Coby took her hand, holding it tight. ‘Let’s not think too far into the future, baby. Okay? We don’t… we don’t know what the hell’s around that corner, all I know is… all I know is I’m gonna try my best to make this work. I’m gonna try my best.’
She smiled a weak smile, resting her forehead against his. ‘Yeah. I know you will.’
And she knew he would. But what if his best just wasn’t good enough?
Fifteen
‘How the hell do we explain a baby, Angie?’ Tay asked, throwing himself into a chair at their dining table. ‘How do we do that?’
Angie sat down opposite him, pouring him a coffee. ‘I don’t know.’
He let out a heavy sigh, throwing his head back. ‘This is so fucked-up! I just don’t see how we can sort this out, how we can say this kid is Coby’s, work a story around that. And get Lexi to go for it.’
‘I don’t think Lexi is going to go for anything like that, Tay.’
Tay picked up his coffee, taking a sip, looking at Angie over the rim of his mug. ‘Then you’re gonna have to make her go for it.’
‘And how am I supposed to do that?’
‘I have no idea. Really, I don’t. I’ve got enough shit going down without having this to sort out, too. This one’s gotta be your job, honey.’
Angie sat back, looking out of the window, out into their back yard. ‘You do realize that Coby’s priorities are gonna change the second he sees that boy. Right now all he’s ever seen are pictures, and that means he can still push the reality to the back of his mind because he can’t touch it. He can’t see it, right there in front of him.’ She turned to face Tay again. ‘But the second he meets his son for the very first time…’ Her gaze lowered, watching as her fingers fiddled with a napkin lying on the table. ‘As much as I would rather he wasn’t the father of my grandson, he is, and I know that even a man with a heart as hard as Coby Walker’s can’t fail to love his own child. So he will change. And you need to know that. The shit that is gonna go down here, that’s gonna change everything. But it’s gonna change him more.’
Tay let out another heavy sigh. ‘If I’d had any idea that something like this was gonna happen between Coby and Lexi…’
‘How could we have known?’ Angie said, refilling her coffee mug. ‘There was never a hint of anything like that, no obvious attraction between them. They were just thrown together, Tay. He was a familiar face at a time when Lexi needed someone. It was just... the circumstances weren’t what we’d been expecting.’
‘He should have walked away, Angie. He should have known the danger involved, the shit it could kick up.’
‘Jesus, Tay, he’s a man. And my daughter, she’s a beautiful young woman. He was thinking with his dick.’
‘Maybe I should have sent someone else.’ He looked right into Angie’s eyes. ‘Maybe I should have sent Jesse.’
Angie held his gaze for a few, long seconds before she spoke. ‘And you think that would have been any less complicated?’
‘He would have gotten some payback.’
‘It wasn’t just about that, was it?’
Tay broke the stare, looking down into his coffee. ‘No. It wasn’t.’
‘And anyway, Charlie asked for Coby. He wasn’t willing to take anyone else… Look, it’s pointless sitting here talking about what we should’ve done, or what we could’ve done, none of that matters now. It happened, and we can’t change that. So we’re just gonna have to deal with it. Somehow.’
Tay pushed a hand through his hair, letting loose yet another heavy sigh. ‘I did this for Charlie, Ange. All of it. I mean, what Lexi and Shane did, that shouldn’t’ve happened, but that alone wouldn’t have made me do what I did. What Shane was planning, though… that had to be dealt with. You understand that, don’t you?’
She got up, walking over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind, kissing him quickly. ‘I know, baby.’
‘I did it for Charlie. For this club. Our two chapters, they’re so closely linked, so bound together, and I couldn’t just sit back and watch that be threatened. All the work Charlie and me put in… and I know he still feels betrayed by me, by what me and you did, but I will always love that guy, Angie. We’ve been on this whole crazy ride together for far too long... Shit! I know we treat Shane pretty badly, but he shouldn’t have… him and Lexi, they should’ve known better. They weren’t kids, they knew what could happen.’ He stood up, looking straight at Angie. ‘Do you think she – do you think Lexi knew anything? About what Shane was planning to do?’
‘No,’ Angie whispered. ‘No. She adores her daddy, and if she’d thought for one minute that anything…’
‘Hey. It’s okay. I know.’ He pulled Angie into his arms, kissing her quickly. ‘I know. Jesus, this is such a mess!’
‘When is it not around here?’ Angie sighed, pulling away from Tay, making a start on clearing the breakfast things from the table. ‘And it’s all because of the lies, Tay.’
‘We can’t change that, baby.’
But Angie knew they could. It was just way too dangerous to risk it.
***
‘You not hungry?’ Lexi smiled, leaning against the doorpost.
Coby lay in bed, smiling back at her, his hands behind his head. ‘Not for food.’
Lexi laughed, walking into the room, her eyes never leaving his as she climbed on to the bed, crawling slowly up it, pulling the covers away as she straddled his naked body. ‘I see you’re ready for me, Mr. Walker.’
‘Quit with the Mr. Walker shit, Lexi. You make me sound like your teacher or something.’
‘And does that not turn you on?’ She leant right over so her mouth was almost touching his. ‘Because it kind of does it for me. And if you really want to play that game I’m sure I could get my mum to dig out my old schoolgirl skirt.’
He grinned, winding his fingers in her hair as he pushed her head down, their mouths touching in a long, deep kiss. ‘Get naked,’ he whispered.
She sat up, pulling off the t-shirt she was wearing before she leant forward again, his hands cupping her breasts, his thumbs flicking over her nipples, actions that only served to make her crazy.
Lifting her hips up slightly she took him in her hand, taking a second to just enjoy feeling him there, knowing he was growing harder as her fingers wrapped tighter around him, before she slowly guided him inside of her, lowering herself back down, taking him deeper.
‘Jesus, Lexi…’ Coby groaned, grabbing on to her hips, pushing her down, her fingers sliding between his as she gyrated slowly on top of him, arching her back. ‘Jesus Christ!’
‘Already?’ She smiled, raising an eyebrow, their eyes locking as she felt him tense up slightly.
‘Not yet, missy.’
She let go of his hands, reaching down to touch herself, their eyes still locked, although she could tell he wanted to look down, look at what she was doing.
‘You really are gonna kill me, sweetheart.’
She continued to hold his gaze. ‘As long as nobody else does,’ she whispered, and for a fleeting second the air around them grew serious, the room filled with a heady tension. But then he broke the stare, his eyes dropping, watching as her fingers worked against herself. Lexi closed her eyes, losing herself in the moment. She didn’t want to think about the kind of shit that could happen in Paradise. She didn’t want to think about reality, not just yet. Not when they still had this little bit of time left on their own.
Pulling her hand away she leant forward again, resting her mouth on his as she pressed herself against him, finding that perfect position to draw the release she badly needed out, feeling the friction working its magic and within seconds she was overwhelmed by that wonderfully warming sensation, that beautiful wave of intense pleasure as it swept over her body. He caught her in his arms, holding her close, keeping her there until he too gave in to the release, pumping into her that drug she needed to keep her sane now. That drug she’d never thought she’d needed. But she wasn�
��t sure she could do without it now.
‘Oh, baby, you are wearing me out!’ he breathed, kissing her gently as his movements finally started to slow down.
She gave him a quick squeeze, clenching her muscles tight, drawing as much out of him as she could, every last drop, she wanted it all. Everything he had, she needed it. Because nobody was quite sure what was around the corner here. And Coby, he was giving her a strength she didn’t know if she’d need yet, but she wanted to be prepared. For anything. Whatever it might be.
‘Jesus, Lexi, don’t do that,’ he laughed, his hand slowly running down her back, falling on to her bottom. ‘You got one hell of a grip there, kid.’
‘Just keeping you right where I want you, for a little while longer,’ she whispered, running her fingers over his cheek, kissing him gently, opening her mouth so his tongue slid inside, the kiss becoming deeper.
‘You don’t have to hold me prisoner,’ he said, his fingers stroking her bottom, sending millions of beautiful shivers shooting right through her. ‘Baby, I would stay right there inside you forever if I could.’
‘Nice thought,’ she sighed, finally sitting up and climbing off him, sashaying over to the window and drawing the curtains, letting in the bright sunshine of another glorious Californian day. ‘But we’ve got to get going.’
‘You got something planned?’
She turned around, walking back over to him. ‘I promised my mum I’d help out in the office today so, come on, handsome. Up.’
‘You’re coming to the compound?’
‘Yes, I’m coming to the compound. And I thought you could give me a ride in.’
He sat up, reaching out for her, pulling her back on to the bed. ‘You want to be my ridin’ bitch, huh?’
She couldn’t help smiling. ‘I’ll be any kind of bitch you want me to be, soldier.’
He pushed her on to her back, parting her legs with his knee, one hand on her hip, the other one holding tightly on to hers up by her head. ‘Thing is, beautiful, I kind of want to ride you first.’
‘So fucking romantic,’ she sighed, but she was smiling. She couldn’t really stop smiling when he was this close to her. This man she’d never really wanted, until the day he’d become all she’d wanted. And once he’d touched her, once he’d kissed her; once he’d shown her what love could feel like, no matter how warped or twisted it might occasionally feel – once that had happened, she’d known there was no turning back.
‘You want romance, you’re with the wrong man, sweetheart.’
‘No. I’m with the right man,’ she whispered, reaching out to touch his face, pulling him down to kiss him, keeping her lips on his for as long as she could, to taste as much of him as she could. ‘And the right man…’ She felt him push into her, his body once more taking her over until she had no other option but to give in and accept him, pull him in deeper, hold him there. ‘The right man is inside of me.’
Where she wanted him to stay. Forever.
Sixteen
‘I need you with me today, Coby.’
Coby, who was sitting on the bar in the clubhouse nursing a mug of tea, looked up as Tay leant back beside him, folding his arms, his eyes focused on Luca and Blake who were messing about by the pool table. ‘Why?’
Tay turned to look at Coby. ‘You’re my VP, in case you’d forgotten. Which means you’re supposed to back me up, help me deal with things.’
Coby looked away, his gaze now focusing on Luca and Blake. ‘And you’re supposed to keep me informed of all the shit that goes on around here.’ His eyes once more met Tay’s. ‘But that seems to be something you’re forgetting.’
‘Jesus, Coby, come on, brother. Stay with me on this one, please.’
‘We should have had a vote, Tay. You’re going behind everyone’s backs, and that’s not cool. That’s not right.’
‘I’m doing it to benefit everyone.’
Coby’s eyes bored into his friend’s. ‘You sure about that?’
Tay’s stare was just as hard, just as powerful. ‘I’m sure. Everybody else, they don’t need to know anything just yet. Not until it’s all sorted, all in place. Then it’s just one more job, Coby. One job. That’s it.’
‘Shit, Tay… We were out of the fucking gun business. No more outlaw crap, we were clear of it, we were going legit. You pulled us back from all that, and now you’re throwing us right back into it, and you can stand there and tell me you’re doing this all for the good of this club, but something isn’t right here.’
‘You saying I’ve got some kind of ulterior motive?’
‘I don’t have a clue what the hell’s going on with you right now, brother. I’ve got enough shit of my own to deal with.’
‘Get your mind focused, Coby. Because that’s how I need you. Focused.’
Tay’s eyes were staring straight ahead again, and Coby couldn’t help but find the fact his friend couldn’t look him in the eye for more than a few seconds at a time slightly worrying. ‘What’s going on here, Tay?’
Tay didn’t reply.
‘Tay?’
‘I owe Emilio, Coby.’
‘Owe him?’
‘Remember that deal that went down with the Cabos, just before I pulled us out of the guns?’
Coby frowned. ‘The one involving the Mexicans, yeah. I remember it.’
Tay finally turned to face his VP. ‘Things got… they got complicated.’
Coby frowned again. He was becoming more confused by the second.
‘That last shipment that came in… I kept some of the guns back, for us. Told the Cabos and their Mexican contacts that our suppliers hadn’t been able to source everything they needed…’
‘Jesus Christ…’ Coby sighed, pushing a hand through his hair.
‘We were desperate for those guns, Coby. Things with the Cabos were getting more fractured, despite our working together. The threat of something kicking off was always around the corner, and those weapons…’
‘We could have got those guns ourselves, the usual way. When I asked you where they’d come from you told me it was something you’d set up, a deal you’d struck with our own supplier... if I’d known… What the hell were you thinking?’
‘I don’t know… I really don’t know, I guess I was just acting on some kind of instinct…’
‘Less than a bloody year we’ve been out of this shit and now you’re dragging us all back down… Christ, Tay… But what I’m not getting here is why, if this is some kind of payback for what you did – why is Emilio paying us such a large sum of money? I mean, why is he paying us at all? None of this makes any fucking sense.’
‘He really needs our help here, that’s why. If we can get this shipment over to the warehouse, keep it safe for a couple of days, and then hand it over to the Mexicans without any problems we get a pay day like we’ve never had before, brother. What I did… it was thoughtless, I know, but the Cabos are gonna make sure we earn big out of this.’
‘And they’ll earn even bigger, huh? So, what’s the risk?’
Tay paused before speaking again. ‘This shipment, it was meant for the Black Ravens.’
Coby stared at Tay, his eyes widening. ‘The Black Ravens?’
‘The Cabos heard about the deal, about the size of the shipment, thanks to one of the Ravens’ crew having too loose a mouth during some ridiculous street fight over someone’s old lady. Word got back to Emilio, he cut in, struck up a completely new deal…’
‘But he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty, huh? Doesn’t want to risk any of his crew getting hurt, is that it?’
‘Nobody’s gonna get hurt, Coby.’
‘So, you’re telling me there is no risk involved here? That the Ravens aren’t gonna try and intercept this, get back what was originally theirs… You’re telling me that Emilio is just gonna hand over Christ knows how much cash to us, wipe your slate clean, and let us just walk away? It’s that easy, is it?’
‘I made a stupid mistake, Coby. A moment of weakness…’
‘We can’t afford moments of weakness, Tay. Not in this game.’
Tay narrowed his eyes as he stared at Coby. ‘No. We can’t. But we all have them. And they all add up to some kind of risk.’
Coby let out a small, humourless laugh. ‘Jesus… what happened between me and Lexi, that is completely different to this. I slept with your stepdaughter, I didn’t steal guns from one of the most dangerous crews around here. A crew we used to have a good relationship with.’
‘We’ve never had a good relationship with the Cabos, Coby, come on…’
‘It was a peaceful one, Tay. Things were settling down once we’d got out of the guns.’
‘We were never out of the guns, not really.’
‘Evidently. Jesus Christ, Tay! You’re supposed to be the one leading this club into better times not throwing us deeper into the shit.’
Tay continued to stare at his friend. His VP. His brother in all ways but blood. ‘Yeah. I am. And I will be again, once this is all over. Once this is done I promise you, Coby, we will be one hundred per cent legit. The garage, the movie studio, the boxing club, that’s what we’ll concentrate on, I promise. We just need to do this one, final job.’
‘Why didn’t I hear about all of this at the sit-down the other day? Why did I only get half a fucking story?’
‘I told Emilio to only tell you what I felt, at the time, you needed to know.’
Coby couldn’t stop the cynical laugh from escaping, throwing back his head and letting it out, long and loud.
‘I needed you on side, Coby.’
‘Yeah, well, that didn’t exactly go to plan, did it?’ Coby jumped down from the bar. ‘We hold a vote, Tay. That’s the only way I’m gonna help you with this. We hold a vote, and if everyone’s in agreement… Shit! We shouldn’t be going anywhere near this crap…’ He looked at Tay, at the hint of genuine fear behind his dark eyes, something that both unsettled and saddened Coby. When had his friend become so lax in his thinking? So selfish in his running of this club? ‘We have a vote. You got that?’
Revolution (The Lone Riders MC Series Book #1) Page 14