Steel 2: Blackthorne MC #2 (3 page)

I couldn’t keep the frustration out of my voice. What the hell were they doing sitting around drinking? The whole point of this visit was for me to see Victor.

Damien waved a hand at me in dismissal. “He’s busy. You’ll see him later.”

“What?”

Nick took the beer from Damien and walked over to hand it to me. “Relax, Ella. You have to see him later. There’s a big gathering here tonight, and he’s busy with that.”

“A gathering? You mean a party?”

Chad snorted with laughter.

Nick ignored him. “Something like that.”

Now I was even more confused. Why had they brought me here when there was going to be a party? Surely it was better that I saw Victor before then and got everything sorted out.

Before I could argue with Nick, Damien made me jump by yelling out for Nancy.

When Nancy stalked out of a doorway at the back of the bar, Damien said, “Ella needs a room and some clothes. Can you sort it?”

Nancy gave him a hard look but then she nodded and looked at me. She crooked her finger. “Come on then, Ella.”

I took my beer with me. I figured I would need it.

Nancy was tall and slim with incredibly long legs, and I had to walk fast to keep up with her.

“I’m sorry for putting you to so much trouble,” I said, trying to be friendly so that she might feel inclined to help me.

Nancy shrugged. “Are you okay?”

It was a simple question, but there was genuine concern in her voice, and it made me tear up.

“Not really,” I said. “I don’t know why I’m here. I just want to go home, but they are insisting I see Victor.”

“And do you know who Victor is? Have you seen him before?”

I shook my head. “I haven’t got a clue who he is.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “I was at a bar with a friend and I…” I hesitated for a moment, my cheeks flushed, and then I said it all in a rush, “I hooked up with Nick… And afterwards, well, I’d had a lot to drink. I don’t really remember anything that happened after that. When I woke up in the morning, Chad was in my room, blocking the door, and they wouldn’t let me go.”

Nancy stopped walking and turned around to face me. She was almost a foot taller than I was. She looked down at my face, studying me intently. She didn’t say anything. Why was everybody around here so weird?

“I’ll get you some clothes,” she said. Her voice was gentle, almost motherly. “I’m sure you’ll get your meeting with Victor later, and everything will be fine.”

She didn’t sound very certain to me.

Nancy showed me into a small room with a double bed. It was plainly furnished, with white painted walls, and bare floorboards, but it looked clean and the linen looked fresh.

“Will this do?” She asked as if I had a choice.

“Yes, thank you.”

“I’m going to get you some clothes, so wait here.”

She left the room but didn’t completely shut the door behind her. I flopped back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. I just couldn’t think of a way to get out of this mess.

Nancy had only been gone for a minute or so when I heard footsteps and sat up. I assumed it was Nancy coming back with the clothes, but then I heard a voice I recognized. Deep and gritty. It was Damien.

“Don’t argue with me, woman,” he said.

Then I heard Nancy’s voice. “What kind of threat could a girl like that be to anyone? What were you thinking, Damien?”

“It’s none of your business,” Damien said with a steely voice. “It’s up to Victor, and we’ll know what he wants to do tonight after he’s seen her.”

“Since when were you so bothered about what your brother thinks?”

“Are you determined to fight with me, Nancy? I’ve been away for a week.”

“I don’t want to fight with you, but you drive me crazy sometimes.”

There was silence for a moment before Damien said, “There’s something else.”

“What’s that?”

“We need to keep her away from Nick.”

“Nick? Why?”

“He’s been hanging around her a lot. I think he’s soft on her. We can’t risk that complication, so keep him busy tonight.”

“How?”

“The same way you would keep any man busy. Throw the girls at him and keep him occupied.”

I heard footsteps retreating, and I guessed that Damien was walking off. I stayed sitting on the bed, feeling awkward, as Nancy walked in.

She gave me a pity-filled smile as she put the clothes on the bed.

“It’s not haute couture, but it should do while you’re here,” she said. “There’s a couple of dresses, a pair of jeans, and a couple of tank tops. I had to guess at your size, but I’m pretty good at that.” She smiled. “Is that okay?”

I nodded, afraid to speak in case my voice broke and showed her how scared I really was.

“Can I get you anything else?” Nancy asked, and when I looked up, I could see the pity shining in her eyes. I suspected she knew something I didn’t, and it terrified me.

“No thanks.”

Nancy told me I could find towels and toiletries in the bathroom that was just off the bedroom I was staying in.

After she left me, I was surprised to find that it was quite a spacious ensuite. I took a shower, luxuriating in the hot, steamy water, and enjoyed the feeling of washing the dust from the desert off my skin. I took my time, knowing that I had a lot of time to kill before I saw Victor that evening. When I eventually got out of the shower and dried myself, I walked back into the bedroom, feeling disappointed that Nick hadn’t come to join me. Perhaps he was already with the girls Nancy had been told to throw at him.

It was eerily quiet. I supposed everyone was getting ready for the party that evening, but I really wasn’t in a party mood. I just wanted to speak to Victor and get it over with.

I selected one of the dresses that Nancy had left me. It was black and made out of a stretchy material. The dress wasn’t exactly modest. It ended above the knee and was very low-cut. The way it fitted against my curves made me feel very self-conscious. It didn’t help that I only had my wedges with me, which only had a low heel.

I shook my head when I realized what I was doing. Why did I care about my appearance? Surely that wasn’t the most important thing right now. The only thing I should have been worrying about was speaking to Victor and getting the hell out of there.

There was a mirror on the dressing table by the door, and as I peered into it, I was disappointed to see my face looked washed out and pale.

All traces of the makeup I’d been wearing had disappeared. I always wore a dash of bronzing powder, lip-gloss, and mascara, and I felt naked without it.

I paced back and forth in the room for a little while, but I was growing bored. All this waiting around was really getting to me.

I heard giggling voices outside as someone passed my room, so I opened the door and poked my head out into the corridor. There were three girls about my age heading off towards the bar.

With the door open, I could hear music was already pumping away. Maybe the party had started, I figured.

I decided I might as well go to the bar rather than stay brooding in my room.

I thought I should follow the girls, and I might get a chance to ask them if I could use their cell phones, but they disappeared around the end of the corridor before I could get there. I quickened my pace, but they must have gone into one of the rooms because I didn’t see them again, and I walked all the way through to the bar.

I stopped in the doorway.

There were a few men over by the pool table, and now there were more gathered around the bar, but I didn’t pay them any attention. At the other end of the bar, Nick stood leaning back and talking animatedly to a pretty blonde girl, who wore a short black dress similar to mine, only her figure was a lot better than mine.

The girl laughed and put her hand on Nick’s arm. I was surprised to feel a flash of jealousy suddenly run through me. I wasn’t normally the jealous type, and it wasn’t as if I had any hold on Nick, but the sight of that girl possessively touching him made me want to snatch her hand off his arm and tell her to back off.

I took a deep breath. I was losing my mind. Nick was a hot guy, and the sex was pretty mind-blowing, but that was all it was. We were two very different people, living two completely different lives.

I was a hard-working college girl, and he was a bad boy biker. It wasn’t as if we could have had a normal relationship, even if circumstances had been different.

I’m not sure how long I stood there watching them, but she continued to flirt with him, and he wasn’t exactly discouraging her. When he threw his head back and laughed at something she had said, I decided I had finally had enough.

I swallowed back my jealousy, turned around, and walked back along the corridor. I didn’t want to return to my room, though. I wanted to go outside and get some fresh air, but I didn’t want to walk into the bar and pass Nick.

The place seemed to be a maze of corridors, but I eventually managed to find the exit behind the bar.

The desert night air was cool and surprisingly refreshing. It felt good to breathe it in, even though I shivered as the frigid air touched my exposed skin.

I wondered if I could make a run for it now and looked in the direction of the town of Blackthorne. I wasn’t sure how far it was exactly, but I guessed it must be at least five miles away. I felt an overwhelming urge to leave now and just keep walking towards the lights. I wondered how long it would be before they realized that I’d gone. I let my imagination run wild. Maybe I could even get one of the bikes from the parking lot and wheel it down the road. I could start the engine when I was a distance away from the bar so no one would hear me trying to escape.

Of course, there were a couple of problems with that plan. The first one being that I couldn’t actually drive and didn’t have a license.

I heard voices behind me and jumped.

“What are you doing out here, Ella? Where is Nick?”

It was Chad, with Tom not far behind him.

“He’s not my babysitter,” I said and rolled my eyes.

Chad grinned. “No, I think he’s a little more than that.”

Tom chuckled in response to his brother’s comment.

Obviously, they hadn’t seen Nick chatting up the blonde at the bar.

They were still looking at me questioningly. “I’m just getting some fresh air,” I said. “What are you two doing out here? I thought you’d be inside drinking your bodyweight in beer.”

Chad grinned. “It’s a big gathering tonight. We’ve got people coming from all over the area. People who are under Victor’s jurisdiction. That could make us a target for other crews.”

“Competitors,” Tom clarified when I frowned. “Victor has a lot of power in these parts, and he manages to make a lot of money from it, so obviously he has enemies. Tonight would be a good time to exploit any potential weaknesses in Victor’s crew, so we have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“So you are on security guard duty while everyone else is having fun?”

“Something like that,” Tom said. “But don’t worry about us. We’ll be getting our fun later.”

“You look cold,” Chad said in a gruff voice. “Why don’t you get back inside and have something to drink? Enjoy the party.”

I resisted rolling my eyes again. How was I supposed to have fun when I had this meeting with Victor hanging over my head?

“It’s kind of hard to have fun when you’re being held captive,” I said pointedly. “And did you ever find my purse? I had makeup and things in there.”

Chad shook his head. “We didn’t find your purse.”

I shrugged. I guessed it didn’t matter anyway. After I had met Victor tonight, he would realize it was a misunderstanding, and I would be on my way out of here. I could just replace everything when I got home.

I walked back into the bar with Chad and Tom. They clearly weren’t going to leave me alone until they saw me safely escorted inside, so they could get back to their security detail. I’d only taken a couple of steps when I came face-to-face with Nick.

When he saw the look on my face, he said, “What’s wrong?”

“Ella needed some fresh air,” Chad said with a sarcastic smile. “We were just making sure she got inside safely.”

I rolled my eyes. I didn’t even have the energy to make a snarky comment.

“Later,” Chad said as he and Tom made their way outside again.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Nick said. He gave me a sexy grin that sent butterflies floating around my stomach.

He hadn’t seemed to be too concerned about finding me earlier when I’d seen him with the blonde girl.

“We should probably keep away from each other anyway,” I said refusing to meet his gaze.

He put a hand on my shoulder. “What are you talking about? Why?”

I didn’t answer straightaway. I wasn’t sure if I should tell him what I overheard between Nancy and Damien. It wasn’t as if I could trust him. I couldn’t trust anyone here.

I could feel the weight of his gaze so finally I said, “I heard Damien telling Nancy that she should find a way to keep you away from me.”