Page 12 of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Chapter 6

Liza

(2 weeks, 6 days ago)

My brother was going to die. I couldn’t believe he had put me in a position where I was in this much danger. Actually, I could, because this wasn’t the first time and I had the scars to prove it. Why, oh why, did I continue to love my brother?

I stood off to the side of the booth the stranger in front of me had set up. He hadn’t yet noticed me, and my brother didn’t give a shit if I overheard them or not since I already knew the score. “I really appreciate you taking on my sister like this. I owe you and the club, big time.”

“You know they’re not entirely happy with me agreeing to get involved considering you dug this hole you’re in all by yourself,” the man stated, and I was actually happy to hear him say it. At least I knew he wasn’t being bowled over by my big brother with a bunch of lies and the same happy horseshit he fed everyone else. I took another, harder look at the man in question. He was the person I was supposed to be leaving my life here in Reno with. I was to ride out and stay hidden in the black hills of South Dakota or some crap. I huffed as I thought of being stuck in the middle of no fucking where. Definitely not my scene, but I supposed it was way better than being hunted, raped, and tortured by my brother’s enemies. I’d avoided the rape part last time he was in trouble, but only just so. Some days, I still can’t believe I ever forgave him, and allowed him back into my life. I thought he had changed. I was wrong.

“I know. I know. I can’t,” my brother actually choked up. “Last time,” he tries again, and has to collect himself. “They did things to her once before man, I couldn’t live with myself if anything ever happened to her again. I fucked up, but I didn’t realize who he was when I stole his girl. I swear, I don’t owe money, not involved in drugs, or any other shady shit. I fucked the wrong girl. I know what they’ll do though. They’ll go after my sister, because she’s important to me.”

The other man shakes his head at my brother. “I don’t even know what to say about that shit. You’re sure that’s all that went down?” He asks again, clearly not believing that was the whole story. I’m not sure I believe it either, but I did meet Michelle, and she swears Random – her ex-boyfriend and the VP of the King’s Demons MC – was beating her and she had run from him before she met my brother. I believe their story, I do. I want them protected, because Michelle is now pregnant with my niece or nephew, but I also want to know why my life is being disrupted and not theirs.

“Why do you think they’re coming for your sister, and not this woman you knocked up?”

“Michelle. He doesn’t want her anymore, because she has another man’s baby in her belly. She’s considered ‘tainted’ now. They’ve taken Liza before, and didn’t get to finish what they started with her. He’s already made threats about doing just that,” my brother hisses. “I can’t let them do that to her. She’s a good girl. Well, I meant she has a foul-as-fuck mouth, but a great heart, you know? It’s fucked that I have to lose her talent too.”

“Seriously? You’re worried about not having her around because she’s an artist, not because you put a fucking bulls-eye on your sister’s back?” The man asked incredulously.

“You know what I mean,” my brother huffed out. “I love my sister. I’m going to miss her for a lot of reasons.”

“Where is this sister of yours?” The man asked. His broad shoulders and short cropped black hair that spiked up on top were pretty much all I had been able to see of the him other than the fact that his ass filled out his jeans in a wonderful way, and his arms appeared ink free from the elbows down, which I found interesting for a tattoo artist. He towered over my brother’s 5’11” height, so I almost missed it when my brother pointed in my direction. The man turned and I was immediately captivated by his unusual eye color. It appeared to be an odd blend of green and gold that would look amazing as cat eyes, but his were a bit too rounded for that appearance. It worked for him though. This man was hotness personified. The front view definitely rivaled the one I had of his backside.

“C’mere, Liza!” My brother called out forcing me to step forward and acknowledge the two men I had been listening in on. I move forward, stepping around the barricade that blocked pedestrian traffic into the man’s booth space. “This is my sister,” Frankie explained. “Liza Rossi,” he offered while gesturing between the stranger and myself. “Sis, this is Tango with Aces High MC.” I had noticed the MC kutte sitting on a chair off to the side. He wasn’t supposed to wear it in the booths, as per the rules, but apparently he wasn’t letting it get far from his person either.

I glanced back over my shoulder at my brother’s deep-set brown eyes that smiled down at me reassuringly. “Are you sure about this? He’s with an MC,” I stated plainly.

“He’s with the good kind, sis. I promise, I wouldn’t send you with anyone who would even think of laying an unwanted hand on a woman.” The man was just watching me with those intense eyes of his. Hell, they were even more spectacular up close and personal.

I turned and stuck my hand out to shake Tango’s. He gripped mine with a large, warm hand that sent zinging energy right up my arms and caused me to break out in a serious case of goose bumps. I glanced up into a chiseled face that almost seemed too serious. “Good to meet you,” he told me before directing his attention back to my brother and releasing my hand. “I’ll be finishing out the weekend here before heading out. That gonna be a problem?”

“I don’t think so. Is it possible for her to work here as your assistant instead of in my booth for the duration though? I figure the sooner we establish a distance, the better.” I turned to glare at my brother then. I would almost swear this was 200 years ago and he was trading me off for a goat, two chickens, and a pig with the way he was negotiating my custody turnover. I damn near called off this insane plan of his until I caught sight of a kutte in the crowd that clearly had a King’s Demons patch on it.

“Frankie?” I called out, and tipped my head in that direction.

“Fuck! I didn’t think any of them would be here,” my brother whispered.

Tango chuckled. “Really? You’re a tattoo artist slotted to have a booth here, and you didn’t think they’d come try to harass you?” He shook his head back and forth. “Frankie, sometimes, I really think you did too many drugs in your early years or something.”

“Hey!” I called out a little too loudly. “Don’t talk about my idiot brother that way!”

“Gee, thanks, Liza.” Frankie commented, sarcasm dripping from his words.

“Well, if you weren’t an idiot I wouldn’t have to be running away while you get to play house with the reason,” I cracked out bitterly. Yeah, okay, so I didn’t resent Michelle and the baby per se, but I did resent being sent away for their selfishness of wanting to be together without getting shit straightened out first. Michelle and my brother both made mistakes when they got together, the first of them being staying in Reno where the King’s Demons ruled. My anger was warranted though, because I seemed to be the only person who was going to suffer for their decisions. Just as I was turning back to Tango he reached out, grabbed my arm, and pulled me right up to his ridiculously large body. His hands tangled into my hair at the back of my head, and he bent, crashing his lips down on mine. I felt him kick his leg out a bit and heard my brother hiss out an “Ouch, motherfucker!”

“Okay, well, you’re busy, so I’m gonna go hit my booth up for a while. Catch ya later about that technique you’ve been using,” My brother called out while Tango’s tongue found its way into my mouth when I gasped. Then he released my mouth only to dip his head into my side and nip my ear while whispering. “Play nice, KDs are watching.” And that’s about the time my hands got involved with feeling this man’s hard body up and resuming a kiss so heated I was sure my panties melted right the fuck off my body.

At 24 years-old I definitely wasn’t a virgin, and I’d had my fair share of kisses from men, but never in my life had one turned me so inside out and upside down all at once. Dear, sweet, baby Jesus someone needed to save me, my panties, and my poor little starved-for-attention girl-parts. It was suddenly possible that I wouldn’t survive running away with this man for protection, because holy hell, I had never felt such sizzling ass chemistry with another human being before. Ever.

~ Tango ~

I slowly peeled Frankie’s sister from my body where she seemed all but melted into me during that kiss. It was meant to be a distraction, but now I couldn’t stop reliving every possessive touch, the tingle when our tongues clashed, and the complete rush that flew through my body when our mouths devoured the others. Never in my life have I felt that kind of instant, explosive chemistry. Definitely hadn’t felt it with Camilla, or else I might have fought harder – or at all – to preserve what I had once thought we had. It also didn’t escape my notice that my feelings about the kiss may just be because I’d gone so long without that sort of touch in my life. Touch starved. That was a thing I’d heard one of the girls at the clubhouse talk about before. I shook the thought off and pulled my head out of my ass long enough to reassure the woman still tucked in my embrace. “It’s okay now, they’ve moved on. When your brother left, they followed.” I felt her tense up immediately. “No need to worry. There are too many people around who know Frankie. They won’t try anything more than delivering a verbal message while he’s at the Expo.”

“That’s good to know, but I wouldn’t put anything past them. They snatched me up from campus when I was still in school.” Now it was my turn to tense. Frankie hadn’t told me details about what they’d done to her before, just that it hadn’t been pretty.

“I really hope for their sakes you mean college. Not that snatching you, and doing whatever they did wasn’t bad enough, but you weren’t…”

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