XANDER (The Caine Brothers Book 2) (7 page)

Thankfully, the door shut before they, or Xander, could get to her. She pressed the button for the second floor, and rested her head on the wall, breathing a sigh of relief.

When the elevator stopped at her floor, she hurried off and down the hall to her room. She patted her back pocket for the room key—only to find it empty.

“No, no, no…”

She patted all her pockets—nothing. No key card, no phone, nothing.

“Shit.”

Everything must have fallen out of her pockets in her hurry to collect her stuff, and she must have left her phone in the bathroom.

What the hell was she supposed to do now?

She knocked on the door. She could replace the card. But her phone? She needed that. Not only did she need it, but she didn’t want it in Xander’s hands. What if he managed to hack it? Break her password? He’d figure out who she was. He’d realize she was Prez’s daughter, part of the Huntsmen’s most hated rivals. She could just imagine the disgust he’d feel.

Lily opened the door. Her bruises were fading from angry blue and purple to lavender and green.

“Did you leave your key card?”

“Lost it.”

She slipped past Lily into the room. Somehow she needed to figure out how to get away from Lily again so she could go back and get her phone, and while getting her phone she needed to avoid being sucked into more time—and sex—with Xander.

The last thing she wanted to do was go crawling back to his room, especially after that dramatic exit.

She flopped onto her bed. How had she got herself into this mess?

Lily cleared her throat. Gracie looked up to see her standing at the foot of the bed, her arms crossed, a skeptical look on her face. Lily had been the reason she’d got herself into this mess. Because she’d wanted justice of any kind for Lily she’d gone to the Huntsmen, which led to Xander.

“What?” she asked.

“Where have you been?”

“I told, you. I got sidetracked.”

She lay back, flinging an arm over her eyes. Maybe she could block out this whole morning.

“Where? Doing what?”

“What does it matter? I’m here now.”

“Where were you, Gracie?”

She sorted through various excuses, settling on something benign. “Talking to someone.”

“Who?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Because I don’t believe you.”

Gracie sat up and leaned back against the headboard. “I’m a big girl, Lily. I can take care of myself. And honestly? I don’t have to tell you everything I do.”

“You had sex with someone.”

“What?” She tried her best for indignant and incredulous, partly because it surprised her that Lily had hit the nail on the head, but also because she’d jumped to that particular conclusion.

“Your clothes and hair are a mess,” Lily waved in Gracie’s general direction. “You look guilty as hell, like you’re trying to hide something. But mostly, you smell like aftershave and sex. Who is he?”

Grace scrubbed her face with her hands. What a mess. “Okay, yes. I met someone. In Houston. I ran into him here and, well, I couldn’t help myself. He’s habit-forming, to say the least.”

“He’s a biker, isn’t he?”

“Why would you assume that?”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Really? We’re at a huge bike rally, and if you met him in Houston and now he’s here, that’s an awful big coincidence.”

“Okay, fine. Yes.”

“You know what a bad idea that is, right? I mean, you’ve known enough women who’ve fallen for bikers. How many of those relationships have turned out well?” She pointed to herself. “Case in point. I know how addictive they are.”

“This one’s different.”

She cringed at how cliché she sounded.

“Riiiiight.” Lily flopped onto the bed next to Gracie and studied her. She had to see how far gone she was. “So tell me about him,” Lily finally said.

“He’s gorgeous. Like a blond god. I literally had sex with him five minutes after I met him.” Lily’s look of disbelief spoke volumes about how un-Gracie-like that behavior was. “I didn’t think I’d see him again, but then you asked me to come here and I was afraid I’d run into him. I didn’t think we’d be at the same fucking hotel, though.”

“You ran into him when you went out, so you just had to have sex again?”

Gracie shrugged. “It just kind of happened. I swear, Lily, I’ve never felt anything like this before.”

“So, the sex is great. That’s awesome. But it’s just sex.”

“I don’t know. There’s something else.”

Lily gave her a sour look. “You just met him. There’s no way it’s anything else. It’s just sex. Just stay away from him and it’ll go away, like a bruise.”

The meaning behind Lily’s words hit home, hard. Gracie was here for Lily, to help her get away from her biker obsession. Gracie didn’t for an instant think Xander was anything like Hank. She had no fear Xander would ever lay an angry hand on her, but Lily hadn’t been so lucky when she chose her biker, and her words held a certain wisdom. Even if Xander was one of the good ones, which honestly Gracie couldn’t be completely sure of having just met him, Gracie had made a choice to leave the biker world. She’d had enough of it growing up. If she got tangled up with a biker, she’d never get away from it. There was no separating the biker from his world, no matter how much in love she fell.

It would be better to cut it off now, before there was no hope of turning back.

“You’re right,” Gracie said.

Lily studied her for a moment, and apparently satisfied with what she saw, she said, “Good. So, we need to get you another key card?”

Gracie groaned to herself. “About that. I kind of left my phone in his room.”

“Jesus, Gracie.”

“I was in a hurry to leave.”

“Okay. I’ll call it and go get it,” Lily said.

“No. We can’t risk any of the Ravagers seeing you. I’ll use your phone to call mine. Hopefully he’ll answer it, and I’ll meet him in a public place, like the lobby, to get it back.”

“Assuming you can avoid throwing yourself at him in the middle of the lobby.”

“The sarcasm isn’t necessary.”

“We’ll see.”

Xander watched Dude and Chico exit the elevator, and Pixie enter it, disappearing like a wisp of smoke. He still didn’t know her damn name.

“You and I gotta stop meeting under these naked circumstances,” Dude said, grinning as he strode down the hall.

“Fuck you,” Xander growled. He spun and headed back for his room. The guys followed.

“Wasn’t that your mystery lady in the elevator?” Chico asked.

“I don’t think this is a good time, Chico,” Dude said. His words warned Chico, but his tone teased Xander.

“So who is she?” Chico asked.

“I didn’t get her name,” Xander said. He could kick himself for it, too.

“Looks like you scared her away,” Dude said. “Maybe next time, don’t strip and chase her naked through the halls.”

“Funny,” Xander said. He shoved his feet into his pants and yanked them up.

“It’s like Romeo and Juliet, man,” Chico said, a bright smile on his face.

“What?” Dude said. He leaned his shoulder on the wall, looking perplexed.

“Xander’s Romeo, mystery girl is Juliet.”

“No,” Xander said.

“Yeah, man. You guys meet suddenly, fall for each other, can’t get enough, but you’re from different gangs,” Chico said.

“That’s West Side Story,” Xander said. He pulled a shirt on, trying to ignore Chico’s ridiculous analogy.

“Whatever,” Chico said, waving off Xander’s semantics.

“Why do you even know the details of Romeo and Juliet?” Dude asked. He seemed appalled Chico would be familiar with Shakespeare. He rounded on Xander. “Or West Side Story?” Clearly that was even worse.

“I’m a romantic,” Chico said. He seemed offended by Dude’s disgust. Xander just ignored it.

“Romeo and Juliet isn’t a romance, Chico, it’s a tragedy. Everyone dies in the end,” Xander said.

“Well, aside from that,” Chico said.

“That’s the whole point of the story. Anyway,” Xander said. “Romeo and Juliet is a play written hundreds of years ago. It’s not real life.”

“I know that. I just saw the parallel.”

“Who are you people?” Dude asked. His panicked expression almost made Xander laugh.

Xander clapped him on the shoulder, “Don’t worry, Dude, we still like porn, and Chuck Norris, and chili dogs.”

Dude relaxed, but still looked suspicious. “Good thing. I thought I’d have to find new friends there for a minute.”

“So how’re you going to find your mystery girl?” Chico asked. He was like a dog with a bone, unwilling to let the damn thing go. Maybe if Xander ignored him, he’d drop it.

“Why would he?” Dude asked. “She looked desperate to get away. She obviously doesn’t want to see him again.”

What if Dude was right? Xander’s only thoughts as Pixie hurried away had been about how to find her, but what if she didn’t want to be found? Not sharing her name pointed in that direction. But if that were the case, why have sex with him again? She had plenty of opportunity to say no, and as hard as it would have been, he’d have let her go. So, she obviously wanted him as much as he wanted her. What could make her regret it so much that she’d run away?

“I’ll start at the concierge,” Xander said. “If nothing else, I need to know who she is.”

He headed for the bathroom to take a leak. He’d sworn once he had her in his room he wouldn’t let her leave without knowing her name, but damn if she wasn’t a slippery little thing. Her phone rang and she bolted.

In the bathroom, he did his business and when he went to wash his hands, he noticed a phone on the counter. A slow smile crept across his face as he exited the bathroom.

“Look what Pixie left in the bathroom,” he said, waving the phone at Dude and Chico.

“Pixie?” Dude asked. “How precious.”

“Shut up, asshole.”

Dude chuckled.

“Phone won’t do you much good if you can’t get into it,” Chico said.

Xander tossed it to him. “See what you can do.”

Chico had a thing for hacking. He saw every piece of electronics as a personal challenge. The Huntsmen took advantage of the skill, which made Chico a valuable asset to the club.

While Chico worked on the phone, Xander dressed and tried not to think about Pixie bolting from the hotel to get away from him. He couldn’t figure out why she’d be so skittish. What would make her so drawn to him, and yet so quick to get away? Who was she?

“I can probably get past the code, but it’ll take me a little while,” Chico said.

“Never mind. I can find her faster by going to the concierge and describing her.”

He held out his hand for the phone, and just then it rang in Chico’s hand. It startled him and he almost dropped it, but he managed to toss it to Xander.

The screen said ‘Lily’ was calling. He knew a Lily. He and Dude had just beat the shit out of her husband. A shiver slithered down his spine. What were the chances of that coincidence?

He answered the phone. “Hello?”

“I need my phone back.”

“Pixie. You left in a pretty big hurry.”

“Can I get my phone back?”

“Come get it. You know where my room is.”

“That’s not a good idea. I can meet you in the lobby. In five minutes?”

He wanted her back in his room so they could talk, but if his only option was the lobby, he’d take it. “Fine.”

Xander hung up the phone and stopped to think.

“That her?” Dude asked.

“Yeah. She wants her phone back. I’m going to meet her in the lobby in five. Thing is, when the phone rang, it showed Lily calling.”

“As in Mrs. Bug?” Dude asked.

“What are the chances of Bug’s wife and my Pixie knowing each other and not both being part of the Ravagers?”

“And your mystery woman just happens to show up here?” Chico added.

“Maybe Prez is trying to flush you out,” Dude said. “We’re going with you downstairs. Could be a setup.”

“I’ll call Mel. He’ll round up some of the other guys,” Chico said.

Xander’s heart sank. Was Pixie a Ravager? Had she just connected with him to flush him out? Make him vulnerable so Prez and Titan could attack? He didn’t want to believe it. She’d seemed so sincere. He usually didn’t read people so badly, but maybe he was just blind where she was concerned. When it came down to it, he really knew nothing about her.

“I’m not waiting,” Xander said. “Let’s go. If it’s a trap, we’ll deal with it.”

Anger—and humiliation—bubbled to the surface and simmered there all the way down the hall, in the elevator, and to the lobby.

When they stepped out, he led the three of them, pumped for a fight, into the open space near the registration area. The whole trip down, he’d psyched himself up to be surrounded by Ravagers, but when they got there, nobody waited for them. The sight of people going about their business, when he’d expected a bunch of leather-bound gorillas, disoriented him.

A poke on his shoulder made him spin and bring his fists up.

“Whoa, calm down,” Pixie said.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“How do you know Lily?” Dude asked.

“Are you a Ravager?” Chico asked.

“Enough with the twenty questions, already,” she said. “Is there any chance at all you’ll just give me my phone back and we can pretend none of this ever happened?”