Their eyes locked in a hard, dark stare that signalled the beginning of a dangerous stand-off.
‘We’re over the line here, darlin’.’ Coby walked slowly back towards her, and she didn’t stop him. ‘We’re way over it.’
‘So, what? We should just keep on going? Is that what you’re saying? I should just give in to you and allow myself to be your plaything for a couple more days, until you’re done with me? If that’s what you’re looking for then there are plenty of women down at the club who would gladly open their legs for the president.’
‘I don’t want any other woman, Mia.’
‘No.’ She reached out to touch his face, running her fingers lightly over his rough skin. ‘You want to keep it in the family.’
Coby chuckled quietly, catching her hand in his, holding it tight, his eyes boring deep into hers. ‘Like I said, darlin’, the danger makes me hard.’ He leaned in closer, sliding a hand up under her skirt, his fingers snaking inside her panties. ‘And that anger you’re still feeling – that’s making you wet.’
She stared straight at him, saying nothing as he continued to touch her.
‘We keep it between ourselves, Mia,’ he whispered, pressing his hand a little harder against her. ‘Our secret.’
‘I hate secrets. And you should too, after everything…’
‘We’re not raking up the past here, darlin’, OK? We’re not doing that.’
‘What are we doing, exactly?’
‘Fucking the shit away, sweetheart.’
‘And that makes it OK, does it?’
‘Nothing about this situation is OK, Mia.’
‘Then why continue it?’
‘Take your clothes off.’
‘You didn’t answer my question.’
‘Take ‘em off, Mia.’
She pulled his hand away from her. ‘I need to pee.’
Running upstairs, she shut the bathroom door behind her, leaning back against it, closing her eyes and breathing in deep. Coby was wrong. It wasn’t anger she was feeling, it was disappointment; an overwhelming, crushing sadness that the life she’d wanted with the man she’d loved had been nothing more than a sham. A dream she couldn’t have. Didn’t she deserve it? Was that it? Maybe she really was destined to be alone, fucking whichever man came along, and as long as he didn’t physically hurt her she could live with that. If she had to. If that was all there was. If she couldn’t have Ben…
‘Mia.’
A sharp rap on the door made her jump, her eyes springing open.
‘You OK in there, sweetheart?’
‘I’m fine.’
‘Can I come in?’
‘Go home, Coby. Go to Lexi, help sort out your wedding, be a proper husband-to-be…’
She felt the handle turn and she moved away from the door, spinning around as he walked into the room. ‘Take off your clothes, Mia.’
‘You don’t get to tell me what to do. You don’t control me. We’re not at the club, this isn’t your territory. You’re in my home…’
‘A home the club pays for.’
‘And that makes me your slave, does it? Yours to do with as you please? You suddenly want me, so you just take me, right?’
‘Only because you want me, too.’
‘So fucking arrogant.’
‘You want me, too.’
‘Go home, Coby.’
He reached out to her, gently pushing her hair back off her shoulder, his eyes scanning her face. ‘You shouldn’t be on your own. You should be down at the clubhouse, over at Lexi’s… you shouldn’t be on your own. Not with everything that’s going on.’
‘I’m fine.’
‘That harsh exterior doesn’t always have to be there, Mia. You don’t always have to be this hard.’
‘Yeah. I do. The only person who ever made me feel like I could pull those walls down was Ben, and he doesn’t exist anymore, does he? He never did. He never really was the man I thought he was.’
Coby stepped back, digging his hands into his pockets, a heavy sigh racking his body. ‘It’s such a mess, darlin’.’
‘And this – what we’ve done – this isn’t helping.’
‘I needed a distraction.’
‘From what? Jesus, Coby, you’ve got a beautiful woman, a gorgeous baby, and all this crap with the Dark Angels, you can handle that, can’t you?’
He dropped his gaze, slowly shaking his head. ‘I don’t know, Mia. I don’t know. It’s all got out of hand, things have changed, and I don’t even know when that happened…’
She walked over to him, resting her palm against his cheek, forcing him to look at her. ‘Underneath all this shit you’re a good man, Coby. And even good men make mistakes. But mistakes can be rectified, remember that.’
He took her hand, smiling slightly, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb. ‘I’m sorry, darlin’. I’m so sorry.’
She leaned forward, resting her forehead against his. ‘You’ll make it OK. Because you’re doing it for Lexi, for Ozzie. For the club.’
He smiled again, squeezing her hand. ‘You deserve to be happy, Mia.’
She closed her eyes, a wave of sadness and anger washing over her. ‘I guess I’ll just have to look that little bit harder before I find my hero on a Harley, huh?’
‘Aye, darlin’.’ Coby’s sigh was heavy. ‘I guess you will.’
She felt her stomach dip as he kissed her slowly, his arms wrapping around her and she’d never felt so safe, so secure as she did at that very second. The feel of his tall, strong body against hers, his kiss sending a beautiful, dangerous warmth flooding through her at a speed that was breathtaking; she felt safe.
‘There’s a part of me that wants to make love to you so bad, Mia. But I’m not gonna do that. Not now.’
Yet, despite herself, there was a part of her that needed him to touch her, now. Because she liked that feeling of safety he exuded. But it was the right thing to do – to walk away from this, before it became something it shouldn’t. He was confused and frustrated by a situation he’d momentarily lost control of, and she was grieving for a man she’d thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with. Two people who’d been pushed together through circumstances. Two people who, maybe a little too late, knew when to step back.
‘Go home,’ she whispered, pulling away from him. ‘Go back to the compound, go anywhere. Just get out of here.’
He let go of her, a slight smile still fixed on his face. ‘I guess I’ve got some work to do, huh?’
‘Yeah. I think you have.’
He turned to leave, but then swung back around, his expression more serious this time. ‘We can’t ever let anyone know, Mia. About this. About what we did. You understand that, don’t you?’
‘I grew up knowing the rules, Coby.’
He walked back over to her, cupping her cheek, and she resisted the urge to lean in and kiss him. Even though she wanted to; she needed to feel safe again. ‘You felt so fucking good, darlin’. Ben’s an unlucky man, to lose you. But you deserve so much better.’
She smiled, taking his hand and pulling it away from her face. ‘Go, Coby. Before we both do something else we’ll regret.’
He backed off, his stare still intense, and Mia folded her arms against herself, putting a barrier between them. A barrier she needed. ‘Lexi wants you as her bridesmaid, Mia. Don’t disappoint her, y’hear?’
She smiled again, watching as he disappeared out of the room. And it was only when she heard the front door close and the roar of his bike start up that she sank to the floor and cried.
Twenty-One
‘Jesus, Ben…’ Michael ran a hand over his head, trying to take in the sight that met him. He was hoping his eyes were playing tricks on him, that the darkness was causing him to see things that may not be what they seemed, but this looked real enough. Shane Randell lay slumped against the cold, damp walls of the bunker, his head over to one side, like his neck had been broken, a gaping hole in his chest still oozing blood. His eyes were
wide open, an expression of horrified surprise frozen on his face, and Michael knew he’d never be able to get that out of his head. ‘For Christ’s sake, couldn’t you even close the poor bastard’s eyes?’
Ben leaned over and gently closed Shane’s eyelids.
‘You called Sol? Hector? They’re gonna need to know what’s happened.’
‘I’ll go see Sol, after we’re done here.’
‘What do you want me to do, exactly? Jesus, the smell…!’
‘Let Coby know.’
‘Know what? That you killed Shane Randell?’
‘It’ll lull him into a false sense of security. Make him think at least one of his problems has gone away.’
Michael’s expression turned wary as he looked at Ben, noticing the way his eyes danced around with an almost nervous excitement, something the Sheriff hadn’t seen in this man for a long, long time. Something he never thought – something he’d hoped he’d never see again.
‘What’s going on here, Ben?’
Ben’s head swung around, his eyes still darting this way and that, a cold edge to them that made Michael shiver. ‘Nothing’s going on. I just thought I’d do us all a favor, y’know? Get rid of unnecessary baggage. Leave the way open to deal with the real problems.’
Michael continued to stare at a man he’d thought had left all this behind – this life. But what he was witnessing now, something had happened. Something was going on that had sent Ben back to a world he should never have returned to. Not even for a minute. He’d gotten too close. He’d gotten way too close.
‘The real problems? You talking about Hector?’
‘And Coby.’
Michael felt his heart start to beat faster. He didn’t have a good feeling about this. ‘Coby? Since when was Coby Walker a problem to you, Ben?’
‘Since he fucked my girl.’
‘Oh, Jesus,’ Michael sighed, leaning back against the wall. He was too fucking old for this crap. It was all escalating way out of control and he wasn’t sure he could contain it for much longer. He’d thought it had been too quiet out there. No problems out on the streets, just a calmness that had been foreboding in itself, and he should have known that only meant more shit was about to hit the fan.
‘He’s gotta go, Michael.’
‘No, listen to me, Ben. Listen to me, come on!’
Ben looked at him, his eyes now fired up, that cold edge replaced by a burning determination that only served to make Michael even more nervous. ‘I didn’t think I’d want this, y’know? I didn’t think I’d ever come back here, didn’t think I’d see any of my brothers again, but the longer things go on…’ He pushed a hand over his hair in a wildly nervous manner, backwards and forwards, making it terrifyingly obvious how on edge he was. ‘I’m back, Michael.’
‘Back?’ Michael nonchalantly placed a hand on his gun, just in case.
‘But things are gonna be different this time. Sol’s taking over, he’s gonna run this club like it should always have been run, and once Hector’s gone…’
‘Whoa, son, slow down there. Once Hector’s gone?’
Ben fixed the sheriff with an expression that told him he should know what he was talking about here. ‘Sol knew. He knew everything, about dad’s affair with Marianna, the baby… He knew the truth.’
Michael sank back against the wall. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take today. ‘So, why…?’
‘He knew, Michael. And like me he wants rid of the poison my father has spread around this place. Every brother in this club is on our side, but we’ll be the ones to finally rid the Dark Angels of his toxic crap. Me and Sol. True brothers. We’ll sort that problem out.’
‘And Coby?’
‘He’s something I’ll be dealing with alone.’
‘This isn’t happening… And what about this supposed war with the Lone Riders? You’re just gonna turn your back on them, huh? Leave Mia there…’
Ben shook his head, his eyes now down on the ground. ‘Mia knows, about Carrie.’
‘What?’ Another punch to the stomach that almost physically winded Michael. ‘How the hell did she…?’
‘Kip. Come on, Michael, you know he’s always had it in for me, always wanted me away from Mia. Even when he realized he couldn’t fuck his own sister, he still wanted me out. So he found her, found Carrie, got her to talk to Mia…’
‘Jesus,’ Michael sighed, closing his eyes in the vain hope that, when he opened them, all of this would be some elaborate nightmare and everything would be back to normal. A warped and fucked-up kind of normal, granted, but it was better than this. Anything was better than this. ‘I knew you should have told her the truth, Ben. After what she… You should have told her the truth.’
‘And she’d have walked away.’
‘I’m taking it she’s walked away now?’
‘She’ll be back. I love her, Michael. I love her so much it fucking hurts, which is why I can’t forgive Coby for what he did. And what if it’s still going on, huh? What if that wasn’t the only time? Shit!’
‘OK. OK, come on, calm down.’ Michael took the younger man’s arm, pushing him gently back against the wall.
‘I’ll fucking kill him.’ Ben’s voice was quieter now, but sinister in its calmness. ‘He touched her, and I saw him do it, watched as he fucked her from behind…’ He slammed his fist back against the damp wall, letting forth a howl of frustration that echoed eerily around the confined bunker. ‘I’ll kill him, so help me God, I’ll shoot that bastard dead…’
‘Hey! Hey, this isn’t helping anything, Ben. You’ve got to calm down, son…’
‘Don’t tell me to calm down, Michael.’ He stared at the sheriff, right into his eyes, and Michael felt another of those shivers run the length of his body. ‘Don’t tell me how to handle this. You didn’t see them, didn’t see what he was doing to her…’
Michael was shocked to see tears spring from Ben’s eyes, and for a fleeting moment he felt that sympathy he’d once had for this man come rushing back with a vengeance. And he regretted every second he hadn’t tried harder to make him stay away from here. He should never have let him return to Paradise. No matter how much he’d fought him he should have remained strong, he should have done everything in his power to stop him. He should have done that. Because the man in front of him now wasn’t the Ben who’d returned to this town a newly qualified, unburdened lawyer with a determination to uphold the law rather than flout it. The man in front of him now was a dangerous, damaged man who’d lost all sense of rationality. A man who was capable of so much that terrified Michael.
‘I love her... Jesus, I love her…’
Michael pulled Ben into his arms, rocking him like a baby as he cried it all out. ‘I know you do, kiddo. I know you do. But going after Coby…’
Ben pulled back, the tears drying up almost instantly as that cold edge and fiery determination fought for supremacy in his eyes. ‘Going after Coby is the only thing that’s gonna help me deal with this, Michael. I mean, he should know better, after everything he and Lexi went through. You don’t fuck around with another brother’s girl. You don’t lie to and cheat on the woman you’re about to marry when you’ve been through as much shit as they have to be together. You don’t do that. Just because he’s president, it doesn’t give him the right to do what the hell he likes, that’s not how it works.’ He fixed Michael with another look that froze his heart. ‘Sol’s right. I mean, at first I didn’t want any part of it. Bringing the Lone Riders down, the idea killed me. They were good to me when I needed them, y’know? They were good to me. But maybe Sol’s right. We take over their patch, we become the biggest MC around for miles. We can change things around here, become something the Lone Riders could never be…’ He suddenly stopped talking, his gaze dipping to Shane’s lifeless body. ‘And it’s what he wanted. Coby dead. The Lone Riders finished. Done with. So I guess I’m kinda doing it for him, too.’ He looked back up at Michael. ‘You know they’re just gonna fill this bunker up
, don’t you? Close it down, bury it, pretend like it never existed. And he’ll just slowly become part of the earth he’s encased in.’
Michael felt a chill the like of which he’d never experienced before. It was as if a blast of icy air had suddenly swept in from out of nowhere.
‘We’re so far beneath ground here it’ll be easy,’ Ben continued, his eyes back on Shane. ‘To get rid of this. So fucking easy.’
‘Ben…’
Ben’s head shot back up, a cold smile on his face as he looked at Michael. ‘Go tell Coby. Please. Tell him Shane’s dead. Tell him I killed him.’ All of a sudden his eyes turned to ice once more, a look in them so dark Michael took a step back from him. ‘But if you warn him, if you tell him anything else; you try to convey even the vaguest of hints about what’s coming to him, and I’ll know. So don’t do anything stupid, you got that?’ He took out a cigarette, sliding it between his lips. ‘I mean, they ain’t gonna fill this bunker in straightaway. They’ll give it a couple of hours – still time for this one to get some company.’ He gave Shane’s body a nudge with the heel of his boot. ‘Should that be necessary.’
‘Is there any need for all of this, Ben?’
Ben raised his eyebrows, deciding against smoking that cigarette down here. He couldn’t be sure that lighting up wouldn’t cause this place to explode, what with the mysterious noxious smells. ‘I dunno, Sheriff. What would you prefer we do? Set up mediation meetings? Talk it all over until we come to some kind of agreement? Meet in the middle? Is that what you’d like us to do?’
‘You’re being fucking flippant, Ben.’
‘Go tell him, Michael. Keep it short, keep it brief, and like I said, for your sake, keep it relevant. You tell Coby Walker anything other than I’ve shot and killed Shane Randell and you’ll start more trouble than you could ever imagine.’
‘You threatening me?’
Ben smiled, one that didn’t reach his eyes. ‘Oh, yeah, I’m threatening you, Sheriff.’ He walked over to Michael, stopping right in front of him, his smile growing wider, more sinister. ‘And it feels fucking good.’
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