by Amelia Shea
He eyed his father resting against the seat with the glow of the fire reflecting off his face. It had been a good day, and by the looks of it, it was going to end good for him.
Some days he was Pop, pissing insults, swearing at any man who was in his way, and showing the sweet side to Riss. Other days, the hard to watch ones, he didn’t even know who he was or anyone around him. Kase hated those days. He preferred listening to Jack spew venomous rants on how Kase had made the Ghosttown Riders soft pussies, and back in his day, they raised hell, not fucking fundraisers. At least he knows who I am on those days.
Jack shook his head, laughing. “Back in my day, I would have tried to get you in my bed.”
Kase smirked, shaking his head. Seventy years old, losing half his mind and on the verge of the end, and the old man was still making a play for the ladies. He glanced over at Phoebe, who was clearly amused. She cocked her head and smiled at his dad.
“Back in your day, I probably would have gone willingly, Jack.”
Jack burst out laughing, followed by a soft giggle. He shifted his gaze to catch his dad lifting his glass above his head.
“Toast to you. To hot women with great asses and whiskey.”
Phoebe raised her glass. “And to badass bikers with foul mouths and whiskey.”
There was no denying the ease these two felt with one another. My father drinking with the fucking enemy.
Kase clenched his jaw and felt the tightness in his chest. The scene had taken an abrupt turn and pissed him off. How had she swindled herself into Jack’s good graces? Something he hadn’t managed to do in thirty-eight years. Jack had always been hard on him and Caden. Kase more so. It was rare they agreed on anything.
Kase couldn’t remember the last time he’d sat around a fire, drinking whiskey and shooting the shit with his old man.
He stepped out from the side of the house, and he caught Phoebe glance over her shoulder. He was probably the last person she expected to see at her house. Her expression confirmed it.
He ambled forward and stopped a foot away from his father’s seat. “Been looking for you.”
He kept his gaze locked on Phoebe. He clenched his jaw when Jack glanced over his shoulder and shook his head. Dealing with his dad in front of her wasn’t something he looked forward to.
Jack surprised him and stood without saying a word and stumbled closer to her chair.
“We’ll do this again, darlin.”
Phoebe gazed up with a grin. “I look forward to it, Jack.” She winked, which sent his old man walking off with a puffed-up chest and an ornery strut to the fence.
He watched him until he got to the fence and then whipped his head, glaring at Phoebe. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Her mouth gaped, and she winced as if she’d been struck. He was being an asshole. Yet he couldn’t stop himself. Something about the exchange between her and his dad had set him off.
“Having whiskey by the fire with your dad.” She arched her brow. “He’s very friendly.”
He stalked forward as she rose and side-stepped her chair.
“Stay the fuck away from my dad, you hear me?”
She flinched. “Kase, I just had a drink with him. You really think I’d hurt Jack?”
Don’t do it. He was being such a bastard he couldn’t even listen to himself.
“I know ya got a violent streak against the seniors around here, so stay the fuck away from him.”
She gasped. “He came here, Kase.”
“Yeah, and it’s the last fucking time.” He closed in on her. “You stay away from me, my family, and the fucking club, or you will have a problem.”
“Don’t you come over here and threaten me, asshole.” She stopped herself, but Kase knew he’d struck a nerve. She drew in a breath. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Jack came here, remember that.” She held up her hands and shook her head. “Why are you so upset?”
“I’m not upset, I’m fucking pissed. I got my old man wandering out of the fucking house and coming over to hang out with your crazy ass. Don’t need that shit.”
She cocked her head. “My crazy ass?”
“Yeah,” he barked. “Don’t need you taking a swing at the old man if he says shit to set you off.” It was a low blow. His anger was heating every word that came out of his mouth. He clenched his jaw. “Want nothing from you.” He gazed down her body and cocked his brow. “Fucking nothing.” It was a lie. Possibly the biggest he’d ever told.
He was sending a harsh, untrue message, and Phoebe was receiving it. She clamped her mouth with a pink blush crossing over her cheeks. She twisted her lips and glanced up with a devilish glare.
“Except my property, Kase. That you want.” She had him there, and from the sinister spark in her eye, she knew it. “I suggest you get going before I’m forced to call the police. Trespassing is against the law, ya know. And I’m sure I’m not the only one standing here with a record for a violent past.” She winked.
He was seething as he stepped back. His anger—for what, he didn’t know—was being put on her, and she was feeling it. He was being himself. A bastard. He walked away and reached down to swipe the bottle, but it disappeared before he could grab it. He spun around and watched as she tossed it into the fire, and the flames shot up a few feet. He narrowed his gaze, and she smiled.
“It slipped.” She sneered, and her eyes heated in anger. “Now, get the fuck off my property.”
If she hadn’t already been the enemy, he’d solidified their stance. He slowly walked away with her heated glare ripping through his back.
Chapter Nine
Could it get any worse?
A looming deadline had her on edge, along with her fight with Kase. Don’t forget solely in charge of the parks committee.
At least she had one bright spot at the moment. Phoebe sighed listening to her father on the other line. If ever a man had set a bar so high no other could reach, it was her dad. All positivity even at her lowest points.
“Got a deadline I’m not sure I’ll meet.” She drove her hand through her hair.
“You’ll get it done, honey.”
This man. Even at her lowest, when she knew she’d been an utter disappointment, he’d rallied her through the hard times. My biggest hero I might not deserve.
She sighed. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Hold up, honey.”
She furrowed her brows. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just uh, wanna know if there’s a reason you’re not taking your brother’s calls. Says he’s been trying to get ya for a week.”
“Really?” She feigned shock. Her dad saw through it.
“Phoebe.”
She tightened her lips and punched the air, having a silent tantrum. What kind of grown man bitches to his dad to get his sister to call back? My brother.
“I’ll call him back. Bye, Dad.” She hung up and tossed her phone on the table.
She twisted her lips, staring down at her phone. She didn’t say when she’d call him back.
At thirty-two years old, she shouldn’t be calling her dad for advice, guidance, and a friggin’ pep talk. What the hell had happened to her? Jared. It was an easy excuse, but truthfully, she’d allowed herself to get lost. It had been good for so long; she had missed when the tide had turned. It was easy to see it after the fact. During their marriage, she’d been clueless.
She peeked up when she heard the phone ring.
Phoebe glanced down at her cell. Oh, hell no. He was the last person on the planet she wanted to talk to. She closed her eyes and groaned. It was the same knee jerk reaction she always had when he called. How they were born from the same cloth boggled her mind. She eyed the phone and considered her options. He rarely called, as in once a year for her birthday. However, that had changed a week ago when he began blowing up her phone every day. If she didn’t answer, she’d be fielding calls from her dad wondering why she was ignoring his calls. She grabbed the phone, walking over to the co
uch. Anytime they spoke, she felt the need to be comfortable.
“Like this wasn’t planned,” she muttered, inhaling a calm breath. She was going to need it. She curled into the sofa and answered.
“I was just thinking we don’t talk enough.”
“Shut up.”
Typical Carter, always the asshole.
Phoebe laughed and settled into the couch. “And this is why. I just can’t compete with your sunny disposition.”
“Wanna explain to me how the hell you end up on a motorcycle gang’s radar?”
He’d gotten her attention, and she shifted against the cushions. There was only one MC’s radar she could have gotten on. Giving him the upper hand of confusion wouldn’t fare well in her best interest. Neither would feigning naïveté.
“Well, we are neighbors.”
“What?” he snapped.
She rolled her eyes. “Carter, I live in Ghosttown. You know this, it’s not top secret.” She snorted. “And even if it was classified information, I would think you, being a grade A detective, would have known.” She smirked and tilted her head. “Maybe you’re not as great as you think you are, big brother.”
She knew of quite a few siblings who were best friends. It was the polar opposite of her and Carter. Separated by almost seven years, they were as opposite as anyone could imagine. Though he’d never admit it, she believed Carter resented her since birth.
“Yeah, in the same fucking town, not next door.”
Why the hell did he care? Hell, it had been six months since they’d last spoken. It would have been longer had their dad not interfered.
“Hey, I was here first. I have no control where they build their house.”
“You never learn, do you?” She heard the heavy condescending sigh. “Thirty-two years old and you still can’t read people.”
Son of a…
It was typical Carter. He was always the golden child in their family. It was sickening what a perfect asshole he was. He lived for showing off, and their parents fed off of it. In fairness, he’d always done well in school, he had goals, and for outward appearances, he was a model son. Asshole. She had to put up with him for her first eleven years of life. When he went off to college, her life enhanced. With the exception of holidays and summer breaks when he came home.
“I’m hanging up ’cause, as always, you’re being a dick. And unlike when we were kids, I don’t have to take it.” She pulled the phone from her ear but was drawn back.
“No, you’re gonna listen because I need to know what the hell you’ve gotten yourself into and try to bail you out again.”
She would forever hold a secret grudge against her father for calling Carter after her altercation with Arnett. She would have preferred jail time than to be indebted to her brother.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Then why is the president of the Ghosttown Riders blowing up my goddamn phone wanting me to check into you?”
She flicked her gaze across the room and held her breath. Why was Kase calling Carter about her?
“Kase called you?”
“Oh fuck, you’re on a first name basis?”
“Uh, it sounds like you are too, hypocrite. Why the hell does a president of a gang call a lead detective for intel on someone? Huh, Carter? Maybe this isn’t the first time you’ve helped him out?” She sneered. “Playing dirty cop, are you?”
He scoffed. “Judging me, Phoebe, are you fucking serious? How the fuck did playing the naïve, enabling wife work out for you? While I was working my ass off, you sat around collecting mounds of fucking debt, courtesy of your piece of shit husband.”
She tightened her grip on the phone and gritted her teeth. He knew exactly what to say to get under her skin.
“Fuck you, Carter. I paid back my debts. All of them.”
“And you borrowed money from Dad to do it.”
How the hell did he know that? She would have thought her dad would have kept her loan between the two of them.
“They weren’t mine to begin with, and I’m paying Dad back.”
“That’s right, Jared was fucking wining and dining all over the fucking country.” He laughed. “Bastard even got the last laugh on you, dropping dead in another woman’s bed. And still it’s not enough for you to grow up.”
A cold chill rushed through her blood. It was true, but for Carter to throw it in her face, knowing the humiliation she’d gone through when she found out, made him an even bigger asshole than she gave him credit for.
“Y-you are…” She licked her lips as her anger built. All her anger management skills were out the door. If Carter was standing in front of her, she’d punch him in the face.
“I’m cleaning up your mess, like always. Christ, Phoebe.”
“I didn’t ask you to help me, asshole. I’ve never asked you for anything.”
“No, you haven’t, but I’m forced to clean up your messes outta family obligation. You really think I’m going to allow my own father to go into debt for you?”
What? Why would her father go into debt? When she explained to her dad that the debt Jared had left her with had her drowning, he stepped up, suggesting a loan. He offered to give her the money and she would pay him back. She resisted at first, but he assured her he had plenty in his savings. He basically demanded she do it. I’m forced to clean up your messes outta family obligation. You really think I’m going to allow my own father to go into debt for you? Her stomach dropped and twisted in a painful ache with the realization the money wasn’t her father’s, it was Carter’s.
She closed her eyes and cupped her mouth. Of course, it was. Her dad had to know she’d go bankrupt and die of hunger before taking money from Carter. Goddammit. Isn’t there one man on this earth she could wholeheartedly trust?
“Fuck.” It was a hushed curse, probably in response to her silence.
“I’ll pay you back immediately.”
“Christ, you don’t have the money. Now, calm the fuck down and listen.”
She ended the call and tossed the phone on the bed. Her phone rang again, and she shut it down. Forty thousand dollars. Where the hell was she going to come up with that kind of money? Even if she got another job or two, it would still take years to pay him back. She lowered her face into the palm of her hands.
“I have nothing,” she muttered, and then her heart sank. She did have something. The one thing that would make it go away. In fact, it was all she had, and she was sitting in it. She peeked between her fingers. Her tears welled immediately, and she sucked in a deep breath.
The only viable option to pay Carter back would be to lose the one thing she loved the most.
After Jared’s death and his debt had come to light, she didn’t hesitate to sell everything, the property they shared, the toys they acquired, his cars, and her own. She sold all her jewelry, most of her possessions of value. She would have sold the shirt on her back just to keep her Ghosttown shack. Now, she’d have to give it up.
Her chest tightened, and a sharp ache ripped through her chest.
“Bastard is fucking me over from the grave.” She grabbed the throw pillow beside her and whipped it across the room. She shot up and paced through the room.
Her mind was going in a million different directions. She needed a distraction before she did something impulsive. As if on cue, she heard the rumbling of the engines from next door.
Kase.
After the argument they had a few days ago, Kase would probably jump at the chance to buy her property and be rid of her. Asshole. She could sell to the club, probably get more than if she went through a realtor. She could have Carter paid back by the end of the month.
She walked to the door and crossed her porch, standing at the edge facing the clubhouse. There were only two viable options to get her out of debt, pay back Carter, and finally move on. She bit her lip and eyed the clubhouse. There were a flurry of people walking inside and out. She refused to admit it, but she was searching for him in the mix of people.<
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She clenched her teeth and breathed heavily through her nose when she spotted him. He was walking out to his bike but stopped midway. She shifted her gaze a few feet back and watched as the club girl in barely-there shorts and a cutoff shirt sauntered his way. Just watching them together was giving her flashbacks to the other day. Her body pressed against his, her tongue deep inside his mouth while his fingers invaded her in the most delicious way.
When the girl reached out, grasped his arm, and slid up next to him, Phoebe felt the surge of jealously rip through her chest. She spun around and focused her attention on the woods in front of her.
Kase had the power. She wasn’t going to grant him more. She stomped across the porch and into the house, slamming the door behind her.
No fucking way.
It was petty, and though she really didn’t have too many options, selling to Kase and the club would be her last choice. My crazy ass isn’t selling to him. Going through a realtor wouldn’t give her the quick result she needed, but at least she wouldn’t have to see Kase’s smug face take possession of her home.
She should have taken a day or two to think about it, but it would have been pointless. Phoebe had always worked off her adrenaline. Some days it prevailed, other times it backfired.
Screw him. She’d get out of this dilemma without his assistance. She dialed the familiar number and waited as it rang.
Initially, she and Tory had been business acquaintances. She was the agent who sold the shack to her seven years ago. But as with most people Phoebe liked, she extended her friendship.
“Hey, girl, you back?”
“Yeah but not for long.”
“What? Why?”
Phoebe closed her eyes and pinched the crown of her nose, trying to ease the tension racing through her body.
Ghosttown was the only place where she felt truly at home. When the fiasco with Jared happened, his death, the lies revealed, the compounding debt he’d left behind, his betrayal? All she wanted was to come home. Here.
