16. Veronica

Chapter 16

Veronica

T he drive home had gone smoother than the drive to the clinic, but probably only because my head was more full of questions than anxiety about the drive. Pulling through the gate, I turned everything over, trying to puzzle out what had just happened. Was that a dream? He’d been there and laid his mouth — tongue on my neck? Why was that so hot?

I barely made it to my room, locking the door before I yanked my shorts down and got my vibe between my thighs. Butterflying my legs open, I was panting when I adjusted myself on my bed. Typically, I needed a generous amount of lube, but I was so wet that the tip slid in easily, and I thrust it forward eagerly into my slit, imagining it was Eli’s cock. Trying to slow things down, I groaned, but I was already so close just thinking about his breath on my neck and the way he smelled.

My sexual experience was limited to a fumbling closet experience with one of my cousin’s guards at the mansion. I was sure that Eli, with his dark eyes and intense heat, would fuck like a god. Angling the vibe up into my channel, I hit the on button and let the orgasm flood over me, riding out the waves with my head thrown back, panting before throwing it aside.

Laying still for a minute, I wondered what was wrong with me that I was considering … what … dating Eli? What would he think if he knew I came home and masturbated after the office incident?

Washing up, I contemplated the discussion at the office. Did Eli mean to visit me here? Would he kiss me? Touch me? I shivered at the thought. It only meant I needed to up my search into his background, but maybe he was right … perhaps I should live for once. I’d never even been on a date with a man. That bummed me out.

Going upstairs, I got myself a bowl of cottage cheese and made a smoothie. There was no denying that today had been a productive day. I’d discovered some good information and drove myself to a doctor’s appointment like a real adult.

“Hey, Ronnie.” Natasha and Pike came in from the foyer, as different as any two people could be. It was almost comical. Natasha looked like she stepped off a runaway from Top Model with her couture clothes, and Pike was dressed in jeans, motorcycle gear, and his MC cut. He was also very dusty.

“Hey.” I gave the requisite head bob in greeting. “Why are you so dirty?” I asked Pike, indicating his dusty gear. “No judgment, just idle curiosity.”

“A run turned into a nightmare down a five-mile dirt road. My bike is not built for that sort of enduro shit.” Stalking to the kitchen sink, he washed the Arizona dust off his hands and arms, letting it run down the white porcelain sink in red streams while my sister arranged herself on the stool next to mine.

“Tell us about the doctor’s appointment. How’d you like this doc that Max set you up with?” Natasha asked. Pike looked up with interest, and I could almost envision him as my brother-in-law. He’d be good for my sister long-term. I wondered if they’d get married soon. “And tell me how it was to drive yourself. You’re alive, of course, so it wasn’t that bad,” she reasoned .

“Shit, I forgot.” Pike rubbed his fingers through his hair. “I meant to send Cross over to drive you. Sorry, Ronnie.”

“It’s all good. Honestly, I was glad to get out there driving on my own. It was scary, but the good kind.” They both gave me a concerned, tight-lip look. My phone chimed, saving me from the conversation.

“Is that our food? We ordered Chinese. I got chow mein for you,” Natasha said as she hopped down from her stool.

Frowning at my phone, I checked the security feed and watched a car pull up and place the bags into the box Luca and Enzo had set up. “Yeah, looks that way.”

“I’ll get it while you change,” Pike told Natasha, watching her in that way that made me long for someone who cared for me like that. They had established a comfortable relationship vibe that I envied. I wasn’t sure what Eli and I had, but I didn’t think we were headed to the same place. Pike and Natasha had matching Christmas sweaters in their future, but Eli and I … well, I guess I didn’t know.

“Thanks, babe,” she answered and then pivoted to me. “I still want to hear about the doctor.” She pointed to me with a shiny red nail and bounced out of the kitchen.

“I’ll grab the food. I want to hear, too, by the way.” He coughed a little. “She loves you. We don’t mean to smother you,” he added.

“I know,” I mumbled as Pike left to get the takeout. Wow, I thought. They were referring to themselves using the global ‘we.’ That was crazy.

“So, the doctor? Let’s hear all about it,” Natasha said as if she never left. My sister had exchanged her haute couture for yoga pants and a t-shirt. She might be all about high fashion and power suits for her job as a lawyer, but get her at home, and she was casual as they come. I guess she and Pike weren’t so different.

“Are you going to marry Pike?” I asked.

“The doctor, Ronnie. What did she say?” she said insistently, her nose wrinkled. “Wait, was it bad news? Is that why you don’t want to say anything? Why didn’t you call?” She edged closer to me, placing a protective hand on mine.

“She said I was doing alright—just the usual. Eat better, watch my treatments, get my labs, and go to my follow-ups,” I repeated. Natasha nodded even though she watched my face as if she could peer into the workings of my body and fix everything wrong. There was more information that I could give her, but there wasn’t anything that my sister could do about my damaged lungs or the cough that I had, so I kept quiet.

“Sounds like it went okay. I’m really sorry I couldn’t go today, but I have your oncology appointment on my calendar …”

“I’d like to go alone,” I interrupted and added quickly just as the door swung open, trying to alleviate the hurt look on her face. “I love you, Nat, but I need to start doing things independently. I’m a big girl, and my health is part of that. Please.” Her head bobbed automatically, but I could tell by how she bit her lip and looked away that her feelings were hurt.

“Okay, Ronnie. Whatever you need. You know that.” Her answer only served to make me feel more like a bitch.

“So,” Pike spoke slowly from the doorway, saying, “We have company.”

He stomped heavily into the entryway, making Natasha and I swing our heads in that direction. Pike carried in what was undoubtedly the delivery from the local Chinese restaurant we had been ordering from recently, but next to him was the man who had just rocked my world — Eli .

“My brother decided to stop by. Hope that’s okay.” His words were lost in a mumble. He looked like he had swallowed a lemon.

“Of course, that’s more than okay. Eli, it’s so nice to see you. Glad that you’re stopping by.” My sister piped up quickly to fill the space, overeager to make him welcome, but I glared at him. “We just ordered a ton of food. I hope you’ll join us. Do you like Chinese?”

“Sure.” He hovered behind Pike, sticking near the edges of the kitchen as Natasha pulled plates out and serving spoons. “How’s the hand, Veronica?”

His lips turned up in an all-knowing smirk as he looked at me. What an absolute tool. I didn’t even need to look at my sister’s face to know that she was caught between shocked and pissed.

The kitchen stopped Pike freezing mid-motion, opening an egg fu young carton and turning from me to his brother. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Natasha pointed a serving fork at me. “Your hand? What’s wrong with your hand? There is a bandaid there. I’m the worst sister ever. I didn’t even notice.”

“Nothing is wrong with it. It’s fine,” I said.

“She cut herself,” Eli said, ignoring my sulky and very pointed look at him to shut his mouth. His overly handsome face settled into a smirk. Maybe he was thinking better of outing me, he added. “It was a tiny cut, and I cleaned it.”

Pike looked like he was going to have a brain aneurysm, so I showed them my palm. “See. I’m fine. He isn’t lying. It was small and probably didn’t even need a bandaid.”

The last thing I needed was for Pike or Natasha to find out that I was off by myself at some shady warehouse investigating Victor, but I wasn’t sure how to explain where I ran into Eli.

Natasha pushed the chow mein and a set of chopsticks towards me. “Here you go.…” she started as if she would delve into asking me how I’d gotten cut and then stopped herself. “I’m glad it’s no big deal.” She tried to be nonchalant, but her words were stilted, and her poker face wasn’t that good because her eyes darted to Pike, me, and Eli. Clearing her throat, she said, “Let’s eat. I’m starved.”

Eli pretended he was a regular at our little bachelorette pad and made two plates before sitting beside me. I watched him, puzzled. One plate was a mess, with rice and chow mein on the bottom and bits of everything on the top. The second plate was small and carefully separated. On one side were the stir-fried vegetables that Natasha liked, but he had picked out all the nasty little corn cobs and water chestnuts. Then, he portioned some white meat chicken and beef pieces from the other dishes.

“Two plates?” I asked out of idle curiosity.

“This one is for you.” He pushed one towards me. “You need to eat real food.”

“I have chow mein.” I waved my chopsticks down at my container, but he rolled his eyes at me. The doctor had said I should eat better, and Eli had picked out the corn and water chestnuts. “I’ll have a little,” I conceded. “Only because the gross stuff is gone.”

“Good.” He pulled his food towards him without letting his eyes leave me.

“Stalker,” I whispered.

“I know,” he said shamelessly.

P ike and Natasha were surprised about Eli coming over, but they were highly unsettled at the idea of us having interacted without them present. It might not have been so bad if I wasn’t me — dateless and perpetually sick. I guess, and if Eli wasn’t … Eli .

They kept shooting us both looks while we ate, alternating from looking like they’d kick Eli out or lock me in my room. I’d be shocked if Natasha hadn’t already called Maxim and tattled.

As soon as we’d finished eating, Pike had declared that he’d had things to discuss with his brother. Even though Eli had said he would text me later, I wasn’t sure if he would.

That left me with my plans tonight to chat with my friends and pursue my leads.

I nestled back into my pillows and got comfortable, staring at the laptop screen as the glow of the dark web filtered through the dim light of my room.

My heart was still trying to settle from earlier, from being with Eli. The idea that he had been with me in the office and that he’d come back to the house and eaten with us. I’d liked how he’d taken charge — more than I would admit out loud—just remembering his bossy tone when he’d shoved my plate over to me, mixing with that counterpoint of care that he’d shown separating my food. It made me all hot and bothered.

I did need to focus and not daydream. I still wanted more information about Victor and what he had been up to while he was here. Just because Eli came around didn’t mean I was giving up my search.

Luther Booth.

That name was my next stop.

Eli hadn’t said anything about me about me not looking further into what I’d found. That was my reasoning. I’d admit right now that it was pretty shoddy, but I wouldn’t stop.

I clicked through a few more hidden pages, my fingers flying over the keys, trying to piece together what I knew. Luther was connected to Victor, but it wasn’t clear how. The name came up with underground fighting circuits, dirty money, and violence. More disturbing than that, the fights weren’t just random matches—they were deadly. And now, Luther was starting to look like more than just a name. He was a gatekeeper to something much darker.

A low ping from my group chat pulled me out of my thoughts. I glanced at the notification from Calia.

Calia: You alive, V? You’ve been off for hours. Can we voice?

The incoming pings showed me that the girls were calling in and opening their video chats, so I put on my headset. I was a proper nerd sometimes.

I hadn’t told them about Eli or what I’d been digging into. They didn’t know about the fights or about the name Luther. But I needed to bounce things off them now more than ever. They were the only people who knew how deep I could go when pulling at threads like this.

“Hey. How’s everyone doing?” I tried to organize my thoughts on how to broach what I’d found and what had gone on today. It was A LOT.

“Good, good.” Reed was munching on potato chips, which annoyed all of us, but she was a snacker. “Need a vacay.”

“Don’t we all,” Calia answered. “I had a test. Aced it.” Of course, she did. Calia was whip-smart. The chemistry tests she was taking were no joke. I’m sure I’d never have been able to pass them.

“What about you?” Arabella asked. “Your doctor’s visit was good, right? You weren’t lying?”

“No, I wasn’t lying. It was fine. I’m supposed to go to the follow-up and all that jazz.” Regaling them with the same information I gave Natasha took thirty seconds. I heard grumblings of both approval and associated mutterings about my need to improve my diet.

“Well, we all know you don’t eat very well,” Arabella grumbled. “You should take better care of yourself.” My hackles went up.

“I’ll have you know that I had vegetables with my Chinese food 30 minutes ago and … and meat. Not just chow mein,” I said defensively.

Calia scoffed. “I’m not sure I believe you. You complain incessantly about how they mix food in takeout.”

“Well,” I hedged, picking at a fingernail. “I have something to tell you guys, but don’t freak out right away.” Immediately, they started talking over each other until they settled down.

“So, I checked out Victor’s office after my appointment.” The questions started immediately, so I carried on. “I found a couple of interesting things. First, a guy renting next door said he was into underground fight clubs. That tracks with the boxing club membership when he was young.”

“Oh great, she’s back in detective mode. Ronnie, you are going to get murdered.” Reed was exasperated. Her sarcasm felt like a slap, but Reed had always been that way. Even though she could be a little harsh at times, she was one of those friends who always came through for me. It was Reed who was double-checking on me 24/7, and it was Reed who worried about it.

“I also found a name. Luther Booth. He was on the lease of the building with Victor.”

“Well, it sounds like you have a couple of other things to search for to find your connection to Eli. You weren’t wrong about it being an important lead.” Arabella sounded concerned but wanted to be supportive. “I’m glad you didn’t get hurt.”

“I found more than that. Eli was there.” The chat erupted. “I scraped my hand, and he bandaged it for me. We talked and everything.” I edited the experience, knowing that the girls would disapprove of what had happened and would be even more concerned than ever.

“Really?” Calia asked with suspicion. “How did he know you were there?”

“Ooh, is he hot?” Reed asked.

“Smoking hot.” Ignoring Calia’s question, I answered Reed’s. I could give them this information with no problem. “He is way taller than I thought but handsome.”

I leaned back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling while waiting for their responses. My mind flickered back to Eli, the way he had bandaged my hand, the way his words had slithered under my skin, telling me he wanted me. It was inevitable as if I had no choice but to get pulled into his orbit.

“So, if Victor was involved in MMA, is Eli?” Reed was moving around her bedroom. I leaned in on the camera, frowning as she came closer to the computer screen.

“I don’t think MMA is the same thing, but I will do some research.” Honestly, I had no idea what sort of fighting went on in these sorts of things, but when I didn’t know something, I did what I always did — researched it.

“Reed, you look exhausted.” There was no getting around it. Reed looked like she’d been run over by a bus. Her red hair was limp around her face, and dark circles could be seen under her eyes.

“I’ve been working doubles for the last few weeks. I’ll be fine. I’m more interested in the mystery you have going on and this new hottie. Your life is much more glamorous than mine.”

I wrote down ‘Reed’ and a question mark on the scratch pad beside me. She lived in California, but she’d been moving apartments recently. I wasn’t sure where she was staying now, but I would find out. If possible, I’d send Luca over to figure out if she was okay and where she was working. Reed was on her own after her parents kicked her out at sixteen. I’d offered her money more than once, and she’d turned me down. Reed was a lot of things, but she was very proud and private. Most of the time, I tried to respect those things, but maybe it was time to let that slide a little.

“I don’t know how glamorous it is, but it is at least less boring now that I’ve moved to Arizona. My mother was driving me up the wall, trying to keep me locked up all the time. God knows I love her, but I was going crazy.” They laughed with me, knowing that I had been going bonkers with my mom smothering me, trying to keep me germ-free.I knew she meant well, but I needed to get out into the world.

“Victor and Eli grew up together, right? So, if one was involved, then they should both be involved. That’s your hypothesis.” Calia’s video feed popped open. She lounged in bed like I was, her laptop beside a stack of chem books.

“Yeah, that’s the theory,” I said.

That was what I was working with. I should be working on the name my cousin had given me. Now that I had a legitimate assignment for the Bratva, that should be my focus, but I couldn’t let this go for some reason.

“So you had vegetables,” Arabella said, pivoting. “That’s a big step for you.”

“Hey, I like veggies. I don’t appreciate certain vegetables. That’s all and completely fair. Eli picked out the ones I didn’t like,” I added slyly.

“Woah.”

“What?”

“No way!”

Their responses were just what I expected and allowed me to bask in the shock I’d felt seeing him come into the kitchen with his brother. Separating my food and making sure I ate — well, that made my panties wet.

“Send us a picture,” Calia demanded. “If we know anything about you, it’s that you have security footage inside your house. Send us still shot of that shit.” She wasn’t wrong. The first thing I’d done was isolate images of him at the counter leaning forward over me and then separating food with chopsticks, pushing the plate to me. Quickly, I sent the photos, knowing they’d see exactly what I saw — his eyes pinned to me while I ate.

“Holy Batman,” Arabella breathed .

“Yeah, you just know he knows where your clit is. I’d let him do unspeakable things to me,” Calia had enlarged one of the photos on her computer screen and was fanning herself.

“Well, you can’t have him. He’s mine.”

“He looks intense. Kind of scary in the eyes. He’s the one that’s been leaving things at your door? You’re okay?” Reed said quietly.

“Yeah. I’m good. I promise.” I underlined her name on the notepad. Alarms were going off in my head, and I could see by the way that Arabella’s head was tilting that she was picking up on it, too. “Hey Reed, do you want to come here to hang out? I could use some help on this whole thing. We could go to lunch and go shopping in Phoenix. Binge some movies. I’ll fly you out. I could use some company out here.”

Reed and I had connected through an online homeschool lecture chat when we were in our early teens before things went to shit with her parents. My mother had me signed up at the time for homeschooling for obvious reasons, but there had been online requirements for lectures and discussions. It had been through a class that I’d connected with Reed. I’d realized through comments threads on chats that she and I had ideas in common. One day, I invited her to play Fortnight, and the rest was history .

When she’d got kicked out of the house, I’d been in the hospital, and she hadn’t told me about it. I only found out a year later that they’d dumped her in the street like so much trash. I was still furious about it. Her parents were upper middle class and lived in a nice comfortable house, and Reed struggled to meet rent each month in crappy apartments.

“Maybe,” she replied vaguely, but a maybe was the best I’d ever gotten. I’d invited her before, but I’d always lived somewhere with my mother and Maxim. Now, I had a place to offer her that was more of a sanctuary. Maybe that would entice her. I didn’t really know how else to help.

“I’m just here with Natasha. It’d just be us. I’ll send you a ticket. You’d be doing me a favor since I’m alone in this house.”

“I’ll think about it,” she answered, but I could see she would.

We chatted about nothing for the next half hour and finally logged off chat. I rubbed my hands together and finally dug into the information I found.