by Emma Slate
He laughed, a large booming sound that I swore shook the walls of the house.
“Dish towel hanging from the oven.”
He got up and looked around for his boxers. Colt was just sliding into them when the front door opened, causing Colt and I to look at each other in confusion. Just in the nick of time, I managed to dive behind Colt’s huge, brawny form before Zip strolled in.
“What the fuck,” Colt barked. “You can’t just walk in unannounced.”
“Then why did you give me a key?”
I reached for the red and white checkered tablecloth on the kitchen table, one ear listening to Colt lay into Zip. The bowl of fruit rested in the center, but I managed to grab the edge of the cloth and pull it toward me. Unfortunately, the fruit spilled onto the floor, an orange rolling past Colt.
“Fruit suicide,” I said and then let out a laugh as I dragged the tablecloth around me.
“Is she drunk?” Zip asked.
“Nope,” I voiced. “Just trying to ease the tension before Colt levels you to the ground.”
Zip suddenly smiled. “I don’t think it’s working. He still looks like he wants to smash my face in.”
“My woman is naked,” Colt stated. “Good thing she’s small and can hide behind me out of sight. Now get the fuck out onto the porch. I’ll be with you in a minute.”
Zip laughed but left. A moment later the front door slammed shut.
Colt looked over his shoulder at me and I gave him a cheeky grin, but he wasn’t amused. “No one else gets to see you like this. Do you hear me?”
I hugged him from behind. “I don’t want anyone else to see me like this. Okay? Go talk to Zip about whatever it is he needs.”
“What makes you think he needs anything except destroying my post orgasm serenity?” he asked, though he sounded mollified.
“Intuition.” I stood up on my tiptoes. “I’ll head upstairs. Shower. Finish packing. I need to call Shelly anyway.”
Colt’s arms enclosed my waist. “Holler if you need help.”
“Help? Help with what?”
He grinned. “Cleaning those hard to reach dirty places.” Colt lightly smacked me on the butt and I left the kitchen before he had a chance to get me naked again.
“You. Did. What?” Shelly screeched.
I held the phone away from my ear and winced, letting her get out all her emotion.
“Are you done?” I asked.
“Well, I don’t know,” she admitted. “I can’t believe you—well—you got a tattoo? And you’re like, Colt’s woman? His Old Lady?”
“You’ve got Mark’s ring on your finger. What’s the difference?” I demanded, suddenly losing my patience.
She fell silent and I instantly felt terrible. “Listen,” I said. “You’re my best friend in the entire world. You’re my soul sister. I want you to be happy for me and celebrate this.”
Shelly paused on the other end of the line. “I am happy for you. I really am. But I can’t help but worry about you. You’re not the girl that makes these kind of decisions at the drop of a hat.”
“Richie’s dead,” I blurted out. “The Iron Horsemen dumped his mutilated body in front of the Blue Angels’ clubhouse.”
“He’s dead?”
“Yep. I saw his body, Shelly. I saw what they did to him.”
“Jesus, Mia. Seriously?” She exhaled slowly. “Is this why you jumped into a relationship with Colt? Because you’re scared of the Iron Horsemen?”
“I jumped into a relationship with Colt because I love him.”
“You admit that you jumped. And how the hell can you be in love with him? You barely know him.”
“I know him.”
“You don’t.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I really don’t want to argue with you.”
“All right.”
Her tone was frosty and I understood why. She felt like she was being shut down, unable to give her opinion on my relationship and love life. She’d wanted me to meet someone; she just hadn’t wanted it to be a biker.
“There’s a party tonight at the Blue Angels’ clubhouse,” I said, offering her the olive branch. “I hope you come.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said.
“You’re breaking my heart, you know?” I said softly.
“Okay.” She sighed. “I’ll be there. Even though I don’t understand.”
“But you love me anyway?”
“Always and forever, soul sister. I just want you to be happy.”
“I am.”
“Good.”
I smiled. “Will Mark be able to come?”
“He’s got a work thing. But I promise we’ll have you over soon. You and Colt.”
Something unfurled inside of me. I’d have Shelly and the Blue Angels. I didn’t want them at odds. I wanted Shelly comfortable, and if she saw how the Blue Angels treated me, then she might change her mind about what I had gotten myself into.
“Can’t wait to see you,” I said. “It’s been too long.”
“Way too long.”
“See you soon,” I said, hanging up.
I took a quick shower and changed into a black halter dress that didn’t conceal my bandage. I pulled my hair into a loose side braid and just as I was putting the finishing touches on my makeup, Colt walked into the bathroom.
His gaze raked over me. “You’re gorgeous.”
“Thank you,” I said with a smile, my eyes still on my reflection so I didn’t poke my eye out with the mascara wand. “What did Zip want?”
“Wanted to talk about Joni,” he said.
“What about Joni?”
“About when she goes back to work. He wants a brother to drive her to and from her shift. Stay at the hospital while she’s there.”
“That’s overkill, don’t you think?” I asked. I shoved the wand back in its tube and screwed it shut.
“She lives alone, which I hate. She’s staying at the clubhouse for the next little while, which she’ll completely balk at, knowing her. I know she won’t like having a brother dogging her heels, but I’ll be damned if I give Dev a chance to pull some shit while she’s at work.”
I didn’t ask if he was capable of that—if I could conceive it, then it was possible. After all, he’d dropped Richie’s tortured body at the Blue Angels’ clubhouse and done a drive by on Blue Angels’ territory. I didn’t think there was much he wouldn’t do to get his point across.
“I’m gonna call another one of our chapters,” he said, looking thoughtful. “I need more men at our backs. We’ve got a lot of older brothers—men from my dad’s time, but they’re not up for this kind of shit.”
“I didn’t know there were more members,” I said. “Will I get to meet them?”
“Eventually.” He leaned against the bathroom counter. “Zip volunteered to be the one to drive Joni and sit at the hospital.”
“You’re gonna make your VP a watchdog?”
His eyes narrowed. “No one I trust more than him to protect my sister. And it was his idea.”
“Right. Zip’s idea…”
I wondered how Joni would feel when she found out this had all been orchestrated by Zip. Zip, who’d pretended they meant nothing to each other. Zip, who’d stayed over at her house the night she got injured because he couldn’t bear to leave her side. Zip, the manwhore of a biker who wasn’t supposed to have any feelings toward her.
Something was cooking there, I was sure of it. But for some reason Colt didn’t see it, or didn’t want to see it. I wasn’t going to be the one to let him in on the situation.
“You almost ready?” he asked.
“Yeah, almost. Just need to pack up the last of my stuff and we can go.”
“I got something for you.” He left the bathroom and after gathering up my makeup and placing it in a floral makeup bag Joni had gotten me from the mall, I followed after him.
Colt was standing by his nightstand drawer, holding a black velvet jewelry box. My eyes flew to his
and he chuckled when he saw my panicked expression. “It’s not a ring. It belonged to my mother. Open it.”
I flipped open the box, completely charmed and delighted by the necklace. It was a dainty skull with wings on a thin silver chain. The pendant was no bigger than a dime.
“Dad gave it to Mom when she became his Old Lady. I thought you’d like to have it.”
I held out the box to him. “Put it on me.”
He grinned and took the delicate necklace in his large hands. I turned around and presented my neck and a moment later, I felt the slide of cool metal against my skin.
Colt clasped the necklace and then his fingers lingered on the curves of my shoulders and he pressed his mouth to the spot right above the bandage that protected my new tattoo.
I waited for that feeling of impending doom, expecting a tightness in my chest at another emotional tie that bound me to Colt. But it didn’t come, and the rightness of the moment settled in my bones like an anchor steadying a ship in a storm.
We finally got out of the house, hours after Colt wanted to leave, but we were on our way back to the clubhouse when his phone rang.
“Yeah?” He listened for a few moments and then said, “All right. Thanks. Get some brothers and we’ll meet you there. Bring the van.”
He hung up and then turned down a street that would not take us to the clubhouse. “That was Torque. He said the Iron Horsemen prospect hasn’t been at your place in six hours. We’re gonna go to your house and get your shit—whatever you want—clothes, furniture, and we’ll move it to my house. Our house.” He shot me an amused smile.
I grinned back in excitement. I would finally be able to grab the things that mattered to me, along with my entire wardrobe.
“What do you want to do with it?” he asked.
“Do with what?” I was distracted thinking about where to hang my family photos.
“Your house. You own it, right?”
“Yeah. I haven’t really thought about it, to be honest. I’m not ready to sell it, but I’m not sure I want to become a landlord and rent it out.”
I did like the idea of residual income without having to do anything. The house had been paid off for as long as I could remember and the roof had been replaced only a few years ago. It needed to be painted, but everything worked. The appliances, the fridge. It had all been taken care of.
We turned down the street and immediately had to pull over. Traffic was blocked off by cones and a fire engine. Before Colt could even put the truck into park, I was unlatching my seatbelt.
I ran down the block, sprinting into a group of people who were watching and pointing, rubbernecking but not doing anything except witnessing a house go up in flames.
“Get back!” A fireman in his uniform yelled at me when I’d dashed through the crowd, using my elbows.
I watched in numb horror as flames licked along the roof and poured out of the windows. Firemen with hoses attempted to put out the inferno.
“What the hell, Mia? You can’t just take off like that.”
I felt him at my back, but didn’t turn around to address him. “That’s my home,” I whispered, still unable to comprehend what I’d just seen.
“I know,” Colt said, his tone somber. He reached for my hand and gently pulled me toward the fireman in charge.
“Sir, please step back,” the fire chief said. He was in his mid-fifties and clearly had been doing this a long time, long enough to have a sense of authority on the scene.
“My girlfriend’s house,” Colt explained.
The man’s brown eyes shot to me. “Your home?”
I nodded. “How did this happen?”
“We won’t know for a bit yet,” he answered vaguely. “You were lucky you weren’t inside.”
“Yeah. Lucky.”
“Excuse me. I need to talk to my crew.” The fire chief dipped his head and then turned and walked away.
I heard the sound of motorcycles and immediately pressed myself against Colt.
“Relax,” he said. “They’re ours.”
A few moments later, I saw, Boxer, Reap, and Cheese striding toward us.
“Acid parked the van on the other side of the intersection,” Boxer said. “We couldn’t get through. What the hell happened?” His gaze took in the smoking remains of the house.
“My home caught fire,” I said, suddenly exhausted, bone-weary.
“Fuck,” Cheese murmured.
I started to shake. Every keepsake, every photograph, my entire family history was in that house.
“This is bad shit,” Reap said.
The men began to talk in low voices but it sounded like I was underwater and I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I somehow found it within me to detach from Colt’s side and walk to the fire chief.
“Sorry to bother you,” I said, gaining his attention. “I just wanted to give you my number so you can reach me when you have more of an idea about what happened.”
As he took my information, he asked me a ton of questions to make sure I wasn’t committing insurance fraud.
“If I had to guess the cause, I’d say it was faulty electrical,” he said after finishing his questions and realizing I’d had nothing to do with the fire.
“Faulty electrical. Sure.” I nodded even though I was screaming inside. Dev and the Iron Horsemen had done this. They were toying with me, instilling fear, trying to manipulate me into giving them what Richie had taken from them.
My phone rang and it said UNKNOWN.
“Excuse me?”
The fire chief nodded in dismissal.
I moved away from the mayhem and walked down the block to get some distance and privacy. “Hello?”
“How’s your house?” Dev asked, his tone light. Comical.
“I think you know.”
Dev laughed. “Yeah, I do.”
“Why did you do it?” I heard my voice. It sounded cool, detached.
“Simple. You take something from me, I take something from you.”
“I didn’t take anything from you.”
“No, but Richie did, and you know where it is.”
“Well, you already got him back, didn’t you?” I snapped.
“Babe?”
I whirled, phone to my ear to see that Colt had come up behind me, his face downright scary.
“Who you talkin’ to?” he asked.
I swallowed.
“Is that your man?” Dev asked. “Put him on. I want to speak to him.”
I held out the phone to Colt and he took it. His eyes never left mine as Dev spoke to him. Colt’s jaw clenched so tight it looked like his teeth would shatter.
Colt ended the call without saying a word and handed my phone back to me. I didn’t want to ask what Dev had said to him. No doubt it would only heighten my fear.
“Party’s canceled,” he said finally.
I nodded. I wasn’t in a festive, celebratory mood anyway.
We headed back to the Blue Angels that were standing on the sidewalk, looking very out of place in the quaint neighborhood. Colt spoke to them and then they disbanded, leaving Colt and I alone.
As we drove away, I looked out the window. I could see smoke in the sky, disappearing into the clouds. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the leather seat, scraping my nails against the hard fiberglass of my cast.
“Talk to me,” he said.
“About what?”
“About what’s going through your head.”
“Why?”
“You just watched your grandmother’s house go up in flames. You don’t have feelings about that?”
“I have feelings,” I said. “I know I should be angry. I know I should be ranting and screaming, cursing Dev’s name. But right now, all I can feel is sad. My entire life was in that house. Photo albums, my grandmother’s favorite teacup with a painted pink rose pattern on the delicate china, the shoebox of my mother’s favorite costume jewelry. I have no idea what survived and I can’t handle another loss, C
olt.”
“I fucking hate him for this.” His tone was full of anger. “I hate that he’s playing this sick game of cat and mouse and he took this from you.”
“What did he—” my voice cracked. I cleared my throat before speaking again. “What did he say to you on the phone?”
He took a long time to answer, and when he did, he met my gaze. I nearly shivered from the cold savagery peering back at me.
“Something that’s gonna make him beg for mercy before I’m through with him.”
Chapter 18
When we got back to the clubhouse, he disappeared into the office. While I was trying to process the loss of my childhood safe haven, Colt was sitting alone, dealing with whatever Dev had told him.
And if I’d had the energy, I’d have been spitting mad at him. Our relationship was intense, and I was still new at it. But, I wasn’t such a novice to know that when a woman needed a shoulder to lean on, it was her man’s duty to be there.
But the Blue Angels were watching me, and I refused to look like a coward. So I left Colt to his own devices and then went to find his sister.
Joni would know what to say to me. She’d grown up with him; she must’ve had some directives about how to handle Colt’s complete emotional shut down.
My heart trembled with pain and confusion. Usually, when he didn’t want to tell me something, he blamed it on club business. But this wasn’t club business. Whatever Dev said to him had gotten through Colt’s tough exterior and turned him into a different man.
The violent man from the first night I’d met him was back.
I was nearly to the third floor when Joni said, “I don’t want to talk about this.”
“Well, I do,” Zip rasped.
I paused mid-step, knowing the right thing to do would be to turn around and go downstairs to give them privacy. Or interrupt them by continuing my ascent.
I didn’t do either.
Instead, I decided to stop where I was and eavesdrop like a reality TV drama addict.
“You can’t go on a date with that doctor,” Zip stated.
Joni snorted in dry amusement. “You can’t tell me what to do. You can’t tell me who to date.”
“I’m not telling you who to date. I’m telling you who not to date.”