SLAM HER(27)

I looked at her. “Yeah.”

That was a bold lie.

I was so f*cking far from okay…





The rest of the afternoon I couldn’t stop thinking about Slam. If that’s what he wanted, then he was winning. I was so tempted to call or text him, to tease him and see if he would come find me again. I had so many wild thoughts racing through my mind, I swore my face was red for hours.

Never in my life had I been so turned on before.

It was actually almost a relief to feel that way because nothing else entered my mind for the rest of the day. That, however, did work against me.

After all my running around was done - including a trip to the restaurant to help Marco with an order - I went to my apartment. The plan was simple. I was going to order something to eat, have it delivered, enjoy some wine and a movie, then take care of those naughty thoughts in my mind, care of Slam. Maybe not quite the most pathetic night ever, but at least I’d stay out of trouble.

Something about Slam just wasn’t right. He was a bad guy. He took pride in being a bad guy. Yeah, it was sexy, but it wasn’t realistic. I had grown up in a world of being protected from bad guys.

I opened the door to my apartment and dropped my bag.

A second later, my jaw dropped.

“Belle, I told you we had to talk.”

I had no idea how he got into my apartment, but Kyle was waiting for me…





eighteen



(slam)



NOW



We sat around a card table like we used to do. Throwing down money, chips, and hands like we had nothing better to do. It was almost a calming relief from being in chapel. Pushing back against other crews and the PD in town was stressful. We had to protect our territory and some days were easier than others.

“I have to bring this up,” Knox said. “Tommy.”

“Shit,” I said.

“We could get him right now,” Knox said.

I folded up my cards and put them down. I looked at the bottle of whiskey to my left. Normally by then I’d have half the bottle gone but I didn’t do that yet. I was waiting for some damn reason. Maybe it was to have a coherent conversation about this Tommy situation that Knox refused to let go.

“Okay,” I said. “I’m ending this right now. This guy f*cked the club. I get that. He sold us out to score for himself. Every time I turn around, someone is talking to me about it. We want him? Get him right now. Get out of the f*cking chair and move.”

“You can’t get involved,” Matteo said.

“I f*cking get that,” I said. “Say it again and I’ll knock your teeth out.”

“Come on, Slam,” Matteo said. “Right now. Let’s have a talk.”

Matteo stood up and so did I.

We both took our leather cuts off. Nobody tried to step in and stop us.

We took it three feet to the left, put our fists up, and had a conversation.

Matteo was a damn good fighter. Trained both in a ring and on the streets. He had a wicked right that always got to my ribs, making me lose my breath for a second. Most of his opponents would drop their hands then, leaving themselves open for the knockout.

Not me.

I just went for Matteo’s pretty face.

We ended up going three rounds before Knox called it.

My lip was bleeding, my right eye a little swollen. Matteo had a hell of a bruise on his jaw and his nose pouring blood.

When it stopped, we hugged each other.

“I love you, brother,” Matteo said to me.

“You too,” I said.

That was how we settled up when tension got too high. Not that Matteo did anything wrong to me or me to him, it was just life. Sometimes it was easier to throw a fist than talk about our feelings.

I cleaned myself up in the bathroom and found Knox waiting for me.

He handed me a towel. “What do you want done to him?”

“Who?”

“Tommy.”

“This guy again? Holy shit.”

“Give me an idea.”

“You know what? Just bring him here, Knox. Use him for information. Simple. Get all you can and then get rid of him. If any of his people come looking then we gear up for a little war. I don’t know what else to say here.”

“You didn’t say kill him,” Knox said.

“What?”

“Normally you’d have gory details of how you wanted someone taken out.”

I gritted my teeth. “I’m not allowed to be like that anymore, right? I have to keep my head straight.”

Knox tossed me the towel and nodded. “Good, Slam. Keep it straight. I’ll go talk to the guys and we’ll get this thing settled.”

That was supposed to be the end of my day. The boys would go for a ride and catch up with Tommy. I’d hang back, drinking whiskey, waiting for them. Maybe find someone to f*ck to kill some time.

The last thing I expected to do was save Belle’s life.





The call came right as the guys were gearing up to leave. When I saw it was Belle, I smiled. I figured she was going to give me something to do for a little while. But the second I heard her voice I knew something was very wrong.

Very f*cking wrong.

I grabbed Knox by the shoulder and spun him around, shaking my head.