by Karen Renee
I turned to the windows overlooking the river. The morning storm was clearing up, with the sun peeking through the gray clouds.
“So, is there a special freight elevator for furniture deliveries and such? I might start settling in sooner rather than later.”
“There is, but let me give you the full tour first. I’m serious about you staying here immediately, the electric is on so you can cook, shower, whatever, and there’s spare linens and some plates, glasses and such. So, other than sleeping on the floor there’s no excuse not to be here. After the tour, I’ll wait until the rental car’s been delivered just in case you need a ride.”
NOT LONG AFTER THE tour of the place, Enterprise delivered my compact rental car. It was a Nissan Versa, and it definitely put the ‘packed’ in compact. Dad had minutes to spare before an appointment, and once he was gone, I decided to hit the nearby Winn-Dixie in case I actually did decide to spend the night. It was a miracle I wasn’t severely overweight because my sweet-tooth engaged primarily after eight at night.
Parking the tiny car, my phone rang again and it showed Trixie was calling. I had called her, and knew she was going through some serious problems, but I was stunned to see her name pop up nevertheless.
After speaking to her, I decided to pick up more than just late night sweets. It was getting close to one in the afternoon, and I had no idea if she had eaten lunch or not. My mother did not raise me to be a bad hostess, and God knew being married to a politician honed my hostessing skills in ways I never anticipated. While I had no idea what she would want to eat, I decided to go for finger food and junk food because she sounded like a girlfriend with a heartache. Personally, nothing eased my aching heart more than some “toes.” Fritos, Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos were all foods I liked to think of as part of the -toes food group. It made me crazy, I knew, but I also did not care.
I zipped over to the wine section and realized Trixie didn’t drink wine at lunch last week when I last saw her. She was a beer drinker, but hell if I knew beer very well. From the cooler case, I nabbed a bottle of Kim Crawford savignon blanc with the twist-off cap and the first bottle of rosé with a twist-off cap. I motored over to the beer section to grab a six pack of Samuel Adams because I’d always loved Boston and I thought she might like it.
Before checking-out, I hit the deli for some wings, grabbed paper plates, and a handful of frozen dinners in case I spent the night at the condo sometime this week. Over seventy-five dollars on my credit card later, I loaded the groceries into the car and went back to the condo.
No sooner had I unloaded everything, than Trixie needed to be buzzed up. Opening the door to the balcony, I led her to an umbrella-covered table. “I know it’s only lunch time right now, but I ran to the grocery store and picked up some provisions.”
I ran into the kitchen and grabbed the Kim Crawford, two wine glasses, and the grocery bag with the wings. Trixie’s eyes bulged with concern for my load, but I stopped her by shaking my head. “Don’t you move, lady. I got it, even if it looks like I don’t.”
Setting down the glass items first, I laid out the wings and a small garden salad.
Trixie’s brows furrowed a bit. “Wine and wings? Really? You do know beer goes better with wings.”
I grinned. “I was pretty sure you would say that, which is why I picked up a six-pack of Sam Adams.”
She shook her head. “You really didn’t have to do all this, Janie.”
I waved her off. “Of course I did. Let me go grab some paper towels and the other stuff.”
“The other stuff?”
I stopped to beam at her. “Yeah. I picked up nearly all of the ‘Toes’ food group. You know, Fritos, Tostitos, Doritos and a bag of Cheetos.”
She blinked at me slowly, and I knew she wanted to tell me I was crazy, so I high-tailed it into the kitchen.
I put the junk on the table and Trixie stood. “I’ll go get the beer. Do you need a corkscrew?”
“Nope. It’s twist-off.”
Trixie gave me a look as she went inside, and somehow I knew it was because she thought I would never drink wine from a twist-off, but she hid the look as quickly as it appeared. I loved that about Trixie. She could be opinionated, but she almost always withheld judgment until she had all the facts about somebody.
Trixie returned, and I waited until she had some wings before I leveled a look at her. “After the things that happened with Andrea, I decided I like Roll quite a bit. I haven’t even met him officially, but he damn sure did right by my girl. However, you’re becoming my girl, too, so your payment for using my soon-to-be pad as a hideout is to tell me what on earth is going on with you and him. You told me about his condition, but something else is up.”
She swallowed her food looking quite uncomfortable. “Can I plead the fifth?”
I shook my head as a gust of wind caught my hair, which forced me to shake my head harder to clear my eyes and focus on her. “Not applicable, Trixie. You’re not married to him and this isn’t a court of law. Let’s hear it. If he’s anything like Liar, then I’m kinda eager to hear what sort of idiocy he got up to. Don’t get me wrong. Liar’s a great guy and has more than made up for what he did. I like him too, but these bikers and their alpha macho stuff,” I paused to wave a finger in the air, “nope.”
She chuckled. “You don’t know the half of it with their bossiness. Well, the short version is, he finally claimed me to the brothers, but hasn’t put a property cut on my shoulders, so claiming me to his brothers isn’t enough.”
I had just cleaned a chicken wing, and set it down. “Forgive my ignorance, but why isn’t it enough?”
She tilted her head a little. “Because it’s not public. It’s basically keeping that info within the family. I guess you might compare it to a car. If you tell your family your car is for work and that’s it, nobody else should drive it, then the only people who know are your family. But if you put a magnet or whatever kinda sign on the door of that car, it tells everyone that’s your company car.”
I nodded, but I was still a little confused. “I get your analogy, but why do you need to advertise that you belong to Roll?”
She scoffed. “Honestly, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The fact is Roll was forced into claiming me to his brothers, because I was attacked.”
“Did he say that?”
“Essentially,” she muttered, and then took a big swig of beer.
I sipped my wine before I asked, “Essentially?”
“He didn’t realize I was in the room, but he told his brothers that the Devil Lancers, the group that attacked me, don’t know that he was forced to claim me because I got attacked.” She paused for a fortifying sip of beer. “So, that all means that for maybe half a day I felt like I was Roll’s, but in reality, not a damn thing really changed. He didn’t want to claim me, he just had no other choice in the matter. Not if he wanted the club to take action as a whole.”
I picked up my wine glass again and looked at the river for a long while. When I turned back to Trixie, I asked, “I can probably guess the answer to this, but I’ll ask it anyway. Do you really care if Roll was forced into claiming you? I know I haven’t met him, but from what you and Andrea have told me about him, he just doesn’t strike me as someone who does something he doesn’t actually want to do.”
“It’s crazy we’ve known each other for such a short amount of time, but I still feel like I have to tell you to get out of my head.”
I laughed. “So, what’s the problem, then? If you don’t think he gets forced into things, then it doesn’t seem like you have an issue.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Your ass hung up on me before I could tell you this on the phone, but...” She swiveled her head while making big eyes at our surroundings. “This is not a run-of-the-mill investment property. Is your Daddy just gonna put you up here, like rent-free or what? If so, does he feel like adopting a daughter late in life?”
I belly-laughed. “No, he’s not letting me stay rent-free.
And depending on how my job search goes, I might be looking for a roomie, so I’ll keep you in mind. But, really, I’m hoping this is just temporary. Now, before you think you pulled off a subject change, I’ll say we can change the subject, but I reserve the right to come back to it later, because I know there’s something you’re not telling me. And something tells me that missing piece is pretty damn juicy.”
Trixie smiled with her mouth closed and I sensed she wanted to tell me I was dead right. We fell into a comfortable silence as we ate and drank. Trixie got up to use the restroom, and my phone buzzed with a text from Andrea.
Whatcha up to?
I texted her back where I was, and when she asked if I wanted company, I gave her the address and the code to get in the lobby. Ten minutes later, she rang the bell and Trixie went stiff as a board in her chair.
I put a reassuring hand on Trixie’s outstretched hand. “Chill, Trixie. How would they know you’re even here?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I damn sure wouldn’t put anything past them!”
I shook my head. “It’s either my dad or possibly Andrea.”
Opening the door, Andrea looked past me and grinned. I opened my arms and we hugged. When she pulled away from me, she muttered, “This could be a really good place for you, Janie.”
I dropped my arms, shook my head, and went to the fridge for a cheese and cracker tray, not to mention the other bottle of wine.
Trixie had come into the kitchen area, and Andrea looked at her cautiously. “Um, Trixie, right? I’m terrible with names, but I know you were at Jackie’s shower.”
I heard Trixie say, “Yeah. Good to see you again, Andrea. How’re things?”
Andrea was incredibly intuitive, so I wasn’t surprised when she said, “Something isn’t right. What’s going on?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “She’s hiding out from Roll and other members of the Riot MC.”
Trixie shot me a dirty look, but I let it go.
Andrea asked, “Why are you hiding from Roll? You mentioned taking yourself away from the Riot at Jackie’s shower, but just last week Liar said Roll had officially claimed you. So what gives?”
“It’s a long story,” Trixie said.
I wasn’t going to let her off that easy. “That’s no excuse, Trixie. I got another bottle of vino, there’s plenty of sunshine, and we’ve got more than enough time to hear your long story.”
Trixie glared at me, but I beamed in response.
She shook her head. “Lead the way, drunk girl.”
I scoffed because I wasn’t drunk. I was extremely tipsy. “What? I’m not drunk. Trent wouldn’t like it...” I thought about how I really shouldn’t worry about what he did or didn’t like, and said, “Oh, hell, if I’m not drunk, I’m gonna get that way. That fucker be damned.”
Trixie’s torso shook with humor and she repeated, “Lead the way.”
I led the two ladies back to the balcony, stopping just long enough to hand the cheese and cracker tray to Andrea. Grabbing the puffy Cheetos, I kept moving to a narrow pathway off to the right of the balcony. Then I said, “Follow me.”
All three of us climbed a staircase that opened up to a small rooftop deck. There were three chaise lounges, and a small tempered-glass table between two of them.
Trixie spoke first in an outraged tone. “What the hell, Janie? We shoulda been eatin’ up here, not in the damn shade.”
The three of us settled in the sunshine to snack and sip drinks.
DURING THE NINETY OR so minutes we spent on the rooftop deck, Trixie told Andi and me about her late childhood and teenage years. Her story was hard to handle. It left me shocked, angry, speechless, and my heart broke for her.
I was lounging on a chaise while Andrea used the bathroom. Trixie had left five minutes before. Earlier she had accused me of being a drunk girl, and I had said I was going to get drunk, but I hadn’t really meant it. After hanging out on the upper patio with Trixie and Andrea that afternoon, I realized Trixie’s problems were more important than mine. Any problem requiring the help of the Riot MC naturally made it serious.
My eyes were closed and my arm draped over my eyelids, but I heard Andrea come back up to the raised patio area.
“Let’s have it, Janie. What’s got you in a funk?”
Lifting my forearm, I cracked an eyelid at her. “Not a thing. How’s living with Liar going?”
She nudged my bicep. “No subject changes. Also, couldn’t help but notice your car wasn’t anywhere in the cramped parking lot downstairs. So, what gives?”
With a fortifying inhale, I sat up and looked at her. “You’re wrong. My car’s down there. It’s a Nissan Versa and it’s a rental.”
There was a little less than half a glass of wine in Andi’s glass and as she swirled it around, her eyes narrowed on me shrewdly. “You’re not telling me everything.”
I closed my eyes so they wouldn’t give me away, but my sigh escaped, doing the damage.
“What are you hiding, woman? I can’t imagine it’s anything worse than what you’ve already been through–”
I jerked forward and back. “That’s exactly it! You’ve been such a rock, and I’ve leaned on you too hard. I can’t–”
“Do not talk to me about what you can’t do, Janie. You helped me through the worst nights after my attack back in January. And then you went and spent an exorbitant amount of money on a wheeled knee walker because my ankle was sprained. The balance between us is just that...balanced.” She moved to sit next to me, slinging her arm around my shoulders. “Now tell me what the hell is going on, because I feel like I’m missing more than one piece from you.”
I leaned my head on her shoulder. “Trent falsely reported my car stolen. It was impounded–”
“Aren’t false police reports illegal?” Andi interrupted.
I lifted and turned my head to her with a skeptical look. “You think Trent’s a straight arrow these days?”
She sighed. “Can’t say I’ve thought about him that way one way or the other, but seriously, Janie. There has to be some recourse you can take.”
I barked a humorless chuckle. “Yes. It’s called Enterprise, because they pick you up or deliver to you, whatever. So, there you have it.”
She shook her head at me. “No, there’s more. Tell me.”
I debated sharing with her. Particularly because I hadn’t even admitted some of this to myself, it felt almost wrong to lay it out for Andi right now. I exhaled and decided it wouldn’t weigh on my mind any more if I just got it out.
“I’ve been thinking quite a bit about Beast.”
Her face froze. Finally, her eyebrows scrunched, and her eyes slid to the side and back before she spoke. “You mean, Liar’s cousin. Road name is Beast?”
“Yeah,” I almost whispered. “He took me for drinks when shit hit the fan with Trent. Then back to the compound, and thank God he did. Trent was waiting up for me. It’s crazy as hell, Andi.” I paused for a while before I said, “I don’t want to unload this stuff on you.”
“What else are besties for, Janie? Let me hear it. Maybe I can help.”
“He put me in Liar’s room. I’d had beer that night. My bladder woke me up, then I wanted water, and God, I hate myself for being so prissy that I couldn’t just drink from the bathroom tap. I went out to the kitchen–”
“So what?” Andrea asked, to keep me from babbling, I was sure.
I exhaled in a rush. “So, I went back to what I thought was the right room, but it was Beast’s.”
“Oh-kay,” she prompted when I fell silent.
I shook my head. “He told me before leaving me in Liar’s room, to lock the door no matter what. I should have locked the door even though it was his room. Anyway, he came into the room with a woman right behind him.”
“Oh, no,” she whispered.
“Yeah, but the worst part is that I can’t stop thinking about him, Andi. I mean it. I’m wrapped up in this bullshit with Trent, and in no way do I have
time or energy for another man in my life, but the fuck of it —sorry for the language–”
Andrea giggled. “Forget about it, babe! Liar drops the f-word all the fucking time, to quote him. Go on.”
I shook my head. “The hell of it is that I can’t get past this irrational attraction I have for him. It’s wrong for so many reasons.”
“What reasons? There’s never a wrong reason to be attracted to someone.”
My head tilted at her. “You’re wrong, honey. He’s just too much. He’s too hot for me, way more sexuality than I can handle, plus that vulgarity. No, it’s all wrong.”
I didn’t tell her how much Beast’s inherent vitality scared me. Not just because I didn’t want to admit it, but because I couldn’t express the magnitude of that fear.
She turned a Cheshire-cat grin on me. “It’s not wrong. In fact, it sounds all kinds of right to me.”
I looked to the river, noticing the water looked darker because the sun was not shining on it outright. Turning back to Andrea, I raised my eyebrow. “You weren’t here for this part of my conversation with Trixie, but like I told her, ‘these bikers and their alpha macho stuff,’” I paused to wag my finger metronome-style in the air just like I did for Trixie, “‘nope,’ and I meant it, Andi. I’m not down with the alpha routine like you seem to be. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s not for me, hon.”
To my surprise, Andrea leaned back laughing her head off. I shot her a dirty look for a moment because I didn’t know what was the least bit funny. Finally she righted herself. “The alpha-biker way is totally for you, Janie-Jane. No offense, but seeing as how Trent can’t even stand for you to indulge in your favorite pastrami sub sandwich, I know damn good and well that an alpha biker would rock your world.”
I turned forward and away from Andrea because not only was she right, it was making me damned uncomfortable. Shit. This wasn’t helping my attraction to Beast. I blurted, “Not helping.”
That sent Andi into peals of cackles and onto her back on the chaise. It brought a smile to my face only because it was always rewarding to make someone you loved laugh down to their bones, and the sound of her laughter told me it was right down to her bones. God, could she be right? Would a man like Beast rock my world?
