Forbidden Secrets (Lee County Wolves Series) Book #5

by Teresa Gabelman

  Before Steve could answer, his phone rang. He held up his finger as he answered it. “Yo.”

  Taz knew he was going to strangle the son of a bitch before the day was over. His fingers actually itched at the thought. All he wanted was to find Leda, make sure she was safe, and take her back home where she belonged—by his fucking side. Yeah, this tiptoeing shit around the issue of her being his was over.

  Steve’s words on the phone drew his attention.

  “Is she in danger?” Steve’s voice changed from dumbass to serious in one breath.

  Taz about came off the bike, but Steve gave him a thumbs-up. What the fuck did that even mean? Thumbs-up she was okay? Or thumbs-up she was in danger, and they were leaving so he could kill someone?

  “Yeah.” Steve nodded, even though he was on the phone. “I got this. No, we aren’t waiting. Like I was telling Tax…”

  Taz’s fingers itched again, and he actually pictured them around Steve’s throat.

  “…the less attention we draw to ourselves the better until we know what’s going on.” Steve glanced at Taz. “No, he’s calm. I told him how it was.”

  Taz flipped him off with a snarl. He was seriously rethinking his decision to have Steve involved.

  The vamp finally hung up, taking his time putting his phone in his pocket before saying anything.

  “That was Hunter,” Steve said as he looked around the parking lot they still stood in. “Some guy called the Warriors saying Leda was with him.”

  Anger and relief swarmed his body, his eyes narrowed. “Where?” was the only word growled from his lips.

  “Hold on, chief.” Steve shook his head. “We can’t go barreling into town. This guy, Malcolm, said there are eyes everywhere. He said we have to wait until night, but she’s safe for now.”

  One thing about Taz was he didn’t take orders well when it came to Leda. He wanted her by his side now. “Call me that one more time,” he warned, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

  “Listen, Tax,” Steve continued to push his buttons, “I’m here for Leda. I don’t give a rat’s ass if you like me or not.”

  Taz took a deep calming breath, counted to ten, and when that didn’t help his rage, he counted again and took another deep calming breath. “Where. Is. She?”

  “Hunter texted me the address, but we aren’t going anywhere until you agree to park the damn bike before we get into town.” Steve crossed his arms and leaned against the van. “You know I’m right, but you’re too damn hardheaded to admit it.”

  Slowly, Taz got off his bike and walked straight up to Steve until they were nose-to-nose. He had to give Steve credit; the guy just stood there staring at him. “I don’t like you,” Taz said, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t think you’re calling the shots.”

  “Actually, I am calling the shots, because I’m not thinking with my heart or my dick.” Steve’s voice remained level, not loud or quiet, just calm and cool. “I’m happily married to the woman who owns my heart. I love Leda, but not in the way you have confused. She is my sister who no one will hurt, including you. So think what you want, but you know I’m right. Leave the fucking bike.”

  Taz heard his words, and to his surprise, he believed him. Go figure. His thinking where Leda was concerned was always a bit clouded. He also knew Steve was actually right. His bike would draw attention, but he sure as fuck didn’t want to admit that to Steve.

  “Okay, but just let me say—” Steve thought for a moment with a weird look on his face. “—when I kissed Leda, she wasn’t like a sister to me because that would have just been weird.”

  “I’ll find a place to stash the bike.” Taz turned around and got back on his bike before he punched Steve in the mouth. “How far and what way?”

  Glancing at his phone, Steve frowned. “About forty-five minutes from here and turn left, then south on the AA Highway.”

  Taz gave a nod, then started his bike without saying a word.

  “Ya know, I think if you get that stick out of your ass, we could be friends.” Steve opened the van door, calling out over his shoulder, “I’m not only a pretty funny guy, hilarious actually, but I’m also as fucking loyal as they come.”

  Revving his bike, Taz ignored him as he took off, following Steve’s directions. What pissed him off was Steve was probably right. If Taz didn’t have the ever-present chip on his shoulder, they probably could be friends.

  Then again, hearing he had kissed Leda had Taz wanting to tear his throat out. Maybe friends was stretching it a bit.

  Leda lay on the couch watching a Friends marathon. Malcolm had something to do, so he’d left her alone with rules and warnings. “Don’t leave, don’t answer the door, don’t go outside,” so on and so forth. She made the smartass remark that he needed to write them down because no way could she remember them all.

  Reaching around, she pulled out her phone and turned it on. Immediately alerts for texts sounded. She had over fifty unread messages. Scrolling through them, she saw one from Steve. Opening it, she grinned and felt her eyes tear up.

  You missed my wedding. I expect a damn good reason and an amazing gift. Love and miss you, dog breath. Call me ASAP!

  Wiping a tear, she continued to scroll without opening any until Taz’s messages began. When she opened the last one, her stomach clenched in anticipation.

  Why didn’t you come to me? If I don’t hear from you in the next hour, I will come and find you. I will find you, Leda.

  Sitting straight up, she gasped. They knew. Sam blabbed. She couldn’t blame her brother; he was probably scared and worried. He was so young, too young to be going through what they’d been through. She hated putting any of this on Sam, but they had talked about this before they had ever met the Lee County wolves. It had only been the two of them for so long.

  She read the text again and knew without a doubt that Taz would make good on his text, which was sent a day ago. There was nothing else from him.

  Panic started to settle in as she stood and paced, staying away from the windows. She didn’t want anyone involved. It was too dangerous. Considering her uncle killed his own brother, he would easily kill anyone else who stood in his way or threatened what he wanted to keep, which was obviously the Kingsman pack. God, how she hated the man. To even think she was blood-related to the bastard made vomit rise to her throat.

  This was her business, no one else’s. She didn’t even like bringing in Malcolm and Jamie, but she needed a little help on the inside. Soon, she would be back on her own; she just needed more information before she set her plan in action.

  A knock on the door had her jumping and then running to hide. Reaching up to make sure her wig was in place, she held her breath as the door opened. Dammit, she should have been paying more attention. If she had any hope of avenging her parents and taking over the pack, she needed to get her shit together.

  “Malcolm? Leda?” Jamie’s voice called out in a whisper as the door shut.

  Leda came around the corner of the kitchen into the living room. “You scared me to death.”

  “Good!” Jamie frowned, putting a bag on the table just past the door. “What in the hell are you thinking, Leda? You were free from this hellhole. What are you doing back? And where’s Malcolm?”

  “He said he had something to take care of and he’d be right back,” Leda replied, then glanced down at her friend’s stomach. “Boy or girl?”

  “I don’t know.” Jamie rubbed her belly lovingly, but the sadness on her face broke Leda’s heart. “I haven’t been to a doctor yet. Minor said I didn’t need to see a doctor, that women have babies every day, so I need to suck it up. Be a woman, he says.”

  “He’s one of my uncle’s men?” Leda asked, already knowing the answer to that question.

  Jamie nodded as she went to a chair and sat down, putting her swollen feet up on the coffee table. “Yeah.”

  “I’m sorry.” Leda sighed, sitting across from Jamie.

  “What are you sorry for?” Jamie kicked off her shoes and
wiggled her toes. “None of this is your fault. Seriously, Leda, what are you doing back here? We didn’t know if you got away or if you’d been killed.”

  “He’s not getting away with what he did.” Leda lifted her head proudly.

  “Honey, he already did.” Jamie’s response wasn’t meant to be mean. Just the facts. “He got away with all of it, and he’s still getting away with it. You are not going to be able to stop him.”

  “Let me worry about that,” Leda replied, not wanting to let Jamie know how far she was willing to go to see her uncle defeated.

  The door opened, making both of them jump and gasp.

  “Dammit, Malcolm.” Jamie leaned back after seeing it was her brother. “Knock next time.”

  “It’s my house,” Malcolm replied, grabbing the bag that Jamie had set on the table. He walked over and kissed Jamie on the top of the head. “So, prego, what’s for dinner?”

  “Chicken soup, club melt, and onion rings.” She leaned her head back, closing her eyes. “You might need to nuke it.”

  Leda watched Malcolm and Jamie, her heart dropping to her stomach. What in the hell was she doing here putting them in danger? If her uncle even got a hint that they helped her, they’d pay dearly.

  Before she could say anything, Malcolm cursed at the sink in the kitchen. Looking that way, she saw him staring out the window before he turned toward her, his face a mask of panic and fear.

  “Hey, beggars can’t be choosers or however that goes.” Jamie mistook his curse, thinking it was because of what she brought for him to eat.

  “Minor,” Malcolm said as he rushed into the living room.

  Before any of them could react, the door opened, and Minor’s eyes went straight to Leda. “What the fuck is she doing here?”

  Chapter 5

  Taz sat in the passenger seat of Steve’s fucking minivan wondering if instead of some back road in Kentucky, he was on the road to Hell. Steve talked nonstop, knowing Taz would rather gut him than speak one word to him, and yet the guy didn’t seem to care. He was talking like they were old friends. What in the actual hell was going on?

  Glancing at his phone, he knew while Leda hadn’t responded to his texts, he had hoped the last one would draw a reaction from her. It hadn’t. After Steve’s phone call with Hunter, he at least knew she was okay, for now.

  He stared out the window. They were close. Taz needed to get control of his emotions and play this right. Leda’s life depended on it. Watching the trees fly by, a small smile curved his lips as he wondered if these woods were where Leda grew up. Had she let her wolf run this land? He was sure she had. There was so much he didn’t know about her, and yet he felt as if he’d known her forever.

  The first time Taz had seen Leda, his wolf had taken immediate notice, and so had the man. From that moment, she had been his, whether she knew it or not. Apparently though, she hadn’t known it since she seemed to fight him every step of the way. Either that or she was in denial.

  He knew Garrett and the rest were stumped on why he had let her walk away. He hadn’t known she was walking into danger. If he had, Taz never would have allowed that. At least he wouldn’t have allowed her to go into this alone, but he had never forced anyone to do anything against their will. If she had wanted to stay with him, she would have. It had taken everything he possessed just to stand silently as she’d left, but he’d known he would find her again once she’d found what she was in search of. Unfortunately, he hadn’t known it was revenge against the bastard who’d killed her parents.

  “Hey, dude.” Steve’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.

  “What?”

  “Listen, man, I know we didn’t get off on the right foot,” Steve began as Taz sighed, rubbing his eyes, “but just know that I would lay my life down for Leda, not because I want her, but because she’s special.”

  Taz didn’t brush his words aside as he usually did with Steve. Instead, he heard the truth in them. How could he hate someone who had his woman’s best interest at heart? Dammit, he had been such a bastard to this guy and yet here he was, driving a fucking minivan into a possible battle that wasn’t really his. He had just gotten married, left his new bride to help him find Leda. Taz felt like a total dick. He was a dick, who was he kidding?

  “She is,” Taz agreed, then cleared his throat. “Congrats on your marriage, man.”

  “Thank you,” Steve answered, without saying more, which was a total shocker.

  “I appreciate, ah, you know…” Taz tripped over the nice words. “…you, ah, being here and… shit.”

  “That was a fumbled mess.” Steve snorted with a chuckle, glancing over at Taz. “I bet that was the hardest damn thing you’ve ever had to say to anyone.”

  “You have no idea.” Taz sighed as a fucking grin spread across his face. What was it about this son of a bitch? It was impossible to hate the fucker.

  “Yeah, well, it’s what we do.” Steve looked back at the road. “We’re one big dysfunctional clusterfuck of a family, but we have each other’s backs.”

  Taz hadn’t had a family of any kind for quite some time. He was starting to feel close to the Lee County guys, but family? He guessed since he was willing to risk his life for one of them, that’s what they were. He had heard the stories of how the Warriors and the Lee County pack had joined forces. It seemed he was a part of that now.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Steve broke into his thoughts.

  Good question. “Don’t have one,” Taz replied with ease. He usually acted on instinct. Plans had a way of fucking everything up.

  “Ah, so you’re a pantser.” Steve stopped at a red light, glancing at his phone and checking the mapquest.

  Taz frowned. “What in the fuck are you talking about?”

  Steve put his phone down and refocused on the traffic light. “Oh, sorry. Been doing some research. I’m thinking of writing my life story. Paranormal shit is big in the book world. Having a wife and baby, I need to make sure I have plenty of moola. Diapers ain’t cheap, and believe me when I tell you little Drew Boo goes through a shit ton of them.”

  Having no idea where in the hell Steve was going with this story, Taz just sat back and waited. He had no choice anyway, because Steve didn’t shut the fuck up. That was definitely one thing he had learned on this short drive.

  “So, anyway, if you had a plan, you’d be a plotter as an author.” The car behind them blew their horn. “Chill out, dickhead. Where’s the damn fire, dipshit?” Steve yelled, glaring in his rearview mirror, then proceeded to inch his way under the now green light.

  Taz was starting to hate Steve again. Once Steve was done fucking with the guy behind him, he continued with his “how to write a book” lesson. Taz really had no clue what the fuck he was talking about, but it didn’t matter. Steve would continue in Steve fashion.

  “Okay, where was I?” Steve had calmed down, looking at Taz as if he’d been hanging on to every word he had spoken. Taz had absolutely nothing to say. “Plan… plotter. Oh, yeah. So if you don’t have a plan, you’d be a pantser. In the book world, that would mean you just wrote by the seat of your pants. Make shit up as you go and hope it all makes sense. That’s me also. I’m a pantser. I don’t plan shit, just go with the flow and hope to hell it works out.”

  “Where in the fuck do you come up with this shit?” Taz shook his head, trying to dislodge some of the bullshit spewing from Steve.

  “Google.” Steve snorted as if Taz was the biggest idiot he’d ever met. “Where else? Oh, and Siri. Siri knows a lot of shit. Even knows that ants have balls. Did you know that?”

  Taz actually grabbed onto the door handle, ready to bail out of the hell he had found himself in until he heard Steve’s next words.

  “Okay, there’s the house.” Steve’s voice became more serious than Taz had ever heard. “And looks like there’s company. Hunter said if there was a car out front to stay away until it was gone.”

  They passed the house that sat pretty far off the main road. �
�Fuck that,” Taz growled, his eyes narrowing. “Park.”

  “That’s what I thought you’d say,” Steve replied, then pulled into an empty lot. “You know, there are days I wish I was a plotter, ’cause I really don’t know what the fuck we’re doing.”

  Taz opened the van door with a sinister smile. “We’re paying a friendly visit.”

  “Yeah, well, that smile on your face doesn’t look too friendly.” Steve got out, walked around and stood by Taz, who was glaring toward the house. “Lead the way, wolfman. This is your show. I’m just the backup.”

  Taz looked over at Steve and saw him in a totally different light. Before he could say anything, Steve pointed the key fob over his shoulder and pushed the button, locking the minivan with a goofy grin.

  Jesus, this could get ugly.

  Leda stood like a deer in the headlights, unable to move. She knew her eyes and mouth were both wide open, but nothing came out.

  “Hey, now.” Malcolm walked up to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. “Don’t come to my home talking to my girl like that.”

  “Your girl?” Minor frowned, looking Leda up and down, his eyes lingering on her breasts before going back to Malcolm. “Since when?”

  “What are you, my dad?” Malcolm snorted, hugging Leda tighter.

  “If she’s his girl, why didn’t you say something at the restaurant?” Minor walked farther into the house to where Jamie had sat straight up in the chair.

  “Ah, maybe because she just met her,” Malcolm answered for Jamie, then gave a dramatic sigh. “We met online.”

  “Online.” Minor’s face scrunched up as if trying to comprehend the word.

  Leda realized Minor wasn’t working with a full deck. She felt even sorrier for her friend who carried this dumbass’s child.

  “Yeah, man.” Malcolm sounded irritated. “Online. Dating site. And why am I even explaining this? You aren’t alpha, so it’s none of your damn business.”

  That seemed to take the man’s attention off Leda. “No, I’m not,” Minor growled, his eyes narrowing at Malcolm. “But when Kingsman is gone, I’m in charge.”