‘Surely that would be an advantage, don’t you think? Me, over hearing something I shouldn’t? Means I can prevent whatever crap it is you’re getting yourselves into before it even starts.’
Coby let out another quiet chuckle, standing up and facing Ben, his tall, somewhat overbearing figure making Ben feel just a touch uncomfortable. ‘I like you, Ben. No, I really like you. You’ve been one of us, and that’s why I don’t mind you hanging out here. The guys like you, and you know the rules.’ He leaned in closer to Ben, his hands in his pockets, his voice low and gruff. ‘But I can’t help wondering how many people know just how much of a “one of us” you really were.’
Ben watched as Coby backed off and walked away. Shit! Had that really been necessary?
Sitting down on the wall Coby had just vacated, Ben looked out around him, at the compound going about its daily business. The garage was busy, Kip and Jesse hard at work on a couple of bikes while Luca and Cain had their heads bent over the open hood of an old Chrysler. Red and Callie were playing with baby Ozzie, a large green and blue checked blanket spread out over the small patch of grass Coby and Tay had recently created by the entrance to the office. A couple of the other Prospects were busy cleaning bikes belonging to the Lone Riders while Kel supervised, making sure they weren’t too distracted by the handful of women that were hanging around the yard, all of them dressed in clothes ranging from shorts and the smallest of mini skirts to tight T-shirts and barely-there dresses. Yeah. It was definitely business-as-usual as far as this place was concerned.
‘You here again?’ Lexi smiled, sitting down beside Ben.
He threw her a smile back. ‘Looks like it.’ But he couldn’t stop the sigh from escaping, causing Lexi to frown.
‘You sound like someone who might just have the weight of the world on their shoulders.’
‘Nothing quite as heavy as that.’ He managed another smile, looking back out across the yard at Red, who was holding the hands of baby Ozzie as he helped him walk a few tiny, faltering steps. ‘He’s growing up fast.’
‘Who? Red or Ozzie?’
Ben looked at her again, his smile growing wider. ‘Ozzie.’
Lexi laughed quietly, piling her long blonde hair up on top of her head, securing it with a large hair grip. ‘Yeah, he is. Beginning to pick up a lot of his daddy’s traits, too.’
‘Like what?’ Ben asked, glad to be talking about something that didn’t involve him or Mia or the crap that was surrounding them.
‘Like moaning, grumpiness, stubbornness…’ She smiled again, her eyes focused on her baby boy across the yard. He was giggling away now as Red pulled faces at him. ‘But, you know, I’m not sure I’d have him any other way. And Coby is such an incredible dad. You wouldn’t believe that the man who can walk in here with a mood from hell, acting all tough and… Well. You wouldn’t believe that’s the same man who rocks his son to sleep with a Gaelic lullaby. The same man who pushes Ozzie’s stroller round the block to get him to sleep. And I love my boys so fucking much.’
Ben watched her as she spoke. It was evident to anyone who looked at her right now that she meant that. That she really did love Coby and Ozzie with all of her heart. And he couldn’t help but wonder if their life at home really was that almost normal version of a family that most people envisaged. Was she trying to make sure the two lives they led were kept as separate as they could be?
‘Aren’t you worried, Lexi?’
She turned her head to look back at Ben. ‘About what?’
‘About the world he’s growing up in?’
She kept her eyes on him for a couple of beats, saying nothing until she, once more, turned her attention back to Red and Ozzie. ‘I’m not sure I can give him any other kind of world.’ She faced him again, and Ben felt a slight shiver run through him. ‘How can I? When I don’t know any other world.’
‘It’s out there, Lexi,’ Ben said quietly. ‘That other world.’
Lexi continued to hold his gaze, their eyes locked. ‘You got out, huh?’
Ben broke the stare, looking down at his boots.
‘So why are you back?’
He slowly raised his head to look at her, but said nothing.
‘You found that other world, Ben. And you managed to live in it. So why are you back in this one?’
He remained silent, unable to answer that question. Or should that be unwilling?
‘Things going okay with you and Mia?’ Lexi asked, her eyes still staring into his.
‘Changing the subject, huh?’
‘No. That’s what you were trying to do.’
He bowed his head for second or two before looking back up, but not at her. He continued to stare out at everything else that was going on. ‘Something’s up with her, Lexi.’
‘Like what?’
He shrugged, digging his hands into his pockets. ‘I don’t know, because she won’t talk to me.’
‘You’ve asked her, then? If something’s wrong?’
‘Of course I have. But she’s shutting me out. Keeps telling me she’s just tired, that nothing’s the matter.’
‘Well, maybe she is just tired. I mean, she was kind of thrown here without much warning, into a strange place, a strange country. It all happened so quickly, probably too quickly. She didn’t really have a lot of time to get her head around any of it, did she? And then, meeting you…’
He looked at her, narrowing his eyes slightly.
‘No, I didn’t mean that meeting you was a problem for her. I just meant that that was something else that happened really fast. Everything that’s happened in the short time she’s been here has happened really fast, and maybe it’s all just catching up with her now.’
‘Yeah,’ Ben sighed. ‘That’s what she said.’
‘So, maybe she just needs a bit of space.’
‘If that’s the case, then why did she ask me to move in with her?’
Lexi’s expression turned to one of surprise. ‘When did she ask you this?’
‘About an hour ago. She’s confusing the hell out of me right now, Lex. And I… I didn’t know what to say to her. Didn’t know how to handle it. So I went for a ride, to try and clear my head, try to make some sense out of it all, but… I just don’t get it. She told me she wasn’t ready for anything serious. She told me she was staying clear of anything involving commitment, so why ask me to move in with her? If she isn’t looking for anything serious?’
‘Are you?’
‘Am I what?’
‘Looking for anything serious?’
‘Jesus, I don’t know. To be honest, my head’s all over the place right now. I mean, I can’t get enough of her, you know? She’s the most incredible, beautiful, insanely confusing woman I have ever come across. One minute all she wants to do is…’ He looked away, taking a deep breath. ‘One minute she’s all over me, and she’s like the Mia I first met. And the next she’s all distant; pushing me away. So of course it’s messing with my head when she’s asking me to move in with her.’
‘You don’t think it’s a good idea?’
His eyes met Lexi’s. ‘Do you?’
‘It’s not my place to say what I think, Ben.’
‘I’d like your opinion, Lexi. You know Mia a lot better than I do.’
Lexi started fiddling with the leather bands fastened around her wrist. ‘How long did you say she’d been like this?’
‘A couple of weeks.’
She looked back at Ben. ‘Just give her a bit of space. Don’t hassle her to talk about something she might not want to talk about just yet…’
‘You think something is wrong?’
‘I don’t know, Ben,’ Lexi sighed, pushing herself up off the wall. ‘But if there is, she just might not be ready to share it yet. Give her some time, let her know you’re there for her but don’t keep on at her, and I’m sure she’ll tell you when she’s ready. If there’s anything to tell.’
‘Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, huh?’
‘Maybe. I’ll see you later, okay?’
He nodded, watching as she headed over to Red, Callie and Ozzie.
‘You look like you need one of these.’
Ben turned his head to see Luca holding out a beer. ‘I’ve got the bike. I shouldn’t be drinking.’
‘Shit, Ben, come on. You know as well as I do that you’re gonna be here long enough for you to sober up completely before you even think about going home again.’
‘Or long enough to get wasted so bad I won’t be able to go anywhere near that bike for days.’
‘Then you crash out in the apartment. Come on, man. It’s Friday! You ain’t got no work for the next two days, so just kick back and relax.’
Ben laughed, and Luca frowned.
‘What’s up?’
‘Jesus, Luca, I work for you lot. Shit doesn’t just kick off nine-to-five, Monday to Friday around here, does it? I don’t get weekends off.’
Luca thrust the beer at him. ‘Just take the fucking beer and stop whining.’ He sat down beside Ben, biting the top off his own bottle, spitting it down on the ground next to Coby’s discarded cigarette. ‘Nice bike, by the way.’ Luca jerked his beer in the direction of Ben’s Harley, the sun bouncing off the sparkling chrome.
‘Not bad, is it?’
Luca stared at him, keeping his eyes fixed on Ben’s as he took a long sip of beer. ‘Good to have you back with us. Brother.’ He stood up, lifting his beer to his forehead and giving Ben a small salute as he backed off in the direction of the garage.
Ben sighed, pushing both hands through his hair as he once more looked out around him at the kind of normality that only existed within this compound, Luca’s parting words ringing in his ears.
Seventeen
‘You sure?’ Charlie tucked the phone between his chin and shoulder as he poured himself a strong coffee.
‘No doubt, Charlie. One of my guys spotted him in a club in Vegas two nights ago, but apparently a waitress from a bar just outside of Paradise spent a night with him at her place in Hilton last week.’
‘Okay. Thanks, Michael. I just needed to be sure.’
‘You’ve talked to Mia, haven’t you?’
‘Yeah,’ Charlie sighed, taking a sip of coffee, the caffeine hit more than welcome. ‘But she’s either got no idea he’s over there, because she didn’t say anything to me to make me think otherwise, or he’s threatened her with some kind of sick stunt if she tells anyone where he is.’
‘So, you didn’t tell her he’s over here?’
‘I didn’t want to panic her.’
‘And you haven’t told Coby?’
‘Not yet.’
‘Jesus, Charlie, come on…’
‘Look, I’ve made mistakes with this, I’m not denying that. I’m just trying not to put Mia in any more danger than she’s already in...’
‘Which is precisely why I should be dealing with this, Charlie.’
‘Something needs to be done, Michael, I agree. But we can handle it. I promise.’
‘It’s how you handle it that’s concerning me.’
‘There won’t be any comeback on you; you have my word on that.’
Michael sighed heavily down the line. ‘I really should be sending my men out to find him…’
‘We can handle this, Michael.’
‘You sure?’
‘We can handle this.’
Michael left a beat before speaking again. ‘Charlie… What’s gonna happen here?’
‘Whatever needs to, Michael.’ Charlie hung up, then immediately called Mia. She answered after just a couple of rings, her voice surprisingly light, which led him to think maybe she really didn’t know Lennie was in town. ‘Hey, beautiful. How’s things?’
‘Things are fine, Charlie.’
She sounded happy. Really happy. But that happiness was about to be cut short, and he hated that he was the one who had to do that. ‘You and Ben – things going all right there?’
There was a slight pause, but then Charlie heard her laughing, and a male voice in the background which he could only assume was Ben Salter’s. Good. At least she had someone there with her. But if Lennie knew she was seeing someone else…
‘We’re doing okay.’
She’d sounded almost non-committal there, but the state of Mia’s current relationship was the least of his worries. ‘Listen, kiddo, something’s happened…’ He stopped talking as he heard her breathing quicken. It was as if he could almost sense the panic coming down the line. Did she…?
‘Lennie’s here. I know.’
Her words rendered him speechless for a second or two, and he gripped the phone tight, putting his coffee down for fear of spilling it. ‘You knew he was in Paradise?’
She let a couple of beats pass before she replied. ‘He came to see me.’
‘Jesus, Mia… Why didn’t you call me? Why didn’t you tell Coby?’ It was quite obvious why. But he needed to hear her say the words.
‘You know why, Charlie.’
‘He threatened to hurt you.’ It wasn’t a question.
‘No,’ she whispered, her voice barely audible. ‘Not me.’
Charlie let out a long, heavy sigh, closing his eyes, as if that could make the problem miraculously disappear. ‘Okay, listen to me, sweetheart. I’m sending Bear over with Geordie and Miller. Everything’s gonna be all right, I promise you.’
‘He said if I told anyone…’
‘I know. I know what he told you. I know the way his mind works, but it’s not gonna happen, kiddo. I won’t let it. Now, I want you to go straight to the compound, do you hear me?’
‘Is that really necessary? I’ve heard nothing since that one visit. No sign that he’s still here…’
Was she really that naïve? ‘Mia, come on. You know that’s exactly what he wants you to think. He wants to scare you then leave it alone for a while, until you think everything’s safe again. You’re not stupid, darlin’. You know what he’s doing.’
She said nothing, just let a silence hang heavy down the line.
‘How long has it been since you last saw him, sweetheart?’ Charlie’s voice softened slightly as he tried to push some of the frustration he was feeling to one side.
‘Days.’ Her voice was still barely rising above a whisper. ‘Well over a week.’
‘Is someone there with you?’
‘Ben.’ Her voice was still quiet, but Charlie could sense the panic she was obviously trying to keep at bay rising slightly, and he felt a wave of guilt sweep over him that almost knocked the breath from his lungs.
‘Good. Get him to take you straight to the compound, do you hear me? I’ll let Coby know what’s going on.’
She paused for a second before speaking again. ‘What’s gonna happen, Charlie?’
‘My guess is Coby’ll organize some kind of lockdown. Just until we get a better idea of exactly where Lennie is. And you say you’ve only seen and heard from him that one time?’
‘Yes.’
‘Okay… Mia?’ He didn’t want to ask this next question, but he needed to know. ‘When he was there, when you saw him, did he…? Did he do anything to…? Did he hurt you?’
There was another pause, and Charlie wished with all of his heart that this wasn’t happening; that he’d managed to keep his promise to her parents to make sure she stayed safe. Because, right now, she was anything but safe.
‘Mia?’
‘He didn’t get the chance, Charlie. My knee hit his balls before he could try anything.’
Charlie breathed a silent sigh of relief, closing his eyes again. ‘Straight to the compound, Mia. Now, okay?’
‘Okay,’ she whispered, before ending the call.
Charlie threw his phone down and turned to face the window, resting his forehead against the cool glass, his eyes still closed. He’d never felt so weak, but there were things he had to face up to now that he knew he should have faced up to a lot sooner than this. And maybe, if he had, none of this would have happened.
***
‘What the fuck is going on, Mia?’
Mia turned to look at Ben, his face a mask of confusion, and how could she blame him? The way she’d been with him lately. The unnecessary distance she’d created between them because she hadn’t been brave enough to tell him about Lennie. She’d tried to kid herself that she could stand up to her husband, but she couldn’t. Not really. Or she’d have found the strength to tell someone what was happening.
‘Mia?’
She blinked a few times as she tried to re-focus on Ben. He was pulling on his clothes, pushing his hands back through his hair, and for a brief second she wished she could just ignore Charlie’s phone call and climb back into bed with him. They’d just shared the most wonderful couple of hours, talking about nothing but sex and bikes and the new life she was planning here in Paradise. And she’d almost forgotten all about Lennie Rose and the threat hanging over her. She’d almost forgotten. ‘I’m sorry, Ben, I just… I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t tell anyone.’
He walked over to her, pulling her into his arms, holding her tight. But she felt nothing now, except numb. It was like a barrier had just come down, preventing any other emotion from getting through. ‘What did he do to you, Mia?’
‘Nothing. You heard me.’
‘But something could have happened. He could have… For Christ’s sake, Mia, he could have killed you!’
‘He doesn’t want me dead, Ben.’ She stepped back from him, folding her arms against herself.
‘You know that, do you? Is that what he told you?’
‘He told me he came here to take me home.’
‘You’re not going home, Mia. He can’t take you back there, Charlie’ll be after his blood, and he knows that.’
Retribution (The Lone Riders MC Series Book 2) Page 12
