Predators MC: Stand Off Part 2

"This isn't you talking. You're f.u.c.ked up right now because of what almost happened."

"Yes and I feel myself becoming afraid of men. I don't want to be scared of them for the rest of my life just because of Brock." Casey brushed her angry tears of humiliation away. "For once in my life, I want to control one important thing in my life."

"Quit crying. I'm not-"

Casey pressed herself against Max, winding her arms around his waist. "Please, Max. Just one kiss and I will leave you alone. We'll pretend it never happened," she pled.

Max stared down at her.

Casey stood on her toes. "Please, Max ... please."

He groaned, lowering his head until his lips barely touched hers.

"Part your lips. If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right."

Casey licked her bottom lip, parting her mouth. She didn't have time to withdraw the tip of her tongue before Max's mouth was on hers.

She grabbed fistfuls of his T-s.h.i.+rt as his tongue slid alongside hers. An unknown rush of heat was felt in her stomach when his hands circled her waist, lifting her higher as his tongue gently explored her mouth. Her first kiss was everything she had dreamed of. It was exciting, sensual, and s.e.xy, softly guiding her into the delicate art of discovering the first taste of pleasure that Brock would have stolen forever from her.

Casey couldn't believe she had worked up the courage to beg Max to kiss her, much less the unexpected pleasure she received from a man who smelled of beer and the perfume of another woman.

"What the h.e.l.l!"

Casey found herself dumped unceremoniously back on her feet. Wincing at the pain, she managed to keep her balance. Ginger stared at them angrily while Casey stared back, guiltily aware it was her purse, books, and clothes Ginger was holding in her arms.

"Ginger, it was nothing. Poor kid's never had a kiss ... just doing her a favor. She don't exactly have a line waiting."

Casey hid her flinch at Max's words.

"Her shy, little, school girl routine seemed to be working just fine when I came in the door. She's had both you and Brock trying to get in her panties tonight."

"There's a big f.u.c.king difference between me and Brock."

Ginger's lips tightened. "Jackal's waiting for you. Ice has something he needs you two to check on."

Max took advantage of the opportunity to escape, leaving without a backward glance. The second the door snapped closed, Ginger threw the clothes and books at Casey.

"You little b.i.t.c.h! He's mine. I'm getting your s.h.i.+t while you're trying to steal my man? Renee said you were a s.l.u.t, and I took up for you!"

Humiliated, Casey gathered her clothes, tugging on her jeans. With the rest of her things, she went toward the door. She had no idea where she was going or how she was going to get to school, but she couldn't face Ginger's accusing look any longer.

"Casey, I'm warning you. Stay away from him."

"I will," Casey said faintly.

Mercifully, no one was outside so early, and Casey finished dressing, wincing with pain as she forced her feet into her tennis shoes. Throwing her night clothes into the dumpster, she began walking toward the direction she remembered Max had brought her. She was about to drop when she saw a bus.

She was late for school, but the teacher arranged for her to take the part she missed during her lunch hour. It was a difficult day to get through, and that night wasn't much better, listening to Renee's recriminations despite Casey repeatedly telling her that Brock had attempted to rape her.

As soon as she had graduated, she had moved out into the same cheap apartment she lived in now.

Fortunately, Casey didn't see Max again for several years, but by chance, she ran into Ginger at Renee's home, and she had her son with her in the carrier. Max's son lay wiggling with his fist crammed into his mouth. Casey made the effort to carry on a conversation but was rebuffed.

Once she was no longer living with Renee, she didn't see Max until the day of Mugg's and her mother's wedding at the local courthouse. The marriage had intertwined her life once again with the Predators.

After the ceremony, they celebrated at a local restaurant. Sitting at the end of the table and feeling self- conscious, Casey avoided eye contact with Max as he sat with his now four children. He acted friendly, his nonchalant att.i.tude displaying he had forgotten their kiss. However, despite herself, she had compared every man to him thereafter.

Now, as then, Max managed to make her feel self-conscious and nervous, addressing her with the same affable "sweet thing" which he addressed every woman who came into contact with him, though she successfully kept him at arm's length over the next few years, despite his gestures of friends.h.i.+p.

The Predators' reputation worsened over the time she grew up and began working in Queen City. The bikers became feared by many of the residents, each shrewdly aware as Casey was that the law wasn't able to touch them. Little did they know, their day of reckoning was going to be achieved by her amateur skills, using the one thing Max was incapable of resisting-a willing woman.

Chapter 3.

Max walked across the parking lot to his bike, where the club members were standing together, waiting for him.

"Find out what you wanted to know?" Ice asked, his arm around Grace's shoulders.

"f.u.c.k, no." Max sat down on his bike, frustrated at Casey's refusal to confide in him. She was the complete opposite of her mother who would tell you what color panties she had on if you asked. With Renee, what you saw was what you got. She was feisty and s.p.u.n.ky, dressing more like a woman half her age than a woman in her fifties. She had been married three times before she had married his father. Max liked Renee and wished Casey had taken a few traits from her mother. She hadn't, though. She was as closed off and snooty as Renee was friendly and outgoing.

"What are you going to do?" Jackal asked.

"Ask Dad and see if he knows what's going on."

"Why does it matter? It's not like she's your sister." Ice climbed on his bike with Grace getting on behind him.

"Because Casey is an uptight b.i.t.c.h who watches every dime she spends. If she needs cash, I'm thinking it's not for her."

"Renee?" Ice spoke his own thought out loud.

"Dunno."

"Could be anything," Jackal broke into the conversation. "She could owe money or have a habit she's hiding. She could even be giving it to her boyfriend."

Max shook his head. "She doesn't spend any money on herself. She has five work outfits that she wears different days of the week. She never goes out. Her ma is always asking her to go shopping and s.h.i.+t with her, and she never goes. I would know if she was doing any drugs since we control that s.h.i.+t in town." Max spoke faster at Ice's warning look about watching his words around Grace. "Her boyfriend is a stockbroker from out east and has more cash than he can spend."

"How'd you know she has only five work outfits?" Grace's curious eyes met his.

"There isn't much I don't notice about women," Max bragged.

"I didn't see you paying much attention to what CeCe was wearing. You asked her if one dress she was wearing was new twice."

Max shrugged. "You still p.i.s.sed about me and CeCe? She was the one who dumped me, remember?"

"Because you didn't want to make a commitment," Grace said accusingly.

"I have to spread the love around," he joked, winking at Grace, who didn't smile back.

"What you're spreading is bulls.h.i.+t, not love."

"You check the boyfriend out?" Ice broke in, cutting off the budding argument between Max and his wife.

Max raised a brow at Ice's silent warning to drop the subject of CeCe. Grace and CeCe were best friends, and Ice didn't want Grace to form hard feelings that would make it difficult to be around the club members.

"Her ma asked me to. She thought he was flas.h.i.+ng too much money around. He's Mr. Clean; couldn't find c.r.a.p on him."

"I don't understand why you feel the need to try to interfere in her life. She obviously doesn't want your concern," Grace remarked.

"She's not going to get her wish. Snake!" Max yelled at the biker at the end of the row of bikes.

The biker walked toward him with an apprehensive look. "What's up?"

"I want you to stay and watch the store until Casey gets off tomorrow morning."

"f.u.c.k, no. I'm not getting stuck watching over another one of your women. Let someone else do it," Snake argued.

Max's eyes narrowed on him. "You telling me no? I'll rip your f.u.c.king head off and p.i.s.s down your throat. She's not my woman; she's my stepsister, and I want her watched," he bellowed.

"s.h.i.+t, if you put it that way, I'll stay. It's not like I have a f.u.c.king choice, is it?" Snake said snidely.

"No, if I tell you to shoot yourself in the foot, you'll do what you're told until you're patched!"

"I'll do it, but if she gives me the same trouble Grace did, I'm packing up and going back home. If I'm going to be bored, I can go home and bale hay for my dad," he complained.

Ice and Jackal watched as Max took a step forward and punched Snake in the mouth. Blood poured from his split lip.

"Shut the f.u.c.k up. You're whining like one of my b.i.t.c.hes."

Grace gasped, staring at him with a shocked expression. "I thought you were the nice one in the group."

"I am," Max said, opening his beer and taking a long drink.

Grace stared at him dubiously. "Did you not just hear yourself threatening to rip his head off and p.i.s.s down his throat?"

Max screwed the lid back on to his pint of beer before putting it in his saddlebag. "That was me being nice. If he had talked back like that to any of the other brothers, they would have ripped him a new a.s.shole and then stuffed him in that dumpster." Max's veiled threat was silently acknowledged by Snake, who was about to have seven different kinds of h.e.l.l beaten out of him if he didn't watch his step.

"Why are we still talking about this? Let's go." Jackal started his motor, impatient to leave.

"What's the hurry?" Max turned the key in his ignition.

"I thought we were going out for a ride, not sitting out here in the f.u.c.king parking lot."

"Let's ride," Ice agreed, pulling out in the lead and onto the road.

Max's eyes went to the large window, staring into the store where he saw Casey was loading the cooler.

"Anything happens to her, the only patch you'll be getting is the patch of ground I'll bury you in," Max threatened, giving the brother holding his bandana over his mouth a final warning before following the others out.

As he sped up on the road, he became angry at losing his temper in front of Grace. Ice was going to give him s.h.i.+t about it later. He didn't even know why he was so p.i.s.sed off. Casey was nothing to him. He had known her since she was a kid yet had never tried to get to know her until his dad had married her mom. She had been a stuck-up b.i.t.c.h then and hadn't changed any as she had grown older. Then again, Mugg likes the girl, so I should make sure she is safe, Max told himself.

His easy humor returned. His temper could get out of control, but it never lasted long. Casey was out of his mind two seconds later as he raced alongside Jackal. No woman held his attention when he was with the brothers.

It was late at night, and the streets were empty and dark. The road beckoned, and like always, he gave in to the thrill of being reckless and free.

Chapter 4.

Casey smothered her yawn as she listened to a customer rant about a disputed charge. She pulled the paperwork from the printer, shuffling the papers together.

"Are you sure your wife couldn't have used your debit card?" Casey asked again.

"Why would she pay for a storage locker when we have a perfectly good garage?" he repeated the same answer he had given her continuously since he had entered her office.

Casey didn't tell him her own suspicions. She would take the report, and someone else would be forced to be the one to tell him if it was a legitimate charge.

As soon as his signature was attached, Casey stood up, putting her hand out. "Someone from the office will be in contact with you in three to five days, Mr. Patrick."

He shook her hand before stomping out of her office.

Casey went outside her office, watching as the irate customer left.

"He doesn't seem very happy," a male voice spoke from next to her.

Casey turned to Lonnie. "He isn't. Unfortunately, I think he's going to be a lot unhappier when he finds out his wife is making plans to leave him behind his back. The good news is, I won't be the one telling him."

Lonnie grinned at her good-naturedly. "I'm glad I don't have to deal with the customers directly."

Casey silently agreed. Lonnie was much too sweet to deal with customers. They would make mincemeat out of the mild-mannered man.

He looked down at his polished shoes, avoiding eye contact with her. "I'm going to Dell's with Lana and Nicky. Want to come?"

Casey smiled at him regretfully. "No, thanks. I'm going home. It's been a long day."

Lonnie flushed. "Maybe another time?"

"I'm pretty busy right now." Casey let him down gently.

Lonnie nodded. "They're waiting on me. I'll see you tomorrow."