Page 40 of Perdition (Unchained Hearts #4)

TWENTY-FOUR

At Sarah’s look of terror—her skin pale and clammy looking, her body shaking in her too tight biker chick wear—Frost almost laughed.

Almost.

The situation wasn’t humorous, but there was a part of him, dark and dangerous, that reveled in Sarah’s expression of fear. Lapped at it. Liked the taste of it.

And that was the part of him where his love and desperate devotion to Emily dwelled.

“F-Frost, come on, you can’t mean that—we belong together,” Sarah implored.

Redtube cocked his head and murmured, “Where have I heard that before?”

Val snorted and slapped his arm. “That crazy bitch Shannon. Seems like Unchained men attract the stalker psychos.”

“Hey!” Sarah shrilled, lunging at Val, but Horde was there to grab her and hold her in place. She tried to fight his hold, but Horde was a big motherfucker. She was stuck.

“I suggest you keep your mouth shut for now,” Frost drawled, “anything you say can and will be used against you—and I am going to enjoy every fucking minute of it.”

She opened her mouth, as stupid as ever, to say something, but Horde’s growl at her back made her slam her mouth shut.

At least she wasn’t all the way stupid.

“I kinda wish my man Tornado, and my dude Stallion were here to see this,” Cluster muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. “They’d laugh their asses off. Well, Stallion would; Tornado would glower and brood like a proper introvert.”

Frost turned to share a surprised look with Patriot, who shrugged.

“Introvert?” Locust repeated. “Where the hell did you learn that word?”

Cluster gasped dramatically, grasping his kutte. “I’ll have you know I have Word-of-the-Day toilet paper in my bathroom. I shit and broaden my vocabulary at the same time.”

Laughter broke out—except Sarah, who was looking at Cluster in disgust.

Tornado was God knew where, dealing with his runaway bestie, and Stallion had the night off from managing Cool Hands, so he was more than likely getting his dick wet at one of his other spots in town.

The man had three different bars where he’d go trolling for ass, making sure to keep his dick out of club pussy—for reasons only he knew about.

“You really are too much, Cluster,” Emily said, smiling.

Lord, there was the smile again. Soon, he would have all her smiles to himself again.

“So what do we do with the bitch? She’s been nothing but trouble since she got here, but she hasn’t done anything that warrants death…right?” Locust asked, very obviously leaning toward putting Sarah down.

“She isn’t worth the bullet,” Frost deadpanned, making Sarah whimper.

Val hummed thoughtfully, then said, “What about giving her to the cops.”

“On what charges?” Sarah blurted furiously. “I didn’t do anything illegal!”

“Besides being a criminally nasty hoe, no you haven’t, but all we have to do is get your put in overnight for…

trespassing, and then I can go in, add a few traffic tickets, a few anonymous reports about someone fitting your description performing lewd acts in front of children, and wham !

You’re looking at five to ten. I wonder what Mad Dog will do once he hears you’ve been locked up and you failed your mission? ”

Sarah was shaking now—fear and rage—but Val was smirking evilly, which Redtube enjoyed because he was staring at her…and he adjusted himself.

Dirty fuck.

Then again, Frost was feeling pretty hot for his woman, too. Seeing Emily get in Sarah’s face like that was hot as fuck, and he’d take all that pent up come and spill it inside her.

And for the zillionth time that day, the universe showed it’s wicked sense of humor because none other than Sgt WetsTheBed, who was dressed as motherfucking Captain America, strode into the room, his expression hard, his eyes scanning the scene.

“Is there a problem in here?” he asked, his gaze on Emily.

She flushed, coughing, her eyes flicking to Frost, concern burning in her denim blues. He knew that look; she was asking him what to do, what to say, and how much of it to share.

Stepping forward, Frost pointed to Sarah, and loudly proclaimed, “Your timing is perfect, Sgt. Copper. This woman has been harassing myself, my friends, and family, and she has already been warned not to step foot on property owned by my MC.”

Sgt. Assface gave Sarah a once over before returning his gaze to Emily.

“Did she do something to you?” he inquired, slipping into DoGooder mode, with his smooth baritone and soft smile.

The little fucker.

Emily blushed, then nodded. “Yes. She same to my shop and made a scene in front of Tina, my assistant, refusing to leave until she talked to me. When I arrived, she threatened me?—”

“I did not! You’re lying!” Sarah shrieked.

Sgt. KissAss turned to her with a glare hard enough to punch through steel, and commanded, “Ma’am, please remain silent until I’ve heard the full story.”

“But she’s lying!” Sarah insisted.

“I have proof; my internal security cameras caught the whole thing,” Emily supplied.

The baby-faced cop nodded, offering her another soft smile, then asked the rest of them, “Can anyone else tell me what she’s done?”

Stephie clicked her tongue, swaying from side to side as if in thought. “Come to think of it, I’ve heard rumors about her giving BJs by the kiddie splash pad at that park in South Abington.”

Ah, she was feeding into Val’s idea to get her time in prison for public lewd acts.

“Liar!” Sarah screamed, making Cilla flinch. Immediately, Patriot was there, wrapping his arms around his woman.

Taking out his phone, the popo began taking notes. Finally, he looked up at Frost, his eyes steely.

“And you, sir? Do you have any complaints?”

You keep looking at my woman like you have a fucking chance!

Instead of saying that, he replied, “She followed me here, to this club owned establishment, and made a scene during the party, which was why we escorted her back here.”

“And what would you like to happen?”

“I would like her arrested for harassment and trespassing,” Frost said, hating that he was relying on the asshole to help deal with Sarah.

Sgt. PimpleDick furrowed his brow. “Usually MCs like to handle things internally, so why are you sharing this information with me?”

Locust answered, “It isn’t like we’re a one percenter club; we believe in law and order…when it suits us, and right now, in this instance, it does. You take Sarah off our hands, and we can wash our hands of her.”

Sgt. Copper—yes, Frost used his real name; the man was doing the Lord’s work of dealing with Sarah—smirked.

“That easy, huh?”

Locust grinned. “That easy. So, you gonna call it in?”

It didn’t take long for Sgt. Copper to call in an on-duty patrol officer to take Sarah to the Scranton PD headquarters.

The whole time he was on the phone, his gaze never left Em, who was obviously trying to ignore it.

Throwing his arm over her shoulders in a silent but obvious claim, Frost inquired, “Why did you become a cop, Sgt. Copper?”

Surprise registered before it disappeared behind that blank cop face.

“I’ve wanted to be a cop since I was in the fifth grade, and I saw an officer risk his life to save a woman during a hostage situation that had escalated from a domestic disturbance.

He nearly got shot, but he didn’t let that stop him from keeping that woman safe.

Protecting her. I remember that she was nice, and she had always made me smile.

She hadn’t deserved that. That cop made me want to be one one day. ”

That’s probably when his cougar kink started, too.

Val, breaking the heaviness of the moment, asked, “Do you carry your handcuffs everywhere with you? And where are you keeping them in the costume?”

Redtube leaned down and growled into her ear, making her giggle.

Sgt. Copper chuckled. “No, ma’am, though I do get that question a lot.”

“I just bet you do,” Nadia drawled, and Locust followed Redtube’s lead, leaning in to warn his woman to behave.

Frost, needing to make a point, continued, “You wanted to protect people you cared about, right?”

Sgt. Copped sobered immediately, his gaze intense. “Right.”

“So you understand why I would do anything to protect the people I care about, and why what I care about means the world to me.” He looked down into Em’s upturned face. Her eyes were glinting with unshed tears.

She melted into him then, turning into him, and pressed a kiss against his chest.

His breath caught at the light touch of her lips against him, at the look of warmth and love in her eyes…something he hadn’t seen in much too long.

And it had been his fault.

Tonight. Tonight he would be getting his woman back.

Fuck giving her space; space is part of what started it all—he put space between them when there should have been open communication and a tighter grip. Instead of pushing her away because he felt adrift in his life, he should have held on harder, told her what he was feeling.

Sarah never would have had a chance to circle him let alone get her teeth into him.

“I get it, honestly,” Sgt. Copper replied, his voice gentle as he gazed at Emily. “I’d be protective, too.”

As he spoke, two uniformed officers stalked into the room, taking in the scene with curious eyes.

In a matter of moments—truly entertaining moments—they subdued a suddenly physically combative Sarah, who was screeching about being wronged, about how they were all lying about her, and about how she was Frost’s woman and how dare they touch her.

By the time they dragged her from the room, the group were ready to get the hell out of there, especially Frost, and from the way Emily was leaning into him, her body growing heavier, he knew she was ready for it all to be done with, too.

Sgt. Copper turned to follow the officers and Sarah, but he stopped, turned back, and gave Frost a hard look, one that was all Mr. Law Enforcement. “You’ll all need to come to the station early tomorrow morning to file an official report regarding Ms. Yates’s harassment.”

The all nodded, though Val choked on a laugh, probably because she planned to do more than just file a report. By morning, Sarah would probably be wanted in ten states, and on the FBI watchlist.

“Will do, Sgt. Copper,” Em offered, exhaustion making her voice just this side of reedy. “And we’re sorry for ruining the party for you. I hope you had fun at least.”

Sgt. Copper smiled, showing his straight, white teeth. Frost narrowed his eyes.

“I did have fun—but it would have been more fun if I could have bought you that drink.”

Em blushed, tensing slightly.

Instantly Frost knew there was a story there, but now wasn’t the time to explore that. He needed to get Emily home, and they needed to have that conversation.

Yes, they were both tired, a little keyed up, but he was tired of going to bed without her.

It stopped tonight.

“Have a good evening, officer,” Frost said, prodding the golden boy along.

The man smirked, knowing exactly what Frost was doing, then he dipped his chin to Emily, looked at each of them, as though cataloging their faces for future mug shots, then left the room.

They all let out a collective sigh.

“Well that was a shit show, but it was one I didn’t have to pay money for,” Cluster remarked, making Stephie laugh.

“Alright, let’s get the hell out of here,” Patriot declared, pulling Cilla into his side to press a kiss to the top of her head. “I need to get my woman home.”

“Same,” Locust chimed in.

“Yeah, this one is chomping at the bit to get to her computer and stir up some felonious trouble,” Redtube added, making Val snort and roll her eyes.

“Only a little felonious trouble,” she replied, shrugging.

Nadia came to place a gentle hand on Em’s shoulder, her eyes warm, her smile soft.

“You ready to go? I can drop you at home on my way,” she offered.

Before Em could even think of escaping, Frost grunted, then cut in, “I’m taking her.” His words and tone brooked no argument, but that didn’t stop Nadia from glaring at him and opening her mouth to argue anyway.

“Come on, babe, let her him take her,” Locust interjected, “it looks like they have things to discuss.” Locust was astute, being more insightful and thoughtful than most gave him credit for.

Including Frost, who’d asked him to do something that, ultimately, hurt him and the woman he loved. Frost had apologized months ago, and Locust and Nadia had grudgingly given their forgiveness, but there was still that tension between them, that wariness—and it was warranted.

Since then, Frost, too, worked to be less of a demanding asshole to his brothers, especially when it came to forcing them to do things that didn’t sit right with anyone.

Emily patted his chest, then pushed away, making him drop his arm.

His arms were suddenly too empty.

“It’s okay, Nadia, I’ll go home with Frost,” Emily said, throwing her arms around Nadia in a tight hug. “Thank you, girls, for forcing me out of the house. This party was definitely more interesting than I thought it would be.”

The girls grinned, snickering.

“Well, we do try,” Stephie replied, her smile big but tired. She was expecting the first of the second generation of Unchained, so she wasn’t as energetic as she used to be.

Frost remembered with Em was like that, back when she was first pregnant with the twins.

Back when they were so secure in their love for one another, they were willing to throw every caution to the wind just to be together.

Emily, especially, had given so much—marrying him knowing he was enlisting and would be gone for long stints, away from home where she was raising their two babies on her own.

But she never complained, only ever supported him in his dream to be an American warrior.

And when the time came to support her in her dream to be a full-time florist with a successful business, had he done the same for her?

No. He pushed her away and let a viper slip in between them.

Patriot jarred him from his thoughts with a slap on the back.

“We’re headed out. Call me in the morning.”

They’d need to discuss what the hell they were doing with the information they had on Mad Dog and his business with the Cartels.

“Yeah. Goodnight, brother,” Frost said, then nodded at each of the couples, and Cluster, as they filed out of the old storage area.

Finally, it was just him and Emily, and she was staring at him, her gaze fraught with uncertainty but also yearning.

Reaching out to her, he raised his hand, waiting for her to take it. “Let’s go home, baby.”

She dropped her gaze to his hand, hesitant, but finally, she took it.

A small battle won.

But the fight for his marriage was far from over.