by Jayne Blue
This got a round of laughter from the table. But, Liza’s face grew serious. “She doesn’t say much about herself, though,” she said.
My back stiffened as Nash and the others focused on me again. I didn’t want to go through this again. “We’re a lot to take in,” I offered. “Let her ease into things around here.”
Liza nodded. “Yeah. I remember how that was for me the first time.”
Shakes jerked Liza closer to him and bit the air, giving her a playful growl. “Gimme a break, darlin’ your bite’s worse than all of ours.”
Liza rolled her eyes, leaned down and kissed him on the head. “Easy, dog. No, I’m just saying, there’s something about that girl I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s nothing bad, don’t get me wrong.”
A cold chill went through me and I bit back the anger rising inside of me. Liza was just doing her job. She was loyal to the club first.
“Spit it out,” I said, my tone harsher than I wanted. It earned me a sharp look from Shakes.
Liza put up a hand. “Take it easy. I said it’s nothing bad. It’s just...I don’t know. I’ve seen that girl somewhere before. She looks so familiar.”
I spread my hands and laid them flat on the table, making a conscious effort not to curl them into fists. Dread snaked its way along my spine. I couldn’t be mad at Liza, but her words cut into me like a thousand tiny knives.
“You think you could figure out where?” Nash asked.
Liza shrugged. “You know I’m really good with faces. It’s my job out there, Nash. So yeah. Give me a little time and I’ll figure it out. And King, just chill out. I see that look you’re giving me. I told you, I don’t think it’s anything bad. It’s just...like I said, you know I’m good with faces...and names, for that matter. I know I’ve seen her somewhere before.”
“Here in the bar?” Shakes asked.
Liza knit her brow. “No. I don’t think so. That I’d remember.”
“Well, honey, the sooner you can figure it out, the better,” Nash said. His voice was calm, but his words were a clear order. Then, he looked at me and my fucking heart dropped into my boots.
“Nash,” I started.
He put up a hand meant to silence me. It rankled me, but we were sitting at the fucking table.
“You just need to chill,” he said. “We’ll protect your girl as long as she’s with you, King. I meant what I said. But, I also trust Liza’s instincts, and so do you. We need to find out what we can about this girl before we bring her in too close. That’s no different than what we’ve done for every man sitting here. You know that.”
“Yeah,” I said, my voice sounding bitter to my own ears. “I know that, man.”
“Good,” he said. “So it’s settled. Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m curious as fuck to meet this girl that’s got you spinning so hard. Go out there and get her, King.”
Nash rapped his knuckles on the table and concluded the meeting. We all rose together and Liza went over to open the door. I could see Thea sitting across the room at the bar. She turned at looked at me, giving me her sweet smile. I straightened my shoulders and started to walk toward her, knowing I might be throwing her to the literal wolves.
Chapter Twelve
Thea
“See anything you like?” King’s soft whisper in my ear sent a delicious chill through me. I put my hand up and caressed his cheek.
“That’s the question I’m supposed to be asking you,” I said. This was the third estate sale I’d dragged him to in as many days. I hung back at this one, letting an older couple pick their way through the garage.
“I trust your eye,” he said. “If you like it, I’ll like it.”
The older couple was having the opposite conversation. The husband just commented how he liked a chair sitting in the corner and the wife told him, “No, you don’t.”
King laughed and kissed the back of my neck. “Snowbirds,” he said.
“What now?”
He took my hand and we walked back toward the kitchen. This was an older ranch home. The owner lived up north and had died there. Everything in the place was for sale, but so far, I hadn’t seen any real treasures.
“Snowbirds,” he said. “That couple and the lady who owned the place. They live in someplace like Michigan in the spring and summer then migrate down here to Florida as soon as it gets cold. They’re called snowbirds.”
“Ah.”
“They keep the businesses on the boardwalk in the black.” King sat down in a large winged, wicker chair. The thing wobbled and his eyes grew big. I put my hand over my mouth to muffle my laughter. He looked ridiculous in it.
“Come on,” I said, pulling him up by the hands. “Let’s get out of here. This one’s a bust. Too much rattan. Doesn’t suit you.”
We walked out the front door. King drew stares as he always did. I’d gotten used to the sight of him, towering over everyone in the room with his fierce gaze and leather cut. But, to those tourists not used to seeing him, he looked intimidating.
Two older men stood near King’s Harley, admiring it. He still hadn’t heard from Mikey about when the ‘36 El might be ready. King didn’t seem the least bit bothered by that. I knew he had mixed emotions about that bike. Other than the coffee can of ashes he still kept in the closet, that El was the last link to the man who’d caused him so much pain.
“Come on,” King said. “There’s someplace I’ve been meaning to take you.” He shot me a conspiratorial wink that set me a little on edge. It was an old habit I might not ever be able to break. But, for the last ten days, I’d felt as normal I had in over five years. I’d almost forgotten what it was like.
I climbed on the back of King’s bike and slid my arms around his waist. God, I loved this. Here, I could breathe in the intoxicating scent of King’s leather and feel the strength in his back. He rode fast and smooth down the coastal highway, the Harley becoming an extension of his body. The powerful engine rumbled between my legs, and I knew for King, riding gave him pleasure second only to sex. It was starting to become that way for me too.
We headed back toward Emerald Point. The ocean breeze whipped through my hair as King picked up speed. Riding with King was like sex in one other aspect as well. As the road signs whizzed by and my heart soared, I could close my eyes, shut out everything in the world except for King and me.
Just after reaching the city limits, King veered left, heading for the pier. I squeezed him around the waist. His muscles flexed and we pulled into a spot in front of a vacant storefront. There was a thriving coffee shop on one side of it and a gift shop on the other. King hooked his helmet over the handlebars and carved a hand through his unruly hair.
“Come on,” he said, holding his hand out to me. “I wanna show you something.”
We waved to the store owners peeking out of the windows in the other establishments, then King reached into his back pocket and pulled out a single key. He turned it into the lock in the vacant building and led me inside.
It was a huge space with oak floors throughout, a counter in the back, and some shelving on one wall. Beyond that, though, it was completely empty. I poked around in the back, looking for whatever mystery item King had wanted to show me, but there was nothing back there except for an empty storeroom and some cobwebs. When I came back into the main room, King stood in the middle with his head down, fumbling with his ring of keys.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Whatever was here before, it looks like the place has been picked clean.”
King lifted his head and shot me a devastating smile. He was up to something. As much as he told me my face was an open book, his was too right now. Expectation tingled along my spine and all of a sudden it got hard to breathe.
“It’s been empty for a while. The previous owners started a gallery for local artists. It was a good idea, but the market just wasn’t there to sustain long term.”
“Hmmm. I’m not surprised. It’s tough to make something like that last. You kno
w, they might have been better off expanding and making the artwork just one of the draws. Then of course you always have a problem figuring out a sustainable price point. Most artists struggle with the business part of it.”
I walked around and viewed the space with a different eye. It really was a great location for something. The back wall had a large window with a stunning view of the beach.
“Well, there’s part of the problem,” I said, heading for the window. “The other shops along this strip open to the beach side. That way they’re getting traffic from both directions. I wonder why nobody thought of that.”
King came to my side. “Hard to say. The old landlord’s been pretty selective with the tenants since then. There’s a new owner now and he’s looking for somebody with more of a business mind like you’re talking about.”
“I’ll bet.”
“He’s a reasonable guy though,” King continued. “He wouldn’t try to gouge somebody new.”
I nodded. “Well, then I suppose he’ll have no trouble finding the right fit. But King, what are we doing here? Is the landlord looking to remodel? You didn’t offer me up for a consult or anything, did you? I mean, that’s putting the cart before the horse. Even if I knew what kind of business was going in here, I’m not great with commercial space. I tried to tell Liza that the other day, but she still wants my input about the stage remodel at the Den. I’ll tell her what I think, but I’m not sure how much value my opinion has.”
“No,” he said. “I didn’t bring you here for a consult. But, I did hope you wouldn’t mind talking to the landlord and hearing what he has to say.”
King’s voice dropped. He circled his arms around my waist and pulled me to him until the back of my head rested on his chest. That tingly feeling spread through my limbs again.
“King?”
“Baby, I’m the landlord.”
I craned my neck to look up at him, but King kept his gaze out toward the beach. “What?”
“This place could be yours, Thea. You could build something here. A design shop all your own. This place could use something like that. There’s new construction going on all up and down the boardwalk. We have tourists here, sure, but Emerald Point is becoming more the place people come to live on the Emerald Coast. They vacation in Destin and some of the other beaches.”
My heart thundered in my chest. The ground felt like it might give way beneath me, but King held me. I couldn’t breathe.
“King,” I swallowed hard. “I can’t…”
He let me go and turned me to face him. His eyes held a stormcloud of emotions. It was too much. Too fast. The urge to run nearly overpowered me. But in the midst of it all, King stood before me, solid as a mountain. He worked a muscle in his jaw as he stared at me with the most earnest expression.
“Baby, you can. You can set roots here. You should have this. You should have something of your own that you can build.”
“King.” His name ripped from my lips. Tears clouded my vision, but I blinked them back. No. Not this. I couldn’t have this. It wasn’t safe. King could promise me the moon, but he’d never be able to keep it. Others had tried. My father had tried. But, the past always had a way of finding me and dragging me back down into the darkness again and destroying everyone I cared about.
“Thea, you don’t have to answer me this second. But I want you to promise me that you’ll really think about it. You don’t belong in Crystal Falls. You’re wasting your talent there, and you know it. You can be happy here. You are happy here. What you don’t have, I’ll give you. The club will provide.”
“You don’t understand.” God, how could I make him? How could I tell him the truth? Almost everything he believed about me was a lie. My father had been right. Caleb had been right. I couldn’t outrun anything. But, I’d stayed too long already.
“I do,” he said. “Thea, I do. The truth clings to you and you can’t even see it. But, I can. Someone hurt you. I get that. And we’ve been over this before. You’re safe now. You can stop running.”
Panic came to me, slamming me in the chest. I staggered backward as if King’s words delivered a physical blow.
“You don’t understand. Do you know how many times I’ve heard that before? The kind of pain that’s coming for me, King, not even you can stop it. I’ve been so stupid. Careless. I started to believe I could have things again. That I could be normal. But, I can’t. Because the last time I tried that, people got hurt. People I loved.”
“Thea?” King’s eyes were wild with pain. He grabbed me by the shoulders.
Tears flowed freely. God, I knew what I must look like to him. He had to think I was crazy. My father had thought I was crazy. But, we’d both underestimated the kind of evil that lurked inside of Caleb. Bile rose in my throat as those last few awful minutes played back in my mind.
The text he sent from my father’s phone had sounded so normal, so hopeful. I had no reason to think my father wasn’t the one who’d sent it. He’d made my favorite spaghetti dinner, just like when I was little. My mother had died so young I didn’t even remember her. But, my father had been all things to me. I never felt like I’d missed anything without her being there. When I walked into the house, the smell of his cooking took me back to the days when my biggest worry was what outfit I should wear to school.
Dad hadn’t died in the kitchen. The room was pristine with the pot of spaghetti warming on the stove. I’d stopped and dipped a ladle into taste the sauce. I could see my father’s arm draped over the side of his recliner and I thought he’d fallen asleep with a beer in his hand. But, when I got close my world fell apart. He sat there, staring forward with those sightless eyes, his t-shirt covered in blood. I didn’t realize until later that he hadn’t died there either. Caleb had used my father’s handgun and shot him in the temple. Then, Caleb had positioned him there in the chair, even putting the beer in the grip of one hand and the gun in the other. It was when I turned to scream, I saw Caleb sitting calmly on the other side of the room. He held a plate in his hand and twirled spaghetti on his fork.
“No,” I said. “King, I can’t. I can’t do this.”
“Do what? Be happy? Be normal? I promise you, there’s nothing out there more dangerous than me or my club, Thea. You can be safe. You are safe.”
I put a hand to my mouth. King finally let go of me. I took a step backward until my back pressed against the window. King dropped his shoulders, looking defeated. He moved away from me.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You’re not ready. I get it. I’m not trying to pressure you.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, willing my heart back into my chest. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just…”
“Too fast,” he answered for me. “Okay. Thea it really is okay.”
He came to me then, keeping his arms spread wide. He approached me in the same way you come to an unbroken colt. As if I were some wild thing that could bolt at any second. I guess I was. I hated myself for putting that pain into his eyes.
“I know,” I sniffled and let him come to me. I found a smile and looked up at him. “King, I know. And I’m sorry.” I wanted to say so many other things, most of all that I was trying to protect him too. For now though, he seemed content just to hold me.
“Let’s go back,” he said. “Let’s just go back to the house.” His voice took on a flat tone that broke me. God, I’d hurt him. It’s the last thing I wanted.
“Okay.” I kept my smile in place but knew I wasn’t fooling him.
King wrapped his arm around me and we walked out of the empty shop together. I stole a glance back at it as he revved his bike and we sped away.
I made dinner for us and we ate it out on the balcony as we watched the tide come in. Rusty ran along the beach pawing at the tiny crabs that were always just a little too fast for him. King was quiet, but he held my hand as we sat in silence. I wanted to tell him I was sorry, but was afraid it would hurt him even more. I was sorry, but not for the reason he thought. He was big a
nd strong and dangerous. I believed him that the club was something formidable. But, a formidable man had tried to protect me before. I couldn’t let another one pay the price.
As we sat there holding hands, I wanted desperately to tell King the truth. All of it. But then he’d take on my battles because that’s what noble men like King Jackson did. Dangerous though he may have been, I didn’t doubt he loved me. I loved him too. I’d known it for weeks but couldn’t bring myself to say it. There was another thing King didn’t deserve.
Later, he took me to bed and I held him while he fell asleep against my breast. He snored and it made me smile. It was so normal. When he finally rolled to his stomach and away from me, I slipped out of bed and went back down to the beach. Rusty stirred and followed me out. The dog took the lead from his master and usually stayed by my side now when King wasn’t right there. I scratched his head and dug my bare toes into the sand.
I pulled the new burner phone I’d gotten at the supermarket out of my pocket. That was a week ago and I hadn’t dared use it yet. I let my fingers play over the numbers then finally dialed. She answered on the third ring.
“Aunt Marie? I didn’t wake you up, did I?”
She yawned and laughed at the same time. “No, honey. I was watching an old Bette Davis movie on the classics channel. I don’t know, I just had a feeling you might call tonight. You always do when the moon is full. Did you know that?”
Laughing, I looked up. The moon in question hung low and bright, it’s twin mirrored in the calm seas that stretched before me. God, it was such a big world. Maybe finally, it was big enough for me to take a chance.
“No, I guess I didn’t realize that.”
“What’s that noise behind you, honey? Are you outside?”
I bit my lip against the urge to tell her where I was standing. I could imagine what she looked like right now, sitting on her couch in front of the television. She looked almost exactly like her brother, my father. She had straight, dark brows with no arch to them. It gave her a look of constant concern. In my case, I knew I’d given her cause.