Smoke and Mirrors: A Demented Sons MC Texas Novel

by Kristine Allen

  The one that made me nervous was the one that showed me sitting at the table in the diner with Nova the other day. “What the fuck?”

  “Yeah, he entered after you and was there until after you and the blonde left.”

  “Who is she?” asked Snow.

  “I don’t want her brought into this.” My teeth clenched at the thought of this touching her.

  “Well, there’s a possibility she’s involved, whether you want her to be or not.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I ground out between my teeth. My mind started going to crazy places when Reaper said that.

  “Not like you’re thinking, brother,” Snow placated.

  “Then please explain. Because my daughter is at her house.”

  “She your ol’ lady?” Snow asked with narrowed eyes.

  “No. An old friend,” I answered, and Styx snorted as Slice coughed, “Bullshit.”

  “You got something to say?” I dared them.

  Styx gave me a flat expression, and Slice held his hands up.

  “I didn’t say anything,” said Slice.

  “Is there a chance he’s connected with her? What does she do? What’s her story?” Hacker asked.

  “Jesus, slow down. She’s a childhood friend. She’s an attorney here but was practicing in Houston. We, uh—” I cleared my throat. “We hooked up not long ago. It might be heading somewhere.” Pinching the bridge of my nose, I closed my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was announce to my club that I was interested in a woman.

  It got so quiet, you could’ve hear a mouse fart. When I finally looked around, every eye in the room was on me. Some of them looked shocked, others knowing. After all, they all knew my stance on relationships.

  “We really need to talk to her. Maybe she’ll recognize this guy.” Hollywood was the one to speak first.

  “Okay,” I conceded with a sigh. “I’ll talk to her. Do you think it’s okay if I do it tomorrow? She’ll be there for the memorial.” The memorial was going to be for everyone to pay their respects. The celebration of life would be afterward, and the funeral would be Monday morning. The presidents and their SAA or enforcer would attend the actual funeral to show support from their respective chapters. But every member here would be in the funeral procession.

  “I’m sure that’s fine, but you may want to give her a heads-up so she knows to be careful. Just in case.” Snow stroked his beard as he watched me. I nodded in agreement.

  At first, I was going to send a text, but I wanted to hear her voice. That in itself told me I was well and truly fucked. I was completely and totally pussy-whipped. “Be right back.”

  After stepping into my room and closing the door, I found her in my contacts and hit Send. She answered on the second ring.

  “Hey, you. Everything okay?” The worry in her voice made my heart ache. The fact that she cared about my feelings was humbling and gave me the fucking warm fuzzies.

  God, I really am turning into a Grade-A vagina.

  “As good as it can be,” I replied.

  Her relief was audible in her sigh. “Oh, good.”

  “Mattie still okay?”

  “Of course.” I heard her tell Mattie she’d be right back. Then the sound of the TV got quieter. “So Mattie definitely arranged for you to come over here. Not that she admitted it, but she’s pretty transparent when you directly question her.”

  Forgetting my grief for a moment, I allowed myself to find joy in my daughter’s antics. “So you think she’d be happy with us being together?”

  She sucked in a sharp breath. “Um, I think she’d be good with that. Grayson, is that what you want? For us to be together? As in a couple?”

  Blowing out a full relieving breath, I ran a hand through my hair. “Well, I didn’t want to discuss this over the phone, but yeah, I was kinda thinking I might like to see how things worked out between us. I need you to be patient with me, though. I’m probably going to suck at this. There hasn’t been a woman in my life like that since, well… it’s been a long time. Not to mention, I was worried about my being in a club causing issues for you at work.”

  “I work in family law. It’s not like I’m a prosecuting or defense attorney. I’m not a cop. Why would anyone care? At one point in my career I might have worried, but not anymore.”

  Relief washed through me. Deep down, I’d been afraid she would say it wasn’t a good idea. Maybe that’s part of the reason I’d shied away from wanting a relationship with her.

  “Fuck, I’m nervous. Okay, well, we’ll talk more about this later. That’s not exactly why I called. We’ve found out about a guy who might have connections to Check’s accident.” My anger grew as I said it. The loss was still so fucking fresh. Though I was trying to remain strong, anger was building to fight the grief.

  “Oh? Who is it?” Something about the way her voice wavered sent up alarm bells.

  “We don’t know. But the guys wanted you to be careful in case he knows about you. This is all conjecture since we don’t even know if he’s connected. They found him at several places where I was with you,” I reluctantly admitted.

  “What do you mean, they found him?” She sounded confused.

  “They accessed surveillance footage, and he was identified on several occasions and places, including the hospital. So we wanted to make sure you’re safe, your doors and windows are locked, and you are aware of your surroundings at all times. Don’t open the door to anyone unless it’s me. Make sure Mattie knows too. Please?” The more I thought about everything, the more I realized two of the most important people in my life were in the same apartment miles away. It didn’t sit well with me.

  “What about the memorial tomorrow morning?”

  “We’ll swing by for you. Don’t leave until we get there.”

  “Okay.” She sounded nervous, and I hated that I’d made her worry.

  “It’s going to be okay, baby. Maybe it’s nothing. I just want y’all to be safe.” The endearment slipped out again. It had been sixteen years since I’d used an endearment like that on any female besides my little girl. Except instead of feeling like I was being unfaithful to Anna like I expected it to, it felt right.

  “Can you check the locks while you have me on the phone?” I asked.

  “They’re good.”

  “But I want you to make sure, just in case.”

  “Trust me, I know they are all locked up tight.” She sounded so sure, and I wondered how the hell she could be certain without checking. She needed to understand how important it was and that complacency had no room in any of our lives at that time.

  “Can you humor me? Please check them while I’m on the phone.” The thought of them not being safe was driving me crazy.

  “Oh my God, Grayson. They’re fine, but to humor you, I’ll check them all again.” My lips curled in a grin at the feistiness she was showing. Better that than her being scared.

  I listened patiently as she shuffled through her apartment. I heard her clicking the locks open, then shut again. Mattie asked her what she was doing. “Making your father happy,” she grumbled.

  “Everything is fine.” She’d no sooner said it than she screamed.

  “Nova! What’s going on?” She didn’t answer me, and I was already running back out to the living room. I motioned in the air that I needed people with me. My brothers didn’t question. Every single one of them except for Soap and Gunny, who stayed with the women, followed me out.

  “Nova!”

  “There… there was someone out th-there,” she stuttered.

  “Out where?” I demanded.

  “B-back porch” was her shaky reply.

  “On my way. Get away from the windows.” Unable to talk while we were on our bikes, I shoved my phone in my pocket and shouted where we were going.

  We flew out of my neighborhood like the hounds of hell were on our heels. Eighty to a hundred an hour, we raced over. Thankfully, someone had driven through the gate and we followed them in, swervi
ng around them as they started to go left and we went right.

  My bike was barely on the kickstand before I was rushing to her door, pounding on the panels. “Nova! It’s me, open up.”

  It seemed to take forever before the door unlocked and she stood there, pale and shaking. Her blue eyes were huge in her face. As soon as I stepped in, she threw herself in my arms. Mattie was right behind her.

  Holding my girls tight for a moment, I breathed them in and thanked the good Lord they were safe.

  My girls….

  “Not to intrude on your moment, bossman, but we need to bring this party inside.” Truth was motioning toward someone peeking out a few doors down.

  “It’s okay, they were worried that a wreck on the interstate was him. Sorry we disturbed you,” Slice said to the person, who nodded and went back inside.

  Nova lived in a really fancy apartment complex, but her apartment was on the small side. Shove a dozen burly bikers in there, and it became minuscule. She was sitting on the couch with Mattie curled up to her side. I’d process that later.

  “Tell us what you saw,” I asked her as calmly as I could.

  Her eyes darted to me. “I was checking the locks like you wanted. Even though I’d already locked them all earlier. When I opened the blinds to check the windows to the back porch, I saw a tiny red light. When I looked closer, a large form around the light moved and I realized it was a man sitting in my chair smoking. He was staring right at me.”

  “Can you tell me what he looked like?” Hacker asked her.

  “It was dark, but when he saw me, he leaned forward to stub out his cigarette on the patio. The light from the window lit him up a little. All I saw was shaggy hair and a bushy beard. Maybe lighter-colored hair? I don’t know, I was scared.” She cupped her hands over her mouth and breathed deeply.

  We all looked at each other.

  “Do you think you’ve ever seen him before?” Snow asked her.

  “I honestly don’t know,” she said, then she leaned forward, bracing her elbows on her knees. Tremors rippled through her body from head to toe as she buried her face in her hands.

  Crouching in front of her, I gently lifted her chin so she’d look at me. “Baby, what aren’t you telling me?”

  I hadn’t survived as many deployments as I had by not having pretty good instincts.

  Tears shimmered in her eyes, and her bottom lip trembled. Her gaze darted from me to scan the rest of my brothers. “When I took the trash out, there… there was a man. I didn’t see what he looked like and he spoke in a whisper so there weren’t any distinguishing characteristics. He—” she looked to me with worry creasing her beautiful face. “He held a knife to my throat. I—”

  “What?” I shouted before she could finish her thought. Suddenly, I remembered the blood on her neck after she’d taken out the trash. “Scratched your neck, my ass!”

  “He said if I said anything to anyone, he’d”—her eyes darted to Mattie—“hurt people that meant something to me. Or that you might have an accident.” The last she said in a faint whisper.

  Dropping to the couch next to her, I wrapped an arm about her and gripped Mattie’s shoulder. “Fuck, Nova. You should’ve told me. I wouldn’t have left y’all here.”

  “I was scared for her,” she whispered. “And scared for you.”

  “Fuck, Nova, I’m a big boy, I can take care of myself. You and Mattie are my priorities.” I’d pretty much spilled the beans by saying that in front of my brothers.

  “Smoke, it might be best if we got out of here. How about if she and Mattie come back to the house?” Snow said calmly as he stared intently at me. “There will be more of us there to keep an eye on things.”

  “And there’s plenty of us here to escort them to ensure they make it safely to your house,” added Lock.

  “They have a point,” murmured Styx.

  “Go pack a bag. Will you be okay to drive or do you want to ride on the bike?” I asked her.

  “Mattie can ride with any of us,” piped in Truth.

  Indecision flitted across her face. “Maybe Mattie should go, but I should be okay. I don’t want to bring my trouble to your home and family.”

  “Like hell. You’re going. At least until we figure out who he is and what’s going on.”

  Not only was I fucked because I was falling at an incredible rate of speed, but by falling for Nova, I had created a weakness for my enemies to exploit.

  “Run Away”—3 Years Hollow

  Grayson left no room for argument when it came to me going to his house, and it made my stomach churn. Not because I didn’t want to be with him, but because I was sure the raspy stranger had been watching as we’d left my apartment.

  Worry for his and Mattie’s safety was ripping me apart inside. Like I’d swallowed a thousand razor blades, I was bleeding out with the terror it caused me.

  “I’ll sleep on the couch,” said Snow. “That way Mattie can have her bed.”

  “No way, Uncle Snow. I’ll sleep on the couch. Your back is bothering you, that’s why I wanted you to sleep in my bed to begin with,” Mattie insisted with her arms crossed. She was every bit as stubborn as her father.

  “If you have a few blankets, I can make a pallet next to her on the floor,” I offered.

  A few of the guys averted their gazes; others covered their mouths. Truth coughed and excused himself to the bathroom.

  Even Mattie was looking at me like I had two heads.

  “You’ll be with me.” Grayson spoke quietly into my ear.

  It wasn’t like we hadn’t slept together in his bed with Mattie home, but at that time, she hadn’t known. I wasn’t sure how I felt about blatantly announcing I’d be in her father’s bed.

  Avoiding making eye contact with anyone else, I turned to him and furiously whispered, “Can we discuss this in private, please?”

  “Of course.” The way he seemed to so easily capitulate should’ve been a warning. Firmly, he grabbed my hand. “We’re heading to bed. We have an early morning. Good night y’all.” As I stood there in shock at his announcement, he pulled on my hand to get me moving.

  All I could do was sputter as he dragged me through the kitchen and into his room. I tried to ignore the muted chuckles I heard coming from the living room.

  As soon as we hit the bedroom, he closed the door and had me backing toward the center of the room. “Grayson, what are you thinking? Mattie knows I’m in here now!”

  “No shit.” He looked completely unconcerned by his daughter knowing we were going to be in bed together.

  “They’re going to be out there thinking we’re doing things,” I argued.

  “They’d be correct,” he said with a devilish grin as he closed in on me.

  Eyes bugging, I spluttered, “But, but, we can’t!”

  “Oh, I assure you, we can. It won’t be the first time any of them heard a brother fucking.” His crass argument didn’t help convince me it was a good idea. Without any alcohol lowering my inhibitions, the thought of people knowing we were doing that was mortifying.

  “Grayson!” I squealed as he continued moving forward. Trying to stall, I ran for the bathroom. “I have to pee!”

  Before I could close the door, he was blocking it.

  “You can’t watch me!” I argued.

  “Fine. Go. I’ll hold the door closed for you.” He left a foot blocking the opening and held the door against it.

  Growling in frustration, I did my business even though I didn’t really have to go. When I was washing my hands, he stepped in and shut the door.

  “What are you doing?” I whisper-shouted.

  Eyes clouded with lust, the corner of his mouth tipped. “I’m about to fuck my ol’ lady.”

  “Your what?” My eyes bugged as my mouth hung open.

  “It’s a term of endearment. Trust me. It means you’re mine.”

  “I know what the hell it means! It’s serious shit,” I snapped.

  “You’re damn right it is,” he ag
reed.

  “You went from no relationship to me being your ol’ lady?” I asked him. He had me in absolute and total shock.

  “Yeah, I sure as hell did. You swept in with your crazy-ass plan, then you wouldn’t get the fuck out of my head. No matter how much I fought wanting you or wanting whatever it is between us to happen, it was hopeless. Whether I wasn’t ready for you before, or whether things needed to play out the way they did, I have no fucking clue. What I do know is you’ve been driving me crazy. The thought of walking away and letting someone else sweep you off your feet leaves me burning with rage. I don’t know if I could’ve said that about anyone else. Ever.” He didn’t say it, but we both knew he was talking about Anna.

  He’d left me speechless.

  In that moment, I wasn’t thinking about him calling me Anna in his sleep. Instead, I was an emotional mess after the events of the day. My mind was a jumble of disorganized thoughts and emotions.

  One hand curled around the back of my head, and his fingers threaded through my hair. The other gripped my hip and pulled me close.

  When he kissed me that time, he sucked the oxygen from the room with the emotion pouring off him. Desperate, I clung to him because I needed an anchor. Tasting him, feeling his heart pounding in time with my own, left butterflies on crack zinging through my abdomen until I was light-headed.

  Before I knew it, he had me seated on the edge of the vanity. As I gasped for air, he maneuvered my shorts and panties off.

  Ignoring the little voice in my head, I gave in to my need. It was easier than facing the unpleasant events of the day. It was also what I’d wanted in the deepest, darkest recesses of my soul for an eternity.

  “Grayson!” I shouted as he buried his face between my legs. Eyes rolling back in my head, I fell back and had to grab his hair to keep from hitting my head on the mirror. I needn’t have worried, though. Because he braced my legs open with his shoulders and his splayed hand hit the middle of my back.

  His assault was relentless until I was desperately screaming his name again.