him, so she turned her head away and stared out the window into the night. She’d gone over and over every single detail of her life with him looking for signs that she should have caught along the way that it had been a charade. A complete sham. She’d just been so young and stupid.
“Breezy, come on, baby, it wasn’t like that and you know it.”
“Don’t. Don’t, Steele. I’m not that same girl. You saw to that. I’m not naïve anymore. It may take hard lessons, but they get through. You made yourself clear and I heard every word. I made a life for myself and …” she broke off, her lungs seizing. It took a few minutes to find a way to breathe again. “Did you really assassinate the international president of the Swords? That’s what the rumor mill is saying. The Swords hate you more than any other enemy and there’s a price on every one of you.”
“He had the biggest human trafficking ring in the world, Breezy. He was even allowing his clients to use and kill men, women and children on his designated freighters and bury the bodies in the ocean. He had to go.”
“Czar joined first. And then one by one, the rest of you.” She made it a statement. They’d joined the chapter in Louisiana, the one her family belonged to. Czar had risen to power fast. He was that scary, and Habit, the president of the chapter, had relied on him heavily. Whenever Czar had recommended a prospect, Habit had been more than happy to oblige him. Each man had been as cold as ice and equally as deadly. They’d made the chapter extremely strong.
“That was the plan.”
“You rode with them for three years before you sent me away.” One of those had been as a prospect, and he’d just watched her. A year of them dancing around each other. Another had been with her as his old lady. His woman. No one else had dared to touch her or try to use her for anything in that year. She’d been safe for the first time in her life. And then … he’d told her the truth. He hadn’t wanted her anymore. He’d never wanted her in the first place. She’d known all along her father had given her to him with the idea of currying favors from Czar and his very strong companions. Her father had wanted to be part of that.
“Five years Czar was with them. I rode with the Swords for four years.” He turned off Highway 1 to Caspar. “A fucking lifetime.”
“You spent four years with them, another year after you sent me away and yet you could so easily betray them?” She knew he could. He’d spent a year with her and she hadn’t meant anything to him.
“They’re all scum, Breezy. Every last one of them.”
She couldn’t help it. She glared at him. “And you aren’t? You rode with those men, pretended to be their brother and then put a bullet in them? You killed a bunch of them, didn’t you? You and your friends.”
“Yes, we did,” Steele replied evenly, without one iota of remorse. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Believe me, baby, I don’t lose any sleep over it.”
“I’m sure you don’t.” She was equally as sure he didn’t lose any sleep over her either. There was evidence of that when she found him lying naked under three women.
“You’re avoiding every subject but the one we need to talk about.”
The lash of anger in his voice sparked her own. She wanted to swing around on the seat, put her boots up and slam them right into his chest. Drive them right through his black heart. She sat very still, blood thundering in her ears.
“You need to let me go. I’ve worked this all out. All I asked from you was to follow the plan. That’s it. In all this time, that’s all I’ve asked. I know you’re busy with your parties, Steele. That’s clear. But maybe this once, for a few days you can skip getting drunk in order to be ready in case you’re needed. I’m going in first and taking all the risk. Maybe your three women can take turns giving you blow jobs and keep you happy while you wait to see if I get killed or not.”
He slammed on the brakes, gave her a hard look and jumped out of the cab. She watched him round the hood, toss the keys