Off-Limits, page 12
“So, we can come in tomorrow and work half a day.” Wrapping his arms around me, he slid his hands down over my ass and pulled me in for a quick kiss. “But we’re leaving now. Barrick just called me and said he’s fighting tonight. Needs to blow off some steam in the cage.”
Spending a little time at the Underground did sound like fun, and I was always ready to support my cousin when he was fighting. “What about Jo?” I asked, worried about her.
“Mom already picked her up. Judge sent two of his men with her, and they will be spending the night at her house.” Kissing the tip of my nose, he slapped both his hands across my ass and stepped back. “Now, come on, woman. I want to feed you before the fight.”
Sighing dramatically, I grabbed my things off my desk and put my hand in his.
As we walked out to the SUV, we both glanced around for any sign of Gwen or anyone else who might try anything. This whole thing had made me paranoid as hell, and I was getting fed up with it all.
Once we were on the road heading home, I began to relax a little.
“We’re kid-free for the weekend, baby.” Clasping my hand as he drove, he lifted it to his lips, kissing our linked fingers. “What do you want to do?”
“I need to do a little shopping.” Mia’s birthday was on Monday, and even though she was still pissed at me, I wanted to give her something. Maybe it would help break the ice and get my friend to forgive me.
I missed her.
With Mia, I didn’t have to pretend to be something I wasn’t. She’d accepted me as I was—and even liked my K-drama shows. She was the closest thing I had to a best friend besides Howler, and I didn’t want to lose her.
“Okay. Whatever you want, babe.”
“You don’t have to come with me—” I started to tell him, but he shot me a look that had my mouth snapping shut.
“Where you go, I go. Don’t argue with me on this, Lyla.”
“Okay,” I said with a shrug.
His eyes widened before he switched them back to the road. “Are you feeling all right?”
“I’m fine, why?”
“Because you aren’t running your mouth,” he grumbled.
“Why would I run it when I want you to go with me?” I asked, brows lifted.
That seemed to make him relax. “Because you like to drive me crazy.”
I grinned wickedly at him. “Howler, the only place I want to drive you crazy now is in bed. And if you hurry, I can do just that before we go to the Underground tonight.”
His answer was to punch his foot down on the gas, making me laugh happily.
--
Braxton was already waiting in my VIP area when we got to the Underground later that night. He sat slouched in his chair, glaring off into space, and I knew it was a bad day for him.
Howler took one look at him and put himself between my cousin and me. I rolled my eyes and pushed him out of my way so I could sit beside Braxton. “You okay?”
“She’s here,” he muttered. “With some guy.”
“Who?” I asked, curious as to who could have put that pained look on his face. I’d cunt-punch whoever did that to him.
“Mia. She brought some douchebag with her.”
Shit. I glanced around quickly and, after a moment, spotted Mia as she sat down with a leanly muscled guy who was so freaking good-looking, I had to blink a few times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.
Dark hair styled in an unkempt way that looked like he didn’t care, dark eyes, and a bone structure that must have been chiseled by the gods themselves. Even with the distance I was from him, I could tell his clothes were top-notch quality and expensive.
He leaned in to talk to Mia, who didn’t shy away but leaned back into him, just as comfortable with him as she’d been with both Braxton and Barrick. The look in her eyes spoke of affection, maybe even love, and all I could think was, “How can she do this to Barrick?”
He’d screwed up, but that didn’t mean Mia should grab the first dick that pointed itself her way and then wave him in front of my cousin like a red flag. Because that was exactly what it was going to be like when Barrick saw her with this guy. The Beast would turn into a raging bull.
As if feeling our eyes on her, Mia turned her head and looked right at us. After a moment, she clenched her jaw and looked away, pretending like we weren’t even there.
The guy beside her wasn’t even looking our way. He draped his arm over her shoulders, as if he had every right in the world to touch her, and pulled her in close to say something in her ear.
Whatever he said had a grin tilting her lips as she shook her head at him. Her lips moved, but I couldn’t read them. The guy’s face grew serious, and I saw something akin to longing in his eyes that made me want to jump up and snatch Mia away from him before Barrick saw them.
I didn’t want my cousin to be hurt any more than I wanted to have to testify at his murder trial. Both were likely to happen, however, and I glanced around to make sure he wasn’t close by.
Just as I was taking a deep breath, relieved Barrick wasn’t anywhere he could see his girl with someone else, the lights went out and Ridge was being announced.
“Fuck, Howler,” I groaned as the crowd booed the other fighter. “Please tell me you didn’t know he was fighting this asshole.”
“I didn’t know, babe,” he assured me, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he clenched and unclenched his teeth. “Stay the hell in your seat, no matter what happens. Hear me?”
“Then you better intervene if it comes to it,” I told him, crossing my arms over my chest as I looked back at Ridge, who had his eyes on Mia.
Ridge wasn’t a dirty fighter, but he was mean as hell and there were rumors he liked to hurt women. If Judge’d had proof, he wouldn’t have allowed Ridge to be a Son, so I didn’t know if it was true or not. But the way he was looking at my friend right then turned my stomach.
Her date wasn’t a complete tool, though, shifting so his body was protecting Mia from any possible danger. Not that it would have done much good if Ridge really were out to take Mia away from him. Ridge’s fists were like anvils. One punch from them and the guy would have been out cold before he knew what was coming.
Once Ridge was in the cage, Barrick was announced. The Beast walked out, his usual swagger gone as he marched toward the cage with purpose in his dark eyes.
“Why the fuck is he wearing a shirt?” I asked Braxton.
“Got some ink earlier,” he said with a shrug.
“I’m sorry, what?” I demanded, blinking at him in surprise. “Barrick got a tattoo?”
“Yup.”
“The same guy who screamed like he was being tortured when he got a flu shot when he was fifteen?”
“Yup.”
I still wasn’t convinced we were talking about the right person. “The same guy who, at the age of twenty, passed out when he had to have blood work because he was practically hyperventilating over being stuck with a little needle? That Barrick?”
“Yes, Lyla,” Braxton bit out. “It took two hours. The piece takes up a lot of his chest and has some pretty sick detail to it.”
“Well, what did he get?” I half shouted when he didn’t say anything else.
“A firecracker exploding.”
Well, fuck. That was why Barrick had faced his fears and gotten the ink. He must have been missing Mia more than I imagined if he’d been willing to sit and let someone tattoo his nickname for her onto him.
I looked back to where he was about to enter the cage just as his eyes landed on Mia. I could actually see the tension leaving his muscles until his gaze shifted and he finally spotted her date. His head snapped back like he’d already taken a blow to the face from Ridge, making him stumble as the cage door closed behind him.
Even in the dim light, I saw tears fill Mia’s eyes before her date turned her head so she would look at him.
I held my breath, waiting for the match to start, terrified for Beast now. He was one of the best fighters in the Underground. I would have put him on the same level as both Judge and Howler, but this distraction would have his attention on Mia and not on the fight—where it needed to be one hundred percent focused on Ridge.
He was so focused on Mia, he didn’t even see Ridge coming up behind him. Before I could yell to alert him, Mia’s cry of distress had him turning.
A single punch to the jaw had Ridge collapsing, his entire body becoming dead weight as he lost consciousness.
“Always knew that pussy had a glass jaw,” Howler said with a grunt beside me.
I would have laughed if I weren’t still watching Mia and Barrick. No sooner was Ridge counted out then Barrick was out of the cage and carrying Mia back to the locker room.
Around us, everyone else was on their feet, moving into groups to talk about their disappointment in the night’s fight. Beside me, Braxton shifted, but I put a hand on his arm before he could stand.
“Don’t.” I knew what he was planning even before he’d moved.
“Just going to the bathroom, Lyla. Fuck. Let a guy piss.”
I stood, causing Howler to as well. “Right. So, you weren’t going to go over there and deal with Mia’s date? Show him the error of his ways for going out with your best friend’s girl?”
“My cousin’s girl,” he corrected. “Mia is my best friend. And I just want to talk to the guy.”
“What he means, babe, is he wants to kill the fucker,” Howler interpreted. “Should I help him bury the body, or keep him where he is?”
“For now, let’s not let him commit murder,” I said with a smirk.
Chapter 19
Howler
Shopping was the at the bottom of my list of fun things to do, but Lyla seemed to be having a good time as I followed her from one store to the next, carrying the heavy bags she acquired in every single one of them she walked into.
She’d told me that morning over breakfast that she was only looking for something for Mia’s birthday. Six stores later, we hadn’t found anything for Mia yet, but Josie now had a brand-new wardrobe and a handful of new toys. We also had new sheets, towels, and an air fryer.
I wasn’t complaining, though. My girl was having fun, and I was happy to carry all her shit around the mall for her.
“I need a new bra,” she announced as Victoria’s Secret came into view.
My entire body went hard, picturing her in that store trying on all those sexy-as-fuck bras. “Let’s go, then,” I told her, rearranging the bags in my hands so I could put a hand at the small of her back and urge her in.
Laughing, she led the way. The store was dimly lit and chilly, giving the place the kind of mood lighting that made me want to push Lyla into one of the changing rooms and fuck her against the door.
At least ten other women were in the store, but none of them paid us much attention as Lyla walked around, browsing all the bra styles on the mannequins.
“What color, do you think?” Lyla asked as she fingered one of the bras hanging beside a mannequin modeling a bra with straps crisscrossing over its tits.
“I like the light pink,” I told her honestly after looking at all the color options hanging up.
“Me too.” She flipped through the rack until she found her size and pulled it off, before bending to find her size in the matching panties. When she straightened, she headed for the checkout counter.
“Babe,” I whined. “I thought you were going to try it on.”
Laughing, she switched direction, heading to the back where the fitting rooms where. A saleswoman was back there measuring other women, and she unlocked one of the doors for Lyla. “Let me know if you need anything,” she said with a grim smile.
As Lyla walked into the small fitting room, I pushed in behind her. “Howler,” she complained. “There’s no room.”
“Baby, I’ll make the damn room—even if I have to knock down one of these walls and extend the stall into the next one—but I’m going to watch you try that on.” Dropping the bags at my feet, I leaned back against the wall, arms crossed over my chest as I waited.
Sighing dramatically, she pulled off her shirt, revealing the gray bra she was already wearing. Reaching behind her, she unclasped it and let it fall at her feet before reaching for the new bra.
Seeing her bare from the waist up had me biting my fist to keep from groaning out loud. The freckle just under her left areola had my mouth watering, wanting to lick and taste it again. I loved that damn freckle.
Lyla turned her back to me as she pulled on the bra. “Fasten me, would you?”
I’d been fighting without myself not to touch her, but as soon as my fingers skimmed across the silky skin of her back while fastening it in place, I lost the battle. I dropped my hands to her waist, pulling her roughly back against me. She gasped excitedly as my rock-hard cock pulsed against her lower back, and the evil woman wiggled her hips into me.
Lowering my head, I kissed her neck, nipping at her flesh, and causing goose bumps to trail down her shoulders and arms.
“How does it feel?” I asked, looking at her in the mirror over her shoulder. “Do you like it?”
“It feels huge and hard. Fuck yeah, I like it.”
Grinning, I kissed her temple. “I meant the bra, babe.”
“Oh, it’s fine. Do you like it?”
I looked down at her chest in the mirror. The bra pushed her tits up, but the cups only covered half of them, the straps crisscrossing over her cleavage. I liked the baby-pink color against her skin tone.
Keeping one hand on her hip to hold her against me, I lifted the other to skim across the top of her chest. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Lyla,” I breathed at her ear. “Tell me you’re mine, baby.”
“I’m yours,” she whispered, arching her neck so she could look back at me. “I always have been.”
“And you always will be,” I vowed, spinning her around to face me. My mouth crashed down on hers, my tongue thrusting deep to taste all of her. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and she climbed me until her legs were wrapped tightly around my waist and she was rocking against my erection.
“Fuck,” I growled when I lifted my head, mentally telling myself I really couldn’t fuck her in this tiny-ass changing room. “If you were wearing a dress, I’d already be inside you.”
“I’ll have to start wearing more of them, then,” she said before licking her kiss-swollen lips. “Better put me down before we do something that gets us arrested.”
“Don’t wanna,” I grumbled with a pout.
Lyla giggled, her hands stroking down my neck in a way that was meant to be soothing but only made me ache that much more. “Let me get dressed and pay for this, and after one more store, I promise we can go home.”
Blowing out a heavy exhale, I untangled her legs from around me. “Fine. But I’m going to want cuddle time all evening.”
“Whatever you want, my love.”
I stole another kiss before she got dressed, and then I picked up all the bags and let her walk out before me.
It was almost another hour before we finally left, but she’d gotten Mia a birthday present she was sure her friend would love and was happily humming to herself as she walked beside me with her hand tucked into the crook of my elbow. I kept stealing glances at her, loving how much she was glowing. Happiness seemed to shine out of her, and it was addictive to look at.
“Why is that guy standing beside the SUV like that?” she asked, a frown wrinkling her brow.
I tensed and followed her gaze to where I’d parked the Suburban earlier. There was a guy who looked like he was in his midforties, dressed in jeans and a pullover, standing at the back of the SUV, his hands on his hips as he stared down at something on my vehicle. I didn’t recognize the man, and as we got closer, I put myself between him and Lyla.
“Can I help you?” I asked, catching the man’s attention.
He lifted his head. “This yours?” I nodded. “Looks like you’re going to need a tow truck, buddy.”
“What the fuck do you mean?” But as I rounded the corner of the SUV, I saw exactly what he meant.
I hadn’t even noticed the vehicle leaning awkwardly at first, too focused on the stranger standing beside it. But both tires on that side had been slashed, the front had a screwdriver sticking out of it, the back, some weird-looking knife. The entire driver’s side was scratched up, but what caught my attention the most were the words carved deeper into the door than the other scratches.
Whore!
Behind me, Lyla snorted. “She has a lot of balls calling me a whore.”
I turned back to the stranger. “Did you see who did this?”
“Sorry, bud. I just got here.” He pointed up at the poles with street lights and security cameras on them. “Maybe you will get lucky and they caught something. Good luck.”
As he walked away, I glanced around, looking for any sign of Gwen or anyone else who might have done this. Not that I thought it was anyone other than my psycho ex.
Frustrated, I opened the back of the SUV and tossed in all the shopping bags. “Let’s go,” I told Lyla, taking her hand and keeping her close to me as we walked back into the mall. As we did, I called Judge.
“I’ll be there in ten,” he muttered, sounding frustrated. “Seriously, this bitch has got to go.”
“Agreed, my friend.”
In the security office, they showed me the camera feed from the moment I parked until we came out. Someone dressed in black leggings and a black hoodie with the hood pulled up over their head got out of an older-model sedan and casually walked up to my SUV. They were so short, the camera couldn’t pick up what was happening on the other side of my massive vehicle, but it did show the Suburban starting to lean after the tires were shanked.
The whole thing took ten minutes, and during that time, several other cars drove by. But the culprit didn’t seem to be in any hurry to complete the vandalism any more than if Lyla or I had shown up and caught her in the act.
It would have taken a lot of strength to get the screwdriver and knife into the tires, making me wonder just how Gwen was able to accomplish it with how weak I knew her to be. Unless she was so high she hurt herself thrusting the sharp objects into the thick rubber.
