Riding Hard (Hell Ryders MC Book 4)

by J. L. Sheppard

“So you used to…”

  “Wadden wasn’t always what it is now. Those secluded mansions at the edge of town have always been there, but that new development near Main Street was not there. There was something else, and it was bad, so bad it leaked often and made the rest of town bad.”

  “So how did you—”

  He shook his head. “Not getting into that. You and me become more, you still want to know, we’ll talk. I’m being honest with you ’cause I care about you and you want to know, but that shit’s long over now.”

  She hesitated, lowered her head, eyes falling away from his. Then she nodded and swallowed.

  He hated every minute of it. He wanted her happy, laughing, and carefree like she used to be.

  He turned his head and spotted Cul headed for them. “Cul, watch TV for a minute while I finish talking to Lex. Then we’ll eat, yeah?”

  Cullen, his too smart three-year-old, picked up the mood. Looking between the both of them, his gaze scanning Lex, he hesitated.

  “Go on, sweetie. We’ll be out in a few.”

  Cullen walked away.

  “So what does the club do?”

  “We got the garage. It makes good money.”

  Her brows shot up. “That’s it?”

  No. It wasn’t it, and he didn’t want to lie, but right then, he couldn’t tell her the whole truth. When she became his, fully and completely, he would but not as things stood.

  Holding her stare, he admitted part of it. “The club’s got another business too. We’re bodyguards.”

  Her eyes widened. “You’re a bodyguard?”

  “Those jobs bank. It’s how I was able to buy a home, but most of the time, those jobs take me away, so I haven’t been on a job since Cul was born.”

  She visibly relaxed, shoulders slumping, breath rushing out of her. Nothing had ever made him feel so good and like such a dick at the same time, knowing there was another part to the job he’d purposefully not mentioned, another part he couldn’t mention because she wasn’t his completely.

  Her gaze went to his and held. “So you’re not going to find who’s doing this to me and kill him, right?”

  He reared back. “You shitting me?”

  She laughed. “God, I…” She shook her head, still laughing.

  He knew he should tell her he’d find whoever was fucking with her and teach him a lesson before he handed the bastard over to the cops. Not telling her could bite him in the ass later, but he was just too enthralled with watching her laugh. It felt like it’d been so long since he’d seen it, heard it. The sound so beautiful, it rippled through him.

  “Babe,” his voice a growl. He hadn’t meant it to but couldn’t have helped it. The look on her face, the dinner she made for him, for his boy, made him want to do more than he could right then.

  “You leave the door unlocked?”

  Her laugh died. “Oh, you were on your bike. I heard you coming, so I unlocked it just before you—”

  “I appreciate it. Any other time, I’d love it, but until we’re in the clear, I need you to stay safe.”

  “We’re?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, you, me, Cul.”

  “You and Cul aren’t a part—”

  “We’re all in this together.”

  Her eyes softened. “We shouldn’t be.”

  “We are. You, me, and Cul. We’re gonna get through this, yeah?”

  She held his stare and nodded.

  “So are you gonna keep the doors and windows locked even if you hear me coming?”

  She nodded again. Then her mood shifted, she smiled. “Cul said three words in a row today.”

  He quirked a brow. “Yeah?”

  She nodded, her smile widening.

  “What he’d say?”

  “He said, ‘read me, please.’ I know it’s not much, but isn’t it great? It means he’s getting better, more confident. He’s learning and in just a matter of months…”

  The tears in her eyes made his heart clenched so tight it hurt. His boy deserved a woman like Lex for a mom. His fuck-up, his fault.

  “I didn’t make a big deal of it, of course, because what if he’s just shy and bringing it up embarrasses him and he stops? Right?” She tucked a strand of her strawberry hair behind her ear. “I don’t know if it’s that he’s taken a liking to books, but what if it is? What if he wants to learn to read aloud for himself?”

  She tipped her head to the side. “What do you think?” A tear spilled out.

  He brought his hand to her cheek and wiped it away. “I think it’s just you, Lex.”

  Another tear trailed down. This time, she rubbed it with the back of her hand. “Stupid, I know I’m overreacting.”

  He cupped her cheek. “Not to me, babe.”

  She smiled.

  He leaned in so tempted to press his lips to hers. Instead, he lifted his head and kissed her forehead.

  They ate dinner together. Conversation flowed easily. For dessert, they had chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream. Nearing Cul’s bedtime, he told her she should stay over. She refused. It’d been the first time in a while she’d been relaxed around him, and he hadn’t wanted to mess with that, so even though he didn’t want to leave her alone, he let it lie. He told her Strike would be around tomorrow to install an alarm. This time, she didn’t fight him. Instead, she thanked him. Cullen hugged her tight and mumbled a “night” before Dodge leaned in to her and kissed her cheek. He waited until she closed and locked the door then headed across the street.

  That night, he barely slept.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Her phone rang.

  A chill ran up her spine, Lex cringed.

  With every call, her fear grew. As a defense mechanism, after the last vandalism, she began silencing her ringer. Dodge hadn’t liked this since he couldn’t get ahold of her. Made perfect sense, he cared and worried. He suggested they change her number. Four days ago, she had. The calls stopped for a couple of days then started again. Not wanting to worry Dodge more, she hadn’t yet told him, but she’d called Officer Johnson. Around this time, she started turning off her ringer again. The only reason it wasn’t—because Cullen was with her and she knew eventually Dodge would call. She hadn’t wanted to miss his call and then have to lie about the reason. She wasn’t a good liar. Dodge would notice. Then she’d have to tell him about the calls and the reason she hadn’t told him.

  She lifted her head, looking in Cullen’s direction, sitting at the far end of her classroom playing with a train. Thankfully, he hadn’t noticed her reaction. She pulled open the top drawer of her desk.

  Smiling, she slid her finger across the screen. “Hi.”

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Fine.”

  See. Bad liar. She never said “yeah.”

  “Yeah?”

  She swallowed. “I’m fine.”

  “When did you get a call?”

  She sighed, lifted her stare to Cullen, now looking her way. “Can we talk about it later?”

  “Going to you.”

  “No,” she said too quickly. “I’m fine.”

  “You got a call, Lex. We gotta talk about it now.”

  “I’m fine. I’m working. We’ll talk about it later.”

  “Right,” he growled and hung up.

  Rude, but his way of venting his frustration. She’d deal.

  Not ten minutes later, he strode into her classroom, jaw clenched, hands in fists at his sides.

  Her gaze darted to Cullen, who hadn’t missed his father enter but kept his distance, his stare unafraid yet vigilant.

  Keeping her voice level, she looked to Dodge. “I told you we’d talk about it later.”

  Dodge peered at Cullen, and instantly, his eyes and demeanor softened. “Cul, come give me a hug.”

  Cullen walked to his father and hugged him. When Cul pulled away, Dodge looked down at him. “Gotta talk to Lex about something important. Go play, but stay where Lex and me can see you, ’kay?”

  Cul
nodded and headed back to his toy. As Dodge neared, Lex dropped her pen and stood.

  “You see anyone stop me coming in here?”

  She shook her head. “I-I wouldn’t know.”

  “Answer’s no, Lex. I know the school’s got a security guard, but he wasn’t up front. I walked right in here. No one stopped me. No one asked me where I was going. No one even saw me.”

  A new hurricane-proof sliding glass door, a couple of new windows, an alarm system, and the only reason there weren’t cameras installed as well was that she argued against them until she was blue in the face, meaning Dodge had made it hard for anyone to get to her while she was home. The next best option, her work. Still, she hadn’t considered it primarily because there was school security.

  She swallowed. “I see your point.”

  “Yeah. So now are you gonna tell me when you got the call?”

  “Two days ago.”

  He didn’t say a word, just stared at her, eyes on fire, jaw clenched, face beet red. Then he turned and stormed off.

  Her gut clenched then rolled.

  She’d done it—gotten him so mad he’d walked away. Had she accomplished what she set out to do—convince him they should go their separate ways? Maybe, and that scared her more than the lunatic terrorizing her because exactly what she feared happened in just a week.

  She’d fallen more deeply in love with Dave “Dodge” Roth. He accomplished that by simply being there for her, making it impossible for her to keep her distance. He texted her, spent his nights with her and Cul. He cooked, or she did. She read to Cul, or they watched TV together. Just like before except she refused to spend the night at his place or have him stay at hers, and he hadn’t fought her on this. Aside from a few pecks on her cheek and forehead when he greeted her or said goodbye, he hadn’t even kissed her, but they talked a lot about everything and anything. Whenever she felt scared, somehow he knew and comforted her. He’d become her rock.

  Naturally, then and there, it felt like her world had crumbled, so she stood frozen nursing a deep ache in the center of her chest.

  When he didn’t return, she took a seat intending to finish grading the stack of students’ work. Instead, she stared at the pile hoping the pain inside her would fade.

  Her classroom door parted. She lifted her head as Dodge strode through. It’d been at least a half hour, and it hadn’t done him any good. Face impassive, but his jaw was hard, and his eyes were ominous.

  He closed the distance between them. “Get your stuff. It’s time to go.”

  She didn’t argue. She wouldn’t. For one, she wasn’t done, but what she had to do, she could do from home. Besides, she was relieved he’d come back, and as pathetic as it was, she didn’t want him to leave again. Anyway, she owed him this, right? When she was angry, he always heard her out. Sometimes, he gave in. Case in point, her yoga attire and the cameras she refused to have installed. Only fair she did the same for him.

  When she nodded, his eyes widened subtly.

  She turned her head. “Cul, honey?”

  Cul already looking their way.

  “Pick up your stuff, we’re leaving.”

  He looked to his father then back at her and did as she asked.

  She grabbed the stack of papers she meant to grade, stuffed them into a folder, carted her purse out of the bottom drawer of her desk, and stood. “Cul hasn’t had a snack.”

  Dodge nodded.

  He walked her and Cul to her car. “You got his car seat, he can ride with you.”

  Snatching her keys from her purse, she unlocked her car.

  Dodge helped Cul inside and strapped him in. Then he shut the door, turned, and said over his shoulder, “Meet you at our house.”

  “Cul hasn’t had a snack.”

  He faced her. “We have food at our place.”

  “But there’re cookies at mine—”

  “There’re cookies at our place too. There just aren’t any of yours.”

  “But he was…”

  Dodge released a loaded breath.

  “…Excited. I told him he could have some.”

  That muscle in his jaw twitched, but he nodded.

  She hopped into her car and drove. In minutes, she parked in her garage and helped Cullen out of his car seat. Inside, she turned off the alarm, grabbed two cookies and apple juice, Cul’s favorite, from the fridge, and set them on the counter for him.

  When a knock sounded on her front door, she headed for it, looked through the peephole, and opened it.

  “You look?” he asked as he strolled inside.

  “Yes, of course.”

  Locking the door behind him, she faced him.

  “No, babe, not ‘of course’ ’cause you’ve been getting calls, and you didn’t tell me. I’m trying to protect you. You have Cul with you, for fuck’s sake—”

  “I reported it.” This, she hoped appeased him.

  He reared back. When what she said seemed to settle, much to her surprise, his body locked. “You called the cops?”

  “I called Officer Johnson—”

  Through gritted teeth, he said, “So you ran to that fuckin’ cop who wants to fuck you, but you didn’t say shit to me?” His voice a low growl.

  She shook her head. “He doesn’t—”

  He leaned in to her until a breath away from her lips. “Babe, wake the hell up. That cop wants to fuck you, and you went to him instead of me.” He slammed his palm against his chest. “So it looks like you want him looking after you instead of me.”

  God, he was jealous? Never had a man been jealous about her. Not until him. The first time, he’d insulted and humiliated her. Now, he made her feel…worth.

  Her turn to be shocked, so stunned she couldn’t put words together. All she managed to do, stand there staring at his too beautiful, angry face and let that warmth in her gut rise all the way up her throat.

  She swallowed. “I didn’t want you to worry any more than you already were…are. Besides, he’s a cop. It’s what cops do.”

  He pulled away slightly, face and body relaxing as he scanned her. Finally, his lips quirked up. “Lex, baby, you realize what you just said?”

  Yes. She cared and said as much. She was tired of trying to convince herself otherwise, tired of fighting him, yet she didn’t have to say this aloud.

  “Don’t worry about me. I worry about you, about Cul, about us. It’s my job. I gotta protect you. You don’t worry about anything but being happy.”

  “It’s…”

  He snaked his arm around her waist, tugged her body to his, and cupped her cheek. “The club, we’re a family. We take care of our own. You’re with me, so you’re part of this family too. We’ll all look out for you, so you can’t hide shit from me. We can fix this and we will, but we gotta do it together.”

  God, he was so close. It had been a week since he’d insisted they were together, but in that week, he’d only touched her to comfort her. Only natural that right then, the urge to get on the tips of her toes and press her lips to his overwhelmed her.

  “Promise me.”

  What was she promising?

  The hell with it.

  “I promise.”

  Darn it. Now, she didn’t know what promise to keep.

  He grinned. “You promised, Lex, can’t break promises, so you’re not gonna hide shit from me, right?”

  She smiled. “I promise I won’t keep anything from you.”

  She wanted so badly to kiss him then. She almost did. Before she summoned the courage, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and released her.

  She shifted her head. Cullen sat on a stool, a cookie in hand. His head cocked to the side, brows creased looking right at them.

  “Everything okay, Cul?”

  He looked between his father and her in that observant way.

  She smiled assuring him.

  Only then did he nod.

  ****

  It felt like she’d just drifted to sleep when the jarring sound of her phone ringing wo
ke her. She’d forgotten to silence it. Without thought, Lex reached to her nightstand, snatched her phone, and answered.

  “Hello,” she mumbled sleepily.

  Nothing.

  Then ragged breaths.

  She shot up in bed, covered the mouthpiece of her cell with her hand, and stilled.

  A moment later, a chilling, distorted voice, “I’ll find a way in.”

  Breaths shallow, her hands trembled.

  The line went dead. Dropping her phone, she jumped out of bed and flipped on her lights. Frantically, her gaze flew from the tossed comforter and blanket to the windows facing the front of her house beside her. Blue drapes still and unmoving. She snapped her head. Dark wood armoire sat in front of her, a decorative vase and a series of perfumes on it. Next to the armoire, another window. Those drapes, too, unmoving. She looked to her right, toward the small hall leading to her bathroom and closet. The lights off, the door to her bathroom parted.

  Had she left a window open? The door unlocked? Had she set the alarm? What the hell should she do? Call the cops? For what? A prank call?

  Her phone rang.

  She let out a small, terrified wail and slapped a shaky hand over her mouth.

  Deadening silence. Then it rang again.

  Her heart pounded louder, drumming against her chest.

  Should she pick up? Should she pack a bag and stay at a hotel for the night? Right then, she couldn’t do either. She couldn’t move!

  The ringing stopped. Tears threatening to spill, she took an unstable breath, almost relieved until the ringing started again and seemed like it got louder and louder. She had to make it stop.

  Walking to her bed, she found her phone, nabbed it, and stared at the screen. Dodge’s name flashed. She answered it and brought it to her ear.

  “Lex, you okay?” His voice rough.

  She released a breath and ignored the tears pricking her eyes.

  “Babe, talk to me. Gotta know you’re okay.”

  “I’m…” She swallowed. “I’m…not okay.”

  “I’m coming—”

  “No, you can’t!” Tears trekked down her cheeks. “Someone c-called. It woke me. He s-said…” Her voice broke. “He said h-he’d find a way in. What if he’s outside? What if—”

  “Gotta calm down, Lex.”

  “I’m scared. I-I’m—” Even to herself, she sounded hysterical.