“You’re assuming I’m playing both sides,” I snap at him. “I’m not. I’m playing my father and that’s it.”
“That doesn’t make it any better, Aspen. If he finds out before Cas makes his final move, he’ll…” he pauses, and it irritates me.
“He’ll do what?”
“He’s not a nice man and you being his daughter, I don’t think it will save you. Cas is pushing him further than I ever have, and his reaction is to wipe us all out.”
“You better beat him to it then,” I say and flinch when he lifts his hand and flicks my hair out of my face.
“Did your father ever tell you what happened when you were a baby?”
He did but I find myself lying to hear how he tells his side of events.
“Your mom used to be married to a brother here at the club, she had an affair with your father and fell in love.” So far it’s the same, and I soak in every word. “She got pregnant with you and Shane lost his mind, he was her husband. By the time you were born, they were divorced, and your parents were married. You were not long home from the hospital when Shane took you. It was over a week before we found you both and that’s the reason the Lost Souls have the deal with the town. We had to shoot Shane and pay up to your father. It’s been peaceful for many years and now the waves are coming in and I don’t know who they’re going to wash out. I don’t want any harm to come to you, you need to run.”
I appreciate his advice, but I stand my ground.
“I stand with Mason and Cas. My father isn’t going to be around very soon and I’m surprised you’re not pushing for this too.”
“This is my town, I was born and raised here too. Life is good here…”
“I don’t particularly care about your story, all I know is I’m seeing this through and my father is going to get everything he deserves, hopefully more.”
I leave him in the corner alone and head for the fireplace, that’s where Cas seems to be when I’m here and lucks in because he’s sitting with the bald-headed guy covered in tattoos.
“Back so soon?” he asks, seeing me approach.
“I have some information for you.”
He kicks out a chair and I take a seat. Looking between the two guys, I don’t deny they’re intimidating but my fury and need for revenge on my father outweighs how they make me feel.
“My father took me with him to meet one of his associates this morning. Leonard Cooper.”
“Never heard of him,” the bald-headed guy says.
“What line of business is he in?” Cas asks and I focus on him.
“Drugs. Their deal is my father allows him access through town to head north for a drop off. They were discussing an extra drop off in town and him being the new supplier. Before you ask, I don’t know who their old supplier is or what happened to them.”
Cas doesn’t say anything for a minute, just sits there thinking over what I said before yelling over my shoulder.
“Zach, get your laptop and come over here.”
Over my shoulder I watch a guy, older than me, collect his computer and walk over. He’s beautiful in a dark and moody kind of way. I’ve seen him around with an even prettier pregnant girlfriend, or old lady as the guys around here refer to their other halves.
“Search for a guy called Leonard Cooper. I want to know everything on him,” Cas orders and Zach sets up at our table and gets to work.
I look around for Mason and don’t see him. He must be still at the hospital visiting with his sister. I miss him already but how can that be? I just saw him this morning.
“Is this the guy?”
I’m snapped back to the table and I peer over at the screen when he spins it around for me to see.
A picture of the guy from this morning stares back at me and I nod. I smell his cologne before I know he’s arrived and I spin around and he’s halfway across the bar, coming straight for me.
Urges take over at the sight of him and I try not to let them show. The corner of his mouth spikes up and it drives me wild inside.
“How’s Victoria?” Cas asks him just as I’m standing, hoping we’ll be leaving any minute.
“Not good, she won’t talk, or write anything down. Mom, dad, Myles and grumps stayed with her.”
With that, his hand finds mine and we head up to his room. Once the door is closed behind me, he turns and kisses me so hard I can barely move.
He leaps back, clutching his hand to his chest. “What is it?” I ask, moving toward him. He takes a couple of deep breaths and pushes forward, advancing on me.
“It was nothing.”
And nothing turned out to be right when he walked me backwards and landed on top of me on the bed. Nothing was right when his lips were against mine. Nothing. Nothing else mattered but him.
The bar is a lot busier when we show our faces, I hope no one notices the flush in my cheeks. Mason usually holds my hand, but as we head for the bar, he slings his arm around me. The act so small but feels so huge catches the attention from too many people.
“People are staring,” I whisper to him.
“We could give them a lot more to stare at, but I don’t think you’d be down for that.”
I bite my tongue because I’m down to fuck him any time but in front of the guys here? Not so much.
“I think I’ll pass,” I say, and he laughs.
“Where’s your brother? I can’t find him.”
We both turn and his father and grandfather are standing behind us.
“I thought he stayed at the hospital with you,” Mason tells them.
“No, he left minutes after you. He should be here,” his dad says.
Mason’s arm slips from my shoulders and he pulls out his phone from his pocket. He presses some buttons and puts it to his ear. After a minute, he sighs and says, “It’s going to straight to his voicemail.”
“His phone is never off,” his dad says and looks to Mason’s grandfather.
The old man’s gaze settles on me and I wish it hadn’t. I want to hide behind Mason but I freeze. It couldn’t be anymore obvious he hates me and yet I still want him to like me because of Mason. Pathetic, I know.
“I wasn’t expecting you two back yet,” the bald-headed guy says as he passes and then backtracks to join us.
“Have you seen Myles, Sparky?” Mason asks and now I know his name.
“Not since last night.” He turns and yells, “Any of you fuckers seen Myles today?”
Not one person says they have and worry takes root in my stomach.
“Zach, track his last location,” Mason’s grandfather orders and the guy gets back on his laptop.
He must be the go-to guy when something or someone needs finding. I can barely figure out how to turn a laptop on, let alone search for someone or their location.
He only needs a couple of minutes and he says, “His last hit was in town, looks like Main Street.”
“What would he be doing in town on his own?” Cas asks, then adds, “Gabe, make some calls and find out where he is.”
Gabe does as he’s told and walks off scrolling through his phone. Placing my hand on Mason’s arm, I expect him to look down at me, but he doesn’t. It’s like I’m not even here. He stares off into the distance, his body tense under my touch.
“If this has anything to do with your father, you’ll get your wish a lot fucking sooner,” his grandfather vows.
“Has he said anything about an attack?” his father then asks me, stepping closer with desperation to hear my answer. He’s out of luck, I haven’t heard anything, I would have warned them all if I had heard anything.
“He’s been arrested,” Gabe tells everyone as he walks back inside.
Brothers start moving, all as one without having to be told they’re leaving and it’s amazing to witness their loyalty to Myles.
“Let’s go get our boy,” his grandfather booms and I shy away from his tone.
“No, wait. He’s not at the station. He was taken into hospital an hour ago,”
Gabe adds and the old man shoots across the bar, grabbing onto Gabe’s shirt.
“Why?” he demands, sounding like a growl.
“I’d tell you if I knew, but I don’t.”
Shoving him backwards, Gabe stumbles into the wall and the old man storms outside.
Brothers begin to pour out after him and Mason follows too. I have to run to keep up and all around me bikes are roaring to life, the ground vibrating under my boots.
I catch Mason up and tug on his sleeve until he comes to a stop. When he spins to face me, he’s not the Mason I shared a bed with last night or this afternoon.
“Is there anything I can do?”
I want to help in any way I can.
“Go home.”
Mason
I’ve never ridden so fast before tonight. While I was with Aspen, the girl he doesn’t trust, fuck knows what was happening to him because we don’t know why he’s been admitted to hospital.
The hospital comes into view and all I can hear is the blood rushing between my ears.
Out front, we come to stop not caring our bikes will get in people’s way and we’re met by a barrier of cops and their cars blocking our way to get inside.
I swing my head to look at Cas, fucking praying he does something soon because I’m not waiting too much longer to see my brother. When we were younger, we’d feel each other’s pain, and today I had a shooting pain in my chest, but I passed it off as nothing because I was too far gone with Aspen. I feel sick I didn’t think of Myles. He needed me and I wasn’t there.
“If you all don’t leave, I’ll be forced to take action,” the sheriff calls out, smirking his ass off.
Fuck, I want to smash his fucking face in.
“If you don’t let us through, so will we,” Cas calls back.
Murmurs of agreement flow through the brothers, and they ready themselves for a fight. When one of us are down, we all are.
“Now, now. I can’t be having multiple bikers running around the place with sick and vulnerable patients inside.”
Cas steps closer to the cops, more importantly, the sheriff, and I follow suit. Dad and grumps aren’t far behind.
“You think you know me, know my chapter, because you know Gabe? You think because you wear that badge I don’t have friends in much higher places who would love a bust like your operation? The sheriff, the town’s priest and the fucking mayor, they’d be all over your asses. Let us through and they’ll be no trouble tonight.”
The guy better fucking listen and do as he’s told, because we won’t be asking a second time and he doesn’t have enough cops on the payroll to haul us all in.
Attention is diverted to Jacob walking out through the hospital’s main entrance and I don’t think twice. Pulling my gun from my waistband, I walk straight up to him and aim it at his forehead.
“I swear to God, if you don’t let me through to see my brother, I will unload this clip into your skull.”
He doesn’t flinch but he does give me the satisfaction of gulping and paling before me.
I dig the barrel into his forehead and push it hard against him. “You’ve got to the count of five,” I warn him.
“You won’t shoot me, boy,” he sneers, completely sure of himself.
“Five,” I ground out.
“Cas, call the boy off.”
“Four.”
“You’ll be arrested.”
“Three.”
His mouth opens with more bullshit and I snap, “Two.”
“Fine!” Finally getting the message he steps back and holds his hands up in surrender.
“You have tonight, I believe my point has been made, if not, from tomorrow there’s no going back.”
Getting in his face, I force myself not to wrap my hands around his neck.
“My brother’s in the hospital, there’s no going back already, dead man walking.”
Shoving the gun back into my waistband, I push past him and head inside. It doesn’t take long to find a nurse who takes me to Myles and when I step in front of the door to his room, I’m afraid of what I’m going to find.
“Your brother’s injuries are serious but not life threatening.”
It’s the only thing I hear from her as she opens the door. “The sheriff said he was attacked outside a bar. He’s suffered severe bruising, three broken ribs, a cracked cheekbone, a fracture to the skull and we’re monitoring for internal bleeding.”
Attacked outside a bar my fucking ass. The sheriff and his men did this. I step inside and the smell of blood and clinical cleanliness hits me before I set eyes on him.
Laid up, hooked up to wires and machines, the sheets come up to his waist and his stomach and ribs are marred with multi-coloured bruises. His face isn’t much better and the pain he must be in causes me to hover over the trash and hurl my guts into it.
By the time I’m done, dad and grumps stumble in the room and stop sharply when they see him. I’m the first one at his side and I take hold of his hand. I notice the damage to his wrists. The fuckers had him cuffed while they beat him? I swear, they’re all dead.
Cas and JJ enter the room and Jay curses when he sees the state Myles is in.
“Do you think this would have happened if you weren’t up that cunt’s ass?” Grumps growls at me. I can’t look at him. “Answer me, boy.”
“No.”
It would never have happened.
“What’s rule number three?” he asks, standing opposite me.
“Always fight back to back.”
“Rule number two?”
“Never hesitate.”
“And rule number one?”
“Never leave my brother’s side.”
“And where were you when your brother was being beaten? Look at him…where were you?” he yells, forgetting where we are, or not giving a shit. “Balls deep in pussy, that’s where.”
A tear falls from my eye and I quickly wipe it away.
“Pope, that’s enough. This isn’t on Mason,” Dad pipes up but he’s wrong. This is on me. I should have been there with him.
Cas and JJ stay quiet in the far corner and I focus on my brother, on my twin. I can’t even see his tattoos through the bruising.
“It fucking is on him and he knows it. How many fights has this boy been in over the years?”
“Too many,” Dad relents and admits.
“And who was at his side each and every time to stop him from ending up in this state?” He leans over Myles and pinches my chin between his fingers. “Brothers first and brothers always.”
“I’m going to fix this,” I swear to him, and Myles, even though he can’t hear me.
“That’s all I need to hear.”
Dad can barely look at his son and it’s my fault. “I’m going to tell Kyla.” And then he leaves the room.
Lifting Myles’ hand in mine, I press my lips to his cold skin and silently promise him I’m going to make them all pay.
I leave with Cas and JJ tailing behind.
“They pulled up bullshit charges to get to him and we all know it, but I need you to hang back, Mason.”
Am I hearing this right? He wants me to hang back? He just saw the state of him and he wants me to do nothing?
Spinning on my president, I catch him off guard.
“Please explain why.”
“Get a hold of Aspen and get back to the mountain.”
I’ve heard enough, I turn my back on him and start to walk off. Cas grabs my arm and halts me.
“Get her and get back to the fucking mountain. Nothing else. Nowhere else.”
He lets go of my arm and I don’t hesitate to walk away from him and his ridiculous orders.
“Jay, go with him. He’s your responsibility.” I hear him say and then Jay’s boots hitting the shiny floor as he catches me up.
“Call the girl and find out where she is.”
“Fuck off. If you’re coming with me, then you’re coming to find the assholes who hurt him.”
I avoid th
e elevator and choose to take the stairs, I can’t stand around. I need to keep moving.
“You trust Cas, trust his motives. He’s going to make them pay, and he’s going to make it spectacular. Call the girl.”
He’s right, not that I want to admit it.
Digging my phone out my pocket, I don’t stop moving while I call Aspen.
“Mason?” she answers on the third ring.
“Where are you?”
“I’m still at the club, I didn’t want to leave until I knew you were both okay.”
“I’m coming back now. Wait for me. Don’t leave.”
I hang up and store my phone away.
“What are you going to do about the girl?” JJ asks as we walk out the main entrance.
“I don’t know.”
It’s all I can say because I have no idea where this leaves us because my brother was right. She’s a distraction and we can’t trust her. If I find out she had anything to do with this and she knew what was happening while she distracted me with her pussy, I’ll fucking kill her myself.
Aspen
It’s been over half an hour since Mason called saying he was on his way back to the club. Everyone inside the bar knows what happened but no one is telling me a thing, even when I ask, they flat out ignore me. I moved outside and find myself pacing until two headlights shine through the darkness. Mason is the first rider and I think the guy’s name is JJ who rides with him. I keep my eyes on Mason as he parks and struts over to me. His face is unreadable, and I have a bad feeling. He froze before he left, as he nears, he looks even angrier and I wouldn’t be surprised if whatever has happened is down to my father. Hence why no one was talking to me inside.
Forcibly, he grabs my arm and urges me to walk around to the back of the clubhouse.
“Mason, get off me,” I cry out when his hold bites into me and hurts.
His answer is to shove me against the wall and it brings back memories of my first night here.
“Are you playing me?”
His voice is all wrong. Dark, deep and very low. I don’t know this version of him and he’s scaring me.
Their Fractured Souls: Sons Of Lost Soul MC Book Six Page 10
