by Tara Lynn
I chewed down the whiskey and watched the unlit TV screen. The thing was huge. Baxter was a partner. It was going to be a hell of a time trying to convince even him to curb illegal activity, if that got them stuff like this.
Not that I was planning to get the Liberated to go strictly legal. Just legal enough to wind up in a grey area, instead of the deep red they operated in now. I’d spent enough time there already, not just in the Liberated before I left, but also as a smuggler after leaving the military. Sure we didn’t kill anyone transporting illegal goods, but losing your morality’s not the only price of crime.
There’s also the fact that you can get caught.
Three years in prison was plenty. Now, I was out on probation. I wanted to go clean and I wanted to bring the Liberated on the ride with me. It was the only way to save the club in the long run. And saving the Liberated would free Freemont from the repercussion of their actions. As far as I saw, I owed this town that.
I owed Christina that.
But it was going to be a tall order to keep all those truths buried until the Liberated was ready for them. One whiff of my probation, and any trust in me would vaporize. Word getting round of me almost banging my stepsister would be worse.
Even Baxter couldn’t be trusted with last night’s near miss. He might understand logically, but the guy was a straight-shooter. He might notch me for it anyway, and he was the only ally I had.
I’d gone through another tumbler or two, when the screen door kicked open and Baxter came in. His colors hung loose over a blue t-shirt. His round, boyish face looked as dark as his jeans. His eyes went straight to the whiskey bottle in my hand, and he frowned at me.
“Is that all you’ve been doing this morning?” he asked.
“It was a rough night. Lot of bad dreams.”
He snorted and dropped himself on the cushion. The handle of whiskey got yanked out of my grip and took a turn in his mouth. He wiped his lips clean, smacking them a bit exaggerated and said nothing for a while.
Still, it wasn’t till he drew a deep breath from his gut, that I knew he had something to say. I knew what it was, too.
“You need to talk to him,” he said.
“I will.”
“Na, brother. Today. I can’t keep covering up for you anymore.”
I laughed. “Come on, what cover do you got to pull? No one’s got an idea I’m here.”
“Lorne does. I mean not exactly, but he knows something is different. He asked me why I keep heading home so early.”
“Telling him you got a girl waiting in bed.”
“He’d ask for her cup size and I’d balk. Lorne’s a lot of things, but he’s sharper at sorting out his people than I am at covering up tracks.”
“So what did you tell him?
“I’m not feeling good.”
“Oh great. Take a sick day. That ain’t suspicious.”
“I’m not a dishonest man like yourself.”
“Dishonesty in the service of the greater good is worthwhile.”
“I haven’t seen any sign of greater good you’re accomplishing here.” He smacked the bottle down on the table. “I hope this isn’t the extent of your plan.”
I stared at the amber liquid, wishing it were a crystal ball. I’d told Baxter the outlines of what I wanted to achieve - that I wanted the Liberated to live up to their name. I wanted it to be a place sitting at the fringes of the law, not violating it and inviting trouble.
As for the details though, my mind lay blissfully blank. I had connections from my time in lowSec. Not just criminal trash but businessmen and money guys who pushed the bounds a bit too far. They’d fleshed out the dreams I’d had for Freemont, and made them look real. It would be a struggle, but it was a fight I was getting ready to wage.
“I’m still feeling things out,” I said. “Give me a few more days. You don’t have to hang with me. Just pretend I’m not here.”
“That’s hard to do when I find my liquor cabinet drained.”
“I’ll get you back as soon as I can go out in the open again.”
He looked at me without an ounce of inebriation in his eyes. He’d used to look like an owl back before I left, when he still wore glasses. He’d gotten surgery though, and now I was facing a hawk. I wondered for a moment if he could see everything I hadn’t told him.
He just smacked me on the shoulder. “You have to get out, brother. You want to go hole up in a motel or something, then do that, but I can’t hide you any longer. I can’t even promise I’ll keep your presence hidden.”
Bad news takes time piercing an alcohol haze, but it hits extra hard when it does. I saw the tight determination all over Baxter’s face and swallowed hard. “Fine. I’ll talk to the old man.”
Relief swept over his face. “That’s all I want. You can crash on my couch for months if you need to. Just don’t make me hide you.”
Baxter smacked my shoulder again. He might have meant it as appreciation for my choice, but it felt all the same to me.
I sobered up roughly over a few hours. Baxter brought back a bucket of chicken, and we crunched through it while going over names and faces of the people in the MC. I managed to force down a few drumsticks and hydrate as I memorized the details. Army training had its purpose. You didn’t always pick your battlefield, but you could at least be ready when you entered it.
Hours later, when the bucket held just a cool puddle of grease and we’d run out of words, Baxter turned to me and said, “You ready?”
My head thrummed. My throat itched. The iron will I’d rolled into town with had taken a few dents, but Baxter was right. There’d be nothing but loss in delaying the inevitable. I’d just have more chances to make a mistake.
Well, make more mistakes, in any case.
“Let’s get rolling,” I said.
We rode out on Baxter’s hog. It wasn’t exactly the fiercest way to ride, clutching on to the seat of your buddy’s saddle as he hunches in to put a couple inches between you. My own ride must have been passed onto a prospect ages ago, though. It was this or roll up in a cage. There was no shame in taking a ride from a brother relative to that.
We sped out of downtown, away from the quaint main street and the stores and down the empty country roads. After years in a cell and years before in the ports of Asia, the last time I’d spent in a place as hilly as Freemont was southern Afghanistan. The connection did nothing to ease my tension.
Vast plots of farmland rolled away on either side of the road. A lot of it lay unused, but I knew this stuff wasn’t cheap. The right hands could turn it into a gold mine. Question was whether Lorne could be convinced of the same thing.
Finally, we turned up a long gravel driveway into one of the fenced off parcels of land. I took in the vast fields of yellowed grass and the small herd of cows grazing off in the distance.
It was one hell of an upgrade from the broken down shack we’d spent most of my childhood in. It was interesting that this was what Lorne chose to occupy with his new wealth. He must still see himself as some sort of Californian cowboy.
A couple bikes were parked out front. Baxter stopped next to them and checked the plates.
“It looks like he’s home,” Baxter said.
“Who’s the other?” I asked, getting off.
“Torrance. That shouldn’t be a problem right?”
“No.”
Torrance and I had been tight. He’d been shocked when I left, but he’d wished me well anyway. I could almost still feel the cracks in my ribs from the crushing hug he’d wrapped me in.
We walked up a flat stone path lined with cacti to the front door. Before I could hesitate, Baxter rapped the wooden door. Footsteps pattered towards us from the other side. They didn’t sound like a man’s.
My heart leapt to my throat. Shit, did Christina live with the guy? She must if she was saving for college. Her face was the absolute last thing I needed to see before meeting with my old man.
Mostly because I still kind of wanted to
see it again.
The door yawned back and a kid stood in the gap. He looked to be hitting puberty hard. His face looked about as long as a horse’s, but the rest of him hadn’t grown up just yet. he squinted at me.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I could ask the same question,” I said.
“This is my house.”
Christina hadn’t mentioned a brother, but I remembered two kids mentioned in her father’s obituary. I knew it by heart.
“Something tells me it’s your house in the same way it’s mine,” I said.
He kept that stupid squint going and I was sure of it. I’d just met my stepbrother.
“Can we come in, Jason?” Baxter asked helpfully from behind me.
“Is he safe?” Jason asked.
“That’s the sort of thing you ask before you open the door,” I said.
I moved in and he stepped back. The place looked even bigger on the inside, with hallways leading off four ways from the lobby. The walls had a light yellow tinge and rounded doorways that gave it a Southwest feel. Lorne must have built this place new, but his wife had added a feminine touch. Maybe letting her have a say was his way of easing his conscience.
The one I hoped he still had, at least.
Men’s voices streamed down one of the halls, and I followed them. Windows lined the short walk, letting in sun, but also leaving things open for any eyes that wanted to gaze in from a distance. Lorne must be pretty secure, both from the law and other criminals. I was almost impressed.
I took a deep breath and stepped out of the hallway. Two large leather sofas were set in an L facing a TV. Lorne and Torrance sat at the corner, talking. Torrance had on his colors and a rough look. Lorne was reclined back on the cushions, wearing a cowboy button down and faded jeans. They turned to me as I walked in.
Torrance’s eyes went wide, but I saw no change in Lorne’s. I’d expected to see him look a bit run down, but other than his sun worn face, and a tinge of silver in his brown hair, he looked just as I had left him. He looked at me, almost expectant, as if I hadn’t yet made an entrance.
“You’ve done well for yourself, Lorne,” I said. “This place is real nice.”
“It is,” he said.
It felt like a silence would have settled, but Torrance was making all sorts of faces. “Boss,” he said. “Is that…that is him, right? That’s Damon!”
“Hey, bro,” I said. “How’ve you been?”
“Good. Good, but…Fuck! Dude, you’re back?”
“I’m back.”
Baxter clomped in behind me. “How’s the reunion going?”
“Kodak moments all around,” I said.
Lorne nodded slowly. “So this was what had Baxter sick? You’ve been in town awhile.”
“Not long.”
“Not long at all,” Baxter said. “He’s only been staying with me a couple days.”
“I told him to keep things quiet,” I said, helping my friend along. “I just wanted some time to ease myself back into Freemont.”
For no good reason, my mind threw up the memory of my hands slipping into Christina’s pants. Heat coursed through my body. I fought the urge to retreat and plopped myself down on one edge of the sofa.
“I didn’t think you ever planned on coming back,” Lorne said. “Change of circumstances?”
“Nothing big,” I said. “I finished my tour in the army, and spent some time wandering around, but nothing quite felt like home.”
“You missed Freemont?” Lorne asked.
His voice lifted up just a bit higher, like it were holding back a smile. He wanted to gloat? Good, let his ego blind him to the truth of who I’d become.
I made a show of looking agitated before finally bowing my head and nodding. “Yeah, I missed Freemont. I didn’t think I would, but nothing could replace the brotherhood, not even the military.”
That answer was true. The army had just never felt like family. Then again, I hadn’t exactly been a model soldier. Still, seeing Torrance and Baxter felt warmer than hanging with any of my army squadmates.
“Damn fucking straight,” Torrance said, nodding vigorously. He caught himself and turned to Lorne to see his judgment.
“I’m sure that’s true,” Lorne said. He studied me some more, but I felt no venom in his eyes.
This was all wrong. I’d been prepared to be grilled. Lorne and I had parted with loud voices. Nothing too damaging to take back, but nothing that warranted a warm welcome either. I could only wait for the hammer to fall.
A smile needled its way up Lorne’s face. He stood and came around the coffee table. I tensed as he approached, but he threw his arms open.
“My son is back,” Lorne announced, wrapping tight around me. “I knew this day would come. I knew it.”
I accepted the hug and even managed to pat him on the back. Maybe I’d underestimated what family meant to him. Lorne might do terrible things to those he didn’t know, but he’d never treated family poorly. If there was a way to extend that feeling to more, then maybe he wasn’t a lost cause.
Big, fucking ‘if,’ though. I remembered the new stepbrother standing next to me and felt the warmth dissipate. Lorne could be cold, too.
Lorne clapped my shoulders and studied me eye to eye. “You got your stuff with you?” he asked.
I patted down my jacket. “I travel real light.”
“Good. Just the way it should be. We’ll get you what you need. For now, you’ll take the big guest room.”
I pulled away. “I can’t stay here.”
“Nonsense. You’re part of the family, aren’t you?”
I glanced at Baxter. He wobbled his head. He had no good excuse either.
Fuck. I didn’t want to blow out the candle by refusing his hospitality.
“I just didn’t want to impose.”
“No imposition.” Lorne beckoned Jason, who’d been watching off to the side. “Jason, this is your stepbrother.”
“Oh.”
“Oh?” Lorne growled. “He’s your older goddamn brother. Introduce yourself.”
Jason held out a hand. “Nice to meet you, man.”
“Yeah. Likewise.” I gave him a firm shake.
Lorne nodded approvingly. “Show your brother to his room.”
I left Baxter and followed Jason down the hall.
“Sorry for earlier, man,” he said. “I had no idea.”
“No worries, little dude.”
“I’m not that little,” he said, puffing himself out in his baggy shirt. “I’m already starting to ride, but I bet you can teach me a lot.”
“Great.” Of course this guy would be joining the Liberated. Now I got to be a role model. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing to have weighing on my back, but I had plenty there already.
We crossed back through the foyer towards the other halls. Just then, the door creaked open. I turned to it, just as a small, curvy little figure stepped in. She glanced up from a paper she was reading and froze.
My breath caught. I studied the floor but not before her image was etched into my head: her cute heart face, her long dark hair, her lush body.
Christina lived here. I was going to be living just next to her.
It was one thing setting her aside when she was apart, but now we were going to be bedroom to bedroom. There’d be just a thin sheet of protection between us.
Right away, I knew it wouldn’t be enough.
Judging by the way she couldn’t meet my eyes, the idea had hit her the same way..
CHAPTER FIVE
Christina
I lay in bed, smushed into the pillows. Voices chattered through the walls that sounded like happy songbirds. I just wanted them to end. It’d be so nice if everything outside this room disappeared.
Normally, I woke up before my alarm, with one foot already out the door. You couldn’t get me out of this place fast enough. I didn’t want more than a sideways glance at any biker that came in.
But I couldn’t risk even one
more glance of him.
Now, he even had a name.
“I want you to meet Damon.”
The day he had shown up, I had tried to drop of my books and hightail it out of the house right away. But Lorne had caught me in the foyer. He brought me into the room next to mine, where, to my horror, I saw my stepbrother testing out the bed. Lorne beckoned him to his feet and forced the ‘introduction.’
“You’re to treat him like family, ok?” Lorne had said. “Cause he is. He’s my son and your brother.”
He’s not anything, I’d wanted to scream. Instead, I pressed my lips into paste and nodded.
“Well, don’t be shy. Go on and introduce yourself. This is a goddamn reunion we’re having.”
“I’m Christina,” I offered.
The bristles on his face had grown thicker in the past few days, but Damon’s powerful mouth had curved up wide.
“I’ve heard,” he said. “That’s a lovely name.”
A whiff of smoke may have escaped my mouth. There was so much to be bothered by in that little bit. He’d heard about me? He’d been looking me up? And now…now he was calling me lovely?
Ok, my name, but still. What the hell was working through that head? Nothing about this was a shade above disaster.
His smile only deepened at my blank stare. He liked the effect he was having on me.
Was he still into me?
A shock had run through me at the thought. A shock. Not a fight-or-flight surge of adrenaline, but an electric thrill. I knew the difference.
I couldn’t stay in that room a moment longer.
“I need to go study,” I said.
“All the kid does,” Lorne mumbled. “You go then. Damon’s gonna be living with us for a bit, so you two can catch up later.”
“Sounds just fine,” Damon had said.
I couldn’t process that. I’d turned on the two men, stumbled into my room to make scrabbling noises on my bookshelf, then fled the ranch. I’d stayed away the whole day, through dinner and dusk. Lorne and my mom had each sent me texts about food and cake, but I’d made excuses until I snuck back in at 1 AM.