“I just...he took it all...” She was sputtering and unable to even finish a sentence.
“Skeeter’s going after him. What happened?”
She hopped up and started to pace, frustrated, like a grown-up Becky. “It’s between me and Robby.”
She stood directly in front of me. So close I could just bend down and kiss her angry, pouting mouth. Just a little closer.
“Get out of my way,” she said as she tried to move past me.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “No.”
She tried to shove at my chest, but I grabbed her by the wrists.
“You need to calm down, Krista. You’re damn lucky that asshole decided to run and not fight. From the punches I saw, you’ve never been in a fight your entire life. Your ex isn’t a good guy. Don’t think he’s gonna pull any punches because you’re a woman or the mother of his kid. So until you calm down, I can’t let you outside for your own good. Skeeter will get him and we can talk to him together, okay? Whatever is wrong, we can fix it. Just tell me what happened.”
“It’s none of your fucking business! Now let me out!” she shouted. “Don’t you dare talk to me like there’s an us. Don’t you say ‘we’ and ‘together.’” She tapped on my chest. “I will work things out with my ex on my own. You don’t give a shit about me so don’t fucking pretend that you do. Remember what you told Skeeter? ‘I’ve had my fill’? Yeah, well, so have I. Get out of my fucking way, I don’t need your help, and I sure as hell don’t need you using me for free sex.”
She was sobbing now. Her words came out in between gulps.
“I didn’t use you for free sex.” I tried to put my arms around her, but she placed her hands flat on my chest and pushed me away. “You lied to me.”
I just kept repeating that sentence in my head. She was the one who lied. Right? I’d said that line to myself about Tina for so long, I wasn’t sure if it was true for Krista. Had she really lied to me? Was I getting them confused?
Krista pulled back and glared at me. She shook her head, her eyes bright with tears. “I never lied to you. I thought you knew. You stood on my porch and told me that you knew what it was like to be a woman in a motorcycle club. You said you knew and I started to fall in love with you.” She shook her head. “I thought you cared about me and not about what’s between my fucking legs. I thought you wanted me because I’m a decent, honest, caring person. Now, even after how fucked up everything has become between us, I still want to hear you tell me you love me.”
I dropped her wrists and we stared at each other. Fuck. She wanted me to say something, declare my love. Maybe I did love her, but the image of her splayed out on the bed for Russ still screamed through my head. I rubbed my day-old beard.
As much as I wanted to keep her safe and away from Robby, keeping her here in my room was only going to push her away. I just couldn’t give her what she wanted.
She grabbed for the door. On her way out, she turned.
“The worst part is I thought you loved me too.”
She didn’t wait, and slammed the door.
She fucking loved me. Me.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Colt
I wanted this fucker. I was gonna serve him to Krista on a silver plate. Let her bitch him out for whatever he had done to her. It was the least I could do for a woman who loved me.
If he was part of a larger group of people stealing from the club, and that group involved Krista, I needed to know. It might rip my fucking heart out, but I needed to know.
I caught up with Skeeter out in the parking lot. “You get him?
Skeeter shook his head. “Naw, he’s slippery. Hopped into a pickup. But there’s a guy in town who knows all the meth heads. We can start there.”
Skeeter and I drove across town to track him down. It was late afternoon, and I hoped Skeeter’s guy knew where Robby was. Running a meth head to ground was ten times harder once the sun set. They were either high as a kite or harder to find in the dark.
We stopped at a broken-down trailer where the moss was so damn thick, grass was growing on the roof. It had a little yard, but the grass was long and wet from the pounding rain, and hardly charming.
The distinct smell of cat piss could mean only one thing: meth lab. Cook house, kitchen, lab, whatever they called it, this place was dangerous. One little spark and the whole thing would go up.
Skeeter rapped on the door with three hard bangs. The guy who answered had a sheen of sweat and was wearing nothing but tighty-whities. They were more of a gray than a white, but at least he was wearing them. He had to be cooking meth.
“We’re looking for Robby,” Skeeter explained.
“Meth head, brown hair.” I figured the guy knew who Robby was, but I just wanted to make sure to jog his memory.
The chef looked me up and down as if he was trying to gauge whether or not I could be trusted. To help him form a more positive opinion, I dug fifty bucks out of my wallet.
Having nowhere to stash the money, the guy just crumpled it up in his fist. “He’s crashing on Fourteenth Street at Mara’s house. She’s always got room for one more.”
We turned to leave when the chef interrupted us. “Why did you all come ask me? You could just ask that one guy in your club. He and Robby are real tight.”
I stopped dead. Robby was real tight with someone in our club?
“What did you say?”
I crossed the lawn back to the guy. There was no reason for a member of the Kings to be real close with Robby, unless they were either moonlighting as a dealer behind the club’s back, or a user.
The guy crossed his arms. “Yeah, the big tall guy, huge beard.”
Skeeter and I looked at each other. Only one brother fit that description, so we said the name together. “Bear.”
I flipped the cook another fifty. “You ever seen a woman with them? Blonde?”
The cook shook his head. “Nope, just the guy in the vest. Like his.” He pointed to Skeeter.
A huge guy with a beard and Kings vest could only be one person. Maybe if we shook Robby’s asshole tree hard enough, Bear would fall out. This really wasn’t my preferred outcome, though. It would mean that Krista had a very close connection to Bear.
Skeeter and I headed back to our bikes. “This is fucked,” he said. “If Robby and Bear are involved, do you think Krista is involved too? She’s the only link between the two of them.”
I buckled my helmet and turned to Skeeter. “Krista was surprised by Robby’s visit today.” Then I realized how it was all going down. “He pissed off Krista, somehow. She was out for blood. Robby would never have shown up to the clubhouse looking for her. He was looking for someone else. I’m thinking Robby needed to talk to Bear and that Krista knows nothing.”
Skeeter looked thoughtful. “That’s a whole bunch of gut reaction and not much facts.” He shook his head. “You gonna make that judgment call?”
I rolled my eyes. “You gotta problem with my fucking judgment?” I asked. Skeeter was a good guy, but sometimes he got on my last nerve.
“Well, there’s three members of your own club who did time because of your bad judgment call. You really need me to point that out?” he asked.
I groaned. Fucking Tina. It always came back to her. “So that story has made it pretty far north?”
“Far enough.” Skeeter shrugged. “Tell me about it. I wanna hear what went down.”
I glared at him, but gave him a quick rundown.
“Tina and I were living together. I woke up to a fucking raid on my house by the DEA. They searched everything, but all they found were two unregistered handguns.”
Skeeter frowned. “That’s it? They really threw the book at you for two unregistered guns. Seems odd. You piss off the judge?”
“Yes.” It was time to come clean. Thi
s was the part I hated admitting to. “They were trying to get the Horde on conspiracy charges. The judge had to throw out most of their evidence because Tina was sleeping with the DEA agent, but I couldn’t shake the two smaller weapons charges. So the damn judge gave me as much time as he could.”
Skeeter thought for a minute. “So, your club is pissed and the Storm Kings are your punishment. Glad to know they see us as brothers.”
Fuck. That wasn’t what I meant.
“No, that’s not what’s going down.” I had to stop that rumor before anyone else heard it. I needed the Kings to patch over. If they didn’t, I was screwed. “The Kings are my last chance. I gotta get this right or I’m out. If I fuck up something this important, I’m gonna be out of the club.” I buckled my helmet. “So let’s go find Robby and make sure I’m right.”
* * *
Our destination was another trailer, but this one was in the middle of town, crammed into a neighborhood of more trailers. The little rickety staircase that led up to the side door didn’t look like it was going to support much weight, so Skeeter stayed on the gravel while I banged on the door.
I pounded on the trailer door and yelled, “Robby, open up!”
The plywood door opened and a woman stood in the doorway.
“If you’re lookin’ for Robby, you’re late.” She shrugged and lit a cigarette. “I kicked his ass out yesterday. He didn’t pay no rent.” She smiled and ran her fingers along the top of her breast. One of her teeth was missing. “But if you’re lookin’ to sell, we might be able to work something out.”
Living in a shit hole like this, she had no money to buy drugs. She was willing to make a deal. She was a meth whore.
It felt like someone punched me in the stomach. This could easily be Krista. Now, she was healthy and respected, but it wouldn’t take much for her to slide into what this woman had become.
Skeeter punched me in the arm. “Hey, wake up. He’s running!”
A clatter came from the back of the house and we could clearly see Robby darting between two abandoned, rusted-out vehicles.
I vaulted over the railing and landed hard. My feet slipped on the soggy ground and I fell on my side. Covered on one side in mud, I managed to stand and looked for Robby. The bastard was still trying to get his pants hitched up enough to get a full run when Skeeter and I caught up to him. I motioned Skeeter to the side, and together we herded Robby toward an ancient hatchback. The idiot fell for the trap and we closed in.
I yanked the gun that was holstered in the small of my back. I rammed it against the side of Robby’s head. “What did you do to Krista?” I demanded.
“Nothing, man, I ain’t done nothing to her,” Robby whined, a line of snot dangled from his nose.
I pressed deeper into his temple. “Try again,” I ground out. “She tried to punch you. She doesn’t do that unless she’s angry. What did you do?”
“How do you know? She pissed at you?”
I punched his stomach and he made a satisfying hissing noise as he listed to one side. He’d fucking hit home. Yeah, she was pissed at me, but I wasn’t about to tell this asshole. I moved the barrel of the gun to the back of his neck. Rested it right on one of his vertebrae.
“Then tell us what you were doing at the clubhouse, if you weren’t paying your ex a visit.” I pressed hard into the bone.
“I didn’t know she was there. Thought she only worked nights.” Robby started to shake. “Look, just let me work shit out with Krista on my own, okay? This ain’t nothing you need to trouble with.”
Robby was lying. It might not be about Krista, but he was lying, and I wanted the truth. I was sick of lies, half-truths and misunderstandings. Sick of not knowing the whole damn story.
“You feel where this gun is, against your neck?” I tapped the barrel to make my point. “That’s the spot where your spinal cord is the most vulnerable. One shot and you won’t die, but you’ll want to. You know why? ’Cause you’ll be paralyzed. Your arms, your legs, even your dick, they’ll all be fucking limp. You wanna spend the rest of your life shitting all over yourself?”
Robby shook his head. Now we were getting somewhere.
“Tell me all of it. Why were you at the club? Who were you looking for?”
Robby’s shakes turned into a vibration. His teeth were rattling so loud, I could hear them. “Aw, man, I was looking for Bear. I was making my last payment. I’m gonna pay Krista back, I swear. Soon as I get my lab up and running, I’ll make mad cash and I’ll pay her back and everything.”
“Tell me about Bear,” I commanded.
“He fronted me some bills, man.” Robby shrugged. “Used it to get me a nice little cooker.”
I rolled my eyes. Nice. Bear was loaning out club cash to meth heads. Fucking asshole. “Is there anyone else involved? Anyone else from the club?” I shifted a little farther up his neck, right into the soft spot just below his head.
“I dunno, man. Bear gives me money and he’s the dude I pay. There ain’t no one else.” He held up his hand. “Swear.”
Jackpot.
“Bear loans you money?”
Robby’s head bobbed up and down. “He loans out cash to a lot of guys. You know, like investments? I ain’t the only one who owes him cash, okay? I could give you names.”
Robby started rattling off a list of names. Sounded like Bear had quite the sharking operation. When Robby started to repeat himself, I stopped him.
“How much do you owe Krista?”
“Five grand.”
No wonder she was ready to kill the fucker. Krista operated on a tight budget and losing five grand was probably going to kill her. Unless that five large was her part from what she skimmed from the shipments. Fuck. I wished I knew one way or another.
“Does she give out loans too? Like Bear?”
Robby shook his head. “No way, man, I took it from her. She ain’t in that stuff. I gave the cash to Bear. I only got a thousand left to go.”
I grabbed his hair and yanked his head back so he was looking at me. Pressing the gun back to his temple, I stared at him. “Where’s the money you stole from Krista?”
“Three hundred bucks, right pocket. That’s all I got left. I gave Bear four large and smoked the rest.”
Controlling my gag reflex was hard as I dug through the guy’s pocket. At least he wasn’t carrying any needles on him. The three hundred bucks was wadded up in twenties. I stuffed the money in my pocket and let him collapse on the grass.
“Stay out of her life.”
Roughing up a junkie wasn’t gonna get much action from the cops, but killing one would. I kicked him in the kidneys a couple of times to make sure he understood my message and we took off.
I didn’t get her money back, but it was a start. Maybe I could earn her respect.
Shit. When had Krista’s approval come before the club? I’d found her money and I had discovered Bear’s betrayal. What was more important?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Krista
I fled the club as soon as Colt and Skeeter took off. Robby had stolen my cash, but he wasn’t really my problem. Colt was my problem. I was in love with the asshole. We’d gone too damn far and there was no turning back. I was done being a whore. No more sex for cash. Nothing less than love.
There were other men in the world. There were other guys who would make me laugh and snuggle on the couch and play with my kid and give me amazing orgasms. Right? I could find love with someone else. But right now I needed to focus on finding a damn job.
My car rattled through Jiggles’s parking lot. I was just going to take a chance that Janice had a waitress position open for me. Once I found a spot between the potholes and broken dreams, I adjusted my bustier. I might be broke now, but I wasn’t going to be for long. Fuck Colt and the stupid motorcycle club.
I didn’t need their hypocrisy. I was good enough to fuck them, but not for them to care about me? I didn’t need their shit. What I needed right now was some cash.
* * *
During my break, I counted my tips behind the bar. A hundred bucks. Not bad for slinging drinks for two hours. But I wasn’t gonna make rent.
Janice came up behind me as I was counting out the cash. “Krista, honey, what happened with Colt?”
I stuffed the bills in my apron and turned around to face her. The night was taking its toll. “He didn’t know I was a whore.”
The last word ended in a hitch. I almost didn’t get it out. So much for not caring about Colt. Janice gave me a tight hug.
“I thought he was the one, ya know?” I tried to stop the tears so I wouldn’t dislodge my fake eyelashes, but I couldn’t.
Janice gave me another hug. “Tell me. I’m not going to let you go until you tell me.”
I told her everything. What happened at my apartment and then what happened later at the club.
“Oh, Krista, honey, he still wants you.” Janice rubbed my arm. “You just need to give him a little time to get used to the idea is all. He was just a little surprised.”
I did a double take. “What? He tells me I’m not good enough for him and then he walks away. Isn’t that bad enough? You want me to give him time? Time for what? More humiliation?”
“Time to see that you’re more than just the whore. He loved you before and still loves you now. He’s just getting used to the idea that there’s aspects of your life he didn’t know about. All relationships take a little bit of work.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The queen of whores was telling me to give him another chance?
“Sorry, Janice, but it’s not like you’re in a fucking relationship. How do you know if I should give him time? The only thing that’s gonna happen is that he’s gonna make me feel even worse. I can’t give him time—I need to pay my rent and I can’t do that now.”
“All right, honey.” Janice gave me another squeeze. “Just serve drinks tonight, okay? Then after that we can talk about blow jobs and dances.”
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