Page 4 of Pike’s Redemption

Morning waited for nobody, but at least I got to ride for a while. I’d learned I could get out on the road when the nightmares were bad. The desert was forgiving. Everything faded when all I could hear was the roar of the pipes and the rumble of the bike underneath me. I could subconsciously focus on meeting the next curve instead of worrying about a nightmare dragging me under.

Once I got to the Pit, I got engrossed in my work and snagged a cup of coffee before spreading out the stack of papers I needed to look at. We’d had some trouble at one of our warehouses. There had been a fire behind one of the buildings, and we couldn’t figure out how it started. Luckily, one of our prospects was nearby and had put it out. Managing the club had been more work than I thought it’d be. There were disputes, spreadsheets, and organizing shit. School had never been my forte, but prison had allowed me to catch up, and I was determined to make the most of it. When Natasha arrived, I was knee-deep in my tasks, and she looked up with a nod as I approached.

“Morning,” I said, motioning for her to sit. Today, she looked stunning in a silky blouse paired with an alluringly wrapped skirt that showed off her figure. Everything about her screamed money, from her fancy manicure to those damn shoes of hers that made her legs look amazing. I’ll bet she got some catcalls coming up my office stairs. The thought suddenly pissed me off.

“You staying over at Dimitri and Hollis’?” I asked to take my mind off the thought.

“For now,” she admitted. “Our family isn’t close, and I wanted to reconnect with Dimitri. To meet Hollis and Olive. This is a good opportunity to do it. He likes you,” she added.

I wasn’t so sure that Dimitri liked anyone other than his fiance and her little girl. Maybe he liked Maddox, so we had that in common. He’d been kind enough to call in a favor to bring Natasha in to help me, so I suppose he liked me well enough. I’d been surprised when he offered.

“I’ve been going over everything we have so far. We need to tighten up your alibi,” she said, looking uncomfortable as she set her briefcase on the chair next to her and opened it up. Ok, we could go down this road. She was my lawyer. She was on my side. I’d told myself that over and over last night, too, but I wasn’t very trusting. My life had been an example of why I shouldn’t trust people. Her dark hair curled over her shoulders, brushing against the soft skin of her cheeks as she arranged her tools the way she liked. Fuck, she was classy. I tried to organize my thoughts, but they felt scattered around her.

“Ok, well, I was here with the Cobras. We’d partied pretty hard that night.” I waited for a frown from her but didn’t get one. “It was a Saturday, and the shipment went well. Boys were riding high, so there was some celebrating involved.” I wasn’t sure how much information to give and what was better to withhold, but she just nodded, marking a notepad. She’d scooched forward so she could use the edge of the desk, encroaching just far enough into my space that I caught an intriguing hint of peppermint candy. I wondered what she’d do if I reached a hand out to touch that bow of her lips or slide my thumb between them.

Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Well, that’s not information we can give law enforcement, as I assume it wasn’t legal?” She chewed the tip of her pen, but I knew it wasn’t a question. “Can you give me a small list of some of the club members present that evening at the after-party that might vouch for you?”

“Sure, sugar, but they’d all vouch. The cops will poke a hole in that in a hot minute.”

She continued as if I didn’t speak, “What time did you leave? Approximately?”

“Just before five in the morning. I only know because I called the police after I found the body. I stayed at the Pit all night, did some office work, then was going to go for a ride. As I was headed for my bike … that’s when I found Porter.” She looked up from the notepad. I could see her notes, small bullet points in black ink—the highlights of our conversation and arrows with questions.

“Was anyone downstairs still? When did you come down? Or was the party still going on?” Her pen poised; those grey eyes were locked on me over the desktop. I scribbled out the shortlist and passed it over to her, brushing against her fingers when I gave it to her to feel if her skin was as soft as I thought. Her eyes flew to mine as she snatched the list from my hand.

“These people were there when I came down. I wouldn’t necessarily call them reliable witnesses, but it is what it is, I guess.”

She huffed, leaning back in the chair, brushing her hair back as she adjusted herself. “Look. I need you to let me decide who and what facts are important. I ask the questions, and you answer them. We will run into enough roadblocks from other people without throwing them up ourselves.”

My jaw tightened. I hated to be told what to do or how to do it. It was how I ended up being in this damn position at this desk. I couldn’t stand that last president. He was a dumb fucker who was running the club into the ground and kept giving lame ass orders. Natasha had a point, though. I could see that. “Understood,” I ground out, but I was pleased my fingers tingled from the contact. I’d take annoyance over indifference. I liked riling her up.

“Is there another way out of the Pit other than the front door?”

“Yeah, it’s part of the fire code. Has to be a secondary exit. You can get out through the back, but the door is busted. The alarm will blare in the whole place. I turned in a work order with the alarm company to get it fixed, but they’re taking forever.” Her face lit up like it was Christmas.

“Was it broken before you found Porter? Was the work order already in?” she asked excitedly. Her whole chest flushed, and I wondered if the same thing happened during sex. I couldn’t wait to find out.

“Yeah.”

“Excellent. That locks you into one entrance, then.” I nodded, although I wasn’t sure why she was so excited. We still had a major problem. No way was the DA going to alibi me based on the word of a bunch of felons. “Any security footage that places you here at the time of the murder? Saturday evening?” Her eyes came back to me and narrowed into angry slits. “Why are you looking at me like that? We’re close to a breakthrough here. Focus.”

“Sorry, sugar. No, we don’t have cameras here.” She nodded as if that wasn’t a problem. She seemed completely at ease now, a smile curving over her face.

“Tell me more about this shipment. Were you involved at all?” I frowned at her. “The coroner has the time of death at approximately midnight to one A.M. … What were you doing then?” Oh, I caught her drift now.

“I was at the diner before the run. It should have been around midnight. Meet wasn’t until two. There will be a receipt at the diner. Daisy can vouch for me. She’s the redhead waitress there, but she’s clean. No record. Jury would love her.” I sighed in relief and leaned back in the old desk chair, letting the worn-out springs rock a little, which led to me thinking of Natasha on my lap.

“I’ll talk to the people you listed, the alarm company, and Daisy. We can pull some traffic cams around the area if the cops get a little squirrely. That’d place you around the diner and the area just to be safe. But we have plenty to establish you were nowhere near the kill site. If the cops want to keep hauling you in for this, they’ll have some trouble with me about it. We’ll have all the evidence to establish a solid alibi.” I looked at her in wonder as she made notes furiously on the legal pad, underlining a few things and making arrows to other things. She was writing so hard that I could see the impressions of the pen on the paper from where I sat. There was intensity in every line of her body as she worked on her thoughts.

Wow, she was good. Dimitri hadn’t exaggerated. Relief washed over me. I had thought I was destined again for the cage. I wasn’t sure I could have done another stint in prison. In a rush, I stood from my desk and paced a little. The office was always a test for me; the windowless room pushed my boundaries with feelings of claustrophobia. It wasn’t a small office, but there were just tiny windows that led to a sense of being closed in.

Finally, she finished her notes and tapped on the paper thoughtfully with the tip of her pencil as she looked up at me. “We need to consider motive here. Can you think about that?”

“Motive?” I asked, stumped. “What do you mean?”

“Why someone would put Porter’s body here of all places.” Her face was tilted to watch as I paced, her pretty mouth pursed.

It made me think about that mouth of hers as I focused on those lips, stuck on the question. Now all I could think about was how good they’d look, sucking my cock while I thrust between her lips until I made her gag. Now, that was an image I could get behind. I sat on the edge of the desk, knowing I was crowding into her space more than was polite. Subtly, she shifted, but not to move back; no, the little minx shifted to clench her thighs together. This turned her on. Natasha Petrova was attracted to me. Her cheeks flared with pink.

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