Furore (The Night Skulls MC #1)(10)

Then something vicious and dangerous clicked in me. The girl in the photo couldn’t have been more than ten years old. Maybe even younger. So beautiful and innocent and clueless…and sad, so sad. I didn’t know if it was that face that belonged in fairyland, that look in those rare eyes or my protective parental instincts that had been heightened since that fucker laid a hand on my boy, but every cell in me wanted to protect that little girl.

Instead, for the sake of my own child, I was supposed to hand her over to those animals. “What are you gonna do to her if she is who you think she is?”

“The less you know the better, Furore,” he stressed.

Shit. That could never be good. I dragged my eyes away from the photo, shaking off that fucking feeling that wasn’t supposed to strike me like a lightning bolt. But when he took back the picture, all I wanted was to ask him to keep it with me, as if I needed to protect even the goddamn picture from his hands.

Snap out of it. She’s not a little girl anymore. She’s just another bitch now, who has probably done bad shit like every other woman out there, like Delilah. She doesn’t need your protection. Your son does.

In spite of what I thought of bitches after what Delilah did to me, I couldn’t bring myself to be okay with this job. I wasn’t Roar. The former president of the San Francisco chapter wouldn’t have batted an eye and would have jumped into that shady deal with a sick smile on his face. But not me. Putting those sudden feelings that picture sparked inside me aside, hurting young women like that teacher—they said she was fresh in her early twenties—wasn’t something I stomached. Unless she’d done something really nasty that she had whatever shit the Mob had in mind for her, handing her over to ruthless men like the Lanzas wasn’t something I was willing to do. Not even if it brought me back to my son. “Why me? Can’t you just send someone to do it outside? It’d be much easier.”

“We don’t want to draw any attention to her outside of those walls or anyone to know we’re looking into her.”

She must have been a big secret they had to protect. Why? And until when? How much danger was she in? Fuck. I had to know even though I shouldn’t. I needed to know. “You coming here has drawn a lot of attention already.”

“Not at all. The Night Skulls and the Lanzas go way back. You’re a valued friend who has come all the way to our city and sadly encountered an unfortunate event. It’d be strange if we didn’t come to check on you and make sure you were comfortable in your new accommodation. No one knows the true nature of this conversation but you and me. Your discretion, which I know you’ll honor, is very much appreciated.”

I snorted. “Trust easy, huh?”

“What are friends if they can’t trust each other, goombah?” He rose, buttoning his suit jacket. “Besides, I’m sure you know that if we can make McNamara move his tongue to say the right words, we can also make him shut his mouth forever. How much time do you think people serve for manslaughter in here? With your priors and him being the mayor’s nephew… Good God, they can push for life. Che guaio. Shit would be really hard on you, and your poor son would lose both his fathers. I wouldn’t want that for you or him.”





CHAPTER 6


Jo



I didn’t know what possessed me to masturbate to Laius Lazzarini. A convict. An outlaw that headed one of the most vicious, one-percenter motorcycle clubs in the country, perhaps even in the world.

Anybody who lived in California long enough, especially in San Francisco, knew what the Night Skulls were and what they did in America and Europe. There were horror stories about the criminal activities and abductions the San Francisco chapter was involved in before its destruction a few years ago, in the fire that allegedly killed all the members that were at their compound in Rosewood.

I wouldn’t even begin to delude myself about the nature of the Houston chapter and their president. He was in prison for beating a man almost to death, threatening a woman at gunpoint and almost killing them if she didn’t call the cops in time. No logic could justify my ghastly attraction to such a brutal criminal.

Except attraction needed no logic and knew no rules or boundaries.

My heart squeezed as my gaze roamed around the foreign periodical section—the most secluded section—at the back of the school library. Where my first kiss was stolen from me. Where I first lost all common sense and caution and broke all the rules.

It’d been a cold day, and the nightmares had been having a field day with me. After several coffees, I’d managed to teach my classes until fourth period. Then exhaustion overwhelmed me. The teacher’s lounge was too loud and crowded, so I’d used my lunch time to come to the library and rest. Wrong? Maybe, but my other options had been either the toilet or my car. Both would have been freezing and not a nice look for me if I’d been caught. The library had been the safest option. No one went to that aisle unless they were about to have sex. I’d convinced myself I was doing the school a favor by being there to scare away the students—and teachers—who had had any intension to exploit the space for nonacademic activities. How virtuous of me, right?

Using my jacket as a pillow, I’d dozed off at the secluded aisle. It’d been the best sleep I’d had in months. Until a warm breath had whispered in my ear, waking me up.

“You’re so beautiful. So fucking beautiful,” a voice had been whispering. No one had ever called me beautiful in a whisper before. It’d felt like a dream. A good one for a change. I didn’t want to wake up.