I was a gambling woman too and hedged my bets by playing the only card I had left. “You do realize Trey loves me with all his heart, don’t you.”
Gisela sighed and her German resolve came out in full force. “What’s your point?”
I smiled though there was zero mirth in my expression as my arms folded against my breasts “If I die, it won’t go down good for the Club. He will destroy this place and we all know it so I’m not afraid about gettin’ a bullet in the back of the head but I’m concerned about what you fuckers want from me.”
Dizzy laughed out loud. “You’re just like your mother. My God, if you weren’t married and I could shave twenty years off my life, you’d be in my bed so fast, it would make the Concorde seem slow. But you have his eyes…and lassie, that is a dangerous combination. Just so you know, I realize how much Trey loves you. He left because he didn’t want to make any waves for you and because we knew he knew about the situation with your parents.
“This is all my fault because I had my son kidnapped to milk him for information but the son of a bitch wouldn’t budge. He isn’t a rat and he watched Keri die as a result of his stubborn pig-headedness. This isn’t a game and I need to know who else is watchin’ us, Trista. You know who that person is…so spill—”
“—or I will and make you look very fuckin’ bad.” Naomi placed her slim brown arms on the table and glared at me. “Don’t think just because we’ve had a few conversations, we’re friends.”
I squeezed my nails into my palms and I should have felt like shit. Clooney was an awful human being and he didn’t deserved to be saved. He’d stolen my innocence as a minor and although I took full responsibility for what I did, it certainly didn’t absolve him from his crimes. He was granted full and total immunity despite what he did while working undercover and that shit really pissed me off.
It was true, I’d never been in love with him but what he did to me would leave a scar on my soul for the rest of my life.
“Fine,” I bit out and straightened my hands before I rested them, palms down, on the table. “All I know is he’s a U.S. Marshall by the name of Marcus Hinton. He infiltrated the Demon’s Bastards almost three years ago and perhaps Jonesy knows somethin’ I don’t because he was a prospect for a very long time. Jonesy kept makin’ excuses and Trey was the one who sponsored him so it wasn’t because he didn’t trust Trey. Maybe he had a feeling about the prospect. He probably tried to dig and his record looked too perfect, too pat for the Club.
“The government isn’t stupid but they couldn’t exactly make him a felon if he was honorably discharged from the military. He stuck to his story and was finally patched in just before my parents and brother’s ‘accident.’ Oh yeah, he’s also dating your daughter, Misty.”
Dizzy glared at me like I’d spit in his drink. “How long have you known?”
“I found out on the same trip Linx and I decided to get married. Before then, I was clueless. I dated the man and fucked him, Dizzy. How do you think it makes me feel when I found out everything we had was a lie? I didn’t know about my parents either. I knew fuck all until everything went down and I was brought in—briefly—before my parents and Tristan were going to disappear. They wanted me to go with them but I refused. I would have rather taken my chances with Linx than end up alone again.”
“Why didn’t you go with them?” Bronaugh stepped from the shadows and sat down at the table before she lit another Marlboro, dragged on it deeply, inhaled and then blew the smoke in my direction.
“I couldn’t go with them. I’d married Linx and he couldn’t just disappear. He’s in a rock band for Christ’s sake.”
“Yes, but you’d just married him on a whim and you two barely knew one another.” Gisela looked up from paperwork in front of her. “You’d only met him when you moved to L.A. If that isn’t a whirlwind romance then I don’t know what is. This was your mother and father…your brother and your future sister-in-law. Why wouldn’t you just flee?”
The tears threatened my eyelids and I blinked them away. “I just knew…not when Linx and I met but afterwards. We were friends, genuine friends. We talked to one another for hours and hung out all the time. There was absolutely no sex involved. In fact he married me because he didn’t think he would be worthy to make love to me otherwise.”
I paused and tried to swallow past the large lump in my throat. “I know you all think I am stupid because I’m not yet twenty but for the first time in my life, I was in love. I’m not crazy—neither is Linx—but we knew what we felt for each other went deeper and was more than we’d ever felt for anyone else in our life. Leaving my husband wasn’t an option and I didn’t want to enter Witsec. I knew if I did that, I would never see my husband again.”
“Is there something you’re not telling us?” Dizzy glared at me though his blue eyes softened a bit and he seemed to understand my reasoning, which was a lot more than I could say about Bronaugh, Gisela and Naomi who all looked at me like I’d escaped from an insane asylum.
“Yes. Marcus—aka Clooney—is connected. If he so much as gets a whiff he’s been found out, he will ruin my life because I’m the only one who could have told you. He’s threatened me in so many words and I…I can’t trust him. I don’t trust him. If you do decide to take care of him…can you make sure Linx and I are long gone? And please make it look like an accident. Set something up with the White Knights and let them pull the trigger but this cannot be traced back to the Bastards or the Saints MC. The government will come down hard to shut you down if one of your men pulls the trigger.”
“That goes without sayin’.” Naomi stood and walked out of the room.
Suddenly as the double doors shut again, I felt like I’d been caught in a tomb and I couldn’t breathe. The room was claustrophobic and I had to get out of this place and out of the club.
Gisela rose and glared down at me. “I think Dizzy and Bronaugh need some time alone. Come on, we’ll go into town and get a drink together at the bar. We still need to discuss some important issues, young lady.”
“Thanks, Sela.” Dizzy smiled at his future daughter-in-law.
“No problem.”
I stood and walked out of the room. I was heading towards a full on panic attack and the only thing that would help me now were my precious pills. I needed a Xanax badly.
“I have to go upstairs to get my purse and then I’ll be ready to go.”
I didn’t wait for a response before I ran up the stairs and entered the bedroom I’d shared with Linx just a few hours ago. Like that, he was gone and I could only pray to a God I didn’t believe in he’d come home safe.
My bag was where I’d left it. The Coach hobo bag was understated and I reached inside and grabbed a two milligram Xanax tablet before I swallowed it with leftover Jack Daniels in a bottle next to the bed. The bitter taste left behind was so disgusting but I took another swig for fortitude before I closed the door on my way out.
As I walked down the stairs, I found Gisela speaking to Cillian. Obviously, he’d just gotten back from the airport. Their conversation looked intimate before he shook his head and called for another Club member—Bookie, due to his love of novels and his clean-cut looks—who walked over and the three of them had a conversation.
“We’re just going to O’Branaughs, Cillian. It’s a club hangout for fuck’s sake. Is all this security necessary?” Gisela wondered out loud before she crossed her arms against an expensive midnight blue cashmere sweater she wore. She looked casual and certainly not biker chic in a pair of black boot cut jeans and a four-inch pair of black shoe-booties, which judging by their red soles, were a pair of Christian Louboutins.
“Babe, we’re on lockdown. You’re lucky I’m lettin’ you leave this motherfuckin’ compound with that uncontrollable little bitch. But Bookie and I will accompany you. I don’t care whether we’re in Birch Creek or not—you’re not leaving this compound alone and unsupervised.”
I allowed a strangled breath to release from my pent-up bod
y. I couldn’t exactly say I was upset they were coming along for the ride. I knew all about lock downs and if the threat was real enough, nothing was above the WKs, including entering Saints territory and doing damage to anyone who had access to the club.
“You ready?” Gisela turned toward me with cold amber eyes as she turned her back on me and started walking towards the door.
“We takin’ the Harleys, Cillian?” Bookie wondered in a thick Irish accent.
“Yep. If anything goes down, I want to be able to get out of there quickly.”
I followed them out and climbed onto the back of Bookie’s Harley before he handed me a helmet, which I accepted and slid on easily before securing the strap under my chin.
We followed Cillian and Gisela, seated on his Harley, out of the parking lot through remote control gates with electric currents and barbed wire along the top of the thick barrier.
I held on to Bookie by his waist and enjoyed the thrill of the bike underneath me. I hadn’t been on a ride since I’d gone out with Trey. The thrill of being on a Harley couldn’t be underestimated. All that power and glistening chrome while the sound of the engine was like music to my ears.
There was nothing better than riding a Harley though and I still missed that though I planned to rectify that. I would ask for one for my upcoming birthday. Even if I was pregnant, I could still ride until my belly was too big. There was no greater freedom than a motorcycle and Harleys were, without a doubt, the best ride, I’d ever experienced.
Soon, we’d reached O’Branaughs and I hopped off before both Bookie and Cillian backed in so they could make a quick exit if they had to. They were jumpy, unsure and kept looking around as if they didn’t think it was safe though there was nothing they could do.
“Stop being so paranoid, Cillian.” Gisela grabbed his hand and pulled him into the O’Branaughs.
I didn’t expect to hear Bruno Mars’ “Gorilla” playing on the jukebox but several couples were dirty dancing to the song and looked like they were having a fun time doing it too. Cillian chose a table in the back of the establishment and signaled to the bartender who pushed out a young, clueless looking blonde our way.
She was pretty though not beautiful, covered in tats with plenty of her flesh was on display in the short jean skirt and red halter top she wore.
“A bottle of JD, three bottles of Bud Ice and a bottled water. Put it on our tab.”
“Yes, Mr. Cox,” she said and winked at him before she turned on her cheap, acrylic high-heels and walked toward the bar to fulfill the order.
“Did you fuck her?” Gisela questioned.
“Yeah,” he muttered before he looked down at the table. “You know how it was before Breanna and I broke up. I would sleep with anything that moved but obviously I used a condom. I don’t know where her shit’s been.”
I rolled my eyes and tuned the two of them out before I stood and walked over to the jukebox. They had a ton of songs to choose from. I clicked past Katy Perry’s “Roar” and some other cheesy pop songs before I selected “Dream On” by Aerosmith. It was an oldie but goodie and this crowd would appreciate it.
When the sad beginnings of guitar chords began, I weaved with the music and I wasn’t even drunk per se though the Xanax was working its magic. I felt completely relaxed and panic free.
Steven Tyler’s voice sounded haunted as he sung and I swayed to the music. It instantly reminded me of how much I missed Linx already and the tears that threatened me earlier easily fell down my cheeks. I didn’t want to be apart from him and what if he died on this shit mission? I would never be able to properly say goodbye. That hurt more than Tyler’s haunting voice.
A pair of hands wrapped around my waist and I was about to give a rough elbow to the ribs before I realized it was Cillian. “Your old man’s gonna be all right. It was a cake walk. We wouldn’t dare make you a widow.”
“I want to believe that but…I don’t know what to expect from this whole trip. It was supposed to be him and me…and I know why your father decided to stick his nose into the situation but if Keri’s dead then Trey isn’t gonna just bounce back. He loved that slut and it didn’t matter what she did for a living. He’s gonna be devastated and I feel so fuckin’ bad because I can’t be with him when he needs me the most. It’s just him and I.”
Cillian dropped his arms from around my waist and slid an arm around my waist as he led me back to the table. “I don’t need to be getting in trouble with my old lady. Just sit down, do a couple of shots of JD and enjoy your Bud Ice. She needed to talk to you, didn’t she?”
“That’s the pretense of why we’re here right now.”
“Bullshit. It’s obvious you’re suffering from cabin fever. Have fun and just forget about all your problems.”
“Easy for you to say. You stayed behind and you have the woman you love next to you. Meanwhile, my old man is on a plane to Belfast to rescue my brother. I would give anything for him to be by my side. Even if it meant putting myself in harm’s way.”
I sat across from Bookie as we made it back to the table. A shot of JD waited for me at the table and I downed it before I swigged from my Bud Ice.
“I don’t know what Cillian told you before you reached the table but I did want to talk to you.” Gisela faced me with cool brown eyes that only warmed slightly as she downed her bottled water before she placed the empty container on the table. “Naomi lied. There was nothing wrong with your aim with the automatic weapons. In fact, you were almost as good as she was but she couldn’t allow you to accompany Linx.”
I pushed away my empty shot glass and marinated on this news for a minute while Cillian filled it for me. I downed it and allowed the strong liquor to burn my throat. “What the fuck, Gisela? Who else knows about this?”
“Everyone who counts.” Cillian raised one of his eyebrows over icy blue eyes. “It was Linx’s idea. He didn’t want you to go to Belfast. He was adamant about that and it was one of the stipulations for him to be voted in. He knows how you feel about motorcycle clubs and he didn’t want you to hate him in the end so he insisted you stay here where you would be safe.”
I snorted as a couple of guys entered O’Branaughs and were followed by a couple more. They all carried weapons and my heart began to feel like ram trying to escape my ribs as I instantly ducked under the table. Gisela joined me while Cillian and Bookie took out their guns and knelt down as the place began to rain with bullets.
The smell of gunpowder and the coppery scent of blood took over and I could barely breathe though it was pertinent I didn’t freak the fuck out if I wanted to stay alive. They shot everyone in their way and this frightening scenario was exactly what Cillian had warned Gisela against earlier that day before we left the compound.
I would never forget the sight of watching people die, choking on their own blood while I could do nothing but stay where I was, frozen in place. Our waitress had fallen on the way to a table. She tried to crawl towards us as her wide gray eyes stared toward us in pure terror. Her head was decimated moments later by heavy gun fire from an automatic weapon.
The alcohol I’d consumed earlier began to burn in my stomach, the acid and everything I’d eaten and drank rushed forth and I violently vomited on the dirty, sticky floor in front of me. The sound was muffled, however, by the sound of automatic gunfire in heavy bursts.
“Fuck,” Cillian whispered. “I can’t get off a shot without giving away our position and there are at least six WKs blocking the door. No tellin’ how many are outside.”
“The motherfuckin’ cops…Brooklyn, let’s go,” a White Knight said to their Sergeant-at-Arms.
The sound of sirens in the distant stopped the gunfire for the time being as the members loaded their guns on their shoulder and began to back out before they turned and left calmly.
Cillian and Bookie were up within a moment and had their pieces drawn before Gisela stood and grabbed her oversized Louis Vuitton handbag. “Dump those in here. Cillian, you’re on trial and Bookie, yo
u’re on parole. Having a semi-automatic weapon is a parole violation alone and could get you sent back to prison.”
I slowly got to my hands and knees before I stood and walked around on shaky knees and dirty clothes.
There were so many bodies. Some of them were moving while others were obviously dead. I began to walk around and help those that could stand on their own.
Moments later, half a dozen police cruisers stopped in front of O’Branaughs. The Sheriff of Birch Tree walked in and surveyed the scene.
“Jesus Christ.” Sheriff Rawlins looked around at all the carnage and shook his head. “What on God’s green earth happened here? It looks like a blood bath.”
In Too Deep (The Lovers Duet) Page 9