“The Road Rebels and The Devil Saints are guilty, Riley. They waltz around here like they think they’re hot fucking stuff and they pedal drugs into our city. They sell the bodies of their own women to get more money to fuel their disgusting lifestyles. They need to be taken down.”
“And if we want them to be taken down the first time, then we need to do it right,” I said.
What the fuck was going on? I had Jace’s fucking picture up in the DEA’s meeting office. I had a picture of him during some damn shootout fuck-knew-how long ago. I’ve got a captain who’s ready for me to throw the book out the damn window and just arrest people because he’s got some hard-on for cleaning up Henderson. But most importantly I still didn’t have anyone who could give me a fucking honest answer on anything!
I was losing my mind.
“I knew you would be a risk, but I took you on. You bucked up to your captain, talked out of order, and consistently interrupted meetings with questions. When you transferred, your file came with mounds of paperwork. Paperwork that boasted of insubordination. I took you on, Riley, because, despite all that crap, I thought you would be worth it. And it’s time you started showing me that I didn’t make a mistake.”
I stared at my captain in astonishment. Insubordination? What the hell was this asshole talking about? My captain in the LAPD loved me. He constantly wanted me to come in on cases and help them solve shit. If I had to be written up for insubordination, then they had to fucking tell me about it. No one can write shit up on someone without informing them of their actions. Knowing about the write-up was one way that kind of behavior was combated in places like this.
“I can’t tell just yet if you’re trying to threaten me or if you’re serious, but one thing’s for sure. I will not arrest anyone without proper proof. Because the proper proof is what leads to a warrant,” I said.
“You don’t need a warrant to arrest someone. You just need probable cause to bring them in for questioning about the case,” he said.
“Funny. We’ve got an entire motorcycle gang steeped in hardcore evidence, yet we’re allowing the DEA to use them to… what was it? Kill two birds with one stone.”
“It’s the DEA’s case. They’re just using our office and resources to aid them in the process,” he said.
“Then when the DEA tells me to arrest someone to bring them in for questioning, I’ll do it,” I said.
My captain’s eyes were hard on me. And that is when I realized it. Special Agent Monaco was a woman that had descended into his territory, and he was pissed about it. Pissed that a woman was bossing his ass around in his own damn precinct. I knew men like him. I was familiar with the type. And if talking back to him like this cost me my job, then so fucking be it. I wasn’t about to allow a man of his stature to bully me and push me around just because his own fucking ego was fragile.
“Is there anything else?” I asked.
My captain gave me one last look before he stalked out of my office and shut the door.
Sighing, I leaned back into my chair. How the fuck could I have missed this? That was Jace in that picture… in the middle of that damn shootout. There was no question about it. Was that what he was doing when we were dating? All the late fucking nights and the weekends he’d go missing? Was he with his club?
Was he dealing with stuff with The Road Rebels?
I had to hear it from him. I was done trying to put these measly pieces together to get a clear picture of my life. I was done trying to beat around the bush and come to conclusions without confessions. I was tired, I was pissed off, I was beaten down, and I was hurt.
If he was part of a motorcycle gang when we were dating, then I could understand why he wouldn’t tell me. I had dreams of becoming a law enforcement officer even before I met him. And him keeping it from me now would be a move he’d use to protect his club. This new information was slowly revealing a Jace I didn’t know. A Jace that was prioritizing the health and protection of someone above himself. In some twisted way, if I thought about it long enough, he had protected his club from me by keeping the secret and breaking up with me the way he did.
Holy shit, could all of this be connected?
Now I knew I needed to talk with Jace. It was the only way I would know for sure. I shut my computer down and pulled out my cell phone, then toggled through my contacts to find his phone number. I took a deep breath before I pushed the button, then I leaned back in my chair to wait.
And wait.
And wait.
“Hello?”
“Please don’t hang up,” I said.
“Laiken?”
“Jace, just… I need to ask a favor,” I said.
“Are you hurt? Is everything okay?”
No. No, everything wasn’t okay. It was less than okay. Everything was in upheaval, and I was losing my fucking mind. I was a police officer being asked to use suspicion rather than evidence to back up my fucking cases. I was a cop in love with an outlaw, and motorcycle gangs were waging war near my own fucking hometown.
“Can we meet up? Just to talk?” I asked.
“Of course we can. Did something happen at work?” Jace asked.
“I’ll see you at your place. Can you meet in, say, half an hour?”
“See you then,” he said. “Just answer me. Are you okay, Laiken?”
I drew in a deep breath as I sighed, relinquishing myself to the tears that were brewing behind my eyes.
“No,” I said as I shook my head. “No, Snake. I’m really not.”
Chapter 21
Snake
Holy shit, did she just call me ‘Snake’? I froze on the other end of the line as I heard something akin to a sniffle. Was Laiken crying? Holy shit, what the fuck was happening? My mind was spiraling dangerously out of control as all the balls I was juggling slowly began to hit the floor. There was no doubt in my mind that she had figured it out. Laiken had figured out I was part of The Road Rebels before I could distance myself enough from her.
Or worse, before I could tell her myself.
I stood back from the rest of the group as they made their way to the lodge. Mac looked back at me, throwing me a curious glance before they all made their way inside. I turned my back to the lodge as the silence on the other end of the line consumed me. She still wanted to talk? After the information she had just found out, she still wanted to meet up and talk?
I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. I could blow her off and block her number. That would certainly put distance between us. I could continue to push her away until she got the picture. But if she knew I was associated with The Road Rebels, then that meant she probably knew where our shop was. Where our lodge was.
Where our compound was.
“Snake?” Laiken asked. “Or should I call you Jace?”
My throat ran dry as I cleared it.
“I’m not sure if meeting up to talk’s a good idea, Laiken,” I said.
“Why not?”
“Come on. Don’t be stupid. You’ve never been stupid. If you don’t count last night at the bar,” I said.
“I wasn’t being stupid. I was being… desperate,” she said.
“You? Desperate? Who the hell are you and where the fuck is Laiken?” I asked.
“There are plenty of sides to me you haven’t seen. Most of them didn’t even arise until you threw me out of your life.”
“Are we really gonna travel down this road again? Because we’re definitely not meeting up if that’s the topic of conversation.”
“It’s not, trust me.”
I knew this was a bad idea. I knew that sitting down with Laiken would be dangerous. She could be luring me into a trap. She could be bugged or wired. She could be working directly alongside the DEA to take every single one of our asses down. When it came down to it, Laiken was a cop, and I was a criminal. It was her duty to put shitbags like me behind bars. I ran my hand down my face as I walked towards my bike, my body drawn to the idea of seeing her again while my mind screamed at me t
o hang up.
“This is really important, Jace,” Laiken said. “This goes beyond my job or your affiliation with… whoever. I need to speak with you. In person. I’ll even let you pat me down if it makes you feel better.”
“Might make you feel better,” I said, grinning.
“Can the jokes for another time.”
“So serious,” I said.
“You’re fucking right I am. I want answers, and if you don’t want to give them to me, then I’ve already proven to you what I can find if I dig hard enough.”
“Is that a threat?” I asked.
“It’s a promise,” she said.
I looked back at the lodge, and I could see the guys staring out at me. Going back in there and answering questions as to who the hell I was talking to didn’t sound all too pleasant. In fact, I would’ve rather slept on a bed of rusty nails than done that shit. So, I figured talking to Laiken wouldn’t be so bad after all.
At least she’d let me pat her down.
“All right,” I said. “Meet me at my place in thirty.”
“See you soon.”
I hopped on my bike and rode back to my house. I knew the guys were going to be pissed me with leaving, but I didn’t care. They told me to be back by nightfall, and the sun was still shining as bright as my pale ass. This would give me a chance to really size up Laiken. Pick her brain about what the police department knew about us. Who their targets were and what the hell they were going to be doing about The Devil Saints.
I could hold my answers for her until she gave me the answers I sought.
I pulled up to my house and unlocked the door. Laiken wasn’t there yet and it gave me time to think. I sat in one of the kitchen chairs as my mind raced, and slowly I started to second-guess myself. Should I come clean to her about everything? Or should I feed her lies to throw the cops off our tracks? Should I give her answers? Or should I continue to push her away? I knew I needed to keep pushing. To keep her away from all this shit. Gemma was already caught up in it, and I didn’t need another woman I loved getting caught up in the storm that was building over all of our heads.
But before I could settle on a decision, I heard a car pull up into the driveway.
I sat with my back straight as Laiken came through the door. She was dressed in her uniform, blue from head-to-toe. She looked phenomenal in it, with her wide hips and her broad shoulders. She made that shit look like a fucking fantasy, and I knew then and there what I had to do.
I had to keep pushing her away. It was the best thing I could do for her.
Even if she did have information on the case, I didn’t want her involved. If I fed her the wrong information and she went back to her captain with it, it would get her in trouble. Possibly thrown off the case altogether. That meant someone in her precinct would be clocking her every move to make sure she stayed off this shit. Between that and pushing her away from my end, she wouldn’t have any connection to any of this bullshit when it blew up in all of our faces.
And it would. It was just a matter of time.
She stood in front of me like she was sizing me up. I continued to sit in my chair as my eyes settled on her belt. She had a taser, a gun, some mase, and handcuffs. There were a few other things I couldn’t identify, but she was fucking packing. My eyes rode down her thighs, taking in their luscious girth as I searched for any hidden weapons on her person.
She had a gun sitting in an ankle holster and a knife in her right pocket.
“Ready?” she asked.
My eyes darted back up to hers as she held out her arms. She was asking me if I was ready to pat her down. She was serious about that? I felt a smirk tug on my cheeks as I rose up, my body looming over hers as our eyes connected. I knelt down in front of her and took the gun from her ankle. I leaned in and kissed it, and I could hear her scoff. I ran my hands up the insides of her thighs, taking in her warmth before she spread them for me.
“Get it over with, Snake,” she said.
My eyes locked hard on hers as my hand drifted over her pussy. She kept her breathing even, and her lips pulled into a thin line, but it was her eyes that betrayed her. That little twitch she got in her left eye every time I brushed against that perfect little spot.
I reached into her pocket and pulled out the knife before I tossed it onto my couch.
I wrapped my arms around her and gazed down her shirt. I could tell she was about to smack me, but I threw her stern gaze. She stopped her movements as I unclasped her belt, then tossed the entirety of it onto my couch.
“Are you wired?” I asked.
“Fuck no,” she said.
“Then you won’t mind if I check.”
I ran my hands up her back, and her eye twitched again. The warmth of her body was running away with me. I moved her body closer to mine and looked down her shirt again, admiring her luscious tits before she bucked into me. My hands slid to her stomach and pressed into her, slowly rising up her torso before I reached her tits. I squeezed them delicately, tenderly, and for a moment Laiken lost herself in the feeling as well.
Before she smacked my hands away.
“I don’t know, I thought I felt something,” I said as I reached for the buttons on her uniform.
“Enough of the games. Is that why they call you ‘Snake’?” she asked.
I took a step back from her and immediately threw up my guard. She was coming for blood when I had come with my armor off. She was ready to fight while I was ready to fall to my knees in front of her. But if a fight is what she was looking for, then a fight was what I was willing to give her.
It would be easier to push her away if I was angry with her anyway.
“Is that the question you want to start with?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “But this one is. Why the fuck is your picture posted at the police department under the name ‘Snake’?”
I studied her body fully, and it had been a while since I’d done that. There were moments during the times we dated where I had to read her like I did rival clubs. I took in the flare of her nostrils and the widening of her pupils. I took in the erect nipples that were poking just slightly through her shirt. I saw the way her chest was taking shallow breaths and how her fists were balled at her sides. Her shoulders were slightly hunched, and her knees weren’t quite locked out.
Laiken was readying herself not just for a verbal fight, but a physical one. She was poised just in case I attacked her. Just in case some precinct animal came jumping out at her, and she had to defend herself. It was confusing and new, for her to be this guarded with me.
But mostly, it hurt.
It hurt a place in my soul I hadn’t even thought about since my mother died.
“Do you think I’m going to hurt you?” I asked.
“You don’t get to be cryptic, and you don’t get to ask me questions. For months, I tried to get the truth out of you. For months, I tried to figure out what the fuck was going on. My obsession with you and what you were doing bordered on clinical, and now you’re going to give me the one thing I’ve been asking you for.”
“Answers,” I said.
“You’re damn fucking straight,” she spat.
“I actually think your prior question’s a good one to start with,” I said.
“I’m not playing games with you anymore, Jace,” she said.
“And neither am I. Now, are you ready for your answers or not?”
My entire plan was tossed out the window the moment I watched Laiken relax. Her body uncurled, and her fists unclenched. Her face softened, and her tits receded back into her body. She was no longer on high-alert. She was no longer afraid for her safety. She was simply standing there, vulnerable and hurt and betrayed.
And it was never my intention to make her feel that way.
I knew at that moment; I would tell her everything. No matter the consequence to me. I couldn’t hold my answers from her because that was going to get us nowhere. If I wanted Laiken’s trust and respect, I had to earn it. And
if giving her the answers she sought was how I was going to get it, then I needed to come to terms with that.
I wasn’t in control of this situation. And in some ways, I don’t think I ever was. Maybe that was why I loved Laiken so much. Maybe that was why she stayed at the forefront of my dreams.
Because she was the only woman, I’d ever come across who wouldn’t allow me control.
Chapter 22
Laiken
The entire ride over made me more and more pissed. Who the fuck did this man think he was? Was he leading some sort of double life? Did he just lure me into his fucking web of deceit and bullshit when I was younger? I fell in love with this asshole. I wanted to spend my life with this mangy little fucker. Just knowing I’d slept with him and allowed him to have my body made me want to deep fry my vagina just to get my mind off the disgusting shit I’d let him to do me. With my own fucking permission.
I fell in love with him. Hell, I still loved him. But he wasn’t Jace. Or maybe he wasn’t Snake. I didn’t even know which one was him, but I knew one thing for sure. If he lived the life of a criminal, the only fucking thing I could do was put him in jail. In my world, there wasn’t another option. If someone did a crime and I could prove it, then they did their fucking time for it. I believed in the prison system, and I believed in our justice system. I believed in the way things worked. Had I seen it fail? Yes. No institution is perfect. Hell, our fucking education system was fucked beyond belief. But I’d also seen our prison system churn out good men and women who did their time and got their acts cleaned up, and I had faith that it would get better.
With every road I passed, I threw up another wall. It was time for me to tuck away my emotional disposition and go in with a centered head. Logical Laiken needed to take over. Not emotional, needy, clingy-as-hell Laiken. No matter how much he looked like Jace or talked like Jace or smelled like Jace… this man wasn’t fucking Jace.
My fear was… maybe he never was.
Maybe Jace never really existed. Maybe ‘Jace’ was just his way of keeping me at arm’s length. Maybe I never really stood a long-term shot with the man I’d fallen in love with. I started questioning everything. Who he was. What he liked. What he enjoyed and the things he did in his spare time. Did he really like that one movie we went to go see where he wasn’t all over me? Did he actually hate sushi? Was his favorite color really orange and did he really have better-than-perfect vision? There were so many things I attributed to Jace. So many things that were so innately him. There were memories ingrained into my psyche whose foundation had been shaken. Memories I lost myself in at night and never admitted to myself were things I still craved.
Protected by the Biker (Grim Reaper MC) Page 46
