“What?”
She shook her head. “It’s just . . . that’s exactly what Grams always said about my mom. She used to tell my dad, ‘This relationship is too easy and too good to be true.’ And then Grams drove her away and told him, ‘See? I was right.’”
“Ah, Maddie.”
“It’s okay. Better that I know.” She bent down and kissed the side of his neck. “I’m sorry about getting so angry about what you told Earl. I just . . . I wish you’d told me sooner.”
“I didn’t because I knew you’d react like that.”
She rolled her eyes. “Tals—”
“What? I knew it wasn’t right. You’re not wrong to be mad . . . but I’m not wrong to do what I did.”
“Even back then you were trying to be in charge of me.”
He raised his brows. “Trying?” His hands went under her shirt, a thumb brushed her nipple and she gasped softly. “Unless you want me to stop?”
“No. Never, Tals.”
The sound of bikes interrupted them—she leaned up to look over the roof, and Tals said, “It’s Bear and Preacher,” because he knew the subtle differences between each of the Vipers’ bikes.
She turned back to him. “How did you know that?”
“I’ve been around a long time.”
“And you never let anyone in?”
“You mean any women?” he asked, and she nodded. “Not until you. Unless it’s serious, we try to stay insular. It’s safer for all of us. I deal with the probies or guys from other charters who need to be set straight on shit like that—letting too many outsiders into our private business, among other things. And I have to reach out to other MCs. I’m the first line. If Preacher has to get involved, there’s no turning back.”
“So you’re like a peacemaker?”
Tals snorted. “You put a nice spin on it, but no. Kind of the opposite. But I also do some racing and some repo work for our shop to keep busy. I also own a shit ton of real estate, thanks to Preacher.”
She smiled a little. “Me too. I learned to invest, thanks to my dad.” She paused. “Will you . . . show me what you do?”
“You can’t come with me on enforcing jobs. It’ll make you a target.”
“What about repo?”
He rolled his eyes. “Maybe an easy job.”
“That’s fine. And the racing.” Her eyes glowed.
He was going to tell her he absolutely wasn’t going to drag her into anything illegal, but he didn’t bother. Because women.
And then he smiled.
“So was this your goal, Tals? To be a Viper?”
He didn’t say anything for a long time. Finally, he told her, “I wanted to survive. To make it out of the mess my family had made—Tenn and I both wanted that. And then I wanted to help Preacher keep my family safe.” He studied her. “I wanted to be happy. So I’ve tried to do things that made me happy. Do no harm, except to those who cause harm. Life’s too short, Maddie.”
“Yes, it is. Too short to not be doing what you love. And I thought I was doing that, for a long time. But now I don’t know if they’re my dreams,” she explained quietly. “That’s the problem. I mean, it’s so ridiculous that I might’ve lived the last ten years doing something that wasn’t mine—or at least not my passion. How could I have fooled myself so badly?”
“Because you wanted security. Because you didn’t want to depend on a man,” he told her.
She nudged his shoulder, but she was smiling. “True. But I didn’t have to throw myself into my work and cut everyone off in the process. I did just what I grew up with, just what my dad taught me. I didn’t realize that it was possible to be really good at something . . . even if I didn’t love doing it, or even like it very much. I thought the two went hand in hand. Did you ever fool yourself like that?”
How did he explain that he never had the luxury of fooling himself? That reality hit him like a plank to the head on a daily basis from the time he could understand the life his parents led. He’d thought Tenn was okay with it, though—for a while, at least, but later Tenn admitted he was pretending in hopes that would make it easier. He’d also admitted it never had. “I’ve seen too much, Maddie. That’s not always a bad thing. But it makes me try to have fun when I can, more than most people do.”
“I think a part of me knew about my mom, that she was probably a lot like me. I guess that’s why my dad didn’t spend a lot of time with me.”
“But your dad loved her,” Tals pointed out. “He picked her over anyone. Even though your grandmother didn’t approve.”
“And it didn’t work out.”
“They had you, so something worked.” Tals stared up at the stars. “He wasn’t strong enough to stand up for your mom. You didn’t make the same mistake. Sounds like something your mom would be proud of.”
“It’s amazing how I can miss someone I barely remember.”
“Means she’s still with you. I wish mine were around to see what me and Tenn have done. We could’ve put her on easy street a long time ago.”
She knew the basics, but she’d also known not to ask too much about it. He hadn’t wanted to talk about it, despite the initial confessions, but she’d known he’d grown up rough, but with a good deal of love from his mom.
He continued without any prodding from her, like he knew what she was thinking, “We were seventeen when she died. Same age she was when she had us. At times she was more like our sister than our mom, but man, she was tough. She didn’t take any shit at all. She was strict with us, and she always made sure we were taken care of. Although she never worried about taking care of herself.”
“And your dad?”
“He was around until we were about twelve. So when he went to jail, she left Tallahassee. Because she told us later that she’d been promised to some other Viper in that charter. Vipers was really fucked-up back then, and Tenn and I ran away to Skulls, because we heard that a new guy took over.”
“Preacher.”
“Yeah. Eventually, as the founding charter, he was able to make all of them clean up their acts.”
“So you’re really legacy MC, then.”
“Born into it.”
She frowned, trying to wrap her mind around it. “But your mom . . .”
“She was in love. She stuck by him until it looked like the MC could hurt her. That would translate to hurting us, so she’d never tolerate that. She wasn’t happy we went to Preacher behind her back, but she knew we’d be safe, and we’d have our legacy.”
“She sounds a little like Holly. Calla told me a little bit about her past with the No’Ones. I mean, she almost got out, but . . .”
“When this is what you know, you know the good and the bad. And if this family lets you be yourself . . .” He trailed off.
“I get it. The MC doesn’t judge. They protect.”
“And they tell you if you’re fucking up too, but they never really tell you how to behave, as long as you have the club’s best interests at heart. Club rules are really more about no drugs and keeping the law away. Have your fun but protect your family.”
“I like the sound of that. I never really had any of it. Even looking back, the most I had were acquaintances. People who hung on because of who I was. Who I am.”
“So you trusted no one.”
She smiled ruefully. “Am I that transparent?”
“To me, yeah.”
She supposed that was fair, since he’d always been transparent to her, at least where his happy act was concerned. “Some.”
He didn’t look surprised. Or upset. “Maybe that’s what drew me to you. Because you saw what only Tenn could for a long time. And Preach and Cage. You saw what family saw.”
Her throat tightened at how easily he said that. “You had so much good though.”
“I did. But I couldn’t help Mom—not the way I wanted to. Tenn and I tried to make enough money so she didn’t have to work, but she refused to stop, no matter how bad things got. She wouldn’t let us help
her.” He rubbed his forehead, and it was so obvious that this wasn’t an easy conversation for him.
“Was it drugs?”
“It was everything. The sex was the drug for a long while. She was in demand. She made money. She wasn’t ashamed of what she did. And it’s not like she brought it home. We didn’t know what she did until we were in high school, and even then . . .” He shrugged. “For a while Tenn got pulled in. He was trying to protect her. Figured he could bring home money and she’d quit. But she didn’t.”
“I’m so sorry, Tals.”
“She always said she didn’t want to be our burden.” He gave a soft, humorless laugh. “She probably sounds like a nightmare parent, but she wasn’t. She hid that side of her. She lived a double life in a lot of ways.”
She didn’t know what else to do but hug him. So she did, drew him close, and he didn’t resist. His arms wrapped around her after a beat, and he murmured against her neck, “I’m here for you, Maddie.”
“Me too.”
Chapter 29
When Hugh was safely under protection and things seemed to have died down, Tals kept his promise. She hadn’t been relegated to the clubhouse for the past couple of months—she’d spent time at the tattoo parlor and the bar and other Viper-run establishments, but she hadn’t gone anywhere alone.
Typically, it was Tals who was with her, and she didn’t mind that at all. Tenn had gone back home to run his businesses, had made her promise to come visit when things were all clear.
He also told Tals that he’d give her refuge, if needed, if things got complicated with the Albanians. But according to Holly’s PI, who’d discovered those men in the first place, they’d vacated the area and they had bigger fish to fry.
“Let’s go!” she called.
“I’ve never seen anyone this excited to do repo work.”
“You told me it was time to explore and ‘figure out my shit.’ Find my passion again.”
He shook his head. “You think you have a passion to be a repo man?”
“Repo woman,” she corrected. “Can I drive when we go?”
He groaned. “Why do I feel like I’m creating a monster if I say yes?”
“Because you are.”
It took an hour to get to their job, and she found it strangely anticlimactic. “I figured it would be more exciting,” she said when they stopped to get gas for the flatbed.
He grinned ruefully. “Trust me, I’m really fucking glad it’s not. I’d never get you to stay home.”
“True.”
“So why repo? Between your real estate and other stuff . . . I mean, you don’t have to do this, right? So there must be a reason.”
He shrugged, like it didn’t matter, but she could see the pain etched on his face. “The club’s history—it’s not a pretty one all the time. A lot of guys who came in post-Preacher, they’ve heard the stories. They know it happens in other clubs, but they didn’t live it. I was in it—me and Tenn. We were there for the worst, the struggle to make it better, and now we get to see the good from all the hard work Preacher did. From the work he had us do, from the real estate to the repo stuff. And we know how precarious it all is.”
“And precious,” she murmured, reaching out to brush his cheek with her palm. He tilted his head to rub his scruff against her palm, scratchy and comforting . . .
“Yeah.” Then he pulled back from her touch. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover tonight.”
“I thought we were done.”
“I wasn’t talking about repo work.” He smiled and went to pump the gas.
She sat back, the low hum of the radio the perfect complement to her contentment. Until she saw Tals walking toward her from the back of the truck.
She rolled down the window, called, “That was fast,” but the word “fast” died in her throat when she saw he wasn’t alone. Two men were walking with him, and she was pretty sure there was a gun or a knife in the vicinity of Tals’s back. He walked, slow and sure, with his hands out in front of him, and he stopped at her open window.
He was looking past her.
Her breath caught as she looked next to her and saw a man, his forearm covered in tattoos, the ones Holly had shown her online so she knew what to look for.
“Just in case,” Holly had said.
She glanced up from the man’s arm and he smiled and said, “She understands.”
“What the fuck do you want?” she growled.
“Maddie,” Tals warned, but the man next to her smiled. Looked at Tals and said, “Can’t control your woman? I could give it a try.”
Shit. Shitshitshitshit. She kept her mouth shut, even though she wanted to tell this man to piss the hell off.
“Good girl,” the man said, and she tried not to vomit on him.
“She doesn’t know shit, Lee,” Tals said.
“But you do?” Lee asked.
“Yeah, I do. Doesn’t mean I’ll tell you, but you let her go and I’ll think about it.”
“Really? Why don’t I fucking believe that?”
“I don’t have a stake in Hugh Montgomery. My job is to keep my woman safe. She knows nothing. She’s not talking to the Feds.”
Lee was staring at her, and she was staring at Tals, who wouldn’t look at her. She was sweating, trying not to panic.
“Fine. We know where we can get her anyway,” Lee said. “Put him in the car.” He went to take the keys out of the ignition of Tals’s truck, but Tals said, “You leave her the fucking keys.”
Lee turned to him. “You’re not in the position to call the shots.”
“I’m the one with the motherfucking information,” Tals reminded him.
“That I’m sure we’ll have to beat out of you. Even if we don’t need to, that doesn’t mean I won’t.” Lee’s eyes glowed when she looked at him, but when she looked back at Tals’s face, his expression remained impassive.
“You leave the keys. Leave her. Let her go back to Vipers. Until I hear she’s back there, I don’t say shit,” Tals said.
“Again, you’re not in charge, Tals. I’ll let her go. But the second she pulls away, your nightmare begins,” Lee warned, then said to her, “Get in this driver’s seat. Now.”
He slid out, and she slid over, turned the flatbed on.
“Give me your phone,” he ordered, and she did. “Now say good-bye to your biker.”
Oh God. She turned to Tals, who remained calm. “Tals . . .”
“Listen to me, Maddie. You drive as fast as you can back to Vipers. Don’t stop anywhere—do you understand? I need you to listen to me and just go home.”
Just go home. Her heart clenched.
I need you to do what I ask, for your safety . . . and for the safety of the club. “Okay, yes, Tals.”
“Just in case you feel like not listening.” Lee held up what looked like a metal button. He leaned down and put it on the car. “I’ll know where you go and when you stop, and if you stop, I’ll kill Tals and come back for you. So if you stop before you get home . . .”
“I’ll run out of gas,” she blurted out. “You can’t let me go like this.”
Lee stared at her, eyes narrowed, and then motioned to one of the men. For several silent minutes, they all listened to the flow of the gas pump as she was given a quarter of a tank to go an hour.
Goddammit. They were looking for an excuse to . . .
No. She wouldn’t think it
“Tell Preacher to call me if he’d like,” Lee said. “It won’t matter, but it might make Tals feel better. If he can still feel. Because there’s a lot I can do in an hour.”
With that he motioned for her to move. With a last glance at Tals, who’d stepped back from the truck and was giving her a reassuring nod, she heard his words “drive as fast as you can” echoing in the back of her mind.
She didn’t remember much of the ride. It seemed like she passed more gas stations and rest stops, all of which taunted her with phones. But Tals hadn’t wanted her to stop. He wanted her safe. The p
roblem was, the faster she drove, the more gas she used . . . but she would push the car along with her bare hands if she had to. There was no way she was stopping.
* * *
When she burst into Vipers, having parked the truck at an odd angle in the lot and running past Rally, shouting, “Preacher, Lee has Tals!” over and over, Rocco caught her in his arms and sat her down.
“Maddie, take a breath. Come on now, honey . . . breathe.”
She hadn’t realized she’d been hyperventilating until Bear brought her a brown paper bag to breathe into. Finally she’d caught her breath enough to talk to Preacher, who stood with his phone, waiting for her to talk.
She explained what had happened. “If I stopped, they’d kill him. Tals said he wouldn’t tell them anything until you called Lee to say I’m here safely. He said he might not pick up. He said he was going to torture Tals until the call. And after. God.”
She got up and raced for the bathroom. On her knees in front of the bowl, she retched, but there wasn’t much in her stomach. When she was done, she realized Calla was there, tying her hair back, wiping the sweat from her face and neck. Handing her water and mouthwash and helping her to her feet. She brought her to the rec room and sat her on the couch.
“Preacher called Lee. Lee picked up . . . Preacher heard Tals,” Calla started.
“We all did,” Bear said from the doorway. “He’s alive.”
For how long? “I did what he asked. I didn’t desert him,” she started, and Calla and Bear shook their heads at her.
“Of course you didn’t desert him,” Calla said, and Bear broke in, “You did what he asked. You had to, Maddie. Tals couldn’t do what he needs to if he’s worried you’re not safe.”
“I was supposed to be safe—this was over,” she’d said, but the way Bear looked at her, it had probably never been completely over.
* * *
While Preacher was muttering that he was going to “kill Lee and feed him his own dick” as he got in touch with his witsec contact, Rocco had the unenviable job of calling Tenn.
Vipers Rule Page 21