“Diem Reigns, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
I feel my cheeks heat at his praise. “You’re not bad on the eyes either.”
He laughs. “I’m a biker. I’m not meant to be easy on the eyes.”
With that, he takes me by the hand and leads me up the back porch and into the small house. We step inside, and he flips on a switch. He helps me take off the leather jacket and tosses it to the chair in front of us.
The kitchen is right inside the back door. The hardwood floors look new, and everything seems updated. Navy blue cabinets line the bottom with a bright white, maybe quartz, countertop. The brass cabinet pulls pop with the black appliances and open shelving on the walls. There is a small round kitchen table in a matching navy to the cabinets, and chairs with beige cushions.
“Would you like a drink?” he asks, releasing my hand and moving to the fridge where he grabs a water for himself.
I nod.
“Don’t spend much time here, so I got water,” he explains, handing me a bottle.
Interesting. I don’t know why, but I expected copious amounts of alcohol for a bachelor pad.
“Do you not stay here?” I ask because I’m generally confused. If this is his house, why did he say he doesn’t spend time here?
“Wes and I live together. It works better, but neither of us wanted this place torn down, so when the church came up for sale, we bought it. Our grandmother used to live here, but she decided to move to a retirement home, so now it’s just a place I come to from time to time to clear my head.”
I nod. “I wish I had a place to clear my head,” I mutter not thinking about what I’m giving away.
“You’re welcome here anytime you need to unwind. Backdoor stays unlocked.”
I don’t know why this makes me smile, but it does.
“You don’t even know me, why let me have your house?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “This isn’t my house. This is home.”
I raise my eyebrows confused.
Colt takes my hand and leads me to the living room where the walls are done with a texture almost like sand. As he turns the lights on, different parts sparkle as if being illuminated by the sun. The pictures on the wall are of the beach, and the end tables are done in pier pilings with rope around them with glass tops. The navy blue couch is the only dark thing in the room. The anchor etched into the glass on the coffee table is mind-blowing. The room has this coastal feel, but it’s more than that. The space is inviting. It’s not overly masculine or feminine. It’s understated comfort.
He sits on the couch and pulls me down in a way where I’m draped over him as he extends his legs to lay on the piece under me.
“This is home,” he repeats, but I still don’t understand.
I lay my head on his chest.
Comfort.
Safety.
Freedom.
I find warmth in him as he begins to casually run his hand up and down my back over my sweater.
“Did you grow up in Haywood’s Landing?” he asks, and I nod. “Always in that house?”
“No, we used to live in the Outer Banks,” I reply. “When I was little, like three or four, our house burned down. Electric fire. That’s when we moved to Emerald Isle. I’ve always been in the area, though, never lived anywhere else.”
“When you think of home, you think of your bed, your house. When I think of home, this is what I feel.”
I still don’t understand as I listen to the steady beat of his heart through his shirt.
“Wes and I didn’t have a good start in life, Diem. Our dad, our biological dad, was a monster. Shit was bad. We didn’t have a home until we came here. This was the first place where I could lay on a couch and breathe.”
I can’t imagine his pain as a child. I have always known I was blessed to live the life I live, but something about the way Colt speaks pulls at me to be grateful not to have had his experiences.
“This house became home and changed our lives. From the first night we stayed here until even now, this place is my safe place.”
I sit up and look at him. “Thank you for sharing it with me,” I whisper, licking my lips and feeling every bit of what he’s saying.
His childhood wasn’t safe until he found home. This is home.
I lay my head back on his chest and a soothing calm washes over me.
This is home.
10
Colton
Three Days Later
Boomerism: “Do not be afraid of times when you feel weak. That is when your soul will rise up and push you through.”
“Colt,” my mom says, entering the bay. “Do you have a way to contact Mr. Reigns?”
I nod. “What’s up?”
She sighs. “His card is declined for the cars. When I call his office number, the lines are disconnected.”
This surprises me. While looking into Reigns, yes he has some financial problems, but nothing that would cause his credit to be impacted … yet. There are some filtering of funds, moving of money from one business to another that raise suspicion. But the man is far from being bankrupt to the point his phones are disconnected. Pulling out my phone, I swipe the screen and call Diem.
“We’re sorry, but the number you have dialed is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this message in error…”
I end the call as Wesson wheels over with his phone to his ear and a look of panic on his face. “Hang tight, I’ll be right there. Don’t call anyone else. Don’t move, we’re on our way,” he says before tossing his phone to me.
“What’s up?” I ask, and he shakes his head.
“Emmalee says she pulled up to Diem’s house, and it’s empty. No one is home. Their phones are all shut off. But, it’s worse than that. I need to see it and assess.” He looks to our mom. “Tell dad to track my location and to get the club on the ready.”
Fuck. Wes is always the calm one. He thinks everything through. What did Emmalee find that he can’t even speak it? Fear hits me like a punch in the nuts. I can’t breathe. Something isn’t right.
I’m not a fan of idle chitchat, but Diem and I have spent more hours on the phone in the last three nights than I have ever spent on a phone in my life.
Her favorite color is orange. Her favorite food is sushi. Diem Reigns has a guilty pleasure of binge-watching reality television reunions. She doesn’t watch the actual shows, just the end of season reunions. How do I know all of this shit? Because we have talked about anything and everything. The woman likes to talk. She also dreams of one day having a pet fish. She’s never been allowed to have a pet. While she wants a dog or a cat, she thinks it’s safer to start with a fish. See, my woman likes to talk about it all. Do I care about a dog, cat, snake, spider, or a fish? No, but she wants to talk about silly things and serious things and the stupid shit in between therefore that’s what we do.
If this relationship shit doesn’t work out with her, I’m doomed to never have a future of any kind that involves more than fucking. I really am working to be her friend. I even tried to watch the shit while on the phone with her once, and I couldn’t get past all the women screeching at each other. But she swears that’s the funny part. To her, watching the reunion gives her the recap of the season while only showing the good parts. The dramatic moments.
Whatever.
I see it all as a waste of time, but it’s mindless entertainment, for sure.
Wesson wheels past me right to his van, and I follow yelling out to my mom, “Give Dad the heads up to call a sermon like right now, Mom. Tell him about Reigns’credit card. Wes and I are headed to Diem’s house.”
“I love you, my boys,” she calls out. “Be sfae.”
“Love you too, Mom,” we yell in unison, never turning to see her face.
This is our mom. She never leaves us without telling us she loves us. Bikers or not, I don’t dare not tell her I love her back. And I don’t give a shit who hears me either. That woman is my world. I wo
n’t deny her anything.
Tomorrow isn’t promised, but more than that, I know what it is to be a boy who misses his mom. I’ll never let her go a day without knowing I love her.
Because that’s what my childhood taught me. Be up front with your loved ones. Trouble in life happens far too quickly to predict when you’re going to miss an opportunity that will never come again.
I am the man I am today because of the woman standing at a doorway to a garage with a phone to her ear watching her boys take off. A woman who even when she can’t see me, still thinks of me. A woman whose every breath from the moment I was conceived, she has taken for me. Her life is about her kids.
Her strength is for us. Everything she’s done in her life has been for myself and Wesson. I’ll never take her for granted.
Diem doesn’t talk about her parents much. I wonder how they can live in such a beautiful house, have so many things, but still have this disconnect amongst them. They say money can’t buy happiness and maybe that’s the Reigns family.
Then again, maybe because we grew up poor, and even when Boomer came into the picture, my mom didn’t have a lavish lifestyle; we simply made life the best it could be by being together. That’s the gift my parents gave me.
Simple freedom to appreciate the little things.
My mind races with all the things I want to share with Diem that I haven’t yet. We’ve just begun to scratch the surface of getting to know each other. Now, she’s unable to be reached. This doesn’t sit well with me.
Wesson drives as I think of the things I want to say, the things I want to share with her. After giving her a ride the other night, I know she enjoys it. Maybe we can do a cross country trip on my Harley. I’ll take the backroads, so she can see how vast and wide the world outside of Coastal North Carolina really is.
Even though Emerald Isle is pretty stacked with houses on top of each other, Thomas Reigns has managed to buy himself a decent lot. I’m actually surprised he doesn’t live behind a gate, but then again there is nothing to worry about here. The Hellions don’t tolerate anyone causing problems in the Carolina’s. Pulling up to her house, an eerie feeling washes over me. I get out and go straight to Emmalee, who holds a garage remote in her hand. I don’t speak as I take it from her. Wesson makes his way over, and Emmalee half collapses into his chair.
“I can’t find her,” she sobs. “I went inside, and I looked everywhere.”
My heart beat races, my palms sweat as press the button to open the bay door.
“I called my dad, he wouldn’t answer. I called Diem, I called her dad. I couldn’t get anyone but you. Wes,” she chokes out, struggling to breathe as she begins to hyperventilate. “Her mom, Adrianne, is dead, Wes.”
With that sentence, I rush into the house quickly looking in each room. There is a silence to the space that is maddening. Sure enough, the house is empty, except for the body of Adrianne Reigns. She is tied to her bed with a cut across her neck from one ear to the next. Blood saturates the bedding, and the smell of it permeates the air. I look around for something out of place. Her nightstand drawer is open, but jewelry lays inside untouched.
In fact, nothing in the house is ransacked.
It’s when I go into the closet and take notice of Thomas Reigns safe that I see the paper. There is a note on the front written in blood.
Diem is next.
Fuck no!
11
Diem
Life lessons with Diem: Sometimes you have to close your eyes in order to see what’s right in front of your face!
A sharp noise wakes me. The thud in my closet gets my attention as I sit up in bed. My mom frantically tries to open a suitcase in front of me.
“Mom,” I call out, and she turns her head to me.
Her face is swollen and bruised. Tears fall in steady streaks. I get up and rush to her. She pushes me away.
“We don’t have time, Diem. You have to go. I gotta get you out of here.”
She’s afraid.
Her fear only fuels my fears. “Mom, calm down. We can call Dad.”
Her eyes go wide. “NO!”
I grab her shoulders, and she winces in pain. “Mom, stop! Dad told me about the affair. Whatever is going on, you need to stop freaking out and talk to me. I know you and Dad aren’t in love. Get a divorce. I’ll be okay with it. But who hurt you, Mom?”
“Diem, I don’t have time to explain. I promise you with every breath you take, I did not have an affair. Your father isn’t the man you think he is.” She cups my face and softens her eyes. “Diem, I love you. I love you so much. You have been an absolute gift in my life. I need to know that you’re gonna listen to me.”
I nod because she’s my mom. I’m going to listen … mostly.
“You have to leave Haywood’s Landing. In the suitcase, you’ll find my journals. Everything you need to know is inside those pages. The makeup bag is full of cash. You use only cash until you get settled somewhere and establish your identity. Do not, under any circumstances, use any bank card or credit card. I have one of those ride share people coming to get you. Only go halfway to town, then have the driver drop you off at a gas station. Wait ten minutes to use the pay phone. If there isn’t a pay phone, ask to use the store phone. Call a cab. Get to a hotel and use the shuttle they offer to the bus station. Take a bus to Fayetteville and catch the train. Do not fly, and do not leave a trail as much as possible. Thomas went too far. He’s crossed the wrong people now. Paul called and Diem you have to go or they’re going to get you.”
“Mom, you’re talking crazy.”
She closes her eyes. “I love you, Diem. I wish I had the time to tell you everything. I wish I had done so many things so differently over the years. I’ve messed up so much. The truth is in the pages. Read them as quickly as you can and burn them. Don’t waste time right now questioning me. Just know I love you, my sweet girl, and I need to get you out of here for your safety.”
There it is, my safety, again.
Why am I in danger?
“Mom,” I begin, and she throws up her hand to silence me.
“I’ll never get tired of hearing you call me mom, but Diem, you need to know the truth. The truth that’s been right in front of your face for your entire life.”
My head hurts, and I’m tempted to pinch myself to see if I’m somehow dreaming. “What?”
“Diem, your father isn’t your father like you think, and he’s made some poor choices that leave you at risk. I love you, and I need you to know this is all to keep you safe. Now, can you please do what I’m telling you?”
I feel the tears building. My entire world is crashing around me. This can’t be happening. “Mom,” I plead.
She takes a deep breath. “They’re coming to kill me, to silence me. Paul told me your dad took some money. A lot of money from an important man. Diem you have to listen to my instructions and follow them. I need you to go and know that I love you. Please, Diem. It’s one thing to know I’m paying the price for my sins, but it’s another to know they’ll kill you, too.”
Looking in her eyes, it’s clear she’s telling me the truth, and she’s afraid I’m going to die, too.
I don’t want to die.
I don’t want my mom to die.
I want to know the truth.
The truth that lies in the pages waiting to be read.
“Why can’t you go with me? Then you can tell me what I need to know. I won’t have to read your journals.”
She shakes her head. “Diem, I spent your entire life dreaming about so many things for you. As much as I want to go with you, I can’t. In order to keep you safe, I need to let them have me. You are my whole world. I love you, but I can’t go with you.”
“Then tell me. Be woman enough to look me in the eyes and tell me this truth.”
“That’s just it. I’m not strong enough,” she whispers before falling to the floor of my closet.
“Mom, please.”
She shakes her head while grabbing a few
more things she can reach from the ground and putting them in the suitcase. The suitcase that I now see has over twenty journals inside. How many secrets does she have?
“Diem, take the suitcase and go.”
“Mom,” I begin, but she holds her hand up again trying to silence me. “Mom, I love you,” I whisper, hoping this change in tactic will work.
“Those are the most beautiful last words for me to hear. Diem, please, as you learn the truth, know I love you. Blood doesn’t make a family. Even though it’s not my blood in your veins, you are my greatest joy, my greatest achievement. I love you, Diem.”
My mind reels. What did she just tell me?
Before I can ask anything, she stands after closing the suitcase and begins to gently push me out of the closet. “Get dressed and get gone. Be safe, be smart, and know you are a gift, Diem.”
She presses a kiss to my forehead before scrambling out of my room. In a panic, I start to dress. Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I see five missed calls from my dad. Opening my messages, I see a text.
Whatever is said, don’t believe it until you hear it from me.
Did he know what my mom had planned? Maybe I shouldn’t leave. As I think these thoughts, my phone pings with another message from my father.
Get out of the house, Diem. NOW!
Before I can reply the phone screen changes to say no service. I’m left with no way to communicate with my dad. With both my parents trying to get me to leave, I think I need to at least find Emmalee. Just as I go to call her, my phone screen changes and reads no service.
What the hell is going on?
In a blur, I grab the suitcase and make my way downstairs. I don’t see my mom at all as I get ready to leave. Before I can get to the garage, a car pulls up with a sticker for a ride share company.
She really isn’t joking.
Bold from It: Hellions Motorcycle Club (Hellions Ride On Book 5) Page 8