Revolution (The Lone Riders MC Series Book #1)

by Betham, Michelle

  Lexi took another deep breath, exhaling slowly. ‘All of this matters to me because I have Ozzie now. And I have to decide whether I want him to grow up around people who can dispense of someone they once thought of as family so easily. I have to make a decision about his future, Kel.’

  ‘And what about Coby?’

  She looked down at her knees, at her fingers pulling at the denim of her jeans. ‘I need to talk to him.’

  ‘Maybe the truth is gonna have to come out, kiddo. If you want everyone to know who Ozzie’s real daddy is.’

  ‘It has to come out, because my son is not going to grow up thinking a dead man was his father. He’ll know his real daddy, no matter what. I’ll make sure of that.’

  ‘Then the truth – or some form of it – is gonna have to come out. And maybe, from that, we can find out what really happened to Shane, huh?’

  Lexi stood up, brushing herself down before raking her fingers through her hair, shaking it out. ‘Maybe. But in the meantime, Kel, keep all of this to yourself, okay? I’ll tell everyone about Ozzie soon enough, but… but for now there are other things I need to sort out.’

  Kel stood up, too, reaching out to touch her arm to stop her from walking away. ‘Just be careful, Lexi.’

  She looked at him. ‘Yeah. Always.’

  Seventeen

  ‘Why aren’t we storing the guns in our warehouse?’ Coby asked, walking slowly around the huge, cavernous space, his voice echoing in the emptiness.

  ‘This place is even more secluded,’ Tay replied, sitting down on a crate by the open doors.

  Coby turned to look at him, folding his arms. ‘Why does that make me nervous?’

  ‘Where do you expect us to store a shipment of guns that size, Cobe? In the back room at the clubhouse?’

  ‘I still don’t see why we couldn’t store them in our own warehouse. Why do we need to bring them here?’

  ‘Because this is where Emilio wants us to keep them.’

  ‘And that’s exactly what’s making me nervous.’ Coby walked over to Tay, resting one boot-clad foot up on the crate next to him. ‘This whole set-up is making me nervous, brother. Something doesn’t feel right.’

  ‘What could go wrong?’

  Coby couldn’t help laughing. ‘You’re seriously asking me that? Come on, Tay.’

  Tay hung his head, pushing a hand through his hair. ‘I trust him, Coby. Emilio. We have history, a good relationship…’

  ‘Until you shafted him and his crew. Not to mention his Mexican contact.’

  Tay stood up, kicking back the crate he’d been sitting on. ‘You got a problem here, Coby?’

  ‘Have I…? Shit, yeah! You noticed, huh?’ Coby also kicked his crate back, facing Tay head on. ‘Weren’t you listening to me this morning? Did you not catch what I was trying to say? I’m pissed off, Tay. Pissed off with the way you’ve been handling things lately. You’re letting this club down, and it’s beginning to show. The guys, some of the younger ones, the respect they have for you, man, it’s running out. Haven’t you noticed? You’re losing it.’

  ‘You’re my VP, Coby. You should be helping me…’

  ‘Hell! Fuck helping you, Tay!’ Coby took a step forward, his face now close to Tay’s. ‘Tonight we vote on this shit-stupid scheme of yours with the Cabos, and if the others agree then, okay, yeah, we do this one last job. This one last job. God help us… And then we are going legit. You hear me? And do you know how I know that’s gonna happen? Because I’m gonna take that gavel from you, brother. I’m gonna claim that seat at the head of that table. When all this is over, that fight begins.’

  ‘You don’t mean that,’ Tay whispered, his expression grim, cold. ‘You wouldn’t do that to me. We’re friends, Coby, you and me. We go way back so… so I know you’re bluffing. You’re just trying to make me nervous…’

  ‘I’m trying to make you see sense.’

  ‘You wouldn’t do it. You wouldn’t challenge me, not when I have so much shit on you that could...’

  Coby took another step forward, as close to Tay now as he could possibly get, his voice low and just mildly threatening. ‘Do not bring Lexi or my son into this, Tay. I really, really wouldn’t go there.’

  ‘What is it exactly you’re trying to do here, huh? Take that gavel right out of my hand so that you can control the mess that’s gonna ensue? Is that the plan? Because it won’t work, Coby. It can’t work. That baby comes over here, and something’s gotta give, brother.’

  Coby took a step back, shaking his head, laughing slightly.

  ‘You haven’t got the balls, Coby.’

  Coby raised an eyebrow, his eyes never leaving Tay’s. ‘After what you made me do? You don’t think I’ve got the balls to challenge you for President of a club you’re losing sight of?’

  ‘You haven’t got the balls. Brother.’

  Coby gave another low laugh, shaking his head as he walked backwards, out into the bright Californian sunshine. ‘Watch me.’

  ***

  ‘That doesn’t look like the face of a woman who’s all that happy to be home.’

  Lexi looked up as Sheriff Bailey sat down opposite her. She’d escaped the compound for a little while, taking a few minutes out to enjoy some time alone at the coffee shop across the street. But now she couldn’t help thinking she maybe should’ve escaped a little further afield.

  ‘I’m ecstatic to be home. Sheriff.’

  Michael threw her a look before indicating to a passing waitress to bring him a coffee. ‘Everything still a bit complicated over there?’

  ‘When is it not?’ she sighed, picking up her spoon and absent-mindedly stirring her drink.

  ‘You settling in okay?’ Michael asked, smiling his thanks at the waitress as she placed his order down in front of him.

  ‘Getting there,’ Lexi replied, still stirring her coffee.

  ‘I hear you and Coby… I hear you two are an item now.’

  ‘Word spreads fast.’

  ‘It’s a small town, honey.’

  ‘Yeah. It is.’

  ‘Something you wanna talk about?’ He took a sip of his coffee, looking at Lexi over the rim of his cup.

  She stared at him for a second or two, contemplating whether or not it was a good idea to bring up his involvement in covering for Coby when he was over in England, but she decided against it. Things were already complicated enough. ‘No. Not really. It’s just taking a bit of getting used to, that’s all. Being back home.’

  Michael took another sip of coffee. ‘Okay. Well…’ He quickly drained his cup, placing it back down on the table, smiling at her as he stood up. ‘If you need anything, sweetheart, you know where I am.’

  She frowned slightly. ‘Yeah. Thanks.’

  ‘See you around.’

  She watched him walk over to his car, speaking into his radio as he went. She knew Michael Bailey had been a good friend of the club for a long, long time, over twenty-five years. Him and Tay, they went way back, which meant there was almost a kind of mutual trust between the two of them. So Lexi couldn’t help wondering just how much the sheriff really knew about just what it was he’d helped cover up. Did he know the full truth? Did anyone? Because she was beginning to wonder.

  ‘Mind if I join you?’

  She looked up at the sound of that familiar, deep Scottish accent, and despite everything going on inside her head, every messed-up, confused emotion, she couldn’t help but smile. ‘Yeah. I do, actually. Fuck off.’

  He laughed, kicking the chair back that Michael had been sitting on just a few seconds earlier, turning it around and placing himself on it so his long legs straddled the back of it. Lexi couldn’t help but think how ridiculously sexy he looked with his hair pushed back off his face, his eyes covered by dark glasses.

  ‘What did Bailey want?’ Coby asked, looking over at Michael as he drove off.

  ‘Nothing,’ Lexi replied, watching as Coby pushed his glasses up on to his head. Good. She could see his eyes now, which is exactly wha
t she wanted to do when she spoke to him. ‘He’s just being friendly, that’s all.’

  ‘Another one of the many father figures you had when you were growing up here, huh?’

  She smiled, her gaze meeting his. ‘Yeah, well, at least I’m not fucking that one.’

  Coby looked at her, smiling slightly. ‘You coming back over to the compound?’

  ‘I wasn’t planning on it. Not yet, anyway. Why?’

  ‘I really need to see you alone, Lex.’

  She narrowed her eyes, biting down on her lip as she looked at him. ‘Something wrong?’

  He looked down briefly, sighing quietly. ‘Just something going down between me and Tay.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Nothing for you to worry about.’

  ‘Why mention it, then?’

  He stood up, pushing his glasses back down over his eyes, raking a hand through his hair. ‘I’ll be over there, if you do decide to come back.’

  ‘Coby, hang on…’ Lexi stood up, too, running over to him, slowing up as she reached his side. ‘I’ll come back with you.’

  He stopped, causing her to do the same. ‘No, it’s okay. To be honest, kid, I could probably do with a bit of time on my own.’

  She reached out to touch his face, stroking his cheek with her fingertips. ‘You can talk to me, baby.’

  ‘I know,’ he whispered, taking her hand in his and kissing it gently. ‘I’ll see you later.’

  ‘Yeah,’ she said, watching as he made his way across the road, back over to the compound. ‘Later.’

  ***

  ‘Everything go okay today?’ Angie asked as Tay walked into the office, throwing himself down on to the couch by the door.

  ‘Fine.’

  ‘You sure about that? You look full of hell to me. Something go down with Coby?’

  Tay looked at his wife. ‘He wants to challenge me.’

  ‘Challenge you?’ Angie asked, swinging her chair around so she faced him.

  ‘For the Presidency.’

  ‘Where the hell has this come from?’

  Tay looked away, his attention now on the open door, at the sound of the day carrying on as normal out there in the compound. ‘He thinks I’m losing it. He thinks I’m dragging the club down, losing focus.’

  Angie sat back, breathing in deep and exhaling slowly. ‘Jesus, Tay… Coby he… he’s your best friend, your brother in every sense of the word…’

  ‘He was, Angie. Until Lexi arrived back in town, bringing with her all that fucking baggage.’

  Angie leant forward, staring at Tay. ‘This is not Lexi’s fault, Tay.’

  His eyes bored right into hers. ‘He was fine before she turned up back here. We all were.’

  Angie shook her head, getting up and walking over to the door, pushing it shut. ‘Whatever was going on between Coby and Lexi, that was always gonna come out at some point, and you know that. We were stupid and naïve to think it wouldn’t. And I’m not gonna stand here and blame my daughter for something that we caused…’

  Tay leant forward, his eyes back on Angie. ‘Something we caused?’

  Angie leant back against the wall, folding her arms. ‘If we hadn’t run her out of town for making one, stupid mistake… the same mistake you and I made all those years ago, remember? And nobody ran me out of town.’

  ‘Because you chose to leave.’

  Angie looked down at her feet, scuffing the heel of her boot against the skirting board. ‘What’s really going on, Tay?’ She looked back up, her arms still folded, her eyes on her husband. ‘Because something is. I can tell.’

  Tay sat back, pushing a hand through his hair. ‘It’s nothing you need to know about.’

  ‘Shit, Tay! Stop treating me like some naïve idiot, I’m tired of all this crap. And I’m tired of the fucking secrets that are destroying us, destroying this club.’

  Tay got up, walking over to her, stopping just in front of her, cupping her cheek in his hand. ‘You really do need to remember your place, Angie. Now, you may be the matriarch of this club, the one everyone comes running to, but that’s all you are, okay? You’re Biker Mom, Queen of the compound. But you’re still just an old lady, which means there’ll always be shit you really don’t need to know about.’ He lowered his mouth on to hers, his grip on her face tightening slightly as he kissed her roughly before pulling back, pushing her away from him. ‘I’m going out.’

  Angie put a hand to her cheek, watching as he yanked open the door and strode across the yard to his bike, climbing on it and speeding off, the sound of the engine roaring filling the compound.

  Leaning back against the wall Angie closed her eyes, breathing in deeply. Whatever was going on with Tay, she knew he was only using Lexi as a front, some kind of excuse, because whatever was going down between him and Coby, Angie had a feeling it was way more serious than his VP and his stepdaughter’s messed-up relationship. But whatever it was, it was doing nothing but giving Angie one hell of a bad feeling.

  Eighteen

  Lexi walked into the clubhouse, the sound of heavy guitar music and laughter filling the place. She looked over towards the bar where Blake, Kip and Jesse were all gathered, deep in conversation about something that was obviously quite amusing to the three of them.

  ‘Is Coby around?’ she asked, leaning back against the counter, folding her arms.

  ‘He’s in the apartment,’ Kip replied, without looking at her.

  ‘Jesus, Kip, is this how it’s gonna be for the rest of our fucking lives?’

  He finally turned around to face her. ‘What did you expect, Lexi? That you’d just walk straight back in here and I’d forget everything?’

  She stared at him for a few seconds, slowly shaking her head. ‘Fuck you, brother. I haven’t got time for this crap.’ Without a backward glance she strode off down the corridor that led to the apartment, walking straight in without knocking. Coby was lying on the bed in his jeans, boots and a t-shirt, smoking a joint. He looked over at her as she leant back against the wall, their eyes locking, a silent message passing between them that they both got loud and clear.

  He took another drag on the joint, his eyes never leaving hers as he sat up, stubbing the cigarette out in the ashtray by the bed.

  Lexi could feel her heart beginning to pick up speed, the beating almost painful as it crashed against her ribs. Her breathing was becoming more shallow, her skin starting to prickle as he walked over to her and even though she had a million and one things she needed to ask him, right now she couldn’t even remember what they were. Because, right now, they didn’t matter. But they would do. Once this was over.

  His stare was becoming more intense, adding to the tension, the anticipation. And as she moved away from the wall, backing away from him, he smiled slightly, acknowledging the game.

  Reaching out to her he laid a hand against her cheek, cocking his head before he pushed her back, and she had to steady herself by grabbing on to the sideboard behind her. Her heart was beating even more wildly now, the pain intensifying as he moved even closer, reaching out again, grabbing her t-shirt, tearing it away from her body, the ripping of the material a turn on Lexi couldn’t hide, her chest rising and falling with the weight of expectation.

  Their eyes were still locked together as he reached down, pushing her short denim skirt up over her thighs, his hand plunging between her legs. But she wasn’t letting this fight be all one-sided. She could kick out and resist, even it was all just a game, because she wanted this more than she’d wanted anything from him before. She wanted the release, the pain and the power all merged into one heady mix that she needed so badly.

  So when her fingers tore at his clothes, nails scratching, her teeth nipping his skin as she leant into him, she resisted his renewed attempts to push her legs apart, kicking him away, the spiked heel of her boot digging into his stomach. Keeping her eyes on him, she wriggled slowly out of her skirt, hooking her fingers into the sides of her panties, watching as his gaze lowered, waiting for h
er to reveal everything. She threw her head back, slipping her hand down inside her panties, touching herself, knowing it would get to him. Knowing it would make him do exactly what she wanted him to do. So it was no surprise when he lunged forward, pulling at her panties, yanking them away from her body, shoving his fingers inside her before she’d even had time to take another breath. The game had intensified. The power had shifted back to him, and for a few seconds she allowed it to stay that way. Allowed him to finger-fuck her hard and fast as he kissed her roughly, mouths open wide, teeth clashing. The pain ripped through her, her groans spilling out into him as his mouth refused to pull away from hers, his breath keeping her going as his fingers tore away at her from inside.

  But then she reached down and pulled his hand away, gripping it tightly, her fingers buried in his hair as she kissed him deep, not wanting to stop because what was happening here, it was both twisted and insane and not even anywhere near normal, but it was exactly what she needed. She needed him to take her this way, to fuck all the frustration out of her, all the confusion and fear. She needed that.

  Pulling his hand free of her grip he placed it on her hip, turning her around and pushing her back on to the bed, quickly unzipping his jeans before lowering himself down over her. With both hands on her knees he pushed her legs open, and before Lexi could even begin to get her head around this next stage of the game, he was inside her, every inch of him thrusting so deep into her she couldn’t help but cry out loud. He was fucking her hard, taking her roughly, his hands still on her knees, her legs pushed so far apart she could feel that ache spreading across her inner thighs, yet the excitement it was causing to rise up in her was excruciatingly beautiful. Even when his mouth covered her breasts, first one, then the other, his teeth biting, his tongue licking, it was all sending her crazy, pushing her towards that tipping point.

  She arched her back, bucking her hips up against his, grinding her pubic bone into him even though she knew he couldn’t go any deeper. He was so far inside her now, further than he’d ever been before, there was nowhere else for him to go. But, oh, God, when he finally touched that spot – the cry that escaped from her was almost animalistic.