“I know something’s on your mind,” Texas murmured.
I didn’t want to talk about how I felt. About how wonderful it felt being vulnerable with him. For all I knew, this was just another hook up. Another thing we couldn't tell people about.
So, I changed the subject.
“Just thinking about how good this felt.”
Texas chuckled. “I’m glad you liked it.”
“I hope you did, too,” I said.
He reached his lips down and kissed the top of my head, but he didn’t say anything. And I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
“I saw Stone today,” he said.
I tensed. “You did?”
“For a bit, yeah. At the bar.”
“Did you tell him about last night?”
“No. But I do feel bad about lying to him.”
I nodded softly. “I’d feel bad about it, too.”
“Yeah,” he said.
“We’re also adults, though. Adults who can live their own lives without the approval of another one.”
“True.”
“I mean if we want to have hot, mindless sex, then why not?” I asked.
He chuckled. “Mindless, huh?”
I waited to see if he’d mention anything else about it, but he didn’t. He just kept stroking his fingers through my hair and kissing the top of my head every once in a while.
“I just wanted to feel good again. And you do that for me,” I said softly.
“Well, I’m glad I can. I get that, too, you know. Wanting to feel good,” he said.
“And you do?”
“Ella, just ask.”
“What?”
“Just ask what you want to ask me,” he said.
I tilted my head back and gazed up into his eyes.
“Are you enjoying whatever this is?” I asked.
He kissed the tip of my nose in a soft way I would have never expected of a man like him. And it made me giggle, which in turn made him smile.
A smile I had greatly come to enjoy.
“More than you know,” Texas murmured.
“So, you don’t regret it?” I asked.
He furrowed his brow. “Hell, no. Never. But we also can’t keep sneaking around behind people’s backs. Your brother, specifically.”
I sighed. “I know. I know.”
As the two of us laid there in one another’s arms, I suppressed the need to tell Texas how much that hurt. I wanted to be happy with him. I really did. And I didn’t get why we somehow needed my brother’s approval for all that shit. I mean he walked me down the aisle to Jett, for fuck’s sake. And Texas was nothing like Jett. Texas was the opposite of Jett. Why would my brother have an issue with it?
Why was he someone we needed approval from?
I snuggled deeper into Texas’ body and relished the last few minutes I had with him. I pushed all of the doubts and the frustrations from my mind and filled it with how warm he felt against my body. How stable his muscles felt. How soft his skin felt. I loved being with him. Being around him. Being in his presence. Introducing him to parts of my life, including Keva. I wanted to be out-of-this-world happy with my world, and I felt that kind of happiness when I was with Texas.
When I was in his arms.
“We can’t do this again,” Texas said.
Those few words burst my bubble, forever damaging it.
“What?” I asked.
I pulled away from him and sat up, holding the sheet against my naked body.
“Ella, I’m sorry. But I can’t keep sneaking around behind Stone’s back like this. He’s trusting me to protect you. You and Keva. And if he finds out—”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it,” I said.
“Ella, it’s not you.”
“I know. I know it isn’t.”
“Ella—”
“Seriously, Texas. I know it isn’t me. Or my life. Or Keva. Or any of those other things. I know you have a devotion to my brother that supersedes any sort of devotion to—”
I stopped myself before I said too much.
“To… what?” Texas asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“To what, Ella?”
“It doesn't matter.”
“It does to me,” he said.
“Apparently not enough to keep seeing me. So, forget it,” I said flatly.
In the back of my mind, I knew he was right. I knew we couldn't keep sneaking around behind my brother’s back. I knew why Stone was doing this and I knew why Texas couldn't keep doing whatever it was we were doing. And in the grand scheme of things, it was probably better this way.
But as Texas pulled his clothes on and left without another word, it didn’t stop that shit from hurting.
Not one bit.
Twelve
Texas
One Week Later
The past few days had inched by at a snail’s pace. Living next door to Ella and not being able to go over there was killing me. Every time I saw her coming or going, I wanted to go out and see her. Talk to her. Hug her.
Kiss her.
But I had to maintain my loyalty to Stone and the crew. I had to keep the job at the forefront of my mind. It wasn’t my job to bang Stone’s sister into oblivion. Or worse—get her pregnant. It was my job to protect her.
Even if it meant protecting her from the hell that would rain down if we continued hooking up.
I went to bed at night with her on my mind. I woke up every morning wishing she was there. Even though I’d showered numerous times since our last encounter, I still smelled her. Every corner I came around and every move I made somehow reminded me of her.
I had to find a way to distract myself.
I kept my eyes on the house whenever Ella wasn’t there. I’d peek over across the street and make sure that old woman and Keva were doing just fine. It had been a little over a week since Ella’s encounter with Jett at the grocery store. And since then, he hadn’t appeared on anyone’s radar. Not Stone’s. Not mine. Not even Ella’s. He hadn’t come to the house, and with the few phone calls I placed to the grocery store, it seemed as if he hadn’t appeared there either.
I didn’t like this man’s sudden absence.
At least when he was stalking Ella, we knew where he was and what he was up to. But this sudden drop-off had me nervous. And even though Ella didn’t want me confronting Jett on her behalf and making things worse, I didn’t really have a chance at this point.
I needed to figure out what that asshole was up to.
I decided to tail Jett. I’d need the man’s current address, but I’d be able to figure it out from there. I knew Stone would be behind me on this, especially since he was getting irritated with the fact that I didn’t have any updates for him over the past few days. I called Stone up and got Jett’s current address. And it didn’t shock me one bit when Stone was on my side with all this. He thought tailing Jett was a great idea. That there was a chance we’d catch him doing something shady, which we could use to further pull that asshole away from Ella and Keva.
Tailing Jett would also get my mind off Ella.
Which my dick was very thankful for.
I rode out to the address Stone rattled off to me and was shocked as to the neighborhood I pulled into. It was nice. Very nice. Way too fucking nice for a man who had once rolled with a biker gang. Jett definitely had money, which made me even angrier.
Because he’d been very good at evading child support.
I rode around the neighborhood and got a sense of how it was laid out. It was like most neighborhoods of suburbia-land. Cookie-cutter houses laid out on blocks. There were cul-de-sacs that dead-ended into wooded areas and a massive loop the main road ran around all the rest of the houses. Jett was buried in the center of it all. I had to take many turns in order to get back to his place.
His house, though, was the largest of them off.
“Fucking asshole,” I murmured.
I parked my bike down the street and waited. I backed myself
into a wooded patch and tried to blend in as best as I could. I pulled out a candy bar from my pocket and began munching on it, my eyes darting around to take in the people around me. There were mostly mothers with faces full of makeup and outfits perfectly settled against their bodies. Kids ran up and down the sidewalks, drawing with chalk and yelling at their mothers like they didn’t have any fucking sense.
Then, the revving engine of a sports car hit my ears.
I watched as Jett’s obnoxious red car pulled into the driveway. He got out and slammed the door behind him, obviously pissed off as he stormed into his house. I wondered what had the man so angry, and fear pierced my gut.
Had he just come from seeing Ella?
Holy shit, had he been waiting until I wasn’t at home to go see her?
I resisted the urge to race back to Ella’s house. Stone knew I was stalking this man out, so I had to stay the course. I sat there for several hours, my stomach rumbling and gurgling with hunger. Everyone in that damn neighborhood was so oblivious to the world around them that they didn’t see some hulking man on a bike in the damn woods.
I sat there for hours, waiting for Jett to make a move.
The sun started setting and I almost gave up. I mean maybe Jett wasn’t going anywhere else today. I figured I could come back tomorrow in the morning with supplies to keep me satiated throughout the day and try my luck again. So, I slipped on my helmet and kicked up the stand on my bike.
Then, Jett’s front door opened.
I watched the man walk out onto his porch with a duffle bag in his hand. He put something down next to his feet so he could lock the front door. Then, he picked it up and hauled everything out to his sports car. I narrowed my eyes so I could get a better look. I flipped up the visor on my helmet to try and figure out what the hell else he was carrying.
And my back shivered when I saw it was a shovel.
I waited until his sports car drove up the road and around the corner. Then, I struck my bike up and followed him. I stayed four or five car lengths behind him and took back roads when I could. I followed him all the way out to the highway, then the damn fool drove for almost an hour before he took an exit.
I kept behind him in the shadows, trying not to rev my engine too much until I knew where he was pulling in.
I watched him pull into a storage locker as I zoomed on by. Now that I knew where he was parking, I wanted to stay gone for a few minutes. Just long enough for him to forget about the motorcycle that passed him by. And when I circled back around, I pulled into the fast food restaurant that sat next to the storage place.
I went through the drive-thru and ordered myself some a burger and some fries. I was starving, but my angle also gave me the perfect look at just what storage locker Jett had. I paid for my food and sat in a parking space, eyeing Jett as he tossed the bag and the shovel into the storage space.
He locked it up and sped off in his car, leaving me behind.
“Perfect,” I said, grinning.
I finished my dinner and rode into the compound of the storage units. I pulled up to Jett’s and easily picked the lock on it. Damn. The man still didn't know how to keep his shit under lock and key. Lock-picking was something we did easily. Hell, it was something Jett did easily!
“The man’s an idiot,” I murmured.
The lock came free and fell to the ground. And when I threw the storage door open, I turned on the light. I looked around at the empty expanse, taking in how much room there was inside that fucking thing.
Then, I looked down at my feet.
On the ground was a large plastic tub. And I mean, a massive fucking tub. Lining the walls were several bottles of bleach and a tarp laid out over the floor. My boots crunched onto it as I stepped inside. I gazed at the walls that had plastic taped down onto them. I saw the shovel tossed over in the corner. A hunting lantern over in another corner. My heart pounded as I walked over to the duffle bag, wondering what the hell was in it.
And when I zipped it open, I almost wanted to vomit.
Knives of every shape and size were in that damn thing. Hunting knives. Serrated knives. Filleting knives. Butcher knives. There were needles for shots and pliers and hot iron pokers. Small vials of medicine that, when I looked up the names, were essentially fucking sedatives.
I stumbled back and looked around the room one last time. Dropping the pieces into place.
This damn storage unit was outfitted to kill someone.
I snapped pictures of everything before I slid the storage unit closed and locked it back up. I snapped a picture of the outside unit and number, then sent that shit off to Stone. And once I knew my pictures had made it to his phone, I hopped on my bike and raced back into town.
Shit. Jett was at least half an hour ahead of me. And fuck only knew where he was going.
The only thing I hoped was that I could make it to Ella’s house on time.
I raced down back roads. I blasted through red lights. At one point in time, I ran from the fucking police to try and get to Ella quicker. Blood pumped through my veins. I lost the police after a fifteen-minute chase. And when I skidded into my driveway, I ran over and started banging on Ella’s door.
“Ella! Open up!” I roared.
Her car was in the driveway, but no lights were on in the house.
“Ella! Please!”
Relief flooded my veins when she peeked through the curtains. The door whipped open and I saw her standing there, a disheveled appearance and watery eyes. I shoved myself into her house, drawing my gun and checking all the corners.
“Texas, what the hell are you doing?” she asked.
I walked quickly around her house. I looked out all the windows before drawing all the blinds. I rushed down her hallway to her bedroom, checking every corner and every nook that could possibly be invaded. Then, I made my way for Keva’s door.
I reached down for the doorknob, but Ella’s hand settled against mine.
“What the hell is going on?” she whispered.
I looked over at her, but I saw her eyes trained on the gun.
“I just want to check in on Keva,” I murmured.
“Then holster the damn weapon and tell me why you’re barging into my home,” she bit.
“I’ll explain it as soon as I know your daughter’s safe.”
“Then put. The gun. Away.”
I held her eyes, and I knew she wasn’t backing down. She didn’t look hurt. But I still didn’t know why she had tears in her eyes. I blew air through my nose before I slipped the gun back at my side, then she lifted her hand from mine. I turned the doorknob and eased it open, listening as Keva’s soft snores filled the room. I walked in softly and checked her closet. Underneath her bed. I checked her window and locked it before I pulled the curtains over it.
And when I backed out into the hallway and closed her door, I felt Ella’s eyes on me.
“What the hell are you doing, Texas?” she asked.
I took her by the elbow and guided her into the kitchen. I lowered the last of the shades, then turned out the few lights she had on. I wanted as many barriers between her and the outside world as I could give her.
Hell, I had half a mind to move in with the damn woman.
“Jett has a storage unit,” I said.
I whipped around as Ella scoffed.
“No reason why he’d need one since he kept the house,” she said.
“No, you’re not listening. Jett’s got a storage unit an hour or so north of here.”
“Why so far away?”
“Because I think he’s planning on attacking you,” I said.
Ella narrowed her eyes. “Come again?”
“I followed him to it tonight. I thought it was weird that he had dropped off the radar for almost a week, so I got his address from Stone and tailed him. I followed him all the way out to the storage unit, and I took these pictures.”
I pulled out my phone and let Ella swipe through them. And with every picture that passed by, worry fell up
on her face. Those tears that had been lining her eyes fell down her cheeks, and by the time she got to the end, my phone tumbled from her hand.
I moved and caught it before it crashed onto the floor.
“He’s—that’s—there’s—”
I gripped Ella’s shoulders and felt how much she was trembling.
“I already texted them to your brother. And I’m sure he’s going to be here any minute now. Together, the three of us will figure out what to do. Okay? I’m not leaving you alone until he gets here,” I said.
“I don’t want you leaving at all,” she breathed.
I drew her into my arms and held her tightly. I held her against my body until Stone’s motorcycle raced into her driveway. Reluctantly, I let her go, and it was then that Stone stormed through the door.
“Where’s Keva?” he asked.
“I already cleared the house, Stone. Got the windows locked and everything. Keva’s okay and sleeping,” I said.
“What’s happening?” Ella breathed.
“I don’t know, but it’s not good,” Stone said.
“What is Jett doing? Do we have any idea?” she asked.
“From the looks of it, planning to really harm someone,” I said.
“He wouldn't hurt his own daughter, though. Would he?” she asked.
“That’s my concern,” I said.
“What?” Stone asked.
“Think about it. No man in his right mind would ever hurt his own damn daughter. I mean Jett’s not in his right mind. But you said he never hit Keva when you two were married. Right?” I asked.
“Right,” she whispered.
“Which means only one thing,” I said.
Stone’s eyes hardened on me before they panned back over to his sister. The sob that came from Ella’s throat broke my heart. I wanted to reach out and hold her. Touch her. Kiss her. Tell her that no man on this fucking planet would touch her. But Stone moved to hug his sister, so I gave the two of them the time they needed.
I stepped into the living room, listening as the two of them murmured to themselves.
I couldn't figure out what they were talking about, but whatever it was, it calmed Ella down. When the two of them emerged from the kitchen, Stone was rubbing her back and Ella was no longer crying.
Texas: The Lost Boys MC #1 Page 8