by Brook Wilder
Tex nodded his head. She was probably right. There was a chain of command, even in a gang. Especially in a gang. And Rocko was most definitely at the bottom.
“I need to come up with a new plan,” Lori whispered suddenly, and Tex wasn’t sure she was even aware that she’d spoken out loud. “I still have some pills from Robbie. Maybe I could call Kyle again.”
“No!” Tex said, then cleared his throat as the guy sitting next to him gave him a frowning look. “I mean. Not that type of beer. The other one.”
Lori looked at him wide eyed for a moment, then nodded. A moment later she was pushing some ale in front of him, though damned if either knew what it was.
“Not Kyle,” Tex whispered. “Just let me think.”
Lori nodded, then got back to work. It was tricky. She was desperate to treat him just like any other customer, so as not to draw Gears’ attention. And that resulted in them only being able to have snippets of stolen conversation whenever he ordered a drink. It wasn’t the most efficient way to have a conversation, so it wasn’t until over an hour later that he was finally able to spell out his plan.
He’d sat there and watched the club steadily fill with bikers, and now the night was in full swing, even for a Thursday. The weekend would be even busier, and that’s when he would strike.
“I have something,” he whispered as he placed another order, the fourth in the last hour.
Lori just raised her brows. A small message to let him know that she was listening.
“I think I should sell the pills here. At the club. You could move them all in one night, easy.”
She finally looked up at him, surprise in her hazel eyes.
“I thought you said it was too dangerous for me. You said I shouldn’t even try to sell here.”
“I said it was too dangerous for you. But you wouldn’t be selling them. I would. No one knows me here. It’s packed, anyway. And it would be easy enough for me to move the product without anyone getting suspicious.”
“But Gears…”
“…wouldn’t have to know a damn thing.”
Tex nodded his head, fleshing out the plan in his thoughts.
“Trust me, sweetheart. This will work. I’ll sell the pills and then you’ll have a little more cash at least.”
“Not enough. Not yet.”
“Maybe not. But it’s something.”
Tex nodded again, his mind already made up. Lori looked at him for a long moment, studying him, and it made him uncomfortable, that look.
“Why are you helping me?”
Tex was struck dumb by her sudden question, mostly because he didn’t have an easy answer. He had an easy answer for everything, but not that. The reason was far too tangled and convoluted for him to make sense of, especially after a few beers.
Tex was saved from having to answer by Gears sidling up to the bar. But it was more a curse than a blessing. He shot Tex a suspicious glare, but then was all smiles as he turned to Lori.
“The club is busy tonight. Make sure you’re doing your job. For all the customers.”
“Of-f course, Gears.”
She shot him a wincing look and turned away. Tex hated to see the way she cringed before the other man.
Gears watched Lori for a long moment. Tex also hated the possessive look in the man’s eye. And then, suddenly, Gears was turning towards him, the smile long gone.
“I’ve never seen you here before.”
“Really?” Tex said easily with a slow, sarcastic grin. “I guess that makes sense. I’m new to the area. Hard to see me if I’ve never been here before.”
“Are you now?” Gears said, frowning harder now. “You remind me of someone. He was a smart ass just like you. He’s part of the Devil’s Martyrs crew. And they aren’t welcome in this bar.”
“Well, I don’t know anything about any devils, or martyrs, so…”
Tex just forced his grin even wider. He tipped the half full beer in the other man’s direction.
“If you don’t mind... I like to drink in peace.”
Gears scowled but eventually turned away, muttering under his breath as he walked back to his table. But Tex felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as the man’s eyes continued to track from Tex to Lori and back again.
Just one night. He needed one night to move all the pills and give Lori a better chance to get out from under Gears’ thumb.
He just hoped one night would be enough.
Chapter 21
“Are you sure about this?” Lori asked for what must have been the hundredth time in the past ten minutes alone.
Tex rolled his eyes at her, for what must have been the fiftieth.
“Jesus, sweetheart. It’ll be fine. Any fallout will be on me, not on you. You have nothing to worry about.”
Tex just hoped that was true. He’d gone back and forth all day over whether this plan of his was worth the risk.
The only problem with it was that he didn’t have a better one. He sure as hell wasn’t about to let Lori sell them. He could only imagine what Gears would do if he caught her. The man was obviously unstable. He wanted to get Lori as far away from him as possible.
“Did you bring them?” he finally asked.
It was now or never. No point in waiting around in this piss-smelling alley all night. Not when there were plenty of paying customers inside.
Lori nodded, finally handing over a small bag that she had slung over her shoulder.
“Do you really think you can sell them all tonight?”
Tex glanced at the bag, feeling the weight. There were more pills there than he had expected, but he could try. And if he didn’t sell them all in one night, he’d come back the next night and the next...
He tried to tell himself that this was only to sell the drugs and not because, even though he was standing right in front of her, he already wanted to see her again. And again. Part of it, he knew, was a desire not to leave her alone with Gears.
Even thought it was Friday and the club would be packed, he hated the idea of her being anywhere near that unstable asshole. He’d seen the look in the other guy’s eyes and it still had fury bubbling in his blood. It had been possession. Pure and simple. Gears looked at her like an object, an object that belonged to him and to him alone.
“I better get back in there,” Lori said suddenly, drawing his attention back to her.
She was wearing curve hugging jeans and a tank top that flashed her midriff when she moved just right. It was going to drive him god-damned crazy all night, just that teasing flash of what he’d seen all of, he’d touched all of, just a few nights before. He had also spent all day trying to come up with ways to get Lori back in his bed.
“Tex? You still with me? Hello…?” Lori waved her hand in front of his face and Tex hurriedly cleared his throat.
“What? What was that?”
Jesus, she distracted him. Like no one else he’d ever met before, she tied his thoughts up in knots.
“I said I have to go back inside. Gears will start to wonder where I am.”
She had a soft smile on her lips and she was staring up at him with those big eyes of hers. There was something shining in them, something that took him off guard.
Trust. She trusted him.
Impulsively, he pulled her close, pressing his mouth against hers. He kissed her long and hard, not letting go until they were both breathless.
“Stop worrying so much,” Tex whispered, his voice low and husky.
Lori snorted, shaking her head.
“That’s easy for you to say, cowboy.”
But that smile was still there and the concern was gone from her expression.
He took a single step, ready to follow her in, but his phone buzzed in his pocket, stalling him.
Lori paused, throwing him a questioning look over her shoulder, but he just waved her on.
“You go ahead inside. I’ll be right in. Just got to take this.”
Lori nodded, walking out of the alley and into the Grim Rider
’s club.
Biting back an irritated curse, Tex answered the phone.
“This better be good,” he said gruffly.
Porky just snorted at him from the other end of the phone call.
“Believe me, it’s good,” his friend said, the other man’s voice rife with sarcasm but, a second later, all serious and businesslike. “We have to make a run tonight. We have a major drop off in San Lucas.”
“San Lucas?” Tex said, his brows rising. “That’s way south, basically on the border.”
“Yeah, no shit.” Porky said, snorting again.
Tex could practically see the big man shaking his head in derision.
“This is a major job, Tex. It’s not just a drop. We’re going to be making some connection while were down there, so make sure you pack for a couple weeks.”
“Weeks?”
“Jesus, are you a parrot or something. Yes, weeks. I told you, this is major. Like, promotion in the crew major if we can pull this off.”
“Look, Porky, I need a couple hours.” Tex said slowly.
“We gotta leave tonight, Tex. We’re on a tight timeline as it is.”
“I know. I get it. Believe me, I do. But… It’s Lori. I can’t leave her yet, Porky. I just need a few hours. Can you make that happen? Please? She needs me, Porky. I can’t just leave like that.”
There was a long moment of silence from the other end of the line, then he heard Porky sigh and nearly grinned.
“Alright. A couple hours. But that’s it. I’ll go to Robbie’s and get what we need. Where are you at?”
“The Reaper.”
Porky whistled through his teeth.
“This chick is really getting you in deep, isn’t she?”
Tex opened his mouth to deny it but Porky was already talking again.
“Okay. I’ll get everything together and meet you at the Reaper. Just be ready to ride.”
“Always.”
Porky snorted again but didn’t say anything else before hanging up the phone.
After a few seconds Tex did the same. He started the slow walk towards the front door of The Reaper club, but his mind was miles away. A plan was starting to form. A plan that could help Lori get out from under Gears’ thumb for good.
His stomach clenched tightly. The only problem was it meant leaving her alone with the creep while he was gone. She was strong, though, and she would have Carrie to look out for her.
Weeks, Porky had said. Maybe he could make it back sooner than that. Maybe his plan would work out. Maybe Lori would be alright while he was gone.
It was a lot of fucking maybes, but he didn’t have any other options.
He wondered, not for the first time, why he cared so much. Tex shook off the question. He didn’t have an answer, not even for himself. But he knew he did care. That was all that mattered to him.
Tonight, he would try and sell as much as he could and get Lori the money she so desperately needed. Tomorrow?
Well, he would just have to wait and see.
Chapter 22
“Hey, Shortcake. Can I get another shot of Jack?”
Lori nodded at the customer, a big guy with a leather jacket, the Grim Riders patch emblazoned on the back, and a tough-looking expression on his face.
“Sure thing.”
She poured the shot and slapped it on the bar in front of him. His face broke in a big, friendly smile and he passed Lori a bill.
“Thanks, Lori.”
He turned away and Lori shook her head. When she’d first started working at the club, she’d been more than intimidated by the bikers’ rough looks. But they had taken her into their family, for the most part. She was surprised to find that a part of her would actually miss them all when she left.
Her eyes flicked towards Gears, cooped up at his regular table by himself. Well, almost all of them.
Her gaze scanned the crowded bar until it finally landed on Tex. A new sense of hope filled her as she watched him. He moved from table to table, easily charming the others and making sales as he went. Although she never saw pills or money exchange hands, he was that good.
As she watched him, Lori couldn’t help but wonder about him. How he had come to be a drug runner for one of the most notorious crews in the area? How he had gotten into the crew life at all?
She realized, as she listened to his warm laugh as he joked with another biker, that she wanted to know all about him. She wanted to find out about his past, his childhood. What his family was like. If he even had any family. He’d never talked about any as far as she knew.
She wanted to find out what he like to eat. His favorite food. His favorite drink. His favorite color. What he liked to do for fun. Did he like to read?
Lori tilted her head, trying to picture him curled up on an overstuffed chair with a book on his lap, but she couldn’t quite make it stick.
As she made drinks and filled orders, she couldn’t help but wonder. She spent the rest of the night thinking of him, of how little she really knew about him, and hating that lack of knowledge.
As the night drew to an end, she wondered why it mattered so much to her. But she brushed the question off. She was just curious, that’s all. Just curious about the man she’d slept with, and who was putting his neck on the line to help her even though he had no reason to.
The door opened again, and Lori’s eyes opened wide as they fell on Porky. She was surprised to see him walk into the bar, especially because Carrie wasn’t there that night. She watched from behind the bar as the big man scanned the crowd. A moment later he was waving Tex over.
Lori’s brows furrowed in concern. She couldn’t hear was they were saying, but it was obvious they were arguing about something. A few minutes later, Tex turned away with a regretful look on his face. She guessed he’d lost.
Tex walked up to the bar and leaned in close, that look of regret still dragging at his expression. He held out one hand as if to shake hers and Lori instinctively took it. Her eyes widened at the wad of cash she felt. She slid her fingers away, careful to keep the cash concealed as she tucked it into the pocket of her jeans.
“Is that… all of it?” Lori asked, trying to keep her voice and expression casual.
But that touch had sent off a whole bunch of fireworks across her body. Heat and desire rose within her like a tidal wave and Tex responded with a fierce, heavy-lidded look. His words were all business though.
“Not all. I’ll see what I can do to move the rest after I leave.”
“Leave?”
Tex grimaced, looking like he was about to do something he really didn’t want to.
“I got called in. Me and Porky have to make a run near Mexico. I don’t… Lori, I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but I’ll try and make some connections. I’ll keep trying.”
“You have to go?”
Lori swallowed hard. She knew he worked for the Devil’s, but he’d swept into her life so suddenly that it hurt he could turn around and leave again just as quick.
“When will you be back?”
“I don’t know.”
Tex huffed, irritation replacing the desire in his gaze for a moment. But, just as quickly, it was back in full force.
Lust, like a furnace, was burning her from the inside out.
“Just keep a low profile until I’m back, alright? Don’t do anything…”
“…stupid,” Lori finished with a slow smile of her own. “Yeah, I got it. You take care of yourself too, alright? Come back in one piece.”
Tex shot her a lop-sided grin, leaning close.
“If I had a goodbye kiss to keep me warm at night, that might help.”
“I can’t, Tex.”
She flicked her eyes to the back corner where Gears was watching her like a hawk. Tex grimaced again and then his gaze hardened.
“Just lay low. Don’t try and do anything on your own, alright?”
“I won’t.”
“Promise.”
“I promise,” Lori huffed.
>
Tex looked over his shoulder to where Porky was waiting impatiently. The guy was shifting from foot to foot, looking from Tex to the clock on his phone and back again.