AJ

by Jessie Cooke

  As he got up to head for the shower, his phone rang. He picked it up and a smile instantly covered his face. It was Jolene. “Hey, beautiful. Where are you?”

  She sighed. “Well, I’m still in Phoenix.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  “It turns out that my sponsor family up in Monument Valley has family visiting from out of state and they won’t be ready for me until the day after tomorrow. They were profusely apologetic about the mix-up, but they said they just wouldn’t have room to put us all up. On a more positive note, I was hoping if you hadn’t already left for Tempe that maybe I can see you tonight?”

  “Damn. I’m in Vegas.”

  “Vegas? As in Nevada?”

  “Yeah. Damn, I’m sorry. Jace needed my help with something so I rode out with them this morning. I wish you would have called last night.”

  “I was on my way out of town when they called me and I saw your bike at your sister’s restaurant. I didn’t want to bother you. I hope that went okay?”

  He smiled again. “Yeah, it went great. Damn! I want to see you.”

  She giggled. “I want to see you too, but I’m glad I didn’t interrupt your trip. I’m sure you’ll all have a great time in Vegas.”

  “It’s not a pleasure trip. We’re here on business...but I’ll bet this business won’t take 24/7.”

  She chuckled and said, “And?”

  “And Vegas is only a four-and-a-half-hour drive. You could drive out in the morning and we could have dinner together and spend one last night together tomorrow. Please, it’ll all be on me.”

  “Well...I’ve never been to Vegas...”

  “Then that settles it. Life is all about new adventures right now, right?”

  “Right,” she said with an excited little laugh. “Okay, text me the address of where you are and I’ll head out tomorrow.”

  When AJ hung up, he was smiling. After his shower, he was still smiling, and even when he made it down to the buffet, he had a smile on his face. As soon as Toad looked up and saw him he said, “Damn, boy, you got canary feathers hanging off your lips. You meet a girl already?”

  AJ just laughed and took a seat at the table. Vic and Toad switched gears and started sharing insults about each other’s mothers, and Jace let it go on until Boots arrived, looking like he’d just stepped off the cover of a GQ. Streak was there too, but he was quiet—thoughtful, maybe. “Okay,” Jace said, instantly quieting down the chatter at the table. “Y’all fix your plates and you better eat good because it’s going to be a long night.” Toad, Vic, Streak, and Boots got up from the table. When AJ didn’t Jace turned to him and said, “You okay?”

  AJ frowned and said, “Yeah, I just didn’t realize...I mean, we’re going out there tonight?”

  “We are. Are you still on board with this?”

  “Sure...But honestly, Jace, I’d like more information about what ‘this’ is. I know our deal was that I stayed out of club business, but if you’re asking me to be a part of something...”

  Jace was nodding. “Fair enough. I trust you, AJ, or you wouldn’t be here. I’ll tell you what I can and like I told you before we left Phoenix, you’re welcome to walk out if you change your mind about being here at any time. I don’t have any worries you’ll spread what you know around.” AJ nodded and Jace started talking. He told him about Madison and the safe house and her being on the run. He told AJ they found her, but he didn’t say how, just that they’d been looking for Anthony Garibaldi as well, with no luck. Then when AJ mentioned the house, Hunter looked into it and found out it was owned by a woman Angelo knew years before. They had checked out all of his known “associates” but this woman was someone that Angelo hadn’t had contact with in over a decade so she’d gotten by them, until now.

  “Why do you think Garibaldi told me and his contractor that he owned it, if it was something he wanted to keep hush-hush?” AJ asked.

  Jace shook his head and said, “If I had to guess, I’d say it was because he’s an arrogant son of a bitch and he didn’t see either of you as being any kind of threat to him. You were a guy who owned a construction business back in Arizona and his contractor, honestly, probably gets paid a ton of money not to talk about Angelo’s business. The thing is, we’ve searched everywhere for Anthony and so have the Feds. I think, and Dax and Wolf do too, that the timing of him having this safe room built into this big-ass house says a lot. Anthony was still awaiting his trial...but Angelo knew that he wouldn’t be convicted. He probably also knew by then that he’d need to lay low, at least for a while. The Feds have a long memory when it comes to three of their men dying. Angelo’s smart enough to know that they’d give Anthony no peace as long as he was out and about on the streets. They’re probably going to keep him hidden out until they’ve made sure there’s no one left who can testify against him.”

  “Madison?”

  Jace nodded. “She’s one of them. I’m sure they have their eyes on more, but she’s our priority. So...we need to find Anthony before they get their hands on her, and maybe that poor girl can get her life back in the process.”

  “I’m going to ask one more question, and since this is all new to me, please accept my apology if this is a stupid question. But...why not give the information you have to the Feds and let them handle this?”

  Jace was quiet for so long that AJ thought he wasn’t going to answer his question at first. At last he said, “If we give this information to the Feds and they go balls-out to find Anthony then this all starts over for Madison. They were supposed to be protecting her when that house blew up. Obviously, as hard as they tried, their efforts fell short. Madison is family and we go balls-out for family, always. Like I said, though, this isn’t your fight and I appreciate what you’ve already done for us...you’re free to go.”

  AJ shook his head. “Nah, I don’t want to go.” He stood up. “I’m going to get something to eat before those guys wipe out the buffet bar.”

  Streak and Boots had just shown back up at the table, plates piled high. Toad and Vic were still filling theirs—Toad had two plates, one in each hand. Jace laughed and stood up too. “You ever think about prospecting?”

  AJ laughed and said, “I like you guys, but I can honestly say that is one thing I’ve never considered.”

  Jace chuckled and looked at Toad and Vic, who were now taking their places at the table. Vic was telling Toad his eating habits were why his fat ass had to “pay for pussy.” “Okay,” Jace said, “But just look at what you’re missing out on.”

  19

  Oklahoma, State Line

  By the time Lion pulled the bike into a KOA on a deserted strip of highway Madison’s butt was numb and her back hurt. She’d been leaning back as much as she could, keeping her body at an odd angle so that her breasts weren’t consistently pushed against his hard, muscular back. It was difficult, and painful, but the desire that was building inside of her was more awkward, especially since she wasn’t even sure she liked the guy. He was hotter than hell...but he was strange, to say the least.

  Lion wasn’t only not much of a talker, he was so focused on getting where they were going that any time Finn stopped for gas or food, Madison heard him cuss under his breath as they pulled in after him. The stops Finn made simply because he wanted to stretch his legs were apparently completely unacceptable to her grumpy chauffeur, and oftentimes he would just sit on the bike in front of her, not even giving her room or a choice to get off and stretch herself. Somewhere around Albuquerque she almost had to practically push him off the bike to keep from peeing her pants. He’d stood up, obviously annoyed, and Madison was pissed off, until she caught sight of him on her way back. He had gotten off the bike and he was looking toward the gas station to the right of them. She had a chance to do something she hadn’t had much opportunity to do so far, look him over, from head to toe.

  He was wearing a black, sleeveless t-shirt underneath his black vest. His right arm was covered in tattoos from the shoulder to elbow. There was a motorcy
cle helmet, black, and part of a face was showing. It looked like a woman’s face and an irrational shot of jealousy assaulted her as she wondered if it was his old lady. On the other side, where the left half of the face should have been, was a streak of red with writing on it in black. Madison hadn’t been able to read what it said, but she was curious. In the foreground was a Harley and underneath the wheels of it was what looked like a road sign, white with black letters...58.

  His arms were big and she knew from all those years with her dad that that often came simply from hours of handling that heavy motorcycle. He wore tattered jeans on his long legs that looked like they’d been washed a hundred or more times and black boots that were all scuffed up. He had his half-shell helmet off, resting on the seat of the bike, and a huge knot of hair was twisted into an elastic band at the back of his neck and the rest of it was covered up with a black bandanna. His dark green eyes were intense, almost always. He reminded her of a predator, one that was constantly searching for his next prey.

  She had been with him all day, and had yet to see him smile even once. She’d spent some of their time on the road, amusing herself by picturing it. If his real smile was half as sexy as the one she imagined in her head, it was probably a good thing he stayed grumpy. She was still looking at him when he turned and caught her. He shrugged, with one hand out in front of him, as if to say, “What the hell are you doing?” Madison put her head down, hoping he wouldn’t see how flustered she was, and made her way back to the bike. That was the last time they’d stopped, until now.

  Lion stopped his bike in front of the dark little office. Finn was at the kiosk, pushing buttons on a little machine. Madison heard something drop into the bottom of it like a vending machine and watched Finn dig whatever it was out. He did that three times and then walked over to where they waited and held out a key to Lion. “Cabins five, six, and seven.”

  Lion nodded at him and took one of the keys. Madison almost didn’t have time to grab onto him before he took off again. The cabins were in the back of the lot, behind where the tents and RVs were. Lion stopped in front of cabin number six and turned off the bike. He stepped off and Madison said a little prayer that her legs would hold up and she wouldn’t fall on her face in front of him as she slid off as well. The cabin was cute from the outside, small, with a little porch that went around the front of it and two small windows on either side of the door. There was a patio chair to the right of the door and a potted plant to the left. Lion stood at the foot of the steps and surveyed the area around the cabins as the other men drove up on their bikes. When Finn got off his Lion said:

  “I’ll take first shift.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you in a couple hours.” Without looking at Madison, Lion stepped up onto the porch and unlocked the door. Once he had it opened, he finally turned and looked at her. In the moonlight his eyes reminded her of a cat’s; they were shaped like big almonds and the light reflected off them.

  “You coming?”

  “Um...Isn’t this your cabin?” Since they had three, Madison had assumed the four men would share two of them, and she’d have her own. Obviously, that assumption had been wrong.

  “It’s our cabin,” he said, turning and walking inside. He pulled off his helmet simultaneously with one hand and pulled the elastic band he had holding the man bun in place off at the same time. All that blond hair spilled down his back and the next time he looked at her, impatiently, one of his eyes was completely covered by hair. She had noticed during one of their meal stops that he almost seemed to hide behind his hair. She couldn’t imagine that he was shy, based on his powerful and somewhat controlling demeanor. Maybe it was a trick to keep people from talking to him. He was a complicated guy for sure.

  “Are there two bedrooms?”

  She saw his jaw clench. “There aren’t any bedrooms. It’s a one-room cabin with one bed. Don’t worry, I won’t molest you.” Madison felt her face color again. She picked up her bag and with one last defiant look at him, she stepped inside. He hadn’t been kidding about the place being small. There was a bed, a small nightstand, a chair, and another door that probably led to a bathroom. Madison put her bag down on the bed and heard the door close behind her. When she turned and looked, Lion was gone. This guy was something else.

  She busied herself by taking a quick shower and getting into her pajamas. As she looked around the room again, she wondered where Lion thought he was going to sleep. There was a chair in the room, but it was a wingback and hardly looked big enough to hold him upright. The bed was a double and even that would be small for him if he slept there himself. She told herself she was only worried about his getting enough sleep to drive the next day, but somehow she knew that wasn’t it. She felt a weird sense of security with him around and the idea of sleeping in the room without him nearby made her nervous, and also a little mad at herself. She’d been doing fine on her own for some time now. She was always looking over her shoulder, but until Jace and the guys showed up and kidnapped her, she hadn’t felt the need to depend on anyone else.

  A knock on the door startled her. “Yes?”

  “Hey, Madison, it’s Finn.” She pulled the door open. Finn was standing there with a cup of coffee in one hand and a bag of snacks in the other. “Bubba went over to the gas station next door. We didn’t know what you wanted, but hopefully something in there will work.”

  Madison smiled and took the coffee out of his hands. “That was so nice, thank you, and thank Bubba for me.”

  “You should get some sleep.” Lion’s voice came from the other side of the door. She pulled it in further and saw him sitting in the wooden chair with his long legs stretched out in front of him and almost hanging off the edge of the porch. She wasn’t sure if he had been talking to her or Finn but Finn said:

  “I’m going. Good night, Madison.”

  “Good night, Finn.” As Finn walked away she looked back over at Lion. Those green eyes were locked into hers again, so intense...she wondered what he was thinking. “Good night,” she said to him.

  “Mm-hmm.” She rolled her eyes at his rude response, gave her head a little shake, and went back inside. She closed the door a little too hard, but the man annoyed the hell out of her. She only wished that he didn’t also excite her at the same time. It was weird. She’d never been so attracted to a man she didn’t even like. With a sigh, she opened up the bag of goodies Bubba had sent over. It was filled with more junk food than she could eat in a week. Smiling, she dug through it until she found a chocolate bar. She had it ripped open before she even set the rest of the snacks down on the little nightstand. Unwrapping it, she took a huge bite and closed her eyes as the chocolate satiated her taste buds. It was good...not as good as sex, but it would have to do...for now.

  Lion lit a cigarette and took a long drag. He wished he had sent Bubba or Finn for some whiskey before they went to bed. He couldn’t get drunk while he was watching the girl, but a shot or two would sure as hell take the edge off. The way that girl looked at him set something inside of him on fire, something that went deeper than desire. He could tell by the looks she gave him that she was torn between hating him, and wanting to fuck him. Lots of women looked at him like that, and a lot of times, he took advantage of it. He knew he couldn’t touch this one, though, and even if he could, he wouldn’t. She wasn’t a sweet butt...a club girl who hung around bikers because she got off somehow on being used. This one was a lady. She was intelligent, educated, independent...everything he did not want in a woman he hooked up with.

  Lion had been alone since his grandmother died five years earlier and he was okay with that. He took care of his needs at the ranch, or whatever club he was staying at, with one of the girls who weren’t looking for any more than he was. He had gotten good at reading women, spotting the ones who didn’t seem like they’d get clingy, or want more than a quickie in one of the backrooms. He never took them to bed, never spent the night with them, and he never, ever took them to his house. He didn’t want to talk to th
em...or maybe it was more that he just didn’t know how...he wasn’t sure which.

  Lion had been a “freak” growing up. He was the kid whose grandma read palms and tea leaves and talked to animals. He was also the kid who beat the shit out of anyone who disrespected her or what she did. He spent a lot of time in detention and some in juvenile hall. By the time he was dating age, girls were afraid of him and although he’d never admit it to anyone, he felt the same about them. He didn’t have any idea what to say to one, or what to do with one beyond the obvious. When he accidentally met one like Madison, a lady, he did his best to avoid her like the plague. But this one he couldn’t avoid, at least for the next three days. The past ten hours had been hell inside his head and body. She was too close and every time she leaned into a turn and he felt her thigh flex he had to grip the handlebars tighter to keep from reaching down and putting his hand on her leg. He wanted to feel those muscles with his hands. He imagined they were covered with a layer of satin-soft skin, and that thought sent impulses shooting through him that were hard to control. Her warm breath on the back of his neck was distracting as hell too...and those full breasts, pressing hard into his back, that was like torture.

  He knew he had to get that shit under control, no matter how hard it was. His only saving grace was that they had one day down, and only three left to go. Maybe then he might never have to see her again. If it were up to him, they’d drive straight through and he’d get them there by tomorrow night. But he knew that would be pushing her too hard. She wasn’t used to being on a bike for hours at a time and he knew he’d been kind of a dick already, not stopping often enough. Those stops only made it harder because then he had to look at her, and she looked as good as she felt. Seventy-two more hours. With a sigh and a growl he closed his eyes for a second and pictured his grandma in her long underwear, chasing a possum out of the house with a broom. That brought a smile to his face, and at least for a little while, put his lust to rest.