24. Esteban

24

ESTEBAN

R ita held the door open to her room for Matías and me to step in. Then she shut the door, twisted the lock, and flopped down on the bed.

She groaned behind her hands that spanned her face.

Matías pressed his knees into the edge of the bed and smoothed an errant strand of hair off of her forehead.

"You were magnificent in there, Rita," he said softly.

The familiar jealous ache that seemed to tear through my body each time I saw them together was missing. It was really fucking hard to hate someone when they saved your life. Especially when you were a dick to them first.

Only, an anxious weight sat on my chest that had nothing to do with either of them.

I grabbed the chair by her desk and spun it around, straddling it as I faced them.

"That was awful."

Matías chuckled under his breath. "It was bloody and beautiful. You had a purpose, you stopped when you met that purpose, ending his misery, and you walked away. That's what's important. "

She pulled her hands back and stared at him, most likely trying to gauge his sincerity. I didn't doubt it. All I'd ever heard about Matías when I'd joined Dirty Dogs was that he lived with a fucked up psychopath, he witnessed horrors we couldn't begin to fathom, how strong he was to not be crazy after all those years inside that hellhole.

I could name a hundred other statements Javier had said in his favor.

Rita glanced at me. "Did you know?"

"Hell, no. That's what's making me question that little asshole." I believed he met with Tiago and Rob. That rang true. I believed that one of those new pendejos was there.

What I had a hard time with was a sect of Dirty Dogs that wanted to fuck everything up and go back to our roots.

I scrubbed a hand down my face. "Shit, I know some of the guys hate that we left the skins and drug business." Leo had chirped about it like an annoying bird hovering in my ear. "But I haven't heard anything on a large scale that divided the club." I tightened my grip on the back of the chair. "I haven't heard anyone make plans like that."

"We don't know who the rat is, and now we know the issues in our gang run deep. Deeper than I ever thought possible." She pouted and it was hard for me to hide my smile.

Life was shit right now, and it would be for the foreseeable future. But Rita was damn funny when she pouted. Sexy as hell too. That soft, full, bottom lip sticking out was begging to be nibbled on.

"This is good," I said, trying to convince myself, and Matías nodded his agreement. "We know who wasn't here today." I ground my teeth. Due better have a real good fucking reason for not being here.

At no time had he ever expressed any desire to overthrow Javier or kill Rita. He hadn't even made comments about leaving our old ways behind.

"I know that!" she snapped, huffing her irritation and expanding those gorgeous tits of hers.

"We also know a few names of the people who Kurt was scared of," I continued.

"Yeah? What are we going to do about that? His information doesn't make any sense. Who killed Tiago if they were all in on it together?"

I clamped my lips shut.

"We'll find out." Matías pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Which leads me to my next request." Caging her to the bed, he dipped until his nose brushed hers.

She started breathing quicker. He didn't smile or even blink. Damn it, she was getting turned on. A tiny spark of jealousy flared in the pit of my stomach.

I wanted her to react to me like that.

"Hmm?" she hummed.

"I'm going back to catch Matthews. Without you."

The spell broke as her brows pinched and she pushed herself up on her elbows. Matías jumped back to avoid a smashed nose. "The hell you are! We stick together."

Matías' expression iced over. "I keep you alive." His tone brooked no arguments. "Matthews knows more than what he told you. I plan to get it from him."

"That's where Esteban was almost shot!" Now she sat on the edge of the bed and she looked like she was two seconds away from locking Matías in the bathroom. Her eyes were wide and her bottom lip trembled.

Shit, she was scared. For me or for him? I rubbed my chest.

"There won't be a detail and no one will know I'm going there. Believe it or not, I know how to be discreet," he said wryly as he started to turn.

"It's too fucking dangerous!" Rita jumped to her feet and caught his arm.

For him. She was afraid he’d leave her again. Or get taken from her. Exhaling, I curled my fingers tight against my palm.

"I'll go with him."

They whipped toward me with matching shock on their faces. I smirked. "Don't look so surprised I'd offer."

"You were almost shot there," Rita repeated as she took slow steps toward me, dropping Matías' arm.

Some of the tightness in my chest released. She was worried about me too.

"It will be safer if I go by myself,” Matías argued.

"No, it won't." I raised a brow. "You need someone to watch your back.”

"Rita would be alone." A frown tugged on his lips.

"Then we all go,” Rita tossed out like that settled it.

"No," Matías and I both said. I didn’t want her anywhere near that place. It wasn’t ours, we didn’t have it secured, and just fucking no.

Matías glanced at the floor for a second, then glanced back at Rita.

"I'll take Esteban with me. We won't be gone for more than two hours. You'll stay locked in this room. If nothing else, I believe you'll be safe here. If we don't check in or we're not back, my brothers' men will come get you and you can ride to the Chinese restaurant to get us."

Rita rotated her hands as she processed his words. Finally, she said, "There are so many holes in that plan."

He dipped his head. "We don't have a choice. If there are men planning your death, I'm not going to wait on them to act to figure out who they are."

Rita had to see that neither of us were going to risk her life. Not if we could stop it before it happened. Gang princess or not. Leader or not. She mattered too much to me.

I glanced at Matías. Fuck.

She mattered too much to us.

"I hate you right now."

"No, you don't," he said in a cocky tone of voice I’d never heard from him before.

I set her chair back, then cupped her hips from behind. At the same time, Matías boxed her in from the front.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," I murmured in her ear.

Matías cupped her throat with one hand and her breast with his other, swiping his thumb across her nipple.

Her breath caught.

In for a pound, I tugged her dress up, slipping my hand to the vee of her thighs, cupping her sweet, hot pussy. I groaned as she pulsed against my fingers.

"You're so fucking turned on," I muttered, dropping my forehead to her shoulder.

"You're both sexy and your hands are on me. A nun would be dripping right now," she breathed, lacking any bite. Matías grinned then pressed a kiss to her cheek.

We both knew she probably meant for it to be sassy, but she was too turned on to deliver it properly. I loved stealing her sass like that.

"Be good, and when we get back, we'll finish what we started." He glanced at me and I nodded.

Stepping back like we planned that shit, we moved toward the door .

Rita stiffened, but didn't follow. "You guys are dangerous. I expect you to check in as soon as you get there, when you're done, and when you leave."

I had my hand on the lock, but before twisting it, I narrowed my eyes on her. "You're not going to argue?"

She sniffed and sat on her bed, raising her legs until her toes balanced on the edge and spreading them to show off the wet spot on her panties.

I groaned and Matías tensed.

"I want the orgasms you promised me. Multiple. So hurry the fuck up, or I'll take care of my needs myself." Her eyes blazed as she started to pull the middle of her panties to the side.

Did Matías really need me?

Shit, I needed to get out of here or I wouldn’t be going anywhere.

Out in the hallway, I panted. Rita was such a fucking tease. Now I had to walk around the compound with Matías and a fucking erection.

Matías pounded his fist once on the closed door. "Lock it up!"

The locks engaged and then we started for the stairs. No one was in the hallway. Good. I didn't have to threaten bodily harm on my brothers.

We were almost to the front entrance when Joel called my name. He was coming from the back, eyeing Matías.

"Can I have a quick word?"

"Sure." I shrugged. There wasn't a reason for me to beat his ass, so I'd wait until he gave me one. But knowing he and Ricco knew there was discontent brewing and didn't tell me, an officer , broke the code of the Dirty Dogs.

Why keep it hidden ?

"Alone."

I glanced at Matías then stared Joel down. "Why alone?"

Joel gave him a withering smile. "What? Are you two a package deal now?"

Matías and I exchanged looks before I turned back to Joel. "Say what you have to say, and then I have to check something outside."

Pressing his lips together, Joel lost his friendliness. "I wanted to catch up on what we found out from Kurt. And figure out a plan on what to do about our missing people, one of whom is an officer."

"That's not me you need to plan with. You need to talk to Rita." Done with this conversation, I motioned for Matías to start walking, but Joel touched my shoulder.

"She's not fit to lead the Dirty Dogs. I know you're fucking her, hell maybe you both are, but that doesn't make her a leader. Stop putting ideas in her head that she can do this."

That got both of our attention.

"Why isn't she fit?" I asked, a warning note threaded through my words.

"Come on, Esteban." Joel's brows kissed his forehead. "We don't have women in Dirty Dogs. It's all men...And Rita. She's been kept on this pedestal her entire life by Javier."

"As she should be," Matías cut in. "Would you rather Javier had treated her like a pawn and used her for his own gain, or whored her out? Maybe he should have ignored her and treated her like a useless trinket." He shook his head. "We know exactly how that played out. Remember? Valentina killed our father for that reason."

Joel puffed out his cheeks. "That's not what I meant and you know it. "

"Why do you want to lead the club?" I asked.

He straightened his back and lifted his chin. "Someone has to."

"Right..." Matías drew out.

Whatever, I tapped Matías' shoulder and we started walking.

"I wasn't done talking to you!" Joel shouted.

"Funny, you sounded like you were done. Call Rita to make any plans you want to make. Then we'll have the vote soon."

I tossed Matías the keys and climbed into the passenger seat. The compound was mostly deserted and all the bikes that had been outside were gone.

Matías got in and slammed his door. He sat there for a few minutes, not putting the key in the ignition.

"Are we going to get this show on the road, or are we wasting more time for shits and giggles?" I was only half-joking. Being away from Rita after that weird interaction with Joel rubbed me the wrong way.

He started the car and pulled out of the compound.

"I don't get it," he said quietly, more to himself than me.

"I'll play. What don't you get?"

"A lot of things. The one at the top of the pile is why you offered to go with me." He peeked at me. "Shouldn't you want me dead and out of the way?"

I shifted in my seat. "I never wanted you dead," I said, then sighed. "I was jealous as hell of you. I want what's best for Rita and you weren't it. You disappear at the drop of a dime."

"And now you think I won't?" There was only curiosity there.

Leveling him with a hard stare, I shook my head. "I don't know that." The words were slow and his jaw worked. "What I do know is that you've done all the right things since you've been back. It would have been easy for you to try and take control of Dirty Dogs. Or even fuck her and leave her–which I saw the night of Javier's funeral."

The skin under his eye twitched but that was the only reaction.

"You still could. A week of good deeds doesn't mean shit, but..." I dropped my head back against the headrest. Rolling to face him, I studied him. Several years older than me, a world away in terms of life experience, and so much loneliness clinging to him, it was like a chill surrounded him. "You saved my life. I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."

He barked out a short laugh. "You're overlooking everything your gut is telling you because I saved your life?"

I grinned. "Yeah, pretty much." We both chuckled. Then I sobered up. "Don't fuck with her again. Not like you did before. If you do, I'll flay every inch of your skin, and save the nipples for Rita."

We cracked up again.

"That was something, wasn't it?" He smiled at the windshield.

"Damn straight it was. Rita loves going for a man's sensitive bits. That's how Javier trained her."

"Yeah."

The rest of the ride was spent discussing nonsense. Nothing related to the Dirty Dogs drama or the new club. It was like an olive branch.

It felt dangerous to put my faith in a man who had a high track record of breaking Rita's heart. But for her, I wanted him to be different this time. To not make fucked up decisions for the right reasons .

For me, I wanted to believe he was different this time. Because damn, when he tackled me, I realized that the people who had your back weren't always the people you thought they were.

And the man who should have had my back was the very one who tried to put a bullet in my heart.