Page 9 of Property of Rattler

“Why the fuck am I surrounded by imbeciles?” Malachi shouts. “You saying she escaped?”

“I’m saying it’s a possibility. What car does she drive?”

“How the fuck would I know?” Malachi almost screams.

“Sir,” a voice starts hesitantly, using a calming tone. “Satin wasn’t dancing tonight. Maybe Ames has gotten spooked and left.”

Another voice states, “Well, she’s not here now, and I’m getting really fucking nervous about the Kings. You know the reputation they have.”

Another kick comes at the door. This time it’s feebler, and I’d bet everything I have that it’s been delivered by Malachi himself.

“Fuck it. We’ll regroup in the morning. We’ll pull this town apart if that’s what it takes. I want her found. The first man who brings me her head, I’ll pay fuckin’ ten thousand.”

At last, the footsteps start to fade.

Rattler and I are of the same mind. We stay, clinging together, or, more rightly, I remain in his arms, as I don’t think I’d be able to support my body.

I couldn’t say how much time had passed, but eventually the light over our heads comes on again, and the hum of the air conditioning kicks in.

Still, we wait, neither of us speaking, knowing it could be a trick.

Eventually, Rattler sinks to the floor, taking my trembling body down with his. I end up straddling him.

His eyes are cold. “You better start fuckin’ talking to me.” His voice remains low, barely above a whisper.

CHAPTER FIVE

RATTLER

I’ve got an attractive woman sitting almost on my crotch, legs splayed to either side, and my dick doesn’t even twitch. I’m too damn angry.

“You better start talking to me,” I snarl, keeping my voice low just in case the assholes are still in the vicinity. I doubt it. They’d obviously cut the electricity to get past our security and turned it back on once they were finished in hopes that we wouldn’t detect them ever being there. While I think we’re safe, I’m not going to risk it.

I watch as her eyes go wide and see exactly when she notices the suggestive position that she’s in. As she starts to move, my hands grab her hips, anchoring her to me. If this makes her uncomfortable, so be it.

“I knew you and Satin were fuckin’ trouble. Must have been a reason you didn’t present your ID when Freak asked for it.”

She seems to have other things on her mind, asking hopefully, “Are the Kings coming? Will the power cut have alerted them?”

Any other time, yes. But tonight? I disillusion her fast. “Freak got married today. Genie won’t be constantly monitoring anything. He’s probably fuckin’ passed out.” I wonder whether it’s time we brought a prospect up to speed and got them to take over the security systems while the rest of us let our hair down. But as yet we haven’t got around to it. And honestly? Who would break into anywhere owned by the Kings?

Only the assholes who were here tonight.And this bitch currently sitting on my lap knows something about them.

“Who were they?” I snap. Fuck knows why this safe room is here, but at least it’s served us well tonight. We might not be able to get out, but at least they, whoever they were, couldn’t get in.

She’s not answering. I grab her hair and pull her head back. “I swear, I’ll give you one minute to tell me, then I’m going to fuckin’ beat it out of you.”

I won’t. I might be an asshole, but putting my hands on a woman other than in a sexual setting? Fuck no. I’d been in too many foster homes where the man would beat on the kids, his wife, whoever was smaller than him, and whoever he could get his hands on. The women, at times, were just as violent, especially when I’d been very young. I always swore I wouldn’t go the same way as them and never hurt a woman or child. If I didn’t have my own limitations, the Kings would hand me my ass if I harmed her. But she’s not to know any of that.

Instead of answering immediately, she frowns. I can almost see the wheels working in her head, as lines form on her brow. The time she’s taking suggests she’s concocting some story that won’t be the truth, or not the whole of it anyway. I can tell my patience is going to be sorely stretched tonight.

“It was Satin’s ex and his friends?” Her voice rises at the end of her sentence, making it a question.

“Are you asking me or telling?”

Her eyes flit left then right, but there’s nowhere to escape. We’re both held captive and, though I’m loath to admit it, trapped and at risk should the men decide to come back and explore more thoroughly. I fucking deserve the truth.

There’s a glaring flaw in what she’s just told me. “They weren’t looking for Satin, or only so much as she could lead them to you. It’s you they want, not her,” I growl. “Fuck it, Ames, if you don’t start talking, I’m going to do something we both will regret.”