Imperfectly (Dante’s Nine MC #2)(42)
Author: Colleen Masters

“I don’t want to see you either,” Kassie shouts back, “Not unless you’ve got one of the Nine on the phone.”

“You know I can let you call out to the Nine, Kassie,” Leo says, “But I do have someone here you might care to talk to.”

“I seriously doubt it,” Kassie scoffs.

“Bear with me, baby,” Leo goes on, “I’ve got my girl out here. She’s a real peach. She wants to come in there and have a talk with you. Girl to girl.”

“Your girl?” Kassie laughs, “What, you mean one of your filthy stripper skanks? Pass.”

I want to call out to her, give her a sign that it’s me. But what if she accidentally cries out my name or something? Our cover will be blown.

“Just give her five minutes,” Leo presses, “If you guys don’t hit it off or whatever, she’ll leave you be. But I think you’ll like her. She’s not one of the Playpen girls. She’s new around here. Used to be one of those juice-fasting, spray-tanning, LA chicks.”

“Watch it,” I hiss, elbowing him lightly in the ribs.

“She does computer shit for us,” Leo goes on, “Or, at least, she will, when one of us figures out what that actually means.”

“Computer shit?” Kassie muses from inside. Her voice is tinged with interest. Hope. She might just suspect that it’s me, come to save her. Now’s my chance.

“That’s right,” I call, fighting to keep my voice even. “My name’s Kelly Rodgers. It’s nice to…sort of…meet you.”

Dead silence hangs in the air as I wait for Kassie’s response. Leo, Buck, and Dewey exchange glances, confused by Kassie’s sudden quietness. But it only lasts for a heartbeat before she speaks again.

“Send in the chick,” Kassie says, “Only her. No one else. The rest of you can beat it.”

Leo raises his eyebrows at me. “Looks like you’re in,” he says, “You ready?”

“Absolutely,” I breathe, clutching Kassie’s jacket to my chest.

Carefully, Leo cracks open the door of the RV. A sliver of yellow light spills out across the dusty black ground. Buck and Dewey brace themselves, ready to catch Kassie should she try to flee. But the door swings open to admit me without incident. With trembling knees, I climb the short flight of steps into the vehicle. The door closes again behind me, guarded by the Wraiths. And at last, I step into the cabin of the motor home.

There, standing before me in all her glory, is Kassie Bennett. Her long blonde hair hangs loose and wild around her shoulders, and her gorgeous face is scrubbed clean of any makeup. She wears new-looking boyfriend jeans a loose white tee, her clothes from the night of the abduction hang washed and drying over the sink. There’s a bottle of whiskey on the flimsy kitchen table, and a frying pan clasped in her slender fist.

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” I whisper.

The pan clatters to the floor as we fly into each other’s arms. We gather as much as we can of each other up in our arms. I hug Kassie to me, dampening the front of her shirt with happy tears. I feel her thin shoulders begin to shake as we hold each other. The wash of relief that surges over us both is too much to take without shedding a tear or two.

“It’s you,” she whispers, pulling away to look me in the eye, “Kelly, I can’t believe you’re here! How—?”

“It’s a long story,” I cut her off, “I’m just so glad you’re OK. You are OK—?”

“I’m fine,” she assures me, “They haven’t laid a finger on me. Unless you count the whole carrying-me-unconscious-out-of-the-bar thing. They even met my demands! A bottle of Jack and a new outfit.”

“Atta girl,” I grin, “You show these Wraiths who’s boss.”

“But seriously Kel,” she goes on, pulling me down into the kitchen table booth and pouring me a glass of whiskey, “How the hell are you here right now? Is Declan OK? Are the Nine alright?”

“Declan and the guys are fine,” I tell her, happily accepting the drink, “As far as I know, there’s been no violence. The Nine haven’t retaliated, and the Wraiths are keeping you here as leverage. Declan didn’t want to attack the Nest, here, so we decided that I should come around myself, and try to get some intel.”

“How did you pull that off?” she asks, amazed.

“The night you were abducted, none of the Wraiths spotted me,” I tell her, “I got hidden behind the door, they never saw my face. When you got taken, I reached out to my cousin in the SoCal chapter and asked him to introduce me to the Las Vegas Wraiths. He pitched me as a computer nerd, told them I could help them with some office shit. And they agreed to let me hang around. Well…they didn’t agree. Leo liked the look of me and sort of…called dibs…”

“Leo Bane brought you here to be his, what, personal piece of ass?” Kassie asks, enraged on my account.

“No, no,” I say quickly, “It’s not like that. I’m not just a sweet butt, or one of the Playpen girls, obviously.”

“So, he’s not expecting sex from you?” Kassie asks me, point blank.

I take a sip of whiskey, staring down at the table. I wasn’t expecting to get right into the details of my relationship with the Wraiths VP. But she’s not about to let it go.

“Does Leo expect you to be his little sex toy?” she insists, “Is that why he’s letting you hang around here? He called you his girl. He obviously trusts you.”

“That was the plan,” I cut in, “For me to come here and win one of the guys’ trust so I could get information for the Nine.”

“And you’ve done that? Won Leo’s trust?” Kassie asks.

“Yeah. I guess I have,” I tell her.

“How,” she presses, relentlessly, “How did you earn his trust, Kelly?”

I look up at my best friend. Her face is set in a mask of pent up rage and wild astonishment. I can’t bring myself to answer her, but my silence speaks volumes. She could always read me like an open book.

“Jesus Christ,” she breathes.

“Kassie, I did what I had to do,” I say, leaning across the table to take her hands, “I’m here, aren’t I? I found you. Everything’s going to be OK now.”

“How the hell do you figure?” she asks, “You fucking your way to my side doesn’t change a goddamn thing.”