LEVI: Southside Skulls Motorcycle Club (Southside Skulls MC Romance Book 5)

by Jessie Cooke

  “Hey. How are you?”

  “Doing better than I have been in a while, actually. How have you been? How’s your side?”

  “I’m good, healing, and this is the only weird thing that’s happened all week, so I guess that’s good.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, good and bad. Did Johnson say why he picked you for this delivery job?” His smile was replaced with a worried frown.

  “He said that he trusts me, and he thinks that I would fit in at the clubhouse better than anyone he might know.” Levi’s frown grew deeper. “You want to tell me what it is about this that worries you so much?”

  “Did you hear about the guy that was shot in Clarksville about last year? He was one of the Defenders.”

  “No, I’m sorry. When I was using, I was a little self-absorbed and not too interested in what was going on around me.”

  “Well, he was Johnson’s son and I was the one that shot him.”

  Zoe wasn’t sure what to do with that information. She knew what Levi did for a living and she was no stranger to violence, at least since she’d been on the streets. But, she still couldn’t imagine his actually killing someone. “Oh,” she finally managed.

  “It’s not something I’m proud of, but it had to be done. He was not a good guy to begin with, but then he started using meth and completely lost his mind. He tried to kill his father and he was trying to kill his ex-girlfriend—the mother of his child—and a friend of hers that night when I shot him. I found out just this past week that the ‘accident’ that killed my dad and Krissy was no accident. Johnson paid someone a lot of money to tamper with my brakes and set up an accident. The guy tampered with the wrong brakes.”

  “Oh my God! Oh, Levi, I’m so sorry.” Zoe’s chest hurt for him. The pain of knowing that was etched into his handsome face. “I never should have agreed to do anything for Mr. Johnson. I would have never guessed he would do anything like that. I don’t understand though, why isn’t he in jail?”

  “There wouldn’t be any proof of what they did. The crash has already been investigated and they’re calling it an accident. The brakes on my dad’s bikes didn’t show any evidence of tampering because there wasn’t enough left of them to be able to tell. Then there was the money. If the law got ahold of this, the first thing they would do is freeze the funds that Johnson paid to the man that ultimately set this all up.” He made a face like there was something sour in his mouth and said, “He paid two hundred thousand dollars to have them murdered. Or to have me murdered, I guess. They were collateral damage.”

  “Jesus, I’m so sorry, Levi. But why would it be a problem if they froze that man’s account? He’s a murderer.”

  “He’s dead. He died that night in the car they hit. The money was put into an account for his disabled daughter.”

  “Wow. What a mess.”

  Levi smiled sadly. “Yeah, everything seems to be a mess lately. Anyways, I don’t think Johnson was the real mastermind behind this. I think it was his wife. She’s disappeared, though.”

  “I heard him talking to someone today, someone named Loren. She was worried about someone and I think it might be his wife. He told her that she was in Europe and he was going there to be with her soon. This Loren said that she hasn’t been answering her phone…” Something clicked while Zoe was talking. This woman was the mastermind behind the murder of Levi’s father and girlfriend…and Levi knew that and so did his club. Now she was missing and Johnson was leaving town…She stopped talking and looked into Levi’s eyes. His big brown eyes were locked into hers and pleading with her to stop there. She let her mind’s eye go back to that night. She saw Levi’s dad in the street and Krissy’s pretty face, torn up from the asphalt and covered with blood, and just like that, she was glad to let it go. She also realized in that moment that when Levi heard Johnson had asked her to do this, that he’d been worried about her. It was more proof that whatever was between them was more than coincidence. He cared about what happened to her. “Anyways, if she did this, I’m glad that she’s gone.”

  Levi’s eyes softened even more and then he surprised her by putting his arms around her shoulders and pulling her into him for a hug. She felt his face go into her hair and his chest rise as he breathed her in. She tried to control the shudder that his body against hers sent through her, but there was no holding it back. She convulsed in his arms and he held her back and said, “Are you cold?” Zoe kept her eyes on his as she said:

  “No. Just the opposite, as a matter of fact.” As soon as she said it, she wished that she could take it back. Levi looked like he didn’t know how to respond and she suddenly felt like she’d taken things too far.

  “Okay,” he finally said. “Are you ready to do this?”

  “Yeah,” she said, looking down at the ground to try and hide the color she knew must be in her cheeks. “I’m ready.”

  The ride to Nashville took over an hour and a half. When Levi finally pulled up in front of the clubhouse, Zoe couldn’t feel her legs. She slid off the bike and had to grab on to him to keep from falling down. Levi laughed and held onto her as he got off the bike. She shamelessly hoped the feeling would never come back into her legs.

  “I’m sorry. That was kind of a long ride for someone not used to it.”

  “Yeah, kind of,” she said with a laugh. “I feel the blood circulating now. It’s like tiny little needles stabbing into me from my thighs on down.” He slid his arm around her and she instinctively leaned into his shoulder. It took her several seconds to realize what she was doing before pulling away. “I’m good now,” she said with an embarrassed smile. “I think.”

  “We’ll get you a shot of Fireball when we get inside,” he said with a wink. “That’ll get your blood pumping.”

  Her face warmed even further as she said, “I don’t drink…it’s kind of all part of the sobriety thing.”

  Levi was the one that looked embarrassed then. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry. I’m the only one that needs to remember. I’m ready to walk now if you are.”

  He nodded and on the way up to the door he said, “I texted Zack before we left Memphis to make sure he and Nicole would be here.” He pushed the door open, and Zoe stepped in and took in the scene before her. The buildings outside had looked almost like a series of warehouses, but the inside of this one looked almost like the lobby of a ski lodge…if you didn’t happen to notice the centerpiece of it all. There was a Harley, an older model, she thought, sitting in the center of the room. It was covered in chrome and a man’s face was painted in startling detail on the maroon-and-black gas tank. The wheels were blocked and there was a plaque attached along the front of it that Zoe couldn’t read from the angle she was at. Levi saw her looking at it and said:

  “It was the last bike ridden by their founder. Their president now, Stone, was his stepson. He was kind of a legend around here.”

  “It’s a beautiful bike.”

  “It sure is,” he said. The room was big and packed, it seemed, with bikers and those that looked like they wanted to be. There were a lot of women there too, some of them dressed like Zoe was in jeans and a t-shirt and others that were scantily clad and pressed up against one of the bikers, or almost obviously looking to be. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, talking, watching a football game on a large-screen television, eating, or shooting pool or darts. No one noticed them, it seemed, until Zoe heard Levi’s name. She looked in the direction of the voice, and a biker with dark hair and a dazzling smile was coming toward them. He looked like he should be one of those guys you see passed around on Facebook as a hot guy meme. Zoe had never met a man in real life that seemed to ooze sex from his pores, although she’d read more than one romance book about them. This guy could have stepped out of those pages.

  “Zack,” Levi said, taking the gorgeous man’s hand. “This is my friend, Zoe.” Zack turned his sexy blue eyes on her and Zoe felt almost paralyzed by them. She took the hand he offered and shook it, hoping that the lo
ok of pure, unadulterated lust didn’t show through on her face. Only minutes ago, she’d been turned on by Levi’s touch and now she was lusting after his friend…she needed to get laid.

  “Nice to meet you, Zoe.” Even his voice was sexy. It was deep and masculine.

  “Thanks,” she said. “You too.” There was loud metal music playing in the background and Zoe almost had to yell to be heard over it. Zack smiled at her and another rush of heat filled her body.

  “Nicole is in the back with the kids. It was too crazy out here for Liam.” Zack turned, and Levi took Zoe’s hand as they followed him. She realized the minute that he touched her that her feelings of lust for Zack were just that…the lust that probably any woman between the ages of 16 and 80 might feel when they looked at him. What she felt for Levi was something softer and warmer, and although she lusted after him as well, she knew her emotions were all tied up in there too and that was what made it so dangerous.

  Zack led them through a set of double doors and then through a large kitchen. They went down a short hallway before he opened a door into a room that was such a stark contrast to the one they’d walked into first that Zoe almost gasped out loud. This room was painted in bright, vivid colors and filled with boxes that overflowed with toys. The floor was covered in one of those soft, pliable puzzles with cars and trucks and pictures of roads and trees on it. A little boy with soft blond hair sat in the center of it, pushing a toy truck full of blocks. He looked to be maybe a couple years old and he was as cute as a button. A pretty lady with soft brown hair sat at one of the small tables. There was a bassinet behind her. The lady stood up when they came in. She was slender, but curvy in all the right places, and the female version of Zack…sex on a stick. She smiled at them as Zack introduced her as his wife Nicole. “And that guy down there is our son Liam and that’s the princess asleep in the bassinet.” Zoe looked in the small bassinet and saw a shock of black hair sticking out of the blanket. The baby’s round little face ended in a roll that turned into her chest and it rose and fell rapidly as she slept. Her tiny little mouth was pursed in a bow and every second or so, she’d suck like she was holding a bottle or pacifier, but there was nothing there. Babies scared Zoe a little, but lately when she looked at one, she felt the stirrings of a maternal instinct she’d never known she had.

  “Your children are beautiful,” she said.

  “Thanks,” Zack said. “They get it from their mother.” He kissed Nicole on the cheek and she smiled. “Why don’t we have a seat?” he said.

  Once they all sat down Levi said, “Zoe works at a diner. Spider’s father is one of her regulars.” Nicole made a face and Zoe saw Zack reach over and take her hand in his. “Johnson gave her an envelope to give you. He says that it’s something he wants you to use to take care of Liam.”

  Nicole’s eyes went to her son. Just in that one look, Zoe could see the love that filled them. She found herself hoping that someday she would have a man and a child that she loved that much. Zoe slid the manila envelope across the table and Nicole looked at it, but didn’t pick it up. “He said he knew that you wouldn’t want to see him. He was leaving town, I think. He said he’d be gone from Tennessee soon.”

  “Why did he ask you to bring it?” Nicole asked her.

  “He said he trusted me and he thought I’d fit in here, unlike anyone else he knew.”

  “Yeah, I’ll bet none of their country club friends would have agreed to come. Did he mention if the old…” She had her lips pursed like she might be about to say “bitch,” but stopped herself and said, “His wife…does she know about this?”

  “He didn’t say,” Zoe said. She looked at Levi, unsure of how much to say about that, or her.

  “She’s taken off for parts unknown,” Levi said. Zack looked at him with the traces of a smile pulling at his lips. He obviously understood.

  Nicole finally picked up the envelope and without further ado, she ripped the top of it off and poured the contents out onto the table. Inside were a set of papers, with something that looked like a check stapled in the corner, and a key. Nicole picked up the papers first and read the front page out loud:

  “These papers are any proof you might need that Liam was Spider’s son. It’s a copy of the DNA test and some of the court documents as well as an ancestry tree that dates back to the late 1700s. I know you may never want him to know where he came from and that would be understandable…but there were some very decent, hard-working, and loving people in our family in the past, so I attached that just in case. Most importantly, I’ve enclosed a check. When Liam was born, his grandmother and I established a college fund for him. Our accountant was advised to make regular monthly deposits into the fund. Since I have to go away for a long while, I asked the accountant to run the numbers and figure out what the total of deposits would be over the next seventeen years. He did that for me and then I doubled that number and made the deposit. I started thinking about that, however, and decided that if anything should ever happen to me, I don’t want it to be difficult for him to access. I also want you to be able to have access to it yourself just in case you ever need any help before he turns eighteen. So, I withdrew the funds and a check for that amount is enclosed. The key is to the house and the legal paperwork is also enclosed. I’ve sold my business and I’m going to travel and see the world. I won’t be coming back to Memphis, so I’ve left the house in trust for Liam as well.” Nicole’s voice registered the shock she must be feeling as she read on, “You are legally allowed to live there beginning any time you would like. It’s your son’s home now and I hope you make it yours as well. I can never express in words my sorrow at the way my son treated you. I know money doesn’t make up for anything, but it was all I had to offer. I wish that I had a chance to know the boy. I’m sure you will raise him to be a much better man than his father was.”

  Nicole reached for the check and looked at it. Her hand was shaking. “Jesus,” she muttered. “It’s for two hundred thousand dollars.”

  The first thing that came to Zoe’s mind was that was the exact figure Johnson had paid the man to kill Levi’s father and Krissy. She wondered if he was thinking that as well. One glance at his profile and the pain in his eyes told her that he was, and without any further thought, she reached under the table for his hand. He not only let her take it, but he squeezed hers in return.

  40

  It was early evening before Levi and Zoe got back to Memphis. He hoped that Zoe wasn’t completely exhausted from the ride. Three hours, if you counted there and back, was a lot for someone who wasn’t a regular rider. He realized as he turned off the highway that he was starving. He’d been busy all morning, working with the brothers in the shop they’d “inherited” from Johnson before Zoe called him. He’d forgotten to eat.

  When he came up to a stoplight he turned back to Zoe and said, “I’m starving. Do you want to get something to eat?”

  “Yeah,” she said, “I’m starving too now that you mention it. I’m buying.”

  “You don’t have to do that.” Zoe told Levi that Johnson had left her five one-hundred-dollar bills as payment for taking the envelope to Nicole. He got the feeling that she was feeling guilty about it somehow. He didn’t think she had anything to feel guilty about, but if it made her feel better to buy him a pizza, he wouldn’t argue with her.

  “I know,” she said, “but I’d like to.”

  “Okay, is pizza okay?”

  “Pizza sounds great.” Levi turned right and a few minutes later they came to a small Italian restaurant called “From Sicily with Love.” The parking lot was packed and it took Levi a few minutes to find a place to park the bike. As Zoe slipped off the bike, looking like her legs were shaky once again, she said:

  “I love this place. It’s the only pizza my grandparents will eat.”

  Levi smiled as he got off the bike. “Me too. I actually almost regret trying it. Once I did, I couldn’t go back to your basic delivery.”

  “I always wonder why they have
n’t started delivering,” Zoe said.

  “Look at how packed they are. They don’t need to. People don’t mind coming here to pick it up.” Levi pushed the heavy wooden doors open and Zoe followed him inside. The lights were low and it took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust. It looked like someone was having a party in the dining room; every table was full and people were milling about. Others stood at the counter, waiting for their take-out orders. “Wow, maybe this wasn’t a great idea,” he said. “How long until you have a table ready?” he asked the girl at the counter.

  She looked a little overwhelmed as she said, “We just got a party of sixteen in…it might be hours, to be honest. I’m sorry.”

  Levi looked at Zoe. “Maybe we could get it to go,” she said. “I’m kind of all tuned for it now. Can we carry pizza on a bike?”

  He smiled. “We can carry almost anything on a bike if we want to badly enough. I want this pizza, bad.”

  She laughed. “Me too.”

  “Good, what do you like on top?”

  “Everything,” she said. “Order what you like.” Levi ordered two large pizzas and when Zoe tried to pay he said:

  “Just smelling the air in here is making my stomach rumble. I’ll eat a whole one myself.”

  “I don’t care,” she said, “I’m buying.” She held out a hundred to the girl at the counter and stepped in front of him. He gave in, but he was happy when she let him order them a pitcher of soda while they waited and pay for that. Once their pizza was ready, Levi realized that they hadn’t talked about where they were going to take it to go. When they stepped outside he said, “Since I live closer and you have to hold onto the pizzas, do you mind if we eat at my place and then I’ll take you home?”

  “Nope, the sooner the better. I might just start with a piece on the back of the bike.”

  He laughed. “A girl after my own heart.” He drove them the few blocks to his apartment as Zoe balanced the pizzas on the back of the bike. Once they got inside, he found some paper plates and set them up on the coffee table in the living room. “You want soda?”