by Franca Storm
"Yeah?"
He gently drew me back to him. "You read my message, yeah?"
I nodded.
"Well, then," he said, giving my hands a squeeze, "You know we have plans to spend some time together before you go."
I could see in his eyes, his words just serving to emphasize it, that he didn't really want me to go. Well, not from a personal standpoint anyway. But he was seeing beyond that, believing it was best for me, trying to protect me and safeguard the mission. It pained me that I'd put him in that position with my actions. I'd figured my hardline approach had been the best for the situation. After all, it'd worked for me in the past. I knew the world that Matt had been dragged into.
But I was trying to live a different existence now, a fully legitimate one. There was more at stake now, things I didn't want to risk, that I couldn't stand to lose. I couldn't believe I'd lost sight of that earlier. Patrick, everything he brought up with just being in the same room as me, sent me flying back to the old ways, to that old life. It was like a frigging switch that went off inside me. If D hadn't interrupted when he had and pulled me out of it, I don't know what I would've actually done.
Stop! Don't go there!
I couldn't. I had to focus. I knew what I had to do now. That was all that mattered.
D stepped into me and cupped my cheek. "Sky?"
Right. I still hadn't answered him. Smiling up at him, I told him, "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."
17
~Deviant~
I WAS STUCK IN A TIME WARP.
It was hard to believe that I was riding down the way-too-familiar back roads toward the Reilly mansion just like the old days. I was even right on time for Sunday dinner, an ongoing family tradition that had existed from as far back as I could remember. And one that I'd stayed far away from for years. I'd planned on keeping it that way. But sometimes life could be a real bitch, because here I was heading straight for it. Another trip down fucked-up memory lane.
Unfortunately, as much as it was personally distasteful to me, it made logical sense.
Just before that incident involving Walsh breaking into the hotel room, I'd been out trying to tail Matt, in order to gain more information on what was really going on. But I'd lost him. Tailing somebody while riding a Harley was a hell of a thing. I'd had to keep so far back that it'd made it way too easy to lose sight of him. Plus, his bodyguard had been driving and it seemed the guy did have some skills after all. He could evade a tail. So, that was why I was riding headlong into a shit storm right now. According to my sources, Matt always attended the dysfunctional family Sunday get-togethers. For the last few years, ever since he'd dropped out of law school and started to carve out his own path independent from the family name and money, it was the only time he spent with our parents. It was my best chance to have words with him without Walsh's surveillance getting in the goddamn way.
Matt had linked himself to a major piece of work.
Breaking into the suite and going for Sky had been a stupid-ass move, so fucking risky. For one thing, Walsh knew what she was capable of and that was bad enough. But then there was also me. The VP of a notorious motorcycle club. Had he been watching the place, knowing I'd left, and that she'd been there alone? Was that why he'd gone in, stupidly underestimating her and, maybe, hoping there were still feelings on her end that he could manipulate in his favor? Or had he just gone in blind, like an arrogant fucking maniac, not caring about the consequences? There was also one other option. Was he that powerful and connected now that he believed himself to be untouchable, so he'd gone in with the mentality that there'd been no risk to it at all? I'd find out either way soon enough. Spartan was investigating him and I was hoping now that I'd given him that shithead's codename, Rebel, it would turn up more intel.
I still couldn't believe I'd had to let him walk out of the suite. Having the enemy right there within easy reach and damn near incapacitated had been like having the problem fucking well gift wrapped. But, like I'd told Sky, I couldn't take any hard action until I knew the whole story. The club expected me to live up to its codes, even when on temporary leave. It was the pledge we'd made as brothers. Anything I'd done would have come back on all of us. It would've been a different story if I'd had authorization. But, to get that, I'd have to come up with a near-foolproof plan and make sure all bases were covered so that it didn't come back on the club.
Being prepared with a concrete, detailed plan of action was what Sky was usually all about too. I couldn't believe how rash she'd been. I mean, fuck, I'd walked in on her ready to blow Walsh to hell. She'd let him get under her skin in a major way.
Keeping her out of it going forward was the right decision.
Logically, I knew that.
But I couldn't deny how much I missed having her with me on this. The emptiness with her gone was brutal ever since she'd headed home just over a day ago.
She had to stay far away from all of this, though. She was headed down a bad road and I'd throw up whatever roadblocks I could to stop her from getting any further. I wouldn't let her succumb to the darkness again. She didn't belong there. Never had, never would.
Jesus. It was a fucking mess.
I drew in a centering breath. The turn to the Reilly mansion was coming up fast. It really was the last place I wanted to be. A part of me wished I hadn't been pulled back into all of this. From the moment I'd set foot back in Lexhaven, the situation with Walsh had grown more and more complicated, everything worsening with every day that passed.
But my little brother needed me. I just had to suck it up.
As I was preparing to signal, I caught sight of another vehicle whipping around the corner, coming from the opposite way. It was driving so fast that it was barely a second before I could make it out in more detail.
A black Range Rover with tinted windows. I took in the license plate and realized it was the same as the one I'd memorized that night in Wild Creek's parking lot. Matt's car.
I slowed a little, watched him signal, then pull a fast and wide turn onto the private driveaway. I followed on his six.
As I parked as close to the edge of the courtyard as I could for an easy escape for when shit inevitably hit the fan, Matt rushed out of his Range Rover and strode toward me. He looked a mix of confused that I was here for Sunday dinner, happy to see me for the second time in as many days, and worried about my reason for really being here.
"Luke!" he cried out, going with excited, and giving me a welcoming smile.
When we reached each other, I went for a handshake, but an old slap-shake that we'd had as kids took over. It broke through the tension surprisingly well and had the both of us laughing.
"Old habits die hard, I guess," Matt commented.
"Looks like. You and that reckless driving fall right into that category."
He shrugged. "I don't get to do it that often anymore. I take the opportunity when I can."
What? "What's stopping you?"
He looked really uncomfortable, letting me know I'd inadvertently stumbled onto something there. "You know, just trying to be a better, more responsible person and all that."
More responsible? Another clue. Of all the things he could've said, why that? He'd cut his ties to the family, so they were no longer forcing him to live up to their expectations or by their rules. He'd gone into business for himself. So, who was this responsible behavior for? What didn't I know? I was just about to ask, to get into the questioning, when a shrill cry of surprise startled the both of us.
We both spun around to see Mom waving from the main doors, smiling widely from ear-to-ear, clearly ecstatic to see the both of us standing on her home turf.
Matt grunted, but waved back. It was clear to me that it was forced and half-hearted, though. Strange. I'd figured he was on good terms with them these days, after his dropping out of law school news had settled. Why else would he go to weekly family dinners?
"Everything okay between you guys?" I asked, casually.
He rolled his e
yes. "As long as they keep their distance. I come here once a week and they live up to that deal."
"Huh."
"What?"
"Just seems a little intense for you, kind of manipulative."
He looked me dead in the eye. "Well, we do what we have to, right, brother?"
Well, that was a dig if I'd ever heard one. "Me being here right now gives you an insight into what I'm prepared to do for you," I shot back.
His gaze hardened, those defenses he'd thrown up the other night shooting right back up. "I don't need you to do anything for me. I can handle this."
"First off, you clearly can't. The guy's got his hands on your restaurant, he's watching you in an invasive way, and he beat the shit out of you. And, second, why would you turn down help when it's being offered?"
Stepping back, he blew out a frustrated breath, took a beat, then revealed, "He's not a guy you go up against, Luke. I need you to understand that. If people don't do as he says, he digs deep to find your weaknesses so that you're left with no choice. At least this way, that's off the table. He's getting what he wants and then he'll leave it alone. It won't be long now."
Damn, he was naïve. "He won't get gone, Matt. That's just it. Once assholes like him get their claws into you, they won't stop drawing blood until there's nothing left, until they've sucked the life out of you and taken everything you have for themselves. This is just the beginning."
Worry shone in his eyes. It looked like he hadn't even considered the possibility that I was throwing out there. Or, maybe, he'd refused to entertain it on a conscious level. As he stood there clearly struggling to absorb the reality I'd tossed at him, something occurred to me.
"What weakness are you worried about him finding anyway? He's already exploited the obvious. Your need for money to finance the restaurant. What else is there? Is it about Mom and Dad? Are you worried he'll go after them?"
"No, okay? They're well protected. They've put their money to good use in that respect."
"If you know that about them, why haven't you made use of that protection?"
"Because."
"Jesus, Matt. That's not good enough and you know it. Let me help you here."
"You can help me by letting this go!" he yelled, brushing past me.
"What are you hiding? Why are you so intent on going it alone here? Why did you drop out of law school? Why have you cut our parents off?"
He stopped suddenly. It looked like he was about to give me something, to drop those frustrating walls of his. He started to turn back to me.
But then I saw him.
Our dad.
He strode out from the open garage and started toward us.
His glare was focused on me, all hardness and intense animosity. "Leave him be."
"Give us ten minutes."
"No," he returned, looking way too satisfied about denying me. "Dinner was ready five minutes ago and now I see why it's been delayed. Back a few days and already you're interfering with our traditions, the one tradition that we haven't lost thanks to your actions." He stepped up to me and demanded, "Tell me, boy, do you wish to ruin this for us too, the last semblance of family that we have nowadays?"
Stepping up to me like that and trying to intimidate me by getting in my face was a weak move, one that I was long past letting affect me. "You can't even summon some fake civility, can you?"
"I assumed you'd be used to it, living the life you do with that club. Uncivilized brutes, all of them."
I sneered. "All you're doing with your pathetic insults is highlighting your ignorance."
Before he could say or do anything else, Matt intervened, shoving his way between us.
"Dad, stop."
"I will when he leaves."
"That won't be happening, Clay," Mom's voice came from behind us.
With all the intensity, none of us had even noticed her leaving the doorway and heading over here.
Dad spun toward her. "Excuse me?" he demanded, incredulous that she'd basically given him an order. That wasn't the way their relationship usually worked. When I'd been growing up, he'd always been the commanding, overbearing force ruling over us all with an iron fist. He'd been a bully. It was all the more surprising that Mom was standing up to him right now. Plus, calling me down here behind his back was a hell of a thing, a big risk for her.
Slapping her hands to the hips of her pencil skirt, she stood her ground, telling him, "You heard me. There's more than enough roast for an extra guest."
"That's not the point and you know it."
"Yes, the point is that he's here to help the son you do still care about."
Dad's eyes flashed, not liking being called out on that brutal truth.
It took him a moment, but he then turned to Matt and asked, "You want him here?"
Matt eyed me. A smile spread over his face as he said, "Of course. He's my brother."
Translation: he had my back.
I didn't take that lightly, especially because it was damned obvious with his reactions since Dad had interrupted our conversation, that Matt still struggled to go up against him, to not automatically capitulate to everything the old, misguided fucker said.
"Fine," Dad said. With a disgruntled sigh, he took off, heading back to the house.
Forcing a bright smile, Mom said, "Well then, let's have dinner, shall we?"
I wasn't leaving until I'd gotten the intel out of Matt that I'd come here for, so, apparently, I was having dinner with my estranged family.
Squaring my shoulders, I mentally prepared myself for a hell of an evening.
18
~Deviant~
I HATED WINE.
All kinds, all variations.
But in spite of that, the bottle of Merlot at the table's center, well within reach, had been looking more and more appetizing with every minute that passed of the excruciatingly awkward family dinner.
If I hadn't brought the Harley here, I had no doubt that I would've already snatched it up and chugged back most of the fucking thing. But I was riding and down the winding country backroads, no less, so I needed to stay sober and keep my wits about me.
Numbing my mind even just a little to take the edge off would've been a real asset, though.
Talk about unbearable tension. Since we'd sat down at the dinner table, I'd felt that old bastard's steely glare on me.
Fortunately, Matt and Mom had been offering up a good distraction with their non-stop chatter back and forth. They were going on about everything from Matt's new menu designs to a gala Mom was organizing that was apparently some big deal.
My plan was to stick it out through the dinner then get back to questioning Matt once we got back outside to our vehicles. He'd seemed on the verge of giving it up earlier until we'd been interrupted by Asshole. I just had to keep my head down, stay out of the spotlight, and avoid triggering a war that was so obviously brewing, one that Dad seemed all too eager to engage in.
"When I was trying to track you down, I looked into your club," Mom announced.
Great. So much for me avoiding the spotlight.
"Yeah?" I returned, cautiously.
She nodded. "I discovered that it's an impeccably-run machine. Iron Kings has its fingers in a lot of pies. It makes sound investments, carves out profitable opportunities for itself, and makes a lot of money. All above board too, it seems. I have to say, Luke, it's all very impressive."
"Is that true, Luke?" Matt asked.
"Yeah," I murmured.
"And you're the VP, right?"
"I am."
"Wow, that's amazing," he said, looking all starry-eyed and impressed.
"He's built a lucrative career for himself," Mom said.
Dad scoffed. "Career? Come on, Ana. That's a stretch, isn't it?"
"Dad," Matt snapped.
"It's all right," I told Matt. I didn't need or want him fighting my battles for me. Getting between me and Dad was never a good idea. The old bastard could be vicious and I didn't want Matt getting caught in
the crossfire. Besides, I was the older brother. It was my job to protect him, not the other way around. It was why I was here in the city, for fuck's sakes.
"No, it's not all right!" Dad yelled, shooting from his seat. He turned on me, the picture of rage as he thundered, "You turned your back on this family and everything it stood for! You were being groomed to take my place! You were meant to spearhead my company!"
"I was a kid."
"It was your duty as a member of this family, as my son, to follow the path we set out for you!"
"That wasn't the path for me."
He scoffed. "Of course, it was."
That was it!
I shot to my feet and kicked back my chair, striding over to him, and yelling, needing him to hear me for once. "I didn't want that life, that future! I told you that multiple times, but you ignored me and just kept pushing. You tried to stamp out everything that made me who I was, every streak of individuality. And you wouldn't stop. What else was there to do but leave? You'd left me no other fucking choice! And even when I tried to keep in contact, you threatened me and told me I was a disgrace to the family, that none of you wanted a thing to do with me!"
"What?" Mom exclaimed. "Clay, is that true? Did you do that? You're the reason I haven't spoken to my son in years?"
That caught me off guard.
She hadn't been a part of all that? She hadn't known, hadn't disowned me?
"Of course!" Dad confirmed. "I didn't want Matthew getting any ideas and trying to follow in his misguided footsteps! But little did I know that the damage had already been done. That rebellious seed had already been planted and now Luke has taken his little brother down with him too, influencing him to drop out of law school and become an owner of a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, throwing his life away."
The clang of cutlery slamming down had me swinging my head toward Matt, who looked pissed beyond belief. He glared at our dad, telling him, "Luke had no bearing on me dropping out and taking my life another way. None at all. I had my own reasons."
"If that's true, stop all the secrecy and tell us why."
"Because I didn't want you bankrolling anything for me anymore. I wanted free of all of the bullshit that comes with the Reilly dynasty. This family is toxic and tonight is proof!"
