Unaffected by Frankie's casual talk of his death, Deuce took a deep drag of his cigarette and blew a long stream of smoke right into Frankie's face. Frankie turned red with anger.

"Killed two of Bannon's boys last week in Pittsburg, yeah Frankie? Whole circuit knows. Word is he's gunnin' for ya. You got Eva cuffed to your side all the time, think that might be kinda f.u.c.kin' dangerous for her?"

My mouth fell open. "You killed someone?" I whispered, floored that Frankie was capable of killing. I knew it happened when MC business went bad but no one ever talked to me directly about it and I certainly hadn't thought my nineteen year old brother had been doing his fair share.

Frankie's nostrils were flaring, his dark eyes trained on Deuce. "You f.u.c.k," He hissed.

Deuce shrugged. "Way it is brother," He said, throwing Frankie's words back at him.

"Frankie," I whispered. "Bannon's gonna kill you."

Mickey Bannon was a bad guy. Irish mafia kind of bad. He ran most of his business out of Pittsburg but he had ties all over the place, even overseas. I knew my father was having problems with him reneging on deals but I hadn't thought it had gone so far as to result in murder.

With his eyes still on Deuce, Frankie gripped my shoulder. "No babe. I already took care of it. Me and Trey. n.o.body's f.u.c.kin' comin'."

Trey was my cousin, Uncle Joe's oldest son and not a nice guy. Well...he was nice to me and his mother but that was about it. Trey committing murder did not come as a surprise to me.

Deuce snorted. "Gonna need a new bedpost to keep countin' your notches. You're rackin' up bodies faster than the Germans took out the Jews."

Reflexively, I jerked away from Frankie. "What!"

His head whipped in my direction. "Ev- "No!" I snapped. "I need you to go away right now!"

"Be f.u.c.kin' p.i.s.sed Eva, I don't give a s.h.i.t! But no way I'm leavin' you alone with this f.u.c.k!"

"How long you been followin' her around now Frankie? Protectin' her from f.u.c.kin' nothin'?"

"Ten years," I helpfully supplied. Frankie glared down at me.

"You gonna follow her down the isle too? Move in with her and her man? Be their f.u.c.kin' nanny?"

Instead of looking at his face, Deuce was watching Frankie's hands, waiting for Frankie to make his move so he could take him down. If he knew Frankie's rep then he knew Frankie's fuse was non-existent and he was purposely baiting him.

"I'm. Her. Man." Frankie spat through clenched teeth. "Any f.u.c.kin' babies she'll be havin' will be mine."

Oh, good lord.

"Frankie," I said sternly. "First of all you are not my man. I have no man. And I don't plan on having one anytime soon especially not one who has f.u.c.ked my entire high school! Second, I don't want to talk about hypothetical weddings or babies. Ever again. Third, if you get into another fight with one of daddy's business partners that daddy's cool with, he's gonna kill you this time, not just put you in the hospital with minor brain swelling but put you in the ground. So, do me a favor, go get a beer, go take a walk, go get a b.l.o.w.j.o.b, whatever. Just calm the h.e.l.l down. And lastly, I need some time to process all this new information. So please give me some s.p.a.ce."

Frankie growled at me. An honest to G.o.d growl.

"I'm gonna tell daddy," I warned.

"Do have any idea how f.u.c.kin' dangerous this a.s.shole is?"

I glanced up at Deuce. Our eyes locked and those baby blues sucked me in. Sheesh, he was beautiful.

"I'm guessing he's about as dangerous as you," I said, still staring up at Deuce, unable to look away. "So go," I demanded.

"We're talkin' later Eva," Frankie said, fuming. "Count on it."

He stalked off into the crowd.

"Boy's got it bad for you darlin'," Deuce said, taking a seat beside me. I lifted my right leg onto the table and turned to face him. Suddenly all my senses went on hyper alert. The proximity of him allowed me smell the booze on his breath and a day's worth of summer sweat on his skin. It wasn't altogether a bad smell. It reminded me of...man.

"Not that I blame him. I was his age and you were mine, I'd be jumpin' up and gettin' in faces too."

If I was his age and you were mine. Wow. Just...wow.

"I'm n.o.body's," I shot back.

His eyebrow rose. "Not sure Frankie agrees with that."

I snorted. "Frankie's a wh.o.r.e."

"He f.u.c.kin' your friends?

"Yep. All of them except Kami, my best friend. She would never touch him."

Kami and I had gone to prep school together since kindergarten. She was the daughter of a former senator and an heiress. She'd been raised by nannies and spent most of her time with me and steered clear of Frankie. She'd didn't like him and in all honesty I think he scared her.

Smirking, Deuce shook his head. "He's tryin' to get you to notice him. Tryin' to make you jealous. A f.u.c.kin' blind man could see how bad that boy wants down your pants."

Grossed out, I scrunched up my nose. "Not gonna happen. He's like my brother. Besides, I'm not about having a boyfriend. I don't even like boys."

Except him. Only Deuce wasn't a boy, he was a man, full grown. It was ridiculous to feel this way but I couldn't help it. Ever fiber of my being felt drugged with his presence. I kept catching myself leaning into his s.p.a.ce.

"Darlin', you just haven't met the right guy," He said, smiling. "If you were just a little bit older..."

He stopped talking and shook his head.

"If I was older," I prompted, needing to hear what he'd been about to say.

He leaned sideways and bent his head to mine. His lips brushed against my cheek. "If you were older darlin', I'd have you on the back of my bike and in my f.u.c.kin' bed and you'd be not just likin' it but lovin' it, beggin' me for more."

My lips parted and my chest expanded as I sucked down much needed air. Holy s.h.i.t. I'd felt that statement all the way down to my toes and back up again. And I wanted to feel it again. And again. Only naked and wrapped around Deuce's body.

"There it is, darlin'," He said softly, his lips curving slowly in a s.e.xy grin. "Nothin' like seein' a pretty girl gettin' all fired up."

I. Just. Stared.

"Back of a bike is comin' for ya and soon too, cuz baby the way you're lookin' at me is tellin' me you want it. And you want it bad."

Pushing himself off the bench, he winked once and disappeared into the crowd.

My heart pounding I looked around feeling embarra.s.sed and over exposed but no one was paying me any attention at all.

I put my ear buds back in and started singing again, not quite as loud as usual since my voice was shaking.

Deuce stayed up on the roof long after everyone had moved inside the club to keep partying, start f.u.c.king or pa.s.s the h.e.l.l out.

He was having a h.e.l.l of an internal battle and had already gone through half a bottle of Jaeger and two packs of smokes while he was having it.

Eva. That f.u.c.king girl. She should have stayed awkward and skinny, all elbows and knees and legs too long for her body with insecurity blazing in those big gray eyes.

She was d.a.m.n beautiful now. Her face had carved out nicely, baby fat gone, ivory skin as far as the eye could see, dark wavy hair hanging down her back, full f.u.c.king lips and those d.a.m.n big and beautiful eyes; color of a rain cloud. G.o.d dammit mother f.u.c.king s.h.i.t. Her awful singing. Those d.a.m.n chucks. Those f.u.c.king t.i.ts. f.u.c.king fat and heavy, nipples hard, pressing through her threadbare Harley tee. Jeans, big and baggy, hanging real low on her hips, low enough to see her hip bones.

He wanted inside of her. It was sick and he knew it. His old man kinda sick. But there it was.

And he wasn't the only one. Frankie had it bad and not in a good way. Kid was f.u.c.ked up. Got crazy eyes every time he looked at her. He got the jealousy thing. Eva was a fine piece of a.s.s; being as sweet as she was, as smart as she was, and not giving a s.h.i.t about mainstream c.r.a.p, only made her even hotter.

"f.u.c.k," He muttered. He had to get out of there. Get on his bike and get the f.u.c.k out of Manhattan. Away from Eva f.u.c.king Fox and her soul sucking eyes.

He made it down to the fourth floor stairwell when he heard yelling coming from the floor below. Pausing, he leaned over the railing.

"What's wrong with me?" Frankie demanded.

"Nothing," Eva said. "It's not just you. I don't want to be involved with any one...like that."

"You looked pretty f.u.c.kin' involved on the roof talkin' to that f.u.c.kin' Horseman! I watched you with that f.u.c.kin' a.s.shole! You were f.u.c.kin' flirtin' with him! You let him touch your f.u.c.kin' face!"

"Yeah Frankie, I was flirting with him not shoving my tongue down his throat. He's hot, so what? It's not like he gives two s.h.i.ts about some sixteen year old girl he barely knows!"

She thought he was hot? Women didn't think he was hot. They thought he was scary as f.u.c.k. But this beautiful, young, sweet as f.u.c.k girl thought he was hot. His c.o.c.k jerked.

f.u.c.k.

Don't go there a.s.shole. Do not f.u.c.king go there.

"Not the f.u.c.kin' point babe! What the f.u.c.k did I tell you? WHAT THE f.u.c.k DID I TELL YOU ABOUT OTHER f.u.c.kIN' GUYS?"

Eva sighed noisily. "You said they'd hurt me. They'd use me and throw me away."

"Yeah, baby." Frankie's tone had gone soft and threatening. "What else did I say?"

"Sheesh, Frankie, what is up your b.u.t.t tonight?"

"What. Else. Did. I. Say."

"That they would never love me. That only you will love me."

Man, this kid was sick.

"Want you on my c.o.c.k, Eva. Sick of waitin'."

Deuce's teeth clenched. If Frankie wasn't Preacher's f.u.c.king golden boy he'd f.u.c.king kill him.

"Then stop waiting!" She shot back. "Because it's not gonna happen! You're like my brother Frankie! My brother!"

"You keep sayin' that," He growled. "But we're f.u.c.kin' sleepin' next to each other every night, an your pressin' your t.i.ts on my arm an your a.s.s on my c.o.c.k and I'm so f.u.c.kin' hard I can't see straight and you won't f.u.c.kin' do s.h.i.t 'bout it. Makin' me go out and f.u.c.k other b.i.t.c.hes when you know I only want you. When you know I'm not gonna let anyone else f.u.c.kin' near you. Ever. Never ever Eva. You get me or you get nothin'. Do you get that? You're not with me, you're never with no one."

a.s.s. Hole.

"Frankie," She said evenly. "Stop acting crazy. I do not press anything against you. You wrap yourself around me like a d.a.m.n blanket and it's you who is always rubbing against me and copping feels. And if you keep throwing this s.h.i.t in my face I'm going to tell daddy you sleep in my bed every night. And I'll tell him you jerk off right next to me."

He heard Frankie's heavy boots pounding the wood floors, then a door slammed. He waited a beat then continued down the stairs.

Eva was sitting in a corner on the third floor landing, knees pulled up to her chest, smoking a cigarette. Her head turned in his direction and she smiled. He smiled back.

"Hey," She said softly. "Thought you left."

He'd been trying to leave. He should still be trying to leave.

"I heard," He said gruffly. "You and that crazy f.u.c.k."

She pressed her lips together and looked away. "He's just overprotective."

"So your definition of overprotective is makin' sure no man gets anywhere near you, forcin' you into bein' with him?"

She shrugged. "My father's going to pa.s.s him the gavel someday and Frankie and I together would give him peace of mind."

He got that. Preacher was looking out for his baby girl. Made sense. Put your VP and daughter together you know the club is going to be there for her when you no longer can. What he didn't get was how Preacher could, in good conscious, hand off his girl to a f.u.c.king mess of a man.

"Doesn't sound to me like that's what you want."

He watched her suck her bottom lip in her mouth and roll it under her teeth. d.a.m.n. f.u.c.k. He really needed to adjust his c.o.c.k.

"It's not," She whispered, dipping her head down, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

Walk away, he told himself. Walk the f.u.c.k away.

He bent down in front of her. "What do you want babe?"

She turned away from him and hid behind her hair but not before he saw her turn bright f.u.c.king red.

He filled with primal male satisfaction. She wanted him. Her, a f.u.c.king angel in a mess of demons, wanted him, one of the biggest f.u.c.king demons he knew.

"Say it," He said harshly.

f.u.c.k. What the f.u.c.k was he doing?

She turned back to him and tucked her hair behind her ears. G.o.d, that face. That sweet, perfect face.

"You a virgin, Eva?" He already knew the answer.

"Yes," She whispered. Christ.