Love, Loyalty & Mayhem: A Motorcycle Club Romance Anthology

by Ryan Michele

  “You’re one to talk,” I shot back.

  Mom laughed. “I,” she said, drawing the word out, “like to keep a bit of mystery.”

  “You just like to drive Dad crazy,” I argued.

  “Oh, yeah, I do,” she said, smiling. I wrinkled my nose at the insinuation in her voice.

  “That is not how I meant it.”

  “Hey,” she said as I got up from my seat. “That’s an important part of a healthy relationship!”

  “Lalalalala,” I sang loudly, covering my ears as I strode toward Leo.

  “Hey, baby,” he murmured as I reached him, pulling me against his side. “You good?”

  “My mom has no filter whatsoever,” I griped.

  Leo laughed. “Neither do you.”

  “Yes, I do,” I argued.

  “You’ve got the mouth of a sailor, and no topic is off limits. I’d say you’re almost exactly like Farrah.”

  “You shut your mouth when you’re talking to me,” I gasped in mock horror, pulling against his hold on my waist.

  “How many times has Rose given me shit about somethin’ I said to you in bed?” Leo asked with a laugh.

  “That’s different,” I protested, my lips twitching. “That’s just Rose.”

  “What about the time you thought that chick was checkin’ me out, and you started spoutin’ off loud enough for the entire bar to hear you about how my favorite position was reverse cowgirl because I love to watch your ass jiggle?”

  “Was I lying?”

  “Not the point, Dandelion,” Leo chuckled.

  “She needed to know you belonged to me,” I grumbled.

  “Think you made that pretty clear,” he teased. He leaned down and kissed me hard.

  “Wait,” I said, pulling away. “That’s still your favorite position, right?”

  “Nah,” he said, shaking his head slowly as he grinned at me. “I like seein’ your face when you come.”

  Later that night, I made all his dirty dreams come true.

  “You sure you don’t want me to grab him?” Leo asked the next morning, his words garbled by the toothbrush in his mouth.

  “No,” I replied, pulling on my underwear. “I’ll get him. I’m going to bring him home for a nap before we head to my parents.’”

  “Remind me why I told Will I’d help him this morning?”

  “Because you were drunk,” I called over my shoulder as I grabbed my bra off the bed. “You always volunteer for shit when you’re drunk.”

  “I do not,” he said, cupping his hand under his chin to catch the dripping toothpaste.

  “Go spit,” I ordered, laughing. I finished dressing while he was in the bathroom and by the time he got back, I was sliding on my boots.

  “Lunch is at noon, right?” he asked as he went to the dresser.

  “Yeah.” I sat on the bed and enjoyed the show. I loved watching him undress, but the opposite was almost as sexy. I’d never get tired of watching Leo, it didn’t really matter what he was doing.

  “I’ll try to get over there earlier than that,” he told me, stuffing his wallet into his back pocket.

  “Just don’t be late,” I said, tipping my head back as he stepped between my knees. “My mom will make everyone wait on you, and it’ll turn into a thing.”

  “I’ll be on time,” he said, his hands coming up to rest on the sides of my neck. “Gives me a reason to bail at Will’s.”

  “Do you think it’ll take very long to build a swing set? I thought they came with directions.”

  “Tommy’ll be helpin’,” Leo replied. “Gotta make allowances for that.”

  “True,” I said with a laugh.

  “Wish we had some more time,” he said, his thumbs rubbing along the underside of my jaw. “I didn’t get enough last night.”

  “Any more time and I wouldn’t be able to walk today,” I joked, everything inside me going warm.

  “We need to take an entire weekend soon.” One of his thumbs traced a line down my neck, and I swear I felt it in my nipples. “Spend the entire time in bed.”

  “I like that idea,” I murmured, reaching out to run my hand down the front of his jeans. He was already hard. My mouth watered.

  “Damn,” he groaned. He glanced over his shoulder at the alarm clock on the bedside table and I followed his gaze.

  “Shit,” I said, “I need to leave. I told Kathy I’d be there at ten.”

  “Alright,” he said with a sigh. He stepped back far enough that I could stand up, then leaned down to kiss me.

  We left the house at the same time, and I climbed into my car as he opened the garage door to pull his bike out.

  “Drive safe, baby,” he called.

  “Always,” I replied with a wave.

  Kathy’s place wasn’t very far from ours, so it didn’t take long to get there, and when I pulled into the driveway, I was still ten minutes early.

  “Shit,” I muttered as I parked.

  I shut the car off and leaned my head back against the headrest. If I tried to get Gray before ten, I knew she’d pitch a fit. I made an effort to keep the peace, because I knew Leo already had a really hard time with Kathy, but Jesus, the woman was a pain in the ass. I understood why she was possessive of Gray, but it didn’t make her any easier to deal with. The sooner she realized that we all wanted what was best for her grandson and that included time with her, the better off everyone would be.

  I killed time switching through radio stations and cleaning out the center console, and at exactly ten o’clock on the dot, I climbed out of the car. It was beginning to rain, so I pulled up my hood and jogged to the front porch. The overhang wasn’t very big, so I had to crowd the door as I knocked.

  “Come on,” I murmured when she didn’t answer the door. I could feel the rain seeping through the back of my sweatshirt. I knocked again.

  After a few minutes of knocking, I rang the doorbell. Still no answer. I took a few steps back and tried to look in the front window. The curtains were pulled shut, but I couldn’t see any light coming from inside the house.

  “Kathy?” I yelled, my nose almost pressed to the glass.

  “What are you doing?” a voice yelled behind me. “Get outta here before I call the cops.”

  I jerked and spun to find an older man staring at me from his front door.

  “No,” I said, laughing nervously as I lifted my hands palm out in front of me. “I’m just here to pick up my son.” His expression didn’t change. “Gray?”

  “Kathy’s not home, and you need to get outta here,” he said with a little shooing motion.

  “She’s not home?” I said in surprise. “Do you know where she went?”

  He turned and went back inside without answering.

  “Yeah, thanks, asshole,” I said, flipping off his house.

  I jogged back to my car and once inside, I pulled up Kathy’s number in my contacts. It didn’t even ring before going straight to voicemail. What the fuck? I called Leo.

  “Hey, Dandelion,” he answered. “Remind me why we’re buildin’ this shit in the rain?”

  “Babe, did Kathy try to call you?” I asked, ignoring his question.

  “What?” he asked. “No, she hasn’t called me. Is she givin’ you shit? I knew I shoulda went with you to pick him up.”

  “They’re not here,” I said, staring out the front windshield.

  “Say what?”

  “They’re not here,” I repeated. “I’m sitting in front of the house, and no one is here.”

  “Did you try to call her?”

  “It went straight to voicemail.”

  “Why does that woman insist on bein’ such a fuckin’ cunt all the time?” Leo barked. “I’ll try her from my phone. Sit tight, yeah?”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I replied.

  I sat in my car, soaking wet and fuming, as Leo tried to get ahold of Gray’s grandmother, and the longer I waited, the more worried I got. Kathy made snide remarks and acted like she didn’t hear us whe
n we asked her not to give Gray a bunch of sweets or to have him dressed when we picked him up, but she’d never just not been home when we came to get him. My stomach rumbled with anxiety. Something was wrong.

  My phone barely rang before I answered it.

  “I can’t get ahold of her, either,” Leo said. “I’m gonna keep tryin.’ Come over to Will’s and pick me up.”

  “Okay,” I said, my voice a little shaky as I started the car.

  “Careful drivin’,” Leo ordered. “Roads are gonna be slick.”

  “I know how to drive in the rain,” I replied as I backed out of the driveway.

  “Be careful, anyway.”

  The drive to Will’s house seemed twice as long as usual, and by the time I got there, my stomach was in knots.

  “Did you get ahold of her?” I asked as Leo met me at the door.

  “Think her phone’s off,” he replied, running his fingers through his hair. “What the fuck is she doin’?”

  “Maybe she just ran to the store or something,” I said peeling off my sweatshirt. I paused. “Should we go back and wait for her?”

  “Fuck,” Leo snapped in frustration. “Hell if I know.”

  “Everything okay?” Molly asked, peeking her head around the wall between the kitchen and the living room. “Where’s Gray?”

  “We have no fucking clue,” I replied. I felt tears sting the back of my eyes and clenched my jaw, trying to hold them back.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, coming into the room.

  “Supposed to pick him up from Ashley’s mom’s place, and when Lil showed up, no one was there,” Leo replied.

  “Did she get the time mixed up?” Molly asked reasonably.

  “No.” I shook my head. “She knew exactly what time I’d be there.”

  “She’s probably just being an ass,” Molly said with a huff. “Isn’t this the woman that makes nasty comments every time you see her?”

  “Yeah.”

  Molly wrinkled her nose. “She’s probably just trying to exert some control.”

  “She has no control,” Leo said. “She’s got what I give her, and after this bullshit, she’ll be lucky to have anything at all.”

  “Maybe we should go back and see if she’s home,” I said, anxious to do something.

  “Alright,” Leo replied. He looked at Molly. “I’m gonna leave my bike in your garage if that’s cool? I can come get it later.”

  “No problem,” Molly said as Leo helped me put my sweatshirt back on. “Let me know when you hear something.”

  I let Leo drive and I tried to call Kathy again as we headed to her place.

  “Her phone’s still turned off,” I said, tossing my phone on the dash. “Why the fuck would she worry us like this?”

  “Because she’s a cunt,” Leo said flatly. “And she doesn’t give a shit if we’re worried.”

  A few minutes later, we pulled into the driveway and Leo cursed. The lights were still off, and no one was home.

  “Maybe she’s taking Gray to our house,” I said, a little glimmer of hope sparking in my chest. “Maybe we got our wires crossed or something.”

  “We can check,” Leo said as he turned around and drove toward our place. “But I doubt it.”

  “Maybe her phone’s dead and she’s been sitting there waiting for us.” The scenario seemed so plausible that I felt really silly for getting so worked up. It wasn’t unheard of for Kathy to drop Gray off after a visit. It didn’t happen often, but it did happen.

  I was feeling so relieved as we drove home that I relaxed into my seat with a sigh. It was going to be really embarrassing if I’d worried Leo for nothing, and Gray had been sitting in front of our house for the last forty-five minutes while I’d been freaking out.

  I’d convinced myself so thoroughly that Kathy must have driven Gray home, that when we pulled up in front of our little house and she wasn’t there waiting, I couldn’t believe it.

  “Where is she?” I asked Leo in confusion.

  “Come on, Dandelion,” he said, climbing out of the car. “Might as well wait inside.”

  I followed him into the house, but I couldn’t sit still. While Leo sat at a kitchen chair, staring at his phone, I paced back and forth, from the kitchen to the living room. Then I pulled some laundry out of the dryer and folded it. Threw some dirty clothes in the washer. Scrubbed the kitchen sink. Threw some expired food in the fridge away. Swept the floor. Organized the pictures and drawings on the front of the fridge so that everything was visible. Watered the plant in the kitchen window. Went through the pile of mail on the counter.

  “Lily,” Leo finally said. “Sit, baby.”

  “I can’t,” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest as I leaned my hips against the cupboards. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out as quick as I could.

  “Dammit,” I said before lifting it to my ear. “Hey, Mom.”

  “Where are you?” she asked. “I thought you were going to help me with lunch.”

  “Sorry,” I replied. “I went to get Gray, and he wasn’t there.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, so me and Leo have been waiting at the house, hoping Kathy would call.” I paused. “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding.”

  Leo scoffed.

  “How late is she?” my mom asked.

  I glanced at the clock and swallowed hard. “Two hours.”

  “Oh, fuck no,” mom muttered. “Me and your dad will be there in a bit.”

  “No, Mom—” I stopped talking when she hung up on me.

  “I’m not doin’ this again,” Leo said, his fingers tapping on the table. “If I can’t trust her to have Gray where he’s supposed to be, these visits are fuckin’ over.”

  “You should probably call your mom,” I said quietly. “My mom and dad are on their way over.”

  “Christ.”

  “I couldn’t stop her,” I said in apology.

  “It’s fine,” he said, reaching his hand out so I’d come to him. He wrapped his arm around my back and dropped his forehead against my sternum. “Kathy doesn’t show up soon, I was gonna have to call them, anyway.”

  She didn’t call. My parents showed up. Leo’s parents showed up. Cam and Trix showed up. We all waited, pretending like we weren’t getting more and more worried as each hour passed. By three o’clock, though, Leo had hit his limit.

  “We need to fuckin’ find her,” he said, getting up from his seat. “How do we do that?” He looked at my dad. “Track her phone or somethin’?”

  “I can ask my contact to track it, yeah, but it’s gonna take some time.”

  “How much time?” Leo asked.

  “Could be a few hours.”

  “Shit,” Leo snarled.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” my dad said, clapping Leo on the shoulder as he pulled out his phone.

  “Why the hell would she do this?” Leo’s mom Brenna asked no one in particular. “She must know she’s completely screwing herself.”

  “I doubt she’s playing the long game, Mom,” Trix answered. “She’s probably pissed about something, and decided to make a point.”

  “What could she possibly be that pissed about?” I asked, using my fingertips to rub at my eyes.

  “Who knows?” Trix replied. “She’s not exactly smart.”

  “Hey, Rose,” my mom called across the room, her eyes on her phone. “Doesn’t Gray have a tablet?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “It says here that if you have a certain app, you can use your phone to locate it.”

  “We have the app, but it only works if the tablet is connected to wi-fi,” I replied dismissively. It took longer than I’d like to admit before I pulled out my phone and opened up the app.

  “Might as well try,” Trix said quietly.

  My mouth dropped open in surprise when a little blinking dot appeared.

  “I’ll be damned,” Trix muttered. “Bingo.”

  “Leo,” I called, zooming out on the lit
tle map. “I found him.”

  “You what?” Leo asked, striding toward me.

  “His tablet is connected to the internet,” I said, trying to make sense of the map. “I tracked him.”

  “You’re a fuckin’ genius,” he said, kissing the side of my head as he looked over my shoulder.

  “Technically, I’m the genius,” my mom announced. We ignored her as we stared at the map.

  “What’s the word?” Dragon asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

  I didn’t reply. I didn’t recognize any of the streets on the map.

  “She took him to Portland,” Leo said, holding out his hand so I’d pass him the phone.

  I watched as he carried it over to where his dad and Cam were standing. Why the hell would she take Gray all the way to Portland? It didn’t make any sense.

  My dad came back in the room and joined the men as they huddled around the phone.

  “They’re right next to the airport,” my dad said quietly. The air in the room went electric. “Look, there’s 82nd Street,” he pointed, “and Airport Way.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Leo said. His eyes met mine, and my stomach tightened. He looked afraid.

  “Can you zoom in?” Dragon asked. After a few moments, he nodded. “I’ll call Nix and have him head over there.”

  “She’ll freak if he shows up there,” Leo replied.

  “I’ll tell him not to do anything unless she tries to leave,” Dragon assured him, pulling out his phone. “But it’s gonna take us hours to get there.”

  The men started making calls and moving around the house, but I was paralyzed in my seat. The airport? What the hell was Kathy doing?

  “I’ll get him,” Leo said, crouching in front of me. “Don’t worry, Dandelion.”

  His words snapped me out of my daze.

  “I’m going with you,” I said, getting to my feet.

  “No,” he replied instantly. “Don’t know what we’re walkin’ into.”

  “I don’t care.” I stepped around him and went straight for my coat.

  “Lily, it’ll be faster if you stay here.”

  “Bullshit,” I said. “You can’t ride up there, anyway, or you’ll have no way to bring Gray back home.”

  “My Uncle Nix can—”

  “I’m going with you to get our son,” I said flatly, cutting him off. “You can leave without me if you want, but I’ll be right behind you.”