The drinking … fuck, I couldn’t understand it or stop it. It was the one part of Georgie I had no control over. At first, it had been hard partying on the weekends then slowly over the last few months, it became more often until I found the little bottles in her purse.
What was really fucked up was it didn’t fit who she was. I knew she was better than that. She was too stubborn and determined, too fuckin’ sure of herself to be an alcoholic, yet I dragged her ass out of bars too many times to recall.
The thing was, Georgie thought she was indestructible. And she was because I was there, or one of my men, to haul her ass out of whatever trouble she landed herself in.
I opened the door of my Audi and got in. Tyler hopped in the passenger side and I started the car and headed to the airport. I’d been staying away from Georgie for the last few months, getting some distance. I didn’t like who she was becoming and I hated seeing it. I felt like she was slipping away and yet I didn’t know how to stop it.
“I don’t get it. The way she looks at you …” Tyler sighed shaking his head. “She loves you, Boss.”
I tightened my hands around the wheel. “She loves the idea of me saving her ass all the time so she can drink herself into a fuckin’ coma. She doesn’t know shit about who I am.”
“Sure she does. She may not know the bad shit, what you’re capable of … but she knows you care about her. She knows you protect your men with your life. Boss, Georgie met you before you started Unyielding Riot. That girl fell for you eons ago and Connor knew it, too.”
I directed my eyes on Tyler. “You hear what you just said?”
Tyler leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Piss on it. Connor isn’t coming back. All the leads are dust. Don’t know why we’re chasing a ghost.”
“And you hear what else you just said?”
Tyler sighed, shaking his head.
Whether Connor was dead or alive, I wouldn’t break my promise to him. My word was one part of my soul which hadn’t been tainted by the shit I’d been around over the years. Every day was getting worse. I felt the numbness leaking into me when I tortured some sick fuck that had pissed off the wrong people.
When I watched Vic pull out a man’s teeth or rip off his fingernails, I didn’t hear the screams, or smell the urine, or see the suffering. All I saw was a scumbag, and I wouldn’t yield to anyone.
But I did.
I yielded to Georgie.
I’d let her seep into my veins and take hold, and no matter how many men I killed or women I fucked, I couldn’t get her out of me.
“You sure it’s safe?”
I knew exactly what Tyler was talking about. Was the location in New York safe? Was the guy we were meeting safe? “No.” I didn’t trust the bastard. Kai was elusive, had a hell of a lot of money and a non-existent history. That meant it was hidden, and hidden was dangerous. “But I owe him.” Kai had helped me with the situation involving that sex trafficker. He’d shown up looking for the transporter responsible for shipping the women. We collaborated because he had already set up a meeting with Alfonzo. Led us right to the girls and the transporter. Kai told me he’d ask for a favor in return for the help that day.
Two days ago, he asked.
“What do you think he wants?”
“A guy like Kai …” Kai was known to be the hired man in the underworld to do the jobs no one else wanted—even me. I didn’t risk my men without a fuck of a good reason, even for a shitload of money. I knew the jobs to take and the ones to pass on. Kai was the unknown, his morals shaky, and that was dangerous. “Fuck if I know.”
“MHMM, SWEETNESS,” I purred beneath his mouth. He put his hand in my hair and tugged me in closer so my body was against him, breasts pressed into his hard chest.
He backed me against the bar. I heard the beer topple over then the slow drip of liquid as it spilt to the floor.
I groaned at the pressure, but the pain against my spine felt good. I liked pain, it breathed life into me as if … as if I was being set free. It was totally fucked up, but my entire life was fucked up, so it didn’t really bother me.
He was a sweet kisser; no slimy wet tongue invading my mouth like a fish on steroids. Instead, he did it with finesse, the tip of his tongue pushing past my lips to play with mine. But sweet didn’t do it for me.
“Gorgeous, let’s take this to my place.” He pulled back and his hand stroked down my back to my ass where he fondled with a slow, squeezing motion.
Bingo. I moaned, leaning into him then put my fingers in his hair at the back of his neck. It was time. It had to be tonight; Deck was gone and so were his men. I planned on getting two things accomplished tonight, and everything was falling into place.
I reached between us, slid my hand over the top of his jeans and felt the hard swelling. “Potential, definitely. Okay, sugar, let’s get this done.”
He chuckled. “Sounds like a chore.”
He had no idea. He tightened his grip in my hair and drew me in for another kiss. It wasn’t hard and demanding like I yearned for, but it would do until I had what I wanted. He let me go with a deep groan then took my hand and pulled me through the crowd toward the door.
“Georgie!”
I turned to see Matt coming out of the back of the bar, phone to his ear. Shit. I knew exactly who he was talking to, but there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn’t hear what he said before he hung up and shoved his cell into his back pocket, but by the stiffness of his stride, he was pissed. Matt was my friend, Kat’s brother, and owned Avalanche. It was my local hangout, and lately I was here more often than I was at home. Matt was in the hot group with his tall, lean frame and stark, square features. In all the years I’d known him, though, he’d remained single. I’d seen the girls slip him notes, no doubt their numbers on it, but if he did hook up he kept it private.