Angie looked at her daughter. She’d changed since she’d been over in England. There was a softer side to her now, a chink in that armour of attitude she’d used to surround herself with. Was that because she was a mother herself now? Because she was in love? With a man Angie knew would protect Lexi and their child, no matter what, that wasn’t in question. But Coby Walker was still a dangerous man. And Angie could only wonder if Lexi was completely aware of just how dangerous he could be.
‘Yeah. I’m coming,’ Angie sighed, standing up and slipping an arm around Lexi’s shoulders. ‘We gotta eat, huh? Make sure we’re all fit and strong for when our men return.’
Lexi looked at her mum out the corner of her eye, aware her tongue had been firmly in her cheek there. ‘Something like that, yeah,’ she laughed, hugging her mum’s waist. Because she loved Angie Farlow. Queen Biker Mom. A forceful, forthright woman who took no shit and dealt out just as much of the stuff. And Lexi loved her. But there was still a part of her that couldn’t forgive her own mother for driving her out of Paradise. For helping to build the lies and shape the consequences that had followed. There was still a part of Lexi that couldn’t forgive that…
Twenty-Four
‘Shit! This weather isn’t fucking helping!’ Coby muttered, squinting to get a good look at the road outside as the rain pelted down on to the windshield, the wipers working overtime to try and clear his vision.
They were driving in convoy back from the port, the containers of guns now safely stored in the back of three of the trucks whilst two back-up vehicles followed behind, with another one out in front – driven by Tay – leading the way to the warehouse. And that was the vehicle Coby was trying to get back in his line of sight. But the weather was making everything twice as difficult.
‘You see it yet?’ Jesse asked, sitting back in the seat beside Coby, his feet up on the dashboard whilst two of Emilio’s guys kept the guns company in the back.
Since they’d left the port everything seemed to be going according to plan – apart from the weather. But Coby still wasn’t totally at ease, not yet. And he wouldn’t be until he was back at the clubhouse, with Lexi in his arms. Until he was kissing her, making love to her; losing himself inside her, counting down the days until he finally met his boy. The son he should have met a long time ago. The son he should have faced up to instead of leaving her to deal with it all on her own. Why the hell had he waited this long? Why hadn’t he fought for her and his boy sooner? What the fuck had he been so scared of?
‘Coby?’
Jesse’s voice shook Coby back to reality and he blinked rapidly, trying to get his focus back. Shit! And there was him accusing Tay of losing it. ‘Yeah, hang on… there they are!’ He finally caught sight of the lead truck’s tail lights. ‘Jesus Christ, this frigging weather! When was the last time it rained like this round here?’
Jesse shrugged, biting the top off a bottle of beer, spitting it out on to the floor.
Coby looked at him. ‘You sure you want to be doing that?’
Jesse returned his look, taking a long drink from the bottle. ‘It’s chilling me out.’
‘For Christ’s sake…’
‘Do you love her?’
Coby waited a beat before giving any kind of reply. ‘What are we doing here, Jesse?’
‘Do you love her? Lexi. Do you love her?’
Coby found his fingers gripping the steering wheel tighter as more rain whipped down on to the windshield, obscuring his vision for another few seconds until the blades of the wipers cleared it, albeit briefly. ‘You want to do this now?’
‘Do you love her, Cobe? It’s a fucking simple question.’
Coby reached out with his right hand, quickly grabbing the beer from Jesse’s grip, tossing it out of the window, only just hearing the sound of glass shattering before the window closed again.
‘Hey! What the fuck are you doing, man?’ Jesse objected.
‘Shut your mouth, sit down, and grow up,’ Coby hissed, breathing an inner sigh of relief as the truck in front of them indicated its intention to turn off and start heading towards the warehouse. So far so good.
‘You haven’t answered my question,’ Jesse persisted.
‘You really want to do this now?’ Coby was doing his best to keep his eyes on the road, make sure the truck in front stayed in sight. He didn’t need this shit from Jesse.
‘Something just doesn’t feel right, about you and Lex. I mean, falling in love, it’s a gradual thing, it doesn’t just happen. It took years for me to realize I felt that way about her.’
Coby stayed silent for a second or two as he carefully followed the lead vehicle up the narrow dirt track that led to the warehouse. ‘Aye,’ he said quietly, pulling up behind Tay’s truck, sitting back in his seat, still holding tightly on to the steering wheel. ‘Me too.’
Jesse looked at him, frowning. ‘Huh? What are you talking about? Are you… are you saying you…? Did you…? Was something going on with you two before she left Paradise?’
Coby hung his head, closing his eyes, breathing in deeply, his hands gripping the wheel tighter.
‘How can it have taken you years to know you loved her when…’
‘This is not happening here,’ Coby hissed, fixing Jesse with a look so cold Jesse actually shifted back in his seat. ‘Get out. Come on. We’ve got work to do.’
‘What’s going on, Cobe?’
‘Right now, we are trying to make sure this night ends with every one of us back at that clubhouse in one fucking piece. Everything else can wait. Now get out. Move it!’
They both jumped down from the rig, pulling their hats down further over their heads as the rain continued to pelt down.
‘Everything okay?’ Coby asked as Tay approached, Kel just behind him.
Tay nodded. ‘All seems to be in order. Want to let Emilio’s guys out of the truck and start loading these crates into the warehouse? Jesse, go help Kip and the others. Kel, make sure the Hilton crew know what we’re doing. Coby and I can handle things here.’
Coby and Tay walked around the back of the truck, Tay signalling to the others to start unloading, too.
‘Still got a bad feeling about this?’ Tay asked as they slid open the back of the truck, allowing the two Cabos to finally jump out.
Coby didn’t reply. His attention was focused on Emilio’s men as they checked the other two trucks first before heading over to the warehouse.
‘Coby?’ Tay looked at his VP, whose his eyes were still fixed firmly on the Cabos.
‘We need to get out of here,’ Coby said quietly, his voice calm and measured.
Tay frowned, confusion sweeping over him. ‘Huh? What are you…?’
‘Now!’ Coby watched as the doors to the warehouse flew open and a line of bodies stepped forward, guns raised. ‘Jesus Christ…’
‘What the…?’ Tay gasped, immediately drawing his weapon.
The sound of gun fire now joined the pelting rain as shots rang out into the otherwise peaceful night, lighting up the dark sky like some perverse kind of firework display as every Lone Rider reached for their guns, firing back as fast as their fingers would let them.
‘We’ve been fucking double crossed!’ Coby yelled, jumping up into the back of the truck, prising the lid off one of the crates as fast as he could, the pain that was shooting through his hands not even registering as his fingers clawed desperately in an attempt to free them some back-up. ‘The Cabos and the Ravens were working together on this all the time. It was a fucking set-up, Tay.’
‘To take us out?’ Tay yelled back, peering out from behind the truck, firing off more rounds as the rain continued to pelt down.
‘Oh, now you fucking get it!’ Coby shouted. ‘Is everyone doing okay out there?’
‘As far as I can see…’
Coby finally threw the lid aside, grabbing an armful of rifles from out of the crate and throwing them to Tay. ‘Get these out there, quickly! Come on! Jesus, Tay, I told you I had a bad feeling abou
t this.’
‘Now’s not the time to start, Cobe. Are these loaded?’
Coby took one of the rifles, aimed it high and fired out a shot that pierced the noise that already surrounded them. ‘Aye.’ He continued to throw more guns at Tay, who did his best to get them to the rest of the guys as the shooting continued, the air heavy with smoke and the sickening sound of bullets hitting flesh, bodies dropping to the sodden ground like broken dolls.
‘Jesse’s down!’ Kel yelled over.
‘Fuck!’ Coby jumped down from the back of the truck, walking out into the crossfire, shooting off rounds indiscriminately at those who dared face him. All he could see was a red mist of anger, a veil of determination that none of these bastards were going to take from him a future he was within reach of now. This club, they weren’t going to bring it down, he wouldn’t let them do that.
‘For Christ’s sake, Coby!’
Coby ignored the shouts, the warnings, instead continuing to walk further towards what was left of the Cabos and Ravens crews. The Riders had obviously done a good job with what little firepower they’d originally had with them because they now outnumbered the bastards who’d set them up.
‘Coby!’ Kip yelled as Emilio faced off with the Lone Riders VP, guns raised, eyes meeting eyes as every other crew member lowered their weapons, watching as those two men alone took the lead. ‘Take it easy, man.’
Coby had had enough now. The violence, the killing; the lies and the secrets and the stupid games they’d all been playing for far too long. He’d had enough.
‘I can’t believe you fell for this,’ Emilio sneered, his gun still raised, pointing straight at Coby’s forehead.
‘You want us gone?’ Coby asked, his own gun matching the position of his opponent’s. ‘Because, I’m assuming that’s what all this shit tonight is about. But what I’m not getting is, what kind of threat were we exactly? We didn’t want your filthy gun business anymore. We didn’t want anything of yours. So why go to all this trouble? Why waste your time? Why lose men because of it?’
‘Your President, he disrespected us. He stole from us. And that stealing, it resulted in three of my best men dying. Gunned down by our pissed off Mexican contact. I lost a lot of face, a lot of respect, and Tay always knew the day would come when some kind of payback would have to be called in. I just had no idea how naïve he would turn out to be.’
Coby chuckled, smiling a twisted smile, standing his ground, even though his heart was beating out of his chest. ‘He lost his focus, you got that right. So it’s a good job I still had mine.’
‘What good will that do you now?’
‘You don’t seem all that bothered about the men lying dead around you.’
‘These men, they are fighters, martyrs to our cause. They knew the risks coming here tonight could bring. As, I’m sure, did your own men.’
‘Well, as much as I’d like to stand here all night chatting with you, I think we need to finish this up, don’t you? Because I’ve got one hell of a hot old lady back home whose legs I am aching to get between. And this crap is just getting in the way.’
‘Coby…’ Tay warned.
‘Leave it, Tay,’ Coby threw back.
It was Emilio’s turn to chuckle, a slightly sinister edge to his laugh, but his hand remained steady, the gun still aimed at Coby’s forehead. ‘That’s exactly what I came here to do, amigo. Finish this.’
‘Coby…’ Tay repeated, his voice just audible above the now slightly less heavy rain.
‘Go see to Jesse.’ Coby’s voice was icy calm.
‘You don’t have to…’
‘Just do as I say, for Christ’s sake!’ Coby turned his head, only briefly, to look at Tay. A momentary lapse of otherwise rock-steady concentration, the gun shot hanging in the air like the sickest of sounds…
Twenty-Five
Lexi leant over the pool table, pulling the cue back slowly, totally focused as she finally pushed the cue forward, potting the ball hard and fast.
‘I haven’t lost it!’ She grinned, laying the cue down and picking up her beer.
‘Your daddy been teaching you, huh?’ Angie smiled, joining her daughter at the pool table.
‘Hey, I guess I just inherited his talent.’
‘So good to see you weren’t wasting your time over there.’ Angie looked at Lexi. ‘What did you do when you were over in England, honey?’
‘Helped Dad out at the garage, customized my first ever Harley, got pregnant…’ She shrugged. ‘You know, the usual.’
‘I’m being serious here, darlin’. I missed so much of your life, and I know I said I didn’t really want to talk about the past but… I missed so much…’
Lexi turned to face her mum. ‘And whose fault was that?’
Angie turned away, part of her wishing she hadn’t brought any of this up, but it still hurt to think of all those years she’d missed. All that time she could have spent with her daughter had she not been so insistent that club culture be carried out. A big mistake. But Lexi was right. It was her fault.
‘Oh, Jesus… who let her in?’ Lexi sighed.
Angie turned to face the door of the clubhouse. ‘She has friends here, sweetheart. She was a part of this club for a lot of years. She’s still welcome.’
‘Even if she can’t stand me?’
Angie smiled, squeezing her daughter’s shoulder. ‘Come on. You can handle Deena Lopez. When did somebody not liking you make you lose any sleep?’
‘Never.’ Lexi returned her mum’s smile.
‘Just keep your hands to yourself though, baby, okay? We got enough to be dealing with tonight without it kicking off in here, too.’
‘Who said anything about me kicking off? I can behave myself.’ Lexi winked at Angie as she walked off towards the bar. ‘I promise.’
‘Yeah,’ Angie muttered under her breath. ‘Sure you can.’
Lexi slid up on to the bar, resting her biker boot-clad feet on a stool as she watched Deena say hello to a few of the old ladies who’d turned up tonight. And for a brief moment she let herself remember the sight of Deena’s perfect, rounded, naked ass high in the air as she’d buried her head between the thighs of a beautiful red-head. A sight that had led to Lexi and Coby fucking hard in a cupboard just off set. A memory Lexi had replayed many a time over the past couple of days – both the sex with Coby, and the sight of Deena going down on another woman. Shit! What was going on here?
‘Hello.’
Her voice made Lexi’s head shoot up, her eyes immediately meeting Deena’s. ‘Hello.’ Lexi smiled. She wasn’t sure how warm or welcoming it had come across, though. She wasn’t feeling particularly sincere, although, at the same time, she still didn’t know exactly what it was she should hold against this woman. It wasn’t like she was any kind of competition. And she really couldn’t be bothered with the crap. There was enough of that going down as it was.
‘Heard anything back from the boys yet?’ Deena asked, sitting down on a stool next to the one Lexi had her feet on.
‘I’m sorry. Does this actually concern you?’
‘Considering I’m back with Jesse now, yes. I think it does.’
‘Oh. Okay.’ Lexi took a long swig of beer before handing the bottle to Deena. ‘Didn’t know you guys were back together. When did that happen?’
‘When you were all over at The Candy Cave the other day. He saw me do my stuff, and decided he wanted that action all to himself again.’
‘Except, he’ll never get that action all to himself, will he?’ Lexi muttered.
‘I’m sorry?’ Deena frowned, handing Lexi back her beer.
‘You’re a porn actress, Deena. People watch you fuck, it’s what you do. There’s not one inch of you that’s private. But I’m assuming Jesse’s okay with that?’
‘He’s okay with a lot of things, honey. Been a while since you spent your days hanging round here, remember?’
‘Yeah.’ Lexi drained the last of her beer. ‘Tell me about it.’
‘I still don’t like you all that much,’ Deena continued, turning around on her stool, resting her elbow on the bar and her chin in her hand as she looked up at Lexi. ‘But, to be honest, I’m not really sure why. I mean, it’s not like you’re a threat or anything.’
‘Ditto.’
‘Maybe we could even try and be friends.’
Lexi couldn’t help a loud and almost manic laugh from escaping. ‘Friends?’
‘What’s so funny about that?’ Deena asked, allowing a confused expression to cloud her pretty face.
‘Nothing, really,’ Lexi sighed, clasping her hands together between her knees. ‘I’m just not seeing us meeting for coffee or having girly nights in, that’s all.’ She looked at Deena, her eyes staring straight at her. ‘So, you’re not gonna try and get Coby between those undoubtedly beautiful legs of yours, then? Like you threatened before.’
The confusion disappeared from Deena’s face, to be replaced by a mildly seductive smile. ‘No. I’m not. But I might try my luck with you.’
Lexi was about to hit straight back with something that might just have called the pretty porn star’s bluff, but the sound of trucks pulling up outside in the compound distracted everybody.
‘They’re back!’ Angie shouted, running over to the clubhouse entrance just as the doors were kicked open and Kel and Kip barged in with Jesse.
‘He’s been shot,’ Kip gasped, out of breath after carrying his friend from the truck.
‘Get him down on the couch, over there. Come on,’ Kel said, taking the weight of Jesse from Kip, his arms cradling their injured brother.
‘Oh, Jesus… why didn’t you get him to a hospital?’ Angie cried, crouching down beside Jesse as Kel laid him on the couch at the back of the clubhouse.
‘You know the drill, babe.’ Kel shot Angie a look and she bowed her head. ‘Anyway, we don’t think it’s gone too deep. He isn’t bleeding out too much. Probably just grazed the skin. Go get the medical bag from the chapel, go on.’
Revolution (The Lone Riders MC Series Book #1) Page 22