Rough Stuff (The Untouchables MC Book 3) Read online

“I’m taking you home with me.”

  Her bright eyes got wide and she shook her pretty little head.

  “You can’t. My mom is here. I can’t just disappear. She’ll freak.”

  I frowned at her, a new worry starting to form.

  “How fucking old are you?”

  “Eighteen.”

  I nodded. Thank Christ, she was old enough. Though I was a hell of a lot older.

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-eight.”

  “Oh.”

  “Come on.”

  I took her hand and started dragging her back toward the restaurant.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To tell your mom where you are going.”

  She tugged on my hand until I stopped.

  “Let me get this straight. You want to tell my mom that you are taking me home with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “You want to tell my sweet mother that you plan to take home her virgin daughter whom you just met and pound her into the bed or something?”

  My brows snapped together. That sounded about right. The image of me pounding into her was exactly what I’d had in mind. But her words brought me up short.

  “Virgin?”

  She rolled her eyes and I nearly smiled again. That had to be some sort of a record. And I was getting pissed off that she kept turning me down. The fact that she made me smile anyway was something I was not ready to think about.

  “Whatever. You are not going to talk to my mom.”

  I exhaled, getting more frustrated by the minute. I wanted to be inside her. If we were alone, she would be wrapped around my aching cock already.

  I grunted at her, taking a step closer. I wanted her to come home with me now. She was being difficult.

  “Um. You could ask me out like a normal human being.”

  I grunted in agreement and held out my hand. I had never asked anyone out before, but I could do that. If it would get her in my bed, I’d do just about anything.

  “Phone.”

  She pulled it out of her little evening bag and handed it to me. I was struck again by how small her hand was. How delicate.

  She wouldn’t have survived the things I had done and seen. Many people wouldn’t. I punched my number into her phone and texted myself.

  I handed it back to her in silence.

  “So?”

  I raised an eyebrow, trying furiously to imagine a scenario where I could get her into my bed tonight. Short of kidnapping, the prospects were bleak.

  “Are you going to ask me out?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “What?”

  “I will pick you up tomorrow.”

  “Pick me up for a date? Or pound town?”

  I cracked a smile. The fourth one tonight. Probably the fourth one in a decade. It felt strange on my face but not bad.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You have a way with words.”

  “Yeah, well, you barely speak!”

  I grunted in agreement.

  “Do you want to dance?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?” She gave me a suspicious glance when I said nothing. “Do you know my brother?”

  I grunted again.

  “Do you like my brother?”

  Silence.

  “Does my brother like you?”

  I cocked an eyebrow.

  “This is off to a great start.” I nearly laughed at the heavy sarcasm in her voice. I wasn’t used to bossy women. Or sassy ones. She was smart and not overly impressed by my size or my stature.

  Then again, she probably didn’t know I was the President of the infamous Untouchables MC. The club used to be wild. Out of control. But under my direction, crime and craziness were at a minimum.

  Letting off steam was one thing. Being investigated by the feds was another.

  And now I was going to have to deal with one fed in particular, whether I liked it or not.

  “Don’t tell him.”

  “You want me to lie?” She looked incredulous but I only nodded. She threw up her hands. “Fine! What time?”

  “Oh eight hundred.”

  “Wait, you want to pick me up at 8 AM?”

  I nodded curtly. I wasn’t pleased about waiting that long, but out of respect for her mother, I would.

  She crossed her arms and glared at me.

  “And what will we be doing on this early morning date?”

  I let my eyes wander over her appreciatively. Her cheeks turned bright pink. Clearly, she got the idea.

  “I need to think about this. And forget the morning. I don’t do early mornings.”

  “Nine then.”

  She sighed and threw up her hands in exasperation. In answer, I lifted her over my shoulder and carried her back into the secluded patio. I spent the next hour burying my tongue in her mouth and running my hands over her body. By the end, she’d agreed to meet me at eight.

  I wore a smile for the rest of the night.

  Chapter One

  Cain

  I felt like I’d been frowning for days.

  Another club member’s old lady was missing. Not a young couple either. They’d been together for fifteen years. A middle-aged couple with a couple of rug rats. Kids that might be without their mother now, for good. No one was saying it, but we all thought the same thing.

  The killer is back.

  I sat at the head of the heavy wooden table in the clubhouse meeting room. I ran my hand over the scarred wood. It was not unlike me. It took a licking and kept on ticking.

  Vice, Hunter, and Mason were the only ones left after the meeting.

  Mason was talking, shaking his head.

  “This is crazy. They weren’t even together anymore.”

  “They split?”

  He nodded.

  “On paper too.”

  “When?”

  “Years ago.”

  “We’re sure she didn’t just run off with a new boyfriend?”

  Vice shook his head.

  “No boyfriends. The lady preferred cats.”

  Normally, that would have gotten a chuckle from the guys. Not today. Not now.

  “He’s targeting anyone who has ever been associated with the club. It’s deliberately random.”

  “He’s just fucking with us. Letting us know he can pick us off one by one if he wants. No one is safe.”

  Mason rubbed his temples. I understood how he felt. He had a family now. Michelle, Payton, the new baby, and of course, Cass.

  “Find out what Connor knows.”

  He nodded wearily.

  “Kelly needs watching.”

  Mason lifted his head.

  “She’s over at our place all the time. Shit. I know Con has precautions set up.”

  “Not good enough.”

  Even with my staying away, she was in danger. I cursed and slammed my hand on the table. Everyone looked up in surprise. I never showed emotion but this was different.

  I’d sacrificed my own desires for too long. Just to keep her safe. And now, it didn’t matter.

  All those sleepless, aching nights had been for nothing. Watching her from a distance. Looking, and wanting, but never touching.

  Despite my best efforts, it was well-known that I had a thing for Kelly. Plus, she hung with club girls like Cassandra and Michelle. Shit, she was practically in the club herself.

  She was definitely in the crosshairs.

  “What’s the status?”

  Vice and Hunter exchanged a look. I gritted my teeth, knowing it was going to be one of those reports. Obviously, some monkey had made a move on her. No one in this town would dare, but she was in college part-time. We couldn’t threaten all of Southern California.

  “The last few days, she’s been quiet. Classes, mostly. And her new job.”

  I grunted. Kelly was waiting tables at a diner called Early Bird that catered to old people. The place opened close to dawn and shut down at eight PM. I’d done extensive recon. She was s
afe there with my guys keeping an eye on it, though I worried when she worked an early shift.

  Late nights and early mornings. Those were the times the killer liked to strike.

  I folded my arms and waited. Mason cleared his throat and muttered something about getting going soon. But he didn’t get up.

  Nobody moved an inch.

  “Some creep followed her to her car last night.”

  “When?”

  “After her psych class.”

  “Student?”

  “He’s the . . . uh, the TA.”

  “Elaborate.”

  “A TA is a teaching assistant, usually a graduate student.”

  I sliced a look at Vice and he stopped talking.

  “I know what a fucking TA is.”

  Hunter took a puff of his cigar.

  “I followed him home last night. Vice followed Kelly. He lives alone in an apartment not far from campus. I’ve got a guy on him now. Loner. So far, all Trace has dug up is porn.”

  Trace was a club member who specialized in the dark web. He made the average hacker look like they belonged in a fucking knitting circle. He did more for the club that anyone but wasn’t at the clubhouse all that much. He preferred his ‘dungeon,’ which is what he called the subterranean room in his house that was hermetically sealed and filled with more electronics than Best Buy. Plus, he worked for me at my security firm where he had even more high-tech shit. No one else was allowed to touch it.

  Trace could have been an engineer. A gazillionaire. Instead, he’d dropped out of MIT and indulged in his love of booze, bikes, and babes, all while maintaining his own corner of the dark web. He was brilliant. Too brilliant to be mainstream. He was also a pain in the ass.

  “He lives alone and watches porn. Great.”

  Mason cracked a smile at that.

  “Well, no, not just porn. Dark stuff. Couple of Cam girls blocked him. Apparently, he’s got a reputation as a bad apple. Obsessive type. Trace is still digging.”

  “Did she see him?”

  He shook his head.

  “She has no idea. I don’t think she’s aware of the . . . attention she gets.”

  I snorted. That was an understatement. Kelly had no damn idea how fine she was. From observation and the little bit of time we’d spent together, I’d already gathered that. She just thought of herself as any other girl.

  Of course, she was anything but ordinary.

  I watched her. A lot. I knew that little girl inside and out. Of course, she barely knew me. It didn’t matter. She was mine.

  Vice leaned in.

  “Okay. We ramp up security. It’s not like this guy is going to cut out her eyeballs, but he’s definitely bad news.”

  I flinched. So did Mason. We were both extremely even-keeled except when it came to our women. Threaten the women we cared about and we went nuts. We would kill anyone who tried to harm them or even thought about harming them. I didn’t even like hearing about what the killer was doing to people out loud.

  Not when it was Kelly’s face I imagined. Kelly’s eyes.

  I usually wasn’t superstitious, but I wanted to smack Vice for even putting it into words.

  Nobody was touching Kelly. Not on my watch and not on my club’s watch.

  I reminded myself that she was covered. Her backup had backup. Three lines you had to cross to get to her. Me. My guys. And her brother, Connor.

  Pain in the ass though he might be, the man was smart and very protective of his little sister. He’d threatened to dismember me several times.

  Well, one body part, in particular.

  I snorted. Con didn’t scare me. This TA creep didn’t scare me either, though I was irritated as fuck about the latest Kelly situation. I’d seen things overseas that would turn your hair white. Done things too. Walked through gore after bombs went off. Held a dying soldier in my arms as we tried to put him back together. Very little on God’s green earth could scare me even a little.

  The killer did.

  Chapter Two

  Kelly

  “Breakfast for dinner again, Mr. Debonay?”

  “Thank you, Kelly. That sounds just fine.”

  He gave me a sad smile, and I nodded, trying to think of something to brighten his day. He was such a nice old man, and so dapper with his little bowtie. The other girls had told me he’d been coming in for years with his wife, but she passed away the year before.

  I decided to bring him a side of Jell-O with whipped cream, no charge. Better to bring it at the end of his meal so he doesn’t ruin his appetite, I thought to myself as I put in his order.

  I cleared a few tables as we were short-staffed and took a few more orders before checking on another one of my favorite customers. She was an elegant old lady with white hair who reminded me of a little bird. She looked a lot like Jessica Tandy in Cocoon, one of my mom’s favorite movies.

  Mrs. Buchholz was another sweetie who always ate alone. Her husband had been gone for a long time though. I looked at her dainty hands as she carefully cut her food and glanced back at Mr. Duhoney. I had a sudden idea. Matchmaking. It was getting crowded in here . . .

  “I am so sorry to bother you, Mrs. Buchholz, but we are getting very busy. Would you mind terribly if someone sat with you?” I smiled. “It would be a huge help to me. I promise it will be someone nice.”

  “Of course, dear. Anything to help.”

  I bustled over to Mr. Duhoney’s table.

  “I am so sorry, Mr. Duhoney, but we are getting packed. Would you mind terribly sitting with someone else? We have another one just over there.”

  I pointed to the very pretty white-haired lady across the restaurant. He looked startled, then he shrugged.

  “I don’t mind.”

  I guided him across the room and then grinned at them stupidly.

  “Mrs. Buchholz, this is Mr. Duhoney. Thank you both so much for helping me out. I’ll bring your eggs and fruit in just a moment, Mr. Duhoney.”

  I scurried to the path behind the counter and grabbed the coffee, mindlessly refilling as I spied on them. They both looked a little stiff. I shook myself when I accidentally gave someone under sixty decaf. Usually, only the staff and the occasional non-senior drank the regular coffee, though we did get a few half-and-halfers. He scowled at me until I brought him a cup of the real stuff. By the time I looked up again, Mrs. Buchholz and Mr. Duhoney were smiling.

  The rest of my shift flew by. I felt like I was walking on air. I’d seen Mr. Duhoney pay for both checks and then take Mrs. B’s arm as he escorted her outside. I just knew I had done a good thing.

  I was a romantic at heart, even if there was very little actual romance in my life.

  By the end of my shift, I still felt great. Usually, I was dragging my tush, but not today. I had a few hours to get home, shower, and catch up on homework before class.

  The whole time, I had one sad thought, one little pin that burst my happiness bubble. Love was everywhere. Romance was everywhere. It surrounded me, literally. My brother was almost absurdly in love with his wife, Cassandra, and our other best friend, Michelle, was legit worshipped by her husband, Mason. I loved seeing them happy, but my matchmaking that morning made me think.

  Why not me?

  The answer was simple. There was only one guy I wanted and he was keeping his distance. No one else seemed interested anyway.

  My problem was big, mean-looking, and incredibly sexy.

  My problem was Cain.

  Chapter Three

  Cain

  This girl is going to kill me.

  I frowned as Kelly’s beat-up old hatchback made an illegal left turn. The woman was a menace on the road. She knew I hated breaking traffic laws.

  She also knew I had no choice but to follow her.

  Just like I’d been doing since the night we met.

  It was almost two years since that night. The night she had refused to come home with me, even though she’d wanted to. Two years since the violent deaths surrounding my club
started up again and I had to keep my distance.

  Two fucking years of waiting.

  We’d had a handful of dates that first couple of weeks, each one ending with her refusing to sleep with me. Then the murders had started up again. It wasn’t safe for her to be associated with the club. Her brother did a good job of looking after her. Unbeknownst to him, I was doing the same thing.

  I tried to catch her alone now and then. Steal a kiss. Try for more. But the woman was elusive. She was annoyed with me and had been since I backed off. She thought I didn’t want her.

  She thought wrong.

  In the past two years, I had been through hell and back again. Denying myself and maintaining strict control were nothing new. I just hadn’t ever wanted something this badly before. Never mind the murders surrounding my club. I had finally found a woman I wanted, a woman I needed, and she was giving me hell.

  The woman is a walking set of blue balls.

  I hadn’t wanted to scare her with the gory details of what was happening. So I kept silent about what was happening and why I was staying away. Maybe that had been a mistake. I should have told her and asked her to wait. To be patient. Instead, Kelly had gone on a series of internet dates. One by one, I’d watched her doll herself up and meet random guys for coffee, drinks, even dinner.

  It fucking tore through me every damn time.

  I was pretty sure she was trying to make me jealous, and it worked. Probably more than she could have imagined. The guys never stood a chance—with her or with me. Luckily, I was so big that I didn’t really need to threaten the guys. I just needed to show up and glare at them until they took the hint.

  How the damn woman could imagine I wasn’t interested . . .

  She seemed to think I followed her around and drove past her house every night for fun. I shook my head. She was a mystery, that was certain. Especially the way her mind worked.

  Kelly had her own brand of logic, among many other funny little quirks. Let’s just say critical thinking wasn’t high on Kelly’s list of character traits. I made a mental checklist, ticking them off one by one.