Gio (Steel Demons MC #6)

Chapter 24

Gio

T he sound of breaking glass woke me in an instant. I jackknifed up and looked around the dark room where I found Harper sitting straight up. “Harp?”

She swallowed hard and then nodded before her hand reached out to touch me in the dark. “It woke me up. It’s them, isn’t it?” Her whispered words were calm, not full of the fear I expected.

A long breath rushed out of me. “Probably.” More glass shattered downstairs, and I realized just how vulnerable we were, naked with nothing but a sheet covering us. “Get dressed.”

Harper paused and exhaled deeply. “Okay. Dressed.” She jumped from the bed and bent over, giving me a glimpse of her perfect heart-shaped ass in the moonlight. She stood up quickly and slipped my t-shirt over her head. “Good enough.”

Her words spurred me into action, and I snatched my boxers from the floor and stepped into them before I stood and grabbed my gun from the nightstand. “Stay here.”

“Fuck that,” she said automatically.

“Harp,” I sighed. “We don’t have time to argue about this.”

“Exactly,” she snapped. “You taught me to shoot for a reason and that reason is downstairs, probably to kidnap me or worse. Now give me a damn gun and let’s go scare these assholes off.”

I love you.

The words came to my mind instinctively and I bit the inside of my jaw to keep the words to myself. Harper wasn’t ready to hear it any more than I was ready to say it. “Fine. There’s another gun in that nightstand. It’s a nine-mil just like you shot at the range.”

She smiled but it dimmed as she pulled out the gun and checked the clip.

I got my phone and sent a nine-one-one text to my club brothers while I kept an eye on Harper. She inhaled for several long seconds and gripped the gun tighter before giving herself a mental pep talk. “You okay?”

She looked up with big, guileless blue eyes and nodded nervously. “I’m good. Let’s go.”

“Stay behind me and don’t shoot me.”

That made her smile. “Don’t give me a reason to and I won’t.”

“Noted.” I crept to the door with Harper at my back and opened it as quietly as I could. The sound of glass breaking, of utter fucking distraction intensified when the door was open, but she gave me a gentle shove towards the stairs, a subtle reminder to keep moving forward.

“The living room,” she whispered.

I nodded and urged my feet to move. Halfway down the steps the Blood Reapers came into view. There were three of them ripping shit apart, breaking things. Like my fucking flat screen. I raised my gun and went down a few more steps until my aim was perfect, and I squeezed the trigger with a smile as the bullet hit him right in the back of the thigh. “Get down,” I shouted a second before they started shooting back.

“Shit!” Harper’s foot slipped and she slid down the stairs.

My heart pounded as bullets flew in her direction and my legs moved on their own, pumping bullets out like a factory worker, to protect her. “Harp,” I shouted over the gunfire.

“I’m good,” she called out and shot in the direction of the Blood Reapers as they dragged the third man out. “Fuck!” The gun fell from her hand and both of them went to her thigh.

“Assholes,” I shouted and finished coming down the steps, shooting at them until my clip was empty. Two of them were hit as they limped out and jumped on their bikes. “Dead men walking,” I mumbled to myself and turned my attention back to Harper.

“It’s okay,” she grunted and pulled her bloody fingers away from the side of her right thigh. “Just grazed me. Hurts like a motherfucker though.”

I grinned. “Yeah, that’s the dirty secret of gunshot wounds.” I lifted her in my arms and took her to the kitchen where there was less glass and debris on the floor.

“Your feet,” she warned.

“I’m fine Harp.” I set her on the countertop and examined her leg. As she said the bullet had just grazed her, which was fucking lucky. “I’m going to kill them.”

“I got one,” she said proudly, wincing while I disinfected the wound. “Right in the arm.”

“Good job, babe.” I grabbed a bandage from the first-aid kit on top of the fridge and fixed her up. “You’ll be okay.”

She sighed and cupped one side of my face. “Thank you, Gio.”

I frowned. “What for?”

“For trusting me. For teaching me to protect myself. For keeping me safe.” She leaned forward until her lips, soft and full, were on mine. Harper pulled back with a sleepy, sexy smile. “For wanting to kill them for giving me a flesh wound,” she laughed and kissed me again, slower and deeper.

My hands slid up her thighs and I groaned when she opened up to give me better access to her pussy. One hand continued under her shirt until I found a nipple, hard and aching, while the other one went right between her thighs where she was hot and wet. Just for me.

“Gio,” she moaned against my lips and pushed her hips forward, begging for my touch. “Yes,” she hissed out when two fingers slid over her clit before pushing into her.

I swallowed her moans as I fucked her with my fingers, enjoying the way she rolled her hips, hungry for her next orgasm. Her pussy clamped down around my fingers and she bit down on my bottom lip as her body shook and convulsed, squeezing the life out of my fingers. I only wished it was my cock.

“What the fuck is going on?” That was the sound of my best friend’s voice.

Harper froze and I waited for her to pull away, but she didn’t. She kissed me for a few more seconds before she slowly dragged her mouth from mine with an easy smile that she aimed at Cole. And half the Steel Demons. “Cole. You’re back.”

Yeah, earlier I hadn’t told her that was the other thing on my mind.

His nostrils flared angrily, and his hands were clenched into fists. His anger wasn’t directed at Harper because of course it wasn’t, it was all aimed at me. “You took advantage of my little sister.” It wasn’t a question it was a fucking accusation.

“You really think I would do that?” I shook my head, determined to ignore the hurt that his words caused.

“All I know is that I asked you to keep her safe, not stick your fucking dick in her!”

“One thing has nothing to do with the other,” I shouted back. “Look around Cole, do you see the state of my fucking house? And look at Harper, perfectly fucking safe.”

Cole crossed the living room and headed into the kitchen, stopping right in front of me. “She’s my sister.”

“Yeah, I know who she is Cole. I have kept her safe but that meant spending time together and getting to know each other as adults. Things changed. We’ve changed.”

“Bullshit,” he grunted and shoved me backwards. “You saw what you wanted, and you took it. Like you always do.”

I pushed him back. “Glad to know what you really think of me. I’m surprised you even let me near your sister if I’m so goddamn useless.” I shook my head. “Glad to know where we stand.”

“What the fuck am I supposed to think?” He shook his head. “You haven’t seen each other in years and now you’re kissing her and, and… fuck I don’t even want to think about what else.”

“Look at her,” I shouted. “She’s not a little girl anymore, Cole. She’s a beautiful grown woman.”

He laughed. “Don’t even try that shit with me.”

“Shut the hell up!” Harper shouted and used my shoulders to help her get off the counter before she whirled on her brother. “You think I’m such a stupid little idiot that I’d let myself be used by anyone? What if I’m using him? What if we’re using each other?” She threw her head back and laughed. “What if we’re in love, then what? You’re gonna hate your best friend until the day he dies? Grow the fuck up Cole.”

“Harper,” he began in vain, but she pushed at his chest.

“No, shut up. I’m talking now!” She pushed him again. “I’ve been living my life without you for years, Cole. Years! I don’t need you to protect me and I’ll continue to do live without you if you can’t respect that I’m a grown ass woman with wants and needs.” She shook her head. “I love you Cole, but I won’t stand for this.”

He looked properly chastised, but he wasn’t done yet. “It’s not about you, Harp. Gio isn’t the settling down type.”

“I haven’t asked him to! People do have sex without getting married as I’m sure you know.”

“But Harper.”

“No! Gio looks at me and sees a capable woman. Instead of keeping me hidden, he taught me how to shoot so that I can take care of myself no matter where I am and it ever occurred to you to do that, so whatever you think of your best friend, I think he’s pretty fucking great.”

He knew when he was beaten and I saw in his eyes that he knew it, but Cole was a stubborn bastard where his sister was concerned. He wouldn’t give up, I knew that. “Come with me, Harper. I’ll keep you safe now that I’m back.”

She stepped away from him when he reached for her. “No thanks. I have work to do and I won’t have you keeping me caged up. If you don’t piss me off again, maybe we’ll have dinner together.”

Cole glared at her retreating form before he turned that glare my way and I read it loud and clear.

He wouldn’t forgive me for this.

Not ever.

That was a worry for another time. I turned to the rest of the MC who looked on with a mixture of amusement and worry and motioned to the destruction. “The Blood Reapers were sending a message I assume. We were asleep and they never even attempted to come upstairs. I wounded one and Harper wounded the other. They’ll survive but they’ll be limping.”

Rocky nodded and stepped forward. “We’re gonna have to do something about them, sooner rather than later.”

Better to deal with war with an enemy than with my lifelong best friend.