Losing Me, Finding You(38)

“Kent, this better be f*cking good,” Austin tells me as those dark eyes find mine and the greasiest smile I have ever seen on a human being lights the man's lips.

“This must be our new member?” he says and the sound of his voice gives me chills, stealing away the hot pleasure of Austin's body and leaving me cold. Whoever this guy is, I can't trust him. I use the bed to climb to my feet, glancing quickly at myself in the mirror as I pass. My hair is mussy and my lips swollen; my dress is wrinkled to hell, and it's pretty obvious that I've been up to no good, but I force my feet forward as Austin introduces me.

“Amy Cross meet Kent Diamond. Diamond, Cross. Shake hands and make pretty later. What's this about?” I pause behind Austin and admire the strong curve of his back, wishing my body wasn't so hot and bothered. This is horrible! I think, suddenly very aware of the origin of the term sexual tension. My spine feels rigid enough to snap and the muscles in my face are so taut they hurt. I want to punch something and scream at the same time. Ugh.

Kent watches me and both his dark brows raise up as he flicks his eyes to Austin and communicates solely with the look.

Austin growls and glances over his shoulder at me, softening the noise with a small smile that teases the scar on his lip.

“Stay here till I get back, babe.” He pauses and worries at his lip for a second. “And bolt the door behind me. If anybody shows up looking for me, tell 'em I'm with Kent.” I nod my head, but I don't speak. I don't think I can, not without begging Austin to stay and finish what he started.

“Got it,” I whisper as he leaves and slams the door shut behind him.



Chapter 29

Kent takes me downstairs and out the front doors, down the block and into the parking garage before he finally opens his f*cking mouth and tells me why he felt the need to interrupt my time with Cross. I'm of the mind to snap his skinny head off his broad shoulders, but I manage to control myself. Barely. I've still got the world's worst hard-on rubbing against the inside of my jeans. Doesn't exactly breed patience, now does it?

“What. The. Fuck.” This isn't a question from me, just a statement. It means that Kent, despite his position as President, better start talking or I'm going to leave and finish what I started.

“Walker knows,” he says, shrugging his shoulders like he can't even be bothered to come up with an explanation for that.

“The f*ck?” I ask, patting my pockets down for a cigarette. “That we're moving in?”

“Yep.” Kent reaches into his back pocket and hands me a cig and a light. I snatch it from his hand and press the skinny stick between my lips. I'd much rather have my mouth pressed up against Amy's sweet spot, but in a bind, tobacco will do just fine.

“How?” He shrugs again, and I have to close my eyes to keep myself contained. “Only me, you, Mel, and I'm assuming Kimmi knew. Explain how that shit got back to Tray?” I open my eyes when I hear the sound of heels coming from across the parking garage. I glance over my shoulder and find Mel swaying her way towards us with Kimmi Reynolds in tow. The redhead isn't smiling, so I'm guessing that Diamond's already filled her in. She's got on a pair of dark jeans and a leather corset with Triple M's colors on the back of it. Her high heeled leather boots and dangling earrings used to bother me, but that was way back when I hadn't seen the girl in action. Me, I could never outrun the cops in heels like that, but Kimmi, she pulls it off. She's proven herself to the point where I no longer question what she wears to a job.

“Austin,” she says, nodding her chin at me. She doesn't acknowledge Kent. “So, um, what the hell is going on? Did you drag me out here just to tell me the bad news?”

“Actually,” Melissa says, pushing Kimmi aside with her shoulder and hanging on Kent like she's a Goddamn monkey or some shit. I swear to God, that bitch is hornier than I am. “We have a plan.”

“Oh, do tell,” Kimmi says, crossing her arms and staring at me from bright, green eyes. She never looks Kent or Mel in the face, says they're not worth the effort. I think Kimmi would be president if she could. Kent's got some hardcore loyal fans in the group though, people who don't know about the inner workings of Triple M. It'd take something pretty damn big to knock him and Mel off their thrones.

“Walker and his group are planning to go in at midnight.” Kent smiles his croc smile, big and ugly. “You're going to beat him to it.”

“Splendid,” Kimmi says, rubbing her temple with stiff fingers. “In an age of heightened security, we're going to break our decade old, fail proof plan, so that we can beat Tray Walker and Bested by Crows? Sounds like a real good way to go down and take the whole MC with us.” She smiles tightly and shakes her head.

I'd love to jump right in with my own arguments, tell Kent and Mel to go screw themselves, but then I think of Mireya and Gaine and Beck. If we don't go, Kent's going to send somebody else in our places. Besides, for what he did to Sawyer, Tray deserves to have the rug pulled out from under him.

“I've got an idea,” I say and Kimmi snaps her gaze over to mine, eyes questioning.

“Yeah?”

“Let's do it after dark, soon as we get the chance. We'll take what we need and leave the rest.” I hold up a hand before Kimmi can argue with me. Mel and Kent are both smiling stupidly. I hate that they think I'm wrapped around their finger, and it really pisses me off that they used Mireya's secret to try and hook me harder. Fuckers. “Let's leave them a little surprise behind. I mean, hey, if they take the fall for our gig, that'll get 'em off our backs.” I pause. “At least for a little while.”