Tess
Trigger flipped his hair out of his face and turned to the screaming chick in Jace’s arms. The broken whiskey bottle was tossed to the ground a few feet away.
“Remove her, or I will.”
“How can you kill someone like that?” she screamed. “Sick son of a bitch!”
“Now! Or she’s next.”
“Come on.” Jace literally had to yank her along by the arm to get her to leave.
Trigger turned to me then closed his eyes. He was trying hard to get himself back under control, and it wasn’t easy for him. “Everyone out!”
Within seconds, the room had emptied except Tat on the floor in a puddle of blood, myself, and Trigger. Trigger reached out and held onto the bar. I had never seen him like that. He seemed to be struggling with something.
“Trigger?” I whispered, unsure what the hell was running through his head. “You okay?”
“No,” he hissed and glared at me, and his pupils searched mine before he spoke. “Are you fucking insane?”
“You sure you want to pull at that thread?” I attempted to joke.
“I’m not fucking kidding!” His voice echoed throughout the room. I was thankful the music was still on, but I was sure some may have heard him.
“He had a gun to your head. What was I supposed to—”
“You let me deal with it, Tess! Not get him to point a gun at your fucking face!” He kicked Tat hard and covered his mouth and muttered something.
“I knew he wouldn’t hurt me.”
“How?” His bark made me jump. “How the fuck do you know what was going through that fucker’s head?”
I felt my back go up.
“He asked me to leave you for him. He told me he wanted me, and that he could make me happier.”
It was true. He had pulled me aside while Trigger was in the ring that afternoon. I laughed at first, thinking he was drunk, but when he leaned in to kiss me, I shoved him aside.
“And?”
Oh, please!
“We’re planning our marriage right now.” I dripped with sarcasm, and my fury burned through my eyes. Shit, when would he ever get that I wanted him?
“Be careful, Tess. I just killed a man. You push me too far, and I’ll kill again.”
I stepped closer and pushed my chest into his. His heat smoldered around me, holding me tight.
“You saying you’d hurt me?”
“I’m saying I’d kill for you.” He grabbed my face between his huge hands and pressed his forehead to mine. I clutched his shoulders and held him just as hard. He needed an anchor. “Don’t ever do that to me again. Promise me. If anything happens to you, I…” He stopped himself.
“You’d what?”
“Promise me, Tess.” His voice was strained, and I needed to stop pushing. It was enough for now.
“I’m sorry.” I pressed my lips to his and let him devour my mouth. Right as I was about to grab his belt, he pulled away.
“We need to leave.”
Just like that, the moment was gone, and just like that, Tat was forgotten. The MC world had no room for screw-ups or mourning, and if I was going to allow myself to fully fall for this man, I needed to learn that now.
***
“Who are we meeting up with?” I walked through the door he held open for me.
“Mike.”
I grinned with delight. I liked Mike and was curious why I was brought along for the ride.
“Really?”
“Don’t be too excited,” he grunted, but I saw the humor in his smile.
Trigger’s playful moods didn’t happen often, so when they did, I relished them.
“Can’t blame me. He has all the goods on the books…” I trailed off when I caught sight of a table full of beautiful people. “Oh, my sweet non-fictional heaven, what have you done?”
There sat the cast of the Broken trilogy. I knew because I Googled the shit out of them when I finished the first book.
Savannah was dressed in a pair of blue jeans and an oversized sweater. She wrapped me in her arms. “It is such a pleasure to meet you, Tess!” She smelled like heaven in a jar. “I’m Savannah, but please call me Savi.”
All I could do was freak the fuck out inside while I played it cool on the outside.
“Please, the pleasure is all mine.”
Her smile made me blush. She had a whimsical way of moving that reminded me of a ballet dancer. She had such grace and poise.
Then there was me.
Trigger and Mike stepped off to the side to speak while Savi introduced me to everyone else.
Mark was cute as hell. He was clearly a boy in men’s clothes. Keith was the silent, broody type, and then there was Cole. Holy hell, there were no words to describe that kind of sexy. Not entirely my type, but I sure wouldn’t kick him out of bed for any reason, ever.
Savannah handed me a glass of champagne when the waiter returned. I raised an eyebrow and wondered how she knew what I liked.
“Trigger filled us in.”
“That so?” I laughed softly. “What else did he say?”
“Actually, a lot,” Mark said with a wink. “Like how he wanted us to meet you for your birthday.”
“What?”
Shit just got interesting.
“Yup, but something happened, and our last trip got canceled. So, when Mike said he was coming here for a meeting, we all tagged along.”
“Wait.” I flipped my hair out of my face, more to cool off my warm cheeks than anything. “Trigger planned for you all to meet me for my birthday?”
“That’s right.” Mike flashed me a killer smile. “First time I have ever heard him speak about a girl.”
“Hmm.” I tried to hide my smile, but Savi mirrored my mood.
“Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?”
I tapped my glass to hers. “Kind of does.”
I loved how Cole found some way to touch Savannah, or how he watched her tell a story. He was obviously captivated by her. Part of me was envious of how he didn’t mind showing his affection for Savannah in public. His finger twisted a lock of her hair, which made her lean in and press her cheek to his chest. They were beautiful together.
They grilled me about Trigger. It was odd to think they were interested in us when I had a thousand and one questions to ask about them, but I went along with it. Truth be told, I rather liked it. I felt like I was in a normal relationship, or something like it, anyway.
Keith caught my attention though. He kept glancing at his phone, and his mood seemed edgy. Finally, Cole picked up on it, or maybe he was just as curious as I was.
“Everything—” Cole started when Keith answered his phone.
We all went quiet when he spoke, obviously agitated. “No, you can’t do that,” he said then paused to listen. “I will not bail you out again!” He paused. “No, no way. I won’t do it. I told you that the last time.”
Mark tried to hold back his smirk. I guessed he knew who was on the other end of the line.
Keith leaned forward and tried to muffle his voice. “The boy is twenty-two. You cannot pinch his ass in the checkout line! I will not be a part of this—” He stopped mid-sentence. “No! I will not.” He stopped again. “Dammit, Nan! Fine, but I’m callin’ Mom.” His eyes widened. “Watch me.”
“He won’t.” Mark shook his head.
“Find your own way to bingo.”
“Such a lie.” Mark sighed, and I tried not to laugh while Savi pressed her lips together to hide her smile.
Just when I thought Keith was going to hang up, he lowered his voice. “See you Thursday.”
“For bingo.” Mark leaned out of the way of Keith’s swat. “Nan puts a seventeen-year-old boy on prom night to shame.”
“Not gonna lie, I kinda want to meet the woman.” I made the table laugh, Keith included.
Trigger glanced over at me from the bar. He didn’t smile, but he held my gaze. My lungs contracted and trapped the air, and I felt a rush of lust hit the center of my belly.
“I know that look,” Mark stole my attention, “and I don’t mean yours.”
Savi beamed at me. “So, we have something for you.”
“Me?” I shook off my moment with Trigger and sat a little straighter, intrigued by what was in the silver box in front of her.
She slid it over. I pulled on the ribbon and opened the top. There sat a paperback with the whole Broken trilogy.
“The author signed it, and we all did too.” She laughed.
Holy…
“You did this for me?”
“Not entirely.” Cole nodded at Trigger. “It was his idea too.”
I gently pulled the cover back and flipped the pages in disbelief. “Can I ask some questions?”
“Of course.” Savannah pulled her hair to one side and leaned in like she was ready to go.
Where to begin…?
“Keith.” He broke out in a smile. I guessed he didn’t think I would start with him. “I haven’t gotten to your book yet, but I have to know. Why did you leave Shadows?”
“It wasn’t easy.” He glanced at Cole, who gave a slight nod. I assumed it was his way of asking how much he could talk about. “At first, it was so I could be closer to my family and to keep Lexi close.”
“But now?”
“All I can say is Mike and I are getting things set up the way we want them, and it takes a while to get a house to run smoothly. Will we stay there forever? Probably not.”
Mark broke out in a boyish grin. “They’re training some guys to run the house. Only a matter of time.”
“Really?” I liked that idea. “I mean, I get it. You can’t really have a safe house with kids running around.”
“Well, that was the problem at first,” Cole chimed in. “But after they left, the house hasn’t been the same, so Savi came up with the idea of building some homes on the property. We are a family first, and special ops second.”
“Life’s too short to be without the ones you love,” Savannah added with a laugh.
Keith reached over and squeezed her hand. Jesus, they were all such good friends. I had to admit I was a little jealous, but we had our club love, maybe just a little warped and sharp around the edges.
“Okay,” Mike shook them off, “what else you wanna know?”
“Well, I have one for you.” I leaned forward so he could hear me better. “Are you dating anyone?”
Everyone looked at him with smiles.
“Yeah, Mikey.” Mark spat soda out of his mouth. “You datin’ anyone?”
“Nah.” He glance down at his colorful hands. “I’m not exactly the boy you bring home to meet the parents.”
I thought I heard my heart break.
“I disagree.”
“That’s ’cause you’re dating him.” He nodded at Trigger. “You, Tess, are a rare breed, and I appreciate that a lot.”
Warmth spread through me; I understood being an outcast.
“Savi,” I grabbed her attention from Mike, “you play any more paintball?”
Cole’s face dropped but lit up when Savannah smiled at him. “Not that I can openly admit to.”
“Pardon me?”
“Bah!” Mark jammed at Cole’s shoulder. “Great question, Tess!”
“So help me God, Lopez.”
Mark held up his hands in defense, and it gave me an opener for my next topic.
“Okay, okay, one more, and I promise I’m done.” I couldn’t help but smirk. “Is Doc Roberts still dating Abigail?”
“No!” Mark yelled, but the entire table broke out in a loud laughter, and I was thrown a million and one yesses.
***
Trigger
“I don’t know, man. Listening to all this sounds like you got a real shit pile going on.” Mike rubbed his head while he nursed his beer. “Aaron and Doyle been joined at the hip lately. Those two are sure as hell on someone’s payroll.” He tapped the photos he brought of the two cops having coffee. “Clark has some USB drive with a bunch of secret shit on it, you have a mole, Tammy says there’s more to this than you know, and now you’ve agreed to a fight.”
“Yeah.” I nodded slowly.
“You seem unfazed, my friend.”
“Shit’s coming. Just gotta be ready.”
Mike nodded and asked for another drink. “Now that the coke contract is done, what will you do?”
“Between the garage, strip club, and debts owed to me, the club will be fine.”
“If you ever need anything, you know we could use you at the house.”
I smiled at his offer. “Appreciate that, but I think it’s better for me to stay down here and you up there.” I knew he got my reference.
“The offer doesn’t expire.”
“Good to know. Oh,” I pulled out my phone and brought up a still shot from the club’s outside cameras, “know who this is?”
Mike took it from my hand an examined the image. “No, but if you send it to me, I can look into it.”
“Yeah, okay. He said his name was Zay. Said he knew Tess’s mother, and we both know him from somewhere.” I sent it to his phone.
“I’ll see what I can dig up.”
I offered my hand—not something I did. He blinked before he took it. Mike had been a loyal friend to me for years and had helped me out even when he shouldn’t have.
“Can I ask you something?”
I glanced over at Tess, her face lit up with excitement as she talked with her book friends, and nodded.
“Does your sixty-some-year-old father really want to fight you publicly?”
“Apparently.”
“You don’t think he’s planning on bringing anyone else in?”
“Despite his huge ego, I’m sure there’s someone or something else coming.”
“Why not grab him right before?”
“My father is all about the attention, the performance, and the win. To bring him to his knees and prove I’m better is the victory I want. Whether it’s with him or some jacked-up asshole he brings in.”
“Then what?”
I allowed myself a moment to relish the darkness inside, my mood shifted, and I felt the old urge to hurt him fill me. “Then I kill him.”
“What about everyone else?”
“My father has something on Doyle. He made that clear at the station. I just need to know what it is, so I can swing the power to my side. As for Detective Aaron, he was working for Clark to get Tess back. They have something on me, but I’m working on that.”
“Any idea what it is?”
“Yeah, I might. You remember when that strip joint Billy owned went up in flames a few years back? There was a huge explosion, and they lost millions in their meth lab.”
Mike thought for a moment. “Ah, yeah, bunch of guys were killed when it exploded, but quite a few more were trapped down below. Burned to death or something? Santa Barbara?”
“Yeah, well, I was in town that week for something else. A friend asked me to pay Billy a visit to discuss something. Things went south, but I left before anything went down. Billy was a piece of shit and not worth my time. I just did it for a favor.”
“Any witnesses?”
“Just one, but she went MIA, and no one else would talk. It was ruled an accident, but my guess would be they have photos of me that day.”
“Shit, seriously?”
“Look,” I leaned in closer, “we both know I don’t kill sloppy. When I do, I do it right. I walked into that one. Bad timing.”
“You trust that friend who asked you for the favor?”
For a split second, I hesitated, but shook off the feeling. “I do. But it’s no secret many people want to see me dead. If the info was brought to the cops and put the right way, it could look bad.”
Mike dropped his head and squeezed his eyes shut and sighed.
“And Doyle? Any ideas what he has on him?”
“Doyle is a power trippin’ little asshole who hides behind his badge. He’s just lookin’ to make my life shit. He’s the least of my problems.”
Mike grabbed some peanuts from the bowl on the bar and peered over at me.
“Say it.”
He half smiled. “And for the elephant in the room? You think she’s safe?”
“Nope.”
“Your father knows how you feel about her. You don’t keep women around, and you’ve never done something like this.” He full-out smiled and waved at his friends.
I ran my hand down my beard and wished she’d never come to the church that day. Maybe the devil wouldn’t have seen my fear.
“She can always come back with us, you know.”
“I’ve thought about that.”
“Where can I go?” Tess asked. Shit, the girl moved fast. She shouldn’t be eavesdropping or butting in my conversations. She needed to know her place.
“You don’t listen or interrupt me when I’m in a meeting.” I grew angry fast. “You need to learn your role, dammit, Tess.”
“And what is that, exactly?” Her hands flew to hips, and her eyes shot fire.
“You’re the girl I’m fucking. Not an old lady or—” I stopped myself when I heard my own words echo back at me. Fuck my father. My own temper was going to kill me.
“Well, the girl you’re just fucking,” her eyes seemed to change, “wants to thank you for your thoughtful gift.”
I took a moment to calm myself. I knew I needed to back off here, but the grin on Mike’s face pissed me off.
“Mike,” I controlled the urge to punch something, “offered his safe house for you until this shit with my father ends.”
Tess’s face softened, and her posture relaxed. She smiled sweetly over at Mike. He was enjoying this way too much.
“I deeply appreciate the offer, Mike, more than you know, but for now, I’m fine at the club.”
“Not your choice to make, sweetheart.” I ground my teeth.
Her eyes flickered over to mine. “Funny how I just made it, honey.”
“Tess,” I warned.
“Trigger.” She matched my tone.
Mike snorted a laugh as she walked back to the table. “You’re fucked, Trig!”
We ordered another round and joined the others at the table. Tess was in the middle of a story Mark found hysterically funny. Cole had his arm around Savannah, and they both laughed, engulfed in her story as well. I felt Mike’s eyes on me and squinted at him, wondering what the hell he was thinking.
Once Tess was finished, she looked back at me and smiled. Her eyes raked across my face.
“Tess,” Mike called, “can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“There’s something to your story at the church that confused me.”
Tess stood straight. I knew it wasn’t a topic she liked to talk about.
She cleared her throat. “Okay.”
“You got to the church by hiding in the ammo truck, right?”
“Yes.”
Mike nodded. “You slipped out and raced into the church, where you found Trigger and Allen talking?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But then you went to the bus station.”
She shook her head. “No, I went to the trailer to grab my stuff, and then went to the bus station.”
“But how did you get there?”
Her slim fingers skimmed down the long stem of the champagne glass as she considered her answer. “When I raced down the driveway, I ran into Tristan. He freaked out that I was there and took me back to the trailer.”
“Really?” First I’d heard about this.
She nodded at me before she turned back to Mike. “I grabbed all my stuff, and when I went to find Gus, Big Joe said he’d give me a lift.”
The table went quiet, and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.
“Wonder why that was never shared?” Mike glanced at me.
“That’s Joe for you. He’s loyal where loyalty needs to be. He did nothing wrong,” Tess said. “He wanted to stop me, but I told him I was leaving with either his help or with Loose.” She peeked at me over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Trigger, but I played dirty, and even he said you’d kill him if he took me. I promised I’d never tell, but to get me out of there.”
My mouth went dry. Big Joe had always been loyal, but I knew he did bend the rules at times. I knew the club always came first with him, but the fact that he knew where she was when I was flipping out fucking bothered me. I wasn’t done with him.
“If you’re going to be mad at someone, it should be me. He saw the situation for what it was and did what he thought you’d want him to do.”
“Well,” Savannah broke the tension, “I don’t know about you guys, but I could use some food.”
“Music to my ears.” Mark snatched up the menu and started to prattle off the appetizers.
Tess leaned back in her chair and looked up at me. I knew she was worried, and in a way, it showed me how much she had protected my club by protecting one of the family.
“I’m sorry.”
“He should’ve told me.”
Her eyes closed, and I saw how much it bothered her. Without thinking, I rested my heavy hand on hers. She glanced down at the contact and slowly laced her fingers through mine. I tensed but didn’t pull away.
I tuned back to Mark speaking with the waiter. “Mozza sticks—no, wait—sweet potato fries. No, you know what? Just bring one of everything.”
“Watch your fingers when you place it in front of him,” Keith joked. “He has sharp teeth.”
“I have a healthy appetite.” Mark shrugged. “Don’t project your negativity on me just because I can eat whatever I want and look this fabulous.”
Keith stuck a finger in his face. “What did I tell you about using the word ‘fabulous’ outside the house?”
Jesus Christ, you’d think they were married.
“Yeah,” Cole laughed, “I really need to second that shit.”
Mark rolled his eyes but rubbed his stomach when the plates arrived.
Tess appeared right at home with everyone, and she and Savannah seemed to like each other. They were all good guys, and I could understand why Mike fit in. He was lot more outgoing than I would ever be. My bike and bar were my comfort zone. I liked space and didn’t have much to say in a group. Never did.
The girls went to the bathroom, and Keith and Mike were talking. I finally relaxed and got out my phone.