by C. M. Marin
I follow Jayce’s gaze when it moves to Cam. She’s still white as a sheet, looking as though she’s wandering in some place far away from here. I wonder why Nate isn’t right next to her, but I have my answer the moment he snatches a stool and throws it across the room. And I don’t think it’s the first one either. Maybe watching the video a second time wasn’t the best idea.
“Fuck!” he roars, breathing so heavily that he reminds me of an angry lion about to strike.
But Camryn doesn’t even flinch at the sound of it smashing into a wall before crashing on the floor. She’s literally out of it.
“Son of a bitch,” Jayce mutters as his best friend seems on the verge of losing it.
No need to be a psychic to know what’s running through Nate’s head right now.
He didn’t kill CJ that night in the woods last summer. He left him in that cabin, unconscious and waiting for the flames to kill him. He didn’t finish him off himself, and now CJ’s here, sipping some liquor as he enjoys a night at his own strip-club. The guilt written all over Nate’s face is understandable, and the pain of having failed distinctly swarms in his eyes.
“It was him.”
Everyone’s attention darts to Cam’s distraught voice even though she speaks almost too quietly to be heard.
“You should sit, Cam. You don’t look so good,” Jayce cautions, walking to her.
Not acknowledging his advice, she goes on, “He shot Alex, and her and Liam’s car. And he ran you and Nate off the road. It was all him.”
Her voice cracks at the end as panic seems to settle in her thicker and thicker.
“It’s okay, little sis.”
“It was Nate and you who were probably the targets. He wants to kill you both.”
I’m not sure whether it’s her shaking voice or Jayce’s clear concern, but something has Nate snapping out of his blind fury to finally direct all of his attention to Cam. And once he’s in front of her, Jayce moves back next to me.
Before Nate can say anything, she murmurs, though we all hear her, “He wants to kill you.”
“I’ll kill him first,” he vows. “I’m sorry I didn’t put a bullet in his head that day.” He glances briefly at me when he says that, clearly feeling a shitload of guilt about me being shot. Then his attention goes back to Cam. “Fuck,” he growls as he roams his eyes over her trembling body. He lifts her immediately, and she holds on to him easily. “Meeting first thing tomorrow,” he says to the guys. “Nobody leaves the club tonight.” Then he shakes his head, and a smile is barely there when he adds, “Sorry, Jayce. Force of habit.”
These are words Jayce has to get used to saying now that he’s wearing the President cut.
All the guys chuckle while Jayce snorts. “All good, bro. See you tomorrow.”
Once they’ve left, Liam addresses Jayce, “Camryn’s right. You and Nate must have been the targets all along. Problem is, CJ has never cared about collateral damage, which is why Alex was hurt.”
“We can’t rule out the possibility that Alex was shot on purpose to get to Jayce. We all are potential targets. He’ll hurt anyone to get to the both of you,” Cody asserts, not meaning to send a wave of chills through me, but that’s what happens anyway. “Even Cam could become one if he loses patience or realizes he’s never going to get to her no matter what.”
“He’ll get pissed if he can’t get to you soon enough,” Blane adds, not helping with the spine-chilling feeling. “Rage is burning in him for what we did to his club, and for Cam joining us. He’s nothing but unpredictable.”
Silence then falls over the room. This is a heavy blow for everyone. CJ is ruthless. He didn’t hesitate to threaten Jonas’ life to get Camryn to follow him obediently last summer. A twelve-year-old boy, for God’s sake.
“You good, babe?”
Jayce’s forehead is creased with worry when I look back at him.
“Just tired,” I offer him a tight smile.
I’m also scared to death about what could happen anytime and to any of us from now on. But I don’t tell him that.
We already knew the Spiders were the ones after the club, but CJ being alive is really bad news. It means that their club never moved on like Bison tried to convince the guys they did a few months ago. Instead of moving on, they’ve been plotting their revenge all this time. Thinking about how many times Jayce could have been hurt over the past months, even before I came back to Twican, sends another layer of chills down my spine. He could have been shot every single time he went out, whether he was alone or not.
“Let’s go upstairs,” he decides and grabs my hand. “I’ll see you guys first thing tomorrow.”
They all nod in response, most of them still wearing crushed looks on their faces.
“I don’t want you to worry about this, Alex,” he tells me once we’re on our way to his room, proving that keeping my dread to myself didn’t work very well.
I suppose that he knows me too well.
“I can’t help it,” I confess honestly. “It’s never been like this before. There hasn’t been a time since Liam joined the club ten years ago where things have gotten this dangerous. All of you have always been cautious, but… I don’t know, it’s different now. I’m afraid of how this all could end.”
As soon as we’re inside his room, he cages me against the closed door.
“I won’t ever let anything happen to you, Alex. Ever.”
My smile feels a little sad on my lips. “I know that, and that’s why I’m afraid. I know you’d die to protect me. To protect Camryn, too. Not to mention your brothers. And I’ve always known that, but now that the threat is so real, I just realize that it can really happen. I could really lose you.”
He stares into my eyes with so much softness that tears are close to flooding them.
“I’m not going to tell you that you don’t have to worry, because I know that shit is going to get real and that you’ll worry anyway. But even if CJ is stupid enough to declare war on us despite how weak his club currently is, we wouldn’t face it alone. Unlike them. Grant and his men are ready to back us. But we don’t even know what CJ has in mind.”
I snort. “Whatever that is, it can’t be anything good.”
“You’re right, it can’t,” he admits. “But the problem with being as pissed as he must be is that you make stupid mistakes because anger is all you can see. If no one in his club stops him, he’ll make one, and we’ll get them all.”
Even the certainty in his tone doesn’t help quell my fear. “Let’s just hope no one gets hurt in the process,” I sigh.
“And it’s our job to make sure of it. You know, us strong males,” he grins.
I roll my eyes. “Macho much?”
“And you love it,” he answers―rightfully.
I do love that side of him as much as I love every other side. That’s why I don’t even think as I succumb to his lips claiming mine. His demanding nature has always brought me to my knees. Every time he kisses me roughly, as he presses his body against mine, imprisoning me in his strong arms, my brain stops functioning and I’m ready to beg him to take me until neither of us can think anymore. But I don’t just feel aroused when he touches me. I also feel safe and loved, and I can’t envision losing any of that. I wouldn’t survive losing him. The thought itself is terrifying, even more so because I know that it’s as much of a possibility as him letting me go again to protect me.
Chapter 22
Jayce
“I don’t think it’d be wise to request a meeting with Bison,” I get straight to the point once all of my brothers have all taken a seat around the large table.
I’m launching my second meeting since Nate handed me the President cut a week ago. And I have to admit that it feels fucking great. Granted, it’d have felt even better if I didn’t have to deal with the shit that has been forcing us to watch our backs for months, but it is what it is.
Whether or not we are going to get in touch with the Spiders was the main topic of last week�
��s meeting. We decided to give the question some time, and here we are. The more I’ve thought about it, the clearer it’s become to me that meeting with them again isn’t a great idea.
“The problem is that we don’t have any reason to ask for a meeting,” I explain my position immediately. “We don’t need anything from them, and they know that. If we go there with any made-up reason or pretending to just want to know where they stand about that truce, they’ll know we have an ulterior motive.”
“Agreed,” Brent backs my opinion. “There’s just no reason for us to reach out to them. We know that, and they know that. So, yeah, they’ll most likely know we’ve got an ulterior motive, but they could also think that we’re eager to get the truce because we’re scared of them.”
“Ignoring them is the best way to go,” Blane assures, too.
“Yeah,” Liam steps in with the same point of view. “This way CJ will keep on with whatever it is they have in store for us. Because if us requesting a meeting gets them even a little bit suspicious, they might put their plans on hold. They could just keep lying low for God knows how long, and it could be months before we would have a shot at taking them out.”
We all nod at that, and Cody adds, “CJ could definitely give up on potential trips to the strip club if he gets paranoid. He doesn’t seem to be taking too many risks as it is,” he points out.
It’s been a week since we found out about that fucker’s damn resurrection, and Lana hasn’t seen him again at the strip club. And I won’t lie; the fact that he’s like a ghost and has intentions that we know nothing about is unsettling. Especially when we know that the plans he’s made to get his revenge―because he has made plans―must involve a great deal of bloodshed. The fact that he’s laying low isn’t surprising, obviously, but giving a try at going out disguised proves how suffocated he has started to feel being confined to his clubhouse. There’s no way for us to know how long he’s been going out with his ridiculous mustache, cap and contact lenses, but however long it’s been, taking that risk was his first mistake. And at one point or another, he’ll make another one. If they haven’t attacked us openly yet, it’s because they know their club is too weak right now to face a war. It’ll take time for them to grow strong again, and he knows that. Too much time for him to keep enduring a life where he has nothing else to do than wander aimlessly within four walls like some caged animal. Sooner or later, he’ll lose patience.
“All it’d take for CJ to get comfortable going out during the day would be a few of his nights out to the strip club going smoothly,” Ben says. “He’ll get bolder eventually, and Blane could start looking for him on streets and store surveillance cameras. We could get a shot at getting to him quite easily once he’s out more and we get to know about his routine. It’s a long shot, but I think it’s the smartest thing to do for now.”
“That’s settled, then. No meeting,” I summarize.
Blane switches the subject then. “We got two new contacts in California. Both want a handful of bikes for next month. Checked them out, they’re legit.”
“Then seal the deal and send Cody the info,” I tell him.
Getting new clients is a very good thing. Not that the business has been slowing down; it’s been quite the opposite. But we’ve been on the verge of a war with the Spiders since last summer, and it’s nice to remember what our main occupation before this mess began was.
“Anything else?” I ask my brothers.
“I want him dead ASAP,” Nate speaks up for the first time, and we all understand that he’s back to the CJ issue.
His expression is grim, and his tired features tell me he hasn’t slept much more than I have this past week. And I get it. Finding out that CJ is still alive has been hard on him. He feels like he failed, because he didn’t make sure CJ was dead before leaving the woods that day. Every single second of the few minutes he spent inside that cabin has been gnawing at him, and there’s nothing any of us can say that would make him cut himself some slack. He won’t stop beating himself up until he’s put a bullet between the fucker’s eyes. Cam’s safety is at stake here. And don’t get me started on the fact that he fooled her for an entire year, playing her damn fiancé before faking his death and sending her into a world of grief for another year, until she found out the disgusting truth about him. Hell, I’ve wanted the son of a bitch dead for it as much as Nate has, ever since I learned Camryn is my sister.
“I do, too,” I truthfully answer. “And I can promise you that as soon as we have a shot, we’ll kill him. For what he did to Cam, what he did to Alex, and the other attacks against us. There’s no doubt in my mind that he was behind the wheels himself when that car ran us off the road. And I have no doubts either that he’s going to try messing with us again sooner or later. But we need to handle this smart. Especially because it all comes down to the same problem again. No one will have our backs in a war if we can’t prove shit.”
He doesn’t even take a moment to assess my words once I stop talking. He knows I’m right. Even through his anger, he can see that. So, he nods curtly, but he doesn’t say anything else.
“Anything else?” I ask again.
“Nope,” Ben says out loud as the rest of my brothers only shake their heads.
“Then let’s go get some coffee and get to work,” I put an end to the meeting and stand up.
Bikes are waiting to be built, and I have to say that I’m eager to get to the warehouse and think about nothing for a little while. And since Alex is off work for the next couple of days, I’ll even have the peace of mind knowing she’s here safe and sound. Right now, a door and a few steps are all that separate us. She’s been writing for a couple of hours already, even if it’s only half past eight. I wish I could spend the entire day in bed with her, but we both have shit to do.
As soon as I’m out of the meeting room, I aim for one of the thermoses Lilly always gets ready for everyone in the morning and pour myself a full mug of coffee.
I’m swallowing a large gulp when Liam approaches me. “Everything okay with Alex?”
My mug pauses mid-air as my arm freezes momentarily with surprise.
“Yeah. She’s good, why?” I say, watching him fix himself some coffee but not sparing me a glance.
“I mean, is everything okay between you two?” he clarifies, now lifting his gaze to look straight at me.
I’m trying my best to ignore his accusing glare, which I have no clue where the hell it comes from.
“Why are you asking?”
He shrugs. “I just haven’t seen her smile much this past week, that’s all.”
I can’t say if there’s more casualness or sarcasm in his tone. What I do know is that the former couldn’t sound more fake. And it’s pissing me off.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I snap defensively and angrily.
I hurt Alex, and my messing up will most likely linger in the back of Liam’s mind for a long while. It’ll take time for him to trust me with his sister just like it’ll take time for Alex to trust me fully again. But he’ll have to deal with it at some point, and I sure as hell am not going to cower every time he feels like reminding me how badly I screwed up.
Maybe he’s reading all of this on my face, because he lets out a deep sigh and says very calmly, “Look, that came out wrong, okay? I’m just saying something’s been off with her lately. She told me she was fine a couple days ago, but I know that she was already sitting on that couch when I came downstairs an hour ago, and she was staring into space more than she was typing.”
Instinctively, I follow his gaze to see that she is staring into space. But only until she must sense our eyes on her, and hers dart our way. She smiles at us instantly, but all that smile tells me is that Liam’s right. Even if I’m standing on the other side of the room―which is why she didn’t notice that things nearly got heated between me and her brother―there’s no mistaking the dullness in her baby blues, her smile not reaching them.
“I’ll be down i
n a minute,” I mutter, now less angry at him than offended with the fact that he noticed something was wrong with Alex when I didn’t.
“Thanks,” is all he says, and I can hear the sincerity in his voice before he follows the guys to the warehouse, his mug in his hand.
It doesn’t mean he doesn’t still believe I’ve got something to do with Alex’s mood, but I don’t care. Not breaking eye contact with my girl, I go to her. Her colorless smile fades slowly, probably because of the frown digging into my forehead.
I sit down on the coffee table, right in front of her. “Writer’s block?”
Maybe that’s all there is to her glum mood. Coupled with the club still being on lockdown for the most part, her not being in top form is more than understandable.
“Sort of, yeah,” she answers, but she also fails once more at smiling a genuine smile.
“What’s up, baby?” I decide to go straight to the point.
A full ten seconds pass as she does nothing but stare at me. She seems to be trying to read something on my face, but I have no idea what. At last, she blurts out what’s bothering her, but not before her eyes slide down to her computer. “I can’t concentrate. I’m scared.”
“Of what?” I ask her with as much softness as I can gather.
Several more seconds of stressful silence fly by before she answers. When she does, my brain has to work hard to process everything she says, because it all leaves her in a rush like she can’t get it out fast enough. “I’m afraid I’m going to lose you again. You’ve been distant for days and I’ve spent them waiting for you to leave me and―”
“Hold on, Alex,” I cut off her rambling. “Hold on and breathe, alright?” She stops talking and her troubled eyes settle on me again. I move her computer off her lap and discard it on the couch beside her. “Listen to me.” I lean over, take her hands in mine and look straight into her eyes, hoping to reach her soul with my promise. “I am not leaving. I am not.”
But just as I say it, I understand that I could repeat those same words a thousand times and she would still doubt me. It kills me, but what she says next proves to me just that.
