‘He isn’t taking me anywhere. Because nobody is gonna let that happen. And I can handle him, okay? I can handle him.’ But even as she was saying the words, she knew she was telling him something he didn’t believe. She couldn’t handle Lennie, not any more. And it was time she finally faced up to that.
‘Come here,’ Ben sighed, his voice calmer now as he pulled her back into his arms. ‘What did Charlie say?’
‘We need to go to the compound. Straightaway. Charlie’s gonna let Coby know what’s happening.’
Ben pulled back just slightly, so he could look at her properly, his fingers reaching out to gently stroke her cheek. ‘You should have told me, baby… Jesus! All those times I just left you on your own… You should have told me.’
She shook her head, her face impassive, her arms once more folding defensively across her chest. ‘I couldn’t,’ she whispered.
‘I knew something was wrong… Come on. Get dressed. We need to get out of here.’
‘Ben?’
He looked at her, and she felt her heart break. That future she’d wanted with this man seemed to be slipping through her fingers, and the sadness she felt at that seemed to overshadow any fear. It was almost overwhelming.
‘I’m sorry.’
For the life they could have had together. For the things she should have told him. For everything.
Eighteen
‘She should have told someone,’ Coby sighed, taking a quick draw on his cigarette, blowing smoke up into the darkening sky. ‘She should have come to me.’
‘And you know why she couldn’t,’ Lexi said, sliding down from the table she’d been sitting on outside the clubhouse.
‘Then Charlie should have told me the second he knew Lennie had gone AWOL. I can’t do the fucking job I’ve been asked to do if I don’t know all the fucking facts.’
‘I know.’ She walked over to him, taking the cigarette out of his hand and throwing it away, kissing him quickly. ‘I know, baby. But Charlie had his reasons…’
‘Charlie’s distracted right now, Lexi.’
Lexi shot Coby a look, narrowing her eyes slightly as they met his. ‘By what, exactly?’
Coby threw back his head, taking a deep breath before letting out a heavy sigh. ‘By this, sweetheart. By all of it.’
Lexi kept her eyes on him for a couple more seconds, not sure he was telling her everything. But she knew her place. He’d tell her what he wanted to tell her; what she needed to know. ‘It’s a mess, Coby. But I’m sure my dad had his reasons. Lennie’s unpredictable, and I’m…’
‘We’re on lockdown. Until we know where he is. Nobody leaves or enters this compound without my say so, especially Mia.’
‘Okay.’
‘Get everyone here, as quick as you can. Is Mia on her way?’
‘Ben’s bringing her.’
‘Where’s Ozzie?’
‘Red’s with him in the apartment.’
‘Good… Lexi?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Come here, darlin’.’
She took his hand, letting him pull her into his big, strong arms, that familiar, heady smell of leather and engine oil and stale cigarettes enveloping her. ‘You’re supposed to be giving up the cigarettes now Ozzie’s here,’ she scolded, but she said it with a smile. One he returned, and she felt her stomach dip in the most delicious way.
‘You want me to give up now?’ He raised an eyebrow, and her stomach dipped again. Jesus! She loved this man, so fucking much. ‘I give up now, kid, and I turn into the most cantankerous, argumentative, miserable bastard you’ll ever have the pleasure of meeting.’
‘You think I’ll notice the difference?’
‘Bitch!’ he laughed, squeezing her waist tight, pushing her right up against him as he kissed her hard, her arms falling around his neck as he held her.
‘I love you, Coby Walker.’
‘Aye. Can’t say I blame you.’
She laughed out loud, playfully smacking his arm as he grabbed her again, their kiss long and soulful.
‘I’d be nothing without you, my beautiful biker queen,’ he murmured, his mouth resting on hers as he spoke.
Lexi smiled, stroking his hair from his deep, dark eyes. ‘Right back at ya, soldier.’
One more kiss. One more chance to keep him all to herself before the shit kicked off.
‘Come on, baby girl. We’d better get this lockdown organized.’
***
Shane watched from the shadows, close enough to be able to make out what they were saying – just. Certainly close enough to watch them – to see the way Coby looked at her, the way he held her, his hands all over her. But that was his right. He could do whatever he wanted to her, she was his old lady. That was his privilege.
Keeping his eyes on them he watched them kiss, and he felt nothing. No real emotion, no guilt; no doubt that what he had planned, it was only fair. He’d done so much for Coby Walker. It was only right that he got some kind of payback for that. And now that everyone knew Lennie was in Paradise, that meant things needed to move that little bit faster. He’d called Lennie, of course. Told him they were looking for him. Made sure he was somewhere safe, for now. But how long he could guarantee his safety was something Shane couldn’t tell him. Because he didn’t know. All he knew was the clock had started ticking. That storm was moving closer…
***
‘A word,’ Michael said, walking over to Ben, who was propping up the bar inside the clubhouse alongside Luca and Jesse. ‘In private.’
Luca let out a long, low whistle, patting Ben on the shoulder. ‘Whoa, what you done, brother?’
Michael fixed both Jesse and Luca with a look, both of them holding up their hands in surrender as they backed away.
‘Was there any need for that?’ Ben turned to face the sheriff, a whisky in his hand, the bottle standing open on the counter behind him. ‘What are you doing here anyway? I thought Coby was locking this place down?’
‘I could ask you the same question,’ Michael said, his eyes never leaving Ben. ‘I’m here because I have a feeling some kind of crap is about to go down and I want to make sure I know as much as I can about any potential fallout I might have to deal with. That’s the way shit works around here. But you – I mean, last time I looked you were only the lawyer, yet, now, here you are kicking back with the rest of them like you belong here.’
Ben held the sheriff’s gaze, his stare steady, verging on cold. ‘I’m here for Mia.’
‘Have you any idea of the kinda shit you could be getting mixed up in?’
Ben couldn’t hold back the small laugh of derision. ‘You’re kidding, right?’
‘Do I look like a man who’s in the mood for jokes? What’s happening here is gonna give me a frigging headache I can well do without… I thought you were supposed to be helping her get rid of this monster. I wasn’t aware that involved sleeping with her. For a lawyer you sure have got a loose idea of ethics right now.’
Ben moved a step closer, draining his whisky. ‘I know exactly what I’m getting into. Remember?’
Michael eyed Ben’s empty glass; the bottle on the counter. ‘I remember only too well. Ben.’
Ben laughed again – a short, sharp, unfeeling laugh. ‘Then know I can deal with this.’
‘How?’
Ben said nothing. He wasn’t rising to this, wasn’t going to be led in a direction that could leave him open to anything that could be misinterpreted.
‘Be careful, Ben. All that work, everything you went through, that could all turn to crap. Because I can see the change. I can see everything you thought you’d kept hidden, and if that…’ Michael ran a hand over his close-cropped hair, sighing quietly. He needed this shit like he needed an outbreak of cholera. ‘You said you were…’
‘I said a lot of things, Michael.’
‘I should never have allowed this to… Putting you with the Lone Riders, that was a mistake. I told you that, warned you not to take the job… I thought you’d be able
to handle it. You told me… You said you were…’ Michael’s eyes once more met the younger man’s. ‘What you’re doing… You have a reputation, Ben. A professional reputation that you worked fucking hard to gain, and you could be… It could all turn to shit, you do know that, don’t you? You get too close again; you go back there, and everything unravels…’
‘You think I give a crap what people think?’
Michael held Ben’s gaze, his eyes boring deep. ‘You should.’
Ben chuckled quietly, bowing his head.
‘You’re acting like none of it happened, Ben. Don’t you remember…?’
Ben’s head shot back up, his eyes blazing. ‘I can deal with this, Michael.’
‘You should step back, kiddo. Step right back from this.’
‘They can use me. They can use what I know…’
‘Step back, Ben. Please. Don’t throw it all away, for Christ’s sake. Your dad wouldn’t want…’
‘My dad started all this, Michael. He made me who I was. Who I am. Who I’ll always be.’
Michael shook his head. ‘I thought you were stronger than that.’
‘Believe me, Sheriff, I am stronger than I’ve ever been.’
‘You sure about that?’ Michael’s eyes never left Ben’s, determined to get through to him. ‘Like I said, Ben – just be careful. Be very, very careful.’
***
‘Lockdown?’ Lennie’s voice was gruff and hoarse as it traveled down the line.
‘You got someone there?’ Shane asked, leaning against the wall out the back of the clubhouse. ‘Jesus, Lennie! You’re supposed to be keeping a low profile not bringing goddamn whores back to the house.’
‘Chill out, man. No one’s gonna tell anyone. They don’t know who the hell I am, and once I’m finished with them they don’t give a shit no more.’
‘Are you fucking deluded? That waitress from the bar – the one with the plastic tits and an obsession with becoming some biker mama – she told Sheriff Bailey you spent a night with her at her apartment last week. Now, I don’t know if he’s put out an APB, or whether our friendly sheriff is keeping this all “in house”, but either way, you gotta work with me on this one, brother. Or everything turns to shit.’
‘Scared I’m not gonna be around to carry out my side of the bargain, huh?’
‘Just quit with the bitches, Lennie. All it takes is for one of them to have a loose mouth…’
‘They’re not gonna say anything, Shane. Okay? I’ve made sure of that.’
Shane closed his eyes, breathing in deep. Whatever Lennie meant by that, he didn’t want to know. ‘Just lie low. I’ll try and find a way to get out of here, come meet with you. There’re things we need to talk about, and soon. We ain’t got much time now.’
‘You got a plan?’
‘Yeah,’ Shane sighed. ‘I got a plan. But it all hinges on me being able to make sure Coby’s in the clubhouse alone. And that can’t happen until this lockdown’s over.’
‘Then you still got some thinking to do, brother. And you better be doing that fast ‘cause I want to be out of here, with Mia, as soon as I can. I don’t want to be hanging around here any longer than I have to. I ain’t stupid. I know what those fuckers’ll do if they get to me first, and I didn’t come here to die.’
‘I know.’
‘So start thinking.’
‘Just keep a low profile, Lennie, okay? Otherwise none of this is gonna work out.’
Shane ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket, closing his eyes again as he exhaled long and slow.
‘Everything okay?’
He almost jumped out of his skin as Mia leaned back against the wall beside him, lighting up a cigarette. ‘Jesus, darlin’, you gave me one hell of a fright there.’
Mia laughed quietly, handing him the cigarette, which he took from her, drawing on it deep before handing it back.
‘How’s it going in there?’ Shane asked, jerking his head in the direction of the door Mia had just come out of.
‘Fine.’ Mia shrugged. ‘Coby seems to have everything under control.’
‘You had lockdowns before?’ Shane took the cigarette from her again, taking another deep draw. ‘Back home?’
She nodded. ‘Once. But I was very young when it happened, so I don’t remember much about it. Just that the clubhouse was pretty crowded for a few days, and most of the grown-ups were kind of tense.’
Shane looked out ahead of him, a small pang of guilt for what he was doing hitting him for the briefest of seconds, before he pushed it aside – focused on why he was doing it. Yes, he was sorry Mia was involved, sorry she’d become a pawn in his dangerous game, but he had no choice. He’d needed someone to help him do what he’d been wanting to do for a long time now, something he’d been planning ever since he’d been forced to hide out in Las Vegas after his fake “death”. It was just bad luck that that someone had turned out to be Lennie – a man who’d wanted something in return. And that something was Mia.
‘But it won’t be long, will it?’
Mia’s English accent cut through his thoughts, and he looked at her – at her beautiful face, her deep dark eyes. She’d grown up in the biker world, yet she was still so naïve to the shit it could sometimes kick up.
‘They’ll find Lennie, won’t they? Eventually. They’ll find him.’
Shane said nothing for a few beats, once more battling silently with the guilt that had crept back to taunt him. ‘Yeah. Yeah, they’ll find him.’
But he was going to try his hardest to make sure they never did.
Nineteen
‘Are you fucking serious?’
Coby fixed Ben with a look that said if he questioned his judgement one more time, then shit was gonna kick off regardless of lockdowns and club solidarity. But Ben wasn’t seeing it, or he was recklessly choosing to ignore it, either way, horns were being locked. And that wasn’t good for the already tense atmosphere within the clubhouse.
‘Jesus, Coby! Let me go out there and help look for him. It’s been two days now, and I can’t just sit here and do nothing.’
‘You’re too close,’ Coby said, turning his attention back to the plans he had spread out on the pool table, plans Ben recognized. Plans for the new business venture the Lone Riders were all set to undertake on the newly-acquired land at the back of the compound.
‘Too close? What the fuck does that mean?’
Once more Coby’s dark eyes met Ben’s, his stare harsh and cold. ‘It means you’re sleeping with her, therefore your head is somewhere it shouldn’t be.’
‘Jesus Christ… And if this was Lexi? If she was being threatened by some low-life bastard, could you just sit here and let everyone else look for him while you did fuck all? Could you do that?’
‘This isn’t about me.’
‘I need to do something, Coby.’
‘Then start by trying to sort your shit out.’
Ben frowned as Coby once more shifted his attention back to the plans. ‘What the hell…?’
‘You’re letting your ego get in the way,’ Coby said, making notes on a pad to his left, his eyes darting back and forth from the pad to the plans. ‘You want to protect her, right?’ He looked at Ben, who was still frowning.
‘Of course I want to fucking protect her.’
‘Then get over the fact she didn’t confide in you. Because you know better than anyone why she couldn’t do that.’
Ben sat down on the battered leather couch at the back of the clubhouse, his head dropping into his hands. ‘I feel so fucking useless, Coby.’
Coby sighed heavily, turning around and leaning back against the pool table, folding his arms. ‘And that’s exactly what you’re gonna be. If you don’t sort your head out.’
Ben looked up, pushing both hands through his hair. ‘I don’t even know what I feel for her, you know? I mean, I care about her, Jesus! Of course I care about her. But she pushed me away…’
‘Look, this is Lexi’s department,
son,’ Coby interrupted, turning back around. ‘I don’t do all that emotional shit.’
‘And now I’m pushing her away, because I can’t deal with the fact I couldn’t stop this. And that’s why she’s turning to Kip, because she needs someone to be strong, and I’m failing…’
Coby slowly turned back to face Ben, his expression impassive. ‘Kip?’
‘Yeah. I mean, it stands to reason she’s gonna turn to someone she knows cares about her. And Kip, well, I might as well have just handed her over to him.’
‘She’s not a piece of fucking meat, Ben.’
Ben narrowed his eyes as he looked at Coby. ‘Since when did you get all protective over her?’
‘She’s a part of this club. And it’s my job to protect everyone within its boundaries.’
‘But as her boyfriend I’ve just got to sit back and watch, is that it?’
Coby ignored him, folding up the plans and giving them to Luca as he walked past. ‘Put those in the chapel.’
‘Gotcha, boss.’
Coby waited until Luca had walked off before carrying on. ‘Talk to Lexi if you need some kind of heart-to-heart.’ He took a packet of cigarettes from his cut pocket, pulling one out with his teeth. ‘I need some fresh air.’
‘Coby…’
Coby turned back around to face him, his expression telling Ben he wasn’t really in the mood for small talk.
‘You know the kind of help I can get you. If necessary.’
Coby said nothing for a couple of seconds, holding Ben’s gaze. ‘That frustrating you, too? Huh? That we’re not asking for your help in that way?’
‘I’m just saying, I can get it. If you need it. Because you know…’
‘We don’t need that kind of help, Ben. And you shouldn’t even be offering it.’
‘I’m just trying…’
‘Go get a beer or something, find Lexi, watch some TV with the kids. Just don’t do this shit, okay?’
Ben watched Coby stride out of the clubhouse, before throwing himself back against the couch, a small but loud cry of frustration escaping. He felt helpless. Powerless. Useless. He was confused by feelings he wasn’t sure of, the realization that he’d taken what he now considered to be a step backwards scaring him slightly. Was he in too deep to move forward again? But what scared him even more was that he knew he didn’t want to.
Retribution (The Lone Riders MC Series Book 2) Page 13
