Rough & Rugged (Notorious Devils Book 3) (22 page)

“They’re in there, but no way could it be this easy,” I murmur.

“Blow’s pretty fuckin’ dumb,” Fury laughs.

“He’s in talks with
The
Cartel
; he’s dumb, but he’s working an angle. It can’t be this simple,” I murmur.

“I’ll go to the roof of the next building over and see if I can get a confirmation of Hattie,” Sniper suggests.

There’s only fifteen minutes left before time is up. I’m nervous, but I don’t want any more harm to come to Hattie than already has. I don’t want to storm through those doors until I know for sure she’s there and that I can get her out without her being in anymore danger.

I watch as Sniper jogs off with his bag full of sniper shit at his back. I wouldn’t have even thought to bring that shit, but I’m grateful as fuck that he did. About ten minutes later, my phone rings. I answer it as quickly as I can, putting it on speaker.

“Talk to me,” I grunt.

“She’s in there. Bra and panties, tied to the headboard. Blow’s just starin’ at her. You were right, it’s him. I can’t see into the other room, but I have a clear shot in her bedroom, and a fuckin’ perfect shot of Blow’s fuckin’ head.”

“We’re gonna go back upstairs and you take that shot when I text you. We’ll get to them all at once,” Fury barks.

“Fuckin’ right,” he mutters before he ends the call.

“You guys ready?” Drifter asks. Everybody grunts their answer, but Fury turns to me and claps me on the shoulder.

“We’ll get her back; but brother, you might have some serious work with her,” he murmurs.

He would know. Kentlee was kidnapped years ago, and though nothing happened to her, she had nightmares and trouble sleeping for several years afterward. Fury didn’t bitch and moan, though. He did what he could to help her. She saw a counselor and he fucked her to exhaustion as often as he could, something he not once complained about.

I give Fury the signal once we’re standing at the front door again, and I watch as he presses send, then I kick the door down while holding my gun straight out in front of me. Torch, Fury, Vault, Grizz, Drifter and I find three stupid fucks frozen in the living room, wide eyed and staring straight at us.

“
On the motherfucking ground, cocksuckers
,” I grind out.

The three men drop to the ground, like the pussies they are, and I leave my brothers to deal with them while I make the short distance to the bedroom.

Hattie is sitting on the bed shaking, her eyes focused on the piece of shit lying on the floor. His eyes are open and there’s a pool of blood underneath his head. He’s dead. Totally and completely gone. I rummage through his pockets and grab his phone and the burner phone he’d been using to call me on. I slip them in my pocket, then I walk right over to my princess.

“Hattie,” I say. It sounds garbled and rough even to my own ears.

“Johnny,” she whispers as a tear runs down her cheek.

I quickly take my knife off of my belt and cut the zip ties that are keeping her fixed to her headboard. She shakes, and I know she’s on an adrenaline spike. She has fear running through her, and she’s probably going into some kind of shock.

Once the zip ties are cut off of her, I sit down on her bad and pull her into my arms, forcing her face in my neck to keep her eyes away from the dead body on her floor.

I stand with her in my arms and grab a dress from her closet. It’s one of those dresses that goes to the floor. While she won’t be able to ride comfortably on my bike in it, it’ll cover her up in front of my brothers while we decide what’s happening next.

I walk quickly to her bathroom and close the door behind me before I set her down. She clings to me, her fists wrapped up in my t-shirt and her face in my neck. She’s not letting go. With her feet on the ground I whisper as I hold her close.

“Princess, you have to let go so I can cover you up,” I murmur.

“Don’t leave me. Never leave me again,” she sobs.

I can feel the wetness from her tears soaking my skin, and I should be feeling sad that she’s crying. I should be feeling sympathetic for whatever she’s gone through, but I don’t
. I feel angry
. Angry at myself for leaving her, and angry at Blow for being a giant, fucking dick.

I eventually wrangle her long dress over her body before taking her hand. Walking her into the living room, I cringe when I see the three jackholes still face down on the floor. My guys look up and lift their chins in a greeting, waiting for further instruction.

“Blow?” Fury asks me, arching his brow.

I don’t answer verbally, but instead I grin with a shake of my head. I was irritated when I saw him dead on the floor but my irritation quickly diminished when my eyes reached Hattie. I let it go, I let it all go, because the only thing that mattered was that she was safe and breathing.

“Good. Now let’s see if we can get some more info out of these fuckheads,” Drifter grunts.

A knock on the door causes all of us to freeze. Torch walks as slowly as possible over to the door and looks through the peephole, then he turns to Hattie and smiles.

“Your mom’s here, Hattie,” Torch whispers. I feel her body go stiff next to mine as her eyes widen and look up at me.

“You okay to talk to her?” I ask, concerned with her mental state, considering she hasn’t said much to me except not to leave her.

“Yes,” she says just above a whisper.

My brows pinch together in concern, but I try to shake it off. Hattie starts to walk toward the door, and I stay close behind her. We slip through the front door so her mom can’t catch a glimpse at the mayhem inside.

Once I’ve closed the door behind me, I look up into the now frightened eyes of Hattie’s mother. She’s pretty, a more mature version of Hattie with her long lithe body and plump cheeks.

“Hattie, I came because your father told me what happened. I didn’t know—I didn’t know you were still involved,” she mumbles nervously.

“I’m Johnny Williams, Mrs. Morris,” I introduce myself while holding my hand out to shake hers.

She shakily takes my hand. I give hers a squeeze before releasing it, then watch as her eyes dart from Hattie to me and then back to Hattie.

“I can’t offer much, but I came to help,” she says, turning her focus back on her daughter.

“It’s fine, mom. I’ll be fine,” Hattie says. Her voice doesn’t sound right. She’s going to go into shock or some shit soon, I just know it.

“It’s not fine, Hattie. You’re blackballed from working here, and your father is being so stubborn by not paying for your education, something we’ve always promised and encouraged we’d pay for. I’m so mad at him, we aren’t talking right now,” she huffs, folding her arms across her chest.

“He was right. I don’t have a plan, not really. I can’t expect you to pay for something that will probably just end up being a waste of money,” Hattie shrugs.

I move and wrap my hand around her waist, pulling her closer to me. It’s the only way I can feel useful as I try to support her.

“What are you going to do for work and money, Henrietta? I want to help you in any way that I can, but I don’t know how,” she says. It’s sweet of her, though I try not to laugh at Hattie’s name.

“I don’t know yet,” she mumbles.

“She’s comin’ to Bonners Ferry with me,” I announce. Hattie’s spine straightens, as does her mother’s.

“
What
?” her mother cries.

“What?” Hattie breathes, looking up at me with her innocent, yet scared, big green eyes.

“I’ll take care of her. She wants to bake cookies and serve wine, or whatever the fuck, then that’s what she’ll do.”

“Johnny?” Hattie whispers as her eyes fill with water.

I don’t understand why she’s crying again. I’m giving her what she wants, to make her desserts or whatever. Why would she be upset about this?

“I… No, I don’t want you to take care of me. I need to take care of myself,” she says standing firm, or at least trying to while her bottom lip trembles and tears run down her cheeks.

“You mine?” I ask as I turn to her and wrap my hand around the side of her neck.

“Am I?” she asks quietly.

“Better fuckin’ believe it,” I growl before I take her lips in a hard kiss.

“Excuse me,” Hattie’s mother says, interrupting us. I look up and am surprised to see that she’s smiling. “You and my Hattie, this is a real thing?” she asks.

“Yup,” I mutter.

“I don’t agree with it. I have to say that first before I say anything else,” she informs me.

“You might not agree, but I really don’t care,” I say harshly.

“I know who you are, Johnny. Make her happy,” she murmurs before she places a kiss on Hattie’s temple and turns to leave.

“Mom?” Hattie asks. I watch as her mom turns around and grins.

“We only have one life to live, Hattie. Do I want you to go to college and be a success? Of course. But more than any of that, I want you to be
happy
,” she says. Without another word she walks away from us.

“That was weird,” Hattie mutters to herself.

“No shit, princess.”

“Were you serious, Johnny? I thought… I thought we discussed this and what you want… I can’t give you,” she stammers.

“What you do give me is all I need. I don’t need anything else,” I inform her as I cup her cheek and run my thumb over her pretty lips.

I
stare up at Johnny in awe—no, in shock
and
awe. His words are unbelievable, completely crazy, and also, completely crazy sweet. I want them to be true, I want him to not need anything or anybody else but me. I want to believe every single thing he’s telling me.

“What you do give me is all I need. I don’t need anything else.”

His words repeat in my head as I look up at him, into his chocolate eyes. Whatever this is between us, its fate, it has to be.
Fate
three years in the making. If I tell him no, if I tell him to leave, I might miss out on the most wonderful thing to ever happen to me. I’ve wanted it, wanted him, for three years. He’s here, and he’s offering me exactly what I want this time—him. All of him.

“Hey, Hattie,” a deep voice says from behind me.

I turn slowly and widen my eyes at the man walking up the staircase. He’s huge, like linebacker huge, with a beard. His arms are bigger around than my waist. He’s gigantic. I recognize him from the party Johnny took me to, but I don’t remember his name, just that he’s married to Brentlee. I never saw him up close. I didn’t know he was as big as a brick wall.

“Uhhh,” I say, unsure as to why he knows my name.

“This is Sniper, one of my brothers, remember?” Johnny mutters behind me.

“Hello,” I say, offering my hand out to shake his.

“I’m heading inside,” he grins as he shakes my hand and gives me a wink before he’s gone, slipping through the front door of my apartment.

“He’s married,” Johnny grunts behind me. I turn to face him again and can tell that something’s wrong. He looks angry.

“Okay…”

“So you can put your fuckin’ eyes back in your head,” he growls.

I can’t help myself. I laugh. It isn’t a giggle, it’s a full on laugh a clutch my stomach and almost fall to the floor kind of laugh. I feel delirious and light headed but I can’t help it.

He’s jealous.

I find it the most amusing thing in the entire world.
Johnny
.
Jealous
. I suck in a breath trying to stop my uncontrollable laughter but I can’t seem to calm down.

“I’m s-s-s-sorry,” I stutter.

After all of the drama and fear that I’ve faced over the past twenty-four hours, it feels good to laugh, even if Johnny’s head looks like it’s about to explode. He turns to leave me where I am, but I grab his wrist and pull him off balance. Then I jump into his arms, wrapping my own around his neck, and I kiss him.

I press my mouth to his and slide my tongue between his lips. He stands stock still for a moment and then his hand tangles in my hair at the back of my head, and his other one grabs a handful of my ass. I moan pressing myself closer to him.

“I only want you, Johnny,” I murmur against his lips.

“You get only me, Hattie,” he grunts before he takes my mouth again.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we got three fuckheads we need to question. Prospects are on their way in a van to cleanup. Your girl needs to pack her shit up,” a big, tall, handsome, blonde man says. I remember him from the party, too. He’s Kentlee’s husband; but again, I’ve forgotten his name.