RIDING DIRTY (Steel Titans MC Book 4) by Franca Storm (ebook voice reader .txt) 📕

arms, making her gaze jolt to mine, needing her to hear me, to understand the urgency bleeding from me, how on edge this whole thing of her working behind enemy lines was making me, how fucking crazed. “You ain’t heading back into that fucker’s clutches.”

An amused smile from her broke through the intensity from me that’d been ramping up so much it was close to exploding all over the place.

“What’s funny here, woman?”

“You.” She pressed her hands to my chest. “Getting all heavy-handed and protective over me.”

“Shouldn’t be a surprise,” I told her, covering her hands on my chest, and stroking her fingers. “I’ve been that way with you since the first time we crossed paths.”

Her smile grew. “You were smitten with me from that very first day, huh?”

“Nah, darlin’. Way more than that. I ain’t the kind of man who walks away from something, or someone, he wants. You were the first I ever tried to protect from the dark and dirty in me.” Saying the words out loud, it hit me like a shitload of concrete. It had me breaking contact and pulling back from her. “Look how well those intentions worked out. Jesus fucking Christ.”

“I make my own choices, Slade. This isn’t on you. Save your loathing for our enemies.”

She went to step back, but I grabbed her hand, holding her to me, with me. “I’m dead serious. You ain’t going back to him. Hell, you ain’t leaving my sight.”

“I won’t put you, or a whole slew of innocent people at risk, just to protect myself.”

“Willa—”

She held up her hand, cutting me off, “Take Nolan. I’ll make it look like he packed up and took off, having gotten a tipoff that Freeman and I were headed here to kill him. Head back to Indulge with him. He claims intel on the militia exists on his hard drive there. I’ll come to you as soon as I can undermine the militia and make damn sure it can’t come at you or Rockford.”

She started for the door to Nolan’s room, but I rounded on her, blocking her way.

“Slade, don’t make this harder than it is.”

I stepped up to her. “You told me that I was right all along about Freeman. I was the only one who had an instinct about him. Remember that?”

“Of course,” she said, slapping her hands to her hips, her impatience clear. “What’s your point?” Eyeing her watch, she winced, telling me, “Six minutes until I need to make contact, or Freeman and his guys come storming in here.”

“My point is that you gotta be trusting my instincts here with this.”

“All right. What’s your way around this shitshow then?”

“Simple. Nolan and his men are gonna kidnap you.”

She cocked an eyebrow.

I merely smiled, then led her back into Nolan’s room.

“What happened?” she demanded as soon as we caught sight of Nolan sprawled out face down on the carpet, while Mason leaned against the wall all casual and chilled about it.

He eyed us and gave a shrug, “He wouldn’t calm the hell down.”

“Well, he was worked up for nothing, because he ain’t dying tonight,” I told him.

He and Willa eyed me like they had no clue who the fuck they were looking back at.

“Because he’s kidnapping me?” Willa asked.

“Right on, darlin’.”

Mason pushed off the wall, eyeing me in question. “He’s doing what?”

An irritating low-pitched beeping sounded. I watched Willa eye her watch. “Five-minute warning.”

“All right. We gotta do this fast. This is how it’s gonna go.” I pointed to Nolan. “He got word that Freeman and Shadow were coming for him. He was ready, an army of his guys greeting Willa the second she entered his room. They took her as leverage against Freeman, to keep Nolan alive, confining her back at his stronghold at Indulge, a place we know Freeman ain’t gonna hit, because of the blowback of a public takedown and fucking massacre, especially after I’ve already been there and made a hell of a scene not long ago. The place is too hot right now. It’ll buy us the time we need to deal with his militia and him.”

“What about your shot to put Nolan to ground?” Mason asked, for once looking shocked. He couldn’t believe I was going to let my chance to end my long-time enemy go by.

“We don’t do this now and Freeman’s gonna take out the club, everybody in Warlow, and gain a massive foothold from Tony Rockford.”

His eyes shot wide. “Jesus Christ.”

“Okay,” Willa said, suddenly shrugging off her tactical jacket. “Then, we better make it look convincing, like a real struggle happened here. Freeman will know that I wouldn’t have gone down easy.” She pulled out what she needed from her jacket and shoved the items into her tactical pants. She tossed her gun across the room. She kicked over the bedside table, ripped a lamp out of the wall and made a hell of a mess. Then she pulled a flip knife from her pocket, dislodged the blade, and swiped a deep gash across her arm.

“Fuck!” I cried, rushing to her. “What the hell are you doing?”

She only sliced deeper, blood dripping all over the carpet. “We need to make it look convincing, right?”

I grasped her arm, then snatched the blade out of her hand. “That’s enough. Jeez, woman, you’re hardcore.”

Mason chuckled. “You two are a match made in hell, no question.”

Willa grinned at me.

I shook my head to myself. “Fuck.”

Truth be told, she was more than a match for me.

Willa Rose was my other half, the half I’d been missing for way too long.

26

~Slade~

 

“EASY.”

I reacted quick, grabbing hold of Willa, and steadying her on my bike.

I’d had to hold her hands to me real tight as we’d ridden back to Warlow, because I’d felt her wavering and her weakness against me during the ride. The second I’d let go of her as I’d pulled into the clubhouse lot a few moments ago, she’d tried to get off on her own and she’d nearly toppled right off.

I