Revolution (The Lone Riders MC Series Book #1)

by Betham, Michelle

  ‘I knew you wouldn’t let me down.’ Tay grinned, helping himself to another drink. ‘Church first, though. Get you guys up to speed.’ He looked over at Angie. ‘I trust no shit went down while I was away?’

  ‘Everything’s fine,’ Angie said, walking over to him, playing with the open edges of his cut. ‘What about you? Everything go okay?’

  ‘It’s all sorted, baby, don’t you worry. The Vegas chapter got themselves a brand new President, so no more in-house problems. That kinda crap I can do without at my age, believe me.’ Tay turned to look at his crew, from the young Prospects all eager to make a good impression, to the familiar faces that had surrounded him for years. He loved them all. He loved this place. ‘Everyone here?’ he asked, slipping his arm around Angie’s waist.

  ‘Cain’s just bringing another case of beer through from out back,’ Angie said, running a hand through her red-streaked hair before shaking it out. ‘Wanted to make sure we had enough for tonight, so we got a few extra supplies in to tide us over until the next delivery. Nothing worse than running out of beer at a Lone Riders party, huh?’

  Tay grinned, giving her waist another squeeze. ‘You got that right. Come on. Let’s get this show on the road. The sooner we get this meeting over with, the sooner we can start drinking!’

  ***

  Lexi sat on the edge of the low wall, pulling at the top of her knee-high biker boots, a nervous reaction she hadn’t even been aware she’d adopted. So she started chewing on a nail instead, hating the fact she felt like a frightened teenager instead of the thirty-five year old woman she was. She should have had a handle on all of this by now, but if that was the case, why had she waited until after dark to come here? Why wasn’t she doing this in broad daylight, like she’d promised herself she would? Because she wasn’t doing anything tonight, that’s why. She was here only to observe, to see what she needed to see. The rest she had yet to work out.

  Staring out ahead, she watched as the lights from the garage and the neighbouring office were switched off, the compound now lit up only by strings of white bulbs hanging from the canopy outside the clubhouse and a small, contained fire she’d watched someone start that bathed the whole of the yard in a warm orange glow.

  She leant forward as more bodies flooded out into the compound, voices raised and laughter loud as the music was turned up a notch and another Lone Riders party got underway. Parties she was all too familiar with. They’d been a part of her life since – since forever. She leant further forward, squinting slightly as she tried to see if there were any new faces. She couldn’t really tell from so far away. But she had a feeling that – apart from the Prospects who were bound to be new – everything would be just the same. As familiar as it had been the day she’d left just over eight years ago.

  Hanging her head she clasped her hands between her knees and breathed in deeply, a wave of nerves washing over her. There was a part of her that just wanted to run, back to where she’d come from, away from this and everything it could kick up, but there was another part of her that knew she had to do this. She had to face this. She’d come back to Paradise for a reason – it was her home. It was where she belonged, even though she’d spent the first fourteen years of her life in England. But Paradise – it was her home. And she wanted that safety back. She needed some questions answered. She needed to find her own truth because, for far too long, she’d been living someone else’s.

  Taking one more long, deep breath she stood up, exhaling quickly, her eyes staring straight ahead at the party carrying on right there in front of her, everyone blissfully unaware that she was outside. Waiting to make her return.

  Keeping her eyes focused on the Lone Riders compound, she put one tentative foot in front of the other and walked slowly across the road. Reaching the now-locked front gate she placed her hands on the cold metal, surprised they hadn’t pulled the solid gate across that blocked the compound from public view when necessary.

  She stared through into the yard, her heart starting to beat at a rate she hadn’t been expecting. It was thudding so hard inside her it was almost painful. And that beating only got faster and harder when she saw him, for the first time since the events that had led to her leaving almost eight years ago. And everything that had happened since. He was leaning against one of the bikes, laughing with Kip, and she briefly closed her eyes as the memories she knew would never leave her flooded her brain.

  ‘Oh, Jesus,’ she whispered, bowing her head. ‘Jesus!’

  Raising her gaze she watched as he pulled his hat down over his head, and she remembered how she’d sometimes liked him to keep it on when they’d made love, just as he’d always liked her to keep her biker boots on, and those memories caused Lexi’s heart to crack with a pain that was all-too familiar to her now.

  Letting go of the gate she turned around, leaning back against it, closing her eyes again as the enormity of what she was doing – of what she’d already done – finally sunk in. But that was enough for tonight. This was all she could do. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.

  Three

  ‘Jesse! You working on that Ducati today?’ Kip shouted over as he wandered into the garage, his hands in the pockets of his overalls. ‘Just had Kyle Sanderson on the phone asking if it’s gonna be ready by Tuesday. Got a road trip planned he can’t delay.’

  Jesse threw the rag he’d been using to wipe his hands with down on to the bench beside him. ‘It’ll be ready to pick up Monday. Almost done now.’

  ‘Great. I’ll go call him back. Hey, you coming for dinner at my mum’s tonight? She’s gone all domestic goddess again now Tay’s home. Wants to welcome him back with one of her special roasts. You know how it is with her. A few days without him and she always feels the need to show him she’s the perfect old lady once he gets back.’

  Jesse grinned, leaning back against the Ducati, folding his arms. ‘Man, I never turn down one of Angie’s dinners. Be nice to have something edible for a change. Deena ain’t the best cook in the world, believe me.’

  ‘Her talents lie in other areas, huh?’ Kip smirked, referring to Jesse’s porn star girlfriend.

  Jesse threw him a knowing smirk back. ‘Yeah. You could say that.’

  ‘I’ll tell Angie you’ll be there, then?’

  ‘Everyone else coming?’

  ‘What do you think? I’d better go make that call.’

  Kip headed for the office next to the garage, nudging his cap further back off his head as he walked, and it was just before he reached the door of the office that he noticed the figure leaning against the open gate to the compound. All long blonde hair and even longer legs, shown off in all their glory in a short denim mini-skirt and those knee-high biker boots she’d always liked to wear. And even from where he was standing he could make out that familiar tattoo that snaked its way up her left arm, thanks to the white sleeveless t-shirt she was wearing.

  Her eyes had locked with his now, making no attempt to look away, and for a second he considered ignoring her. To continue sending out that message he’d thought she’d received eight years ago, but this seemed to prove that she hadn’t really received it at all. What the fuck was she doing back here?

  Striding across the yard he kept his eyes on her, her gaze never leaving his. Shit! She still had balls, he’d give her that much.

  ‘You need to turn around and get out of here,’ he hissed, leaning right into her, his hand up beside her head as she leant back against the wall, her eyes still boring into his.

  ‘Good to see you, too. Brother.’

  ‘You’re not welcome here, Lexi. And you know that.’

  ‘Is that any way to greet your sister after all these years?’

  ‘I don’t have a sister. My sister died eight years ago, remember?’

  Lexi let out a small laugh, her eyes finally dipping to the ground, just for a second, before she raised her head to meet Kip’s gaze once more. ‘Metaphorically speaking. I didn’t really die, Kip. You all just decided that was t
he way things had to be.’

  ‘If he sees you…’

  ‘I need to see him.’

  ‘Like shit you do! So just turn around and walk away, okay?’

  Lexi continued to stare at him, her eyes never leaving his.

  ‘You should’ve stayed in England, Lexi.’ Kip’s voice was low, his tone mildly threatening. But that wasn’t anything that Lexi couldn’t handle. She was used to it. Probably more than she should have been. ‘Because I have no idea what the fuck you’re doing back in Paradise.’

  ‘Last time I checked this was a free country. I’m not sure you can stop me from being here.’

  ‘Watch me.’

  He reached out to grab her wrist but she was too quick for him, lifting up her knee and ramming it into his groin with a force that rocked him backwards, a howl of pain coming from him that satisfied Lexi no end.

  But it had also alerted Jesse’s attention, and she watched as he ran across the yard, her heart beginning to beat a loud, almost irregular rhythm as he drew closer. His expression changed the second he saw her. His face clouding over with something Lexi couldn’t describe, she just knew it cut deep. It was painful to see. Because it brought every heartbreaking memory right back to the forefront. Everything she’d ever done, and continued to do, to hurt him. The things he knew about, and the things he didn’t. The things she’d come back to Paradise to face.

  ‘Get her out of here, Kip.’ Jesse’s voice was like a dagger to her heart; cold and unfeeling.

  ‘I’m fucking trying, Jesse… Jesus!’

  ‘Jesse, please…’ Lexi took a step forward, visibly flinching as Jesse stepped back, raising his hands in the air, putting that barrier up between them that Lexi had feared. But what else had she expected? ‘Please, Jesse.’ She was pleading now, begging him to show her some mercy, but he just shook his head, turned around, and walked away.

  ‘You’ve opened up one hell of a can of worms,’ Kip said, his breathing finally returning to normal as the pain of her sudden attack subsided. ‘I just hope you’re ready for the shit it’s gonna kick up.’

  He didn’t know the half of it.

  She looked at him. ‘You gonna tell Mum I’m here?’

  ‘You think I can keep it a secret?’

  She looked back over at the garage. Jesse was working, his head bent down as he concentrated on the bike in front of him. Like she’d never even existed.

  Kip followed her gaze. ‘Did you think he’d react any other way?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she whispered. ‘I guess I really didn’t think this through.’

  Kip looked at her, his voice softening slightly. ‘When Shane died…’

  ‘I don’t want to talk about it, Kip.’

  ‘It’s the risk we run, Lexi. You know that. Casualties happen.’

  ‘Are you saying he deserved it? That it was some kind of twisted karma because of what we did?’

  Kip shrugged, throwing a quick look over at Jesse, but he was still busy, his back still to them. ‘Can’t say I believe in all that karma shit, but, do you know what? Maybe you’re right.’

  She stared at him, her stomach turning slightly. ‘You make me sick, do you know that?’

  ‘The club had nothing to do with what happened, Lexi.’

  She continued to stare at him, saying nothing for a second or two. ‘I can’t prove anything, Kip. But I know the way this club works, remember that. Retaliation, retribution, payback – it’s all part of the culture, I grew up with it, same as you. So I know how this works.’

  ‘Shane was a friend.’

  ‘You’re still calling him that, are you? After what you all put him through?’

  ‘You caused it. Remember?’

  She finally broke the stare, laughing quietly. ‘It’s so easy to blame the woman, isn’t it?’

  ‘You followed him, Lexi.’

  ‘You gave me no choice!’

  ‘Jesse’s like a brother to me.’

  ‘And I loved him, Kip. I loved him.’

  ‘So much that you fucked another brother? You were Jesse’s old lady, for Christ’s sake, and you were sleeping with someone else behind his back! Jesus, I caught you and Shane together, Lexi. I caught you both, right there, in that clubhouse, while Jesse was outside. Is that how much you loved him? Huh?’

  ‘You have no idea what was going on, Kip.’

  ‘Nobody cared what else was going on. You crossed lines. You betrayed Jesse.’

  ‘I didn’t want to hurt him.’

  ‘You really need to leave.’

  She locked eyes with her brother once more, a fierce determination the only thing she was feeling now. ‘I’m here to stay, Kip. So you and everyone else around here had better get used to it.’

  ***

  Jesse turned around, leaning back against the bike as he watched Kip and Lexi talking – just thinking her name hurt almost as much as seeing her again. Even though, if Jesse was completely honest with himself, there hadn’t been a day gone by these past eight years when he hadn’t thought about her. In his mind she’d never really left. It was just her physical presence he’d had to learn to live without. Everything else had gone nowhere.

  ‘You okay?’ Kip asked, walking back into the garage.

  ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘Stop treating me like a freakin’ child, Kip. I’m fine, all right?’

  Kip held his hands up, stepping back from his friend. He was aware that Jesse was watching Lexi leave the compound, his gaze following her until she disappeared from view.

  ‘She shouldn’t have come here,’ Kip said quietly, shoving his hands in the pockets of his overalls as Jesse’s eyes met his.

  ‘Maybe not.’

  ‘Maybe?’

  ‘I can fight my own battles, Kip. And I can deal with this shit on my own, okay? Look, this is her home. And there was always a very real chance that she was gonna come back here at some point, especially after… after what happened with Shane. I know you guys were born in England, it was where you grew up but… but it’s not her home. Not really. Not anymore. Apart from Charlie, Shane was the only real connection she had over there so it stood to reason that with him gone, she was always gonna head back to Paradise.’

  ‘You almost sound as though you’ve forgiven her. As though you’re glad she’s back.’

  Jesse shrugged. ‘Maybe I’d forgiven her a long time ago. And maybe if you’d all listened to her before hounding her out of here like some infected animal you’d have realized that it wasn’t all her fault.’

  Kip frowned, unable to believe what he was hearing. ‘She fucking destroyed you, man. Do you remember how low you felt when she…?’

  ‘Like I said, Kip. It wasn’t all her fault.’

  ‘So, what are you saying? You’re actually gonna talk to her?’

  ‘I don’t know what I’m gonna do.’ Jesse turned back to the bike he was working on. ‘But whatever I choose to do…’ He looked at his friend, ‘… it’ll be my business, you got that?’

  ***

  ‘You’re quiet tonight,’ Angie said, handing Kip a beer. He was sitting out in the back yard of Angie and Tay’s Paradise home, a modestly large one-storey house on the outskirts of town. A far cry from the clubhouse, where a lot of the Riders chose to spend most of their time – some of them even sleeping there, despite all of them having their own homes – it was Angie’s pride and joy. A place always open to any of her boys, as she liked to call them. They were her family, all of them, from the Prospects to the fully patched-in members. She was the President’s wife, Queen of the compound. It was her job to look after them all, and she loved every second of it. ‘Only, it seems as though you and Jesse… You had some kind of falling out?’

  Kip shook his head. ‘Not really.’

  ‘Not really? Baby, this is your momma you’re talking to here. You think I don’t know when any of you boys are lying to me? Especially my own son. So, come on. What’s up?’

  Kip sat back, t
aking a swig of beer before he spoke. ‘Where’s Tay?’

  ‘Inside, talking to Coby. Why?’

  Kip took another swig of beer.

  ‘Honey, what’s the matter? If this has got anything to do with the club then shouldn’t Tay…?’

  ‘She’s back, Mum.’

  Angie stared at her son, waiting a couple of beats before she spoke again, her voice low and steady. ‘When did you see her?’

  ‘This afternoon. At the compound.’

  ‘Did she come inside?’

  Kip shook his head. ‘She was by the gate. Just standing there, like nothing had happened.’

  Angie stared out ahead, exhaling slowly. ‘Did you speak to her?’

  Kip looked down at the ground, nodding.

  ‘Is she back for good?’

  ‘It sounded that way.’

  ‘Did she mention Charlie?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Is she back for a reason?’

  ‘She said she needed to see Jesse.’

  ‘Is this what’s causing a rift between you two?’

  ‘There’s no rift, Mum. He just seems to think… he’s gonna talk to her, I know he is.’

  ‘Then that’s up to him, isn’t it?’

  Kip looked at his mother. ‘You think it’s okay that she gets to fuck up his life all over again?’

  Angie gave her son a hard stare. One that told him his involvement in this had just been taken out of his hands. This was her territory. She knew how to handle Lexi. ‘If he wants to talk to her, Kip, then there isn’t a great deal we can do to stop him.’

  ‘She was shunned from this club.’

  ‘And you know that doesn’t really mean anything. It’s a knee-jerk reaction handed out when shit happens some people can’t deal with. She isn’t breaking any laws. And what Jesse does outside of this club is his business.’