed, his eyes focused.

“
Sorry I was gruff,” he said.