Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

DIABLO

"What are you doing?" London screams and slaps at my back. "Put me down."

"Settle down," I command, slapping her ass as I head back to my room.

I'd gone to look for her in there only to find she wasn't in my room. I find her in the main room next to Everleigh. The last thing I need right now is for any of those women to encourage her further.

Then she just had to go ahead and poke me in the chest the way she did. That shit doesn't fly with me. It's not something I'll put up with. In my opinion, it's the move of a high and mighty princess. A princess that needs her ass spanked and taught that she isn't going to walk over me to get her way or to make a point.

Ignoring her demands to be put down, I carry her the rest of the way to my room. I won't stop until the door slams closed behind us. It's then I bump her off my shoulder and toss her back onto the bed.

London is quick to move, bolting off the bed to the other side, hands planted on her waist. "You have some nerve, mister," she snaps, huffily.

"Mister?" I don't think anyone has ever called me that.

"Don't you grin at me, Diablo. None of this is funny."

Hell, I didn't even realize I'd grinned, though it was amusing as fuck that she'd say that to me.

"London, you're right. None of this shit is funny, except for you callin' me ‘mister'." Moving around the edge of my bed, eyes on her. "You and I have a lot to catch up on. But first things first. You need to know why I did what I did," I tell her, stopping directly in front of her, hands going to her hips.

"I know why you did it. You don't think I can protect myself," she mutters. "I'll have you know, my dad made sure I knew how to handle myself against an attack."

"You didn't stop me from knocking you out."

"That's because you're you," she blurts out, only to slap a hand over her mouth and groans. "I can't believe I just said that. I didn't mean that as in you being you affects me?—"

"Chiquita, quiet," I order, squeezing her waist.

"No, I won't be quiet," she says, dropping her hands to my chest to shove.

I let her go, seeing she needs this.

"Why couldn't you just leave things be?" she mutters and starts pacing again. "I was fine. I could have handled things on my own."

"Do you know who Taylor really is?" I demand, not about to let her think she had things under control. There's no way she would've.

"I heard Daemon say his name's really Craig Hickman."

"Yeah, but dear old Craig targeted you because he intended to take you to his friends, who would end up most likely killing you before or after stealing your organs."

"What?" she whispers, her steps faltering as she turns back to me, face paling.

"You heard me." I nod.

"You can't be serious."

"Deadly." I look her in the eye, letting her see for herself that I'm not playing games. "This group, London, they're sick. They take people, steal organs from them. Sometimes those people turn back up, usually though, they're found dead. Other times, they're not."

London stares at me, silently watching for any tells that I could be lying. I'm not, and she knows it. She just doesn't want to believe it.

"If this is true, why isn't anyone doing anything about it?" she asks, licking her bottom lip. "I mean, you'd think people would be talking about it. Maybe reporting it to the news."

"London, this isn't something governments would allow to be discussed openly. Or allow it to get out to the public. Besides, we're pretty sure there are some officials in on it all."

More like we were damn sure some officials were in on it. At least on the payroll to look the other way. London doesn't need to know this, though. She didn't need to be freaking out more than she already is.

"Why would I be a target?" London finally asks.

"Good question," I grumble. "We're looking into it." More like I should be back at the cabin questioning the little shit, but I needed to check on her. "Hopefully, we'll find out why." I've got a theory, but again, I wasn't about to tell her what it was. It might send her running scared back to her dad.

It's probably what I should do. Let her go. Let her be safe with him. But I can't.

London means something to me. No one else would get it. Probably ‘cause no one else touched me in the same way she did. She brought out the protective instincts rather than just my survival ones. I wanted to make sure she stayed safe when she was thirteen. I needed to do it, no matter how much it affected me then and now.

Moving deeper into her space once again, I wrap my arms around her and yank her fully against my chest. I slide a hand up her spine, up farther into her hair, where I thread my fingers through her wild curls.

"Now, for us to finish our earlier conversation before we were interrupted."

"You mean the one where you said you made a decision?" she snaps breathlessly.

"Yeah," I grunt, stepping back toward the bed, the backs of my knees hitting the mattress, bringing London with me. I sit, bringing her down onto my lap, her legs straddling either side of me. If the two of us didn't have shit to sort out, we'd be doing something entirely different, and London would be naked.

"Well, please continue. Explain to me all about the decision you made." She huffs.

Watching her eyes closely, I see the longing in them. The need she craves.

"You and me, we're gonna make a go of things," I tell her, leaving it simple, straight to the point. "There's something between us worth explorin'. It's always been there."

"How do you know I want this?" she questions, brows creasing in the middle.

"Because if you didn't, you wouldn't have given me that look the night at the bar that said you wanted me to take you home and fuck you. You also wouldn't have given me your phone number."

London opens her mouth to protest, but I don't give her a chance. I tighten my grip on her hair, pull her head down, and claim her mouth.

Her lips part with a gasp, and I take the opening to sweep inside. A moan leaves her lips. Again, I take it as a sign to take more. Flipping her to her back, I press into her. I'm not going to do more than kiss her, but I want her to feel me. Feel that I want her. That I want to touch her, just as I want her to touch me.

No sooner than she starts to get into it, someone knocks at the damn door. I break the kiss, lifting my head just enough to meet her gaze. The way her eyes have that lustful haze and her heavy breathing, she'd been into it as much as I was.

Another knock comes, and I bite back a curse about to tell whoever the hell it is to fuck off.

"Diablo, brother, we need you out here," Beast calls out from the other side of the door. "Some lawyer is here with a woman claimin' to be your mom."

Fucking, motherfucking, hell.