Fight Dirty (Black Rose Kisses 1)

I hesitate for just a second, not sure where to even start, but then I just start talking. Scarlett is my best friend. She’s been there for me since I was a little kid, fresh off losing my mom and growing up with just my dad in the kind of neighborhood we lived in. She was right there with me for everything, and I never have to pretend with her.

So I let it all pour out. I start from the second she split last night, telling her about walking in to see my dad getting jumped by the Black Roses, and how the three guys she was so hot for were a part of it. I tell her about trying to stop them from hurting my dad, about being captured and taken to that gas station place, and about the ultimatum I’m now a part of.

“Basically, I’m a glorified prisoner,” I tell her. “They’ve got me at their house, which is honestly probably one of the nicest places I’ve ever been in, but that’s not the point. Until Dad finishes whatever deal he’s made with them, I have to stay here, and it sucks.”

“Oh my god.” Scarlett mutters. “Holy shit. Oh my fucking god.” I can hear the surprise and anger in her tone, and it feels good to know I’m not the only one who’s outraged by the turn of events. “That’s so shitty, Mercy. I mean… it could be worse, because gang members or not, those guys are fucking fine.”

“Jesus, Scar, can you focus for like a second?” I flop back on the bed, rolling my eyes.

The worst part is… she’s not wrong.

I can’t fucking stand them, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re three of the sexiest guys I’ve ever met. Even Sloan, pissy and irritable as he is, has an undeniable appeal to him, and just being in the same room as them is hard. Hence why I’m hiding away.

But I don’t have time to daydream about dangerously gorgeous guys. I have a mission here—protect my dad and find vengeance for what they’re doing to my family.

My father is all I have, all the family I’ve got left, and I’ll be damned if I let them take him away from me.

“Sorry, babe.” Scarlett sounds genuinely chagrined. “I shouldn’t even be joking around about that shit right now. I’m just still trying to process all of this.”

“Yeah. Me too. And you’re right. They’re fine as hell. I just can’t let it blind me to what’s beneath all that, you know?” I murmur. I don’t want to scare Scarlett, but we’ve both lived in this city our whole lives, so she has to know how serious this is. “You know how the Black Roses are.”

She sighs. “Yeah, we hear rumors about the stuff they get into all the time. Please be careful, Mercy, okay? I know you’re doing this for your dad, but these fuckers are no joke.”

“You don’t have to tell me that.” I snort, chewing on my lower lip. “And I can take care of myself.”

“I know, hot stuff. And you know I’ve got your back no matter what happens.”

I smile, feeling for the first time since I woke up this morning like some of my equilibrium is coming back. Scarlett has always had my back, and I’ve always had hers. If I need her, she’ll come running. I miss my dad, but just hearing my best friend’s voice is enough to make me feel better, and I gaze up at the ceiling with a little sigh, feeling some of the tension drain out of me.

I can hear Scarlett moving around on her own bed and then the sound of typing.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Research,” she replies. “On your guys.”

“They’re not my anything,” I insist.

“You know what I mean. Tell me their names again?”

I do, filling her in on the little I know about them, which is mainly what they look like and the fact that they’re in the Black Roses. So nothing she doesn’t already know.

I hear her typing frantically for a little bit and then she sucks her teeth, clearly annoyed. “There’s not much available here on any of them.”

“That’s not surprising. It’s not like they go around broadcasting the shit they do. They keep a low profile.”

“There are some pictures here, though.” She lets out a low whistle. “Goddamn, Mercy.”

“Scar, please.”

“I’m just saying! This Sloan guy? He looks like he stepped off the cover of GQ. That jawline, yum.”

I roll my eyes, but once again, she’s right. I made the same judgement when I first saw him myself. I flash back to how he looked when he was leaning over me, angry and in my space, and I can feel myself flushing again, heat moving through me slow and thick.

No, no, no. For fuck’s sake, Mercy!

I shouldn’t be fantasizing about any of them. Least of all Sloan, who looks like he would kill someone without a second thought.

“Rory’s an interesting character,” Scarlett continues, snapping me out of my thoughts.