Salvation

by Terri Anne Browning

  Seeing me, Tiny grinned and draped an arm over my shoulders.

  Tiny was thirty and like family. He and all his friends were since they were MC brothers. I didn’t call them uncle, but they still treated me like I was a beloved niece. I leaned into him, feeling just as safe with him as I would have with my dad.

  “Is it always this crazy?” I had to shout for him to hear me even as close as we were.

  I felt more than heard him chuckle, his massive body shaking from the force of it. “Worse, darlin’. Those boys always stir up trouble.”

  Turning my gaze back to my cousins, I watched as Matt twirled his pool stick in one hand. I could barely make out him calling his shot before leaning over and sinking the ball exactly as he’d promised. Everyone behind him screamed, some with excitement, even fewer of them with disdain. The two guys they must have been hustling turned red with anger, their hands curling into fists so tightly their knuckles turned white.

  Tanner sat on his stool at the other end of the table, casually drinking a bottle of beer and watching with bored eyes the same shade of blue as my own. Matt sank another ball, then ran his mouth to one of the younger guys who had pure hate shining out of his brown eyes.

  I knew it was going to happen before the other guy actually moved. The pool stick in the guy’s hand cracked across Matt’s sternum, and he doubled over as all the air was knocked out of him. I cringed, pretty sure Matt now had some broken ribs. But before I could rush over to check on my family member, Tiny was pushing me behind him.

  Bending, I watched from under his arm as Tanner laid out the guy who’d just attacked his younger brother. The second guy they’d been hustling shouted something and charged at him, but Tanner sidestepped him at the last minute, causing the guy’s fist to connect with the guy behind him.

  “Oh shit,” I thought I heard Tiny say, and I had to blink a few times before I could believe my own eyes.

  Ben stood there, not even dazed by the punch he’d just taken to the face. His jaw was tense as he grabbed the man’s arm and twisted it behind him before sweeping his feet out from under him and making him drop face first to the ground.

  “You’re under arrest, motherfucker,” he snarled, spitting on the floor at the guy’s head. Only then did I realize there was blood in the spit.

  He slapped cuffs on the guy’s wrists, then kicked him before turning to do the same to the guy Tanner had taken down. “Anyone else?” he barked to the crowd that was now deathly silent. “No? How about you?” he shot at Tiny as he stalked forward. Ben’s brandy-brown eyes caught hold of mine, and I jerked back, hiding more securely behind Tiny’s massive body. “Move aside so I can get to my woman, or I’ll arrest your ass, too.”

  I grabbed the back of Tiny’s cut, holding on to it like a lifeline. “Don’t do it, Tiny.”

  “Whatever you want, darlin’.” Tiny’s friends moved in around him, completely barricading me from Ben. “Don’t think she considers herself your woman, Sheriff,” Tiny told him. “And until she says otherwise, I’m not moving.”

  “Lexa,” Ben growled, making me shiver because I freaking loved the sound of his voice like that. “You didn’t answer any of my texts or calls all night, and I had to drive around this damn town for three hours looking for you. Then I walk in here, and you’re feet away from someone getting their chest caved in with a damn pool stick? I’m about to lose my freaking mind, woman. Get your ass out here so I can check for myself that you’re okay.”

  “No thanks. I’m good right here.”

  “Lexa.” His voice was thick with warning, which I ignored. After what had happened with his grandmother, I wasn’t going to give in.

  My mom was the one person in the world who knew me the best. I had to assume that his grandmother probably did, in fact, know Ben better than anyone too. She would know if he was only playing with me before getting back together with Paige. Which was exactly what I’d been afraid of all along. I wasn’t going to give in, not even with that sexy-as-hell tone of voice he was using on me.

  I needed to have at least a little self-respect.

  “What the fuck is going on in here?”

  I jerked at the rage-filled sound of my father’s voice, and Tiny stood up a little straighter. From under his arm, I spotted Dad, Uncle Spider, and Uncle Jet. They walked through the parting crowd like biker gods in their aged leather cuts, while people looked on with total and complete awe at the deities they were.

  A groan alerted me to Matt again, and he stood up, his cough a horrible sound as he rubbed at his chest. “Fucking pussies couldn’t take a little heckling. Broke his pool stick on me.”

  “Tanner, take him to the hospital.”

  Matt groaned. “Damn it, Bash. Rory is going to kick my ass if I call her from the emergency room again.”

  Dad didn’t even blink at his younger cousin. “Then maybe you shouldn’t end up there so much.”

  “Truth,” Tanner said with a laugh as he pulled his brother’s arm over his shoulder. “I need a car.”

  “Lexa,” Dad called out. “Give Tanner your keys.”

  Sighing heavily, I nudged Tiny, and he stepped aside, letting me pass. I gave Tanner my keys, then started to walk past Ben to my dad.

  His hand grasped my wrist before I could make it an inch by him. “I’ll give you a ride home, baby.”

  I tried to jerk out of his hold, but his grip only tightened. Not painfully but enough to let me know he wasn’t going to let go anytime soon, so I needed to give in. I glanced at my dad for help. “Dad—”

  “Davis is going to take you home, Lexa,” he informed me with that same hard bite to his voice. “Don’t give him any lip.”

  “But—”

  “What about these two?” Dad asked Ben, speaking over any protest I would have voiced.

  “I’ll have one of my deputies pick them up and book them. That one is getting the full treatment for assault on an officer.” Ben tucked me against him, his other hand stroking down my spine. “Any paperwork I need to file can be done in the morning, though. I’ll be at your house.”

  Dad only nodded as Ben walked me out of the bar, and I couldn’t keep my mouth from gaping a little at the bizarreness of the whole incident, thinking maybe I’d stepped into some weird twilight zone or something.

  Chapter 18

  Ben

  Lexa’s silence was worse than nails on a chalkboard for me as I drove toward her house. With each mile that she continued to ignore me, my hands tightened a little more around the steering wheel until the stitches began to protest and blood leaked around them.

  Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to relax my grip. “Is that the type of date you’re used to?” Turning my gaze from the road, I glanced at her, but she continued to glare out the passenger window. “That guy, what’s his name…Tiny? You like him?”

  Again, no answer, and it only spiked my blood pressure higher.

  “Lexa, you are killing me right now,” I told her. “Why are you pissed at me? I’m the one who found you out with that Tiny asshole.”

  “Tiny’s a good guy,” she said without looking at me. “And if you must know, I wasn’t out with him. The reason I was even at the bar was because I was doing the books for my mom.”

  “Then what’s going on? What did I do now to make you mad?” Because I was coming up with nothing, no matter how hard I racked my brain for an answer. Sure, she still could have been upset about hearing Paige on the phone with me earlier, but I thought she’d gotten over it after the texts I’d gotten earlier from her thanking me for the T-shirt I’d left in her car when I’d dropped it off that morning.

  Her shoulders shifted, and she finally turned her head in my direction, but the expression on her face was cold, emotionless, and I almost preferred when she was glaring out the window. “Tell me something, Ben. Are you and your grandmother close?”

  Unsure where this was going, I shrugged. “Yeah, I mean, sure. She and my grandfather are all th
e family I have left. The three of us are pretty tight.”

  “And would you say she knows you better than anyone else?”

  “She’s my grandmother, Lexa, of course she knows me—”

  But she cut me off just as I was pulling up in front of her house. “Yeah, I thought so. That’s all I needed to know.” Opening the door, she jumped out. “Thanks for the ride, Sheriff.”

  The door slammed before I’d even gotten my seat belt off. She ran up the driveway to the front door, and I took off after her. Something was going on. The look on her face as she’d glanced back at me before shutting the door had nearly broken me, and I didn’t understand what had put that kind of sadness in her beautiful eyes.

  But I’d fucking find out.

  The front door was about to close when I grabbed it and pushed it open enough to enter the house. There were tears in her eyes, and I nearly fell to my knees then and there to plead with her to tell me what was wrong.

  Instead, I cupped her face, wiping away the tears with my thumbs. “Baby, talk to me. What happened that made you cry? If I said something wrong, tell me. If someone hurt you, I’ll take care of them. Just please, don’t cry.”

  “You’re right,” she murmured, stepping back so that I was no longer touching her. “You’re not worth my tears. Not you, and not your grandmother.” She started up the stairs. “You did your job. I’m home. Now get the hell out of my house.”

  “Goddamn it, Lexa!” I exploded, feeling like she was really walking away for good, and that made me panic. “What the hell did I miss this time?”

  “Maybe you should ask your grandmother,” a new voice suggested from behind me.

  Reluctantly, I looked away from Lexa’s retreating back to face the woman who’d just spoken. Willa Masterson stood in the living room, two glasses of what looked like iced tea in her hands. Offering one to Felicity Hannigan, who was seated on the couch, Willa put her free hand on her hip and glared at me, while the other woman watched me with wide eyes.

  “What does she have to do with any of this?” I demanded, exasperated.

  “Like I said, ask her.” Taking a sip of her drink, she sat down beside the other woman, crossing her legs. “Bitch was lucky I didn’t scalp her on the spot,” she muttered to herself as she got comfortable.

  “I’m asking you,” I said, moving into the living room so I could face them both.

  Willa grinned, but it was the kind of grin that probably would have scared the hell out of a lesser person. “He thinks he can intimidate me, Flick.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, you can tell he hasn’t been around long if he thinks that is possible with any female in this family.” Sipping her drink, Felicity smirked up at me. “I suggest you go talk to the dear, sweet Mrs. Davis. And while you’re there, tell her the Angel’s Halo ol’ ladies would love to have a sit-down with her whenever she gets the chance.”

  “Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “I can’t leave Lexa.”

  Willa snorted. “Excuse you? She’s not alone. She’s got us and her mom right upstairs. Trust me on this, Sheriff. You’re going to want to talk to that old hag tonight.”

  There was no way in hell I was leaving with just three women to protect what was mine. Pulling out my phone, I hit my grandmother’s number, staring Willa down as I waited for an answer.

  It rang half a dozen times, which was unlike her to let it ring for so long before answering. “Um, hi, sweetheart. How…how was your day?”

  The hesitancy in her voice had my eyes narrowing. “What did you do?” I demanded, immediately knowing she had, in fact, done something. And whatever it was, that was why Lexa was so upset with me.

  “Are you hungry? I got all those deli meats I know you love so much. You could come over and have a sandwich… Or I’ll pack you some and bring them by the station tomorrow. We could have lunch together.”

  “Gran,” I snapped, cutting her off before she could go on and on about damned deli meats. “I asked you a question. Answer it.”

  I heard her exhale heavily. “I’m so sorry, Ben. I was in the grocery store this morning, and I was gossiping with Denise Hallbeck. You know how she is, always amping me up about you. She was talking about how that Lexa Reid girl was chasing after you and how she took a baseball bat to your cruiser yesterday… And… And…”

  “And what?” I bit out, feeling my blood turn cold.

  “And I said you were only playing with Lexa until you finally gave Paige another chance. I-I knew I was just blowing smoke, but Denise looked so condescending, and I couldn’t stand it. Well, I didn’t know Lexa was standing right behind us in line at the deli.”

  “That’s why she asked if you knew me so well,” I muttered to myself. “I confirmed you knew me better than anyone, and she automatically thought you were right.”

  “I really am sorry.” Gran sounded older all of a sudden, fragile. But that didn’t stop me from being pissed off at her.

  “I’ll talk to you about this later. Right now, I have to go fix this mess you made.”

  At least, I hoped I could. The way Lexa had acted earlier, I wasn’t so sure I could this time.

  I ended the call even as Gran was apologizing again. Felicity and Willa looked up at me with raised brows, waiting expectantly.

  “Told you that you would want to ask her,” Willa groused.

  “Yeah, you fucking told me,” I agreed. “Now maybe you can tell me how to fix this.”

  Both women laughed. “Oh, honey, you think you can play games with our girl and stomp all over her heart, and when she finally—fucking finally—sees the light, that you could just snap your fingers and fix this shit?” Felicity shook her head, amusement shining out of her pansy-blue eyes.

  “Yes!” I snapped at her. “Because I haven’t been playing any games. I love Lexa. It’s everyone else in this goddamn town who has been fucking with her head.”

  “Maybe you do love her. Maybe you don’t,” Willa said with a twist of her lips. “But right now, Lexa isn’t so sure. Have you even told her how you feel, dumbass? Perhaps everyone was able to fuck with her head, as you put it, because you haven’t been clear enough about this supposed love you have for her.”

  Fuck, she was right about that too. I hadn’t told Lexa I loved her yet. No damn wonder she so easily believed all the bullshit everyone—including my own grandmother—said about me.

  As I was agonizing over that fact, the doorbell rang.

  Felicity got to her feet, that same smug grin on her face again. “Oh my, who could that be, I wonder,” she singsonged as she walked to the door, humming happily to herself.

  I was on edge even before she opened the damn thing, knowing I wasn’t going to like this one little bit.

  “Theo!” she exclaimed, louder than necessary for my benefit, and I balled my hands into fists as she hugged the guy standing before her. “Sweetheart, what a perfect, wonderful surprise.”

  “How are you, Mrs. Hannigan?” he greeted with respect and a smile I knew would melt any pussy. “Sorry to drop by without calling.”

  “No, no, honey, we’re used to you boys popping in unexpectedly,” she laughed, waving him in. “We were just talking to Sheriff Davis, who was about to leave.”

  “I’m not leaving.” And to prove my point, I dropped down into the recliner perpendicular to the couch and met Theo’s gaze head on. His dark brows lifted, a mixture of emotions in them that I couldn’t clearly read, which was new for me. I put his age at about twenty, but he easily could have been either younger or older. He was a good-looking asshole, and I didn’t doubt he got into girls’ pants quickly enough. But what I really wanted to know was if he’d gotten into Lexa’s in any way. “Especially if he’s staying.”

  She shrugged. “We have plenty of extra rooms. Theo, you can stay in the same one as last time. It’s right across the hall from Lexa’s. You go on and freshen up and let Lexa know you’re here.”

  I jumped up just as quickly as I’d
sat. “The fuck, woman?” I glared at her as I stomped up the stairs after Theo to the sound of Willa laughing her ass off.

  Theo didn’t even glance back at me as he made his way to the room straight across from Lexa’s. I stood outside her door as he opened his own. As the door closed, he gave me a cocky smirk, and I flipped him off.

  As soon as the door shut, I was knocking on Lexa’s. “Baby, open up,” I called out, but I got no answer. Muttering a curse, I twisted the knob and stepped inside.

  The room was in total darkness, and I knew before I even turned on the light that she wasn’t there.

  “Lexa!”

  Chapter 19

  Lexa

  I stopped outside my bedroom door, but I hesitated before opening it. My heart was hurting so damn bad, and all I really wanted was my mom.

  Moving on down the hall, I knocked on my parents’ door before cracking it open. I heard the TV and expected Mom to be in bed, the covers tucked in around her, relaxing. But she wasn’t there. I heard a curse and looked straight at the window.

  Mom was half in, half out of it, her eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming eighteen-wheeler. “Well, don’t just stand there, honey. Either come with me, or cover for me with your aunts.”

  The choice was easy enough for me. For one, I didn’t know where she was going, but I knew she was going to be breaking all kinds of the doctor’s rules. For another, Ben was downstairs, and I didn’t know if I could face him again after he’d basically confessed his grandmother was right.

  I shut and locked Mom’s door then sprinted across the room. She finished climbing out, and I was right behind her.

  It was easier for me to get off the roof first and then help her down. Once we were both on the ground, she took my hand and, with a wicked grin, tugged me toward the driveway. We ran two blocks before she stopped beside a parked truck I didn’t recognize.