Page 11 of Diesel

“I need my phone.” We stood next to each other, me completely speechless. He had come to rescue his Rapunzel from the castle. He could pull my hair later.

“I brought a burner.” He pulled an iPhone from his back pocket. “Best I could do with short notice.”

“Gigi. I’m sorry,” Charles said from the other side of the door. “Can I come in and we talk about this?”

The lock clicked, and the knob turned. I rushed across the room and slammed the door shut as it opened.

“No,” I said. “I need some time alone to think about what you and my father have done.”

“Fuck,” Charles whispered. “Okay. I’ll come back in the morning.” A minute later, he said, “I love you, Gigi.”

I turned to find Diesel with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. I pointed at him, not to say a word. He grabbed my ass as I walked to the window.

There was something about how much Diesel touched me. Charles always waited for permission. Diesel didn’t. He knew what he wanted and just did it. No asking and no waiting. He pushed the window open and held my hand as I backed onto the ladder.

“I can’t believe you did this,” I said. “Where are the others?”

“At the club. Just going to be you and me, babe.”

I descended the ladder, looking up at Diesel’s ass as he came down after me. At the bottom of the ladder, he kissed me, one hand on my ass, the other on the back of my neck. A man with strong hands was a man every woman should keep.

“So, it’s going to be like this,” my father said, appearing from the darkness. “I should have you arrested.” He pointed at Diesel.

I stepped in front of Diesel. “Father, don’t. Let me decide this part of my life.” I glanced up at Diesel. “He needs my help with something in Boston. Let me go.”

“Let her go, John,” Mom said. She joined my father. “He’s a good-looking man, Gigi.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.” I could hear the arrogance in Diesel’s voice. He’d ride that compliment all the way to Boston and back. “Your daughter is in good hands.”

“I’m sure she is,” Mom said with a smile. “John. We should go back inside and get to bed.”

“Anything happens to my daughter while she’s with you, I’ll ensure your club burns. I did my own digging into you and your gang. I know what you did to your rival. I can’t prove anything at the moment, but all those dead members were at your hands.” He took Mom by the hand, and they went back inside. My father had a lot of power, but Mom’s voice was loud and clear.

“You thought you were sneaky,” I said. “Didn’t you consider my father would have the place laced with cameras?”

“Yeah, but I probably shouldn’t have flipped the bird to the security cameras.”

Diesel put his arm around my shoulders and led me into the darkness. We found his bike parked in the trees bordering the property next to the road. I climbed on back, thankful my ass was feeling better, and put my arms around Diesel when he got on.

“Thank you,” I said.

“He’s not done, G.” We pulled onto the road. “No father wants to lose his little girl to another man, especially one like me. Charles is his bitch, and he knows it.”

Diesel was right. Dad would come up with something else. It might include a lie, or it might not. Whatever he did, it would be underhanded.

We stopped at an all-night gas station, and Diesel filled his tank while I went inside. As I grabbed two bottles of water, I noticed two hooded men enter the store, both carrying guns. The store owner reached beneath the counter, but one of the men fired before the owner could grab his weapon. The owner dropped to the floor, taking a row of cigarettes and rolling papers down with him.

I hid at the far end of a food aisle, eyeballing a packet of Hershey bars, and watched one of the gunmen go behind the counter. I turned to the left, where I could see Diesel racing toward the door. He’d be dead before entering the building.

“Hey, assholes,” I said.

The two men stopped what they were doing. The one behind the counter ignored the cash drawer and jumped over the counter. They turned away when the door opened and started shooting. I heard a crash, and then everything went silent.

Peeking down the aisle, I saw the two men approach the entrance. When they were out of view, I moved to the next aisle.

The two men pointed their guns and laughed.

“I got him,” one of them said.

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