Page 65 of Chaos Bound
She stepped forward, blocking the door, and fixed him with what could only be an exasperated stare. “What are you doing here, James?”
Tank held up the bottle. “Thought you might want to have a drink with me. T-Rex is back.” He didn’t have to feign his enthusiasm. His joy at having T-Rex back was almost overwhelming.
Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly, and she cocked her head to the side. “He’s back with the Sinners?”
Tank’s shoulders dropped the tiniest bit. Naiya had given him T-Rex’s cut, explaining that T-Rex refused to wear it. But now that Tank had explained everything, tomorrow they would go to the clubhouse, and T-Rex would wear his cut, and they would sit side by side at the boardroom table, and they would drink together, and laugh together, and everything would be right with the world.
Not that he could share any of this with Ella. He had to very careful about what he said. She was a reporter and they were all about taking small pieces of information and making them big. “Yeah. That’s right. Let me in, and we can toast him together. I wanna thank you for offering to help me and believing me, and I owe you an apology for the other day when I had to leave… unexpectedly.”
“Of course I believed you.” Her voice dropped to a sultry purr, and she pressed a kiss to his throat, her robe falling partway open. “I guess that was him down by the lake, too. With his girl. Taking care of that Black Jack VP…?”
Say nothing. Say nothing. Say nothing.This was his game, not hers. He just had to remember how much trouble he’d gotten into already by thinking with his dick.
“Dunno. We didn’t talk much. I’m gonna organize a welcome-home party—the best damn party the MC has ever seen.”
“He’s lucky to have you,” she said.
“And you’re lucky to have me here tonight so fucking jacked with happiness I’m gonna give you the time of your life.”
She bit her lip, sighed. “I can’t, baby. I was just on my way to the studio. There’s a breaking news story tonight, and I got called in.”
“Dressed like this?” He slid his hand over her robe, soft and silky to the touch.
“No, silly.” She smiled her TV smile, all teeth, and no warmth. “I was sleeping when the studio called, and I was just on my way to the shower when you knocked.”
“Just one drink.” He squeezed her ass, buried his face in her neck. But his nose wrinkled when he breathed her in. Instead of the heady scent of Poison, she smelled of smoke and leather, and something musky, manly… like cologne.
She stiffened in his arms. “Really, James. You need to go. I don’t have time.”
Tank jerked back, scowled. “You got a man in there, Ella?”
Her eyes widened, and she swallowed hard. “No.”
The skin on the back of his neck prickled. She’d been so keen to get him inside before, but now she was pushing him away, and that scent… maybe he could work with it. Fly into a jealous rage like he’d seen Cade, Zane, and Jagger do when someone was sniffing around their old ladies.
“Out of my way.” He shoved her roughly aside, pulling up short when he saw the state of her normally pristine living room—beer bottles and cigarette butts littered the tables, cushions were strewn across the floor. His gaze fell on the shards of glass, balled-up tissues, and empty pizza box on the thick, white carpet.
“It looks like a bomb went off in here. What happened?”
“I had a party,” she said, dismissively. “It got out of hand.”
Tank heard the creak of the door. A thud. He followed the sound to the kitchen where the back door swung open on its hinges. Pushing it open, he heard the unmistakable roar of a Harley in the distance.
TheHarley.
Who the hell was on that bike? And was it the man who had been in Ella’s house? He didn’t buy the party story. Not with the lingering scents of sex and cologne, her disheveled appearance, and the fact there was only one pizza box on the floor.
He took off around the corner, belting it for the road. When he spotted the Harley in the distance, he jumped on his bike and punched the throttle. And although he was fast, he wasn’t fast enough. The distinctive rumble faded, and by the time he hit the highway, it was gone.
Determined to find out what was going on, he returned to Ella’s house, only to find the lights out, the doors locked, and her car gone.
Something didn’t sit right about the whole situation.
But damned if he knew what it was.
TWENTY
If Tank hadn’t been waiting in the hotel lobby, Holt would have skipped town with Naiya, never to return. He still hadn’t managed to get his head around the fact that his brothers hadn’t betrayed him. They had come and Viper stole him away.
