Instead, I stayed quiet, pretending not to watch as Josie stared silently at the card in her hand for a good, long while.
Eventually she sighed heavily, shook her head, and tore it in two, leaving the pieces on the seat beside her before standing up and walking out.
CHAPTER 2
GRACE
Patches of unmelted snow sparkled on the tops of the mighty pines that towered over the Gods of Chaos Motorcycle Club’s clubhouse. Even though Christmas had come and gone weeks ago, our lights were still up. Ryder wanted to take them down, but I asked him to keep them up just a little longer.
Something about them made me smile.
And we’d had such a good Christmas, after working so hard bringing down the Vipers right before the holidays, that I wanted to extend the feeling just a little longer. We deserved it.
Our family had expanded, quite a bit, in fact, now that we’d welcomed thirteen new members into our fold. Eli, Nate and Fury convinced the other ten guys of their old club to prospect for the Gods and I had to admit, I loved the bustling energy that seemed to buzz around the place endlessly these days.
The men spent most of their time training all day. Some of them were working with Riot, who was teaching them the technical side of the job, and others were working with Ryder and Slade, enhancing their fighting skills and increasing their strength and reflexes.
Slade was in heaven with all the fresh meat to fight.
All in all, besides the feminine energy of Lacey, Frankie, Cherry and myself, we were surrounded by testosterone.
Not a bad way to spend the day, if you ask me.
Of course, I only looked.
My heart belonged to one man. Ryder was my rock, and how he still had the ability to weaken my knees with just a glance was beyond me. I had no complaints, though. Our love deepened with every passing day and I knew exactly how blessed I was to be living this life.
It hadn’t always been like this. Love wasn’t something that came naturally, and it wasn’t something I’d grown up around. Having such a close-knit family now, which I’d found in these remarkable men and women, had taken some getting used to. A family that wasn’t full of pain and dysfunction was foreign to me.
I was a quick learner, though. And, more importantly, I was quick to learn to love. While I was just getting to know the new guys, the others held a special place in my heart that would never fade.
Now, I knew what family was. Unfortunately, now that I knew how important it was, it only made the fact that I’d never had it before sting a little more.
I was hell-bent on making up for lost time.
We’d all come so far together. I think back on those first few months, when I didn’t even know my name, after Ryder found me passed out at the end of his driveway, my very life seconds from being extinguished by an angry pimp who’d discovered my secret — that I was an undercover cop trying to bring him down — and I’m in awe of how everything played out. Without Ryder having come along when he did, I might still be lying in a ditch somewhere.
He saved me, just enough to allow me to safe myself.
And in saving my life, he’d set in motion a series of events that would take us on some of the wildest adventures of our lives. We’d paid it forward, I guess you could say. Together, we created Solid Ground, a secret organization that worked to help victims who couldn’t help themselves, the ones that couldn’t just call the cops and expect help to magically arrive in a flurry of red and blue flashing lights.
We handled the cases that needed a little more. People whose rescues required fearless acts that might not be so lawful every time.
For a long time, I’d thought I had a few friends left in the force, even after I’d given up my badge. This last job with the Vipers made me realize just how wrong I was. I hated being betrayed once again by the people I thought I could trust, but I’d learned my lesson now.
I’d severed all ties with anyone connected with the police at all. Whatever jobs we did in the future, we were on our own now. That meant we’d have to change the way we did things a little bit. In the past, the cops were good to have in our pocket, in case we needed help disposing of a body or dealing with the press.
Not anymore.
This was a new day now.
I had every confidence that we would do just fine without them, though. Our men were intelligent and bright and we’d adapt our procedures accordingly.
This morning I’d found my confidence again, the Christmas lights flickering through the misty fog still hanging heavy in the air.
Dozens of gleaming bikes littered the gravel in front of the clubhouse and even this early, I could hear Cherry already up and cooking in the kitchen.
Cherry was a part of the club before I’d arrived and even though we’d had a bumpy start, we were fast friends now. Her bright red curls bounced around her head as she flipped the bacon in the skillet as I walked in. She greeted me with a smile and I walked over and kissed her on the cheek.
“Mornin’, Cherry,” I said.
“Good morning!” she chirped, cheerful as always. “Still foggy out there?”
“Sure is,” I said, grabbing a piece of bacon from the platter and sitting at the counter behind her.
“Well, maybe the sun will come out today,” she said. “Been a while.”
“Maybe in a few months,” I joked. Sunshine was something you could go months without witnessing during the grey Oregon winters. The Tillamook Forest, where we live, is a temperate rain forest off the northern Oregon coast, and the massive amount of Douglas-fir trees alone can block out the sun on the ground.
“Where’s Ryder?” Cherry asked. “I’m surprised he let you out of his sight.”
“He’s easing up a little finally,” I said. Ryder tended to stay glued to my side after the Viper’s job for a bit. Things got a little dangerous during that assignment, which caused him to get a bit over-protective.
“That’s good,” Cherry said. “A woman needs a little breathing room. But I guess if you gotta get crowded by a man, Ryder’s not a bad choice.”
“That’s true,” I laughed, just as my phone began buzzing in my pocket. I pulled it out and walked back outside to answer.
“Solid Ground,” I answered. “What’s the password?”
“Sanctuary?” I was surprised to hear a little boy’s voice on the other end.
“This is Grace,” I said. “Are you in a safe place?”
“Y-yes,” he answered.
“Good,” I said. “What’s your name?”
“My name is Benjamin William Bernard the Third, ma’am. But you can call me Benji.”
I paused, smiling to myself before continuing.
“How can I help you, Benji?”
“I’m not the one that needs help. It’s my best friend, Molly…”
***
“I got a call this morning,” I said to Ryder, once he’d joined us for breakfast.
“Another job?”
“Not sure. It was a ten year-old boy. He’s concerned about his best friend. He said her father is abusing her and nobody will do anything about it.”
“Why not?”
“They live in Greenville. Up in the foothills of Mt. Hood. The boy, Benji, said her father owns the town and everyone’s afraid of him.”
“Weird.”
“I know. I think I’m going to head up there and see if there’s someone I can talk to.”
“The police?” he asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
“Maybe. Think I might start with her mother, or perhaps the principal of the school she attends.”
“Why don’t you just make a phone call?”
I thought about that a second. It’s true I could easily make a few calls. But something told me I needed to do this in person.
“I think I’ll trust she’s getting help if I can look someone in the eye, you know? Sounds like she just needs someone to advocate for her. She deserves that much. All little girls do.”
He nodded silently, his smolderin
g eyes holding mine.
“Let me guess, you’re going alone,” he said.
I smiled and nodded.
“I’ll be fine. Just a quick drive over and back. Shouldn’t even take an entire day.”
“Sure you don’t want me to come?”
“No, you’re busy training the new guys. No need. I’m just going to visit her school and come right back.”
“Okay, but if anything gets weird…”
“…call you, I know. Will do, babe.” I stretched up on my toes and brushed my lips against his. He snaked his arms around my waist and pulled me close, kissing me deeply as I leaned into him.
“Get a room, you two,” Slade joked. He’d just walked into the clubhouse, lured by the smell of Cherry’s bacon, no doubt. As usual, he wore only jeans, shirtless and barefoot, his ever-present crooked smile paired up with his cocky swagger forming a powerful cocktail of bad boy that was easy to get drunk on.
We pulled away laughing and joined him at the table after filling our plates.
“Cherry, I think we’d all starve without you,” I said.
“Oh, you’d make do,” she protested.
Slade’s mouth was full of bacon but that didn’t stop him from talking.
“Oh, no, we’d starve, we’d definitely starve.”
CHAPTER 3
MOLLY
Lucky’s whiskers tickled my neck as he dug his flat, pug face into me to wake me up. In case that didn’t work, he snorted loudly, the puff of air going straight up my nose.
“Okay, I’m awake,” I murmured, putting my arm around him and pulling him in close. I buried my nose into the rolls of fat on the back of his neck, inhaling his earthy scent. He was soft and squishy and he snuggled into me readily for a minute before jumping up and turning around, his big round dark eyes staring at me.
“Outside, got it,” I said, pulling myself from the warmth of my covers. Pulling my robe over my pajamas proved to be impossible with the cast on my left arm, so I just draped it over my shoulders, shoved my feet in my fuzzy slippers, and walked over to the large glass door next to my bed that led to the balcony that looked out over our backyard.
I opened the door and Lucky burst through it clumsily, his comical trot picking up until he reached his favorite flower pot. He lifted a leg and did his business, then quickly ran back inside.
He hated the snow and it was everywhere right now, covering the balcony and every foot of ground below that, all the way until the grass reached the forested area that formed the border between our estate and my best friend, Benji’s.
Just past that, the snowy peaks of Mt. Hood towered high in the distance.
I followed Lucky back inside and laughed when I saw he’d already climbed the little dog stairs that led back up to my bed and jumped back under the covers. Staring longingly at the warm bed, I wished I could do the same thing. Usually, I was excited to get out of here, to go to school, to forget everything for a little while.
But today, I wasn’t looking forward to it at all, because I knew the day would be full of questions I didn’t want to answer. With this huge, hard cast, I couldn’t even pretend nothing had happened. I couldn’t cover it up like I did the bruises, so I’d be forced to deal with it.
I had my story all worked out, though.
Dad helped me with it. Well, he’d made it all up himself, actually.
I’d simply taken a fall on the ice outside. On the front stairs, specifically, as I’d come home from school yesterday and headed to the front door. At least this time, there wasn’t a lot of details I had to remember. It could get complicated sometimes.
“Everyone’s going to want to sign your cast, Molly,” Dad said in the car last night, as we were heading home from Dr. Nelson’s office.
“Yeah,” I mumbled. “I guess so.”
“You should have Benji draw one of those little cartoons on there that he likes so much.”
“Sure,” I replied, looking out the window, knowing that once more I was going to have to lie to my best friend. I didn’t mind lying to the other kids so much, but Benji deserved better than that. He was the best friend I’d ever had so far. Seemed to me that lying wasn’t something one should do to their best friend, but I knew what would happen if I told him the truth. If Benji told anyone else, I’d get in so much trouble.
If my other arm got broken, I’d never be able to get dressed.
I struggled through it this morning as best as possible, and before Maria, our housekeeper and my nanny, knocked on my door, I was already putting my shoes on.
“I thought you might need some help, bonita,” she said. Maria’s great. She’s been a part of my life since before I can remember, and I love her like she’s my own family. She might as well be.
“I got it,” I said.
“You hungry? Breakfast is on the table,” she said. “I made your favorite.”
“Chocolate chip pancakes?”
“You bet,” she said. “We have to hurry, though. Don’t want you to be late for school. Jasper’s warming up the car.”
Jasper’s my family’s chauffeur. He drives me to school every morning, even though I could easily walk. It’s not like the town is that big, but Daddy would never allow it. He says we have to keep up appearances. The town expects certain things from the Green’s. I don’t know why, but he says it comforts the townsfolk when they see the limo going down the street, that it tells them the economy is stable, whatever that means.
I just go along with him, because I know what will happen if I don’t.
When we get downstairs, after leaving an already snoozing Lucky safe and warm in my bed, the table is set for one and the pancakes are waiting for me, along with scrambled eggs and a big glass of orange juice. Maria gets the extra pulp kind, just for me, even though Daddy hates it.
I’m happy to see just one plate at the table this morning.
“Your father already left.”
Sometimes, I think Maria knows what I’m thinking. I don’t mind though. It’s nice having someone to talk to, even when I don’t have to actually speak.
“Your Mother is still sleeping.”
I nod and dig into the pancakes first, savoring the first bite slowly, before picking up the pace. I don’t want to be late for school either, because that would mean a visit to Principal Chanterbury’s office and the last thing I want to do was have to lie to her about my arm. That woman was capable of giving you ‘the look’ — a mixture of a raised eyebrow and a half-turned up lip — and making the truth spill out of a student’s mouth like warm molasses.
I just wanted to get to school, get through my classes and get back home, away from all those prying eyes and endless questions. Lucky didn’t ask questions. I didn’t have to lie to Lucky.
Once again, Benji popped into my head. Sure, I’d lie to him — again. And I’d ignore the look in his eyes that told me he knew what really happened. He never pressed me on anything, but after so many times, I could tell he knew.
I was grateful to him for that. For keeping quiet.
I guess that’s why he’s my best friend. Because he just lets me be me and doesn’t try to change things that neither one of us can change right now.
The drive to school was as silent as always. Jasper’s window was rolled up like it usually was, so I sat in the back seat of the limo, the tiny town rolling by as soon as we passed through the front gates.
We drove through the town square, a snow-filled park that’s only one block long and one block wide, surrounded by various shops across the street and Jenny’s diner on the corner. The tall, white steeple of the Greenville Baptist Church towers over the park, a big ancient bell housed inside of it. Despite the snow, the sidewalks were bustling with people. Some were going to the shops or the diner. Other’s were opening the shops themselves, shoveling last night’s snowfall from their doorways.
When we reached The Greenville School, Jasper jumped out and ran around to open my door for me.
“Miss Green, have a wonderf
ul day at school,” he said, flashing me a smile.
“Thanks, Jasper,” I said, walking through the wide, iron gates of the only school in town, housing all of us students, all the way from kindergarten and up to the twelfth grade. The grade school was separated from the older classes by a large playground in the middle. Out back was a large football field that served as a baseball or soccer field, too, depending upon the time of year.
As soon as I walked through the gate, I felt eyes fall on me and my cast. I lifted my chin, ignoring them, as I walked to class. I ignored the murmurs that seemed to trail behind me, doing my best to pretend that they weren’t talking about me, that nothing was out of the ordinary.
For me, it wasn’t.
For them, it was something new to talk about.
Let them talk, I thought. It’s only rumors.
In just a few hours, I’d be back home with Lucky and then I could pretend I wasn’t, once again, the talk of Greenville. In the meantime, I’d find Benji and allow him to deflect things for me.
He was standing outside our homeroom, just as I knew he’d be.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” I replied. “Thanks for waiting for me last night. Todd’s Mom told me you were there.”
“My Dad made me come home after a few hours. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay till you got out.”
“That’s okay.”
“How’s your arm?”
“It’s fine,” I shrugged, pulling it close to me.
Benji looked at me kinda funny.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “I just worry about you.”
“I’m fine.”
“How did it happen this time?” he whispered, looking around to make sure nobody was close-by.
“Just a fall, Benji. I don’t want to talk about it.”
He nodded solemnly and he didn’t ask again all day. That’s how I knew he knew I was lying. That’s how I always knew, by his silence.
“Let’s go to class,” I said.
“Sure,” he replied. “I’ll stay close by today. Just in case…”
FURIOUS: GODS OF CHAOS MC (BOOK SEVEN) Page 2