by Lila Rose
No Way Out Copyright © 2015 by Lila Rose
All rights reserved. No part of this eBook or book may be used or reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without the permission from the author as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution, circulation or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly. Thank you for respecting the work of this author.
No Way Out is a work of fiction. All names, characters, events and places found in this book are either from the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons live or dead is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.
ISBN: 978-0-9925170-6-9
Editing & Formatting: Hot Tree Editing
Cover Design: Louisa at LM Creations
Cover Picture: Eric Battershell
Contents
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
To my street team, you have all helped me so much, not only with the title, but for Stoke’s first name. I really appreciate all your help and support. Thank you. (Malinda, thanks for letting me steal your name)
Neringa, I actually named Nary, Malinda’s daughter, after you, because not a day goes by that you haven’t shared my work in some way. Thank you for being such a wonderful, thoughtful person.
Lindsey Lawson, you, like many, have been here from the start. I appreciate everything you do and thank the high Heaven you entered my very first giveaway because it wouldn’t be the same without your friendship.
Becky at Hot Tree Editing, working with you is always a pleasure. If it wasn’t for your wise advice, I honestly doubt my work would be any good. And thanks to Sue, Debbie and Jill for your beta reading skills.
Josie and Becky at Hot Tree Promotions, thank you for all you do. You work so hard and I am thankful for it every time!
Justine Littleton, people must be getting sick of seeing your name in my acknowledgments, but I have to thank you every time. Not only are you a great, amazing friend, but you’re also my brain. I love having you to run things by. Thanks for always being there!
BJ Harvey, Simone Nicole and Mary Manfield, I freakin’ love you, ladies, and our chats.
To the lunch ladies, Colleen, Penny, Simone, Amity, Sarah Amity and Sarah #2, if it wasn’t for you ladies, I’d be stuck in my own little bubble and wouldn’t do anything. Love the times we have lunch and talk books.
Rachel Morgan, you are the perfect sister. Not only do I have your love and support, but you also give me the best friendship I have ever had. I suppose I should also thank your pain-in-the-arse husband, Andrew Morgan, as well. Well, this is the only time. Andrew, thank you for letting me drag Rachel away. Thank you for not hanging up on me, and thanks for your support.
Mum (Nanette Parsons), thank you for your constant support, for reading my work, even if sometimes it drives you to seek therapy. Love you, Ma!
Christine, Harry, Mathew, Christopher and Jessica, thank you for all your encouragement.
Robyn, Wyatt and my annoying brother, Darren, thanks for believing in me.
Always, a huge thank you to my husband, Craig (tool man), my daughter Shayla, and my son Jake.
Dedication
To my sweet, smart, beautiful niece, Casey Ford.
Love you heaps, girl. I’m so proud with what you have already accomplished in life. Love the times you come and stay with us, and our usual ritual of watching scary movies…though sometimes, I could do without that.
Chapter One
Stoke
Another brother laid in the ground. I fuckin’ hated this shit. Tank passed a week earlier, and we—his biker brethren—were learning, while sitting in the funeral home, that Tank had a lot of secrets.
And one such secret got him killed.
Another secret shocked the fuck outta all of us.
And that secret sat up at the front of the church, as the funeral director droned on and on about God, Tank and his life.
Tank was one man in the club who I didn’t get along with, but still, he was a brother, and I wanted to show my respect for that, which was why I was there.
It was no secret that Tank was shifty, rude, and a bastard to women. But still, he always had our backs, no matter the situation. He loved to party hard, fuck harder and live life on the edge.
Which was how he got himself killed.
Talon knew more about Tank. He was a friend of Tank’s, yet, he still didn’t know everything there was to know. It was obvious no one in our club did.
Or else someone would have known the fucker was married, and that he was leaving behind two teenage children.
The service finished and we all moved outside. I stood in a group with Talon, Wildcat, Griz, Deanna, Killer, Chatter, Blue and his woman, of a year, Clary.
“Did anyone know about her?” Blue asked.
A negative note was shared among us.
Looking over Griz’s shoulder, my eyes landed on her. Fuck, she was gorgeous. No, I didn’t know her at all, but hell, my body wanted to know her in more ways than one.
What a dick move. Thinking of fucking her just as she has put her husband to rest.
Not my fault, she’s stunning.
Licking my bottom lip, my eyes travelled over her body where she stood near the doors to the funeral home, as if she was waiting for someone. Her long, light brown hair shone in the late sun’s rays. Her curvy body called for my hands. Her green eyes were red rimmed, but I saw no tears, and since I watched her through the service, I noticed only her children cried quietly at her side. Her body gave no indication that she had cried at all.
Maybe she was fighting it. Maybe she’d break when others weren’t around.
Though, for some reason, I had an inkling that wasn’t the case.
“Someone needs to bring her into the fold,” Wildcat declared.
“Kitten,” Talon started.
“No, Honey, look at her. She’s standing there protecting her kids, but no one, and I mean no one, has approached her or spoken to her. So, in other words, no one has her back.”
Talon rubbed a hand down his face and sighed. “Fuck. Fine. Go do your shit.” With that, she beamed, and Wildcat and her posse of pussies started for Tank’s misses.
We all watched on, and I was sure we all noticed when Tank’s lady saw the women approaching, because her whole body stiffened. Her walls were coming up. I couldn’t help but wonder why.
Zara held out her hand. Tank’s woman looked down at it and said something, bringing her kids closer to her body. Kids who looked to be around about thirteen and sixteen if I had to hazard a guess, the thirteen-year-old a boy and the sixteen-year-old a girl. Both were glaring up at Wildcat and her posse.
She shook her head at whatever Zara said and Deanna stepped forward. I cringed. Hell Mouth was never one to go smooth, or soft, and from the woman’s wide
eyes, Hell Mouth had just fucked up. Chatter quickly stepped forward and said something, which went on for a while. Again, she shook her head and said something back. That was when her eyes looked over Zara and landed on our group.
The women turned toward us. Clary was the first to turn back to the woman and say something, causing her to smile slightly, but again, she shook her head.
They were bombing out big time.
It was then the funeral director came out and the widow turned her and her kids away from the pussy posse, and started talking to him.
Wildcat, with a worried look upon her usually smiling face, turned around and started back toward us. In fact, all the women looked as though they were sad or worried.
As soon as they reached us, I asked, “What in the fuck just went down?”
After boss man folded Wildcat into his arms, she said, “She doesn’t want anything to do with us.”
“How’s that, kitten?”
“She’s saying she’d just rather be left alone, not that she doesn’t appreciate us wanting to lend her a helping hand, but she’s fine with her life as is. I get a feeling she doesn’t like bikers.”
A thought came to me.
“It’s time for reinforcements,” I said. Talon looked to me, and I added, “Call him. Wildcat, keep an eye on her. If she makes a move to leave, stall…”
“Malinda,” Ivy supplied.
With a chin lift, I added, “Stall Malinda until he gets here.” It wasn’t right the woman was on her own after such a hard situation.
“Right.” She nodded. Her and her posse walked closer toward Malinda.
Fucking stunning name. Malinda.
“Jesus, are you sure?” Blue asked.
“He’s good at getting in. If anyone can crawl past her walls, it’s him.”
They all nodded. Talon lifted his phone, pushed a button and put it to his ear. After a second, he spoke into it. “We have a situation. We need you here. Yes, right, okay. Fuck, serious? Yeah. Fine.” Talon hung up and groaned. “He’ll be here soon.”
While we waited, we watched. Thankfully, the funeral director kept Malinda involved in a conversation until we spotted our reinforcement jogging toward us.
“Hey, my lovin’ bunch of men. You call and I’m here. What do you need from me besides my body?” Julian asked as he stopped beside Talon.
We all sighed. Julian was the equivalent of an over-excited puppy where you wished he’d just grow the fuck up and stop being annoying. The only problem with that was Julian was never going to grow up. Still, he was useful, and in tense moments, he knew how to relax them. I hated to fuckin’ say it, and there was no way in hell I would ever tell him, but at times like these, he was good to have around.
Griz filled him in on the situation, and at the end, Julian gripped his chest and a sob tore through him.
“Christ, here we go,” Killer mumbled. I chuckled beside him.
“Oh, my God. It warms my gay heart that you all wanted me here to help. Do you think I could patch in the club now, become a member?”
“Julian,” Talon growled.
“I was kidding.” He smiled and looked over to Malinda. “That beautiful, poor woman. Don’t worry about a thing. This gay mama bear will take care of her. Though, we’ll need to talk about a payment.”
“Fuck no! I already agreed you can take the women out on a girls’ night, which will no fuckin’ doubt end in trouble. Now, you do this or I’ll tell Matthew about you offering free butt massages to my brothers.”
Julian glared at Talon. “You are a cruel man, Thor. But alas, my boy-toy already knows about that.”
“Do you think he wants a reminder?” Talon smirked.
“No,” Julian snapped. “You know it took him a month to get over it.” With that, he spun on his heels and trotted over to Malinda and the funeral director. There, he interrupted and introduced himself. The funeral director soon took off, maybe finding Julian a little too much. From then, we watched as Julian flamboyantly worked his magic and had, within seconds, the kids laughing and Malinda smiling.
Now that was a fucking glorious sight to see.
“Women are fucking powerless against him,” Griz grumbled.
“Why do they Goddamn love him?” Killer asked.
“Because he brings sunshine into our lives,” Clary offered as the women walked up to us. Each man secured their women within their arms.
I did not want any of that shit.
Sex. That was all I cared about.
I’d been stung once, with Helen, Chatter’s friend. She was down with gettin’ it on with me, but then she realised a biker man wasn’t for her. Instead, she went for some uppity college dude, which I didn’t know until I found them in bed together. After that, she turned a cold shoulder on me, and since then, hasn’t been in Chatter’s life as much.
Love and emotional shit was not worth the fucking trouble.
Sticking to just random fuck partners was better.
Then no one got hurt.
Even though I was watching Malinda and I had a need to look out for her, it was all for one reason. I wanted to fuck her.
At least that was what I told myself.
However, from the stormy look, not only from her but her kids, when they glanced in my direction, it was going to be a hard hunt to partake.
I smiled my megawatt smile and she actually cringed.
Well, fuck!
I then felt like a prick once again because I was trying to con onto her at her fucking husband’s funeral.
Yeah, not my best bloody move.
She wasn’t going to be worth it, not with kids in tow anyway. I’d never fucked a woman who had kids, so why did I want to start?
I wasn’t.
Forget about her and her Goddamn lips that already looked swollen as if she’d been kissed thoroughly.
Forget about her hand on Julian’s arm as she smiled shyly up at him. Because I wanted that hand on me and I wanted to rip Julian’s arm right off his fucking body for letting her have her hand on him when it should be on me.
Christ. Fuck that shit.
I needed to get out of there and find some dumb bitch to take my hard cock, since it had pulsated the moment I laid eyes on Malinda.
Just as I was about to say a goodbye, I spotted Julian trotting our way as Malinda led her kids in the other direction.
A smiling Julian stopped beside Griz and announced, “How good am I? Anyone who wants to bow down and kiss my feet may.”
Hell Mouth snorted. “No thanks, but you can tell us what went down.”
“Malinda and her son, Josh, and her daughter, Nary, are coming to the barbeque tomorrow to celebrate the life of her husband, Tank, at the compound.”
“What barbeque?” Wildcat asked.
Julian grinned wide. “The one you now have to organise so we can bring the introvert Malinda and her monsters into our fold. She needs this. Her children need this because I have a feeling they are a handful, and Malinda is at her wit’s end. With her hubby now gone, she’ll need all the help we can give her.”
“You are amazing.” Clary giggled.
“Oh, buttercup, thank you. And I think as my reward, I should get a kiss on the cheek from every biker in the club.” He tapped his cheek and tilted his head toward Griz.
“No fucking way,” Griz growled.
“All right, my women,” Zara called. “In light of my hubby losing a brother and in light of taking more into our posse, it’s time to get things organised for this get together tomorrow. Who’s with me?” She put her hand in the middle of our circle. Ivy was the first to lay hers on top, then Julian, then Clary and they all turned to look at Hell Mouth.
“Jesus fucking Christ, all right.” She lay her hand on top and they all took off after layin’ some love on their partners.
Once they were out of earshot, Talon turned to us. “Tonight, we meet. We need to figure out all the shit that Tank was involved in. Figure out if his death is cause for us to retaliate, and we ne
ed to figure the fuck out if whatever he did, will bring crap to Malinda’s doorstep.”
With a chin lift, we parted. There was no way I was missing that meet.
Chapter Two
Malinda
My husband had died. I should be grieving but I wasn’t. I should be upset; yet, I wasn’t, even though I had just buried him.
Why?
I knew the answer. It was hard to take, to understand, and some people wouldn’t. They’d see me as some cold-hearted bitch. But I wasn’t. At least I didn’t think I was.
Cry dammit.
Nope, nothing.
Feel…but I didn’t. I felt nothing.
I pinched myself hard. There we go. My eyes started to water.
Only to stop.
Christ.
Terry May, also known as Tank, and I were married when we were both eighteen, when I first become pregnant with our daughter, Nary. In the beginning, our marriage was blissful. He treated me as if I was the most precious person in his life. He worked hard, but still, when he came home, he had time for both Nary and myself. Two years later, Josh came into our lives; again, things were going along great. Yes, we had our little fights, but nothing we both couldn’t handle or work through.
It wasn’t long after Josh was born when Tank told me he was leaving his old biker club and joining a new one, the Hawks. He thought highly of them, and I wasn’t one to argue over a matter like that, not when he was happy to be a part of a club in the first place.
Things changed from there. It was little things to start with. He’d come home drunk, and when Josh would wake from the noise Tank was making, he would become angry, yell and then climb into bed fully-clothed only to pass out. The following day, he wouldn’t rise until very late. He be cranky and want to leave the house as soon as he could. I asked him many times what was going on, but he wouldn’t tell me. He told me nothing, other than that it wasn’t any of my business.