Misguided (Fallen Aces MC Book 5)

by Max Henry

  “Exactly.” Dog runs a hand through his hair, sighing as he drops his head. “I spoke to King about it last night.”

  “Wondered where you went.” After he made sure I understood just how much he appreciates me, and not only my body, I fell asleep, only to wake later and find the bed empty.

  “Didn’t want to wake you, babe.” He leans over and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. “You looked too fuckin’ adorable all wrapped up in the blankets.”

  “Wake me up next time, huh? If something bothers you, I want to be able to help.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “So what did he say about it, anyway?”

  Dog takes a pull of his beer, setting it down before he answers. “He suggested I go see Lorelle and see what she wants me to do.”

  “Lorelle?” I tamp down the uncalled for jealousy that surges through me.

  “My brother’s wife.”

  “Oh. She’s not all that likely to suggest you make sure he gets put away though, is she?” Why would a wife do that to her husband?

  “They got married out of convenience. There isn’t a lot of love between them.”

  Still …

  “He’ll know you’ve spoken to her, though, won’t he?”

  Dog finishes his bottle and then slides it across the table. “Not if we do it right.”

  “We?”

  “Lawyer’s office said when they gave me the time for the video call, that they were tied up in consultation with him until lunch.”

  “We?” I repeat.

  He matches my stare with a frown. “Yeah. Why not?”

  “I’ve never met her.” If I thought my tight jeans and slashed tank made me uncomfortable when I first got back to the club, then they sure as hell make me feel inadequate now. “What will she think if you turn up with me? She’ll probably think we’re there to bully her into something.”

  “Hardly.” He shakes his head. “She’s laid up in the hospital at the moment, so I doubt she’d think we’d try anythin’ tricky with her.”

  Sure enough, less than an hour later I find myself walking through the entrance of St. Elizabeth, praying above all else that this goes well. We’ve got less than thirty minutes before visiting hours are over, and we’d have to come back after lunch taking a gamble that Dog’s brother didn’t show.

  “I feel really uncomfortable about this. Maybe I’ll just wait out front.” I stop walking, ready to run back, but Dog grabs me by the wrist and yanks me along.

  “Don’t start pullin’ that self-doubt shit now, woman. I need you there.”

  “Why?”

  “Because otherwise I’d rethink this whole idea and just get the asshole locked away for a while to teach him a lesson.”

  Damn it. “Fine, but we have to be quick.”

  “I know.”

  He talks to a lady at the reception desk, who directs us to the correct ward, and after the same conversation with the woman at the ward desk, we end up outside a private room at the far end of the corridor.

  “Last chance,” I whisper, hoping he’ll reconsider this and just do what he feels is right.

  Then again … that didn’t seem all that great of an option.

  “Come meet one of the wealthiest women in the state,” he mutters before pushing the door open and literally dragging me in behind him.

  I hang back as best I can considering his hand is still tightly around my wrist, using Dog’s shoulder as a kind of blockade from the petite woman in the bed. She’s stunning in her simplicity.

  Blonde hair fans around her head on the pillow, her eyes lacking emotion as she turns her head our way.

  “Koen.” She seems genuinely surprised, as though he’s the last person she expected to see.

  “Lorelle.” Dog drops my wrist, moving to stand at the end of the bed.

  She shuffles up using her elbows, righting the sheet so it sits across her chest, tucked under her arms. “Why are you here?”

  “Had a friendly request from the lawyer to speak with them about Derek.”

  Her face falls, her head turning toward the window as her gaze drifts to the surrounding grounds. “Oh, that.”

  “Yeah.”

  I find a vacant seat in the far corner and move across to it. Lorelle spots me as I cross the room, as though seeing me for the first time.

  “Who’s that?” She lifts a slim arm and points my way.

  “My girlfriend, Mel,” Dog answers.

  I cling on to the fuzzies being introduced as his girlfriend gives me, and offer a small wave. “Hi.”

  “Rollan thinks I’ll throw Derek under the bus,” Dog continues, making the most of our short time here. “I want to know what you think I should say when they ask me if I think he could be capable of fraud.”

  “Say what you like,” Lorelle murmurs. “I don’t care.”

  I can’t help but frown as I watch this woman visibly shut herself off from the people in the room with her. She sinks into her pillows, eyes on the trees outside as she blatantly ignores Dog.

  He appears to pick up on the shift also. “You realize he’ll get jail time. His reputation will be destroyed.”

  “Good,” is the only response she offers.

  I rise from the chair, touching Dog on the arm as I move to the side of her bed so she’s forced to look at me. “Hi, Lorelle.”

  “You already said that,” she snaps.

  Okay … “Do—Koen’s had a real hard time trying to decide what’s best to do. He really hoped you’d help with that.”

  “Seems ridiculous if you ask me.” Her sharp blue eyes snap to mine. “He wants my advice whether he should tell the truth or lie.”

  “Come on, Mel,” Dog snaps as he heads for the door. “Save your breath.”

  I ignore him, choosing to continue eyeballing Lorelle instead. “Why are you here?” Dog never told me her reason for being in the hospital, just that she was.

  “She tried to top herself,” Dog answers.

  I flash him a glare to let him know I’m not impressed with his cold-as-fuck reply. “I’d like to hear Lorelle answer me.”

  His sister-in-law nods when I look back to her. “He’s right, sort of.”

  I frown, tucking my chin to my chest. “Sort of?”

  “I could have died, yes, but I didn’t do it to myself.” She stares right at Dog.

  “What?” Dog steps further into the room again.

  Lorelle looks around Dog, as though expecting somebody else to walk in. “Your dad told me not to say anything.”

  “Fuck him.” Dog steps beside me, leaning a little toward Lorelle. “What happened?”

  Her eyes roll up and she shakes her head rapidly while sucking in a deep breath. “What can you do?”

  “Try me.”

  “Why did Rollan ask you to keep quiet?” I try for a different tactic.

  It seems to work. “He said it would jeopardize Derek’s chances.”

  Dog simply has to lift his eyebrows, and it seems all the coaxing she needs to get the weight off her chest.

  “When we were advised of the charges, when the IRS returned the outcome of their audit, he lost it.” She snorts. “You’d think he would be upset at the prospect of being tried and found guilty, right?”

  “Sure,” I say.

  “Well, he was mostly mad because it meant he’d lost the cash flow for his habit.”

  “He a user?” Dog asks.

  Lorelle shakes her head. “Nope. He’s a gambler.”

  “How much?” he asks.

  “It’s irrelevant,” Lorelle answers. “But it was a lot. I overheard him asking for the buy-in figure once. It was six figures.”

  “Damn.” Dog steps away, running a hand over his throat. “How does that put you here, though?”

  “Guess who he took that frustration out on,” she says with a bitter laugh. “Didn’t help that I’d told him the same morning I wanted a divorce.”

  “So he hurt you?” I ask.

  She nods, reaching to peel
back the sleeve of the robe she wears. Bandages cover her left forearm. “He wrestled the knife I was using off me, and cut me in the process. I panicked, told him to call an ambulance, but he called Rollan instead.” She shakes her head in disbelief. “I bled for a full hour before they finally called for help. The bastards concocted the story first, blackmailed me into sticking to it.”

  “How?” Dog asks. “What do they have over you?”

  “The truth about who my father is.” Her eyes move between the two of us. “You probably don’t get it, but if they made public my father is a convicted felon, it would ruin my standing in our social circles. I wouldn’t be able to show my face anywhere.”

  I might not know firsthand what that’s like, but I get the struggle to be somebody of status.

  “So you can see,” she continues, “why I don’t care what you say about him. If he goes to jail, well that’s where he belongs if you ask me. Your brother,” she says to Dog, “is a horrible man.”

  He opens his mouth to respond, yet a nurse pops her head through the door and interrupts. “I’m sorry, but visiting hours are over now.”

  “Thank you,” I offer, moving toward Dog. “We’re on our way.”

  She leaves the three of us and carries on down the corridor.

  Dog draws a deep breath and gives Lorelle a tight nod. “I’m sorry they did that to you.”

  She shrugs, a sad smile on her lips. “It’ll work itself out, I’m sure.”

  Without knowing what else to say, we take our leave and head out to the elevators. As the number flicks from the first floor to the floor below, I turn to Dog and ask, “What are you going to do?”

  He stares at the closed doors with a frown. “I don’t know. I feel like I should say what they did to her, but she seems to want to go along with it.”

  I reach out and slip my hand in his, resting my head against his arm. “Whatever you choose, I’m sure it’ll be the right decision.”

  And I fully believe that. This man has a heart of gold and only the best intentions for those around him. As tempting as it would be to lie out of spite for how his family has treated him, I don’t think he would do that.

  He said he wanted me here as moral support to make sure he did the right thing. But to be honest, I think he was going to do it anyway.

  Because that’s just who he is: caring to the core.

  THIRTY-NINE

  Dog

  Mel tucks herself into my front as we ride the elevator to the first floor. So maybe I was bullshitting when I said I needed her there to keep me levelheaded. No harm done. She did exactly what I hoped she would and used her natural ability to relate to people to get Lorelle to open up.

  When Rollan said she tried to kill herself, it seemed harsh to start with. I mean, fuck, I know Derek’s a class-A asshole, but damn … that bad? The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

  And sure enough, just like King suggested, paying her a visit brought the truth out. Yet another cover-up by my goddamn father and brother.

  The elevator chimes to signal we’ve reached the bottom, and the doors start to slide open. I place a kiss on Mel’s head and then guide her away from me so she can step out first. With my head still bent to hers, I don’t even notice the danger until it’s too late.

  Derek knocks Mel over in his haste to step into the elevator, pushing me against the back wall. An older couple backpedals out into the foyer as the doors slide shut again on our impromptu tussle.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Derek asks, hand fisted in my shirt at my throat.

  “Seeing how my sister-in-law is feelin’.” I shove him off me, pissed that he’s steamrolled Mel in his rage.

  She rights herself and lifts a hand to let me know she’s okay.

  “Since when have you given a shit about her?”

  “Since your fuckin’ behavior dragged me back into this goddamn family,” I holler. My voice rebounds off the wall of the small space, seeming louder than it is. “Seems no matter how hard I try to get away, you fuckers manage to reel me back in.”

  Derek’s nostrils flare as he stares me down. Mel backs up against the opposite wall of the elevator and strangely hits the button for the doors to close when they start to reopen.

  “What did she tell you?”

  I smirk, knowing I’ve got the asshole now. “About what? Your gambling addiction, the assault you tried to cover up, or the fact you were skimmin’ from the company to pay for your gambling?”

  “I never assaulted her,” he snarls, interestingly choosing the lesser of the three evils to argue.

  “The cut on her arm might say otherwise.”

  “She did that herself.”

  “Dad goin’ to back up that bullshit if I ask him?”

  Derek cocks his head to the side, probably thinking he’s in the clear since Rollan is as crooked as he is.

  “Dad even sick?” I ask. “Or was that all a bunch of bullshit to get a scapegoat on the payroll?”

  His pupils dilate, the rose in his cheeks rising. I’ve nailed it; he wanted me employed by Leidend so he could pin his theft on me.

  “Some fuckin’ brother you are, huh, Derek?”

  “What’s your life worth anyway,” he sneers. “A fucking low-life biker, or the CFO of a top five company? I know who’d be missed least.”

  Mel shoves her hands behind her back, bumping the “close” button again with her elbow. She flicks her gaze at Derek’s back, urging me to stop watching her. Odd.

  “I’ve got a video call with your lawyers in three hours.”

  Derek frowns, fisting one hand inside the other. “Why?”

  “They need a character reference, someone to say you never gave any signs that would indicate you stole from Leidend Industries. Somebody to say you’re a straight up good guy.” I suck a breath in between my teeth. “Don’t know if I can do that, you know.”

  “You fucking do it,” Derek grinds out, thrusting a finger in my chest. “You fucking do it, or not only will I ruin the life of that bitch upstairs, I’ll ruin yours too.”

  “Did you really think you could get away with it?”

  He chuckles. “Brother, I did for the last seven years.”

  I shake my head, disgusted that we share the same blood. “You deserve every year of jail you get.”

  He glances over his shoulder at Mel, as though finally realizing the doors keep shifting. “You’re so naïve, Koen. Doesn’t matter what I did, the company has enough money to buy out even the toughest jury. I’ll never hang for it.”

  Interestingly, Mel lets the doors slide open this time. She steps out, and I follow, over this bullshit conversation with Derek.

  “I see you here again, you better watch your back.”

  “Bite me, fuckhead,” I spit back as I turn and take two steps backward.

  The elevator doors close, and the numbers count their way up to Lorelle’s floor.

  I turn and reach for Mel, running my hands over her face, her shoulders. “You okay?”

  She nods, a small smirk tugging at her plump lips. Slowly, she lifts her hands from behind her back, showing the recording screen on her phone. The ticker at the bottom shows a little over five minutes.

  “You caught all that?” I ask.

  She nods, looking up at me from under her lashes. “Thought we could double back on that blackmail of his.”

  I laugh, taking her head in my hands and plastering a kiss to her lips. This woman—she never ceases to amaze me. “Fuckin’ love you, woman.”

  “Love you too. Now let’s get you ready for that video call.”

  ***

  I disconnect from the Skype call with clammy hands, pushing my phone along the table. King let me use the meeting room for the interview under one condition: I stop lying about who I am. He said I don’t have to come clean, but if anyone wants to know my real name, I tell them and trust that it won’t affect how people see me.

  Baby steps, I suppose.

  Mel greets me wi
th a smile as I step out into the common room. “How did it go?”

  “Easier than I thought.”

  She pushes out of her seat on one of the sofas and walks toward me. “What did you tell them?”

  “The truth.” They asked if Derek could be trusted, and I said no. “Didn’t elaborate on anything they didn’t directly ask about, but I gave them enough to want to dig a little deeper.”

  “How do you know they won’t just sweep it under the carpet, though?” Her hands find my cut as she rests them against my chest. “It was his lawyer you spoke to.”

  “Yes,” I say, lifting a finger. “But the prosecution was present, too.”

  She smiles, pushing up on tiptoes to place a kiss on my lips. “You’re a good man, Dog.”

  “I try.” Especially now I have her, my reason to.

  “What about Lorelle?”

  “What about her?”

  Mel huffs out her nose, pressing her lips together. “You saw how miserable she was.”

  “Not my problem.”

  She slams a hard fist against my chest. “Hey.”

  I roll my eyes and sigh. “Fine. I can have a word with King. You still got that recordin’?”

  “Of course.”

  “Good.” I set my hands on her ass and hoist her high. “Can we forget about it for a while now?”

  “I guess.” Her arms wrap around my shoulders. “We need to talk about your transfer to Fort Worth, anyway.” She smirks.

  “My what?” I smile.

  “Come on.” Mel dots a kiss to my nose. “My room there is bigger, plus you want to get away from all this, so what better way to do it?”

  “What’s the huntin’ like down there?” I tease.

  “I’m sure it’s fine.” Her eyes search mine, the hope clear. “What do you say?”

  I know what I want to say. But … “I think we should talk to your brother first, don’t you?”

  She flops her head dramatically against my shoulder. “Why?”

  “It’s his place, babe.” I start walking us toward the stairs. “Only polite to ask before I turn up with a bag in hand.”

  “Fine.” She pulls back to look me in the eye as I set her down. “But let’s wait a few days, huh? I want to spend some time with my man before we go starting more fires.”