“Case. Thank you for answering my call. That was ridiculous. I’m really sorry for wasting your time.” On the way back to my office I passed the night guard and gave him a polite nod of acknowledgment. He asked if everything was all right, and I assured him everything was business as usual. “I’m gonna call it a night and head home. Go back to bed and apologize to Aspen for me as well. I’m sure my call woke her, too.”
I was embarrassed, as much as I was relieved.
Case grunted again. “You call. I don’t care what time it is, or what the reason is. You call and I will answer.” He chuckled. “And Aspen is used to the phone ringing in the middle of the night. I’m the sheriff. I get called out for everything from loose livestock to shots fired, all hours of the day. And she’s an attorney. Her clients call whenever they need her as well. If we’re available for strangers, you damn well better believe we’re available for family.”
His words sent warm fuzzies flying through my stomach and made my heart feel feather-light.
“I’m still getting used to having people in my life I can rely on. I have to say, it’s a very nice feeling.” I’d gotten off to a rocky start with the Lawtons, but now, I honestly didn’t know what I would do without them.
“You sure you feel comfortable going home alone? I can send a deputy out to Ivy to escort you—or if you want to wait, I can drive up there and follow you home.” Case was really good at the big-brother thing. Even though I was new at being a sister, I could tell it was a role he was born to play.
“I’ll be fine. As I said, one of Shot’s club members follows me to and from work every day. Regardless of what time I leave or come in, someone is there.” But it would’ve been nice if Shot was the one waiting when I walked out the door. Seeing him instantly made me feel better and made all the scary things I was facing feel less threatening.
“Okay. Well, send a text when you get back to Loveless. I won’t be able to go back to sleep otherwise.” I promised to send a text and told him good night.
By the time I hung up I was back in my office and ready to be done. I was suddenly tired on top of being slightly annoyed I still hadn’t heard from Shot.
I shut my office down, making sure to leave myself notes for review tomorrow, and threw out my wasted coffee. I probably should’ve reheated it and drunk it on the way home, since my eyes felt heavy and I couldn’t stop yawning, but then I’d be wired and awake when all I wanted to do was sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Making sure, I had my keys with the mace canister attached in one hand, and my phone in the other, I let myself out of the building and out into the parking lot. I faltered a step when I didn’t immediately see a motorcycle parked near my car. I frowned into the darkness, steps quickening as I hurried to where I was parked. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck lifted, and for the first time in a while, I felt alone and vulnerable.
I was practically running when I got to my car. I could hear how harsh my breathing was, how loud my racing heart sounded as it thundered between my ears. I wished I’d taken Case up on his offer to come and follow me home, or at least that I’d stayed on the line with him until I was safely inside my car with the doors locked. I couldn’t believe that Shot not only was unreachable, but he’d left me unprotected without any warning. I had no idea what was going on with him right now, but I was starting to worry about him as much as I was worrying about my own well-being.
Panting. Sweating. Shivering. And I clumsily tripped over myself as I struggled to yank open the car door, so I didn’t notice the person watching me fall apart with considering and concerned eyes.
“Pres.”
I screamed so loud it hurt my ears and could probably be heard miles away.
I threw my keys wildly across the top of my car, hitting Shot in the shoulder.
“What in the hell?” He bent to pick up the fallen keys, then looked at me with wide eyes. “What’s your problem?”
I was going to strangle him.
Clutching the top of my car door I snapped, “What’s my problem? Are you kidding me right now? You scared the hell out of me! Where did you even come from? Why didn’t you answer my call earlier? Do you know how worried I was? Where’s your motorcycle?” The questions poured out, one after another. I felt like I was about to go crazy.
“I had business with the club when you called earlier. I couldn’t answer. I saw your text that something freaked you out so I got here as soon as I could. There’s no way into the building, so I figured I’d wait for you out here to make sure you were all right. I sent you a message telling you I’d be waiting. Did you not see it?”
Aggravated and still breathing hard, I looked down at my phone and saw the notification light blinking. Sure enough, he messaged me while I was on the phone with Case and I hadn’t noticed.
“Son of a bitch,” I whispered and closed my eyes as if I could block out this entirely ridiculous scene. I was embarrassed and a little ashamed at my overreaction.
“My bike is parked next to this van. I guess you couldn’t see it, or me.” He sighed heavily and pounded his fist on the roof of my car. “I didn’t mean to scare you. You had to know I wasn’t going to leave you alone and unprotected. What have I been telling you since the beginning, Presley? I’m not going to let anything else happen to you.”
It would’ve been better if he’d sounded frustrated or annoyed. But he sounded disappointed that I doubted him, which made my heart hurt and made me feel about two feet tall.
I cleared my throat and nervously moved some of my hair away from my face. “I’m sorry. My nerves were shot. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
He frowned and slid my keys back in my direction across the roof of the car. “I don’t know what I have to do to get you to believe I will put you first no matter what.”
I sniffed a little. “I don’t think that’s true, but I appreciate you saying it. I’d appreciate it even more if you answered your phone when I’m trying to get ahold of you. The last time I didn’t pick up your call, you broke into my apartment and scared me to death. Don’t you think I’d react the same to not being able to get ahold of you when I really need to? You can’t be both the center of my universe and a black hole when it’s convenient for you. I’m sorry I overreacted, but you’ve been known to take things to an extreme as well.”
He swore and I could see the frustration clearly on his face. But once again, like I was the night he appeared out of nowhere in my bathroom, I was frustrated that he didn’t seem to be able to grasp why I was particularly sensitive at the moment, and why my emotions were all over the place.
I grabbed my keys and told him flatly, “I’m heading home. I’m tired, and I have to be back early in the morning.”
He made a sound low in his chest. “I’ll follow you.”
I tilted my head to the side and considered him silently for a long moment. I guess this was our first real fight. It didn’t feel good at all, and I suddenly had a whole new level of sympathy for the turmoil Kody was going through in her relationship. I knew being with someone, and being there for them, wasn’t exactly an easy feat, but I realized I was kind of clueless as to how hard it could actually be. No one had mattered enough to me before to have my emotions so fired up. “I won’t fight you following me home.” I was still on edge and good and freaked out after all. “But I want to be alone tonight.”
I needed a minute to catch my breath.
“Presley.” Just my name, but the way he said it sounded so sad. I never planned on hurting him. I was truthfully still stunned that someone like me even had that kind of power with someone like him.
“I need a night, Shot.” I made sure he could hear the exhaustion in my tone.
It took a moment, though he eventually nodded in agreement. I should have felt like I’d won this round, but for some reason I had the distinct impression we’d both lost.
Chapter 19
Shot
Presley’s one night had turned into several.
T
he stars had aligned to keep us from sitting down and talking things out. She’d gotten called in to oversee a triple homicide case coming out of Austin, and I got tied up in club business, which pulled me away from Loveless for a few days. I came back feeling more tired than I ever had in my life, and I realized how healing Presley’s serenity in my life had become. I was planning on camping out in her living room until we patched things up, but before I could even get my footing back from the last ride, Case called and told me it was time to put our plan to get Ashby to confess in motion. He had the surveillance set up and wanted to take advantage of the fact Presley was busy and less likely to stumble into the middle of the setup.
So I called the woman I hated most in the world and pulled the trigger on ending the threat hanging over Presley’s head once and for all.
Only things hadn’t gone right from the start.
It took several calls to finally get Ashby to agree to meet. It felt like she was playing with me, but I was worried she realized she was walking into a trap. And while we’d made arrangements to keep Presley out of the scene when Ashby and I finally did meet, there was no plan in place should another woman who would instantly interfere walk into the middle of things. It felt like karmic retribution for all the shitty things I’d ever done when I caught sight of Kody pulling into the parking lot of the diner across the street from a motel, hours and hours before she was even normally awake.
I turned my head away from the redhead who was openly flirting with me as I stalled from taking her into a motel room, toward the furious blonde who was marching toward me with murder in her eyes. A chill shot up my spine as my name rang out through the parking lot.
“Shot Caldwell, I’m going to kill you!”
There was no stopping her as she marched toward me. I was sure if Kody took a second to think rationally she would recognize the redhead as Ashby Grant. Everyone in Presley’s life had been briefed on what the woman looked like, and even with the drastic cosmetic changes, she was still fairly recognizable. Only when Kody was angry, she acted first and thought things through much later.
My head jerked to the side as her palm smacked across my cheek, drawing a shocked and clearly delighted sound from the woman across from me. I was sure both Hill and Case were getting a good laugh from where they were monitoring the situation in a nearby room. The microphone they’d attached to one of the rivets that dotted my cut was meant to pick up the smallest sound and was designed to grab anything incriminating Ashby might say. They were planning on taking the woman into custody today regardless, but everyone was holding out hope I could get her on tape admitting that she murdered Presley’s mother as well as Conrad Lawton. It wasn’t the way I would go about things if this was fully club business, but I felt like my hands were tied. If I dealt with things the way I wanted, the problem of taking Ashby out of Presley’s life forever would be solved, but there was no doubt Presley would then risk losing me as well. There was no way I wouldn’t be the prime suspect if the awful woman disappeared suddenly, so for the time being I was pretending to be law-abiding. However, Kody’s sudden appearance might flush the whole manufactured scenario down the drain.
I rubbed my stinging cheek and met Kody’s glare with one of my own.
She looked at the redhead, angry smoke practically coming out of her ears. I didn’t need Kody’s drama on top of trying to keep my own emotions in check. I stopped Kody from lunging at the woman by my side, just barely, and bit back a litany of swear words.
“Knock it off, Kody.” I barked the words in a warning tone but they didn’t do any good. I was annoyed by the interruption but even more irritated that Kody didn’t know me well enough to know I wouldn’t be talking to a woman who wasn’t Presley in front of a motel, in broad daylight, without a damn good reason. Kind of the way I was irritated that Presley thought I would leave her alone and scared without responding the night we’d had that ugly fight outside her work. I couldn’t be in two places at once, and I was starting to realize how hard it was going to be to prioritize someone else as much as I prioritized my club.
Kody looked like she wanted to hit me again but she restrained herself. Instead, she puffed out an aggravated sound and crossed her arms over her chest. She tapped the toe of her orange cowboy boot on the asphalt in front of her and glared daggers at the redhead, who seemed pleased by the interruption even though she was doing her best to look scared instead of triumphant.
“I can’t believe you. Do you have any idea what would happen if Presley saw you right now?” She shook her head and made a disgusted face. “I was the only one in the family willing to support the two of you being together, because I know you. At least I thought I did. Now”—she gave me a look that made me feel about two inches tall—“I feel like all of us Lawtons should band together and protect Presley from you…from this.” She waved a hand in the direction of the fake redhead, who was now clutching my arm.
I swore long and loud. I felt firmly stuck between what I needed to do and what I wanted to do. I couldn’t tell Kody all of this was for Presley’s own good, that I was trying to bring her some much-needed closure. And I had no doubt the narrative Kody was going to take back to the woman I was trying to protect would paint me in a terrible light. I could have kicked myself for not sitting Presley down and telling her our plan just in case things got twisted like this. I thought I had a handle on fixing all of this without her involvement, but just like my loss as to how to smooth things over from the other night, it seemed like I didn’t know anything when it came to falling in love.
“You’re reading too much into this, Kody.” I tried to keep the fact I was disgusted hidden. It stung that she was so quick to jump to conclusions and that she was so ready to take those misinformed assumptions back to Presley. They were incredibly close now. I wasn’t so sure if Kody painted me in a bad light, there would be a way to talk myself out of this mess.
I’d never had a relationship with a woman I was frantic to protect before and I had to say I didn’t like how helpless it made me feel. I wanted to hit something…or someone. Namely the gleeful predator who was still clinging to me. I’d never lifted a hand to a woman, but then again, I’d never been so close to a woman who killed without qualms before.
“Well, this has been loads of fun, but I have other commitments today, so can we get back to what we were doing before we were so rudely interrupted?” Ashby said. Those fake green eyes glittered triumphantly as Kody snarled and took a step forward. This little confrontation played right into Ashby’s hands. Word of me spending time with another woman was bound to get back to Presley even quicker than she’d expected. She was practically quivering with anticipation. Because of Kody’s outburst, it was obvious to her how deeply invested Presley was in me and our relationship, making this apparent act of betrayal all the more potent and painful.
Kody bit off a slew of ugly words as she turned on her heel and marched away. It was bad luck and bad timing all around.
I knew it was a calculated move on Ashby’s part to only agree to meet me at the motel during the day. There was only one motel anywhere near Loveless, and everyone who went anywhere in the small town had to pass by it to get where they were going. My motorcycle was pretty unmistakable, and so were this woman’s bright hair and overtly sexy outfit. She wanted someone to see us meeting in the parking lot, and I had no doubt she had someone lurking nearby to take photos of me walking into that motel room so she could send proof of my infidelity to Presley. I knew she wanted to seduce me, but I hadn’t figured out if she was also planning to get rid of me. Aside from getting me to sleep with her, having Presley blame herself for my demise was undoubtedly the best way Ashby could destroy her for good. If Presley believed I lost my life because I’d fallen for her, there would be no coming back from that. She already had so much guilt when it came to people she cared about being in danger because of Ashby.
This woman wasn’t just crazy, she was evil. She’d proved it multiple times.
I tried
to keep the scowl off my face and even put my features into something that appeared more anticipatory as I guided the redhead toward the wired room. I doubted I was successful. My insides were churning, and every single part of me that craved vengeance for the woman I very well might be in love with howled in outrage at being ignored.
“Who was that woman? Was that your new girlfriend?” Obviously she knew that it was not, but asking was a good way to get information, and if I was stupid I would be spilling exactly why Kody was so worked up and thus give Ashby a new target to take aim at.
“Former girlfriend. We stayed friends, so she’s always all up in my business. Apparently, she doesn’t think it’s a good idea to screw up my new relationship by spending time with you.”
“Interesting. It sounded slightly more personal than that.” There was a calculating gleam in her eyes, and once again I wondered how anyone who got anywhere near this woman couldn’t make out that she was a predator of the highest order. No wonder she’d practically eaten Presley alive.
“I’ve got my own shit to deal with. I don’t take on others. I also have things to do today, so let’s get this show on the road. You said you wanted to thank me for helping you out with your car and that you were just passing through town. I have limited free time, so if you wanna pay me back, it’s now or never.”
I was pretty sure Kody was already on the phone with Presley telling her what an unfaithful asshole I was. And if Case wasn’t the one behind this whole wayward plot, I had no doubt he and Crew would both be racing in my direction ready to kick my ass once they heard about this shitshow.
“You’re in a hurry. That’s so sexy.” The words were purred in a sultry voice as her fingernails trailed over the tattoos on my forearm.
My skin crawled in response. “I don’t waste time when it comes to taking care of business.”
Blacklisted Page 20
