by Blair Grey
“Good, I’m glad you think you’ve found the culprits,” he said. He paused. “I’m still wishing I could figure out the link between the two of them, though. Why Mia and then Eric? Do you have any idea?” I almost felt like this was some kind of test. Like he had a theory in the back of his mind.
But whatever it was, I had no clue. Coming up with motives…that had always been something Landon was good at. Not for the first time, I wished he was here with me. Maybe if I called him and filled him in on all of this, he’d have some insights.
I wasn’t sure if I could do that, though. He undoubtedly had problems of his own to deal with as the new vice president of the Sarasota Red Eyes chapter. We might have cleaned up the Mambas, but that was only one of the problems on Neil’s plate when we had arrived there. They also needed more members—especially members with a bit of bulk to them, who were no strangers to fighting. Plus, they needed to win back all that territory that the Mambas had lost them.
No, he probably had plenty on his plate without me dumping my problems on him as well. I fought not to sigh.
“I don’t know why they went after Mia and then Eric,” I said, glancing over at Grant and wondering if he had any idea. But he looked just as blank and confused as I felt. I shrugged. “Anyway, things should be back to normal soon. I doubt they’ll ignore our warning.”
“Good,” Ray said approvingly. “You should know, though, that I’ll be sending Mia out of town for a week or so. Until this is all behind us. I talked to her and Candice this afternoon about it.”
I felt my heart start to thump. “Is something wrong?” I asked. “Did those bastards do something else to her?” If they had so much as laid a finger on her, I was going to drive straight back to that dirty apartment and castrate those motherfuckers.
I was actually surprised at the depth of my feelings. It was like I was ready to do whatever it took to make sure that Mia was safe. But she wasn’t my girlfriend. I wasn’t her white knight to go charging off to fight all her battles for her.
She had proven time and again that she could fight her own battles. I could tell that she wouldn’t want me to interfere with whatever was going on. But apparently, Ray had a free pass? He could just send her out of town, and away she would go? I couldn’t decide if I was jealous or not. It was a stupid thing because, of course, I was well conditioned to do what Ray told me to do as well. But all the same, I hated to think that Mia would listen to him and not to me.
The most important thing, though, was knowing that she was safe. My heart was still beating fast, just thinking that she might have been in some sort of duress while my eyes were turned elsewhere with Grant. Maybe there was more than one window-breaker around.
But Ray was shaking his head. “Nah, they didn’t do anything else. She just needs some time away.”
I gnawed at my lower lip. I didn’t like the idea of Mia being gone for a week or more. But at the same time, it was probably a good idea, getting her out of town. Then, even if these sons of bitches wanted to try to mess with her some more, they wouldn’t be able to.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I said to Ray. “That’s probably for the best.”
Ray narrowed his eyes at me. “You want to tell me what’s going on between the two of you?” he asked.
I glanced at Grant. “Between the two of us?” I asked, even though I knew that was in no way what Ray was referencing.
“How did you know about Mia’s broken window?” he asked.
I shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. “I was over at her place on Friday night, and I saw it,” I admitted to Ray. Sure, I could have told him that I had seen it while I was at the bar or something like that. But I was a lousy liar, especially when it came to Ray. “She and I have been hanging out some.” Leave it at that.
Ray looked amused, but he let it lie. “All right,” he said. “Make sure you keep me informed of anything else that you find out about. Or of any other changes in your personal life that might affect either Mia’s safety or yours.”
I nodded and then hightailed it out of there before he could ask anything else. Grant laughed the whole way out of headquarters. “You’re pretty good friends with Ray, huh?” he asked as we headed to the parking lot.
I shrugged and glanced over at Grant, remembering what he had said before about feeling like the outcast. “Hey, you keep doing what you did today, and you’ll be friends with him, too, soon enough,” I promised, even though I wasn’t sure if that was true.
Despite the fact that Grant had definitely been there for me that day, I couldn’t help wondering if he had what it took in the long run. He said that the reason he had hesitated for so long was that he thought I expected him to kill that ringleader. Not only did that show that Grant didn’t really understand what we were about or how to keep Red Eyes safe, but it also showed that same hesitance toward violence that I had noticed before.
That could still come back to bite him in the ass at some point. I still wasn’t sure that he was fit for this life. He at least still had a lot to learn.
But I didn’t find myself minding his presence quite as much lately, and maybe that was a sign that things could change.
18
Mia
I had nearly finished packing for this trip that Ray wanted me to take when someone knocked on the door. I frowned, wondering who that could possibly be. For a moment, I felt a bubble of worry inside of me. It couldn’t possibly be Darren, could it? Maybe he had broken the window, given me a few days to relax, and then decided to implement the next part of this plan that Candice was sure he was concocting.
Maybe. But probably not. It was just as likely to be a door-to-door marketer or a missionary. Something totally benign.
I definitely didn’t expect to see Braxton standing on my front porch, though. In fact, his presence was enough to make me check my phone because I was sure I must have missed a message from him. But when I checked, there were no missed calls or texts. I frowned at him. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I’m here to take you away from town for a week or two,” Braxton said, grinning at me. “If you think you can stand it of course.”
I blinked at him. “What?” I asked. “Does Ray know about this?”
“Sure, it was his idea,” Braxton said. “I thought you knew all about it. He wants you to get out of town for a little while until whoever broke your window is out of town for good.”
“No, I knew about that,” I said, shaking my head. “I was there when he and Candice came up with that idea. But I didn’t realize that you were going to be going with me.”
“Neither did I,” Braxton said, shrugging. “I talked to Ray yesterday, and he just said that you were going to go away for a little while. This morning, I gave him a call back and pointed out that if he was worried about your safety, it was probably better that you didn’t go off on your own. So I volunteered to be your bodyguard.”
“Won’t they need you here to help catch whoever is doing the window breaking?” I fretted, remembering what he had said about Red Eyes losing too many members recently.
Braxton shook his head, though. “Nah, I’ve already done my fair share of the work,” he said. “I think we found the guy, and we gave him his first warning to get out of town yesterday. If he needs a second warning, Ray’s got plenty of guys he can call on for that. It’s the sort of thing that he could call in some of the auxiliary members to help with, and they would get him out of town. No one wants business being interfered with all over town.”
“Auxiliary members?” I asked, before deciding that I didn’t really want to know anything about them. “Good, I guess it’s a good thing that you can come with me,” I said, even though I wasn’t really sure how I felt about all of this. Go on a road trip with Braxton? I guess that gave me my answer of whether or not Ray knew about Braxton and me, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about that either. Did Braxton lead him to believe that we were actually dating, or did he own up to the fact that we were just sleeping tog
ether? I wasn’t sure which would be worse.
“You don’t sound very excited,” Braxton said, his eyes twinkling.
“I don’t even know where we’re going,” I pointed out.
“If it’s okay with you, I was thinking Florida,” Braxton said. “That would give me the chance to go see Landon, and we’ve got a house all set up over there already. Plus, you’d get to spend some of your vacation on the beach. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do on vacation?”
I was unable to help grinning at how excited he was. I had a feeling he didn’t know the real reason why I had to get out of town. Ray hadn’t told him about Darren my crazy ex. I was glad about that. Relieved. Obviously, I had been with other guys in the past. Braxton had to realize that. We were both old enough that we had histories.
But at the same time, I didn’t want to talk about Darren with Braxton.
“Didn’t you say that the drive between here and Florida is super boring?” I asked.
“It is, so make sure you bring a book,” Braxton said seriously.
I rolled my eyes. “You are so not selling me on this road trip idea,” I said, but I couldn’t help laughing. “All right, let me grab my things, and we can get on the road.”
I should have realized that it wouldn’t be that easy, though.
“I’m actually really surprised that Ray would send you away,” Braxton said while we ate our lunch at a small, roadside steakhouse. “It’s usually not his style.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, Candice is the one who suggested it,” I said, hoping that didn’t dig the hole even deeper. “I guess she was just super worried when she found out that someone had broken my window. She’s like a protective mama bear sometimes.”
“That’s good,” Braxton said.
I laughed. “Sometimes,” I agreed. “But sometimes, it’s enough to make me crazy.”
It wasn’t just that I didn’t want to tell Braxton about Darren. It had nothing to do with having exes and talking about them with Braxton. The real truth, I realized, was that I was worried about what Braxton might do if I told him about Darren.
Braxton was already trying his best to look out for me. He had volunteered to watch my car while I was at work, and now he was helping me get out of town for a little while. Acting as my bodyguard. He wanted to make sure I was safe.
What would he do if he found out that my ex-boyfriend was probably to blame for the broken window? If he found out that Darren periodically still came by the bar to check up on me and make sure that I wasn’t getting too close to anyone? That the man might actually be stalking me if Candice was right?
I didn’t imagine that Braxton would take the news well. And I knew that he could take Darren in a fight. I wasn’t worried about Braxton getting hurt. I was worried about him getting in trouble. I didn’t want to bring the law down on Braxton’s head, and it would be just like Darren to press charges if Braxton beat him up. Especially if it meant that Darren could keep Braxton away from me, locked away in jail for assault or whatever.
I didn’t want Braxton to get into trouble. So I didn’t tell him about Darren.
Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to Darren to sic Braxton on him. Braxton could easily take the other man in a fight, and in spite of the window incident—even if it could be proved that Darren had been the one to break my car window—I didn’t actually think that Darren would hurt me.
Sure, he had this insane crush on me that he wouldn’t let go even after we had been broken up for a while. And Candice was sure that he was crazy enough to do anything. But I kept thinking back to the Darren I had first started dating. I didn’t actually think he was all that crazy. He was just upset that he had lost me.
It was his own fault after all. He probably thought that there was still some way for him to make amends, to make things right between us. If he was just good enough to me, I would take him back. Something like that.
I couldn’t fault the man for trying. I kind of wished he’d stop, but not enough that I would send Braxton after him with fists flying. I didn’t need to tell Braxton about him now, while we were close enough that Braxton could do Darren some serious damage.
Later, I promised myself. We would be in Florida soon enough, and once there was a whole country between us, there would be a limit to what Braxton could do. Oh, I was sure he’d be right on his way back to Las Cruces as soon as I told him, but there would be enough distance there that he would have to cool off a little before he made it back. Then maybe he wouldn’t do something that he’d otherwise regret.
For now, let’s just keep driving across the country together, making the most of our time together.
As though he were reading my thoughts, Braxton smiled at me. “Well, whatever reason Ray had for sending you out of town, I’m pretty glad it happened,” he said. “We’ll be in Florida soon, and then I’m going to show you a good time. You won’t even believe how good.”
I grinned at him. “I like the sound of that,” I said.
I could tell he didn’t mean just beaches either. No, he really wanted to show me a good time, and I knew exactly what that meant with him. I felt a shiver run down my spine, and I automatically pressed my legs together. I would have to tell him about Darren sooner or later, but maybe for now, I could just enjoy the way that things were going. Where was the harm in that, really?
19
Braxton
After a couple long days of driving, we finally reached Florida. To be honest, even though there had been plenty of hours of driving over the past couple days, the time had actually passed pretty quickly. I liked having Mia there in the car with me. We chatted some, and I liked listening to her sing along to the radio a few times. But even when she was just quietly reading her book or looking out at the scenery, there was the unmistakable feeling of companionship.
I’d been missing that, ever since I’d left Landon behind in Florida a few weeks ago. It was good to have Mia there with me, keeping me company.
To be honest, I still had mixed feelings about being here with Mia. I hadn’t been lying when I suggested to Ray that she might need some sort of bodyguard with her if there was some big, secret reason why he needed to send her away. I mean, I knew about the car window, but I also knew that we weren’t sending Eric away on a weeklong holiday because his shop window had been broken.
There had to be something more to it, but neither Ray nor Mia were saying anything.
So I was sure that she probably needed some sort of protection with her, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about leaving Las Cruces in such a critical time. I knew that Ray could handle things, though. I had given him all the information that I had about the window-breaker already. He could handle following up on that and making sure the guy had left town.
There were plenty of other guys who could help out. Even if Ray had to call in Will or someone else “retired” for reinforcements. They could do without me.
I just hated the idea of missing out on the action. That’s what it really came down to. I wasn’t sure that I had made the right decision in leaving, but I also knew that there was nowhere I would rather be than here with Mia, making sure that she was safe. If I hadn’t been the one to come, if someone else had brought her here to Florida for the week, I would have spent the whole week wondering about her. Worrying about her.
It was better like this. Much better.
It would be good to see Landon, too, I knew. I felt kind of silly coming back to see him already, but we’d gone from being pretty much inseparable to never seeing each other at all. It was no surprise that after just a few weeks, I might miss him like this.
I wondered how things were going between him and Anne. For all I knew, Landon would take one look at me and decide that he was better off in Las Cruces. That their relationship had run its course and that it was time to head back home. I knew that that was wishful thinking. I really did want Landon to be happy, but I couldn’t help imagining driving back to Las Cruces together.
Mia would be there with us, though. And even though I knew that she and Landon got along, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe it was a good thing that Landon had stayed here in Sarasota with Anne. It had given me the space to start something with Mia after all. I wasn’t saying that I never would have slept with her if Landon had been there, but I had never slept with her before Landon left, and I had to assume that that meant something.
“God, I can’t wait to get out of this car,” Mia said as we reached the city limits. She stretched as much as she could in the limited space, and I grinned sidelong at her.
“I know the perfect place for dinner too,” I told her. “It’s this great little diner that I found while I was out here. You’ll love it, I’m sure. Good homey food.”
“Sounds perfect.” Mia sighed. “Let’s head there first. Otherwise, I’m just going to fall into bed and not make it out for dinner.”
I laughed. “That’s probably a good idea,” I said, leering over at her. “You’re going to need your strength when you fall into bed because after two days of being in close proximity in the car, I’m not going to be able to keep my hands off you.”
Mia made a soft, punched-out sound of lust, and it took all my willpower to drive us to the diner as agreed upon. God, I couldn’t wait to get her into bed.
“So have you told Landon we’re here?” Mia asked as we waited for our food to come out.
I shook my head. “I actually haven’t even told him that we were on the way out here,” I admitted. “I wanted to surprise him.”
Mia cocked her head to the side, studying me as she played with her straw. “Is that the only reason?” she asked, and I should have known that I couldn’t hide anything from her. This whole not-relationship thing between us might be relatively new, but she had known me for a while now. And she, no doubt, had picked up some of Candice’s incredible ability to read body language.