by Rachel Cade
“Yeah, but it works.”
“Is this going to be your new stomping ground or are you still going to scorch the earth with Deathstalker?” He put a mythical tone into his sarcasm and Noa reluctantly accepted his handshake.
“We’re still brothers,” Whisper added. “Anyway, I’m here with some news. Where’s Tin?”
“Why, oh why, has your sudden relocation drawn the attention of Aztecs?” Whisper asked as the entire gang gathered in the locked club.
“I thought you were coming here with news?” Noa cut in quickly.
“They’re in Nevada. Two members. But they haven’t left Las Vegas.”
“Maybe they just want to gamble a little bit,” Bleed tossed out with a scoff.
“Los Bandidos are in Reno… well, they were. Now they are on their way here.”
Noa listened as noise kicked up from the crowd. Most of them were Nomads and most had tangled one time or another with Los Bandidos the Aztecs support club and American liaison. Since the Aztecs were the dominant club Los Bandidos did most of their dirty work, including drug running. Los Bandidos were small in number but ruthless, and they loved starting unnecessary shit. They also had a rep for not caring if bystanders and citizens got hurt.
“So, Aztecs in Vegas,” Tin began. “Los Bandidos pretty much here. What are they up to?”
“I am sure the Aztecs still don’t like you jacking their cars El Presidente.” Whisper crossed his legs at the ankle. “Bandidos are coming here for a deal. A pickup.”
“From the Aztecs?”
“No, from someone here. I found it too intriguing not to show up. I thought you all stayed away from drugs. I had to do some coercion to find out dirty cops were involved.”
“Did this come from the guy they had in the trunk for you?” Noa had to ask.
Whisper smiled. “He led me to the guy I needed. You are always thinking, Noa, such a leader quality.”
“So the Bandidos are here for a pick up that they’re going to smuggle back to Mexico for the Aztecs,” Tin cursed. “Off the map! This town’s off the fucking map!”
“Could we just let the deal go? Keep our noses clean. Dirty cops ain’t trying to make noise and get caught.” Bleed’s chair creaked as he spoke.
“If anything happens, they’ll try to blame us anyway. They’ll all swear it was us.” Noa rubbed his face.
Fucking Will god damned Durand.
Lyndie was thankful no one spotted her leaving the warehouse and she quickly made her way home.
Lyndie couldn’t keep her mind off Noa. With everything going on, she couldn’t stop seeing him holding Max. It was so silly of her, right? Anyone could hold a baby. It shouldn’t have made her feel the way she was feeling right now.
When Lyndie pulled up in her driveway, Will was waiting on her porch.
“Where were you?” he asked, walking up to the car.
“I went for a drive. It helps Max calm down,” she answered.
Why was he always asking her where she was?
She didn’t say anything else as she took Max’s car seat out of the car with the diaper bag. She was used to maneuvering herself alone.
Will followed her inside.
“You not working today?”
“No.”
“Just wanted to do a check in with you. Make sure you’re alright.”
It clicked then: this was for show. The concerned father checking to make sure his son was safe from the big bad bikers.
Lyndie imagined him passing around flyers for his reelection with the phrase “I’M A FATHER TOO” right under his picture.
What a son of a bitch.
“Max is fine. He’s having a great day. Thanks for coming by.”
“Damn. You want to shove me out the door too?” he laughed.
She wanted to. Maybe some orange juice would get him the hell on.
“You’re never going to get rid of this couch, are you?” he asked, pointing at the quilted loveseat. “How many times did we make out on that thing?”
“I need to feed Max.”
Will looked at her. It reminded her of the town hall night when he was watching her from Max’s door.
“That’s fine.”
“I didn’t pump, so I have-” Why the hell was she sharing that?
“To breastfeed,” he finished.
It seemed like he wanted to make her feel silly for being reluctant to say it.
“Yes.”
“He’s looking healthy,” Will remarked. “Must be good milk.”
“Now you’re just being weird.”
Will looked shocked. “What? I can’t say anything about you breastfeeding? Is it one of those new feminist things you picked up?”
She didn’t answer him. It didn’t bother him as he peered at Max in the car seat. “My hair was that same color until I was about five.” He nodded once. “We did alright. He’s going to be a handsome man one day.”
“He’s a hungry man right now, so if you could…” She gestured to the door.
“He’s not crying for it.” Will folded his arms and rooted his feet to the ground. “Ashley told you about the engagement.”
“We crossed paths and she mentioned it.”
Will lowered his head. “I know it’s been bad between us, Lyndie. I want you to know I appreciate you not bad mouthing me to the town despite how you feel about Ashley.” He stepped toward her. “Ashley is going to be my wife and means something. But you have my son and that means something too.”
He combed his hair back with his fingers. “I still think about you sometimes. I know that you’re here alone at night and you’re scared thinking about those thugs roaming the street. But you can always call me. No matter the time, I can come.”
The longer he talked, the more Lyndie understood what he was saying. He kept his gaze level on her for every word.
“Alright.” Lyndie didn’t know what happened, but he was closer to her with his hand on the small of her back.
A call on his receiver surprised them both. “Alright, I better take this. You take care.”
As soon as her front door closed, Lyndie quickly locked it.
Chapter Twenty-Two:
Just the Two of Us (plus one)
The tiny knock at her back door late that evening sent up her alarm at first.
She hadn’t felt too great after Will had left. She tried to shake her bad feeling with a few movies some popcorn and music, but when night came, she had more unease.
When Noa revealed himself through the cracked door above the lock chain, Lyndie almost leapt out of her slippers. She closed the door to snatch the lock off to let him in.
He was holding a dark bag. “I hope you don’t have a weird rule about not eating breakfast at night.”
Before she could finish smiling, his head dipped for her giving her a quick but consuming kiss.
“Is it okay for me to come in?”
“Are you going to keep asking me that?”
“Yes.”
She gestured for him to come in and he closed the door behind himself.
“You want a drink?”
“Beer?” he questioned enthusiastically.
Lyndie held up a finger.
She went to her refrigerator that was covered in sticky notes and Sesame Street magnets and pulled out a wine cooler.
“This is the closest thing I have.”
It was his second time inside her home, and she wasn’t at all used to it.
His brow kicked up. “Fuzzy navel?”
“I haven’t tried it, but I heard it’s good.”
He set the bag on her kitchen table.
“So what happened after I left with that guy that showed up?”
“Were you guys alright today?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“Why don’t we eat and we can talk about it.”
Lyndie made sure they sat on the loveseat in her living room and not the couch.
“He came to let us know some guys from another MC
were heading here.”
“What?” Lyndie quickly swallowed her pancake.
Noa handed her a napkin.
“Yeah. It’s not guaranteed, but the source was pretty reliable.”
“What does that mean? Why are they…? Does it have something to do with the crates?”
Noa nodded. “Pretty likely.”
“Noa… this town’s not even on the map.”
“It is now, baby.”
She lowered her head to stare at their plates.
“It’s going to be alright. If they come, we’ll make sure they don’t cause anyone harm. And we’re going to do our best to keep it quiet.”
“So this is your place, huh?” He tried not so subtly to change the conversation.
“It was my grandmother’s, now it’s mine.”
Noa’s finger was on her chin, making her look up at him again.
“Do you want to stay the night?” she asked.
For the first time since their second honeymoon night, Noa found himself in bed with Lyndie.
Nothing happened, and he could have easily rested on the couch a bit. He also could have told her no and walked back to the motel, but he didn’t want that. He wanted to be exactly where he was.
Lyndie wasn’t a drinker, but they’d split her wine cooler with breakfast and she was now snoring at his side from it. Noa couldn’t get over how different she was from the girls that hung around the club.
He liked being with her.
He liked the sweet times. And he liked the sweaty times.
But reading her tonight, he could see she needed the sweeter time. Just someone to hold so the world didn’t seem so out of control. And he needed that too.
A noise from the baby monitor sounded.
Noa glanced over at Lyndie, who was passed out on her stomach before he heard it again.
Slipping out of the bed, Noa took the monitor out of the room with him to not wake her.
In the room down the short hall, he found Max in his crib with his feet kicking.
Noa looked down at him. “What’s up, Big Man? You must need something, but I don’t want you to wake up your mommy.”
Noa reached down and picked up the baby.
“I’m guessing you want food or a fresh diaper,” he whispered.
Luckily, Max seemed to calm down a bit after he was picked up. Noa still couldn’t believe how light he was.
The diaper didn’t feel wet, so that reason got scratched.
“Food then.” Noa tucked Max into his arm and hoped Lyndie had some bottled milk in the refrigerator.
Lyndie turned over, feeling like something was off. The first thing she realized was that Noa wasn’t in the bed anymore.
What time was it? Had he gone?
The next thing she realized was that the baby monitor was gone from the nightstand.
That’s what had really woken her. It was still dark, but Max usually woke up at least once during the night for a change and feeding.
She got up from the bed and heard the TV on. It was dark, but the glare was visible from the hall.
In the living room, she discovered Noa sitting on her couch with an alert Max in his lap.
Lyndie glanced at the TV to see they were watching professional wrestling.
“Did the TV wake you up? I’m sorry.”
Lyndie thought her heart would squeeze out of her chest at the sight of her tiny baby in the huge biker’s arms again. And unless she was dreaming, Max seemed interested in the program.
“Do you like that show?” she asked him, moving toward the couch.
“He’s a night owl, I think.”
Lyndie sat down next to them.
A half empty bottle of milk was on the coffee table.
“You fed him?” she questioned, but it sounded like an accusation.
“Yeah. He was hungry as hell too. I tried to pull the bottle away and he fought me for it.”
Lyndie grimaced. “Never try to pull the bottle away.”
“After that heavy round of drinking, I figured you wanted to sleep it off, so I tried to handle the little guy for you. He keeps it simple. I appreciate it.”
Lyndie sat back next to them on the couch, hearing the crowd shout. This was strange, someone else being here with her like this. She was so used to being alone. There was a buzz and lightness around her that had nothing to do with any alcohol.
“How long have you been a part of an MC?”
“Nine years.”
“Nine?”
“Yeah.”
“They must be like your family then?”
Noa was quiet as he held Max. “Yeah… we’re brothers. Family doesn’t have to always be through blood.”
“That kind of contradicts being a Nomad, doesn’t it? I mean… never mind. It’s probably not for me to understand.”
Noa glanced away from her again. “What about you? Where are your people?”
“I’m not in an MC.”
He grinned. “You know what I mean.”
Lyndie’s breath was quick before she spoke. “My mom had some addiction issues when I was growing up. I was raised by my grandmother most of my life until she passed away. My mom’s in South Carolina. Her sister takes care of her. And my dad… I don’t really have any info on him. My grandma told me once that they were really in love.” She let her voice trail off.
Noa listened quietly. “I know one thing. Your grandma raised a pretty cool chick – lady,” he corrected.
“Thank you.” His hand was on hers, lifting it. “You’re wearing your ring.”
The diamond reflected the lights from the TV and so did the silver wedding band above it.
“When I’m at home. I can’t help it.”
“They look good on you. I wish you could wear them all the time.” When he looked up at her, she felt… she didn’t know. It was just a warmth that radiated over her from him.
It reminded her of how she felt the first time she saw her baby, and now whenever he smiled at her.
And she knew that was love.
Lyndie swallowed before she spoke. “You’re wearing yours, too.”
It was plainer than the other rings he wore, but it was an identical match to her band.
Lyndie’s fingers seemed to have a mind of their own and moved over the top of his palm, tracing the winding scorpion. The light touch lingered longer than it should have, traveling over the veins that raised his skin.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?” she asked. “You don’t even look tired. At the motel you were up a long time too.”
Noa slowly blinked. “I’m a night owl like Max.”
She had to smile. “I think he’s going to wear his new onesie again tomorrow.”
“What’s that?”
Lyndie’s mouth twisted to keep from laughing out loud. “It’s the outfit you bought him.”
“Oh, that’s what it’s called.”
She nodded and noticed his eyes wandering over her face.
“You know how hard a time I’m having not kissing you right now?” His voice was stark and deep in the living room.
Lyndie leaned over and kissed him lightly.
Max made a little noise and she smiled at him, drawing a circle over his full belly.
What if we just… stayed married?
Noa heard the words so clear he thought he’d said it.
It surprised him and scared him a little. He understood he cared about Lyndie, and he cared about Max, but he never imagined himself as any kind of family man. She was right; being a Nomad was in direct opposition to being in a family. The Death Skulls were his family, but this was something else.
She’d been through so much getting abandoned by that piece of shit Durand.
Promising to keep them safe was a different level of commitment than being an actual family. How could he do that and then have the itch hit him to get back on the road? What about when Tin got everything settled and his job was over?
Lyndie looked up from Max. Her smile was smal
l, her deep dimples hugging the sides of her lips. Her eyes were sleepy but alert. The sadness he used to see had shifted a bit.
Suddenly something caught his eye out the window.
“What’s that?” He stood from the couch, holding Max.
Lyndie followed his moves as and they both went to the window.
Then her gasp came quick.
“It’s a fire!” she exclaimed. “It’s coming from the Langley Mansion!”
**
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