“I just can’t imagine. I pray we are never in their shoes.” My nose tingled as tears pooled in my eyes.
“I hope we never have to deal with any of the bullshit they’ve had to deal with because of their daughter’s decisions.” He shoved a huge bite of sandwich in his mouth.
When I was staying with Brody, while Jaxon was doing his—at the time—clandestine undercover thing, Brody had told me all about Jenifer, her parents, and their friendship with his parents.
“How about we order a huge piece of cheesecake and see if I can make myself so full I go into labor?” I teased him.
“You know I’d give you the world if you’d let me,” Brody spoke softly.
“I’d settle for a piece of that Carnegie Deli Cheesecake from New York.” Practically salivating, I nodded to the counter then bounced my eyebrows a few times.
“You know you crack me up right?” He snickered before getting up from the table to buy me a piece of the best cheesecake in all of Charleston.
“You want a bite?” Offering him a forkful of the rich deliciousness, I heard Kai ahem.
“Mr. Davis.” Kai nodded toward the door where Jaxon, Viper, and a few of the other brothers stood.
“It’s fine, Kai, they’re friends.” I got up and met Jaxon at the counter. “Hey, baby.”
Leaning down, he gave me a chaste kiss. “What are you doin’ here? I thought you were goin’ home.”
“I was, but I got hungry so Brody and Kai stopped here so I could eat. Is that a problem?” I asked sweetly, not wanting to pick a fight in the middle of the crowded café.
“Nope, no problem. I actually stopped in to get a sandwich and get you a salad. When I mentioned it in church a few of the brothers thought it was good idea so they followed. You almost done?”
“No, I just got a piece of cheesecake, so it might be a little while,” I looked back over at the table. “Brody and Kai will drop me off. Go have lunch with the guys.”
He hesitated. “You sure, babe?”
“Positive.” Giving him a quick kiss, I turned and went back to the table where Brody and Kai watched me like a hawk.
“Everything okay?” Brody asked, wiping his mouth.
“Yep,” I answered before shoving in a scrumptious mouthful of cheesecake. “Mmmm, this is so good. Are you sure you don’t want a bite?”
Brody was swiping up and down his cell phone screen, clearly distracted. “Huh?”
“Cheesecake? Do you want any?”
“Uhh…no.” His eyes never left the phone.
“How about a cookie or some yummy dessert?”
“No thanks.” He was still preoccupied with his cell.
“What if I was dessert?” I asked with a sultry, come-fuck-me voice.
“Uhh, no. I’m good,” he answered, as monotone as the teacher from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
“Now I know you aren’t paying attention to a word I say. I just offered my naked body up on a silver platter and all you could say was ‘Uhh no, I’m good.’” I used a horrible excuse for a pretend man’s voice.
“What?” He finally looked up from his phone.
“I said you’re not paying attention.”
“I most certainly am. You kept asking if I wanted dessert,” he said arrogantly.
“I asked once about dessert, then I asked if you’d like me for dessert, to which you promptly said, ‘No I’m good.’ You are such a jackass.” Out of the corner of my eye I could see Kai’s whole body trembling, fighting back the laughter.
“You did not say that,” he asserted. “She didn’t say that, right?” He looked to the big man for confirmation, then back to me. “You didn’t say that?”
That’s when the dam burst and out flew the laughter. Kai nodded his head affirmatively while his whole body shook. “You just kept playin’ on your phone, man. You never even flinched.”
Brody shook his head and smirked. Jaxon strolled up to the table with his pack of bikers pulling up the rear. “I’m headin’ out, babe. I’ll see ya at home in just a little while.”
Tipping my head back as Jaxon bent down, he kissed me and it wasn’t a little see-you-later kiss. Nope. This was an I’m-staking-my-claim, she’s-mine kind of devouring kiss. The type of kiss your seventh grade health teacher warned you about. Yep, that was definitely an I-wanna-make-babies-with-you kiss.
Jaxon straightened to his full magnificence and left me sitting there with my head still back, mouth open, eyes closed and panties wet. The lioness purred in satisfaction. Then Brody had to go and ruin my scorching-red-hot fantasy of table sex with Jaxon by answering his phone all loud and shit.
“Davis.” He stood and walked away from the table, leaving Kai standing guard over me like some lost old world treasure.
“It’s probably work, which means he’s going to be a while.” Standing, I grabbed his sandwich and headed to the counter. “Hi, can I get this wrapped up to go?”
“Sure,” the teenage boy behind the register said as he took the plate with the other half of Brody’s Reuben. While the food was being boxed, I turned and watched Brody just outside the café window when the young man cleared his throat. “Ma’am, here is your husband’s sandwich.”
“Oh, he’s not my husband.”
“Oh, well, uhh, sorry ’bout that.” He held the bag of leftovers out to me.
Kai approached and escorted me out to the car. “You sit and relax. I’ll go let Mr. Davis know that we’ll be waiting for him in the car.”
“’Kay.” I pulled out my phone from my hobo handbag to find I had text messages from Drew and Barb asking about the doctor’s appointment. There was also a missed call from Drew and my sort-of mom, Donna.
Donna insisted Jaxon and I come over for dinner tomorrow night. Her husband Jasper—Drew’s cop mentor—had the evening off and wouldn’t even be on call. She had already called Drew and made sure he could be there too. She was cooking Chicken Perlo and no one prepared it the way she did. I could remember times when Drew and I would fight over the leftovers at three in the morning.
After I hung up with Donna, Kai opened the passenger door as Brody approached the car.
“Sorry.” He slid into the backseat with me. “That was Robert calling with an update regarding the memorial service. And we have to figure out what to do with her interest in the companies we shared.”
Companies? As in plural? Why did I think this whole time it was one company that he invested in and was a silent partner?
“Well, wouldn’t any stock she owned be bequeathed to her next of kin? Since she wasn’t married and she didn’t have any children, shouldn’t it all go to her parents?” I was guessing that at twenty-eight years of age she didn’t have a will. Hell, I was in the healthcare field and knew better, and I didn’t have one.
Note to self, I need to make a will and advance directive. Just in case.
Chapter Twenty-five
Jaxon
We left the deli and walked back to where we had parked. It had taken all of my self-control not to drag Leila out of there with me. I kept telling myself that Brody was going to be in her life and if I wanted to keep her, I had to accept he was part of the deal. The times when I wanted to introduce his face to my fist, I thought about the time I spent away from her, the nights I went to bed alone, not smelling her shampoo in the morning when I showered. Those thoughts had become my catalyst to be nice to this guy even when I wanted to dump him in a swamp.
“Why’s that asshole spendin’ time with your old lady, Remi?” Dig was the only brave soul to pipe up.
In an attempt to keep Leila out of the club life, I had not explained the whole situation to the brothers. I had lived the MC lifestyle for several years and enjoyed a lot of it. Meeting Leila changed all of that for me. I didn’t want to drag her into this assignment and make her feel like she had to be someone she wasn’t. She wasn’t an MC old lady and I’d never treat her like one. But if I brought her around and let her act normal the brothers would question me.
“Brother, that was Brody,” I answered as we reached my truck. “And before you say a word, know this, I’d walk through fire for my old lady. I’d also put up with his preppy, rich ass. Lei wants him to be a part of the baby’s life because of her dad walkin’ out on them when she was little. She doesn’t want our daughter growin’ up feelin’ like she wasn’t good enough and that was why he left. What the fuck would you have me do?”
“So what, you gotta have family dinners and shit with this punk ass?” Stretch asked as he straddled his bike and opened his sandwich.
“Fuck that. No way in hell I’d be havin’ Thanksgiving dinner with my old lady’s ex,” Viper scoffed.
“V, I doubt you’d ever be in a position to know. You can’t keep your dick in your pants long enough to have an old lady,” Dig laughed.
“No, I won’t be breakin’ bread with mister fancy pants in there. I will however have to stand by and watch Lei do it.” My reply received several explicit reactions. “Y’all don’t get it. She’s worth it. When you find your Leila you’ll understand. Until then get the fuck off my case.”
“All right, enough chitchat, boys. We gotta problem.” Viper took command of the conversation. “I think our good ol’ prez is in too deep with the Mexicans. No way we shouldn’t be goin’ after these fuckers that shot Rem. I don’t think Mark’s the one callin’ the shots no more.”
“Ya know, I was wonderin’ why he kept sayin’ the situation would be handled but then wouldn’t let us do shit,” Stretch managed to say with a mouthful of pastrami.
“What are you thinkin’, Viper?” Dig asked.
“I’m thinkin’ we need to keep an eye on Mark and find out what the fuck’s goin’ down in our club.” Viper opened his Coke and took a gulp. “’Cause I have a feelin’ he’s hidin’ something. I’m thinkin’ Drill’s buyers might’ve gotten to him.”
“What do you mean got to him? Like have something on him or threatened him?” I asked as the possible scenarios ran through my head.
“Exactly like that. I haven’t seen Rosie at the compound in a few weeks. That seem strange to anyone else?” Viper questioned as he sat down on his bike.
“We need to get eyes on Rosie and make sure she’s okay. If they grabbed her, then Mark’s gonna need our help, whether he wants it or not. No one says a word to him. I’ll handle him. Dig, Stretch, y’all go out to his place in Mount Pleasant and see if you can find Rosie,” I ordered as I opened the door to the truck. “I’m headin’ to the clubhouse. This stays between the four of us. We can’t trust anyone right now.”
Everyone agreed to keep the situation and our suspicions to ourselves. We didn’t need anyone going rogue and bringing the wrong people into this mess. We all left, going our separate ways, my destination being the clubhouse. On the way I called Leila and told her I had some club business to handle and that I’d be home in a few hours.
When I pulled up to the clubhouse, I saw Mark’s bike on the side of the building. Entering through the front door, I found him at the bar with empty shot glasses lining the bar in front of him. Beer in hand, he hollered at a clearly shaken Kat behind the bar. “I said gimme ’nother fuckin’ shot, you whore.”
“Prez.” I clapped my hand down on his shoulder. “I think you’ve had enough, brother. Let’s talk in the office.”
With a string of cusses, he reluctantly followed me to his office in the back. My guess, he knew he wasn’t getting served anymore and I wouldn’t stand by and let him knock the girls around.
“What’s goin’ on, Mark? This isn’t you.” I took a seat in front of his disheveled desk. “I’ve never seen you so outta control.”
Stumbling behind the desk, he flopped down in the rickety old leather chair. “Leave it alone, Remi.”
“Not when I know something’s goin’ on. Where’s Rosie?” I settled back into the chair.
“Leave her outta this. She’s got nothin’ to do with this,” he roared and slammed his fists down on the paper-covered desk.
“Wanna know what I think, brother?”
“No.”
“I think whoever Drill was workin’ with got to you. They either have Rosie or threatened her and you sent her away.” His brow furrowed and eyes narrowed, essentially giving him away. “So which is it?”
“Leave. It. Alone.”
“Right, let’s leave it alone, just like we did with Drill. Let’s pretend it’s not happenin’ until it blows up in our fuckin’ faces.” Standing, I rounded the desk and stopped in front of him as he stood up. “Tell me what the fuck is goin’ on. Let me help you.”
I could see the internal struggle in his eyes as I stood there and waited. “I came home last week and she was out cold on the floor. They trashed the place and left her with a message. They want the money Drill borrowed from them. Two hundred grand in one week or they’d be back. So I sent her to her momma’s place.”
“Fuck. When do they want it by?”
“Tomorrow night. Gotta meet them at the old navy base at nine p.m.” He walked away from me to the bathroom and threw some water on his face.
“You’re not seriously thinkin’ of meetin’ them alone?” Grabbing a towel off the bar, I tossed it to him.
“No, I was gonna tell y’all at church, but something dawned on me. What if Drill wasn’t workin’ alone?”
“You mean to tell me you think we have another fuckin’ traitor?” Then I remembered what Drill said right before I shot him. The money was gone. “Son of a bitch. I think you’re right.”
“What?”
“Right before I shot him, Drill said the money was gone. If he was working alone then no one else would’ve known about the accounts or had access to drain them.”
“Motherfucker. I was right.” He hauled back and punched his right fist through the drywall in the bathroom. “Did he say who?”
“No, but at this point I think we need to assume everyone is a suspect. We need a plan.”
We spent the next hour coming up with several different lies to tell each of the brothers. Each brother would be told that Mark had the money Drill owed the unnamed buyers. They would each know the situation and be told we were going to set these guys up to be ambushed. The only variation would be the place we’d be sitting in wait.
If we had a traitor among us, we’d know by tomorrow night.
A few hours later I got word back from Stretch that he and Dig sat on Mark and Rosie’s place for a while with no sign of her. I told Stretch we would be meeting the buyers the next night, but that we had planned a little trap for them. Explaining the theory of a traitor, I told him that only Mark, him, and I knew about the ambush. He and I would meet at the secret location thirty minutes before but that no one could know. We couldn’t trust anyone.
Mark called Axel, Rip, and Dig with the same story, each with a different location, while I called Viper and Barrett. Even though they both work with me, I had to make it look convincing for Mark. He could never suspect that any of us were Feds. If he did, we’d be the ones walking into an ambush.
Chapter Twenty-six
Leila
Drew had called while we were at lunch and told me we were cleared to return to the house, and once he got home he’d pick Ruger up and bring him over. Kai and Brody brought me home after lunch and insisted on staying until Jaxon returned or Drew came over with Ruger. No matter how many times I said I would be fine, they wouldn’t leave. I was five minutes away from a full-blown meltdown when I heard the front door open.
“Good, you’re home.” I said with a sigh, looking over my shoulder at Jaxon as he shut the door. I then turned to Brody who was on the opposite couch. “You can leave now. Your babysitting duty is over.”
“Lei, don’t be like that. You know I am only trying to keep you safe.” Brody stood and grabbed his suit jacket that had been slung over the back of the couch.
Kai was still standing by the wall that separated the living room from the dining room. “I’ll wait in the car, boss.”
“Th
ank you.” Brody nodded.
“We need to talk before you leave,” Jaxon demanded then walked to the kitchen. Halfway down the hall he hollered back, “Just Brody.”
Oh this should be interesting.
Kai exited the house through the front door, which allowed me to quietly pad down the hall and listen in on the conversation. Jaxon was telling Brody, “…find a reason. I don’t give a shit what it is, but she can’t—”
“Knock, knock.” Drew opened the front door and Ruger came bounding in toward me. Waddling as fast as I could, I got the hell out of the dining room. I made it to the foyer when Brody and Jaxon stepped into view in the kitchen.
“There’s my handsome boy.” Babbling at Ruger in a baby voice, I tried to throw any suspicion they might have had that I was eavesdropping. “You wanna treat?” I earned myself a deep bark and a lot of prancing about from a happy puppy.
“Nice cover, Sneaky McSneakypants,” Drew teased.
“Shut up before I cut you,” I threatened under my breath.
“You wouldn’t dare. You love me too much,” Drew said with his chest puffed out.
Starting toward the kitchen, I saw Brody’s back as he followed Jax out the backdoor. Now surely I wouldn’t hear what they were saying. Ruger barked at me.
“Okay, okay. I’m walking as fast as I can. Hold your horses, mister.” Grabbing the bag of Greenies off the counter, I gave him the chewy and watched him tear through the house like a mad man. “You know, you have the worst timing ever.”
“Why, because I busted you spying on those two?” He nodded toward the backyard. “It’s not my fault you suck at eavesdropping.”
Sticking my tongue out at him, I grabbed him by his arm and dragged him back into the living room. “Drew, I need you to find out what they are up to. Those two hate each other so for them to be speaking alone something has to be going on.”
“I’m sure it’s just about Drill and all that stuff. Don’t get yourself all worked up.”
Sighing, I sat down on the couch and decided he was probably right. “Okay. I’ve just been so on edge lately with everything that’s happened. I guess I’m looking for something that’s not there.”
Torn Page 15
