Torched (32 page)

“It is,” she nodded. “Now, your biggest vulnerability is that fence lining the north side of the property. There’s not enough coverage and piss-poor street lighting. Physically, it’s high enough to keep somebody from carrying off scrap parts, but with a few tools it would be pretty easy to get in and out without being seen.”

“For what?” Mace asked. “Every building has its own fence. They wouldn’t be able to get past these other ones to get to the garage or clubhouse without being seen on the cameras there.”

She straightened up and looked at him. “Do you guys ever talk…
business
… anywhere on this property?”

All four did a brow lift and slow nod, like they knew they were about to look like idiots.

“Okay, good. Then you want to keep people the fuck away from a parts pile with a gazillion places to hide things. You wouldn’t believe the kind of shit they make to spy on people these days. I’m not talking your average microphone or nanny cam. I’m talking about a portable cell phone tower the size of a suitcase than can route every call you make through it. Even on a burner. Sound amplifiers that pick up whispers, body sensors that see through walls, RFID scanners that can read the strip of a credit card in your wallet if you walk by. Seriously, it’s incredible, and the law gets first dibs on the best stuff. It would take some effort and a lot of motivation, but it could happen. And you’d never know, because how the hell do you find metal in metal?”

Toto’s jaw hung. “No shit?”

“No shit. I mean, they could theoretically put those things outside the property, but then they’re battling with street interference.”

“Huh,” Squid said, scratching his head. “So what about the cameras? They’re closed-circuit. That’s safe, right?”

“They
would
be if you guys didn’t use a computer with an internet connection to watch them. So even though you’re not uploading anything to a cloud account, any decent hacker could theoretically get into your computer and gain access. One click of an infected link or email attachment and you have what’s called a rootkit embedded in your system. Gives a hacker free rein to everything on your hard drive. And I hate to tell you all, but porn is the most effective way we use to do that.”

“Well, Grimm’s banned from all internet use,” Buddha smirked. “Toots, I don’t know what the fuck any of that means, but how do we prevent it?”

By that point, Torch tuned out the conversation and just focused on her. The way she talked with her hands, smiled at their questions and patiently answered, and just generally seemed at ease in their presence. It was that same calm aura he’d noticed the last time she was here.

You could tell she respected them, but she wasn’t sitting there and fawning like some club slut either. Nor was she getting snippy or arguing, like she did with him every time they were in the same room.

Not to imply that he didn’t love the way her nose twitched whenever she started spouting from the mouth, but in the club world, there was a fine line between banter and disrespect. Many a men had gotten their asses beat for shit their women pulled, himself included with Penny and her fucking psychotic episodes. But he should have known that Liv would be smart enough to figure it out on her own.

Maybe there was just something about
him
that got under her skin. The feeling was fucking mutual.

Speaking of club sluts, he hadn’t even noticed Nadia’s ass sneaking up until she’d planted herself directly in front of him. He couldn’t be bothered to look down at her.

“You want a drink, baby?” she asked, her voice doing that annoying-as-fuck baby tone she thought was sexy. It wasn’t even close.

“No,” he replied flatly, eyes still glued on Liv, who was now laughing with abandon, the guys beaming at her like goddamn orphan puppies on a leash. Christ, she had them so wrapped around her finger that they hadn’t even looked away and noticed him.

“Hey, sorry about the other night,” Nadia persisted.

He finally looked down at her, annoyed as shit that she was still there, never mind still talking. And as he got a good look at the bed warmer he’d been using as a substitute, then looked back up at the real thing—who was finally staring right at him—he realized there was no way that even an endless supply of club pussy could ever compare.

Liv didn’t seemed fazed by the non-competition either. The corners of her mouth had turned up into the biggest, most beautiful smile he knew he’d ever live to see. On the fucking run and still smiling. She’d been through hell and somehow managed to not only stay alive and sane, but she’d taught herself skills that probably pulled in more in a month than all the club’s legit businesses combined in a year.

He couldn’t think of the last time he’d looked at
any
woman with that kind of respect and admiration. It just didn’t happened.

He was done. With that one smile, every last reservation just vanished into the smoke-filled air. Fuck it, Biff was right. He’d already been dropped in a river, there was no point in fighting against the current.

He stepped around Nadia and took long and fast strides toward the group.

“Hey, To—”

Before his name could even roll off her tongue, his mouth was on hers. Whistles and cheers filled the room as he devoured it. He didn’t give a shit.

Not willing to wait another second, he picked her up and moved toward the hallway. With her legs wrapping themselves around his waist, he used his free hand to reach out and flip his brothers off.

They just got louder.

Just as he was about to pass through the door frame, Liv pulled her lips away and stretched out her arms, bringing him to a standstill before he broke her fucking wrists trying to go through it.

“We’re on the same page, right?” she asked between heavy breaths.

“Not yet. But you’ll catch up, baby.”

“But—”

“No,” he growled. “Shut the fuck up and kiss me.”

Shut the fuck up and kiss him she did, all the way back to his room. The door hadn’t even slammed shut before he was tearing off her clothes.

: : : :

Torch woke to the sound of somebody banging on the door, barely distinguishable from the loud music blaring throughout the building. He looked down at the mess of black hair laying on his chest and smiled, thinking back to how it had gotten that way.

After carefully sliding his arm out from between their bodies, he reached for his cell to check the time. Nine o’clock. Groaning, he dropped his head back down on the pillow and covered his eyes, hoping whoever the fuck was outside his door would go away until the damn morning.

More banging. “Torch!” Goddamn it, fucking Zed.

Liv sat up in panic, looking confused as shit by her surroundings. Quickly realizing where they were, she looked back over her shoulder over at him and smiled. “You gonna get that?”

He shook his head, running his fingers lightly up and down her back. “It’s just Zed drunk off his fucking ass.”

“I don’t think you locked the door, babe,” she pointed out.

Shit.

He jumped up, pulled a sheet over her, and bolted off the bed to grab his jeans from the floor, shooting her a scowl as she started laughing.

“Didn’t see you as the shy type,” she teased.

“I’m not. Just don’t need the shithead trying to join in. It happens around here.”

Still smiling, she shook her head and laid back down.

He cracked the door open, but prying eyes were determined to get a look. Zed pushed it open wider and stuck his head inside. “Hey Liv!”

She simultaneously buried her face in the pillow and gave him a half-assed wave.

“Are you two getting your asses out here or what?” he slurred, leaning into the door frame for support. “You’ve been in there for hooooours.”

Must have had a long day at work if he was stumbling around this early.

“Jesus, man. Pace yourself,” Torch groaned.

“Come on, asshole,” Zed whined. “You pussied outta the party last week too.”

Torch sighed and looked over his shoulder apologetically. “Alright, fucker. We’ll be out in a minute,” Torch grumbled, shoving a grinning Zed back out into the hallway and slamming the door.

He turned his sights back on Liv, who’d kicked off the sheet and was propped up against his headboard. Naked and spread eagle. His dick sprang right back to life. He growled and lurched onto the bed, then crawled face-first between her legs.

“Babe!” she squealed. “I was just trying to fuck with you. You told him we’d be out in a minute.”

He looked up and licked his lips. “Then you shouldn’t have flashed this beautiful fucking pussy at me. Sorry, darlin’, you reap what you sow.”

: :

Two more rounds of reaping-everything-she’d-sowed later, Torch chuckled as he watched Liv line up her shot and sink the eight ball.

They’d done the rounds after finally making an appearance, every asshole in the place wanting a piece of her. Even the crawlers took an immediate shining, minus Nadia who’d apparently taken off before the party kicked off. No loss there, the last thing he wanted to deal with was her sulking around and stirring that bitchy pot.

Pool had been Beanie’s idea, followed by a challenge from Gauge, and now Mace. She’d kicked every one of their asses.

“What the fuck?!” Mace yelled, throwing his cue stick at Hench, who’d already called the next round. “You’ve gotta be doing some voodoo shit.”

Liv laughed as she casually strolled back over to the couch Torch was sitting on. She shook her empty rocks glass at Mace. “I think you owe me a drink. And some change.”

“Goddamn it,” Mace stewed as he dug out a hundred dollar bill from his wallet. “Tyke, get Liv a fucking drink.”

“See if you can find his balls back there,” Torch added, pulling her down to his lap. “Think they rolled off the table too.”

“Fuck you, asshole. Don’t see you standing over here doing any better.”

“That’s ‘cause I’m not a fucking idiot,” Torch said with a grin. “You can’t assume shit with this one.”

“A head’s up would’ve been nice, brother,” Beanie smirked.

“Relax, guys,” Liv cut in. “It’s the booze, your reflexes are off.”

“You’ve been drinking too,” Gauge argued.

She shrugged. “Just trying to make you feel better.”

Mace spit out a mouthful of beer. “Would you listen to that shit? She’s trying to make
us
feel better. Hench, you got this, man. Come on.”

Everybody looked at Hench, who dropped the cue on the table like it was infected with the plague. “Nope. Somebody’s gotta plug the drain before we lose all self respect. I’m not wagering against that broad.”

Torch rubbed her thigh. “Probably the best decision you’ve made all week.”

A commotion broke out by the chapel doors behind them, and he strained his neck to look back over his shoulder. It was Zed and Squid having their monthly brawl. “Shit. They’re on the rag again,” he groaned. “Let me up, baby.”

Liv stood up and watched as he held back Zed and Mace tackled Squid. Hench, Beanie, and Gauge took it from there and shuffled them both outside.

“What happened?” she asked as he walked back over.

“Who the fuck knows. They do this shit about once a month, usually over a bitch.”

“So, what? You just shove them outside for some fresh air?”

Torch chuckled. “No, they go beat the shit out of each other in the ring for a while and then hug it out.”

“Seriously? They can’t even stand up straight.”

“Seriously.”

“Oh, this I
have
to see,” she scoffed.

He reached around and squeezed her ass. “Alright, but as soon as one of them hits the floor, we’re going back to the room. I’ve got better things to do.”

: 20 :

There was something Torch once said that had always stuck with me. I couldn’t remember the exact words, but it came down to embracing beautiful experiences, even temporary ones. And that it was better to look back longingly on a moment in time, than to have nothing to look back on at all.

Now that I was a little older and little wiser, I could appreciate the sentiment. It was the first thing that had popped in my head when Biff called with his bullshit IT issues that I was pretty sure he could’ve fixed himself. It was also the last thing that popped in my head before letting Torch carry me off to one of the dorm-like rooms in his clubhouse.

I’d spent the better part of a week trying to distract myself from thinking about him at all, convinced that I could compartmentalize our afternoon at the safe house as another one-time thing. That I could treat it like every other intimate encounter, purely physical and devoid of any depth.

But then I saw him again.

I realized that I was looking right at it—that beautiful and temporary experience that I shouldn’t pass up, regardless of how much pain or sadness it caused down the line.

So I didn’t. I gave in.

And I already felt the ache.

I watched him sleep from a chair facing the bed the next morning, combing every inch of his face like a word search puzzle. Whatever dream he was lost in was a mixed bag. He murmured incoherently, like he was having a conversation.