Motown Takedown (Motown Down Book 3) (5 page)

I found her sitting on the steps staring out into nothing. She’s been withdrawn lately and I knew it was because Savage’s attentions recently went from fatherly to flirtatious.  Cinn wanted me, not him, which is why I’ve been amassing my own crew, putting plans in place to take her with me when I left. The fucking thought of him touching her had me working every angle available around the clock. She’d be eighteen soon and time was running out. If I didn’t get her out of here
…
“Tell me what you’re thinking about,
”
I ask from several feet away.

“You,
”
she shrugs.

“What about me?
”
I ask in a low voice.

“I’m just wondering what I would need to do to make you happy?
”
I’ve read a lot of books on the subject but it’s very conflicting. Some say sex, others caregiving like cooking and laundry then some mention submission. Isn’t it a combination of all those things? I have no one to talk to about this stuff and it’s confusing.
”

At a loss and also hard as a fucking rock, I clear my throat and tell her, “You ever have questions come to me and I’ll walk you through it. You’re too young to be worrying about that shit right now, Cinn. We’ll figure it out when the time’s right.
”
When her perfect eyes light up she smiles big and says,

“You’re embarrassed.
”
She was not wrong. 

When morning hit, parting from her was a fucking struggle. Since I couldn’t stare at her forever, I dressed and went down to the kitchen for coffee. The compound we stay in houses four of my trusted men. Four I will continue to trust until they gave me a reason not to. Two are in Savage’s den until I pull them out, which leaves Ransom and Pookie here with me. Unlike Savage, I didn’t need a hundred men answering to me daily. One man cannot control that many, a man would be foolish to try. The men in my employ have proven themselves, and in our case, strength isn’t always in numbers. I keep a small crew for a reason, convenience. Most are called as needed, staying on standby. I sure as fuck didn’t want them all crowding me, day after day. I don’t how Savage stood it and maybe that’s why he went crazy.

Having Cinn under my roof would prove difficult for me. Where Savage was obvious about his obsession with her, killing his own men in front of her to prove a point, should that become my reality I would have to be more subtle. Cinn was bloodthirsty but she didn’t want men killed for looking. Jesus, a man couldn’t help but look and she knew it. Hell, she reveled in it.

“How’d it go?
”
Ransom asks joining me in the kitchen.

“Better than I expected,
”
I admit. “She’s still asleep.”

“You sure you want to handle Savage?
”
he asks pouring a cup. “Word gets back to her that you left her out…”

“It won’t,
”
I tell him bluntly. “She knows it’s coming, set it up and report back. Pope told me he’s already going nuts without her. I don’t want to deal with his ass any longer than I have to.”

“Done,
”
he says easily. “What’s on deck for today? I’m free to take you anywhere you need to go.”

“I’m taking the Tahoe,
”
I tell him. “She wants to putt putt.”

“Putt---?
”
he starts but then laughter took over. “Jesus, she’s already got you wrapped.”

“Watch your tone,
”
I remind him.

“It’s all good,
”
he says smiling. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing now. You’ve waited a long time for her. Go enjoy it, I’ll be local if you need me.”

Taking a seat at the island, I look up local miniature golf and couldn’t help my own smile. “Thank you, Ransom,
”
I hear from outside the kitchen and when I look up I see her enter the kitchen in bare feet. Christ, even her feet were perfect. Turning to face her, she walks up, stands between my legs, balances her hands on my shoulders and kisses me. “Good morning Monarch,
”
she whispers and I could taste her sweet breath on my lips.

“It is now,
”
I groan. Pulling out a chair for her, she pushes it aside and crawls into my lap looping one arm around my neck for support. I couldn’t help the knot that formed in my stomach when she did this. Something so simple, done without prompting. Something she’d never done with Savage, she did with me. Cinn has been with me hours yet one thing was clear. She loved to touch and be touched. Last night, if I so much as moved she tackled me to keep me in place. If this was to be my future, I was not complaining.

“Tell me about this place,
”
she says taking my mug for a drink. I was so busy watching her throat work that I forgot the question. “You were going to tell me about our home, Monarch?”

“It’s a full city block,
”
I cough. Christ, even her voice kept me in a constant state of erection. “This section is the living quarters and best protected. The walls are six inches of cinderblock all the way around. There’s a rec room, gym and pool in the building connected to this one. We have offices, an indoor gun range and at the far end, our other business which is auto repair which Pookie handles.”

“You’ve been busy,
”
she says taking another sip. “Your mind is racing. I can feel you needing to say something, say it. Don’t hold back with me.”

Leaning forward to grab the mug I steal a sip then settle her back in my lap. “When it’s us I want it like this, you never have to pretend. You’ll have the real me and I expect the real you, but out there,
”
I motion toward the door Ransom just left.  “When we’re handling business it’s just that, business.”

“Understood.”

“You haven’t seen me work,
”
I explain further. “I’m not a nice man, Cinn. These men are not my friends, they have a job to do. I don’t want you caught off guard when I’m not treating them like equals as Savage did.”

“Again, understood.”

“You’re too easy,
”
I groan while she plays with my hair.

“You have no idea,
”
she says snuggling in deeper.

“Excuse me, Monarch, Cinn, but I’ve got news I need to speak to you about, privately.
”
Says Ransom joining us.

“Speak freely,
”
I offer showing him back in.

“I don’t think –
”
he starts before I cut him off.

“I don’t pay you to think, now
speak
.”

“Savage wants Cinn back at any cost,
”
he says staring at her. “He knows his den is divided and he doesn’t have the manpower. He’s recruiting, Boss. The bitch is, the idiots he called on now know she’s not by his side and that means – ”

“War,
”
she says softly.

“I was going to say bloodbath,
”
he smiles at her which, I did not like. “But war works too.”

“Get dressed,
”
I tell her kissing her temple. “We’ve got shit to do.
”
Nodding to me she gets up and prepares to leave when I stop her. “We’re going to play putt putt, Cinn, dress comfortable.
”
And for as long as I live I will never forget the smile on her face.

“Boss,
”
he warns.

“Follow, observe, and protect. I will not have her stifled, today we putt putt.”

“Boss,
”
he tries again.

“She’s never played miniature golf, Ransom,
”
I growl. “Today she
does
.”

“Fuck,
”
he moans getting it. “Did he ever let her out?”

“No.”

Excusing himself he leaves the kitchen and I head upstairs to find her. Half-dressed she looks over her shoulder and says, “If I forget to say it later, thank you for this.”

When the words didn’t come, I chose to dress next to her instead of speaking.

“You’re pouting,
”
Camo says via the phone. She couldn’t see me but she knew me which meant she didn’t need to see me at all. One girl has always gotten me, just one. Unfortunately, I was pretty much a prisoner and unless we snuck around, I didn’t see her at all. Valuing her safety, I stuck to phone calls but it was nowhere near the real thing.

“It’s his birthday today,
”
I say in fact, pouting. “He’s thirty-three years old.”

“Ah no,
”
she laughs. “He’s a fucking dinosaur, Cinn. You couldn’t fall for a guy your own age?”

“Gadget is older than you,
”
I remind her.

“Not the point,
”
she counters.

“I bought him a birthday present,
”
I confess. “Then I ate it.”

“Cinn,
”
she says sadly. “He’ll come for you. Do you want me to fast track the process?”

“No,
”
I say taking another bite of Sanders Bumpy Cake. “Not yet. Fuck, this is good cake though.”

“Sanders, am I right?”

“The better question is, are you ever wrong?”

“This is why we’re friends,
”
she laughs. “I know you want to break free and when you do, we are traveling around the world! Wherever you want to go, Spice Girl, I’ll take you.
”
This was sweet of her to say but there was only one person I wanted to show me the world and I was starting to believe he never would.

Even with Monarch on edge and Ransom close by, when we pulled into the lot for putt putt I couldn’t stop my smile. No male in his right mind wants to do this but here we were, getting ready to do it because it’s what I wanted. Monarch in Silver jeans, combat boots and a thermal was so sexy I wanted to forego miniature golf to play with
his
balls. Alas, he was determined we do this so with a club in one hand, a score sheet in the other we approached the first hole. The few people nearby stared at us like they were seeing royalty and you know what? They were. If I wasn’t so caught up in my own fairytale, I would have ordered them to bow and swear fealty but my main focus was simply him.

Motioning for me to go first, I set my ball down, assess the distance and swing. When it sails into the parking lot, I scratched my head wondering how that went wrong. Menial tasks came easy to me, so miniature golf and the fact that I sucked at it, baffled me. Seriously, I didn’t suck at anything. “I’ll go get you another ball,
”
he laughs taking the edge off my frustration. Looking back on it, the term putt made sense now. Dropping a new ball, I line it up and tap it gently. Excited, I watch it go up the hill and then…come right back down.
Okay, now I was getting pissed…

“Allow me,
”
he says taking position behind me. With his cock nestled nicely on my ass, his big arms coming around to hold the club covering my hands he slowly brings our arms back and swings. “We did it!
”
I squeal turning to face him. But he doesn’t look thrilled, he looked pissed. Here I was just pissed but sucking at this got his hands on me so I was no longer pissed but now he was. I’d never get the hang of this. “We didn’t do it?”

“You’ve never played putt putt,
”
he mumbles. “That prick.”

“I’m playing now,
”
I point out. “So did we do it?”

Pulling me into his arms he doesn’t answer me, he just stares. “Monarch?”

“Quiet,
”
he says closing his eyes. “What else?
”
he asks. “What else did he steal from you?”

“Let’s go,
”
I offer losing the buzz to golf anymore.

“What else did he steal from you, Cinn? Have you had any fucking life at all?”

Before I can speak, he throws a hand up and announces, “We’re doing all of it. Every God damn thing you’ve been denied. Every fucking day we try something new, don’t you even hold out on me. You name it, we do it. Christ! Under lock and key, fucking prick.”

At a loss at what to say, I did know this was the first time I’ve ever seen him this angry. He was angry for me and I liked it, so I asked, “When we get home, would you show me the pool?”

Visibly relaxing he says, “Yeah, I’ll show you the pool,
”
before grabbing his club and moving us to the next hole.  For the next thirty minutes or so he took up residency behind me and together we pretended to give a shit about the game. As for me, the only thing I gave a shit about was getting him naked.

Back in the Tahoe, we drive in silence and I felt him getting angrier with every mile. Taking my hand, we only had to address Ransom as he pulled me toward the pool.

Even then he growled and I loved it.