Riding Darkness (Back Down Devil MC #4.5)(24)

Even after Ares was done, Brooke gently sucked on him, easing him down. She didn’t pull away from him until he pulled her hair again and guided her away. Ares then backed up and tucked himself into his jeans. He zipped up his jeans and then moved to the bed and sat next to Brooke. He put his big hand on top of hers and squeezed.

“Brooke…”

“Stop,” she said. She reached back and then handed him the cellphone. “Here it is.”

Ares took the phone and held it tight. “I appreciate this. The club…”

“I don’t give a f*ck about your club,” Brooke said. “Sorry. Armen is the last family I have. Maybe that’s been clouding my mind. I don’t know. I wanted to believe him, Ares. I wanted to believe some other people killed my parents. That they were coming for us. But I get it. He did it. He really did it.”

“Yeah, he did,” Ares said. “I’m damn sorry for it, darling. But I’m thankful right now that you didn’t end up dead in all this bullshit. I’ll keep you safe. I’ll keep you protected.”

“I want to be there,” Brooke said. “I want to see it.”

“No,” Ares said. “Fuck no.”

“Yes. I’m demanding it. It’s my f*cking brother. He killed my parents. I want to see him die. I need closure.”

“Christ,” Ares said. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you.”

Brooke looked at Ares. “But you did. You told me. Because you care…”

“About you?” Ares asked. “Yeah, I do care.”

“Then let me be there. Let me see it. Let me understand it.”

“I don’t agree with it,” Ares said. “But I’m not patched in. I guess I don’t have the power to demand what you can and can’t do.”

“In my eyes, you’re patched in,” Brooke said. “You can tell me to do whatever you want. But I have to be there. I can lure him… he wants me to come with him…”

Brooke turned her hand around and interlocked her fingers to Ares’s. She smiled at him. He didn’t smile back.

Ares looked at the phone.





seventeen.



Armen had been sending messages all morning. He was hiding out in an empty warehouse not far from where all hell broke lose. Two guys from Eight Under had helped him into the building and gave him food. The promise in exchange for the protection was that Armen would bring Ares to the Eight Under club and let them kill him. Everything hinged on revenge.

And it was all right there in Ares’s hands.

When he finished reading the messages, he put the phone on the bed and looked at Brooke. “I need you to be honest with me.”

“Okay.”

“What were you thinking of doing?”

“I don’t know. My mind was torn bad. I thought about telling him to sneak out and run. With me. Or maybe without me. If you are wondering about me luring you to him, no, that never came to my mind. I would never do that to you, Ares. Reading his messages started to replay memories in my mind. How he always ended up close to dying and always made some kind of deal to get out of it. How others were killed, but not by his actions.”

“What happened with your parents?” Ares asked.

“I walked in and saw them… they were gone. A second later Armen appeared and looked surprised to see me. He hurried to grab me and took me from the house. Refused to call police. Refused to explain what happened. He only told me that they were coming. That’s what he always said. They’re coming… they’re going to kill us… So I believed him. I really didn’t have a choice. I had to believe him. I had to keep myself safe. The more I traveled with him, the more I let myself fall to him. Anything he said, I held at truth. I figured if he was gathering that much cash for a war, I would either die or find a way to escape.”

“Then he picked here to f*ck around,” Ares said.

“Yeah, I guess. His biggest mistake.”

“One he’ll pay with his life.”

Brooke nodded. She inched closer to Ares and pressed her lips to his cheek. “I don’t know why but I feel like I should be thanking you.”

“Don’t,” Ares said. He took Brooke by her face. His thumb ran along her bottom lip. That damn sexy lip had been moving along his shaft just a few minutes ago. “Don’t thank me for a thing. You want to come on this mission with us, you might end up dead.”

“Then I’ll die facing the truth and I’ll die in your arms. That’s okay with me.”

Fuck… this woman is beautiful and caring. She’s honest. She’s broken. She’s… she's like everything.

Ares slipped his hand to the back of Brooke’s neck. He pulled her in for a kiss. “I don’t want you to go anywhere, darling. You belong right here in this room with me. When I kill your brother, I’m going to accept a patch from Miller. Then… you’re going to be all mine.”

“I like the way that sounds,” Brooke said.

She kissed Ares and when she tried to pull away, Ares pulled her back again. Their mouths opened and their tongues touched for a few seconds.

“You know, one of these times I’m going to leave this room and clubhouse and never come back,” Ares whispered. “That’s why there’s something I need to do.”