I did as she was told, still trying to recover from the surprise of seeing them all there. I had no idea what to make of all this. At the Ranch, we rarely received presents of any kind. Birthdays and other holiday celebrations were forbidden as being displeasing to God and rooted in paganism. So, to have the three women all make a special point of giving me presents, just because, almost brought me to tears.
“Thank you all, so much,” I sniffed. “You really shouldn’t have done this.”
“Bullshit,” Jules said firmly. “If there was ever a reason to celebrate, it’s this. Look at everything that’s happened to you in the last couple of months. It’s amazing.” The other women nodded their agreement.
Seton flagged down a waitress, and I ordered a Coke. “Nope,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “A margarita.” I smiled, remembering the first time we had met.
“So, open!” Monica said impatiently, pushing one of the bags closer to me. “This one’s from me!”
Monica had gotten me a beautiful leather-bound journal and a container of what she said were called bath bombs. “The journal is so that you can write down the story of all the amazing things that you accomplish,” she said. “Someday, when you have kids, they’ll want to know the story of your life. And you have an amazing one. And the bath bombs are for relaxing in your bathtub when you get an apartment. Everyone needs a little pampering now and then.”
Jules gave me a beautiful set of drinking glasses with intricate designs of flowers etched into the glass. “I wanted to get you something practical, yet beautiful,” she said. I leaned over and hugged her, my eyes shining.
Seton’s gift was the best of all, though. I reached into the bag and pulled out a beautiful forest-green dress, more elegant than anything I had ever owned in my life. “Seton,” I breathed. “It’s so beautiful!”
“Well, since I knew your size, I thought I would give you something that you probably would be too practical to buy yourself.” She smiled in satisfaction. “And I knew that green would go perfectly with your hair.”
I thanked them all again, trying not to choke up as I did so. Not long after, an order of nachos and a plate of quesadillas arrived with my drink, and we all dug in, chatting happily about everything and nothing.
“So, Cherish, are you any closer to finding an apartment?” Monica asked between bites.
“Not really. Seton has gone looking with me a couple of times. The problem is finding a place I can afford that’s not either a closet or disgusting.” I took a sip of my drink. “After my paycheck this week I have enough for a good security deposit, though, so at least I’ll be ready when I do find something.”
“Are you open to a roommate?” Jules asked. “I think my cousin might be looking for one soon.”
Monica piped up. “Are you kidding? She needs a place of her own. So she and Levi can…” she raised her eyebrows suggestively.
Seton grinned. “Yeah, that’s true! So,” she said, scooting forward. “Spill it, Cherish. What’s up with you and Levi? Have you talked about the future yet?”
At the mention of Levi’s name, I stopped eating, suddenly feeling sick. “I, um…” I stammered and then cleared my throat. “I’m not sure we’re together anymore. If we ever were,” I said quietly.
“What?” Jules asked, sounding incredulous. “That’s B.S.”
“No, it’s not,” I shook my head. “He’s been avoiding me ever since… well, he’s been avoiding me for a little while now.”
“Oh, come on,” Monica scoffed. “That man is crazy about you. Are you sure you’re not imagining things?”
I shook my head again. It was true. Levi had barely looked at me since the last night we had spent together. The next morning, he had already left by the time I woke up. I didn’t see him all that day, and that night he didn’t come up to the apartment. Or the next night. Or the night after that.
Seton must have seen how upset I was, because her face fell. “Oh, Cherish, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
I started to tear up. “It’s okay. You couldn’t have known.” I looked down into my drink. “I’m not really sure whether there was ever really anything between us, anyway.” The idea that Levi had been just using me for sex made me want to throw up, but I had to consider that it was probably true. There was no other way I could explain his sudden distant attitude toward me.
“Well,” Jules frowned. “There’s other fish in the sea, after all, but I really thought Levi was into you.”
“Oh, come on, he totally is!” Jules waved her hand dismissively. “Have you ever seen him look at anyone else that way? He is clearly crazy about her.”
“How do you feel about him, Cherish?” Seton asked gently. “That’s the important part.”
“I…” I took a deep breath. “I’ve never felt like this about anyone before. He… when we’re together… It’s overwhelming. It’s like all I want is to be next to him.”
“What’s the sex like?” Monica prodded.
“Monica!” Seton chided her.
“So, so amazing,” I confessed. Somehow, it felt wonderful to be able to confide in these ladies about what it was like with Levi. “I mean, I guess I didn’t know. Is it always like that? I’ve just never… you know…”
“Oh my gosh, were you a virgin until Levi?” Monica’s eyes were wide.
“No, silly, she was married before,” Seton frowned at her. “Remember?”
“Well, not legally,” I corrected. “Thankfully.”
“No kidding, if your hubby didn’t know what to do in bed,” Jules said drily. “And clearly, he did not.”
“But yes, to answer your question, it is supposed to be ‘like that,’” Seton affirmed. “With the right person, anyway. When Greyson and I first got together, our first time? Oh, my God, it was like I had never even had sex before, by comparison!”
Jules grinned and raised her eyebrows. “Repo’s definitely brought out the kinky side of me, if you know what I mean.”
The others laughed, and I blushed and looked down at my drink. I didn’t know what Jules meant, exactly, but my body began to heat up at the thought of Levi teaching me new things. Until I remembered he was avoiding me, and my heart sank into my stomach.
“Cherish.” I looked up at Seton to find her frowning at me in concern. “You okay?”
“I guess,” I lamented. “I just wish he’d tell me if he didn’t want me anymore.”
“Oh honey, I can guarantee you that’s not the problem,” Monica laughed. “Have y’all seen the way he looks at her?” She fanned herself with her hand. “Lord, it’s enough to give a girl heat stroke.”
“Just be patient,” Jules said. “The club’s got a lot going on right now. All the men are distracted by it. And Levi’s not the kind of man who’s used to being tied down. He’ll come around, though. Monica’s right: the way he looks at you, no one could possibly doubt that he’s smitten.”
It touched my heart that all three of them were trying so hard to make me feel better. And judging from the way they talked, they truly seemed to believe what they were saying. But I wasn’t convinced they knew any more about Levi’s feelings than I did. If it was one thing I had learned about him, he didn’t bare his soul to anyone. I knew that the things he had told me about his sister, and why he had left the WFZ Ranch, were things he had never confided to anyone else. I sure couldn’t imagine him telling Seton or Jules — or anyone, for that matter — how he felt about us.
Even me, I thought miserably.
More drinks were ordered, more appetizers eaten, and more talk about anything and everything. Eventually my little surprise party wound down. I was on my bike, so Seton told me she’d put my presents in her car and bring them over to the clubhouse later. The three of them hugged me and congratulated me again, and we said goodbye in the restaurant parking lot.
I watched them drive off in their cars, bound for their own houses and their own families, and felt a pang of loneliness at the thought of going back to the little apartme
nt and staring at the four walls. But even though the men of the MC would certainly be nice and humor me if I decided to linger in the clubhouse bar, I knew I’d just feel strange there, and even worse if Levi showed up and ignored me. Unlocking my bike, I straddled the seat and began the ride home with a heavy heart.
I was about a quarter mile away from the downtown area, on a winding and secluded stretch of the highway, when I heard a car coming toward me from behind. By now, I knew that sometimes people would hesitate to pass a biker in the road along this stretch because you couldn’t always see around the corners. Instinctively, I pushed the bike over onto the shoulder and kept riding, waiting for the whoosh of wind and the blur of the car as it flew by. Instead, it slowed, and pulled behind me, so close that I could feel the heat of the engine on the backs of my legs.
A spike of fear shot through me, and the hair on the back of my neck literally stood up. I didn’t even know that really happened, I found myself thinking absurdly. Not knowing what else to do, I kept riding, speeding up a little, and hoped that a car would come from the other direction so I could try to signal to it. No such luck, though. My breathing sped up as adrenaline began to course through my veins. Was whoever was behind me just trying to scare me? Or was something worse about to happen?
Suddenly, the vehicle gunned its engine and swerved out onto the highway, then pulled abruptly to a stop right in front of me, blocking my path. I was so startled I almost ran into it, and skidded to a stop with my tires inches from the passenger door. It was a large, black SUV with dark tinted windows. As I gaped at it and tried to tamp down my terror, the passenger window rolled down.
Isaiah Whitehead stared out at me.
“Thought you were clever, didn’t you?” he sneered. I was paralyzed with fright as I watched him open the door and come to stand in front of me. He spat once, to his side, then before I knew what was happening, he stepped forward and backhanded me sharply across the face. “You ain’t so clever.”
The back of his hand had hit me squarely across the jaw and caught part of my ear as well. The force of the blow sent me staggering, the bike chain catching my ankle and biting into the skin as I fell onto the rough gravel. I sat for a moment, dazed, my ears actually ringing. I didn’t know that really happened, either, I thought dimly.
I was staring down at the pavement, trying to clear my head, when I heard doors open on the other side of the SUV. Then I was being picked up roughly under the arms and pulled upwards. I cried out in pain as my hip connected solidly with something hard. Then I was flung onto something that must have been one of the seats. It was hard and smelled slightly of plastic fumes. The smell of a new or newish car. My hands were roughly bound behind me, then my legs pushed further into the seat.
A man I recognized as a cousin of Harlan Radleff got in beside me and slammed the door. “You best be quiet and behave,” he rasped into my ear. “You give us any trouble, we got no reason to be kind to a little whore like you.”
I awkwardly slid myself into more or less a sitting position, sliding away from the man as far as I could. My aching head came to rest against the cool window, and I could only close my eyes and try to breathe. The pounding in my ears made it hard to think, and anyway, there was nothing I could do with my hands bound against three men. I tried to take a few deep breaths, waited for my heart to stop slamming in my chest so frantically, and told myself that I’d try to think of something to do as soon as my head stopped hurting.
18
Levi
Time was of the essence once we had disposed of Hook Nose’s body and dumped the other two Cannibals by the side of the road a few miles into their territory. Grey sent word to Lalo that we needed an urgent meeting, and the next day we found ourselves following directions to what turned out to be an abandoned mine. There wasn’t much in the way of above-ground structures when we got there, so we stood around sweating and getting baked by the sun, until eventually a large dark SUV limo pulled up and Lalo emerged, flanked by a phalanx of dangerous-looking men, some of whom I recognized from our last meet. There were only four of them, but I was sure there were others hidden somewhere not far off.
“To what do I owe the urgency of this meeting?” Lalo asked Grey in a calm voice.
It seemed unlikely that Lalo hadn’t heard of our run-in with the Cannibals yet, but this was obviously how he was choosing to play it. For now.
“We have some new information that it was important to share with you in person,” Grey responded. “It concerns the last conversation we had together.”
“Please,” Lalo said solicitously. “Continue.”
Trig spoke up. “We told you we had a suspicion the recent attacks on our club were coming from the Cannibals.”
“Yes,” he nodded, looking a little impatient. “But you had no proof, as I recall.”
“Not then. But we do now.”
“You may have heard,” Grey stepped in, “that our clubhouse was pipe bombed a few days ago.”
Lalo raised a brow. “No, I had not heard that. Most unfortunate. My condolences.”
“No one was hurt.” Grey continued as though Lalo hadn’t spoken. “Not seriously, at least. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.”
“How so?”
Trigger stepped forward, a tablet in his hand. “We have security cameras all around the clubhouse. One of them caught this.” He held it out, and one of Lalo’s men came forward and took it. Holding the tablet up to Lalo, he pressed play on the video that Trigger had called up. Lalo shaded his eyes with a hand as he watched the screen wordlessly for a minute. He looked up at Grey, then, his expression not changing.
“These men are Cannibals,” he said. It wasn’t a question. He clearly recognized them.
“Yes,” Grey agreed. Trigger stepped forward and took the tablet back from Lalo’s man. “Which, as we both know, is a clear violation of the truce between the Stone Kings and the Aztec cartel, since the Cannibals are now part of your organization.”
For the first time, a flicker of emotion crossed Lalo’s face. A tiny twitch of his jaw was all it was, but it was enough. Anger.
“The Aztecs have always honored our truce. This was not caused by us.”
“I beg to differ,” Grey countered. “They are part of your organization now. Which means that their actions, good or bad, reflect on you. There’s more.”
“What?” Lalo bit out through gritted teeth.
“We found this at the scene.” Repo stepped forward this time, holding out the Aztecs patch so Lalo could see it. “The threads would indicate that it was ripped off a cut. Maybe by accident. Maybe on purpose.”
“You think one of my men did this?” Lalo’s voice had dropped a register. Cold, steely fury radiated from him unmistakably. This was where things would turn, one way or another.
“I’m not convinced,” Grey shook his head. His tone was deliberately calm. “What I think is more likely, is that this was planted.”
“Planted?”
“Lalo. You and I have always had a good professional relationship. You are a man of honor.” Grey crossed his arms. “Our truce has been solid from the beginning. But Skull. The new president of the Cannibals. You said last time you don’t know him all that well. Do you really think you can trust him?”
“Our relationship does not go back very far,” he admitted grudgingly. “The negotiations for the Cannibals to join the cartel happened under the past president, Jimenez. Skull has said he would abide by the same negotiated agreement. But I will admit, he has seemed to… chafe under certain aspects of the deal between our organizations.”
“Lalo, I would suggest to you that Skull may be trying to destabilize the partnership between us, with the larger goal of destabilizing you as leader of the cartel.” Grey took a step forward. “I see no other good explanation for why we would find this patch at the scene of the explosion. No Aztecs were caught on camera, only Cannibals. I’ve come to you to ask you to work with us, and to give you this information as a
gesture of good will toward the strength of our truce.”
Lalo was silent for a long moment. No one said anything; no one moved.
“Is this all?” he finally asked.
“No. I also came here to tell you that we tracked down and captured the three men in the surveillance video. During our interrogation, they confirmed that they had been responsible for the previous attacks on our club… and that one of them had been responsible for killing our brother Hammer.” Grey’s eyes were hard. “We ended him. We took our own justice, for Hammer’s death.”
Lalo’s face was expressionless. “And the others?”
“We dumped them back in their territory. It’s only a matter of time before they get back and tell Skull what happened.”
A solid, agonizing minute passed as Lalo considered everything Grey had told him. Finally, Lalo set his jaw and spoke.
“So time is of the essence.”
Grey nodded. “I’d say so.”
Lalo turned to the men flanking him. “Bring Skull to me. Today.” Then, to Grey. “May I keep the little memento you showed me?”
Repo stepped forward and handed the Aztecs patch to one of Lalo’s henchmen.
Then it was Lalo’s turn to step forward. “Grey. I hope that the issue of our truce has been resolved. I thank you for this information, and I trust that there will be no more attacks on the Stone Kings by members of our cartel.”
Grey stuck out his hand and Lalo shook it. “I trust, as well.” I let out my breath slowly, not realizing I had been holding it.
Lalo glanced briefly at all of us and nodded. “Gentlemen.” He turned toward the SUV, his men following close behind. We watched in silence as they drove off.
“Fuck,” said Trigger, relief in his voice. “Glad that’s over.”
“I expect we’re gonna hear the Cannibals is under new management soon,” Grey said drily. “Skull may be blissfully living out his final moments on earth right about now. Hope he’s enjoying them.” He turned to me and clapped me on the back. “Thanks for seeing clearly, Levi. This could have turned into something none of us wanted.”
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