Two blond frat boys stopped at Arianne’s table, and Jagger glared and jerked his chin at T-Rex to shoo them away. Every fucking bastard in the place was staring at her. Not only was she the sexiest woman in the club, but her distress was like a goddamn fucking beacon. He could see her pain in the hunch of her shoulders, the tremble of her hands, and the smear on her cheek from where she’d tried to wipe away the blood. Even now he had to clutch the tabletop to keep from going over to her. No doubt he’d get another slap across the face for his efforts.
He tried to imagine what he’d put her through. How he would feel if she’d accused him of such betrayal. When had he ever lost control before? When had he ever let emotion cloud his judgment? When had he ever cared about anyone so much, the thought of losing them cut deeper than the shrapnel lodged in his heart? Not since he was seven years old, when his mom had walked away.
“That stripper’s been watching me ever since we came in.” Cade grinned. “I’m thinking I might be getting a private dance tonight.”
“Thought you’d hooked up with Dawn.” Jagger sipped his beer, letting the bitter liquid slide over his tongue, no worse than the sour taste in his mouth.
“Nah. She just wants me for sex.”
Jagger’s head jerked up. “Well, that’s a first. Usually it’s the other way round.”
Cade’s cheeks reddened. “She’s got issues.”
“Who doesn’t?” He checked his watch. Jeff was already half an hour late. A few more minutes, and they’d call it a night. He’d made sure the Sinners stayed out of sight, in case Jeff caught on to their plan. Of course, the plan hadn’t included Arianne trying to slap him again when he pointed her to the booth, or calling him a fucking evil bastard, or telling him she would die before she let them touch Jeff. But here they were, and pain and regret were eating a hole through his heart.
Jagger stared at the stage, unseeing. He needed to get a grip. He was the president of the dominant outlaw MC in the state; the world was his for the taking. What did it matter whether she wanted to be with him or not? Or whether their time together had meant anything to her? She was his. He’d claimed her. He could do with her as he pleased. Not that he would ever touch her without her consent, but he could make her stay.
As if she knew what he was thinking, Arianne’s gaze flicked to him and then away, her lips pressing into a thin line. She leaned back in the seat and folded her arms under her breasts, pulling taut the thin material of her top and exposing the crescents of her breasts. Jagger couldn’t tear his gaze away.
Christ. She was driving him fucking crazy. How could he still want her after she’d made it abundantly clear he meant nothing to her?
“You’re not being very inconspicuous.” Cade waved a hand in front of Jagger’s face. “Anyone looking at you would know exactly what you’re thinking. You look like a lion ready to pounce.”
“Fuck off.”
“You’re wrecked. I’ve never seen you wrecked before. Actually, ‘wrecked’ isn’t the right word. I think the word I’m looking for is ‘heartbroken,’ or maybe it’s ‘devastated.’”
“Fuck off again.”
“That’s why I keep it simple,” Cade said with a wry grin. “One night, maybe two, then on to the next. No emotional entanglements. No pain. No gut-wrenching decisions about whether to let the girl you claimed as a blood price go because that’s what she wants most in the world—more than you.…”
Damn Cade and his stupid insightful jokes. If they’d been outside, he would have punched him, wiped that smarmy grin off his face. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know everything about you.” Cade shoved another beer across the table. “We served together too long not to know each other inside and out, and right now, your inside is out, brother.”
Jagger had slid partway out of the booth, already committed to slamming Cade’s head into the table, when Arianne left her booth and walked toward them.
“I’m going to use the restroom.” Strained, quiet, her voice held none of her usual sass, and her eyes none of their usual fire. She didn’t wait for him to respond, just continued on her way. Jagger looked around for T-Rex to send him to watch the door. Where the fuck was he? And where was Wheels? Jesus Christ. Had they learned nothing from their screw-up at the pool hall?
He texted them and stared at his phone, awaiting their response. But when it finally buzzed, it wasn’t T-Rex or Wheels sending the text, but Zane.
Viper knows where you are. Headed your way. Will try to intercept.
“We need to get Arianne out of here.” He stood abruptly and stalked over to the bathroom. How could he make up for what he’d done? How could he tell her the thought of losing her had hurt so much, he had to push her away?
* * *
“Pssst. Arianne.”
Hands still under the dryer, Arianne turned to see a familiar face peering around the door to the ladies’ restroom.
“Jeff!”
He held up a hand and pulled his ball cap low on his forehead. “Wait thirty seconds, then meet me out back. There’s a hidden door through the storage room at the end of the hallway. The Sinners are watching, so I gotta be quick.”
Heart pounding, she counted off the seconds and then pushed open the door and glanced down the hallway. She could just make out Jagger’s broad form at a table near the stage. Although facing her direction, he was looking down at his phone and a waitress blocked his view. Cade’s attention was focused on the stage. She couldn’t see Wheels or T-Rex. Pulse racing, she slipped out of the restroom and raced down the hallway to a gray metal door marked WARDROBE.
She walked through a huge room filled with costumes, then pushed open the back door and looked out into the night. “Jeff?”
“Over here.” He waved her over to a Ford battered Thunderbird parked in the shadows, and she raced across the lot to join him.
“I’ve been so worried.” She wrapped him in a hug. “After what happened at the vacant lot … I didn’t know if you’d be okay.” And then she pulled away and her bottom lip trembled, loving and hating him at the same time. “How could you, Jeff? He was an innocent man. You’re lucky he didn’t die.”
“He didn’t die?” Jeff gaped and took a step back under the parking lot light, brushing away the lank, dirty blond hair that perpetually hung over his face. Arianne caught a glimpse of his eyes, usually a brilliant blue, but now dull and filled with shadows. Fair where Viper was dark. Small where Viper was big. Weak where Viper was strong. Jeff was the opposite of Viper in every way.
“He’ll be okay. I checked with the hospital.”
Jeff wrapped his arms around himself and his voice wavered. “It was killing me, Ari. Every moment of every day, I thought about him. He wasn’t an innocent man like you said. He was a small-time dealer who tried to cheat Viper on a cut and then shot one of the Jacks when he tried to escape. But the idea I’d taken a life was too much for me. I loaded my apartment with crank and went on a binge to end all binges just so I could forget the pain. It was good, so good. But I’ve run out, and now that the ice house is gone, I can’t get a new supply. I haven’t slept for days.”
Arianne leaned closer and studied his face. The waver in his voice and the inability to sleep usually indicated he’d entered the tweaking phase of his addiction, and if that was the case, she needed to get away from him. Fast. Tweaking made him unpredictable, delusional, and violent. But he didn’t display the quick, jerky movements he always had when he tweaked. And for the first time, she wasn’t sure what to do.
“What about the guy at the Sinner clubhouse?” he asked. “I shot him in the leg. Is he okay? He came out with an automatic weapon, and if I hadn’t slowed him down, he would have killed us all.”
“Gunner? Yes, he’s fine. But Cole, the other guy you shot—”
“I didn’t shoot him,” Jeff said quickly. “My job was to get the guns. The other guys were responsible for torching the clubhouse and taking out anyone who saw us. I’m not sure which of
them took that guy out or knocked you off your bike. They didn’t know it was you, and I couldn’t go to you because that guy I shot kept firing at us. We had to get out of there.”
He hadn’t shot them. Jeff was still her Jeff. She hadn’t totally lost him to Viper. And yet, he’d left her for the Sinners to find, and it was only luck that the man from the vacant lot survived.
She looked back over her shoulder at the door. Jagger would have sent someone looking for her by now. Time to do what she had come to do. She had to find out if this was really good-bye. “Are you sure you want to stay?”
Something moved in the shadows, and she stilled, staring into the darkness. But it was gone so quickly, she wondered if she’d imagined it. “We could still go together. You could get help for your problem. Be free of Viper. You would never have to face a situation like that again.”
He gave his head a violent shake. “I was in a bad place, Ari. Viper caught me and beat me for not getting all the weapons. I hadn’t had a hit in days. My head was spinning. I couldn’t think. And he just went on and on and on about killing that guy. He wouldn’t stop talking. I just wanted him to stop talking. But it’s all okay now. I’ve almost got the guns. I’ll get my patch. He’ll be proud of me the way he’s proud of you.”
Proud of her? Jeff had to be tweaking. She needed to leave.
“Do you have the passports?”
A pained expression crossed his face. “Well … there’s a slight problem. I did a deal with the guy Bunny recommended, but I didn’t have enough cash to pay for the weapons, so I tried to short him. I figured by the time he found out, me ’n’ the weapons would be safe at the Black Jack clubhouse. But he caught me on the road, and said if I didn’t pay him tonight, he’d kill me. So I gave him the passports to cover some of the shortfall and then I remembered I was meeting you, so I told him you were good for the rest.”
“What?” Her voice rose to a shriek. “I worked two jobs for a year to pay for those passports. An entire year. And you just gave them away?”
Jeff scratched himself over and over as if he had bugs crawling under his skin. “He’s in the car, Ari. If you’ve got enough to cover me, then he’ll give us the passports back. But at the very least, you have to make up the difference. If I don’t get those weapons, Viper will kill me. You don’t want that on your conscience.”
“Where is he?” She opened her purse and pulled out her .22.
Jeff pointed to his vehicle at the far end of the lot. “He’s in there. You can talk to him, but don’t kill him. I need those weapons.”
“I don’t kill people, Jeff.” She spat out her words. “But I need my passports so he needs to know I mean business. They weren’t yours to give. I should never have let you pick them up. If Banks hadn’t offered to pay me double time to work that night because he was short-staffed, I would have gone myself, but I thought we could use that extra bit of cash. And I trusted you.”
“I’m sorry, Ari. I was desperate. You know what Viper’s like. You saw what he did to me. And now this guy wants to kill me. What was I supposed to do?”
What was she supposed to do?
Arianne took one last look at the door leading back to the club and felt a cold fist close over her heart. Jagger hadn’t come looking for her after all. Maybe he’d decided she wasn’t worth the effort. Her hand flew to her cheek, where the brick had sliced through her skin. How could she have misjudged Jagger so badly? God, she’d been seconds away from agreeing to stay, from telling him how much she cared about him. And then he’d turned around and accused her of betraying him. So much anger. He’d never intended to let her go. He was Viper all over again.
Time to go. And this time it would be forever.
She stalked across the parking lot, but as she neared Jeff’s vehicle, he shouted and raced past her, reaching for the driver’s side door.
“Quick—get in the car. Someone’s coming.”
She caught movement in the shadows and then a flash of blond hair under the parking lot light near the door she had just come through. Her mouth went dry when she saw the lean figure wearing a biker cut. No front patches. Wheels?
Arianne froze, but Wheels made no move toward her. Instead, he nodded and faded back into the darkness.
Well, if Wheels was here, Jagger wouldn’t be far behind. She jumped into the passenger seat, and Jeff slid behind the wheel. Moments later, they peeled out of the parking lot and headed down the highway.
She didn’t recognize the hulking figure in the backseat until it was too late.
NINETEEN
No member will disgrace the club by being a pussy.
“Where the fuck is she?”
T-Rex and Wheels paled under Jagger’s relentless verbal abuse. “Two prospects and a full-patch brother should have been able to keep one woman in sight. How the fuck did she get out?”
“There’s a hidden exit through the storage room,” Wheels said, his voice wavering. “Leads to a secluded area of the parking lot. I was doing circuits of the building and musta been around the front when she came out. There’s no way anyone could have known there was an exit back there, and we’d already checked that the windows in the restrooms were secure.”
“There is a way we could have known about the secret exit.” He grabbed Wheels by the collar and shoved him against the brick wall where only an hour earlier he’d held Arianne. “You could have fucking asked.”
“I did ask.” T-Rex put a firm hand on Jagger’s wrist. “The owner assured me there was no way out from the bathroom corridor. I’ve dealt with him.”
Slightly mollified, Jagger released the trembling Wheels. “Go pull the security tapes. We have to find out who has her. Zane lost Viper on the road, so it might be the Jacks caught her outside. Or it might be her brother came after all, and they’re gone.”
After they had departed, Jagger slumped against the wall. He doubted Viper had snatched her. What would be the point? He hadn’t been able to keep her before, and nothing had changed. And if he wanted her dead, she would be lying in the parking lot. It had to be Jeff. So why was he wasting time and energy looking for a woman who didn’t want to stay? And wasn’t this the best result? She would find the happiness she wanted, safe from Viper and from him.
Cade clapped a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find her.”
“What if she doesn’t want to be found?” He pushed himself to stand. “She came here to meet her brother and leave with him. I made it easy for her to do just that. My guess is they’re long gone.”
Probably the best result for him, too. If tonight was any evidence, he had lost his objectivity, and his emotional involvement had almost compromised the club. The old ways were the best ways. No attachments. No strings.
No Arianne.
* * *
“I have died and gone to heaven.”
Arianne stilled when a knife slid across her throat. She knew the voice coming from the backseat. Remembered the cool feel of a blade on her skin. She glanced up in the rear view mirror, and her mouth went dry.
“Axle.” She lowered the .22, still in her grasp, down by her side, praying Axle wouldn’t notice.
“The one and only. Still alive and kicking after Jagger and his boys got a blowtorch and burned my Sinner’s Tribe tat off my shoulder blade. Lucky for me, I didn’t get the full version across my back, or I would have died in that fucking clubhouse basement.”
“You know my sister?” Jeff met Axle’s gaze in the rear view mirror.
“Your sister?” Axle spat. “She’s your fucking sister? So who are you? Bunny never gives out personal details. So spill. Are you Viper’s boy?”
“Yeah. The weapons are for him.”
“Well, damn.” Axle barked his delight. “Things were looking pretty bad for me for a while there, but fortune has smiled on me at last. Price just went up, J-Boy ’cause the weapons I have to sell are the weapons Viper tried to steal from the Sinners. I got them this evening with the help of a sexy redhead.”
“Sherry?” The name dropped from Arianne’s lips before she could catch it.
“So clever.” Axle pressed the knife against Arianne’s throat. “Yeah, Sherry got me into the storage shed behind the safe house where she’s stayin’. Jagger kicked her outta the club, but he let her stay at the safe house because someone roughed her up real bad, and Jagger just can’t deal with seeing a woman in pain. I had to hit her quite a few times to make it look authentic enough for him to want to help her, but I never expected he’d put her in the safe house, right near the shed. Never thought it would be so easy for her to get the code. But a man will pretty much give up anything for good head, and Sherry’s the best.”
Her lip curled. “You’re disgusting.”
“And you’re gonna suffer so much worse than she did when she first told me she wouldn’t do it.”
Jeff’s hands convulsed on the steering wheel, and the car veered to the side of the road. “That wasn’t our deal. She’s not part of this except to get the extra cash.”
“Consider her a surcharge.” Axle laughed. “I gotta say, I was worried about how to make a living after I got kicked outta the Sinners, but getting into bed with Bunny, using my connections to get shit he needs, has more than made up for my loss.”
Arianne fingered the trigger on her gun, weighing her chances of avoiding the blade if she could shoot Axle across her opposite shoulder. “How much more does he owe?”
“Eighty grand. And hand the gun over to Jeff, love. Nice and slow. I know you got it, and I don’t got any problem cutting you tonight, because every day you’ve been alive since we found you at the clubhouse has been borrowed time.”
Muttering a curse, she held the gun out for Jeff, who took it with his right hand, and lowered it carefully to the floor beneath his legs.
The Sinner’s Tribe Motorcycle Club, Books 1-3 Page 25