Retribution (The Lone Riders MC Series Book 2)

by Michelle Betham

‘And what would you have done, huh? If that’s what had happened?’

  ‘Had some respect for him, Lexi. That’s what I would have done. I was with Tay by that time. Me, you and Kip were settled here in Paradise when that girl’s world fell down around her. She was just nineteen years old. And your father should have told her the truth instead of hiding behind all this shit he keeps telling us all about making sure she was safe, making sure the club kept her safe. As though that makes everything okay…’ She let out a small, cynical laugh, throwing her cigarette down on to the grass below. ‘Was letting her anywhere near Lennie Rose keeping her safe?’

  ‘To be fair, Mum, Lennie had us all fooled when he first showed up at the compound. You remember, don’t you? How kind and polite he was as a young Prospect. Nobody would have believed he’d turn into the man he ended up becoming.’

  ‘Your father should have done more, Lexi. He treat us all badly by keeping us in the dark for so long.’

  Lexi watched as Charlie approached Mia, who smiled and turned to give him a big hug, her face a picture of happiness. And Lexi felt her stomach sink, because she knew he was about to tell her the truth now. This was it – when Mia either accepted his reasons for lying to her all her life, or shunned him forever. And Lexi wasn’t entirely sure which one of those her father deserved more.

  ‘Jesus Christ. He hasn’t told her yet, has he?’ Angie sighed, pulling another cigarette out of her pocket.

  Lexi shook her head. ‘But it looks like he’s about to tell her now.’

  ***

  Shane checked his watch, downing another mouthful of beer, but that was his last. For now. He needed to keep a clear head if this was going to work.

  Pulling his phone out of his back pocket he called Lennie’s cell, tapping his foot against the wall behind him as the disembodied ring tone played incessantly down the line. Why the fuck wasn’t he answering?

  Checking his watch again he realized the dim light had made it look later than it actually was. It was only ten to eight. Plenty of time, in reality. But there was a part of Shane that still felt as though he couldn’t fully trust Lennie Rose, and he began to wonder if he shouldn’t have asked Bear to help him instead. After all, he’d done what Shane had asked him to without any trouble.

  ‘Something wrong?’

  Shane quickly turned his head to see who was there. Speak of the devil. A slow smile spread across his face as he looked at the bulky figure of Bear. ‘Ain’t nothing wrong, brother. Just catching a bit of time out before the fireworks.’

  Bear looked at him warily. ‘I don’t trust you, Shane. Never really have. Always thought you were far too – “nice”.’

  Shane laughed, his eyes never leaving Bear’s. ‘You saying we all gotta be first-rate shit-heads to fit into this world?’

  Bear’s expression never wavered, remaining stoic. ‘Where’s Lennie?’

  ‘That ain’t none of your business. And why you still here anyway? It’s not like you’re needed now. Now they all think Lennie’s gone.’

  ‘Is he coming for Mia?’

  ‘What he does is no concern of mine.’

  ‘Well, you see, that’s a lie, isn’t it? You told me you wanted him alive because you needed him, to help you…’

  Shane stepped forward, not in the least bit intimidated by the bigger man. ‘You’re concerning yourself with something that’s none of your business. So why don’t you just get back to the party…’

  ‘Is he coming for Mia?’ Bear repeated, his voice slow and steady.

  Shane laughed in his face; a small, almost sinister laugh. ‘What he chooses to do after tonight, I really don’t care.’

  ‘What’s going on, Shane?’

  ‘Like I said. Brother. It ain’t none of your concern.’

  Bear moved a step closer, but still Shane held his ground. ‘If anything happens to…’

  Grabbing the big man’s wrist, Shane twisted it around his back in one swift movement, causing Bear to howl out in both pain and surprise. ‘Keep that ugly mouth of yours shut, you hear me?’ Shane sneered, yanking Bear’s arm up a little higher, making sure he got the message. ‘Or believe me, you won’t get to see that bleak shit hole you call home ever again.’

  Almost throwing Bear’s arm down he let go of him, stepping back and wiping his hands together.

  ‘Now get back out there and start enjoying yourself.’

  ‘You don’t scare me, Shane.’

  Shane took a couple of steps forward, until he was back in Bear’s face. ‘And that could well be a big mistake on your part.’

  Bear’s eyes stayed fixed on his for longer than Shane felt comfortable, but looking away first would give the Englishman the upper hand. And Shane had to stay focused here. Lose that focus, and everything could turn to crap – crap he may not be able to control.

  He kept his gaze steady until Bear finally broke the stare, backing off around the corner, and only when he was out of sight did Shane let out a huge sigh of relief. All he had to do was stay calm and in control for another couple of hours, and everything would be okay. Everything would go to plan. Everything would change… Everything…

  ***

  Mia stared at Charlie, unable to feel anything but a sweeping numbness. Her whole body felt as though it had just been dipped into an icy bath, the freezing cold water seeping into her veins, taking over, leaving her frozen. Numb.

  ‘I know this is a shock, Mia, but…’

  ‘A shock?’ she whispered, surprised that she could actually speak, because even her lips felt as though that ice-cold numbness had taken over.

  ‘Mia, I… I’m sorry, baby. I’ve handled this so badly…’

  ‘All my life, Charlie…’ She may have been able to find her voice, but it was coming out as little more than a whisper, and the more she spoke the more her throat seemed to hurt, the burning sensation at odds with the coldness that had taken over the rest of her body. ‘You lied to me, for all of my life… You stood by and watched as… Jesus! All my fucking life, Charlie!’

  ‘There were reasons, Mia. Reasons why I had to do what I did…’

  ‘Reasons…’ Her voice seemed almost detached from the rest of her as she looked over at Ben, who was sitting astride his bike that was parked up by the garage, talking to Luca, his expression serious as they engaged in what looked like a pretty intense conversation. ‘Were there reasons why so many people knew before me?’ She turned back to face Charlie, her coal-black eyes meeting his. ‘My whole life has been a fucking lie.’

  ‘No, Mia, listen to me, darlin’, please…’ He reached out to touch her but she pulled her arm away, stepping back from him. ‘Your mum and dad…’

  ‘Which ones, Charlie? Huh? Which mum and dad are we talking about?’ Her voice had started to rise a little in volume, the icy tinge melting slightly as a red-hot anger started to take over.

  ‘They loved you, Mia.’

  She nodded, swallowing hard, folding her arms across her chest, her eyes never leaving his. ‘I know they loved me. And I loved them, too… My real mum – did she love me?’

  Charlie bowed his head, pushing a hand through his hair.

  ‘Did she love me?’ Mia repeated, the anger rising, now merging with confusion and fear.

  ‘She didn’t even get to know you, sweetheart. There wasn’t time.’

  ‘But there was plenty of time for you to get to know me.’ Her voice was back to being barely a whisper, but the harshness hiding beneath that whisper tore into Charlie’s heart. ‘What was the matter? Couldn’t you be bothered? Too busy with your other kids?’

  ‘Mia, please, it wasn’t like that…’

  She shook her head, pulling her crossed arms tighter against herself. ‘No. No, it never is.’

  ‘Mia! Where are you going? We need to…’

  She swung around, her dark eyes blazing. ‘Talk? Is that what you were gonna say? We need to talk? We needed to talk a long time ago, Charlie. You’ve left it too late.’

  ‘Mia!’

>   She’d heard enough. And even though she knew – deep down inside she knew this wasn’t going to go away just because she’d walked off. They were going to have to talk about it. She just didn’t feel like it right now. She wanted to be alone. She needed time to get her head around everything; to take in what she’d just been told. Jesus! Her and Kip… they’d almost…

  Pushing through the crowd of people all partying out in the yard, she kept her head down as she ran to her car, jumping in and quickly driving off. She wasn’t in the mood for explanations. Ben would know she was missing, eventually, but someone would fill him in – Coby, Lexi, Charlie. Even Angie. Enough people knew the truth to let him know what was going on.

  Somehow she remained focused and calm as she drove the short distance home, relieved to be away from everyone. She just hoped they’d understand why she needed a bit of space right now, and not follow her. Especially Ben. She loved him, she really did. But at this moment in time she didn’t need him. She didn’t need anyone.

  Pulling into her driveway she got out of the car, slamming the door shut, reaching into her pocket for her keys, surprised to find her hand was shaking as she tried a couple of times to unlock the front door.

  ‘Shit!’ she muttered under her breath, finally fitting the key into the lock and turning it quickly. ‘Get a fucking grip, Mia!’

  Pushing the door open she kicked it shut behind her, leaning back against it and closing her eyes, taking a long, deep breath. Her head was spinning, a whirl of confusing memories that now broke her heart filling her head, and she couldn’t stop the tears from falling. But she refused to cave in to this. Refused to let it kill her. Anger was such a draining emotion; she’d experienced that enough times with Lennie. She wasn’t going to let it take over again. She just needed to get her head around this. Make sense of it all. Start dealing with a truth that wasn’t going to go away.

  Taking another deep breath she wiped her eyes and exhaled slowly, trying to compose herself, even though, in the privacy of her own home, she could fall apart all she liked without anyone having to know. She just didn’t want to fall apart. She wasn’t sure she could put herself back together if she did.

  Making her way into the kitchen she grabbed a glass from the draining board and opened the cupboard above the microwave, looking for the bottle of bourbon she kept up there, but she couldn’t find it. She frowned, wondering if she’d moved it, which she might have done. Or maybe Ben had. He liked a shot or two himself.

  ‘Looking for this?’

  The blood in her veins suddenly ran as cold as ice. Her heart started to beat so hard and so fast her chest felt tight, the pain so strong and so real. And she didn’t want to turn around, but something was making her do it, that pain in her chest increasing as she saw him standing there, holding up the now almost-empty bottle of bourbon.

  ‘I left you some,’ he said, moving a couple of steps forward, placing the bottle down on the counter top. ‘Figured you might need it.’

  ‘I want you to go,’ she whispered, her voice back to being barely a whisper. He was supposed to be dead. Lennie Rose. He was supposed to be dead. She’d seen the picture, heard Bear say the words. Lennie Rose was dead. So why was he standing there, in her kitchen?

  ‘That’s not gonna happen, Mia,’ Lennie said, moving closer towards her. She could smell the alcohol on his breath, making her think the bourbon hadn’t been all he’d drank recently. ‘I’m going nowhere. Not without you, anyway.’

  ‘Get out,’ she said, trying to raise her voice, but it wasn’t happening. If anything it was getting weaker.

  Lennie shook his head, a sickening smile taking over his face as he bore down on her. ‘No one’s going anywhere yet, darlin’. But, yeah, we are getting out of here, I promise you that. Me and you, we’re gonna start a whole new life together, baby. I just figured it’d be good to have a bit of fun first.’

  ‘Get out!’

  ‘Just a little bit of fun. For old time’s sake. What d’you say?’

  Twenty-Seven

  ‘And you just let her go?’ Ben sat down, wringing his hands together.

  ‘What was I supposed to do?’ Charlie asked. ‘She needs some space to get her head around this. Leaving her alone is probably the best thing we could all do right now.’

  ‘Your fucking timing couldn’t have been worse.’

  ‘You think I don’t know that?’

  ‘So why the hell tell her tonight?’

  ‘Because I’m leaving tomorrow.’

  ‘Yeah. That’d be right. Tell her at the last minute then you don’t have to deal with the fallout, is that it?’

  ‘This has got fuck all to do with you, Ben, so watch that mouth, okay?’

  ‘She’s all over the fucking place, Charlie. Her head is so messed-up she doesn’t know where she fucking is, all this business with Lennie… And you tell her this on top of all that?’

  ‘I’m not denying it’s a mess…’

  Ben laughed, standing up and pulling his keys out of his pocket. Charlie knocked them straight out of his hand.

  ‘You’re not going anywhere, son.’

  Ben’s eyes met Charlie’s, his stare hard and determined. ‘She needs me.’

  ‘She needs to be alone. And you really think I’m gonna let you anywhere near a bike when you’ve been drinking?’

  ‘When did this place get holier than thou?’

  ‘You want to be there for Mia, right?’

  ‘You know I do.’

  ‘What use are you gonna be to her if you’re lying dead in a fucking ditch because you lost control? You think she needs that on top of everything else, huh?’

  Ben bent down to pick up his keys but Charlie was quicker, scooping them up and stuffing them in the pocket of his cut. ‘You have no fucking right…’

  Charlie moved a little closer, keeping his voice low as he spoke. ‘Coby’s filled me in, Ben. Told me everything. Because you haven’t been all that clear with everyone around here, have you?’

  Ben’s eyes stayed fixed on Charlie as he tried desperately to keep his temper under control; his frustration at a manageable level. ‘There was never a need for everyone to know the truth.’

  Charlie raised an eyebrow. ‘Really? A member of one of the most notorious MCs in America…’

  ‘Ex-member.’

  Charlie let out a low chuckle, his eyes never leaving Ben’s. ‘Oh, come on, Ben. You’re not that naïve, surely? I may not have had dealings, personally, with the Dark Angels, but I know all about them; know you never really become an ex-member of a club like that. So forgive me if I’m more than a touch suspicious about – well, about you in general. A lot of things just don’t add up. They let you just walk away? Is that right?’

  Ben said nothing for a beat or two, his gaze remaining strong and steady. ‘Why are you asking questions if Coby told you everything?’

  ‘He told me everything he knows, Ben. But I still think there’s a lot you’re hiding.’

  ‘These clubs aren’t prisons.’

  ‘You don’t just walk away. Your own father…’

  ‘Don’t bring my father into this, Charlie. Don’t do that.’

  Charlie smiled, a slow smile that went nowhere near his eyes. ‘I get that you wanted to start over, I mean, that accident you had was pretty horrific. So, yeah, I get that you wanted to start over. I just don’t get why you didn’t move far away from everything you were trying to move on from. You went to law school in L.A., so why not stay there? You could have been a lawyer anywhere, for anyone, yet you chose to come back here and represent another MC. And that’s what I don’t get.’

  ‘Once a biker always a biker, huh? Is that what you want me to say?’

  ‘I don’t know, Ben. That all depends on the kind of biker you once were.’

  Ben continued to hold the older man’s gaze, refusing to let this get to him. Charlie was trying to intimidate him, that was obvious. But it wasn’t going to work. It took a lot to wear Ben Salter down. More than Cha
rlie Hart could throw at him.

  ‘You put one foot out of line, son, and believe me, shit will happen.’

  It was Ben’s turn to smile a cold, meaningless smile. ‘I’m not that person any more, Charlie. And you can choose to believe that or you can…’

  ‘You’re with Mia. You’re with my daughter, Ben – or should I call you…’

  For the first time since this conversation had started Ben felt his hackles rise, his frustration building, and he allowed that to show on his face, his teeth gritted as he spoke. ‘I’m not that person any more.’

  ‘I hope to God you mean that.’ Charlie was the first to break the stare, backing off slowly, finally giving Ben some space. ‘Just leave Mia alone. For now. When – if – she needs you, I’m sure she’ll reach out.’

  Ben watched as Charlie walked off, a wave of exhausted resignation sweeping over him.

  He’d never be able to walk away, because he couldn’t. They wouldn’t let him. They never would.

  ***

  ‘Don’t touch me,’ Mia whispered, backing up against the counter as Lennie moved closer, his bulky frame bearing down on her, the smell of alcohol and weed filling her nostrils. ‘I don’t want you touching me.’

  ‘I don’t give a fuck what you want, darlin’. I’m just here to take back what’s mine.’

  He reached out to touch her breast, but Mia slapped his hand away, determined to fight him with every ounce of strength she had. ‘Fuck you!’

  He laughed, a dark, sinister laugh that sent a shiver coursing through Mia’s body, his eyes manic as they stared back at her. He had an almost crazed look about him, which made Mia think he’d indulged in more than just bourbon and a joint. And why that wasn’t scaring her more than it was she couldn’t explain. All she could feel was that numbness returning, shutting down every emotion, turning her into nothing more than a spectator of the horrifying act she was about to become a part of.

  Reaching behind her she felt around for the knife block that she knew sat somewhere on the counter top, but he wasn’t so stoned that he didn’t notice what she was doing, grabbing her wrist so tight she cried out as a wave of pain shot up her arm.