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Chapter Thirty-Six

MERRICK

Opening the car door, I look around the street, wondering if we’re safe. I honestly don’t know. That contract may not have been canceled. I was so preoccupied with Ravet, Adriano, and everything that was happening in that room, I totally fucking lost my focus. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I lost control.

Complete and total fucking control—gone.

Walking into the shop, I tug Colette back, spinning her around to face me. She looks like she is a fucking deer in headlights, and I can’t help but smile because she’s so fucking cute right now.

Maybe it’s because she’s now irrevocably mine. Possibly because she’s just fucking adorable. Because she is. Dipping my chin, I touch my lips to hers in a chaste kiss. “Go shopping. Get whatever the fuck you want. I need to make a few phone calls.”

Colette sinks her teeth into the corner of her bottom lip as her gaze searches mine for a moment, then nods once before she turns and walks farther into the store. I don’t know what she’s hesitating about, but I don’t turn around until she starts to actually look at the clothes.

Her fingers slide over the fabric of one item, then another, before she pulls a dress off the shelf. She examines it for a moment, then drapes it over her arm. Feeling confident that she’s going to be good, I step outside and stand next to the front door as I reach into my pocket and take out my phone.

Finding the name in my contacts, I touch the call icon. As I hold my phone to my ear, I scan the street in front of me. A motorcycle rides by, the rider’s back patch reading Night Devils MC, and then three more follow behind him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them downtown before.

“Vaughn,” the deep voice clips on the other end of the line.

I was going to meet with him this afternoon, but I can’t shake the feeling that I completely and totally fucked the fuck up. My focus vanished when it should have been at its sharpest.

“Ravet is dead,” I murmur.

Vaughn doesn’t say anything, likely because he already knows through Theron or Grayson. Instead of waiting for him to respond, I figure he isn’t going to, so I continue.

“I’m pretty sure I fucked up. I forgot about that contract. Shit got out of control.”

“You mean you got out of control?” Vaughn asks.

I’m not sure I want to respond to that question. I open my mouth to say something, then snap my lips closed and clear my throat as I rock back on my heels. Sure, this situation, for the most part, ended up the way we wanted, but at the same time, it didn’t.

“I don’t know how to fix it,” I confess. “I fucked up.”

Vaughn chuckles before he clears his throat. “You didn’t fuck up. None of us can think straight when it comes to Ravet. He’s gone, but the contract hasn’t been canceled yet, so yeah, you’re still wearing a fucking target. But it’s not the end of the world. I think we might have this figured out.”

I almost laugh. Almost. Because it would be the end of my world if someone fucking offed me— literally .

“Explain to me like I’m fucking stupid how this isn’t the end of anything,” I reply instead.

Vaughn chuckles. “Come down to the office. We’ll have a conversation. Some new pieces of information have come to light on the situation.”

“I’ll be there in an hour.”

“We’ll be waiting.”

COLETTE

Stepping out of the dressing room, I slide my hands down the front of the dress and face the mirror. It’s a simple black dress, nothing special. It clings to my body, stopping at mid-thigh. And I can’t help but wonder if it’s really me.

The platform sandals are an emerald green with a chunky heel and a strap around the ankle. They’re a little bold for me, but the sales girl assured me they were beautiful with the black dress.

I’m not sure I believe her.

I like the dress, though. It’s simple and plain, understated yet still sleek. I’m staring at my waist, wondering if I should size down. Because while it’s clingy, it’s still fairly loose. Then, a throat clears behind me somewhere.

Turning my head, I see Merrick leaning against the wall, his legs crossed at the ankles, his arms over his chest.

“Buy it all,” he announces.

I open my mouth but snap it shut when he shakes his head once. “It looks beautiful on you, Colette.”

I believe him. The way his eyes devour me as if he wants to take me into that dressing room and undress me right here and now. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since he was last inside of me. It could be ten minutes ago or ten months ago, and I want him just as badly.

I love this man, every damaged piece of him. I love the way he looks at me. The way he makes me feel. The way he protects me. The way he wants me for who I am, not for what I can do for him—now that my father is dead, that ship has sailed anyway.

Every time, I convince myself Merrick doesn’t want me. Doesn’t like me. Doesn’t want to deal with me. Then he looks at me the way he’s doing right now, and it’s the only confirmation I need that this is real.

So damn real.

Merrick chuckles, breaking me out of my roaming inner thoughts. “I need to go to the office,” he murmurs, closing the distance between us.

He lifts his hand and gently curls his fingers around the side of my throat as his gaze searches mine. I’m panting. I can’t control myself, and I even have to press my thighs together in an effort to dull the ache there.

Merrick’s next words, he says on a whisper, just loud enough for me to hear and nobody else. “If you’re a good girl, I’ll fuck you in my office.”

My body melts toward him, into him, whatever it is. I’m a gigantic ball of mush for this man. I want him to slide inside of me—every minute of every single day. Taking a step backward, I hurry into the dressing room and quickly strip out of my clothes and shoes before I put all my things back on.

Walking out of the changing room, carrying the dress in one hand and the shoes in the other, I head straight for the checkout counter. All the while, Merrick chuckles behind me. I’m sure he thinks this is hilarious, but I don’t really care. Any chance to be with him is something to be excited about.

I don’t pay attention to the price of the dress and shoes on purpose. I don’t want to know. I’m still feeling very uneasy about the financial part of this situation. But at the same time, I don’t know how to do anything about it or what I would do if I could.

So, instead, I stay in blissful ignorance until I can come up with something. Merrick wraps his arm around my waist and touches his lips to my temple, then murmurs that it’s time to go. I fall in step beside him, knowing that there is nowhere else I would rather be.

I can’t believe this is my life now, that this is my world. I’m not sure what to expect in the future, but the present is pretty damn good. I’m not sure I want any of this to end, at least not anytime soon.

He reaches for the passenger door, tugging it open as he dips his chin for me to sink inside before he closes the door behind me. With the bag in his hand, he’s walking around the front of the car when there is a commotion.

I’m not sure what I expect to see when I lift my eyes to the driver’s side of the car to take in what’s happening. But it is certainly not a motorcycle stopped in the street with a van behind it. The door is open, and Merrick is being shoved inside.

I open my mouth to scream but realize two things. One, it would fall on deaf ears because there is nobody around who would actually help me and two, it would draw attention to me.

As silent as I stay, it doesn’t matter. Because someone jumps out of the front seat of the van, opens the car door, and sinks down into the driver’s seat. He’s dressed like a biker with a vest, jeans, and boots on. He’s got a beard, unruly hair, and a clenched jaw.

When he starts the engine with the push of the button, then shifts the car into Drive before he eases out behind the van, my whole body jerks. There are three motorcycles behind us as we follow the van.

“What the hell is happening?” I demand, my voice louder than I intend.

The man slowly shifts his head to the side, his gaze finding mine, and lifts his lips in a smirk. “Hey, babe. No worries. It’s all good.”

His voice is smooth, husky, and if I weren’t madly in love with Merrick, I would consider it sexy. But it’s scary as fuck. He’s scary as fuck. He’s got face tattoos, neck tattoos, arm tattoos and, if I had to guess, chest and leg tattoos as well.

Shaking my head once, I narrow my eyes. “Not no worries. I’m very worried. What is happening here?”

He chuckles, shifting his attention back to the windshield before he speaks again. “Ain’t gonna hurt you, babe, if that’s what you’re worried about. Sit back and chill.”

I open my mouth to ask more questions, maybe even pepper him with a million, because I want to know what the hell is going on. He extends his finger, punching the screen on the dashboard, roughly, I might add, then the music not only comes on, but it’s also turned up.

The sounds of classic rock fill the air. I scoot over as far as I can and wish to hell I were a lot braver than I am. Because I could open the car door and throw myself out, but since we’re on the highway, I decide against it.

Instead, I try to make myself as small as humanly possible and try to figure out not only what this guy wants me for but also a way out of this mess. The man beside me doesn’t say anything else, and what feels like minutes later, he’s pulling down a long dirt driveway that is lined by huge trees and woods on either side.

Oh god.

He’s going to kill us out here and bury us in a shallow grave in the woods.

Would that be karma for the way I killed my own father? My moment of freedom is about to come to an abrupt end. My visions of happiness with Merrick are over. My whole torso jerks as tears prick my eyes.

This is it.