by Brook Wilder
Zack blew out a breath, his expression growing serious.
“I would love for her to leave Cibolo and go to her parents. I can’t focus when she’s out there, and if anything happens to her, I will become unhinged. That is a promise.”
There had been a time when I had felt that possessiveness about someone important, someone that had rocked my world and not bothered to apologize for it.
But that was all in the past now.
“I’m going to stop this,” I told Zack, backing the bike out of the garage and into the humid Texas heat. “Grayson Barnes’s head is going to be delivered to Grant before this month is out.”
“I believe it,” Zack said, throwing up a hand at me as I swung my leg over the bike and gunned the engine. “See you later.”
I gave him a nod and pulled away from the shop, pointing the bike toward the highway. I needed to go to Grant to give him an update, but I wanted to clear my head first. Last night I had shot a guy through the heart from yards away, watching his chest bloom with red through my scope. Years of sniping had never impacted me like it did now. These were guys I had ridden with, shared beers with, known some about of their personal lives.
But they had chosen the wrong side, and I was hunting them down one by one because of it. I hated each trigger I pulled against the traitors. It wasn’t something I enjoyed, not by a long shot. People thought I was a cold motherfucker, but inside I died a little with each death.
Turning the bike north, I felt the heat from the asphalt mingle with the hot wind. The Texas heat was nothing to be played with, and while most would be riding in the air conditioning, I preferred the heat in my face.
I wished Zack hadn’t brought up Leo Tate. His name was still a bitter taste in my mouth; the thought of him turning traitor making me sick to my stomach. I had spent most of my childhood and youth with him, knowing him better than I knew anyone else.
Until Rox had come in the picture.
Grinding my teeth together, I thought about a few weeks ago, when I had caught sight of her red hair in a bar I was casing. For a moment, I had allowed myself to remember the good times between us, when she had all but moved into my place. Leo hadn’t liked it at first, reminding me that she was his baby sister and that he would shoot me dead if I ever broke her heart.
Well, I deserved to be shot dead for what I had done to Rox. I deserved to burn in hell.
And when I had gotten into the bar fight, before knifing my opponent I had thought about letting him run the knife through me to kill the pain. There was no one that was getting out of this shit without being hurt, some deeper than others, and I hated the fact Rox had gotten hurt in the process.
The bike hummed under my legs as I thought about the first time I had really seen Rox. Before that moment she had been Leo’s little sister, all knees and elbows.
But that day I had seen way more than her sharp angles.
***
“Are you fucking me?”
Zack shook his head, the grin on his face hard to hide. “Hell, no man. Do you think I put that damn dent in the tailpipe?”
I looked at the bent tailpipe, sighing as I reached for my wallet.
“Fine. Fix it.”
Zack grinned as I handed over my card, snatching it up before I could change my mind.
“I’ll be back.”
I looked at the dent again, wondering where the hell it had come from. I mean I hadn’t been riding the bike too hard.
Well, at least when I was sober.
The door opened behind me, and I turned, my grin fading as I took in the visitor. She was petite, barely coming up to my chest, her fiery red hair smoothed down behind her ears to show off her delicate features. Her V-neck shirt did nothing to hide the generous swell of her breasts, her jeans clinging to her hips invitingly as she moved toward me.
“Neil.”
I swallowed, suddenly unable to find my tongue.
“Rox. What are you doing here?”
“Looking for my brother,” she said, placing her hand on her hip. “Have you seen him?”
I shook my head. Hell, I hadn’t heard from Leo in days, knowing he had gone to visit one of his many women in the upper part of Texas.
I wasn’t about to tell his sister that.
“Yeah, I don’t know where he’s at.”
“Crap,” she muttered. “I really need his help, and he’s not answering his cell.”
I cracked my knuckles, knowing I should just tell her that it was great to see her and move on. This was Rox.
Unfortunately, my body didn’t think the same as my conscience. Damn, when had she grown up?
“What is it? Maybe I can help.”
She looked up at me, a soft smile on her face, and I knew right then and there I was about to step into no-man’s land.
Hell, for that smile, I would do anything.
***
Shaking out of the memory, I made the next turn and headed back to town, toward my house. My time with Roxanne Tate had been some of the best months of my life, making me understand what Sydney and Zack that had was so special. We had hidden it from Leo the best we could, and when the shit hit the fan, it had torn us apart.
And Leo’s death… hell I didn’t even want to think about that day. I hadn’t visited Rox after his death, offered any comfort to her, even though I knew her world had stopped. Rox and her brother had been as thick as thieves, protecting each other during their shitty childhood, and I knew he was her hero.
I knew I was the last person she wanted to see.
Clearing my throat, I pulled up into my driveway and shut off the engine, the bike sputtering underneath me. There was bound to be a time when she and I would have to talk; the bar scene just the beginning of the storm that was brewing between us. The town was too small for us not to bump into each other, and I wasn’t sure what I would say to her when we did finally get face to face. I had no words for her, no comfort that would piece her life back together. Leo had been the last family member she had left that she could trust, and he had turned traitor, helping Grayson escape when Zack and Sydney had cornered him.
My loyalty was to the club. It always had been, and I thought Leo’s had been as well. I had mourned his loss as a brother and then for his death. But life moved on. I had to focus on finding Grayson and ending this shit.
Climbing off the bike, I walked to my front door, inserting the key. I needed to refuel and take a shower before I went back to my hunt.
Chapter Three
Rox
I watched as Neil walked toward his front door, throwing open my car door before I could change my mind and drive away.
After reading my brother’s letter, my eyes felt red and itchy, the words rolling around in my brain. There had been many, many rumors that my brother had been a traitor to the club he had so dearly loved, the one he had worked so hard to become a part of.
I hadn’t believed it. Leo had waited all his life to be a member of the Devil’s Horsemen, he and Neil ‘pledging’ at the same time. I remembered the pride in his voice when he had shown me the vest, how he had wanted to be more than just muscle for the club. Above all else, I knew my brother was loyal to a fault and would never turn his back on those he considered to be family.
Marching up the walkway, I mustered all of my courage to keep my voice from shaking.
“Neil Wheeler, you asshole.”
He turned, surprise registering in his expression.
“Rox.”
I threw the letter in his face, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Explain this.”
He grabbed at the paper, crumpled from my hands.
“What’s this?”
“It’s from Leo,” I bit out, my voice cracking at the last word. “Of all people, you should have had his back.”
Neil gave me a glance as he started to read the words I had committed to heart, his expression stone cold. I repeated each word in my mind, my heart breaking all over again.
Red, he had started with. If
you are reading this, I’m six feet under or sitting on your dining room table in a pile of ashes, whichever you preferred. Honestly, I don’t give a damn what you do with my dead body but am more worried what you do with yourself after I tell you this information. First of all, I am not a traitor. You know me better than that, and I know you don’t believe the rumors. I’ve been working undercover with Grayson, waiting for the right moment to get his ass for what he has done to the Devil’s Horsemen, to my brotherhood. He trusts me, and I have been gathering intel to turn over to the club when the moment is right. Apparently, my luck has run out. Give this letter to Neil. He’s the only one you can trust to keep you safe. I love you, sis, and I’m damned sorry I won’t be there.
My eyes watered yet again, but I forced the tears away, not wanting to cry in front of Neil. Those were Leo’s own words, though I didn’t care if Neil protected me from here on out. I wanted nothing from him other than an admission that he had been wrong for killing Leo.
“See?” I said as he looked up at me. “You killed my brother, my blood, your best friend, all for nothing!”
“Rox,” he began, clenching the letter in his hand.
I shook my head, my body shaking with anger as I walked toward him, pressing my finger into his muscular chest. There was a time I had known every inch of his body.
“You took him from me,” I seethed. “You took him from me without even giving him the chance to tell you what he was doing.”
He grabbed my finger lightly, no hurt in his grip. The skin-to-skin contact caused a fissure of heat to spiral down my spine, but I ignored it. I wasn’t that girl any longer.
“Rox, you don’t know what you are talking about.”
Frustrated, I wrenched my hand from him, taking a few steps back.
“Leo was not a traitor. Read his words. They are right there in front of your damn eyes!”
“This doesn’t mean much,” he said, his jaw clenched.
I couldn’t believe what he was saying. Those were Leo’s words, and he was saying they didn’t mean anything? They meant everything!
“Take those to your… your president,” I forced out. “Make him renounce Leo as a traitor.”
“It’s not going to bring him back, Rox,” he said softly, folding up the letter. “Leo’s dead.”
My chest caved in.
“I know my brother is dead,” I snapped, tired of the pain. “And you killed him.”
Neil looked away, and I watched as his throat bobbed, a small piece of me wondering if he even felt sorry for what he had done to me.
“I can’t bring him back.”
I looked at him.
“It should have been you.”
He tensed, but I was beyond caring about hurting him.
“I should have never, ever have let you touch me. I-I gave you everything.”
And I had. All those years, saving myself for him, for that dream that had finally come true.
And I had fallen head first into this fantasy, that we were going to last forever.
He laughed harshly, refusing to look at me.
“Well, that was where you went wrong then, Rox.”
His words were like a dagger to my already tortured heart. What had I expected from him? He was a cold-blooded killer. I had witnessed it a few weeks ago in the bar; the guy had never stood a chance against the seasoned killer.
“How did I ever love you?”
Neil looked at me then, his eyes hard.
“Hell, I don’t know why you even tried.”
My lower lip trembled, and I stormed back to my car, throwing open the door and climbing in without looking back.
Neil had the letter now; what he did with it was up to him.
But we would never, ever be together again.
**
Later on, that night, I lay in my bed in my apartment, unable to fall asleep. I was exhausted, the emotional drain of today having taken a toll on me. Tomorrow I had to go back to work at the shop, my customers lined up for a full day of cutting hair. Sleep was something I desperately needed, but I couldn’t get my encounter with Neil out of my brain.
Did he not believe the letter? It was written in Leo’s handwriting, that was for sure, and the moment I read the words, I had known they were from my brother.
But Neil had acted like he didn’t care, and that was what irked me. He knew my brother, he knew me. There was no way I would be trying to say things that weren’t true.
It was ridiculous, that was what it was.
Rolling over, I tucked my hands under my head, watching the red numbers on my alarm clock.
The first time Neil had asked me out, I had been on cloud nine. At twenty-two, I had waited all my life for Neil to notice me more than Leo’s sister. That day at the bike shop, it had been like the blinders had been taken off and he had really seen me for the first time. I had gone in to find Leo because my car wouldn’t start. Neil had been there instead, and we had struck up a conversation over my dead battery. Before I knew it, he had asked me out under the pretense that I owed him dinner for fixing my car.
I had been more than happy to oblige. That night, we rode out of town, south to keep anyone from seeing us, and found a place on the river to eat.
***
“So, you really don’t like shrimp?”
Neil gave me a grin as he looked at his steak, his green eyes gleaming in the soft light.
“Hell, no. Seafood is disgusting. How can you eat that shit when you could have steak instead?”
I took a fried shrimp and popped it in my mouth, chewing on it with a smile.
“Like this.”
“Very funny,” he laughed, spearing his steak with his knife.
I grinned, feeling great. I could not believe I was sitting here with Neil, on a date no less.
I had dreamed of this moment for a long, long time, and it was everything I thought it would be. He was so handsome tonight, dressed in his customary black attire, his long blond hair tied back in a ponytail and the scruff on his face making him look dead sexy in my opinion. I had dressed to kill tonight as well, opting for a low-cut shirt that had held his attention when he picked me up just as I expected it would. The jeans and boots had been perfect for the bike ride, and I had attempted to hold back my thrill when I wrapped my arms around his lean waist, inhaling his scent, on the ride over.
Now I was sitting there with him, this new uncharted territory ripe for my taking.
“So,” I said, eating another shrimp. “Why did you ask me out tonight?”
Neil nearly choked on his steak, swallowing it quickly before reaching for his beer.
“You don’t beat around the bush, do you?”
I grinned.
“I’m a Tate.”
He winked at me, sending my nerves into overdrive. Boy this was turning out to be a great night!
“If you must know, I don’t have to be anyone else but me around you, Rox. You know all my secrets.”
Laughing, I picked up my beer.
“You mean, like the time you and my brother snuck out of the house to go to that strip club?”
He snickered, shaking his head.
“Well that wasn’t what I was talking about. But, yes, we did. And, damn, we had a great night.”
I had been so insanely jealous when I found out where they had gone, wondering if there would ever come a day that he would look at me with heat in his eyes.
“But,” Neil continued, leaning back in his chair. “That’s not the only reason I asked you out.”
Surprised, I looked at him.
“It’s not?”
He shook his head, warmth in his eyes.
“No, it’s not.”
It was then I knew this was going to turn hot in a heartbeat.
***
Sighing, I shook out of the memory, hating the softness I felt for Neil and how I had reacted that night. Still, I had experienced the time of my life, and when he had dropped me off at my place, I knew this was what I had been w
aiting for. There hadn’t been sex or even a kiss that night, but it had been a sign of things to come, and come they had.
But now, all of that didn’t matter. Neil had killed my brother, slaughtered his best friend with one shot and shattered my life.
My cell vibrated on the table, and I grabbed it, not recognizing the number. It wasn’t too late, and it could be a client attempting to reschedule their appointment. It happened all the time. Pressing the button, I held it up to my ear.
