“Bye.”
Cole disconnected the phone and pitched it on the table.
Crash raised his eyebrows. “Problems?”
“I knew that goddamn money would have strings attached!”
*****
Cole walked into his and Angel’s bedroom and sat on the bed to pull his boots off. He was beat. It had been a long day.
Angel walked out of the master bathroom, rubbing lotion on her hands. His eyes roved over her. She had already changed into her nightgown. A sexy little floral baby-doll with a cute little bow under her tits. It was one of his favorites.
“I didn’t hear your bike.”
He stood, pulling his cut off and tossing it on the chair in the corner. Then he slipped the shoulder-holster off, wrapped the straps and stepped over to the walk-in closet. “I coasted down the drive. It’s late, and I didn’t want to wake the kids.” He opened the safe on the top shelf and locked the weapon inside, safely out of the reach of his kids. He walked back out of the closet. Angel was now seated at her dressing table, brushing out her long honey-blonde hair.
He walked over to her, sliding his hand along the bare skin of her shoulder.
“Cole, you have to help her,” she said out-of-the-blue, meeting his eyes in the mirror.
He blew out a breath. Here it comes, he thought. “Wondered how long it’d take you to bring it up. Two-point-five seconds. That’s a new record, babe. And not even a kiss, first.” He stood behind her, his crotch against her back. She tilted her head up to look at him. He dipped his head to look down at her beautiful green eyes and trailed the tips of his fingers gently up the front of her throat.
She grabbed his hand and gave a tug, pulling him down for a kiss. “Missed you, honey,” she whispered as his head lifted.
“Missed you, too, Mama.”
“Can we talk about this now?”
“Nope,” he replied, straightening back up and running his fingers through her hair.
She set the brush down and twisted in her seat, looking up at him. Totally ignoring his response, she started in. “Cole, she gave us all that money. It changed our lives. How can you turn your back on her?”
“Angel, I didn’t ask for that money. I didn’t want it. And I sure as hell never should have taken it.”
“Cole, you can’t mean that.”
“Can’t I? That money had strings, baby. And now what? She pulls those strings and I jump? Fuck, no.” He stepped away, pulling his tee over his head and tossing it to the floor.
“But, Cole, she was so scared. You didn’t see her.”
“I remember her being a tough little cookie. Gave me more trouble than the other five combined that day.”
“That was just an act. A defense mechanism. She was a scared little girl on the inside. She just didn’t want you to see it. Same as I didn’t.”
Cole remembered that day.
He and Crash, along with several other MC brothers, had made a play to take down a guy with a particularly vile source of income, human trafficking. They’d set up a meet with the guy, planning to kill him. When he’d shown up at the meet, unbeknownst to the guys, he’d had a cargo van full of inventory.
Cole still remembered how much it had shocked the shit out of both him and Crash, when Ling had thrown back the rear doors, and they’d found themselves face-to-face with six young girls, bound and gagged. Shannon had been one of them.
She had been full of sass and attitude that day, not wanting to cooperate. He’d been afraid she’d go to the police with the tale, and lead them straight to his MC, even though they’d had nothing to do with Ling’s operation. He’d put the fear of God into her that day, convincing her it was in her best interest to forget all about it, go home, and keep her mouth shut.
They’d saved those girls that day and got them back home safely. It had been a risk getting involved in that mess, but he’d done it. And the reason he’d done it was payback for what Ling had done to Angel. She’d been one of Ling’s victims the week before. He still remembered the first time he’d laid eyes on her. She’d been in handcuffs, beaten and scared, and in the hands of an MC member of another club. Cole had gotten her out of there that night, and in saving her, he’d made her a promise that he’d take care of the men that had hurt her.
Years later, he’d come across Shannon and had a drink with her. She’d let him know how grateful she’d been and that she knew he’d saved her life that day, years ago. Come to find out, Shannon came from a wealthy family, and she’d insisted on rewarding him for what he’d done for her that day.
She’d finally convinced him to take the monetary reward she offered. Money that had helped his family. Money that had made a lot of things possible in his life. Money that he now regretted taking.