“What do you mean by that?” I frowned.
“Meaning, Niyol’s in love with you.”
“Um, no. We only just met.” My face heated, but there was no denying the extra pitter-patter of my heart.
“Did Emily or Niyol ever tell you the story about how I met Charles?” She sat down across from me, hands folded on the table top.
“Niyol’s father? I asked.
“Yes.”
“He mentioned it.”
She ran a hand up and down her throat. Something flashed across her face when she looked away, but it was over before I could analyze it.
“Niyol has never been the biggest fan of his father.”
“For good reason.” I hated how nonchalantly she put it. Charles Lattimore was a no-good piece of crap, something she didn’t seem to fully comprehend.
“I’m sorry. I know you care about him. And I do, too. A great deal, actually.” She reached for my hand and squeezed, her green eyes going soft. “It also kills me knowing what his father did to him. But Ny…” She sighed. “He’s turned out so well. A good, strong man who is nothing like his father. From the second I laid eyes on him, I knew he was different.”
I nodded, agreeing with that sentiment. Niyol might have been rough around the edges, but he was a good person. Loving, protective, and loyal. All the qualities a woman wanted in a man. Including me. Which was why this was so confusing. I thought I was falling for Niyol: the guy I’d driven cross-country with. But in the end, I didn’t know Niyol: member of the Red Dragons.
“Charles was a bad person.” She tapped her lips methodically. “But when I first met him, he wooed me and promised me stability. Something I’d never known growing up.” She laughed under her breath, but the sound was that of heartache more than humor. “I had nobody in my life. No mother or father, just a brother who never cared much about what happened to me and another one who was fifteen years older.”
I didn’t know this. And part of me felt terrible for her about it. But from what little I knew of Charles Lattimore, I wouldn’t put woo and his name in the same sentence. But to each his own, I suppose.
“Charles sweet-talked me. Promised to give me this wonderful life.” She smiled nostalgically. I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable with the thought of her thinking anything positive about a man who’d hurt Niyol the way that man had.
“He was so good to Emily and me for a long while. Bought us this home. Funded my business.” She smiled softly, eyes locked on nothing in particular. “Emily wasn’t happy about relocating in the middle of her sophomore year of high school, but she survived. Then she went away to college two years later and met you, the answers to her prayers.” She winked.
The two of us had lived in the same dorm and ran in the same circle of friends. We may not have had much in common, but we always managed to make each other laugh. That had been enough to solidify an amazing friendship that lasted four years of college and beyond. What neither of us ever expected was that our home towns had only been an hour apart our whole lives.
“Emily would do anything for you, even then,” I said.
Lisa stared through the dark window of the kitchen. “And I’d do the same for her in a heartbeat.”
A mother who loved her child: something I wouldn’t ever know, but something I still appreciated all the same. Had my own mother survived my birth, then I could only hope she would have loved me like Lisa loved Emily.
“I didn’t want to hurt Emily, but we were days away from losing our apartment. I’d just lost my job and we were living on a meager savings account. I’d taken her to Chicago for her birthday that weekend, was going to tell her we were set to move in with my brother the next day. I’d wanted her to have happiness once more before I broke her heart.” Her lips turned down as she studied the table. “Then Charles came along, becoming the answer to our prayers.” She shrugged. “It was easy to pretend he meant something when he promised to provide for Emily and me.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, shock rendering me speechless. Emily was under the impression that her mother had fallen for Charles and moved to Rockford because she loved him. I’m betting she had no idea it wasn’t true.
“Anyways.” She waved one hand in front of her face, wiping at her newly wet eyes with the other. “I made a decision, and though it wasn’t always easy, I still got my daughter the second chance she deserved, one where she could live comfortably.”
“Have you ever told her the truth? That you didn’t love him?”
She shook her head. “I won’t either. But the reason I’m telling you this is because I know you’ll understand.”
“Understand what?” I asked.
“That sometimes a person feels like they have no other choice in life but to make one decision in order to find the right one.”
Something clicked in my chest at her words and I sat up straighter. “Like Niyol choosing the club.”
She sipped her own coffee, but didn’t meet my eyes when she said, “Yes. Like Niyol. Though he’d argue for days that those boys in the club are his brothers.”
It all made perfect sense now. He felt like he had no other option than to go back to the club. And now he was trying to rectify his past. Be someone his father could not be. I sighed, then took a long gulp of my drink as I pondered my decision.
In the end, the answer was plain as day. I’d go to him. Visit his club. Attempt to blend into his world for him. If we were truly meant to be together, then things would fall into place. I wouldn’t move in with him yet, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t rehash the idea later down the road. Facing your fears is half of life’s battles.
“H-have you ever been there?”
“To where?” she asked.
“The Red Dragons’ compound.”
“Many times, actually. It’s about a twenty-minute drive from here.”
I licked my lips. “What’s it like there?”
“Different. But not as bad as you’d think. The guys are all a bit rough, though. At least they were back in the day. Flick though…” She looked away, clearing her throat. “He’s a good man.”
I frowned, wondering what that was all about. Soon, I’d question it, but my mind was laser-focused, my plan already in motion.
“Do you, maybe, have the address to hand?” I held my breath, praying she’d understand. When a smile curved her lips full, I knew I’d asked the right question.
“Actually, I have more than that.” She stood, grabbing my coffee and pouring the remains in a Styrofoam cup at the sink. When she turned to hand it back, she said, “How about a little drive, just you and me?”
* * *
“How’s Emily been since she got back from her trip?” I leaned back in my seat and stared out the window of Lisa’s car. The rain hadn’t let up at all. If anything, it seemed to be getting worse. Lightning flashed in the distance, exploding in the night sky. Ominous goosebumps pebbled my flesh and I rubbed my hands together after finishing the last of my coffee. My belly was warm and sated, but my nerves were skyrocketing.
“Things are great with her, but she’s been worried about you.” Lisa smiled sadly, turning down the radio.
Emily and I needed to spend a day together where we weren’t drinking or moving me into my apartment. I missed her—us. The simplicity and ease of our friendship most of all. At the thought, I pulled my phone out from my purse and sent her a quick text: Lunch soon?
Sure, she replied within seconds.
And because I felt like she needed to know, even if she wouldn’t accept it in the end, I said: Your mom’s taking me to see Niyol at their compound. I want to know his world. Please don’t be angry.
The little bubble popped on the screen, proof that she was typing. But then it stopped, not a single answering text coming through. Frowning to myself, I set it in the cup holder, not wanting to know why she’d ignored me. I had enough to deal with already. So, I set the thoughts aside, determined to figure things out later when my head was a little clearer.
“Emily was really upset about you and Niyol getting together. She’s scared you’ll get hurt, especially knowing what that lifestyle entails.”
“I know.” But it was my choice in the end, not hers. Someday I’d tell her that, but not now, not with a text.
“She’s been keeping busy though,” Lisa continued. “We’re supposed to have lunch tomorrow. They’ve moved the wedding up to the end of October.”
This was news to me… which also made me feel like crap. Why wasn’t I told this last night?
“I didn’t know.”
“Don’t worry.” She leaned over and pressed her hand on top of mine. “She’s a little scatterbrained right now. But she’ll need you over the next few months. Maid-of-honor duties and all.”
I frowned. “You’re a wedding planner, Lisa. She’s not going to need me.”
“Of course, she will. You’re her best friend.”
I leaned my seat back and shut my eyes at her words, wishing for a freak emotional reprieve to all the unclamped energy inside of me. I was excited at the prospect of seeing Niyol in his element. Nervous to be in his world at the same time. Then, to top it off, Emily’s distance was freaking me out.
We had another ten minutes or so left until we would arrive at the compound, according to Lisa, so I decided to rest. Maybe a little shut-eye would help uncloud my head. A few more minutes passed, and my lids started to grow heavy, sleep catching me in its claws. But just before I settled in deep, Lisa cried out, just as something slammed into our bumper.
“What was that?” I asked, jerking upright, hands braced against the center console and door.
Her eyes flashed to the rearview mirror. Bright lights glared through the rear windshield, blinding me when I turned around to look.
“I-I don’t—” Before she could finish, another crunch sounded through the air, the same car shoving us forward even more. Lisa swerved to the left, crying out as she tried to avoid going in a ditch.
Another crash, the car slamming into our bumper once more. My face smashed against the window from the force. Lisa screamed, only for her forehead to hit the steering wheel.
And then we were swerving, swerving, swerving…
“Oh, God.” Dizziness washed over me as I braced myself, hands on the door, the console.
And then the car flipped, metal screeching, cracking, breaking.
Once.
Twice.
Three times…
Until there was nothing.
Forty
Niyol
“Where is she?” Three hours after my phone call from Emily I stormed through the front door of the compound. My pulse seethed, cut soaked down to my skin from the rain, every bit of pissed-off fury I had in me ready to burst through the surface of my skin.
Our brothers parted the room, half on one side, half on the other. We made our way through the crowd, headed toward Flick, who sat at a table toward the back of the bar. He stood upon seeing us, stubbing out his smoke before coming around to the front of the table.
Some of the brothers hovered over the tables, while some leaned against the bar, and others stood around the room with their thumbs up their asses, waiting for orders.
“Last room on the right,” he said with a scowl, pointing toward the dorms.
Slade and Archer were at my back, following me as I took off down the hall. I was met with Emily’s sobs the second I stepped inside the room. She was on the small bed next to the wall, her hazel eyes red.
“This is all your fault.” My stepsister stood and raced at me, hands swinging. “Mom’s car is totaled, neither of them were inside, and it’s all because of you and this stupid club.”
“Woah, there, pretty girl.” Flick slipped in between us, his gray hair pulled back into a ponytail at his neck. “Don’t go blowing out accusations like that against my boys.”
“How do you even know Summer was with her?” I moved around Flick to stand at his side. “You got proof?”
Emily reached out, swinging at me again, but Archer grabbed her by the arms and pulled them behind her back.
“Calm the fuck down, Firecracker. This is bigger than you right now.”
Her shoulders fell as he whispered something else in her ear. Then another louder sob burst out of her mouth before she fell against him and sobbed. I stood with my hands in my hair, restless, sick to my stomach. Emily had been to the club only a couple of times, but she knew a lot of the brothers. Pops, Flick, Archer, and Slade. But here, alone, dressed in street clothes without her mom, she looked a hell of a lot lost, and it was my fucking fault.
Once Arch seemed to get her under control, he stepped back, keeping a protective hand on her back as she started talking.
“Summer texted me that her and Mom were coming here, a-and I didn’t want her facing this place alone, so I got in the car to come meet them.” She put one hand over her mouth, knees weakening.
Archer pulled her closer, whispered something in her ear. She nodded once, taking a breath, then starting again.
“Th-that’s when I saw the f-firetrucks, the police…” She jerked her head back and forth, gaze filled with fear as she looked at me, then Flick. “When I tried to get to their car, the officer said there was nobody inside.” She stopped to take a breath. “I thought maybe they’d been sent to the hospital, but when I asked, they said there was nobody in the car by the time they’d arrived.” She covered her eyes with a hand. “Something’s happened to them.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I paced back and forth, hand running over my mouth. I’d heard some of this on the phone, but not all of it. Was it more rogues? Someone working for Pops on the outside? Jesus Christ, I’d kill them all.
I looked to the ceiling, mind growing unhinged. Yet all I could think of was Summer’s sleeping, peaceful, gorgeous face this morning before I’d left her.
God, if I hadn’t left…
“What do we do, Boss Man?” Archer looked up to Flick, urging Emily to sit back on the bed.
Flick took his place at my side, opening his mouth, only for someone to say, “It was a distraction.”
I blinked, glancing back at the doorway. My cousin stood there, quiet, assessing, deadly.
“What was?” Flick asked, folding his arms.
“The stolen weapons, the ammunition. The fucking Chevy. It was all a distraction, so we’d leave town today.”
“Son of a bitch,” Archer hissed. “Makes sense.”
Desperate, I looked at the rest of my brothers, gaze zeroing back in on Flick, whose chin was to his chest in frustration, anger, maybe fear. That’s when I figured out the truth—as plain as fucking day. My back growing stiff, my heart beating like mad against my chest.
Fuck, no. It couldn’t be possible…
“Somebody tell me this is all some big fucking joke, right?” I looked to each of my brother’s faces. I wasn’t a praying man, but I sure as fuck wanted to be if it meant waking and finding out this was all some nightmare.
Still, nobody said shit to me. And the more I felt myself rage, the darker everyone’s faces grew. They were all thinking the same shit I was.
Pops had gotten out.
I moved in front of Flick, who was motioning for a phone from one of our other brothers, Bull.
“Tell me Flick… Tell me Pops is still in fucking jail!” I closed the distance between us, watching his face for the answer I feared.
He didn’t say nothing, just pulled his phone from his pocket, and dialed a number.
I dug my nails into my palm, needing to draw blood. Feel pain. Because just the thought of Pops getting to Summer had me wanting to die.
“…then get someone on it, damn it,” Flick yelled at whoever was on the other end, his face beet red beneath his gray beard when he turned back around. “Find out if he’s still in. If not, then figure out where the fuck he is!”
“Fuuuuuuck.” I turned to my left and kicked a table onto its side. Glass shattered all over the floor, causing Emily to cry harder.
“Slade’s gonna get a crew ready.” Archer squeezed my shoulder, suddenly there. He was trying to be the calm I needed, but it didn’t work.
Still, somehow, I managed a nod, breath heavy, heart racing.
One second passed, two seconds, then three. That’s when things spurred into action.
I had to get them back.
I had to get her back.
“Follow me.”
Slade nodded, knowing what needed to be done. That was why he was who he was. A calm, dark motherfucker who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. He pointed at a few other brothers in the room, the expression on his face deadly.
Flick turned around and said to Archer, “You, stay with her.” He motioned to Emily who stood by the wall now, eyes still wet, but her face now completely blank. Comatose even.
Shit. If she didn’t hate me before, she sure as hell did now.
“You got it.” Archer moved toward my stepsister like a man approaching a wounded animal.
Slade and I ran out the side door of the compound and headed toward the church.
“What do you need?” I asked Slade when we moved inside.
“Weapons, ammo, a lead.”
“Workin’ on it.” Flick moved alongside us, never losing his stride. The man may have been pushing sixty-five, but he was still a badass, and a damn good leader too.
“Is he out?” I froze, hands in my hair as I looked to the man who’d been more of a father to me than Pops ever was.
It was a gut reaction, but we all knew my old man was a tricky son-of-a-bitch who could talk his way out of prison. Or get someone to do it for him. And if anyone hated me enough to steal Summer and my stepmom, it was that man.
“Don’t know yet,” Flick said, opening the door, his eyes filled with pity when he glanced at me.
I nodded, needing him to know I was keeping it together now. I’d had my moment, and it didn’t do me any good—sure as hell didn’t get Summer and Lisa back.
Her Wild Ride: An addictive, steamy biker MC romance suspense novel Page 25