Temper: Road Roses MC

by Ada Stone

  Stephanie nodded her head in agreement and came to stand with us so that we formed a small triangle with our bodies. She threw her arms over either of our shoulders and pulled us close. “That’s what friends are for! Now, group hug!” She squeezed and we laughed, but I admitted to myself that it felt good. Yes, they were pushing for an abortion and I was starting to wonder if that was really what I wanted, but they were still my friends. They supported me, no matter what.

  Chapter Twelve

  Luke

  I had an appointment this afternoon and I’d wasted more time than I intended with Lia that morning. Not wasted time when you’ve got a woman like that, I thought with a little smirk. All the same, regret or not, I was now running a little later than I’d planned.

  I glanced down at my watch: ten ’til one. I didn’t have a lot of time until my meeting with the mayor.

  I hadn’t mentioned that I was meeting with Mayor Rice that day to Lia. Only a few of my lieutenants knew about it actually. The whole thing was pretty hush-hush, and for good reason. I was not known for little things like diplomacy, and I was worried that if I told people what was going on, they’d assume I was starting a war—and act accordingly. Which was not going to be productive to this meeting.

  The whole thing had been set up last minute and it was a bloody miracle that I’d managed to get a slice of time with him in the first place. He was a busy man and it was only through charming his secretary—with flattery and nothing more—that I’d gotten anything with him at all.

  Normally, I wouldn’t have even bothered with all of this, but Lia had sparked something inside me, and not just a desire to be inside her. She made me want to approach things differently. I wanted to handle my boys with care instead of that iron fist that I was so infamous for. Why? Well, it was too early to really say, but something told me that it had to do with the way they’d reacted to her so far. Open. Genuinely interested. Lighthearted. I’d spoken with people in the club that normally thought of me as the enemy over the last day and the change was so abrupt and noticeable that there was no denying the cause.

  Lia had brought out the best in them—and she was doing it to me, too.

  It had caused me to make a bold move with the mayor. We had been at war since forever. Since my mother’s death, really, when things had gone in the shitter for me in a big way. But war wasn’t sustainable and I was tired of it. It was time to see if we couldn’t meet on some common ground and settled the differences between us.

  It was a long shot and I knew it, but I had the sudden, blazing urge to try.

  I pulled up outside the city hall where the mayor’s office was. I hadn’t ever been inside personally and didn’t think it was the kind of place I had any desire to spend a lot of time in, but I admitted that it was a beautiful building. I parked my bike in the back, mostly for the sake of discretion, and headed up the steps inside. It was as beautiful in there as it was out, complete with polished marbled floors and tall white pillars. They really went all out.

  Maybe a little excessive, I thought mildly, but kept it to myself.

  I went to a man dressed in a dark navy blue suit who was sitting at the front counter. “Can I help you?” he asked, giving me a once over. I’d settled on jeans and a button-down shirt today, but there wasn’t much I could do about how I looked. People knew who and what I was and I didn’t put a lot of time in trying to appear as anything else.

  “Yeah, I’ve got a meeting with Mayor Rice at one.”

  The man looked unconvinced, but asked for my name and did a quick search. He nodded, slightly surprised when he found my name on the list. “Alright. Here you are. Any weapons legal or otherwise need to be left here.” He pointed to a plastic bin.

  I resisted the urge to snort derisively, only because I was really trying to make a decent impression. If I had illegal guns on me, would I really hand them over? But I didn’t explain how stupid his statement was. Instead, I just opened my jacket to reveal that I was unarmed.

  The man didn’t look convinced, but gestured towards the metal detector anyway. “The guard there will escort you to the mayor’s office.”

  I thanked him and moved through the metal detector. I had to empty my pockets and they checked my boots about a dozen times, but at least I didn’t have piercings to worry about. That would have doubled the time and I was already worried that I’d be late if this got prolonged. Eventually, I was waved through and the security guard who was dressed like Men in Black escorted me to the elevator. We went to the third floor and he took me down the hall to the office.

  We went inside and I noted the decadence of the place. Rose wood furniture. Huge, original paintings. Windows that took up practically the whole back wall. This was the lap of luxury and it sort of disgusted me. I held that in as best I could, however, since I was trying so hard to make peace.

  The mayor, an attractive older man with graying hair and a slightly bored expression that made him look arrogant and patronizing, was sitting at his desk talking on the phone. He barely even glanced over at us, continuing to speak to whoever was on the other end.

  I cleared my throat; the mayor shot me a dirty look. But he did tell whoever was on the other end, “I have to go. No, no, just a meeting. It shouldn’t take long.”

  I felt the muscle in my jaw twitch at the dismissive tone he used to refer to me, but otherwise remained calm. “Mayor Rice,” I greeted formally.

  He looked me over, leaning back in his plush chair and considering. After a moment, he said, “Jean-Luc. I was a little surprised when I found you on my schedule for today.”

  That muscle twitched again at the use of my full name. No one called me that. No one had since my mother’s death. I cleared my throat, trying to keep my composure. “I suppose it’s not usually my style,” I admitted grudgingly. “But that’s why I’m here. To try to change some things. Mainly, between us.”

  I saw the mayor’s eyes narrow fractionally at me and worried he’d just toss me out right then and there. He didn’t. “I see. And what exactly do you propose?”

  Knowing that this was probably my only shot at making a real case for the Road Roses, I did my best to be calm, collected, and maybe even a little eloquent, though the last one was hit or miss at best. “The Road Roses have no intention of leaving Mount Rose. We have as much right to be here as anyone else and we’re…” I hesitated, knowing that I was getting into the territory of lying, but pushed forward anyway. “We’re law abiding citizens and should be treated as such.”

  He snorted and I knew suddenly that this wasn’t going to go over so well. “Really? Are you telling me you have nothing to do with the drug problem in this town?”

  I opened my mouth to ask if he was going to try to get rid of the doctors who were the real drug problem, but I snapped my mouth shut again an instant later. Saying as much would be incriminating and not useful. Once I’d regained my composure, I tried again. “I own a legitimate business. Wicked Rose hasn’t been the source of any Mount Rose problems. Instead, we offer a specific service to people who are clearly interested—otherwise we’d have been out of business a long time ago.”

  To my surprise, Mayor Rice rose from his chair and let out a sigh. He looked almost tired, like a normal person. But the moment passed and then he was just himself again. He came around the desk and began to speak to the man who had escorted me down here in the first place. “Have you heard anything yet?”

  The man shook his head quickly. “No, sir. They’re still looking.”

  I felt anger strike through me until it was molten in my veins. He was just finished with me? Like that? No care or consideration. I wanted to reach out and wrap my hands around his throat, to throttle him until he turned interesting shades of blue and purple. But I resisted the impulse, reminding myself that I was making an effort to be a better man.

  For Lia.

  The thought of her calmed me in a way that nothing else ever had. I took a deep breath and tried again with the mayor. “I’m not finished
. I still wanted to talk about—”

  But the mayor interrupted me, clearly irritated that I was still talking. “Look, son, I’m busy. My platform is being tough on crime. You are crime. Period. It’s my promise to clean up the streets, and how am I supposed to do that if I let you and your goons run amok in my town?” He shook his head. “No. It isn’t feasible. This is an election year.”

  I clenched my hands tightly into fists, debating the wisdom of punching him in the face. I reminded myself that that wouldn’t be the kind of man I was. I would do better. So I deliberately eased my hands open. But as he tried to walk away, I couldn’t help but reach out to stop him. I grabbed him by the arm, which got the attention of that guard plenty quick. He went for what I figured to be a gun at his side, but the mayor held up a hand to halt him.

  “It’s time for you to leave, Mr. Canter. You never belonged in this world.”

  And with that, he motioned for the guard to have me removed. I considered resisting, forcing him to listen to what I had to say, but knew there was no point. This man had never been good at listening and he had never liked me. Not from the moment he met me. “This isn’t over,” I told him in a low, determined voice. I wouldn’t give up so easy. “I’ll go now, but know that I’ll be back.”

  I saw something like fear flash over Mayor Rice’s face just as the guard escorted me out of the office. I had the sudden feeling like this meeting had gone a lot worse than I had anticipated and when I got to the ground floor, I shook off the guard, telling him I could find the exit on my own. I was halfway to the door when I glanced back to see the guard pushing his finger to his ear, listening to what I had to assume was an earpiece.

  Then he looked up.

  Shit.

  “Hey! Stop right there!”

  I didn’t know what I’d done wrong. In fact, I was pretty sure that I’d done the whole thing right down to the whole not punching that asshole in the face, but I knew that when someone shouted at you like that, it wasn’t a good thing. He started running after me, but I was already out the door and racing down the steps towards my bike. I heard the sirens and knew then what had happened.

  That asshole called the cops!

  And it didn’t even matter that I hadn’t done anything wrong this time. They’d take whatever the mayor fed them and run with it. I couldn’t let them catch me. Hopping on my bike, I started it in a hurry and blazed down the street. I passed four cop cars going the opposite direction back towards City Hall. Once they saw me, they squealed their tires as they made a one eighty back in my direction. I hit the gas and sped away through town.

  The next intersection found me whirring past two more cop cars that immediately fell into pursuit. But I wasn’t worried. They wouldn’t catch me.

  I ducked down an alleyway, banking a hard right once I reached the other side. I cut through the park and scared a few pigeons and some country club ladies on a picnic, but I didn’t slow down. I made it to the other side of town in record time, the sirens farther back still. I headed towards the highway that would take me out of town. I’d have to double back so that they wouldn’t follow me home. My house was not public record and I wanted to keep it that way.

  Well, this turned out exactly as planned, I thought sarcastically as I hit the highway at ninety miles an hour.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Amelia

  Luke got back long after Rihanna and Stephanie had gone. It felt good to see them, but after they’d gone I felt more confused than ever. Rihanna presented me with all the reasons to not keep the baby that I’d had coming into this whole mess. Stephanie seemed to be a window into my future, having done what I had been planning to do all along.

  But what do I want now?

  I wasn’t sure, but I was beginning to think it had more to do with Luke than I ever would have guessed.

  Luke seemed a little frazzled when he got back, stressed out or something. Frowning, I went to him and put a hand on his shoulder after he’d shucked off his jacket. “Is everything okay? Did something happen at work?” I hadn’t ever felt so domesticated and was surprised to find out that part of it was sort of fulfilling.

  I’ve never had anyone enjoy having me around like this, I thought.

  He looked up at me uncertainly, considering me as his eyes slipped across my face. For once, his eyes didn’t dart down to rake over the rest of my body and I felt like he was really looking at me. Not like I was his new sex toy, but like this was something else. Something…tender. Or even real. I wasn’t sure what that all meant, but I felt it in my chest.

  After a moment, he cracked a small smile. “Are you going to wear my shirt to the cookout?”

  I glanced down at myself in surprise, then laughed. I’d forgotten that I’d been wearing his shirt today. Looking back up at him, I smiled sweetly. “Sorry. It’s comfortable.”

  He reached for me and pulled me to him so that our bodies lined up together perfectly. His arm went around my waist, holding me there against him. He leaned down and kissed me, soft and sweet, nothing like our passionate embraces. Today, things seemed different. “It’s alright. You borrow anything of mine you want. I’ve never seen my shirt look so good on anyone before.” He winked at me then, grinning.

  I laughed again. “What can I say? I should sell men’s clothing.”

  This time he laughed and agreed. “Baby, you could sell me anything you wanted.”

  My heart fluttered a little bit at his comment and the strange, sweet way he was looking at me. It was so weird to think how quickly things were changing between us, but I wasn’t opposed to it. If anything, I liked it.

  “I’ll go change,” I said finally. “For the cookout.”

  He held me a moment longer, his eyes searching my face for something that I wasn’t sure of. Finally, he released me. “Okay. I’ll wait down here. I need to make a call.”

  I nodded, feeling breathless after his touch and his tenderness. I hurried up the stairs, glancing over my shoulder at him once. I found him staring after me looking almost wistful. Then I hurried back to the room I was sharing with him. I hadn’t even bothered to put my clothes in the guest room he’d offered me.

  Jerking his shirt up over my head quickly, I tossed it to the side and began to undo my pants. I wasn’t sure what kind of cookout this was going to be. Of course I realized it would be with the people who he knew, which meant predominantly if not entirely Road Roses, but what did that mean really? Were women even part of the club? Or was it just girlfriends and wives? And if that was the case, how were they expected to dress?

  I could have asked Luke these questions, but decided that would seem too concerned about what others would think of me. I wanted to be confident and sexy, not some little girl he had to take care of.

  Shoving down my pants, I reached for the dress I’d gotten at the store the other day. It was a compromise between my periwinkle blue dress from the first day I arrived and the darker, sexier clothing I bought with Luke when I knew I was going to stay here with him. It was a silky dark blue dress with spaghetti straps that crisscrossed in the back. Laid over the top of the blue was a black, shimmery mesh that was embroidered with roses along the hem and up one side to wind around one breast. It wouldn’t look as goth as I felt so much of the red and black did, but it also wasn’t the sort of thing anyone would wear to Sunday church.

  I hoped it was the right choice for a Road Roses get together.

  I grabbed the black heels I’d gotten, because it was either them or boots and I didn’t think those would work with the dress. I slipped them on, dragged a brush through my hair, and touched up my makeup. When I deemed myself presentable, I headed back downstairs.

  When I reached that front hall, I didn’t immediately see him. “Luke?” I called, glancing into the kitchen. I found him there, still on the phone, fixing a cup of coffee. He looked over his shoulder at me and smiled, then he handed me the cup of coffee. I took it and mouthed a “thank you” so that I wouldn’t interrupt his conversation.


  I sat at the table to wait for him and couldn’t help but overhear his half of the conversation at least.

  “Yeah, I know,” muttered Luke in a low voice. He didn’t sound thrilled. “It can’t be helped now.”

  What can’t be helped? I wondered. He was probably talking about the motorcycle club, I realized, and I felt a little uncomfortable all of a sudden. My entire time with Luke had been with just him, as a man. I was aware that he ran a business, or at least worked there, but that was a legitimate place, whether my father liked it or not. But the other side of that was that he was a Road Rose. And what little I knew about motorcycles—besides them being dangerous and sexy—was that they tended to deal in illicit activities.

  Sipping at my coffee for something to do, even as it began to slosh uncomfortably in my stomach, I focused more intently on his conversation.

  “Look, Armand isn’t a problem. I’ve got him covered,” he said, sounding equal parts annoyed and dismissive. “No one’s going to follow him now. And the mayor…” He broke off hesitating, but I sat up straighter, my eyes widening a little.