Revolution (The Lone Riders MC Series Book #1)

by Betham, Michelle

  She reached out, finding his hand, letting her fingers curl around his. ‘You can handle this.’

  He said nothing, just kept his eyes closed, gently squeezing her hand.

  ‘Has Tay told my mum what’s happening?’

  Coby shook his head, looking at her again. ‘Not sure he wants her to know.’

  ‘Doesn’t she have a right to? I mean, she’s got her husband and her son involved in all this. And surely if we’re all prepared back at the compound…’

  He frowned slightly. ‘Prepared?’

  ‘If anything goes wrong. Let’s be realistic about this, okay? Neither me, my mum, or any of the other old ladies – none of us are blind to what goes on. We might not always know the facts, but we know the reality. We’re aware of what can go down. And if we’re prepared for those eventualities, whatever they may be, then we can deal with them all a hell of a lot better than we could if we’re left in the dark.’

  ‘Nobody’s gonna get hurt, Lex,’ he said quietly, his eyes boring into hers.

  ‘You don’t believe that any more than I do, Coby.’

  He leant over and kissed her gently, slowly, his hand gripping hers tighter as their mouths moved together. ‘Okay… then I’m gonna do my best to make sure nobody gets hurt.’

  She rested her hand against his rough cheek, searching his tired and handsome face for some kind of reassurance that she knew was never really going to be there. This wasn’t the kind of life that came with guarantees.

  ‘And once it’s over, once we’re out of this shit for good, we get this club straight. Start a new era.’

  ‘A new era?’ Lexi frowned.

  ‘Tay’s had his turn, kid. He’s taken this chapter as far as it can go. It’s time for a new President.’

  ‘And that would be you, huh?’

  He smiled slightly. ‘You know I’ve always wanted that President’s patch, Lex.’

  ‘And Tay knows this, does he?’

  Coby looked down at their joined hands, his thumb slowly stroking her knuckles. ‘I told him I was gonna push for the Presidency. And then I told him I’d step back.’

  ‘But, you’re not stepping back, is that it?’

  He brought her hand up to his mouth, kissing it gently. ‘We need to work together on this job. Any internal friction is only gonna go against us, make us more vulnerable. We work as a team, we can get through this. I know we can.’

  She looked deep into his eyes, wanting to believe him, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t be as positive as him. Because she knew, deep down inside, he wasn’t that positive either. ‘And once it’s all over?’

  ‘I love Tay, you know? He’s my brother. My best friend. But he’s lost his way as President. What’s happening now, that only proves it. And we don’t need those risks anymore, not if our son is gonna be around that compound, part of this club.’

  She briefly closed her eyes, taking a short, deep breath, exhaling slowly. ‘Coby, I…’

  He shut her up with a kiss, pulling her over so she straddled him, her legs either side of his. ‘I can’t leave this place, Lex. I can’t. All the shit and the danger and the people who give me headaches I can really do without – it’s all a part of who I am. It’s all I’ve known.’

  She rested her forehead against his, her thumbs stroking his face as she stared into his eyes. ‘And if I want to leave all that behind?’

  He said nothing for a few beats, his stare matching hers, his fingers playing with the waistband of her jeans. ‘But I don’t think you do, Lexi. And I don’t think you ever will.’

  Twenty-Two

  ‘Jesus, Tay,’ Angie sighed, sitting down on the couch at the back of their kitchen. ‘Why the hell didn’t you tell me about this before?’

  ‘Because I didn’t want to worry you,’ he said, sitting down beside her, reaching for her hand. ‘I got us into this mess, and I’m only grateful the guys are helping me deal with it.’

  ‘Because that’s what they do. They’re family… Christ! What were you thinking?’

  ‘I wasn’t, was I? Look, it all happened just after Coby had come back from the UK, all that crap with Shane… my head, it was all over the place.’

  ‘That’s no excuse,’ Angie whispered, turning to look into her husband’s eyes. ‘You are putting my son in danger, Tay. Your stepson.’

  ‘I know, baby. I know, and I’m sorry, but I promise you, we have done everything we can to make sure this plays out without a hitch.’

  ‘Coby hasn’t even held his boy yet and you’re putting him in danger, too. And if I know Coby, he’ll be willing to put himself in even more danger if it means saving the lives of any one of the others.’

  Tay looked down, unable to meet her gaze now. ‘I know.’

  ‘You keep saying that.’

  ‘I don’t know what else to say, Ange. It’s a mess.’

  ‘Another mess,’ she pointed out, sighing quietly, letting go of his hand and standing up, pacing the floor in front of the couch.

  ‘I just thought it best you know the facts. Best you all know what’s going on.’

  Angie stopped pacing, looking at him again. ‘So, you’re telling the women all about this particular job because – what? Because it’s so fucking dangerous that not all of you are gonna make it back to the compound?’

  He stood up, too, a sliver of anger filtering through his previously calm exterior. ‘I don’t know, Angie, all right? I don’t know. I really don’t. I mean, we’ve planned this meticulously, we’ve got back-up, support, weapons… but the Ravens – you know how unpredictable they can be.’

  ‘How ruthless, you mean.’

  ‘We’ve never lost a man to that crew.’

  ‘Yet.’ She resumed the pacing, burying her fingers in her red-streaked hair. ‘Does Lexi know what’s going on?’

  ‘I’m assuming Coby’s gonna tell her. He’s told her everything else, whether I wanted him to or not. But if he hasn’t, I’ll make sure he does. The other guys with old ladies, families – they need to make sure everyone knows the score.’

  ‘And what if those women don’t want to know the score, Tay? Because not everybody does.’

  ‘Then they’re being naïve.’

  Angie held his gaze for a few, long seconds before she walked away into the main part of the kitchen, grabbing the kettle from its stand and filling it with water, slamming it back down before flicking the switch to start it boiling. ‘As if we haven’t got enough shit to deal with.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  She ignored him, turning to grab some mugs out of the cupboard. ‘I hate this, Tay.’

  He walked up behind her, circling her waist and pulling her back against him, holding her close. ‘I know, baby. And so do I. But it comes with the territory, you know that.’

  She closed her eyes, letting him hold her, enjoying the safety his arms could sometimes give her. But it was never a safety that stayed there for long. That wasn’t something you ever got used to inside the confines of this club – safety. ‘Promise me, Tay, that once all of this is over this chapter really will try and go legit.’

  ‘I promise you,’ he whispered, nuzzling her neck.

  ‘We tell everyone the truth about Coby and Lexi. We bring our grandchild home. We make sure that Lexi and her brother fix their shattered relationship. We put right all the crap that’s gone wrong over these past few years. I want this to be a new start for us all, okay? A new start for this chapter.’ She turned around in his arms, her eyes looking right into his. ‘Every slate is wiped clean. We make sure there is nothing remaining that can threaten us ever again, you got that?’

  ‘A new start, Angie. I promise.’

  ‘Okay.’ She turned back around, spooning coffee into the mugs before pouring boiling water into them. ‘Shit, Tay!’ She felt a wave of fear roll over her and she lost her grip on the teaspoon, the clatter of stainless steel hitting the tiled floor echoing around the room.

  ‘Hey, hey, come on,’ Tay said softly, taking her hand and p
ulling her back into his arms. ‘I got a lot of things wrong, baby, okay? I’m holding my hands up to that now. I’ve been blinkered, stubborn, selfish, even, I don’t know… Things just got out of control, and then when Lexi turned up back here…’

  ‘We got that wrong, too,’ Angie whispered, playing with his shirt collar.

  Tay kissed her forehead, rubbing her back. ‘Yeah,’ he sighed. ‘Maybe we did.’

  ‘We put this family back together, Tay. We fix it all, and we move forward. Everything changes. So, you just stay alive, okay? You fucking stay alive…’ She fell against him, refusing to let the tears that were threatening fall because Angie Farlow didn’t cry. She was stronger than that. She had to be. ‘You stay alive, do you hear me? Because I can’t do this without you, Tay.’

  And that was the only thing she knew for certain right now.

  ***

  ‘I made you a coffee,’ Lexi said, placing a mug down on Kel’s desk in his office at the back of the Candy Cave studios.

  He looked up as she cleared a space in the corner of his desk, sitting down on it and crossing her legs up underneath herself. ‘Morning.’

  She smiled at him. ‘You busy?’

  ‘Apparently not.’ He took a sip of coffee. ‘You all right?’

  ‘I’m just fine.’

  Kel narrowed his eyes as he continued to stare at her. ‘You helping out around here today?’

  ‘Yeah. Thought I’d take up Mario’s offer to direct me in a tasteful gang bang before lunch and then this afternoon I might indulge in a little girl-on-girl action, just for the hell of it.’

  ‘Coby all right with that, is he?’

  She smiled, picking once more at the frayed knees of her jeans. ‘As long as he can watch.’

  Kel sat back in his chair, swinging his feet up on to the desk. ‘Everything okay with you two?’

  She nodded. ‘Yeah. I guess.’

  Kel frowned, his eyes never leaving her. ‘He told you about Tuesday night?’

  She nodded again. ‘I’m scared, Kel. Scared of what could happen, scared that he’ll get hurt… that I could lose him.’

  ‘Baby, if anyone is gonna come out of this unscathed it’s gonna be our VP.’

  ‘I could swing for Tay.’

  ‘Believe me, kiddo, he’s not feeling good about this. But…’ Kel sighed, clasping his hands over his ample belly. ‘It’s gotta be done. If we want to finally turn this club around.’

  ‘Does my dad know what’s going down?’

  ‘It doesn’t involve his chapter, Lex.’

  ‘But it involves his son.’

  Kel exhaled loudly. ‘Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Maybe we should let him know what’s going on.’

  Lexi uncrossed her legs and slipped down from the desk, running her fingers through her hair. ‘I’m gonna see what’s happening out there.’

  ‘They’re probably getting everything set up for your gang bang.’ Kel smiled, sitting back up.

  She turned around and poked her tongue out at him, throwing him a quick wink. ‘You think I’m joking, don’t you?’

  His expression changed immediately, and Lexi couldn’t help but laugh.

  ‘Kel, I am joking… but your face…’

  ‘Get out of here, go on!’

  She blew him a kiss and left his office, walking out into the main studio. Finding a quiet spot on the sidelines she watched as a trio of half naked girls sauntered on to the set, all fake tits and perfect asses. Shit! Was one of them Deena? Lexi squinted slightly to try and get a better look, smiling to herself as she realized one of the girls was, indeed, Jesse’s ex, as pretty as Lexi remembered her, although a touch over made-up in her opinion. Someone as beautiful as Deena didn’t need all the shit they plastered on to these girls’ pretty faces, but it seemed to be a necessary part of some of these movies. Lexi wondered if Jesse knew Deena was working here today, because he and Kip were hanging around somewhere.

  Leaning back against the wall Lexi kept her eyes on Deena as she laughed at something one of the other girls was saying, reaching out to surreptitiously touch her companion’s breasts, running her fingers over them. And then, as if something had made her suddenly look up, her eyes met Lexi’s, and she pulled her hand away from the girl opposite her. A slow smile spread across Deena’s face as she walked over towards Lexi, her perfect hips giving just the right amount of wiggle. It really was quite sexy, and Lexi couldn’t help raising an eyebrow, throwing Deena an appreciative nod as she approached.

  ‘Looking good there,’ Lexi drawled, her eyes fixed on the pretty porn star.

  ‘Just keep your hands in your pockets, bitch.’

  Lexi raised that eyebrow again. ‘Now, that’s not very friendly. Is it?’

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Deena asked, folding her arms underneath her large and quite obviously surgically enhanced tits.

  ‘Well, in case you hadn’t realized, my stepfather runs the chapter that owns these studios so, I’ve kind of got a right to be here.’

  ‘You’re gonna hang around and watch?’

  ‘Does that bother you?’

  ‘I don’t like the idea, no.’

  ‘Why are you so cold towards me, Deena? I mean, I’ve only met you once. Briefly. You don’t even know me, yet, already you’ve judged me.’

  ‘You fucking hit me!’ Deena hissed, her expression hard-edged, but Lexi could see the nerves there behind that cold mask.

  ‘Yeah. I did, didn’t I? But, hey, look! I’m keeping my hands in my pockets this time, as requested.’

  Deena looked away briefly, her arms still folded, that defensive stance strong and firm now.

  ‘Listen, sweetheart, I really am no threat to you. Not as far as Jesse’s concerned, anyway.’

  Deena’s eyes met Lexi’s again. ‘Yeah. I heard you were with Coby now. I always found him quite attractive, in an older man kinda way. And I know he’s never been averse to trying out some of the tricks we put on show here.’

  Lexi let out a quick laugh. ‘Yeah, way to go, porn princess. You stand your ground there. Keep throwing those veiled threats at me, come on.’

  ‘He hangs around here a lot.’

  ‘I know he does.’

  ‘And he’s watched more than a couple of my movies being shot.’

  Lexi narrowed her eyes, staring at Deena, moving just that little bit closer as she spoke. ‘He can watch whatever he likes, sweetheart. All you do is the groundwork, because when he’s done watching you bitches do whatever it is you do to each other, it’s me who gets the benefit. Me who gets to have his dick so far inside me it fucks with his head. Me who gets to lie back and let him make me come so fucking hard I can scream our clubhouse down, that’s what you do. So, yeah, he can watch you all he likes. But he won’t ever touch you. And that’s a promise.’

  Deena tried to keep her stare as cold and hard as it had been before, but Lexi saw a crack in the façade, a brief moment of uncertainty, which disappeared only when Lexi took a step back, resuming her position against the wall. ‘I don’t like you,’ Deena whispered.

  ‘The feeling is mutual, darlin’,’ Lexi shot back.

  ‘Jesse will come back to me, you know.’

  Lexi shrugged. ‘That’s up to him. I’m certainly not gonna stand in his way, although, quite honestly, I think he deserves better.’

  ‘Bitch!’ Deena spat, before turning on her ridiculously high porn-star heels and striding back over to the set.

  ‘What the hell was that about?’ Kip asked, joining his sister on the sidelines.

  ‘Does Jesse know she’s here?’ Lexi asked, ignoring Kip’s question.

  Kip shrugged. ‘Dunno. Didn’t know she was here myself until I saw her there.’ He grinned. ‘Must be a bit of girl-on-girl going on this morning.’

  Lexi turned her head to look at him. ‘Do you lot ever grow up?’

  ‘And your point is? I hit a certain age and all of a sudden I go off the idea of two, maybe even three women playing with each other?’

&nb
sp; Lexi shook her head. ‘Unbelievable.’

  ‘What? Jesus, Lex. Ask Coby. I bet even he gets off on that shit. In fact, I know he does. You telling me you haven’t found that out yet?’

  Lexi turned away from him, staring back out at Deena and the others as they got ready to shoot a scene. ‘You okay about Tuesday?’

  Kip leant back against the wall beside her, sticking his hands in his pockets, his eyes focused on the girls in front of him. ‘You know all about that, then?’

  She nodded.

  ‘I’m ready. Sometimes that shit gives me one hell of an adrenalin rush.’

  ‘The thought that you could actually die because of it? Is that really what you signed up for?’

  Kip looked at her. ‘You’re sounding like Mum now, do you know that?’

  ‘So, I can’t be worried, huh? My brother, my stepfather and my boyfriend are all involved here, Kip. And as much as you’ve been a right pain in the arse since I arrived back here, I don’t want any of you hurt.’

  ‘I thought you didn’t give a shit about Tay,’ Kip said, his gaze back on the girls, who were now positioning themselves on a huge round bed in the centre of the set, ready for a take.

  ‘Of course I give a shit about him! Jesus, Kip… Just because I don’t hang on his every word or call him daddy doesn’t mean I don’t care about him.’

  Neither of them said anything for a few beats.

  ‘You any closer to being the brother I used to have?’ Lexi went on, her voice quiet as she watched Deena slowly slide her panties off and straddle the pretty red-head who was lying beside her.

  ‘Jesse seems to be over you now. At last.’

  ‘That’s not what I asked.’

  ‘I’m getting there, Lex.’

  ‘This isn’t gonna work if we don’t try and sort ourselves out, Kip. Now more than ever we should all be pulling together.’

  ‘I just… what you did…’

  ‘And you’re the only one who’s still dwelling on it. Jesse’s moving on, I’m moving on… So things got a little messed-up when I walked back into town, but hey, come on. Look at the life we live. Things get messed-up all the time. And believe me, Kip, there are reasons for this mess.’