by RB Hilliard
It wasn’t cool with her, but she would never admit it out loud. “Sure, did he say where he wanted us to go?”
After considering it a moment, he said, “The safest place I can think of is the barn.”
LuLu remembered seeing a barn on her drive in. “Let me grab my jacket.” If she happened to run into Ax or Steele on her way, all the better.
Loco leaned in and quietly said, “There’s no time. Look, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but Jake’s dead. Steele would have my ass if anything happened to you, so please, let me get you safe.
LuLu’s heart pounded against her rib cage, her stomach clenching with such intense fear that she barely managed say, “Okay,” past the gigantic lump in her throat. Jake was dead.
“We’ll head out the kitchen door once the coast is clear,” he told her, and she nodded in response.
They stood in the little alcove for what felt like forever before he finally whispered “Now!” and they took off for the kitchen door.
They made it to the barn without incident. Outside the door, Loco pulled his gun, then told her to wait while he made sure it was safe for them to go inside.
As she stood there, shivering in the dark, all she could think was that Dario had somehow managed to kill Jake. Please don’t let anything happen to Arlan. Or anyone else.
The door swung open, and Loco stepped out. “It’s clear. Come on in, and I’ll lock it behind us.”
LuLu stepped inside the dimly lit barn. Loco entered behind her and slid the lock into place.
She slowly perused her surroundings, her level of unease growing as she took in the various implements of torture, and asked, “So, what now?”
She sensed him behind her and started to turn when she felt the barrel of a gun settle against the back of her head.
“Loco?” she whispered, hoping it wasn’t him, but knowing it couldn’t be anyone else.
“Luciana, Luciana,” he crooned, “You are one hard bitch to kill.”
_______________
Steele was completely losing his shit. At the discovery of Luciana’s disappearance, the party came to a screeching halt. Sage enlisted help from several of the Ol’ ladies, and they corralled everyone upstairs while the guys helped Steele search the house. No one knew where Luciana was, nor had they seen her leave. It wasn’t until Grover had gone through all of the footage and confirmed that no one had entered or exited the place, that he started to lose hope.
Where the fuck are you, baby?
“Shhh, did you hear that?” Taz asked. The entire room froze, and that’s when they heard the scream.
“The barn!” Ax shouted, right as the front door opened, and Tiny hauled ass in panting like he’d run a marathon instead of a quarter of a mile up the drive.
“Your brother’s here. He said he’s been trying to call and needs to talk to you.”
“Send him up!” Steele shouted as he ran for the door.
They reached the barn and drew their guns. Steele motioned for them to fan out. Ax, Sledge, Ink, and Arson took one side, while Taz, Buck, and Chopper took the other. Steele tried the door, but it was locked, so he reared back and kicked it in. Motioning for them to stay back, he stepped inside. His eyes hit Loco first. He was standing in the middle of the barn. On her knees at his feet was Luciana. One of his hands was fisted in her hair. His gun was in the other, and he had it pressed against the side of her head. It took a moment for Steele’s brain to fully register what he was seeing.
Fear like he’d never known before lanced through him. “What the fuck?” he growled. Luciana whimpered, and he took a step toward her.
“Ah, ah, ah, don’t make me shoot her,” Loco tsked, and Steele halted his movement. “I’ve got a gun pressed to your bitch’s head and all you have to say is ‘What the fuck?’” he mocked. “I’m disappointed.”
Steele stared at his brother, his best friend who’d stood by him through thick and thin, the man who should have been his VP—who now had a gun trained to his woman’s head—and the level of betrayal sank in. He was fucking blown away.
“Ax, Buck, Taz, and whoever else is out there, I’ll give you to the count of five to show yourselves, or I shoot!” Loco called out. “One, two, three—” His fingers knotted in Luciana’s hair, and Steele’s gut twisted at her obvious pain.
“Get in here!” Steele shouted. One by one, they filed through the door. Somehow, he needed to get her away from Loco.
“Hello, boys, bet you’re surprised to see me,” Loco drawled. “Drop your guns at the door and circle on around here where I can see you. You, too,” he directed at Steele.
Ax caught Steele’s eye, and Steele shook his head. Loco had too tight of a hold on Luciana for them to risk it. They needed to get him to loosen his grip, then Steele would attempt to take him out.
Loco’s gaze leveled on Steele, his mouth splitting into a smile. “Surprised?”
Steele was more than surprised, try shocked. Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he stared at his once best friend and asked, “Why?”
“Because he’s a fucking traitor,” Buck growled.
Loco’s gaze cut to Buck. “Maybe so, but right now, this traitor has the gun, so if I were you, I’d shut the fuck up.” Turning back to Steele, he said, “Now, where were we? Oh, I remember. You want to know why. Well, it all started when your dad died and you made Jake your VP. The brother of my heart chose that racist fucktard as his VP over his best friend. Did you know he was fucking my Ol’ lady? You didn’t, did you? I didn’t either, until about a month ago when I saw them going at it.” He laughed. “I thought about cutting his dick off and inserting it into the gash in his neck, but I spent too long torturing Mary earlier this morning and ran out of time. Too bad, not so sad. They fucking deserved each other.” Loco’s fingers clenched painfully in Luciana’s hair, and she cried out. Steele ground his molars so hard it was a surprise he had any teeth left as Loco continued to rant. “I fucking deserved it, you said so yourself, but you were too much of a pussy to make it happen. Hell, I spent years doing his job while he sat on his ass and fucking did nothing.”
Ax cut him off. “You act like it was up to Steele? We took a vote. You could have challenged that vote, but you didn’t.”
Steele didn’t need Ax speaking for him. “I knew exactly how useless Jake was, but I needed everyone else to see it.”
“Everyone saw it!” Loco shouted, “but they were too busy kissing your ass to do anything about it. You could have kicked him out! You’re the president, for fuck’s sake! You have the power to do whatever the hell you want! I should have been your VP!”
Ax inched forward, while Steele tried his best to continue to distract Loco. “So, all of this is because you didn’t get the VP vote?”
“No, but it is what led me to Dario. Did you know we’re half brothers?”
Steele felt as if he’d been kneed in the nads. Loco and Dario were half brothers? What the fuck?
Taz let out a loud curse, and Loco smiled. “What am I saying, of course, you didn’t. No one did. We shared the same mother. He contacted me when he got out of prison. He wanted me to go in on his new venture. I wasn’t interested at the time, but then he started making money. I’m talking fuckpiles of money.”
Keep talking, Steele thought, as he asked, “So what? You joined forces with Dario?”
“I didn’t just join forces, I took the operation over. You remember the night Aimee got jumped and you made me deal with the police? That’s when I first met Gamble. The fucker was up to his eyeballs in debt and needed a bailout. I offered him a way out, and he took it. I had it all planned. I would expose Jake and Mary, Jake would finally get booted, and I would step up as VP.”
“And then what?” Steele scoffed. “There’s no way in hell I would have allowed that shit in my club, and you know it.”
“You wouldn’t have known, just like you don’t know that Taz has a gambling problem, and Sledge is a step away from broke. Once I saved them, they would have been min
e.”
Steele’s eyes cut to Taz—who was staring at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen—and his chest constricted. Loco was telling the truth.
Eyes swinging back to Loco, he asked, “What about the undercover cop?”
“Gamble had it all worked out.” Luciana whimpered as he jerked her hair. “But then this puta had to go and ruin it all. Imagine my shock when she showed up here. Talk about luck.”
Ax inched closer.
“And Dario?” Steele asked, trying to distract him from noticing.
“Dario was the weak link. When he found out you were after him, he got scared. I wasn’t about to let him talk, so I took him out of the equation.”
“And Gamble?”
“He was a liability.”
Ax was almost close enough to grab the gun when Loco jerked Luciana to her feet, and he was forced to take a step back.
Desperate to keep him talking, Steele asked, “What about Jake?”
Loco scowled. “What about him?”
“He was in the field that night.”
“Yeah, fucking my Ol’ lady. He saw me, and I saw him. What? Did you think it was a coincidence that he went hunting for Dario with me? The fucker was so worried about losing his VP status that he was willing to forget about what he saw. But then he had to go and tell Mary.” Laughing, he said, “They thought I’d let them run away together. Fuck them.”
“So, what now?” Steele asked.
“Now, you fuckers are going to get out of my way. I’m taking your bitch as insurance. Don’t worry, I’ll make her death fast.”
“The fuck you are,” Steele growled right as Taz lunged for Loco.
The gun discharged, and Luciana screamed when Taz crumpled to the ground.
“Duck!” Ax shouted to Luciana.
She dropped to the floor, surprising Loco, who lost his hold on her. That’s when Steele made his move. He was almost to Loco when the fucker turned the gun on him. Blinding pain seared through his shoulder, and he was knocked onto his ass.
“Fuck you!” Loco yelled as he jerked the gun to Luciana’s head.
Steele heard the shot and shouted, “Noooo!” Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he scrambled for Luciana, thinking she was hit, but then Loco dropped to the ground in front of him with a loud thud.
Steele took in Loco’s lifeless eyes and the bullet hole drilled into his forehead and jerked his head to the door. Standing in the open doorway, with his gun still pointed in their direction, was Carver.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Three Days Later. . .
THEY FOUND MARY’S body early the next morning. Steele told Luciana it wasn’t as bad as Loco had claimed. He lied. It was worse. The things that woman must have endured would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Steele blamed himself for the club going to shit. He’d been riding a fine line—with one foot in the door and the other out—since the day he became president. Grizz would have sniffed out Loco’s betrayal before it had time to fester. He also would have known about Jake and Mary, that Taz had a gambling problem, and about Sledge’s financial troubles. Steele would have known all of this, too, had he been paying attention. People were dead because of him. He’d been teetering on the edge for years, just waiting for an excuse to walk away, and now he had one. Ax could take his place, or even Buck, for that matter, and he could ride off into the sunset with Luciana. They could get married and start a family. He could finally be free.
When he presented the idea to Luciana, she told him she would go anywhere with him, but then asked, “Won’t you miss it?” And that’s when it hit him. To walk away meant he would no longer be a Steele Raider. He would never ride with his brothers again. There would be no more meetings, no more Sunday breakfasts and bonfires, and no more rallies . He would no longer be called “Boss” or be considered the voice of reason because he would no longer exist. Somewhere along the way, things had changed. Luciana was right when she called the club a family. For better or worse, this club was his family. It always had been and always would be.
Three days later, he called a meeting—mainly because he wanted Taz to be there—but also because he needed time to wrap his head around Loco’s betrayal. Jake was a shit VP, but had it been Loco, he would have destroyed the club. It was this thought that drove Steele’s next move.
“I’m holding off on the vote for the new VP.” The room went silent. Good, he had their attention. “Jake was a knee-jerk vote after a huge hit to the club. We all had to live with that bad decision for five fucking years. As much as I hate to admit it, Loco was right.” Taz growled at the mention of Loco’s name, and Steele held his hand up. “Let me finish. Yes, he was a fucking traitor, but he was more of a VP than Jake ever was, and we all know it. I don’t want to make the same mistake twice, so here’s what’s going to happen: You want the position, then step the fuck up and earn it. Six months from today, we’ll take a vote. It’ll have to be unanimous, and just so you know, I’m not sitting this one out.” After more bitching, they finally agreed that it was a fair call to make.
Later that day, Steele met with Taz. Taz had taken a bullet to the chest. The impact had thrown him off his feet. He’d hit his head on the way down and had been knocked out. Thankfully, the bullet deflected off his ribs. Doc said had it been a little more to the left, and it could have nicked his heart. Steele’s wound bled like a motherfucker, but it ended up being a graze more than anything. Doc patched them up, and they’d both taken some time to recuperate, which brought them to this moment.
“Is it true?” Steele asked.
Taz attempted a shrug, then wincing at the pain, said, “It’s under control.”
“Do I need to say what’ll happen if it blows back on the club?”
“No.”
“So, we have an understanding?”
“Yep.”
They both stood.
“Good talk,” Steele said, and they both laughed.
An hour after that, he met with Sledge—who he’d discovered was leveraged because the dumbass didn’t know how to say no to his Ol’ lady. Steele offered him a one-time bailout on the condition that it never happens again.
Two hours after that, he was on his bike and headed for Luciana’s house.
_______________
“I can’t believe someone broke in and trashed your place while you were gone,” Meg huffed. “What did the police say?”
LuLu’s life had irrevocably changed in a matter of six days. It felt like a lifetime since she’d made that fated trek to Tad’s house. So much had happened since then—things she could never talk about outside the club—things she would never be able to tell Meg.
“They’re looking into it,” she replied, making sure to keep her answer as vague as possible.
Meg stopped what she was doing, her eyes narrowing dangerously on LuLu. “Why aren’t you tanned?”
LuLu’s pulse jumped. She was a horrible liar, and Meg knew it. “Arlan’s not really a fan of the sun.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Plus, we had other things to do.” Like trying to catch a killer. In truth, she had no clue if Arlan liked the sun or not. She made a mental note to ask him.
“Five days at the beach, and no sun? That’s a sacrilege,” Meg muttered. Meg was right. LuLu loved the sun, and had she actually been at the beach, she would have thoroughly enjoyed it.
“Knock knock,” someone called from down the hallway. It sounded like Ax.
“We’re in the kitchen!” LuLu called back.
Meg’s eyes bugged when Ax and Ink sauntered in.
Before one of them said something they shouldn’t in front of Meg, LuLu jumped in, “Aww, are you here to welcome us back from our trip?” Ax caught on, his eyes roaming to Meg and sparking with interest, while poor Ink just stood there looking confused.
“Yeah, uh, we’re here to help clean up,” Ax said, still looking at Meg.
“Oh, I’m sorry. This is my best friend, Meg. Meg, this is Arlan’s cousin Ax
and his friend Ink. They’re members of the club.”
Meg’s eyes snapped to LuLu. “Girl, you’ve been holding out on me.”
The front door slammed, and Arlan call out, “Babe, where are you?”
“We’re in the kitchen!” she yelled. If Meg thought Ax and Ink were hot, she couldn’t wait for her to see Arlan.
It had been a long few days. Arlan had struggled terribly with Loco’s betrayal, but he wasn’t the only one who was struggling. So was LuLu. The man she was in love with and wanted to spend the rest of her life with was the president of an MC. He was a biker through and through. She didn’t realize what the dangers of that meant, until Loco held a gun to her head and she witnessed Taz and Arlan getting shot. She’d tried to play it cool, but what happened wasn’t at all cool. It was scary as hell. If this was going to be her new normal, she wasn’t sure she was cut out for it.
The night after Arlan was shot, her emotions came to a head, and she told Arlan she wanted out. He yelled, she screamed, he held her, she cried, and they had sex. In the end, it came down to one thing—the most important thing. She loved him.
She smiled as her tall, tatted, Biker Man entered the room and stalked in her direction, his gray eyes on her every step of the way. His arm lashed out and circled her waist, and he pulled her close.
“Missed you,” he whispered before giving her a soul-searing kiss.
Meg loudly whispered to Ax, “I take it that’s Arlan?” LuLu couldn’t help but laugh at her best friend’s awestruck tone.
With everyone’s help, it only took a few hours to clean up the house. At some point, Reyn and Buck showed up, as well as Arson, Sledge, and Aimee. By the time they were done cleaning, LuLu had a full house.
“Work has been so boring without you,” Meg commented later, over beer and pizza.
LuLu had completely forgotten about work. She was due back in a few short days. The thought made her nervous. Her eyes cut to Arlan, and he gave her a comforting smile. He knew what she was thinking. Turning her attention back to Meg, she asked, “Have you seen Tad lately?”
