Shackled (Ghost Riders MC Book 2)

by Brook Wilder

  I growled.

  “You could say that. And now I’ve lost her for good.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “She came to Khloe’s place. Someone sent her a picture of me with Khloe and going inside.” I slumped onto the floor, leaning back against the bar. I buried my face in my hands. “Liz confronted me and we… we had a fight. Now she’s told me to fuck off and she’s using Hunter as a weapon. She doesn’t want me anywhere near her.”

  That was more than a blow to the ego. That hurt, badly. Knowing that the woman I loved wanted nothing to do with me over false evidence was painful.

  I was beginning to understand how Liz had felt when I didn’t believe her over those pictures of her and Ruiz. The gravity of the situation was sinking in.

  “Fuck.” Diesel shook his head. “You’re in trouble.”

  No shit.

  “Not as much as Liz is right now.” I lowered my hands. “She’s back at her house. It’s not safe there, Diesel. Ruiz knows where she lives.”

  “She wasn’t safe at the safe house either, remember? Ruiz knew where you were regardless.”

  “That’s because one of us leaked that to him.”

  And I still needed to find out who. But I was at a dead end. I had a list of names, but none of them would have known about the safe house. They were too low on the totem pole for that. Only Mason, Diesel and Cassie were supposed to know.

  Someone had managed to get hold of confidential, sensitive information, and now Liz’s life was in greater danger. Ruiz was targeting her, and I knew he wasn’t going to back away. He didn’t know how to. But Liz wouldn’t let me anywhere near her now. How could I protect her and my son if she wouldn’t allow me to do my job as a partner and a father?

  “Look, Noah,” Diesel crouched, looking troubled. “Maybe you should take a step back…”

  “I can’t take a step back!” I shouted, slamming my fists onto my thighs. “I lost two years of my life because of that shit! I missed the birth of my son, I missed the early part of his life, and I was away from Liz. She had to deal with it all alone. And now she’s in danger. No fucking way am I stepping back!”

  Diesel didn’t blink at my outburst.

  “I was going to say focus on you and Liz first and deal with the one who betrayed you later. Liz is more important.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that. I may have considered Liz important, but she didn’t think she was my main priority. She was willing to believe the worst of me.

  And I wouldn’t be able to get her back now. I just knew it. And that made me feel sick, knowing the woman I loved wouldn’t let me breathe the same air as her anymore.

  Chapter 38

  Liz

  “Hunter, don’t do that,” I heard Gloria scold as I finished making their coffees. “You don’t know where it’s been.”

  I sighed. My mother had been telling Hunter off for the stupidest of things since she and Amy had turned up that morning. Neither of them had let me know they would be arriving; they just turned up on the doorstep. I was still trying to figure out how they’d known I was back. Maybe they were hoping to lie in wait for me or find out where I had gone.

  I didn’t want to be in the room if they had found the safe house and Mason lost his temper over it.

  I carried the coffee cups into the lounge and saw that Gloria was trying to pull a thick Lego brick out of Hunter’s mouth. He was whining and trying to grab it back. I put the cups on the coffee table and hurried over, pulling my son away and snatching the brick from Gloria’s hand.

  “Mom, leave him be. The only place it’s been is in his mouth.”

  “It’s been on the carpet.” Gloria wrinkled her nose. “That’s dirty!”

  “I vacuumed before you came over. It’s fine.” I gave Hunter back the brick and he began chewing on it again, giving me a toothy grin. “He’s only a baby.”

  Gloria snorted, taking one of the coffee mugs and sitting back with a scowl.

  “He wouldn’t be doing that if he lived with me,” she grumbled.

  I scowled at her. Not this again.

  “If he lived with you, Mom, he would be having you wipe his backside until you died. You’d be looking after a baby for life.”

  Amy gasped.

  “Liz! There’s no need to be rude to Mom.”

  “And there’s no need to comment on my parenting.” I sat behind my son and helped him build with the Lego bricks. “Noah and I are fine with raising Hunter. He’s learning his manners, he’s way ahead with his milestones, and he does as he’s told. I know I’ve got the terrible twos to get past, but he’s absolutely fine. There’s nothing wrong with him.”

  “You could’ve fooled me,” Gloria snorted.

  That made me freeze. What was she trying to imply?

  “Are you trying to criticize Noah’s parenting, Mom?” I demanded. “Because you’re criticizing me as well.”

  Gloria sniffed. She was. I could tell. She was criticizing Noah. Bastard he may have been, but he was a saint with Hunter. He hadn’t batted an eyelid and Hunter adored him.

  That left a nasty taste in my mouth. I was regretting using Hunter as a weapon the day before, but I was so angry. Now I was beginning to realize that I had jumped the gun. Much as I hated Khloe, I knew Noah wouldn’t do that to me. But I couldn’t take the words back and I couldn’t have the fighting and mistrust hanging over us. Not with Hunter around.

  I couldn’t go through that again.

  “That man has no idea how to look after a baby,” Gloria sneered.

  Hunter looked up.

  “Dada?” he babbled.

  Amy frowned at me and sat forward, ruffling Hunter’s hair.

  “Dada’s not here, honey,” she cooed. “He’s not coming back.”

  I slapped her hand away with a hiss, glowering at Amy as she jumped back.

  “Don’t say something like that, Amy!” I whispered, gesturing at Hunter, who was happily playing with the Lego again. “He can understand you.”

  Amy snorted, rubbing at the hand I’d just smacked.

  “Well, he’s not coming back. If you know what’s good for you and your son.” She shook her head. “You don’t need a drug dealer in your lives.”

  That again. No matter how many times I had told them, both my mother and my sister were prepared to believe the worst in Noah. While I was pissed off at him, I could give him credit for certain things. I believed in him. Even though my heart was cracked in two.

  “How many more times do I have to say it?” I snapped, moving behind Hunter to scowl at my sister and then our mother. “He never dealt drugs. Do you think I’d be so stupid as to stay with a drug dealer? I’ve got better standards than that!”

  Gloria sneered.

  “Well, he has turned your head. And you always were a stubborn woman.”

  It felt like my childhood, getting ganged up on again. Gloria had made it clear when we had been children that Amy was the favorite and could get away with murder. But I was the one who was ‘the problem child’. Even though I got good grades, I worked hard and never got into trouble, I was the one whom Gloria was ashamed of. Amy barely scraped through high school and college and had a sealed juvenile record, but Gloria worshipped the ground she walked on. It was ridiculous.

  I did wonder if my mother had the wires mixed up in her brain.

  “Noah never dealt drugs,” I said through gritted teeth. “He wouldn’t even take an aspirin unless I forcibly shoved it down his throat.”

  “Probably likes it that way,” Amy giggled.

  Gloria also gave that little giggle that I hated. These two were like best buddies who picked on the less popular kids at high school. And I was really regretting asking them along. I glared at Gloria and then at Amy, but both just kept giggling.

  “I asked you two around here for support and to distract me from things, not to say these disgusting things about Noah. And you certainly shouldn’t be saying them in front of Hunter.”

  “He wo
n’t understand it.” Gloria sat forward and stroked Hunter’s cheek. Hunter gurgled in annoyance and knocked her hand away. “And even if he does, he’s only hearing the truth.”

  “It is not the…”

  I was abruptly cut off by the doorbell going. Before I knew what was happening, Gloria had jumped up and was practically running into the hallway.

  “I’ll get it.”

  That was the fastest I’d ever seen my mother move lately. It was quite funny, even though I didn’t have the energy to laugh. I had barely slept the night before, and it had left me sleepy and in a very grumpy mood. Maybe bringing Gloria and Amy over for familial support and comfort hadn’t been such a good idea; they seemed to suck the oxygen out of the room.

  As Amy shifted onto the floor to play with Hunter, I heard Gloria greet my visitor brightly. That had me sitting up. It certainly wasn’t Noah; Gloria would be screaming at him to leave and threatening a lawsuit. And the same with any of the bikers.

  What was going on? I wasn’t expecting anyone.

  Then Gloria appeared in the doorway, smiling brightly at me. She was up to something.

  “Liz, look who’s here for you.”

  Then I saw the tall dark-haired man wearing a pale grey suit appear over her shoulder. That had me shooting to my feet. It had been a while since I had seen him in the flesh and, back then, I had threatened to cut his balls off and shove them down his throat if he came anywhere near me again.

  He had clearly forgotten that because he was here, in my living room, smiling at me like he had a right to be there.

  “Nate.” I was shaking. “What are you doing here?”

  “Hey, Liz.” Nate approached me and tried to kiss my cheek. I dodged away from him, putting space between us as I backed away. Unperturbed, Nate straightened up. “Your mother said you were feeling low and you needed someone to cheer you up. I thought I could take you out for lunch while Gloria and Amy look after Hunter.”

  So, this was my mother’s plan. She would thrust me into someone else’s arms and she’d get Hunter to herself. From the smug look on Gloria’s face, this was exactly what she wanted. She probably saw Nate as a better prospect and hoped to use him to wipe Noah out of Hunter’s life.

  But that wasn’t happening. Not a chance. I shook my head.

  “No. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Gloria’s smile faded a little. Amy looked up and shook her head at me.

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Liz. You need time away from Hunter and Nate wants to take you out.”

  “I’m certainly not going anywhere with Nate.” I glared at him. “I keep telling you no, I won’t touch you with a barge pole. When is it going to get into that thick skull of yours?”

  Nate smirked.

  “I like women who are hard to get.” He spread his hands. “Besides, you need a man in your life and Noah’s out of it now. You don’t need to be scared of him to go out with me.”

  “You really think the reason I keep turning you down is because I’m scared Noah will do something?” I barked out a laugh. “Not a chance. I keep turning you down because I know I will do something to you.” I pointed towards the door. “Get out. All of you. The three of you planned this, so you can get out.”

  Gloria folded her arms and shook her head, pursing her lips stubbornly.

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “My house, Mom. Get out.”

  I felt like I was going to scream. Everyone in the room was so tense that we all jumped when an extra voice boomed from the doorway.

  “You heard the lady, Mrs. Fisher.”

  Diesel practically filled the doorway. He was glowering at Gloria before he turned his gaze to Nate. The hatred intensified. I had never seen a more welcoming sight.

  “Diesel!”

  Diesel’s expression softened a little as he looked at me. He winked.

  “Hey, girl.” Then he looked down at Hunter, who had stood up and had toddled over, babbling away and reaching his arms up to Diesel. He scooped the baby up. “Hey, buddy. Oh, you’re getting big!”

  He pressed a kiss on Hunter’s cheek, which resulted in Hunter giggling. Gloria looked like she was about to have a heart attack. Amy stood, snarling at Diesel.

  “What’s he doing here?” she snapped.

  “I came to check on a friend.” Diesel looked at me, his eyes saying everything. “Do you need to get out of here?”

  “Absolutely.” I grabbed Hunter’s changing bag and my car keys. “We’re going out, Hunter. Park time.”

  “Yay!”

  Hunter started clapping before clapping his hands over Diesel’s cheeks. He giggled and did it again, which made Diesel’s cheeks go red. Diesel winced and pretended to toss Hunter into the air, eliciting a squeal from the boy.

  “Easy there, chief. You’re going to get me in trouble if you keep doing that.”

  “Time at the park on a nice day like this,” Gloria beamed and reached for her purse. “Sounds like a good idea. Let’s go.”

  I glanced at Diesel, who was now scowling. He held Hunter possessively and nudged me behind him.

  “I think you misheard me, Mrs. Fisher. Liz and I are taking Hunter to the park. The three of you are to leave Liz’s house right now. I said nothing about you coming with us.”

  Gloria stopped, her smiling fading. Amy looked shocked at Diesel’s bluntness and Nate looked outraged. Gloria spluttered.

  “But… I’m her mother!”

  “And what’s that got to do with it?” Diesel asked. “Liz doesn’t want you here and I heard her say get out. But nobody’s moving.” He indicated the front door. “The door’s there, use it. Liz and I are going to the park for about an hour. If you’re not out of here by the time we get back, I’ll be calling a few friends to have you removed. By force, if necessary. I don’t want to, but that’s what’s going to happen.”

  I knew it was cruel, but I was silently hoping that they would refuse to move. Then I could have the satisfaction of watching the three of them being frog-marched out by big, burly bikers. That would really make my day.

  Nate looked like he was about to have a fit.

  “That… that’s against the law!” he shouted.

  “This is my house!” I folded my arms and smirked. “Do what you have to do, Diesel. I want them out.”

  “We’re family, Liz!” Amy protested. “Have you forgotten that?”

  “Family?” I barked out a laugh. “Nate’s certainly not family and you’re not acting like my family. You want to be family? Don’t insult Noah in front of his son. Don’t invite men I despise into my house.” I gave Nate a pointed glare. “And listen to me. You and Mom listen to each other, but you forget that I need a listening ear as well. You can’t do any of that, don’t bother being around me.” This was going to get nowhere if we kept arguing, although I was spoiling for a fight. But Hunter was more important than a scuffle, so I pushed past Diesel and headed towards the door. “You can see yourselves out. And if I find one thing missing, I’ll be calling a few favors of my own.”

  I could hear all of them protesting as I stormed out the house. Gloria was shouting for me to come back, Amy was calling me several names, and Nate was arguing with the two women about the failed plan. That was quite satisfying.

  I just hoped it could keep my buoyed until I was away from them. There was no way I was going to break down now.

  Chapter 39

  Liz

  There wasn’t enough room for the three of us on Diesel’s bike. And while I didn’t mind if Hunter got himself a Harley when he was old enough, I wasn’t comfortable holding him and Diesel. Certainly not with Diesel’s driving.

  So we took my car. I simply handed the keys to Diesel and put Hunter into the car seat. Hunter didn’t seem to be too bothered about what was happening. He had heard the word ‘park’ and was incredibly excited, babbling away as I buckled him in. Then I slid in beside him as Diesel backed the car down the drive, narrowly missing Nate’s car, which was practically blocki
ng mine in. I was tempted to tell Diesel to ram it, but this was my car and I couldn’t afford the repairs.

  There was a park around the corner and it took two minutes to get there. Diesel drove in silence, glancing into the back via the rear-view mirror every few seconds. I could tell he was watching me closely, but I focused on Hunter, talking to him about what we were going to do at the park.

  Even though I knew Diesel was going to give me a talking to, it was nice that he was here. I could have an honest conversation with Diesel and I needed someone to lend me their ear for a rant. Diesel was big, gruff and a bit of a brute, but he was sweet underneath it. Barely anyone saw it, but I did. Diesel was as solid as they came.