by A. M. Myers
After we read the second note from Warren, the one that made it clear he was gunning for certain members of the club, Blaze called Rodriguez. As soon as he showed up and took one look inside the box, he called in a whole damn team of people, including the medical examiner who took the head away to inspect it. If I didn’t know her death was my fault before, I sure as hell did after Rodriguez told us that Tawny’s tongue had been removed and in its place was the business card I had given her the morning Rowan and I stopped by her apartment.
I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do about all of this.
A part of me feels like Warren wants me looking for him. It feels like he has singled me out for some reason and he enjoys the game we’re playing as well as my growing frustration but sending Tawny’s head the way he did, feels like a clear fucking warning to stop looking into him and I would be stupid to ignore it. But how can I just abandon my club like that?
“Travis,” Rowan sighs, pulling my attention back to her and I shake my head.
“I’m fine.”
She lets out a huff of annoyance. “Again, not what I asked.”
“Sorry, Princess,” I tell her, sighing as I stare up at the ceiling and pull her into my body again and sigh, her presence once again comforting me. “My head is just all messed up.”
“Yeah, that tends to happen when you don’t get any sleep and can’t think clearly.”
I shake my head. “I’m fine, Rowan.”
“I swear to God,” she growls, swinging her leg over my body and climbing on top of me as she plants her hands on my chest and pins me with a glare. “If you tell me you’re fine when you’re so clearly not one more time, I’m going to kick your ass.”
“Yeah? What are you going to do?” I ask, fighting back a grin despite my somber mood. She scoffs.
“Like I’m gonna tell you my game plan.”
I grip her hips, loving the feeling of her skin underneath my fingers. “That sounds like the talk of someone who most definitely doesn’t have a plan.”
“Just try me, Broussard. I have to imagine that some of my pole moves would work just as well to take down a person.”
Well, fuck me.
“Now I’m intrigued.”
She grins. “You know what else you are?”
“What?” I ask, arching a brow as I search her face. She grins and leans down, letting her lips hover above mine and every cell in my body is screaming at me to close the distance between us. So I do. Thrusting my hand into her long, dark hair, I pull her down to me and seal my lips to hers. Sighing, she melts into my body and I resist the urge to fist pump in victory as my chest puffs out with pride. In my head, I’m the only fucking man who has ever made her feel like this and I’m a goddamn king as she wiggles her hips, rubbing against my cock. When she pulls away, her eyes meet mine, gray pools of desire, and she flashes me an indulgent little smile. “You were saying?”
Shaking her head, she crawls off of me and stands up next to the bed. “I think I made my point.”
“And what point is that?” I reach out and play with the bottom of her t-shirt, trying to lift it up to get a peek of the black lace panties she’s wearing and she swats my hand away.
“Don’t start something you can’t finish.”
My gaze snaps to hers and I narrow my eyes. “I always finish, Princess, and so do you… multiple times.”
“Oh, I know,” she whispers, color staining her cheeks as she grabs her jeans off of the floor. “But we don’t have time right now. People will be waking up soon.”
“Who cares? Everyone already knows so just stay.”
She shakes her head. “Not everyone knows. You ready to tell my brother about us?”
“Are you?” I ask, arching a brow and she shrugs.
“Look, he won’t like it but he’ll just have to get over it. I’m tired of sneaking around like we’re doing something wrong.”
I nod, toying with the idea. “I agree… but then again, I like my body in one piece.”
“Oh, stop it.” She laughs as she sits on the edge of the bed. “Lincoln is just a big teddy bear.”
“Only if a teddy bear could rip you apart with his bare fucking hands and has an inclination to do just that,” I shoot back, my eyes widening as she laughs again.
“You’re being ridiculous.”
I shake my head. “I’m not and I can promise you that if we tell Kodiak about us, he will probably rip off your favorite part of my body.”
“I think you’re thinking of your favorite part.”
“All right, woman,” I growl, grabbing her and pinning her to the mattress as I climb over her. “Do you need a reminder?”
She arches a brow in challenge. “Of what?”
“Of how much you love it, too,” I answer, thrusting into her and her breath catches in her throat, her eyes fluttering closed for a second before she opens them again. Downstairs, a door slams and I sigh as I turn toward the door.
“Told ya.”
“Fine,” I grumble, kissing her again before flopping down onto the bed next to her with all of the pent-up sexual frustration I feel. “But come find me later so we can continue this.”
Climbing out of the bed, she shakes her head. “So bossy.”
“Sweetheart, if you meant that to be a bad thing, you have to get that “fuck me” look out of your eyes first,” I tell her and she rolls her eyes, fighting back a smile as she backs away toward the door. “I’m serious about later, by the way.”
She shrugs. “We’ll see.”
“Don’t tease me, Princess.”
“Why not?” she asks as she opens the door and stops to pin me to the bed with a look full of defiance. “What are you going to do about it?”
She winks and walks out before I can say anything else and I stare at the door, the thought of going after her consuming me. I jump up to do just that, grabbing my jeans off the floor and slipping them on before I walk to the door, yanking it open. Piper blinks up at me from the other side, her hand raised like she was just about to knock and I arch a brow.
“Something I can do for you, darlin’?”
She nods. “Yeah, I need your help with something. If you have time…”
“Sure,” I answer, my gaze flicking over her shoulder to where Rowan stands at the other end of the hallway, smirking at me. I shoot her a look that lets her know it’s fucking on as soon as I wrap up whatever this is and she shrugs before starting down the stairs. Stepping aside, I let Piper into my room and leave the door open as I go over to my desk and sink into my chair, pointing the other one for her. She sits down and takes a deep breath, wringing her hands together in her lap. “You doing okay this morning?”
“Um… I don’t know…”
I nod because I’m sure her head is just as scrabbled as mine. “I get that. What is it that you need from me?”
“Well,” she answers, taking a deep breath before looking up at me. “I’m not even really sure that I want to know the answer to this but it’s been bugging me for days so I just thought…”
“Okay, what is it?”
“My therapist, Dr. Brewer, made a comment to me that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about… it was about Lillian,” she whispers and I lean back in my chair, scowling as I watch her. Lillian was a friend of hers who thought they could be more but I have no clue where she could be going with this. “She said that shortly before everything went down, Lillian had met someone who was encouraging her to go after what she wanted. At the time, Dr. Brewer didn’t know what they meant but in light of everything that has been going on… do you think it’s possible that this person she met was Warren?”
Her question suck punches me and the events of last night come flooding back into my mind as I blow out a breath and shake my head.
“Piper, I think where Warren is concerned, anything is possible.”
She nods like she already knew the answer. “That’s what I thought. Do you… think you could look into it for me?”
“Sure. I’ll look into it.”
She releases a breath. “Oh, thank you. I… um, I actually got a call from the man who managed her apartment building. She didn’t have any family and all of her stuff was sold or given away except for this box that he didn’t feel right throwing out. Apparently, there were some of her diaries in there and I thought they might give us some insight but I haven’t been brave enough to read them by myself. Will you help me?”
“You already have them?”
“Yeah,” she answers, nodding, and I study her for a second before sighing. I don’t want to even fucking think of Warren at this point but I can’t deny her the help she needs. I’m not expecting anything, though. If Warren did have something to do with her friend going all psycho, I’m sure he hid all his tracks very well. It’s been the same damn story since this investigation started and I don’t expect it to change anytime soon. “Still down to help?”
I nod. “Yeah. Go get ‘em.”
She thanks me before practically running out of my room and as soon as she’s gone, I lean back in my chair, running my hand down my face as my mind drifts to Warren’s note last night.
One down, four to go.
Honestly, it scares the shit out of me and maybe it’s me just being fucking full of myself but I can’t help but think this is just another way to torture me. I’ll go down the rabbit hole trying to figure out which four of us he’s specifically targeting and it will, undoubtedly, make me lose my mind. Which is what he wants.
Fuck.
Am I on his list?
Piper walks back in with a box of stuff before plopping it down at my feet and I arch a brow as she sits back down and I push the thoughts of Warren’s threat from my mind. Glancing down, I sigh. The box is full of personal stuff, little trinkets and several thick notebooks that I can only assume are Lillian’s diaries.
“First, I gotta ask, does your husband know about this?”
Shaking her head, she leans over and starts digging through the box. “No. He doesn’t want me thinking about her or what she did anymore… he thinks it’s not good for me but I need to know.”
Shit.
Why are all these damn women asking me to do shit that will most definitely end up with me getting my ass kicked by one of my brothers?
“Okay,” I sigh before nodding. “I’ll do this but you gotta tell Fuzz right after. Deal?”
“Deal.”
She grabs one of the notebooks and hands it to me before grabbing another for herself and we start flipping through them. Most of the entries are bland, talking about her day and shit like that but occasionally, one pops up that makes my eyebrows shoot up. Not that they have anything to do with Warren but Lillian was cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs and it fucking shows on these pages.
“Wait,” Piper says, her eyes scanning the page in front of her. “I think I found something.”
She hands the notebook to me and I read the entry on the page.
Dear Diary,
I went down to the coffee shop today and met this wonderful man who listened to me for almost an hour as I told him all about my Pip. He said she sounded like a really great girl and that if I loved her as much as I claimed then I should do whatever it takes to get her. I left there feeling so confident and he’s going to meet with me again tomorrow to go over a plan. I haven’t felt this hopeful in a long time and I can’t help but think that this is all going to work out. Piper and I are fated to be together, I just know it. The way she looks at me, I can feel the power of our connection…
I drop the notebook on the desk and shake my head as I blow out a breath. God, I feel fucking crazy just from reading that.
“What do you think? Could the guy be Warren?” Piper asks and I shrug.
“It’s possible but I’ll have to keep digging to know for sure and even then, we probably won’t find anything concrete.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t need anything concrete.”
“Can I ask why you want to know?” I can’t see any way that knowing Warren had a part in this is going to help her and it might even make it all worse but that’s just my opinion. She chews on her bottom lip as she stares at the notebook and finally, she looks up and sighs.
“I know what Lillian did was insane and that her obsession with me can’t be blamed on anyone else but…”
I nod, leaning back in my chair. “You want someone else to blame.”
“A little bit,” she admits with a nod. “It’s just hard to reconcile these two people that were Lillian… like my friend is a completely different person than the one who did all these crazy things.”
“Can I be honest with you, Piper?”
She nods, sucking in a breath. “Of course.”
“I think you need to let this go. It can’t be healthy,” I tell her, hoping my voice doesn’t sound too harsh and she sighs before nodding.
“I know I should just let it go but maybe these notebooks will help you somehow with Warren as well as giving me closure so I have to pursue this.”
Sighing, I nod. “Okay, well, I’ll keep looking into them and if I find anything, I’ll let you know but please don’t get your hopes up.”
“Thank you,” she says, her voice full of emotion as she stands up and walks over to me before leaning down and hugging me. “I really appreciate your help, Streak.”
I nod, patting her back. “Don’t mention it and don’t let your husband kill me.”
“Don’t be stupid.” She laughs as she pulls back and turns toward the door. “You’re way too important to this club for any of these guys to kill you. I can’t promise there will be no maiming, though.”
“Oh, excellent,” I answer, rolling my eyes and she laughs again as she walks out of the room. As soon as she’s gone, I turn back to the notebook laying open on my desk and sigh before grabbing it to dive right back into the rabbit hole I desperately want to escape.
Chapter Eighteen
Rowan
“They’re pulling into the gas station now,” Travis says into his phone laying on the desk, his fingers flying over the keyboard as he leans closer to the monitor, his complete focus on helping Blaze, Storm, and Chance complete the rescue they are doing right now. Apparently, the wife contacted the club and asked for their help but the issue is that they are only passing through Baton Rouge on their way to visit family so the club has to step in and rescue the wife and their two kids at a gas station along the interstate while this woman’s husband is in the bathroom. It honestly sounded insane when he told me about it earlier but this is what they do. As I watch him work, I can’t help but smile at the tiny little crease between his eyebrows and the way he bites his lip in concentration. Shaking my head, I turn back to the newspaper laid out on the bed in front of me, open to the help wanted pages.
Yesterday, Lincoln, Tate, and I drove the three hours to Grand Isle to sprinkle Mom’s ashes in the ocean just like she wanted and it was intense. We went to the same beach where Lincoln and Tate were married last year, the last place we were all together as a family because it seemed like the perfect spot to scatter her ashes and even though she has been gone for over a month now, actually watching her ashes sink below the water felt like I was truly letting her go. All of the pain I’ve been running from smacked right into me and I spent the night, sobbing into Travis’s chest while he rubbed my back and pressed kisses against the top of my head. When I woke up this morning, I was still sad but I also knew it was time to move on with my life and finally put some roots down here in Louisiana, starting with a job.
“Dad just went into the bathroom,” Travis says, distracting me from the paper and I lean back against the wall and cross my arms over my chest as I watch him. “Move now.”
“We’re fucking going,” Storm answers.
“Asshole,” Travis mutters, making a face at the phone that makes me laugh. It’s nice to see him like this since the last two days have been hard on all of us. After the wedding, the mood in the clubhouse was even darker before and it’s uncomfortable to be stuck here. Everyone wants to be jumping into action, doing something to find Warren and stop whatever evil plans he has but there is just nothing to do. But that doesn’t stop any of them from trying and when they can’t find answers, they come harass Travis. It weighs down on him so much and I’m just about ready to tell them to take a fucking hike the next time they barge in here demanding answers that no one has. Which I can freely do now since I told my brother all about Travis and me yesterday. To say he wasn’t pleased would be an understatement but after Tate and I talked him down a little, he agreed to let me run my own love life. He hated every second of it but I think it went as well as could be expected. I mean, Travis is still in one piece and there isn’t a single bruise or broken bone on his body so I consider it a win. Lincoln did make it very clear, though, that if he saw me crying even once and Travis was the cause, he would break every single one of his fingers. So, like I said, it went as well as expected.
“He’s on his way back to the van. Where are you?”
“Pulling out of the lot now,” Storm answers. “Let me know when he steps outside.”
Travis types a few things and I see the screen change from one security camera before he flicks back to another one. “You’re good. He can’t decide what fucking snack to get.”
“Priorities, man.” Chance laughs.
“Pulling onto the interstate now,” Blaze calls and Travis flicks through a few cameras again before nodding to himself.
“He’s paying now. I’ll keep an eye on him for a bit.”
They hang up but Travis remains focused on the screen and I climb out of bed before walking over to him and leaning on his shoulders as the man walks out of the gas station and sees his empty van.