“The girl he was with at the wedding, right?” I asked, remembering not liking her on sight.
“Yeah, she went by Hilarie, but her real name was Valarie.”
“She was his girlfriend, and she kidnapped him?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t say she was his girlfriend,” she said hesitantly. She cleared her throat, “They were fucking, not dating.” That pissed me off. He could stick his cock in that psycho bitch, but he ran screaming for the hills every time he kissed me.
This whole mess was confusing. I knew it was best if we weren’t together like that, especially while we were faking a marriage, but I wanted him to want me. Because I wanted him even if I didn’t want to admit it.
“I see. Well, I’ve found a dress. I just need to find some shoes, and I’m finished,” I said, hoping to change the subject. I did not want to hear any more about Shaker and his whore.
“What about jewelry?” she asked. Subject change successful!
“I have a set at home that will go perfectly with this dress. I probably have shoes that will work, too, but who in their right mind passes up an opportunity to buy a new pair of shoes?” I asked, eliciting a giggle from Harper.
While I was paying for the dress, I noticed a man standing outside of the store looking in our direction. I probably wouldn’t have seen him if it hadn’t been for his bright red hair. I focused on the cashier while I completed my transaction. When I glanced back, the man was gone. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about that man made me feel uneasy.
I knew something was off when I saw the man standing outside of the shoe store. I will say he was well hidden, but I was specifically looking for him as I hid behind a row of shoes. Upon seeing his bright red hair again, I called Shaker.
“I think someone is following Harper and me,” I whispered into the phone.
“Where are you? Where’s Kellan?” he barked.
“We’re at the mall in Cedar Valley. Who’s Kellan?” I answered.
“A prospect. He’s your shadow today. I meant it when I said I would have someone on you when I wasn’t with you. Stay in the store until you hear from Kellan or me,” he said before disconnecting. Was the redheaded guy Kellan? Shaker should have introduced me to the man he had following me.
I heard Harper’s happy voice, “Kellan! What are you doing here?”
I took that as my cue to join them. I wasn’t sure if I was happy that Kellan wasn’t the man with the red hair or not. While it would have explained why he was following us, the redheaded man gave me the creeps. I approached the two of them and held out my hand, “You must be Kellan. I’m Keegan Kensington, I mean Marks. Keegan Marks. I haven’t gotten used to the name change yet,” I said, laughing nervously.
Kellan smiled kindly. He was the very definition of a boy-man. “Everything okay?” another boy-man asked, appearing out of nowhere behind Kellan.
“Yeah, man. They’re good,” Kellan answered.
“Coal?” I asked, surprised. “What are you doing here?”
Coal chuckled, “Kellan asked if I wanted to tag along. Sometimes shadowing is less, well, boring, if you do it in pairs.”
I felt my cheeks heat. “I’m sorry you have to follow me. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have taken so long to choose a dress. I’ll just grab some shoes, and we can go.”
“No need to apologize. It’s my job. I think what Coal meant was it’s easier to stay focused when you’re with another brother. It’s easy to zone out and get lost in thought when you’re sitting or standing by yourself,” Kellan explained.
Coal and Kellan escorted us from the store to my car. I looked for the redheaded man the entire way to the car, never once spotting him. The boy-men followed us on their bikes back to Harper’s place and then to mine. It wasn’t until I pulled into my driveway that I realized I never heard back from Shaker.
Chapter Fourteen
Shaker
Kellan would be getting my vote when it came time to patch him in. He had been a prospect for almost a year, and he was damn good at it. He had asked Coal and Edge to tag along with him while he tailed Harper and Keegan. When Keegan called me and said she was being followed, I immediately called Kellan. He was headed into the store as we spoke. He’d noticed the man well before Keegan ever did. With Coal and Edge there, they were able to nab the guy, and the girls were none the wiser.
Edge was a good brother, too. He had followed Coal and Kellan in a cage. A few months ago, Edge told me he had learned from his previous experiences with the club it was better to have a cage handy than to have to wait for one if a situation arrived. I knew he was referring to the time when Coal was shot and almost died. Edge shoved the man in the cage and brought him back to the clubhouse while Coal and Kellan followed the girls home.
I stood in front of the man tied to the chair and snarled with disgust. I didn’t have to ask who he was or what he was doing. I knew he was hired by the senator to follow Keegan. What I didn’t know was how far the senator was willing to take this. Was this guy just a PI trying to get information, or was he one of the senator’s goons sent to hurt Keegan?
“Do you know who I am?” I asked. He nodded. “Tell me. Who do you think I am?” I wanted to see how much he knew. I wasn’t in the habit of volunteering information to people I didn’t know. No one in the club was.
“You’re Jacob Kingsley Marks. You’re also Shaker, Road Captain for Blackwings MC,” he sputtered.
“Sounds like you did your research. So, you know exactly what kind of position you’ve gotten yourself into?” I asked.
He shook his head, his whole body starting to tremble in fear. “N-no, I don’t. I didn’t know you were part of a biker gang until I saw your cut. I read your road name and position off your patches.”
“Club. It is a motorcycle club. Why is that so hard for people to get?” I asked rhetorically, shaking my head. “Let me bring you up to speed. You were tailing my wife. The girl with her, she’s the little sister of our SAA, and she’s our enforcer’s Old Lady.”
I heard the door open behind me. “Fuck me! You made him piss himself before I got here,” Carbon chuckled briefly before his eyes darkened. He focused his ice-cold stare on the man while directing his question to me, “Did he scare my woman?”
“Nope. She has no clue this douchebag was following them,” I answered.
Carbon’s face changed to an almost pout, “I never want my woman scared, but I was looking forward to making him pay for it.”
“Start talking,” I barked at the scared ginger.
“Um... S-senator H-hastings hired me to follow his stepdaughter. He said she was mixed up with a biker gang, his words, not mine, and he wanted me to report everything back to him—where she went, who she was with, what she ate, everything,” he blurted.
“Yes or no,” I said, giving him a warning look. “Did he say anything about me?”
“No.”
“How did you know who I was?” I asked, hoping his answer wouldn’t do more harm than good.
“You don’t recognize me?” he asked, surprised.
“Should I?” I spat.
“We met once, years ago. I’m Bernie, Beth’s cousin,” he said shakily. “I didn’t know you were any part of this until just now. I swear it. Hastings told me Keegan had recently married, but he didn’t tell me who she married.”
“When did he hire you?”
“Yesterday,” Bernie shakily answered.
“Fuck me!” I grunted. Was this a random coincidence, or did Senator Hastings hire this prick from my past on purpose? “Well, Bernie, we have ourselves a little problem here. I can’t just let you go. You know too much. I don’t really think it’s fair to kill you since you didn’t know what the senator was signing you up for,” I said, pausing to let it sink in. “So, here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to tell us everything you know about the senator and everything he’s said to you. Then, I’ll decide if Carbon here gets to play with you.”
He squeaked
and fervently nodded his head. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.” And he did. He talked for over an hour. Unfortunately, the senator was a smart man, and not much of the information was helpful. Most of what he said only confirmed what I already suspected. The senator was not happy about Keegan’s marriage. He wanted the PI to find something that he could use to end the marriage or something he could use to blackmail one of us. That little tidbit got my attention, but I didn’t share that with Bernie.
“Please don’t kill me,” Bernie whined.
I studied him while I pretended to contemplate his fate. “What are you willing to do to convince me to let you live?” I asked.
“Anything. I’ll do anything,” he swore.
“Sit tight,” I chuckled and nodded my head toward the stairs. Carbon silently followed me to Phoenix’s office. Apparently, he was still pouting.
I brought Phoenix up to speed, leaving out the details of how Bernie knew me. Then, I explained my idea. If it went wrong, it could easily be denied. If it went as planned, it could possibly provide us with a solution to the problem. Phoenix mulled it over and ultimately agreed.
I returned to the basement. Bernie was still trembling in his chair. When he heard me approaching, his head shot up with wide, panicked eyes. “If you agree to three things, I’ll let you go. One, you will not say a word to anyone about being at our clubhouse today. Two, I will tell you what to report back to the senator. You will tell him nothing else. Three, you will give said report at the senator’s house and plant a bug for us while you’re there. What do you say, Bernie?”
He looked at me skeptically. “That’s all I have to do to leave here unharmed?”
“We’re not monsters, Bernie, contrary to what a lot of people think. But don’t let that fool you, we will hunt you down and make you suffer if you don’t follow my instructions. Do you understand?” I asked.
“Yes, I understand. I won’t say a word to anyone, I promise,” he blubbered.
We went over the information he was supposed to give the senator. He was to tell Lawrence it appeared as though I was head over heels in love with Keegan, that I would do anything for her. I wanted Hastings to focus on me instead of Keegan. In the meantime, if Bernie could plant the bug in his home office, we would be listening for a way to get him out of Keegan’s life for good.
“You think he’ll keep up his end of the deal?” Carbon asked me while we were having a drink at the bar in the common room.
“Yeah, I do. Bernie’s a good guy. Not the smartest, but he means well. He probably rushed down here thinking he was on a mission to save Keegan from a bunch of brutal bikers,” I said. “I highly doubt he had any clue the senator was up to no good.”
I got back to Keegan’s house later than I expected. I briefly wondered if I should have called to let her know, but quickly reminded myself that we were not actually married and I didn’t have to answer to her. All the lights in the house were off, and it was eerily quiet. Assuming Keegan had already gone to bed, I tried to be quiet while I grabbed something to eat from the fridge. That’s when I heard it — a faint moan.
Quietly, I crept toward Keegan’s room, to make sure she was okay. Yeah, even I didn’t believe that. Her bedroom door was slightly cracked; it was enough for me to see her in bed. With her vibrator. Between her legs. I was a sick bastard because there was no way I was going back to my room and giving her privacy. I watched as she pleasured herself, my cock growing harder by the second. She was going to town with that thing, and it was driving me wild. When she finally climaxed, she whispered my name. Not Shaker. She said Jacob, and the sound of it just about unmanned me.
I backed away from her door as quickly and as quietly as I could. Once I was far enough away to avoid being caught, I bolted for the shower. I had a massive, throbbing issue to tend to.
***
I didn’t see Keegan much for the next week. By the time I woke up, she had already left for work, and she was in bed when I got home. Thankfully, she was in bed sleeping and not doing anything else. Surprisingly, I found myself missing her company. Keegan wasn’t like most of the other women I knew. She was more like the Old Ladies of Blackwings. I will admit being envious of the relationships my brothers had with their women, but I never thought it was something I could have for myself, because I wasn’t willing to risk it.
I was on my way to the clubhouse when I got a call from Byte. My helmet was equipped with Bluetooth capabilities, but I chose to ignore his call. I needed to get my head straight and focus on the end goal instead of lusting after Keegan and daydreaming about having what my brothers had.
I thought back to my relationship with Beth. I was so in love with her, or at least I thought I was. Was it really love I felt for her or was it a lustful infatuation? She was a beautiful girl, on the outside. On the inside, she was selfish and manipulative. If that baby hadn’t been born with obvious Asian features, I don’t believe she would have ever told me there was a chance the baby wasn’t mine.
Keegan didn’t strike me as the type of person who would deceive and manipulate another, especially for the sole purpose of her own gain. What did I know? I was apparently not a great judge of character. In fact, Keegan was currently in the midst of deceiving and manipulating a large group of people. Although, it wasn’t her idea and she did express her dislike for the deceit, even insisted on telling the truth to my mother. And she wasn’t doing it to benefit herself monetarily or meet some selfish need; she was doing it for her own safety and for her little sister.
I pulled into the forecourt and pushed through the front doors of the clubhouse. I was in a foul mood and had no qualms about everyone knowing it. Stomping my way to Byte’s room, I rapped on his door with more force than necessary.
The door swung open to reveal Byte, glaring at me with furrowed brows. “What the fuck, Shaker?”
“You called me. What did you want?” I barked.
He started laughing. Full on belly laughing while I stood in his doorway fuming. “What is so fucking funny, Byte?” I gritted out.
Through his laughter he managed to get out, “She is really getting to you, isn’t she? Oh, this is going to be entertaining.”
I pushed forward and grabbed him by his shirt. “No one is getting to me. Is that why you called me over here? To laugh in my face?” I growled.
He shoved against my chest, effectively pushing me away from him. “You need to get in the ring and work off some tension, brother,” he said, glaring at me with clenched fists.
“The fuck is going on in here?” Phoenix rumbled from behind me.
“Shaker’s trying to take his problems out on me, in my own damn room. Ain’t happening,” Byte answered.
Phoenix stepped past me into Byte’s room and turned to face me. “We’ll talk in a minute. Sit down and show some respect to the brother trying to help you and your girl,” Phoenix ordered.
“Sorry, Prez,” I mumbled. I didn’t correct him about her being my girl. For all intents and purposes, she was my girl, even though she wasn’t.
“I called you both in here to let you know Bernie called about an hour ago. He met with the senator at his home first thing this morning. He was able to plant the bug in his office. I’ve got the audio feed up and running. I have it set up to record only when there’s audio available and to stop recording after five minutes of silence. I’ll get an alert on my phone and computer when there’s a new recording. The recordings will be saved and backed up in several locations. I’ll let you guys know when we have the first one,” Byte told us.
“Thanks, brother. Appreciate it. Sorry about earlier. Got a lot on my mind I guess,” I offered.
“I noticed. Get your shit worked out, brother, so you’re not taking it out on the people trying to help you,” he replied.
“Let’s chat in my office,” Phoenix said to me. I silently followed him down the hall, feeling like I was going to the principal’s office.
“Want to tell me what your problem is?” Phoenix asked
.
“I would if I knew,” I said. “I don’t know what has me on edge lately.”
Phoenix leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin like he always did when he was thinking. “Keegan is what has you on edge. I’ve known you for years and not once have I seen you show any interest in having a relationship with a woman. Even with Hilarie, we all knew she was nothing more than a convenient, steady piece for you. I imagine there’s a reason or two from your past that’s turned you against relationships,” he said. “Now, you’re playing house with a beautiful, sweet girl and putting on enough of a show to make everyone around you believe you two are happy newlyweds. It’s understandable, kissing and putting your hands all over her in public, then going home and not fucking her. Frankly, I’m shocked it took you this long to start acting like a total prick to everyone in your path.”
My jaw wanted to drop, but I willed it to stay closed. I already knew most of what he said, but it seemed to have more impact to hear it from someone else’s mouth. “So, you think I should fuck Keegan, and that will make everything all better?” I asked, failing to hide my skepticism.
“Did I say that?” he rumbled. “No, I said that was why you were acting like a prick. Fucking her isn’t going to fix anything. She’s not the type of girl you can fuck once or twice and walk away from. She’s a sweet girl and will be around Croftridge for the foreseeable future. You yourself made sure of that when you pitched that job to Ember.” That time my jaw did drop. “I’m not stupid, boy. I’ve seen the way you look at her when you think no one is looking. You’ve put yourself on the line for this girl by marrying her and offering her protection. You wouldn’t have done that if you didn’t have feelings for her in some capacity.”
Shaker (Blackwings MC Book 5) Page 9