by Brook Wilder
It all felt like a dream to her. Or like she was living in some sort of messed-up fairy tale where the white knight swoops in and rescues the damsel-in-distress from the dragon. Only, in her case, the dragon was an obsessed member of a notorious gang and her white knight was a cowboy with a motorcycle, and probably less that white himself.
The idle thought drew a smile back to her face and this time Tex caught her look.
“What?” he asked, a grin of his own teasing the corners of his mouth as he stared at her. “What is that smile for?”
Lori shrugged, a little bashful.
“I was just thinking that this is like a story. A fairytale or something. You’re my knight in shining armor.”
“Does that make you the fair princess that I rescue and then we ride off into the sunset together?” Tex asked the question with a joking edge to the words but the image they conjured was too much for her to even hope for.
Lori’s eyes filled with sudden tears and she blinked them away as fast as she could.
“That would be perfect.”
As quick as she had tried to banish them, Tex still saw the moisture fill her eyes and he came close, pulling her back into his arms.
“Hey, don’t cry, sweetheart,” he pleaded roughly. “Jesus, you know I hate it when you cry.”
“I just… I don’t know what we’re going to do. This isn’t a story. The princess never gets rescued by a gang member and hidden away in a drug den,” Lori said with a wet laugh, but there wasn’t much humor in it. She swiped at the tears, angry at the emotion flooding her body with hopelessness.
Tex cupped her cheek in his hand and tilted her face up until she had no choice but to meet his piercing green eyes. They stared back at her with a fierce determination and a warmth that made her breath catch all over again.
“Don’t worry. You’ll get your happy-ever-after. I promise you that. Whatever I have to do.”
Lori smiled up at him through her tears and he kissed her.
It started to deepen, but then Tex was pulling away with a sigh.
“I should probably get dressed,” Lori said, pushing back the warm blankets
Tex’s gaze instantly heated as he traced her nude body.
“I supposed so,” he said, agreeing reluctantly.
Lori bit back a grin as she rose to her feet and pulled on the stretchy black tights and the loose tank dress that fell to her thighs.
Lori raised her hands above her head in a big stretch, aware of the way Tex’s gaze still burned into her from behind as she strolled into the kitchen. She went straight to the cabinet, pulling out a bag of beef jerky and the ketchup from the fridge.
Tex wrinkled her nose at her as she ate.
“What?” Lori finally asked after she noticed his look.
“That is disgusting,” he said, watching her squirt another dab of ketchup on the dried meat and eat it.
Lori just shrugged.
“I can’t help it. Not only is this baby making me super emotional. but she’s always making me crave beef jerky.” Lori took another bite. “And ketchup.”
“Disgusting, sweetheart.”
Lori just grinned as she chewed. She didn’t like it any better, but the baby wanted what it wanted. And apparently that was beef jerky and ketchup.
Lori went quiet as she snacked, watching Tex walk to the fridge, grab a beer and pop it open as he walked over to the kitchen table. A comfortable silence fell around them.
Lori couldn’t help but think about how nice it was, just being with him. It was almost… domestic, in a way, sitting with him in the kitchen. Telling jokes and teasing each other. It made it almost possible to ignore the worried voice in her head that told her they were just in the eye of the storm. A moment of calm before it would all come tumbling back on top of them.
Lori glanced up at him through a fringe of thick lashes and was struck by how handsome Tex was. How strong and capable, loyal and resilient, in the face of problems that weren’t his to begin with.
He was so unlike anyone else she’d ever known, so unlike what she’d thought of him the first time they’d met. But he’d grown on her over the past months as she’d gotten to know him, the real him, the man who hid behind a charming quip and a quick grin.
And for some reason, he chose to be with her. Lori tried to shrug off the thought, but self-doubt plagued her. From her mother, all the way up until Gears, every single person she’d ever thought had cared about her always left. They’d always let her down. What if Tex was the next name she had to add to that list?
“Did you really mean it? What you said before?” Lori bit her lip, trying to cut off the words, but they were flying from her mouth before she could stop them.
Tex shot her a questioning look and Lori took a deep breath. As much as it hurt to ask, she had to know the answer. A part of her still didn’t believe him. Believed that she wasn’t truly worthy of his love, or anyone’s.
“Do you… do you really love me?” She spoke so softly she was worried that Tex hadn’t even heard her, but then he was standing. He walked over, his steps slow and measured. He took a hold of her shoulder and pulled her close against his body, wrapping his arms around her.
“I meant every single word that I said,” Tex said fiercely, his voice serious and his green eyes gleaming with honesty. It was just the truth. Somehow, he was telling her the truth. He kissed her then, as if he could prove it with touch alone. By the time he pulled away again, they were both breathing heavily.
“Don’t ever doubt it,” Tex growled and Lori just nodded her head.
That was a hell of a lot easier said than done.
Tex tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and Lori tried to look away from his too-keen green gaze. It was like he could look inside her and see all her troubled thoughts, all of her feelings of unworthiness and doubt.
“Lori, you are the strongest, most beautiful, resilient, remarkable woman I have met,” he said, an odd echo of the thoughts that had gone through her head about him just a few moments before. “And I’m going to keep saying that until you believe me.”
“It might take a couple of a years,” Lori joked, trying to break the tension that hung in the air between them.
But Tex’s expression was serious.
“That’s a good start.”
His voice was just as serious, but Lori was too unsure to trust his promise of commitment. She was just happy that he was there with her now. She would deal with the future when she got there. No reason to bring more troubles down on her head. Lord knows she already had more than enough of those.
Tex opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could get any of the words out he was interrupted by the high-pitched ring of his cell phone.
Chapter 11
With a muttered curse, Tex reached into his back pocket and grabbed his phone. He was still fuming, all the things he wanted to tell Lori hanging on the tip of his tongue. How could she doubt him? How could she think that he hadn’t meant it when he’d told her that he loved her?
There was only one other woman he’d ever said those words to, and it had only taken getting to know Lori and falling for her to realize that he hadn’t even known what love was. Not until she had barreled into his life like a thunderstorm.
The phone rang again, insistent and loud, and he didn’t even pause to look at the caller ID before slamming his finger against the answer button and holding it to his ear.
“Yes?” Tex growled and there was a sharp indrawn breath from the other end of the line.
“Tex? It’s Porky.”
“Porky! What the hell, man? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for days!”
“I know, I know. You have to listen…”
“Where the hell have you been? You haven’t answered my calls or texts. So much has gone down, Porky. I don’t even know where to start.”
“Believe me, I know.”
“What do you mean you know?” Tex asked, his voice hard as Lori looked on in c
oncern.
“Listen, Tex, there’s been a lot of fallout over the last few days. It’s why I couldn’t call you.”
There was real panic in Porky’s voice. Tex had never heard the other man rattled before and it set off all sorts of alarm bells.
“What are you talking about?”
“Look, I don’t know how to say this.”
“Just fucking say it, Porky!” The words burst from Tex’s throat, his friend’s panic infecting him across the line. “What’s going on? I haven’t heard a fucking word from anyone since leaving that shit hole town.”
“Gears found a pregnancy test in Lori’s house.”
Porky spit it out all in a rush and Tex froze as shock and confusion hit him hard. He couldn’t seem to figure out what to say, how to make sense of what Porky was saying, and then it was too late, the other man was talking again.
“He knows that Lori’s pregnant, and he guessed that you’re the father.”
There was a hint of a question in Porky’s voice.
“I am,” Tex said, answering the man.
Porky grew silent for a moment
“I thought so. Damn, Tex… Congratulations!”
Porky’s sudden shift from panic to jubilation had a grin tugging at Tex’s mouth.
“Thanks, Porky.”
“I mean it man. Lori is amazing and… Shit, I never expected… You’re going to be a father!”
Tex shook his head, partly at his friend and partly at Lori’s look of confusion. He knew the conversation wasn’t over yet. There was more to this than just Gears finding out about the baby. He could hear it in the reluctance in Porky’s voice.
“Just tell me, man,” Tex finally said. “Tell me the rest.”
There was another pause and Tex could practically see Porky wrestling with what to say, how to tell him.
“Gears has… declared war against the Devil’s Martyrs.”
“What?” The single word left Tex’s mouth as a sharp gasp. “That’s crazy.”
“It gets worse. He convinced the Grim Riders’ president that you… well, he’s saying that you attacked Lori. That you violated a member of their crew.”
“That’s... that’s more than crazy. That’s bullshit!”
“I know. I know that. But the Grim Riders are behind Gears on this. They believe him.”
“And?” Tex asked, knowing there was still more to come, and knowing damn well that he wasn’t going to like it.
“Gears got shit-faced and started making trouble. Some of the younger members retaliated and the violence is getting worse.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Gears and some of the other Riders were shit-talking you and Austin confronted them. They… they killed him, Tex.”
Tex felt the breath rush out of him and his legs gave out just as he got to the chair that was pulled up to the kitchen table. Porky was still talking, about the others who had been hurt. Two others had died, revenge for Austin’s death. The two gangs were at full-out war with each other.
He’d known that messing with Gears would be like throwing a match on dry kindling, but Tex had never expected things to escalate so fast, not like this.
“There’s more.” Porky said, and Tex’s stomach tightened painfully. “The heads of both gangs have come out and said that… Neither of them want this baby to be born, Tex. You can’t trust anyone from the Grim Riders, or the Devils Martyrs. Capone is gunning for both of you, just as much as the Grim Riders’ president is. Just, stay hidden until this all blows over. I’ll try to do what I can from here.”
“Th–Thanks, Porky.”
Tex forced the words from a suddenly tight throat. He was choking on his own panic and his fear for Lori. Everything that Porky had said… It was so much worse than Tex could ever have imagined.
Porky ended the call and Tex slowly lowered his phone, surprised to see that his hands were shaking. He clenched them into fists as Lori walked towards him. He jumped when she placed her hand on his shoulder and, when he looked up, he could see all the questions and concern swirling in her eyes.
“What did he say?” she asked softly, taking one of his clenched hands in hers. “It was bad?”
It wasn’t a question, but he still dreaded giving her the answer.
“It was Porky. He said…” Tex paused, drawing in a deep breath. “He said that Gears knows about the baby. Both gangs know. Gears has declared war on the Devils Martyrs, and the rest of the Grim Riders have backed him up. There have been some murders.”
“Oh my god,” Lori gasped, falling into the chair next to him with a shocked look on her face. “Who?”
“Two members of the Grim Riders. Porky didn’t say their names. And a member of the Devils. Austin....” Tex’s voice broke on the name. “He was a friend. Just a kid, really. He had just turned twenty about a month ago.”
“What are we going to do?” Lori asked, her eyes enormous on his.
But he couldn’t seem to keep his thoughts straight. He was shocked at the news, at how fast all this shit had happened. He couldn’t stop picturing Austin’s face, so young. His life cut short because of him.
No, because of Gears. I have to remember that.
Lori had a horrified look on her face, but it was mixed with sympathy as she stood and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“I know we have to do something, but there’s nowhere for us to run. We can’t trust any one of the Grim Riders… or the Devils Martyrs.” It hurt to say those words, but that didn’t make them any less true. “They both want us dead, and our baby.”
Lori instinctively put a hand protectively over her stomach and he hated the fear that was back in her eyes. For a few days, it had seemed like everything would turn out alright somehow, but that certainty had fled, along with most of their options.
“There’s one thing,” Tex mused out loud as his thoughts whirled. One person who might still be able to offer them help.
He picked up his phone again, quickly dialing the number he had memorized. It rang three times before a voice came over the other end of the line.
“Hello? Who is this?”
“Marco, it’s Tex.”
“I told you to wait and I would call you.”
“I know, I know, but it’s an emergency,” Tex hurried to explain, to keep the other man from hanging up the phone. This might be his only chance to get a hold of Solomon.
“I’ve heard,” Marco said slowly. “Some, anyways. We don’t normally get involved in minor gang squabbles.”
Tex grit his teeth at the casual dismissal in the other man’s voice, but he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t afford to piss him off.
“Then you know that our situation is dire. Please, Marco.”
Tex hated to beg, but one look at Lori’s pale white face and he knew he’d do anything he could to keep Lori and their baby safe.
There was a long pause from other end of the call and Tex began to lose hope, but then Marco spoke again.
“Two days. I’ll call you with details. Don’t call me again,” Marco said in a clipped voice, hanging up before Tex could even say anything back.
Tex glanced up at Lori.
“Two days, Marco said. We just have to wait two days.”
“You don’t have two days,” a new, deep voice interrupted.
Tex looked around in surprise as Robbie crashed into the kitchen with a worried look on his face.
“You both have to go. Now!”
Chapter 12
Tex glanced over at Robbie, shooting the older man a concerned look.
“So, you heard about what happened to Austin?”
“What? No!” Robbie shook his head, shaking off Tex’s words just as easily. “What happened to…” He paused, his eyes going glassy for a moment before focusing again, and when they did they were filled with a deep sadness. “The poor kid. He was too young.”
He fell silent for a long moment, his eyes closing as he drew in a deep breath. When he expelled it, Ro
bbie opened his eyes once more. That sadness was still there, along with an urgency that put Tex on edge.
“Remember that bad thing that I told you was coming? Well, it’s not coming any longer. It’s here.”
“What are you talking about, Robbie?” Tex said. “I thought you were nervous about what was happening between the gangs. But no one is going to mess with you out here. No one would dare.”
