Billionaire Beast(13)

They didn’t linger in her apartment for long. She sat in the passenger seat, much to Jay’s obvious disappointment.

Richard drove them toward the club, and she listened as both men talked. They actually got along really well, and she found it funny, watching them. Both men couldn’t be more different, and yet they were talking as if they had been friends a long time ago.

“How’s Mandy?” she asked, when conversation took a silent turn.

“She’s in therapy. She needs to be in a white room.”

“You can’t tell us what happened to her?”

“No. I really can’t. It was fucked up.”

“Is this about that your club does, the BBMC?” she asked. She had done a great deal of research, and even though a lot of it was speculation, she read between the lines. Mandy was clearly one of the many victims they had saved over the years.

“BBMC? What does that stand for?” Jay asked.

“Billionaire Bikers motorcycle club, right?”

“Correct,” Richard said. “You did your research.” He glanced over at her, and she smiled.

“You left your jacket, and I was curious. I’ve got a curious mind. It’s a flaw.”

“We help people, women that have been taken against their will,” Richard said. “That is all I’m going to tell you, and if you repeat a word, your lives will be turned into living hell.”

“Fuck, a bit overkill,” Jay said.

“I wouldn’t say anything.”

“I know you wouldn’t,” Richard said. “I can’t guarantee him in the back.”

“Hey, I won’t say anything either. If we’re going to do this together, you need to learn to have a little faith.”

“Fine, then it’s something that can be earned along with everything else that we’re doing.”

Licking her lips, Temperance glanced out of the window. “Did you take the contracts for the O’Brian account?”

“Yep.”

She nodded. “I just wanted to make sure.”

“I’ve already handled business. We’ve got a long day on Monday.”

“That’s my day,” Jay said.

Richard laughed. “We’re talking work.”

“We’re on a date, and you’re talking work?” he asked.

She stared at her best friend, and his brow rose, letting her know that he knew what she was doing. Talking work kept it away from a personal level.

“Don’t let her fool you, Richard.”

“I’m not. I’m just letting her play all of her cards. I may not have known her since preschool, but I know her.”

Temperance couldn’t help but smile. Richard did know her. They had fun with each other, without it leading to sex.

Richard pulled up outside of a large night club, with a line of people waiting to get inside. Temperance groaned, but neither man would listen. Richard got out, handing the keys to some valet. Nightclubs had valets? He took her hand, and Jay followed in behind her.

He greeted the doorman, who didn’t have a problem with them going straight inside even as people were standing there complaining.

“Now, this is the life,” Jay said.

It was time to have some fun.

They were taken to the VIP section. She’d never been there before, so seeing several celebrities surprised her. Temperance was used to seeing familiar faces as she worked with Richard, and he was expanding within that business.

“Blake likes to give his clients whatever they want. The VIP section allows celebrities the privacy to party, but to also get their faces recognized. They can party without being bombarded. People can come, party, and see celebrities if they want. It’s a win-win.”

“Sounds good,” Jay said.

“I want to go and dance,” Temperance said. She was one of the people who were meant to be down there, not in the VIP spot. “Jay, dance with me.” She held her hand out, and he went with her. They left Richard, and the song was an upbeat one, allowing them to join the throng of people, and get into the dancing. Jay stood behind her, gripping her hips as they danced along to the music.

****

Richard watched the couple on the dance-floor. They were natural together, showing they knew each other. He wasn’t jealous. Temperance was nervous, and for now, he’d let her create her little circle around herself. He wasn’t going to let her get away, nor was he going to let Jay leave either.

The more he thought about them being together, the more he liked the idea. He loved to see a woman come apart in another man’s arms, and with Jay, he’d be able to trust him. Temperance was not going to be a woman he’d just share with any man, so her being best friends with Jay, helped him solve that problem.

His cell phone started to ring, and without taking his gaze away from Temperance, he answered it. She was staring right back at him.

“Bruce,” he said.

“I’ve just got a call from our informant within the police service. More women have gone missing, and are turning up dead,” Russ said.

“Shit, Lewis missed this?”

“Lewis hasn’t been keeping an eye on shit since he found Mandy. Tonight, I’m declaring a church meeting, only we’re all going to his house. You’ll be there?” Russ asked.

Glancing at the time, Richard cursed. “Give me a couple of hours, and I’ll be there.”

“We need to keep our eye on the ball.”

“Agreed.” He hung up the phone, and didn’t bother drinking the scotch that had been given to him. Leaving the VIP section, he made his way onto the dance-floor, and found his woman.

Gripping her hip, he tugged her close, slamming his lips down on hers.

“Important call?”

“I can deal with it soon. Now, I want to dance.”





Chapter Seven



After two hours, the heels that Temperance was wearing meant he had no choice but to take them back home. Jay asked if he was coming up, and Richard declined, letting him know he had some business to take care of. He kissed Temperance good night, with the promise that Jay would be sleeping in his own bed.

Leaving his woman, and in a way, his man, he rode over to Lewis’s place, not surprised to see the various cars and bikes of the club already parked. He’d already sent a text to let his brothers know he was on the way over there.

He knocked on the door, and Lewis was the one to answer the door.

“What the fuck is this? All of you turn up at my house, uninvited?” Lewis asked.

“Uninvited? What’s going on, Lewis?”

He found the rest of his club brothers waiting in the living room. Some were standing, and others were sitting. None of them actually looked happy about the situation.

“Nothing is going on. You’re the one that is in my place, and after Mandy’s attack, I don’t think you should be coming around.”

Russ threw a large file down on the table. “So, you got what you wanted, and that’s it? The club ceases to exist?”

Pictures of women, dead, beaten, and drowned spilled out of the file. Richard had a strong stomach, but the sight of them made even his gut turn.

“What the fuck?”

“We created this club for a place for us as businessmen, but we found a cause. We were helping people, Lewis. You were the one that took us down that path.”

“I’ve been distracted of late,” Lewis said.

Richard stared at his club brother, and saw the truth. “This hasn’t been about the women all along, has it?”

“What? Of course it has.”

“Then why the fuck weren’t you over this?” Blake asked. “Look, I love the club, and the women, and the fun, and just being something fucking different. But we were meant to mean something. We’ve got money, all of us have. We’ve come from nothing, are nothing, but what set us apart from other wealthy businessmen, is this.”

“Was it just about you getting back Mandy?” Jamie asked.

Richard couldn’t argue, but if Lewis only used them to get to Mandy, then the club was about to take an ugly turn, and he didn’t like that. Other MCs, they dealt with drugs, with money, women, whatever they wanted. They had their own glue that bound them together as a club.

The BBMC was bound by a cause to help women.

It was how Richard could look in the mirror every day, and still keep breathing as he did. He loved the club, what they did.

Lewis bit his lip. “I’ve not used you. I’ve not turned my back on the club.”

“Then what the fuck have you been doing?”

“He’s been trying to help me, remember?” Mandy said, coming into the room.

They all turned to the woman who didn’t look strong enough to be in a room full of men. All of them were dominant, demanding, and they were scary as fuck.

“Mandy?”

“I can’t let you tear apart your club.” Mandy’s arms were folded. “Lewis told me what you did, and how you saved me. He’s also, against doctors’ orders, showed me what I was doing. How I was helping these women.”

Richard glanced at Lewis, seeing the shame in his face. The doctor had said that if he tried to push too hard, they could lose Mandy. She was at a frail point in her recovery.

“These women, they need us, and Mandy, she was helping them.”

“Lewis believes that more information is locked inside my head. I’ve got to get it open, and little points, trigger a moment, or at least a moment within a memory. It’s what happened earlier today, only I couldn’t help it. My past, it’s filled with horror, and remembering that, it’s going to hurt,” she said. “It’s one of the reasons I don’t want to see my family. Not only do I not completely remember them, but what if by simply looking at them, it’s a trigger?”