Runner: A dark enemies to lovers gang romance (Sapphire Duet Book 1)

“Forty minutes.” Gray checked his watch. “That has to be a record.”

“We do this job every two weeks,” I muttered. “Picking up a car from the docks and dropping it to the buyer is simple. We could probably pawn it off to someone else in the crew.”

“We could,” Gray mused, his eyes glued to his phone. “But you have to admit that some of the cars we pick up are fucking sweet.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t think anything’s changed in the two minutes since you last looked at her.”

“I think the toy is broken,” he grumbled. “She’s barely moved a muscle since we left the room.”

“Or she spotted the camera and knows we’re watching.”

“Vic wants us at the club. Right now.” Gray glanced at me. “Maybe one of us should go back to the house—”

“No,” I cut him off. “She’ll be fine a little longer. Especially since you decided to give her something to focus on.”

He snorted. “Oh, come on. It was worth it. Did you see her surprise when I showed her the toy? It was the most emotion she’s let slip since we met her.”

“Didn’t we say that when it comes to her, we agree on everything? Actually, you’re the one who told me that,” I said, trying to keep my patience in check. “That’s how we deal with every decision.”

He frowned at me as we walked in through the back door of our club. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think I needed your permission for every little fucking thing I do.”

“You can fuck any woman in this city,” I said in a low voice as we climbed the stairs. “She’s a wild card. We can’t trust her. She’ll fuck you, and then probably shoot you again for the fun of it.”

“She’s a rebel,” he mumbled, playing with his lip ring. “You can’t deny that she’s like us.”

“Unlike us, she doesn’t seem to have anyone she cares about.” I paused at the top of the stairs. “That makes her dangerous. It gives us no leverage to make sure she doesn’t screw us over.”

“Maybe she does have someone, and we just haven’t found out who it is.”

“We need to dig up more of her past.”

He nodded. “I’ll call Andy. Maybe he can give us more info on her ex-boyfriend.”

The door in front of us opened, and I swallowed my response as we greeted Vic.

“Where’s Juan?” Gray asked as he poured us both a glass of whiskey.

“Out for the night,” Vic sank into the couch cushions and lit a joint.

Gray and I exchanged looks, knowing Vic only smoked weed when he was stressed. Even knowing that I wasn’t going to enjoy whatever conversation Vic was going to start, it was still nearly impossible to get the image of Mili on her knees out of my head. My words to Gray were as much for me as they were for him.

Mili was a fucking force of nature—in every damn way. She dripped sex appeal when she was in our presence, and she knew exactly what she was doing. But it wasn’t just her body. It was her strength. She took complete control of every situation she was in—and if she lost it, it didn’t take her long to steal it back. She was smart and was born for the world she’d risen up in. And I fucking hated that she had crawled into my head and refused to leave.

“What’s up, Vic?” I sat on the couch across from him. “Why the rush to meet?”

He hesitated. “Juan and I have discussed this over the last week. We want her.”

Gray nearly choked on his whiskey. “Want who?”

“Sapphire,” he answered gruffly. “After the Panther job. We want her to stay in Ridgewood.”

“Seriously?” I asked in disbelief. “She’s not going to do that.”

“We want you to convince her,” Vic said slowly. “I want her connections. Her jobs. Do you realize how much we could expand the crew if she worked for us?”

“For us?” I repeated before huffing out a curt laugh. “I know you haven’t spent as much time with her as we have, but I can tell you right now, that girl will never fucking work for anyone.”

The night we set her up with the police, and again tonight when we finally managed to cuff her to the wall, I saw it in her eyes. The tiny flash of raw panic when her freedom was cut off proved what I’d already guessed. She would never give that up for anyone.

“I think we all believe now that she is Sapphire,” Gray said, resting his arms on his knees as he leaned forward on the couch. “And she’s not going to downgrade what she does now to work with us. Our crew might be large, but her name is infamous.”

“And that’s exactly why we want her,” Vic said, taking a long drag from the joint. “To have her name connected to ours could help us expand to the East Coast.”

“She won’t do it,” I stated gruffly. “And if we try, she’ll try to kill us. Again. She doesn’t like being told what to do.”

“Then find something we can use against her,” Vic snapped, getting annoyed that we weren’t agreeing with him. “This is going to be your empire soon. We want to grow it as much as we can. Your Uncle wants the best for you, Kade.”

“Juan agreed to this?” I asked with a frown.

Juan was my uncle. Not that I ever acknowledged that in public. No one except our family, Vic, and Gray knew I was related to him. Juan’s brother—my dad—died when I was a baby, and Juan took care of my mom and me. She never wanted me mixed up with the crew when I got older. But that obviously didn’t fucking happen.

“Yes, he agreed,” Vic answered, pulling me back into the conversation. “Find out what she’s done in the past and see if there’s anything we can use to hold it over her head.”

“Blackmail her,” Gray muttered. “This won’t end well.”

“If you two can’t do it—”

“We will,” I cut Vic off. “Andy knew her. We’ll talk to him and see what he knows.”

Vic nodded. “Good. I want to know everything we can about her before the Panther job.”

Vic smashed the rest of his joint in the ashtray before getting up and striding out of the room. Gray was on his feet in a second, giving me a look of impatience as he headed to the door. Nerves knotted my stomach as I got up from the couch and followed Gray out of the club. This situation with Mili was already crazy, and now it was only going to get worse.

“There was no trouble,” Jay told us as we stopped in front of the study door.

We already knew that, seeing as Gray had been watching the camera nearly nonstop since we had left her a little over an hour ago. But we still had Jay stand outside the door the whole time, just to make sure no one tried walking in.

I didn’t care much for Jay, but he did what he was told, no matter what it was. He was newer to the crew and wanted to climb the ranks quickly. His shaved head was covered with tattoos, and he loved wearing tight muscle shirts to show off the work he did in the gym. He was cocky, always acting like he was hot shit.

“Stay here,” I told him. “We’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Jay looked curious but was smart enough not to question me as Gray opened the door. I closed it behind me, my eyes immediately seeking out Mili. She was exactly where we left her, and she shifted on her knees when the door clicked shut. Her head had been bowed toward the floor, but as we got closer, she looked up, her gaze locking with mine.

“How’d the job go?” she asked casually, as if we hadn’t kept her in here for over an hour.

Gray frowned, shooting me a quick glance. She seemed relaxed, but her fists were clenched tight as we stopped in front of her.

“I owe you a thank you,” she purred, focusing on Gray. “Now that I got a free sample of that toy, I know not to waste my money.”

I grinned in amusement. “You didn’t like it?”

“The thing died before I even got off.” Her eyes went cold. “I’ve been stuck here, bored out of my damn mind. So fuck you very much.”

I held in my groan, already knowing what Gray was going to do next. And it made my dick twitch before I could help myself. Gray dropped to his knees in front of her, making her straighten up as she stared at him warily.

“I would hate for you to leave here unhappy,” Gray murmured.

“Why?” she tossed back. “Worried my revenge on you two will be worse than blowing up your car?”

I bit my tongue, knowing when we did this that we ran the risk of her doing something to get back at us. Now I was wondering if being more cautious would be enough to make sure we didn’t fall for whatever she tried doing.

“If I remember correctly, you said I was in the small group of men who knew how to pleasure a woman.” Gray ran his hand up her thigh, stopping at the waistband of her leggings. “I want to see if I can get you off as fast as I did in the club.”

Mili’s stare cut to me, as if she was trying to figure out what I thought about it. I kept my face blank, refusing to give her any reaction. She didn’t say a word when Gray slipped his hand into her pants. She did spread her legs wider, and he took that as a yes, quickly grabbing the useless toy and tossing it to the floor. His hand disappeared again, and I could tell when his fingers found her pussy because she sucked in a small breath.

“You are fucking soaked. Either the toy did its job before it died”—he slid his other hand to the back of her neck, getting a grip of her hair and tilting her face up—“or you have a thing for being chained up. Which one is it?”

“Neither,” she nearly panted as Gray continued to finger her. “Sitting here and planning how I’m going to fuck with both of you after this is what got me all hot and bothered.”

By now, my cock was rock hard and pressing uncomfortably against my jeans. I flexed my fingers, refusing to act on it as I watched her. I didn’t want her to know how much she affected my dick. She’d only use it against me.

I stepped closer, and her eyes found mine. “How about we call the night even once Gray gets you off?”

Her laugh was cut short from whatever Gray was doing to her. “If he gets me off. I think he’s a one-trick pony. Because this doesn’t feel nearly as good as it did at the club.”

“The way your pussy is holding my fingers hostage proves that’s a lie,” Gray responded gruffly.

She didn’t answer, staring past us as she attempted to not react to what Gray was doing to her. My cock ached, and it was taking everything in me to keep it in my fucking jeans. Her kiss played over and over in my head, and I gritted my teeth, not giving in to my desires. Gray let out a frustrated noise.

“Stop fighting it.” He tugged on her hair, making her scowl. “I can feel how much you want it. Fucking come for me.”

“It won’t be for you.” Her chest heaved with every breath. “It’ll be for me. My pleasure—not yours.”

“As long as you remember who gave you that pleasure,” Gray said, his voice smothered with satisfaction as her body went rigid. Her lips were pressed tightly together, but a small cry still escaped when she climaxed. I watched, transfixed, as her face flushed, her hips rocking while Gray continued to finger her.

Her head sagged when Gray released her head, and her hair fell around her, hiding her face from us. Gray climbed to his feet, licking his fingers, dramatically sucking as if he couldn’t get enough of her taste.

“Jay, get in here,” I called loud enough for him to hear me through the door.

Mili’s head snapped up, her defenses instantly going up when Jay stepped into the room. He glanced at her with interest before turning his attention to me.

“What do you need, boss?” he asked.

“We want you to make sure she gets off the property,” Gray answered, digging through a drawer in his desk.

“Sure,” Jay replied, looking uncertain. “Who is she?”

“Someone we don’t want snooping around.” My words had Mili glaring at me. But I knew she wouldn’t say anything. She was the one who didn’t want anyone to know she was Sapphire.

Gray sauntered back toward her, and I pulled the cuff keys from my pocket as I moved beside him. I unlocked the cuff, pulling it from her wrist, and Gray locked a handcuff in its place. I freed her other arm, and Gray snapped the other cuff on her, locking her arms behind her back. We didn’t want her to chance doing anything else tonight. I was sure we’d deal with her backlash when she decided to strike back. But I wanted her out of our house before she found anything important.

She stayed silent when we pulled her to her feet. She stumbled a few steps, unbalanced from being on her knees for so long. The anger brewing in her eyes had my heart thudding, but we walked her to the door where Jay was waiting.

I handed Jay the handcuff key. “Once she’s off our property, let her go. Then come and tell us when she’s gone.”

Jay nodded, putting the key in his pocket before grabbing Mili’s arm. She didn’t fight him as he led her out of the room. We stayed silent, listening to their footsteps getting quieter as they moved toward the front door. I turned to Gray, but my words died in my throat when we heard Jay talking.

“You’re a hot piece of ass.” Jay’s voice echoed through the foyer. “How much would it cost me to have you for a night?”

The next noise was an unmistakable slap that most likely landed on her ass. My shoulder collided with Gray’s as we rushed to get through the doorway. A pained groan filled the air, and we halted in the foyer, seeing Jay on the floor. Mili was lying on her back, already slipping her legs between her arms to get her cuffed hands in front of her. Once she did, she jumped to her feet, sneaking up behind Jay as he stood up. She threw her arms around his neck, the chain of the handcuffs pressing against his throat.

“If I did charge, you could never afford me,” she told him calmly as he struggled to breathe.

He whipped his body around, attempting to knock her off. She held on tight until he reached down and pulled a knife from his pocket. When she spotted the blade, she kicked his feet until he staggered and fell to the floor. She went down with him, finally moving the chain off his throat. Her foot connected with his cheek, and he cried out. His head snapped to the side, and he stared at us in a daze. Neither Gray nor I moved a muscle to help him. He shouldn’t have fucking touched her.

She got to her feet, taking advantage of him not moving. She stepped on his wrist, pressing harder until his grip on the knife loosened. Bending down, she pried it from his hand. He snapped out of it, realizing he had lost his weapon. Grabbing her ankle with his free hand, he twisted, knocking her off balance. He shakily stood up before lunging at her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and slammed her into the wall. She had kept her cuffed hands above her head, but she brought them down and stabbed the knife into his neck.

His hold on her body went lax, and he choked on his own blood as he tried breathing. She pulled the blade out before shoving him away. He collapsed on the floor, writhing as he fought to stay conscious. It didn’t last long, and a puddle of his blood spread across the marble floor as he went still.

We watched as she wiped his blood off the knife before flicking it shut. She leaned over his body, fishing her hand in his pocket until she pulled out the key. I rubbed the small cut she had given me earlier as she unlocked the handcuffs.

“We’re not going to have a problem because I killed a member of your crew, are we?” she asked, finally meeting our gazes.

“Nope,” I said with a shrug. “Looked like self-defense to us. And that’s what we’ll tell Vic and Juan.”

“Good.” She grinned, not looking the least bit bothered that she was covered in Jay’s blood. “See you boys later.”

She strode out the front door, leaving Gray and me standing there in shock. The entire fight had lasted less than two minutes. She had overpowered a man twice her size—while handcuffed. I knew she could fight, but fuck. It was painfully obvious she had been holding out on us when we fought with her in the study. She could have easily stabbed me in the neck instead of slicing my hand.

“I think we need to make sure neither of us ever gets caught alone with her when she’s pissed,” Gray muttered. “Whoever taught her how to fight created a fucking monster.”

I agreed with him. It didn’t matter if she was a woman. It would be stupid of us to think we could take her just because she was smaller than us.

“We need to call Andy and find out what we can about her before she retaliates for this,” I said, turning to go back into the study.

“You agree with Vic and Juan?” Gray asked in surprise.

I shook my head. “I don’t think we could ever force her to stay. But finding dirt on her can help keep her in line while we plan the Panther job. If not, I have a feeling she’s going to spill a lot more blood.”

“Let’s just make sure it’s not our blood,” Gray mumbled.

I pulled a bottle of whiskey out of the cabinet. She was going to make the next few months very interesting.