by JP Sayle
He’d been a little more forthcoming than some of the other men as he’d shown me the pool room and several bedrooms, all with their own facilities. There was a meeting room they called the church, I assumed because it was only used for private business. Linc had his own personal space in the back, which explained why no one had seen or allegedly heard anything that night.
Linc had said that Nola had followed him into his private rooms. Nola, on the other hand, said he’d been all over her and invited her in. Not quite the picture I was getting, but it seemed she’d been around him most of the night, if I were to believe what people were telling me. And that she’d left at the same time as him. Ned had more than implied that Linc liked to fuck, and often, and that he wasn’t particularly fussy. Again, it didn’t gel with the man whose biggest concern was the child he’d been left to care for on his own.
My gaze swept the room, and I noted the unguarded, hate-filled eyes watching me. How could Linc create a cabin as beautiful as the land it was sitting on, and not notice something was horribly wrong here? A shiver raced down my spine at thoughts of why the club might have been set deep in the woods, not far from Nolan Creek. The place offered isolation and a freedom for the men to do as they pleased.
The Dark Angels were well known around these parts. When I’d gone digging in the news archives, I’d gained a picture of the men and the activities the club had been involved in. Something had changed around the time River had been born. There were hardly any mentions about the club and only a few altercations with the law for minor stuff. Had they gotten better at hiding the illegal practices?
The businesses seemed to be above board, but the cash Linc had at his disposal was questionable. My gut twisted at what that possibly meant.
I’d set my worries aside about where the cash came from, or I’d tried to, so that I could keep a clear head and focus on Linc’s case. The last thing I wanted was to rock any other gremlins free that I didn’t want or need.
I leaned back against the leather seat and ignored the tension in the room as I thought about what I needed to do next. Up till now, I’d avoided going to River’s Tattoo. If I’d needed to talk to Linc, I’d either sent a message or called him. It seemed I was going to have to go and talk to Nutty, because I had a hunch about what Linc had done with River the night Nola said she was attacked, and I needed to see if I was right.
***
The number of cars and motorcycles parked on the drive at River’s meant I had to park further down the street. I eyed the clear blue sky and wondered why I longed for summer, but the moment the temperature started to climb, I wanted it to be fall?
I removed my suit jacket and slung it over the car seat before rolling up my shirt sleeves. Reaching for my briefcase, I got out of the car. The midday heat had my shirt sticking uncomfortably to my skin as I walked along the sidewalk back to Linc’s shop.
Again, I found it at odds with the man Linc presented to the world that he’d chosen a quiet, suburban neighborhood for his home and business. I strolled up the path and walked into the shop.
The reception room had been converted into a waiting area and split in two. The left side had several comfy seats that were all taken. There was a table with magazines, and a mini fridge with a glass front housing several different drinks for customers to take.
On the right-hand side of the room, Nutty stood behind a large, handcrafted desk that looked more like a bar. The wood went all the way to the floor and hid most of Nutty behind it.
She beamed at me and mouthed “Hang on,” then carried on talking into the phone she held to her ear while she wrote something in the large book open in front of her. Her inky black hair was in its usual spiky style, but she wore no make-up today. Her tanned skin glowed with health and her silvery eyes twinkled with humor as she continued to chat with whoever was on the other end of the phone.
My gaze swept the room and registered the people waiting for their appointments. There was an eclectic mix, from leather clad bikers, to a guy in a three-piece suit, and a girl who didn’t look old enough to be making decisions about inking her body.
“What can I do for you Mason? If you’re after Linc, your gonna have a bit of a wait, he’s got a customer up in his room.”
“Actually, it’s you I came to see.” I gave her a reassuring smile when hers dimmed and she started to fidget with the pen she’d been using.
“Why?”
“Listen, can you give me a few minutes, somewhere private,” I glanced back at the full chairs then back at Nutty. “Please.”
Her smooth brow furrowed, and she chewed at her lower lip. “Gimme a minute, I’ll see if someone can cover the desk for me.” She sounded reluctant, but I nodded and leaned against the desk as she wandered off down a hall, disappearing into a room.
My fingers drifted up to the side of my throat without thought, and I touched the shirt that covered the now faded mark. Any doubts I might have had that Linc was bi or gay had fled the second he’d laid his mouth on mine. It had also created more questions about why no one at the club had, at any point, mentioned Linc being gay, or at least, bi.
Did he hide it? I shook my head. His ‘fuck you’ attitude didn’t vibe with him hiding his sexuality. Yet, not once had anyone brought it up. Why was that? Were they protecting Linc? Or was there some other reason?
A throbbing started in my temples by the time Nutty reappeared with a guy that I’d not met. He had a mop of blond hair and a sunny smile. He stood around the same height as me, but he was super skinny and something about him told me he might be gay.
When his aqua blue eyes roamed over my body in appreciation, my suspicions were confirmed.
“Who’s this?” the guy asked, his eyes alight with amusement.
Nutty rolled her eyes, but I didn’t fail to notice how she stiffened. “This is Mason Davenport, Linc’s lawyer. And the reason I need a couple minutes of your time, Troy.” She kept her voice low so the folks sat in the chairs couldn’t hear. Her voice was cheery, yet I wasn’t getting the impression she was feeling it.
I held out my hand and got a firm handshake in return. “Nice to meet you, Troy. I hopefully won’t keep Nutty too long.”
After dropping my hand, he waved off my worry. “It’s cool,” he glanced at the seated area, “Wendy won’t mind waiting, will you, love?” he asked in a raised voice to attract her attention from the magazine she held.
The girl who didn’t look old enough, nodded and blushed a deep shade of red.
“Come on, let’s go up to the apartment,” Nutty stated.
I followed her as she led the way up the couple flights of stairs to Linc’s apartment. The first evening I’d come up, I’d found a home that was both comfortable and showed River’s influence everywhere. The amount of pink was a little overwhelming, but totally adorable.
Nutty led us into the large lounge area that had windows that overlooked the big back garden. The garden had a huge fence around it so no one could see in. There was a fire pit and a large barbecuing area.
The back porch, that must have been added to the second floor, was beneath the window and had the same rainbow table and chairs as was on the main porch, which said that Linc’s room was directly beneath.
“So, what is it you wanna ask?”
Chapter Thirteen
Lincoln
My throbbing headache had started about the same time I’d gone downstairs and found Troy manning the reception desk. What did Mason want with Nutty?
The same question was on repeat in my head as I finished cleaning the client’s skin.
“You do spectacular work. I can’t wait to figure out where I’ll have my next tat,” the guy all but gushed as he eyed his left arm. It might have been red and bleeding, but it didn’t detract from the art.
The intertwining flowers were in bold shades of blue and green. I’d blended the colors and faded them out toward the end of the petals. The stamen were bright yellow on thin green stalks. The flowers went around the whol
e upper arm and were threaded with thorns that looked as if they’d dug into his flesh, with several drops of blood seeming to drip down his forearm toward the back of his hand. I’d worked with the guy on the design, and I’d been stoked with how it had turned out.
“Maybe you need to do the other arm,” I suggested as I eyed the bare arm, my creative mind already considering the options.
“I’m thinkin’ my right leg,” he muttered thoughtfully.
“Cool.” I started reeling off the instructions on how to care for the tattoo and eventually had to push him out the door. He was still on the high from getting his tattoo completed and could have talked for hours.
Cleaning down my workstation, I rolled my neck back and forth. When my hand started to cramp, I rubbed at my fingers, trying to loosen the tightness. Nutty’s dark head appeared around the door, looking visibly upset, but she didn’t get a chance to say anything before Mason stepped around her.
One look at his angry face, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out I’d been caught holding out on him.
“Why didn’t you tell me River was with you the night Nola says you raped her?”
His blunt question had Nutty’s head disappearing, and I felt the throbbing at my temples increase.
“It’s got nothin’ to do with what happened—”
He stepped so close to me I could feel his breath touch my face as he spat out angrily, “I’ll be the judge of whether it’s got anything to do with what happened. I told you that I need honesty. How the fuck am I supposed to trust you when you’re holding stuff back from me?”
My own temper started to rise at being called out. I stood taller, making every inch count as I towered over him, making him have to lift his chin to keep eye contact. “I’ll be the judge of what’s important, not you.”
His face became an impenetrable mask, but not before what looked like hurt flashed into his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair as he stared at me, then spoke in an icy tone that chilled me to the bone.
“Is that right? Well you tell me then how the fuck I’m gonna stop your ass from being thrown into jail for the next God-knows-how-long for rape. Because the way the fucking club members are stonewalling and Nola is gathering support, you’ll be lucky to see the outside of a cell for a very long time. When you think you’re ready to be honest, you know where to find me.”
Far calmer than I expected, he spun on his heel and stalked out of the room. His back was rigid, and his feet thudded solidly against the wooden stairs as he disappeared from sight.
“Well, fuck!”
“Poppy, what did ya do?” River asked as she came into the room, her face full of worry. “Why was Mason angry at ya, Poppy? I could ‘ear him as I was comin’ downstairs. Will he come back to help us?” Her voice was full of tears and matched the now shiny eyes peering up at me, striking at the anger and leaving me cold with dread that I’d fucked up.
Crouching down in front of her, I opened my arms for her. The second it took for her to decide to come to me showed how much I’d fucked up. “I’m sorry, Spirit. I’ll fix it with Mason.” I buried my nose in her scented hair and inhaled.
“Now Poppy! Ya need to fix it now.” Her tone brooked no further argument and I sighed, knowing I’d do anything to remove the sadness from her face.
“Okay. Wanna come with me?” I knew it was the coward’s thing to do, but I needed Mason to see that I couldn’t use River and put her through an ordeal that no child should endure. I’d suffered as a child through neglect, careless adults, and both physical and verbal abuse. That was not the life I wanted for River. So why couldn’t Mason see that?
You never told him your reasons, so how would he know?
Silently cursing the voice of reason, I held on to River as I rose. I dug my wallet out of my back pocket to search for the card Mason had given me with his contact details on it. He’d handwritten his address on the back, saying it was for emergencies only. This was an emergency of sorts, wasn’t it?
I went in search of Nutty. Half an hour later, after she’d apologized like forty times and I’d explained I wasn’t mad at her, I left with River. Riding my hog, she clung on to her special made belt as I rode highway 35 to Killeen after figuring out where Mason’s apartment block was.
All too soon, we were stood outside his apartment door with a box of cakes from a bakery just down the street that River had spotted and insisted we buy Mason a treat to say sorry.
“Poppy, stop scowlin’, yous’ll frighten Mason lookin’ like dat,” she scolded.
My teeth gritted together as I worked on trying to relax my face, the headache making it hard to focus. Before I could knock on the door, River was using the side of her tiny fist to bang on the door.
Silent minutes ticked by, and I considered if I should maybe have rung to check he was home, but then River banged again.
The thought fled when Mason opened the door wearing nothing but a large cream towel wrapped around his lean hips. Droplets of water clung to his hair and muscular chest as he stood there, his eyes widening. Then the unreadable mask was back in place while I struggled to unglue my tongue from the roof of my mouth.
“Yes?”
“Now don’t be mean to Poppy, he came to says sorry to ya. Ya have to listen ‘cause it’s polite. Well dat’s what Nutty says,” River explained as she let go of my hand and sailed past Mason into his apartment, without asking if she could come in.
The squeal of delight she released was followed by Mason spinning around to give me the sight of his broad back and the two dimples at the base of his spine. The tug of arousal I felt whenever he was near ramped up, and my jeans became far snugger than they’d been on the ride over. With his back to me, I adjusted myself and followed him into the apartment as he walked over to where River stood.
I shut the door behind me, and then looked to see what had caught River’s attention. My heart rolled in my chest at the sight of the little box she’d made. It sat on top of a tall cabinet in an alcove next to a huge flat screen TV, mounted in front of a large muted grey sofa. He’d done as he’d said!
“Look, Poppy, Mason putted my box right where folks can see,” she said with such happiness that I couldn’t swallow for a second.
“He did.” It was the best I could come up with when Mason turned his thoughtful, sea-green eyes on me.
He moved his gaze to River, then back to me, before closing the distance between us. He shook his head. “That’s a dirty trick to pull on me when you know I’m mad at you,” he muttered, low enough for me to hear but not River.
I didn’t pretend not to understand and gave him a stoic look.
He sighed. “What are you doing here?” he asked, then his nose twitched before he sniffed the air, releasing a low groan as he eyed the bakery box I held. “Is that from Myla’s bakery?” He rubbed at his naked stomach and drew my attention to the firm, tanned skin.
“Was my idea, wasn’t it, Poppy?” River interjected, breaking the tension between us.
“Go get dressed, then we can talk,” I rasped through a parched throat, his fingers running over his damp skin as if he were teasing me.
For a moment, I thought he was going to argue, but when he walked off toward one of the four doors leading off the living room, I released the pent-up breath I’d held.
I scratched at my head. Why did I think this was a good idea again?
I blew out a breath. Whether it was a good idea or not, I had little choice if I wanted to keep River safe. I just needed to keep reminding myself this was about River, and nothing more.
Chapter Fourteen
Mason
I took my time getting dressed, needing a few minutes to get myself under control. There’s a child out there, and with Linc looking hotter than a runway model, that’s what I needed to remember.
My cheeks puffed out and I rolled my eyes in the mirror as I combed my hair and eyed the loose-fitting shorts and T-shirt I’d put on. Should I get changed into something a little mor
e professional? It’s your home for pity’s sake.
Before I could change my mind, I walked out of the room barefooted, moving silently over the wooden laminate floor. I stood in the doorway and watched River stare up at the box she’d made me. Her face continued to hold the wonder that she’d shown when she’d first seen it sitting in a place of honor on my cabinet.
Linc sat on the edge of my couch, wearing his traditional black jeans and T-shirt, looking very uncomfortable and making me wonder if River had somehow talked him into coming here.
“Have you two had something to eat?” I asked as I stepped fully into the room, my home feeling somewhat smaller with Linc in it. They both turned to look at me, but it was River I focused on.
“We’s came straight ‘ere so Poppy didn’t have a chance to make me supper,” River announced, drawing a curse from Linc.
“Then let’s see what I have to eat, as I’m so starved, I might just eat whatever is in that box your Poppy brought before my meal.” I winked at her and she giggled, coming toward me and offering her arms up for me to pick her up.
I automatically stooped to lift her up without thinking about it, so used to doing it with Hudson’s boy, Declan, that it took a moment to register Linc’s stillness. Over River’s head, I met his stare and raised a brow in question.
His dark eyes held mine. “Can you cook?” he asked.
I suspected that had not been what was on his mind, but I shrugged and answered, “You’re about to find out.”
“Poppy’s a good cook, aren’t ya, Poppy?” River glanced to Linc and gave him a sunny smile, then started to chatter about her day as I strolled into the kitchen, not waiting for Linc to follow. I perched River on one of the stools next to the breakfast bar and went to the fridge.
Upon inspection, I found a homemade lasagne my Mom had given to my Dad for me the day before. It was big enough to feed three. “Do we like lasagne? It’s my Mom’s speciality, I’ll bet you’ve never tasted anything better,” I bragged, as I took it out of the fridge and laid it on the counter, doing my best to not look at the silent man leaning against the counter just inside the kitchen doorway.
