‘Whether we like it or not, huh?’
‘Listen to me, okay? You get your relationship with your sister back on track, do you hear me?’
‘She knew it was a set-up, Dad. Her and Shane, me finding them… Jesus! Were they even having sex when I walked in on them?’
Charlie shook his head. ‘No.’
Kip took another swig of beer, his eyes staring straight ahead again. ‘I don’t know how Jesse hasn’t gone fucking crazy over this. The shit you put him through…’
‘Jesse will be fine. He’s a good man, a strong man.’ Charlie stood up, looking over at Tay as he walked out into the clubhouse, closely followed by Coby. ‘Deal with it, Kip. In whatever way you have to. But deal with it. Because it’s happened, and there’s nothing you can do to change that. I’ll talk to Jesse later. In the meantime, go see your sister.’
‘Let me go first,’ Coby said, leaning back against the bar. ‘I need to talk to Lexi.’
Kip drained the last of his beer, slamming the bottle down on the bar as he slid down from his stool. ‘Knock yourself out. President.’
Charlie caught Kip’s arm, swinging him around to face him. ‘I said, deal with it.’
Kip just glared at his dad before pulling free of his grip and heading over to Jesse.
‘He’ll come round,’ Charlie said, watching as his son put his arm around his best friend’s shoulders, saying something to him which made Jesse smile a weak smile. ‘I guess some people have been hit a lot harder than others by all of this.’ He turned his attention to Coby. ‘Make sure my daughter’s okay. She might turn all angry bitch on you, in fact, I almost guarantee it. But she loves you. And she’ll forgive you. But for now, just make sure she’s okay.’
Coby nodded, folding his arms as he glanced over at Tay.
‘Shane’s over there at the minute,’ Charlie continued, his eyes meeting Tay’s. ‘Send him back here, will you? There are a few things we need to sort out before we head off to meet the Mexicans.’
‘Are you gonna be okay there?’ Coby asked, pulling his sunglasses out of his cut pocket and slipping them over his eyes. ‘If you need me to come with you…’
Charlie patted him on the shoulder. ‘It’s all under control. Now go on. Go see Lexi.’
Coby started to make his way out of the clubhouse.
‘Coby?’
The sound of Tay’s voice made him turn back around.
‘We’ll make this work.’
Coby just nodded, before turning away and walking out.
Thirty-Two
‘She’s out back,’ Angie sighed, opening the door and standing aside to let Coby through.
Coby looked at her as he closed the door behind him. ‘I didn’t want it to be this way, Angie.’
‘And what way did you want it to be, Coby?’
‘I love Tay. Deep down he’s a still a good man, one of the best.’
‘And he loves you, too. Which is why this stings so much deeper than it ever could have done if you two had been enemies.’
‘It’s for the good of the club, Angie.’
She let out a loud and cynical laugh. ‘And fuck who it hurts in the process, is that it?’
Coby took a step forward, lowering his voice as he spoke. ‘You want to talk about hurting people, then look in the mirror. You were willing to live without your daughter for eight fucking years because of some twisted, pathetic manufactured rule. Don’t pretend that had nothing to do with where we are now, Angie, because it had everything to do with it.’
‘If you hadn’t touched her…’
‘But I did. And I didn’t just touch her, I fucked her so hard she cried when she came, and none of that should have been a crime.’
‘She was Jesse’s old lady.’
‘And the shit they were going through at the time all but negated that relationship. For Christ’s sake, Angie, we’re going over old ground here.’
‘She didn’t even love you,’ Angie whispered.
‘Not then she didn’t, no. And I didn’t love her. I fantasised about her, don’t get me wrong. But show me a brother in this club who hasn’t. Once I got past the images and the memories of her as that ten year old tomboy, the one who used to bug the crap out of me in the garage most weekends; once I saw her only as the adult she now was I used to close my eyes and imagine what it would be like to strip her naked, spread those beautiful legs of hers… I used to imagine touching her, with my fingers, my tongue…’
‘You should have walked away.’ Angie was doing her best to keep her voice steady, but this was unnerving her.
‘How could I walk away when your daughter – your heartbreakingly sexy-as-hell daughter – was showing me her tits, inviting me to suck on them. When she was whispering shit in my ear that made my dick stand to attention so fast my fucking head spun. What man can walk away from that, huh? So no, I couldn’t walk away – instead I tore off what little clothes she had on and did everything she asked me to do. Everything she allowed me to do. So what I should have done, and what I ended up doing, none of that really matters now. Does it?’
Angie’s face was hard and cold as she stared at the man in front of her. ‘You stole the presidency of this club from my husband.’
‘No, Angie. Charlie gave it to me. There’s a difference. Where’s Ozzie?’
Angie stepped back, folding her arms. ‘He’s asleep, upstairs. I’ve got the baby monitor on, in case he wakes up. But right now I think it’s best you leave him to rest.’
Coby looked at her. ‘I’m going to talk to Lexi.’
‘Coby?’
He turned back to face her.
‘Is Tay… is he okay?’
‘He’s dealing with it all a whole lot better than you are, darlin’.’ He turned back around and headed outside. Lexi was leaning against the wall, talking to Shane, and for a few seconds Coby just stood there in the shadows, watching them together. She was smiling, but her face was tired, and for a fleeting moment he wished with all his heart that everything was normal. That they lived an ordinary life surrounded by safety and family who didn’t lie and manipulate. But he knew they’d never settle for that – for normality. Whatever that was.
He started to walk towards them, their chattering stopping as they sensed someone else was there, and the expression on Lexi’s face when she saw him almost broke Coby’s heart.
‘Charlie wants you back at the clubhouse,’ he said to Shane. ‘Now.’
‘Okay.’ Shane turned to Lexi. ‘You gonna be okay?’
‘What do you think I’m gonna do to her, Shane?’
‘It’s been a shitty day, Coby. I’m just checking she’s holding up, that’s all.’
‘I don’t need either of you to fight my battles, thank you.’ She looked at Shane. ‘I’m fine. Get back to the clubhouse, go on.’
‘I’ll see you later?’
She nodded, throwing him a small smile.
Coby’s eyes followed Shane as he walked across the yard, back into the house, before he turned to face Lexi. ‘Everything all right here?’
‘As all right as it can be when a man you think is dead suddenly walks back into town.’
‘Sorry isn’t even gonna cut it here, is it?’
‘You got that right, soldier.’ She moved closer to him. ‘You sat there, and you lied to me. You had your dick inside me and you still lied to me.’
‘It’s over now, Lexi. We’re moving on.’
She laughed, taking a step back. ‘Because you say so? I’m not a member of your club, Coby. You don’t reign over me. You don’t tell me what to do…’
He grabbed her wrist, pushing her back against the wall, kissing her hard, his grip tightening as she tried to fight him. But he was stronger than her, his body a heavy weight against hers.
‘You bastard,’ she hissed, staring at him.
‘Tell me you don’t want me, Lexi. Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t want me inside you, right now.’
‘I don’t want you inside me,�
�� she whispered, his grip on her wrist still tight, verging on painful.
Coby laughed, his eyes burning into hers. ‘I don’t believe you.’
‘Fuck you!’ she spat.
He laughed again, reaching up under her short denim skirt, pulling her panties down over her thighs, and she didn’t stop him. ‘If I slide my hand between your legs, you telling me you aren’t gonna be wet?’ His mouth was almost touching hers now, his breathing as heavy as hers was fast becoming.
She shook her head, their eyes still locked together in a stare so intense she could feel herself burning up. ‘I want to fuck you, Lexi. I need to fuck you. I want to take you so hard it hurts, come inside you so fast then watch as it spills out from between those crazy long legs of yours.’ His mouth was resting on hers now, her breathing shallow and laboured as he kissed her, more gently this time, his tongue pushing its way inside. ‘Let me fuck you, Lexi. Say yes, baby. Say yes.’
She threw her head back as his lips moved down to her neck, his hand sliding inside her shirt, covering her breast, his thumb flicking over her nipple. And she couldn’t stop the groans from escaping, her stomach contracting in the most beautiful way as he touched her. ‘I can’t…’
He looked at her, his fingers now stroking her cheek as his eyes once more stared into hers. ‘Let me fuck you,’ he whispered, his grip on her wrist still tight, but loosening slightly.
She nodded, and he let go of her wrist, picking her up, her legs wrapping around him. She was ready to accept him now; the pain, the warped and twisted pleasure she was going to feel when he hurt her, she was ready to accept it all. And when he finally pushed into her with a force so violent it felt as though he was ripping her in two, she cried out loud, screaming his name, clinging on to him as he continued to thrust into her. It was fast, and it hurt like hell because she was nothing more than a vessel for him to take his frustration out on, but that’s what she was here for – she was his old lady. It was her job to do this, to take the shit and deal with it.
‘Jesus Christ!’ he yelled, and Lexi closed her eyes as she felt him come, hard and fast, her fingers buried in his hair as he emptied himself into her. And it was like he’d pressed down on that syringe again, pumping life into her, shooting his poison into her veins, letting the toxin run right through her until she was once more under his spell.
She held on to him, waiting until he was ready to pull out of her.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said softly, putting her down, his arms holding her close, his thumb stroking her cheek. ‘I’m so, so sorry.’
‘You said you loved me,’ she whispered.
‘I do. Baby, I do. Jesus, Lexi, I love you more than you know…’
‘Yet you could still lie to me like that. Let me think you’d killed Shane… I mean, if you knew… if you knew he was alive all along, then you must have known that the truth about Ozzie, about you being his dad… you must’ve known all along that that had to come out at some point. You… I don’t understand this, Coby. Why did you still back away from me, still try and deny what we had when you knew this was going on?’
‘My head was all over the place, Lexi. Yes, I knew this was all happening, that it was all gonna come out and I knew I had to face up to it, but…’
‘You were still too fucking weak, huh?’
‘I didn’t handle it well, darlin’, no. And I’m so sorry, baby. So sorry for what I…’
‘How the hell can I trust you now, Coby? How can I trust my dad? How can I believe a word any of you say?’
Coby closed his eyes, resting his forehead against hers, his thumb still stroking her cheek. ‘Nothing I did or will ever do is intended to hurt you, Lexi. And I’m begging you, kid – I am begging you to trust me now. Please. For me. For our boy. For our future. For the…’ He stopped talking, his eyes staring into hers.
‘For the club,’ she said quietly.
‘For the club.’
She pulled away from him, folding her arms against herself as she walked back towards the house. ‘I need a shower.’
‘Lexi… are you coming home?’
She turned around, her expression impassive as she looked at him. She couldn’t feel anything anymore. All emotion had been wiped away, drained out of her. ‘We don’t have a home, Coby.’
He hung his head, digging his hands into his pockets, breathing in deep before looking back up at her. ‘Where are you staying tonight?’
‘Here. With Mum. Me and Ozzie, we could really do with her help.’
‘And what about me?’
‘What about you?’
‘I’m Ozzie’s dad.’
She stared at him, saying nothing for a second or two. ‘We managed without you for long enough before. Another night won’t kill us.’
‘Lexi…’
He moved closer, reaching out to her but she shook him off. ‘Don’t touch me!’
‘Jesus! Baby, we need to talk…’
‘Is that what we were doing just now, huh? Talking? Is that what that was?’
‘Lexi, please…’
‘I just need some space, Coby. Can you give me that?’
‘We need to…’
‘Can you give me that?’
His eyes met hers. He knew when he was beaten, and pushing her really would be a bad idea. ‘I’ll be at the clubhouse.’
‘Yeah.’ She folded her arms tighter against herself, her eyes still locked on his. ‘Where else would you be?’
Thirty-Three
‘Where the hell have you been?’ Angie asked, running out from the kitchen as Tay, Charlie and Shane walked into the clubhouse. ‘You’ve been gone all fucking night! I’ve been out of my mind with worry.’
‘Things went on a bit longer than we thought,’ Charlie sighed, sitting down at a table near the bar. ‘Any coffee on the go?’
Angie indicated to one of the Prospects to fetch some coffee over.
‘Where’s Coby?’ Tay asked, looking around him at the still-quiet clubhouse.
‘He’s in the apartment,’ Angie replied. ‘Stayed over here last night, as did most of the others.’
‘What about Lexi?’ Charlie asked, taking the mug of coffee Red held out for him.
‘She and Ozzie stayed with me.’
‘Jesus,’ Charlie sighed, sitting back in his seat. ‘I told him to make sure she was okay.’
‘She is okay,’ Angie said, leaning back against the bar. ‘She just needed a bit of time out. This has messed with everyone’s heads, Charlie. You can’t expect people just to accept it all straight off.’
Charlie ignored her, standing up. ‘I’ll go talk to Coby. Shane, get everyone else over here ASAP. Get them all round the table as fast as you can.’
‘Is everything all right?’ Angie asked, a slight hint of panic creeping into her voice.
‘Everything’s fine,’ Tay replied, taking a sip of coffee. ‘We just want to bring everyone up to speed, let them know what’s happening.’
Angie looked at her husband. His face was tired, worn. He looked like a man who’d been through one hell of a fight and come out the other end barely surviving.
She waited until Shane had moved to the other side of the clubhouse to make his calls before she sat down beside Tay. ‘Are you all right?’
Tay looked down into his coffee. ‘Yeah. You’d think after everything that’s happened I’d be full of hell, wouldn’t you?’
Angie smiled, taking his hand. ‘Nobody would blame you.’
He looked at her, smiling a small smile back. ‘But, do you know what I’m really feeling? Relief. All I’ve ever wanted to do was head up this chapter, run this club but, maybe they’re right, you know? Maybe I had lost focus, made decisions without consulting everyone else first. I guess my ego had started to get the better of me.’
‘Oh, baby…’ Angie leant over, kissing him gently, stroking his tired face. ‘I love you so much.’
‘Hey, I love you, too. But I’m exhausted, Angie. And I don’t think I realized just how exhausted I w
as until all this shit started.’
‘You didn’t deserve any of it.’
‘Yeah,’ he sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. ‘I did… anyway, it’s done, baby. Okay? It’s done. I’m not gonna fight anymore, because I don’t want to. I’m tired. And now it’s all over… Y’know, I actually quite like the idea of an easy life from now on.’
She smiled again, squeezing his hand. ‘An easy life? I’m not sure that exists around here.’
He brought her hand up to his mouth, kissing it, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb. ‘It’ll be a damn sight easier without the hassle of having to look after this lot.’
He’d smiled when he’d said that, but Angie could still see a sadness behind his eyes. And that pulled her heart apart.
‘It’s been one hell of a ride,’ he said quietly, staring down at the table now. ‘But I think this was probably the right time for me to take a step back. Let someone else take the reins.’ He looked at her, right into her eyes and now, alongside the sadness, Angie could also see a spark of fire still burning there. ‘It’s time to let someone else take the responsibility. Let me sit back and have some fun.’
She couldn’t help smiling, but as much as she was relieved to have Tay in a role less dangerous than that of President, she now knew her daughter’s role within the club had changed. She’d taken her mother’s place as Queen of the compound. It was her man in charge of everything now, and with that power came all the worry, all the sleepless nights; all the danger of never knowing if he’d make it through every day alive. So she could only hope that Coby’s promise to push this club forward into a safer and more secure future was one he was going to fulfil. For Lexi’s sake. For Ozzie’s sake. For everyone.
‘You will help them, won’t you?’ Angie asked, her voice quiet as Tay’s eyes once more met hers.
‘Baby, Coby don’t need any help, least of all mine. He can run this club with his eyes closed.’
‘For Lexi,’ Angie whispered. ‘Please.’
Tay sighed, looking down at their joined hands. ‘I don’t think Lexi really needs looking after, either, but… I love the kid, even if it’s been one hell of a battle to get her to love me back.’
Revolution (The Lone Riders MC Series Book #1) Page 31
