Chapter Twenty-Four

**Sargent**
I kick a shirt to the other side of my closet and sigh gravely. Especially when I see her underwear beneath it next to an open tube of deodorant. Weeks ago I’d have been furious at the sight, annoyed by the clutter, but it hasn’t been something that has bothered me in the slightest.

I think of the products I purchased for her myself for my personal en suite so when we showered together she’d smell of lavender or berries. I think of the way she dropped her clothes onto my floor and all I’d do is step over them. She’d pick them up eventually, once changed or showered, but it never bothered me.

And now, her things linger and she’s gone and I remember why I hated the clutter.

My house is a mess because of the feds and her things are everywhere, reminding me of her every moment. It makes me feel nauseous and bitter. I want her back. I want all of this to go away so I can pin her to the couch and insist she nap with me, before taking her to the store and buying her everything she looks at so she can fill my home with more clutter to remind me of her.

You know you’re growing fond of a woman when you want them to nap with you, not fuck you. Though I wouldn’t mind that either.

“Any news?” I ask my head of security, Tucker. He’s at the door, his shoulders against the frame.

I brush past him and he follows, his hand on his gun. “None yet. Which is good because it means they don’t have him.”

Hopefully Samuels will have stricken his name from the database. He’s the only fed I trust and rely on. He said he would do all he could but he couldn’t promise anything. It all depends on those who handled the case, if they were dirty or not. Chances are at least one of them would have been and the name would have been passed back to Stone’s boys.

Maddox… what the hell have you done?

When I hear the roar of a bike in my driveway, Tucker steps in front of me and radios to his companions who are circling my property. “We have company. Be ready.”

I peer at the window at the fifteen bikes turning in my front yard so as to be facing the right direction when they need to escape. Stone is leading them but only he and two others enter my house without permission.

“We were wondering when you’d be back,” Stone yells and it echoes around my home, bouncing off the windows and white walls.

I descend the stairs and greet him at the bottom.

“We’re to keep you here until Nastya arrives.” He glances at the cleaning crew who are working through the living area and whistles loudly. “Fuck off upstairs.”

The two women and one man all nod and take their things up to my room. At least I’ll have something clean to crawl into later if I’m not dead.

“This isn’t necessary,” I growl, annoyed that I’m being forced into staying. “If you simply called when she arrived, I’d have come. I have nothing to hide.”

“Well then this should go easily enough.” Stone grins and walks to the refrigerator.

“The feds emptied it,” I say when he peers inside looking for beer.

“Those fuckers.” He nods to the guy on his left. “Go down the hill and get a crate and something strong. We’re gonna need it.” We share a knowing look. “Especially if the psycho bitch is coming. Didn’t you tap that?”

I nod, fighting back my grimace.

“Yeah?” He shakes his head. “Me too. Fucking crazy and I know crazy… or at least I thought I did.”

Nastya wasn’t bad, she was just different. Rough, aggressive, liked to be in control and use her teeth a lot. Liked being spanked and called me Daddy. It was a bit weird. Still satisfied me enough to go back a couple of times. Never again.

“She call you Daddy?” he asks and roars with laughter when I nod. “Yeah, I had to toss her out of my bed. Couldn’t be doing with that shit.”

I don’t reply to that because my mind is now elsewhere. “Why have you brought your entire club to my house, Stone?”

“I don’t trust the feds not to turn up again. They’ve scattered to watch the area. My club has been tossed too. They know we’re working together so it’s just a matter of time before we all go in.”

That makes sense. “Please don’t leave blood stains on my walls.”

“Can’t make promises when I don’t know your position in this.” He smiles dangerously. “Seems a bit suspect to me that you’re trying to get out of your deal weeks before the feds are called.”

“I had nothing to fucking do with this.”

“That’s why you won’t give us a name?”

Shit. “I’m not giving you a name because it’s not the idiot’s fault. They were doing what any normal person would have done when finding a crate full of drugs and weapons.”

He nods thoughtfully. “But you know we can’t let it slide. If word gets out that all they gotta do is call the pigs to get out of a deal, we’ll be out of business by the mornin’.”

A good point.

We sit in silence for a while, I take my phone out of my pocket and look for messages from Tempest. I told her not to get in touch, but I hate the fact she hasn’t. It’s better this way.

We don’t speak again to each other until his buddies returns with alcohol which I accept easily. I need something to take the edge off.

“Where’s that pretty little thing you’ve been keeping to yourself? Tempest was it?” Stone asks suddenly as I sip my whiskey and clear my throat to help ease the burn.

“We aren’t together,” I lie. “She was a fling that ended.”

His eyes narrow but he doesn’t reply as the sound of a car pulling into the driveway has my body becoming solid cement.

Nastya is here.

Tucker moves to me, uneasy at the situation. He’s not out of his depth but he is outnumbered.

“You know the rules,” Stone says, and Tucker, his men, myself, and Stone’s men all place our phones on the TV stand.

We’re patted down for wires and other devices as Nastya’s heels click on my wooden floor.

“Sargent,” she announces, her tone saccharine and fake.

She approaches me on three-inch pumps, her legs narrow and long. She’s only an inch shorter than me with the heels. Her dark red hair is pulled back so tight into a high ponytail that the skin around her small eyes seems stretched.

“Sargent,” she repeats, hugging me.

I place one arm around her bony waist and ignore the way the shoulder pad of her gray jacket digs into my neck.

“It’s nice to see you again, even considering the circumstances,” she declares with a heavy Russian accent, then leans forward to kiss my lips. “How have you been?” When she moves away to look around my damaged house she tsks. “The police think they do what they like. Bastard pigs. Such beautiful things now trash.”

“How can I help you, Nastya?”

“Business is not great now.” She sits on my sofa and the woman who trailed in after her hands her a bottle of water which she sips before handing it back. Her dull brown eyes come to mine. “What will we do I wonder?”

“I don’t know but the freights are off-limits for obvious reasons.” I try to sound apologetic but it comes off far too firm. I’m not helping myself here.

“Yes, I find it odd though, that this all comes so soon after you try to get out of our deal.” She stands again and steps into my space, so she can trail her nail along my jaw. “And you declare innocence yet the first thing you do is send the petite girl to her own country.”

My body tenses but I force a laugh. “She was arrested beside me, she fled the moment she got the chance.”

When she taps on her phone and holds up a picture of me kissing Tempest goodbye outside of my hotel, I raise a brow and shrug.

“Your excuse?” Nastya asks, her tone teasing and malicious.

“Should I have kicked her out of the door? She was a good fuck.”

“I bet she was,” Stone mutters and her eyes and mine shoot to him. “Her body was fucking gorgeous. Just wanted between her thighs.”

“Have her,” I say through gritted teeth. The words make me feel sick. “I’ve been done with her for a while. Too needy.”

Nastya touches my throat, the sharp point of her nails strokes the skin across my jugular. I’ve heard she’s killed men with a similar strike so I quickly grab her wrist.

“Don’t tease me,” I say quietly, daringly. Wanting her to think I still find her desirable.

It works, I see her eyes flash with interest and lust. “Dare I?”

She wraps her arm around my neck and pushes her tongue into my mouth, just like old times. I reciprocate because at this point I don’t have much of a choice. It’s tasteless and does nothing to excite me.

“We have an audience,” I say, pulling back and resisting the urge to wipe my lips.

“Shame.” She sits back on the couch and smiles, her dark lipstick smudged around her lips and mine. “Did I mention Daddy will be here soon?”

Stone and I both tense at that. She better be kidding.

He’s a wanted criminal. Surely he wouldn’t be so stupid? Or perhaps he will be?

“So this house needs to be put back together and checked for wires.” She blinks at Stone and his face falls but he nods like the dutiful little lapdog and his men come in to help the cleaning crew.

Nastya sits and plays on her phone as I drink more whiskey at the counter in the kitchen.

When she appears beside me, I jolt and she cackles unattractively. “You look nervous, Sargent. I wonder why.”

“A lot is going on, Nastya, we aren’t all emotionless bitches like you,” Stone snaps, coming to my aid though only for a moment because she pulls a gun on him. It’s a small Glock but it’s aimed at his head.

Suddenly everybody in the room has their guns out. Everybody but me.

“Speak to me like that again, you greasy limp dick, and I’ll put you down right here,” she snarls and I just know she’s not kidding.

Stone grins and steps closer, the gun is now only inches from his skull. She’ll do it too and I’ll end up shot in the crossfire as this room lights up like the Fourth of July.

I place my hand on her wrist and push as my nose skims her hairline. “You’re truly going to risk your life to kill this dumb fuck?”

She sighs and then smiles before turning in my arms and pushing the gun back into her jacket pocket. It isn’t even secured in a sheath of some kind, it’s just hanging in her pocket. Fucking crazy bitch.

“Come, let’s move to a quieter room,” she whispers and I wish I’d just let them all kill each other.

Stone pats my shoulder as I’m led upstairs, past the sofas on the balcony and straight into my room which is spotless thanks to the cleaners. They did what they could on such short notice.

As soon as the door closes behind me she’s attacking my mouth, her nails are scraping against my chest and my back is against the unforgiving wood. I return her kiss but only for a moment. It’s not getting me off at all and it feels wrong. I feel as though I’m betraying Tempest.

“I’m surprisingly not in the mood,” I explain, stepping around her.

She looks insulted, her massive ego can’t handle the rejection.

“Because of that little girl you have been fucking?” She is not happy but I stay calm.

“No, because I haven’t slept all night and I’m worried about my future and the future of my company.”

Her eyes narrow further. “I traveled all this way to see you and help you with my father and you turn me away like this?”

Fuck. “Like I said…”

“Like the last time when I offered to stay for longer and you declined me then too. Yet now you live with a girl half your age.” She pulls out her phone and grins maniacally. “She isn’t even pretty.”

My lips thin to a white line. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Nastya.”

“She’s not prettier than me.”

Insecure bitch. When I don’t reply her cheeks pink with rage.

“I will have them bring her to me right now. I will not be embarrassed by you for anyone! Especially not little girls.”

My heart rate picks up. She would be so callous and cruel. What do I do?

“You are still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, Nastya. I simply don’t wish to date you because of your father being who he is. I saw what he did to the last man you tired of.”

She laughs at that and cups my face with her hands. “Then we mustn’t tell him, yes?”

My stomach is twisting in knots, I feel ill. I feel trapped. I have to be careful not to anger her. If I can stall her for long enough.

“Come,” she says, draping her jacket over the chair by my desk. “Now we can fuck.”

“I’m not…”

“Release some of that tension.” She circles me like a vulture and starts rubbing my back. I close my eyes but there’s no willing this away. “We had fun, let us repeat.”

Her nails scratch the surface of my arm as she comes to stand in front of me. I let her lift my shirt over my head, begging for an excuse that doesn’t sound pathetic and useless. I could say I have an STI but then she’d lose interest entirely and I need her on my side when her father shows up. If he shows up. She’s the only one that can keep me alive.

Her fingertips touch the part where my tattoo meets my shoulder, trail across my throat and then dance to my nipple which tightens immediately.

“Come,” she whispers against my lips, tugging on my belt to have me follow before undoing it. She scrapes her nails over the top of my jeans but it doesn’t even stir.

Fuck. She’s going to be really pissed off if I can’t get it hard.

I’m going to have to do this. The thought makes me ill but I’m going to have to do it. It’s the only way.

I crush my lips to hers, praying for some kind of divine intervention.

Unfortunately, none comes and after discretely rubbing my cock with my birthday gift from Tempest, I make Nastya remember everything she liked about me.