“Oh, my God.” Andi pulled me into her arms and hugged me with everything she had. I reciprocated, feeling the love this woman had for me. I hoped she could feel mine, too.
I had just finished telling her all the sordid details that Lynx had shared with me the day before. At first, I didn’t know if I was going to tell her or not, but deep down, I knew I needed to. Andi had been my sunshine for so long, still was, and I couldn’t begrudge her the information. Also, it felt good talking to someone other than Lynx about it. Lynx was great—don’t get me wrong—but sometimes, talking to your best friend was needed.
“I hurt for him,” I told her shoulder as she pulled away, eyeing me carefully, no doubt looking to see if I was going under again. I couldn’t blame her. There was always that possibility. However, I felt more confidence in myself that I could take the information and deal as best I could.
She said softly, “I know. It’s written all over your face.”
I gave her a soft smirk. She knew me, just like Lynx. I liked that a lot.
“I feel like there wasn’t any justice for Drew, and it eats me up that no one except me will remember him.”
Andi pulled me to the couch in her apartment, sitting next to me so we were facing each other.
“His brother knows nothing about him. I think I should tell him about Drew, but then I think why do that when it would cause Devin pain? What kind of person would I be to go into his life and disrupt it like that?”
“Oh, honey.” As she gripped both my hands, I could feel her comfort and love deep in my soul. “What does Lynx think about that?”
Shock hit me momentarily at her question. She hadn’t asked much about Lynx, and I had never pushed for fear of hurting her or her feelings for me. I knew they were there, and I held them with white gloves. She meant too much for me to let her down.
“He says it’s my decision.” At that, I smiled and shrugged. “He said that if I wanted to tell Devin, he’d go with me, but if I wanted to keep it to myself, that was my choice. Part of me feels like I should tell him about his brother and what an amazing guy he was, but then the other part says just keep it locked down so the loop of hurt stops with me.”
“I’m behind you whatever you decide,” she told me.
I had to ask, “What would you do?”
She sucked in a breath and thought a moment before she spoke. “I’m not you, so whatever I say here isn’t going to be a right way or a wrong way. You know you have a choice here. You need to ask yourself this: Can you live with yourself not telling his twin? Can you live with letting Drew only live inside of you? If you answer yes, then you keep it to yourself. If you answer no, then you tell Devin.”
I thought about her questions. They were logical and precise, everything I had expected from Andi.
“I need some time to think, but your questions are good. I just don’t have the answers right now. It’s all too fresh. I need to let it soak in.”
Confliction rolled through me as images of the Drew I knew scattered in my head. I felt my lip tip up at the recollections of him. He was a good guy, the best.
She gave my hands a soft, reassuring squeeze. “All right, I have to make brownies for my parents’ house tomorrow. Family dinner.” She rolled her eyes, and I laughed.
Andi loved going to family dinners and sometimes took me with her. She always made the best brownies. Not to mention, I loved how she turned the subject around, letting me release all the buildup.
I quirked a brow. “Do you want me to help you?”
She full-out laughed. “Nope, just come and talk to me while I cook.”
It was my turn to laugh. “Now that, I can do.”
The afternoon was spent making brownies and talking to my best friend. It was comforting, and Andi did it all naturally.
***
The bar was busy, which was good. It gave me little time to think about anything except filling orders and cashing people out. It was a nice change of pace from all the heavy, emotional stuff over the last couple of days.
As I locked down the bar and finished with cleaning, my cell buzzed in my back pocket. I looked at the display, reading Lynx Calling. I answered immediately with a goofy smile on my face.
“Hey.”
“Hey, babe. I’m outside.”
“Be right out.”
I hollered good-bye to the other bartender and a couple of the waitresses who were flipping the chairs up on the tables and went out to Lynx.
Walking out into the cool night air, I loved the feeling of it on my face. It gave me the same sensation I felt when Lynx pushed me on the swing: freedom.
Lynx stood next to his truck, his arms crossed, as handsome as ever. I had never believed in good things happening, especially to a person like me, but he was my happy, and I took him gratefully.
I walked right into his arms, hugging him as he kissed the top of my hair then my temple. I loved when he did that.
“Have a good night?”
“Yeah, tips were good, so that’s a bonus. I’ll have enough soon for a place.”
Lynx’s arm tightened, and I looked up. “What?”
“Babe, you have a place.”
I scrunched my brows in confusion. “I live with Andi,” I reminded him.
“And whose bed do you sleep in at night?” The duh light bulb went off.
“With you.”
He kissed my lips softly. “Yeah, with me. So, when you’re ready, which babe, needs to be soon”—he smiled that sexy smile and I melted—“we’ll move all your shit to the house.”
“Are you asking me to move in with you?”
His hands came to cup my cheeks as he pulled me in closely to him. “There’s nothing I want more, babe. I fucking love waking up to you every morning and falling asleep next to you. This shit is real, Reign.” He said no more, because his lips were on mine in a ferocious kiss.
Yes, definitely. This shit was real.
***
“Babe, come in here,” Lynx called from his office.
I was in the kitchen, doing the dishes from lunch. I dried my hands off and went to him, finding him sitting at his desk, his brow knit and anger written on his face. My stomach dropped. He looked up and schooled his features, but I was already on alert.
“I want you to take a look at this.”
Slowly, I walked around his desk. Sensing my unease, he pulled me into his lap.
“It’s okay, Reign. I just want you to see this.”
I nodded and looked at the computer monitor.
On it was me working behind the bar, and on the barstool was Trey.
“Surveillance video of the bar.” He pointed to Trey. “Is that the guy?”
Anger rippled through me like a storm in the ocean. “Yeah.”
Lynx’s body went taut. “Fuck.”
My hands began to sweat, and my heart was beating a mile a minute at Lynx’s tone.
“What’s going on?”
“That’s Trey Simmons. He’s a fucking idiot.” Well, I already knew that part. “No, seriously. He thinks he’s more than what he really is, which is a very low-level thug.”
“But, in the bar, everyone said he was the guy who knew everything,” I retorted.
Lynx’s eyes met mine. “That’s what he wants everyone to think.”
“But why would he make up some elaborate story about going to the hospital and then finding Devin? He obviously knew something.”
“True, and I’m going to figure out what.” He tapped my leg. “Up ya go. I need to go hunting.”
I didn’t move. “Hunting?”
“I’m going to hunt Trey down.”
I swallowed. “Don’t get into trouble.”
“Babe, the only one who’s got trouble is him.” He stood and placed me on my feet.
“I want to come with you.”
“No,” he replied, and that lit the fire inside me.
He wasn’t doing this on his own.
“No? This is my life, Lynx. I deserve to know the whys.”
He brushed a stray hair behind my ear. “Yeah, babe, you do. I’ll find him, and then you can talk to him.”
I cooled. “Okay, but be careful.”
He kissed my lips. “Always. I have a beautiful woman to come home to.” Pepper barked. “And a dog.”
My insides turned to goo. I went up on my tiptoes and kissed him hard and deeply, letting him know how much everything he had done meant to me.
The words I wanted to say got lodged in my throat as he pulled away, gave me a slight peck, and was gone.
I realized quickly that I was not a patient, wait-for-Lynx-to-go-do-crazy-shit type of woman. As the seconds turned into minutes and the minutes turned into hours, I cleaned every surface I could find in the house. I even cleaned around the toilet with an old toothbrush. After vacuuming and sweeping every floor, I had nothing left to clean. Nothing. Lynx had been gone for hours, and I became restless without the cleaning to take my mind off of it. What was worse, I didn’t have a shift that night at the bar.
The thing that struck me most was me and the door. I had spent so many years checking, rechecking, and triple-checking to make sure my door in the apartment was locked, that I was secured within the confines. While there in Lynx’s space, the urge to go to the door and make sure it was locked didn’t arise within me. For the first time in my life, I felt safe, and I felt it with Lynx. Even though he wasn’t there, I still had a sense of safety, something I had never had in my life. Just the thought had me smiling.
Finally, I thought I would try a movie to get my mind off of everything and calm down. I put in the Fast and Furious. I freaking loved Vin Diesel, and the action of the movie kept my attention, but Lynx was always right there in my mind.
I lay on the couch, and somewhere between one of the car chases, I fell fast asleep.
I woke to my phone ringing on the coffee table. The room was only lit by the blue screen, the TV having gone into sleep mode after the movie was over.
The display said Lynx Calling, so I flipped it open.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, babe. I’m on my way to get you. Be ready to roll in five.”
Wait … what?
“Where are we going?”
“We have someone to talk to. Five minutes, Reign. Love you.” Disconnect.
Shit!
I raced through the house, throwing off my cleaning clothes and putting on some jeans and a hoodie along with my tennis shoes. Headlights peered through the curtains, and I looked out the front door window to see Lynx. I locked the door behind me and raced to him.
He hopped out of the truck and met me on my side, stopping me from opening the door.
“Trey is in the back of the cab. He’s taped up and can’t move or talk.”
Shock wasn’t even the word I felt. It was an all-consuming, holy-shit moment.
“You need to be cool with this, Reign. I found out today that asshole in there pissed off some pretty important people. We’re gonna chat with him and hand him off to those people.”
My eyes widened. “Are they going to kill him?”
“Babe, that’s not our problem. He’ll be alive when we give him over; that’s all you need to know. Everything else will be neither of our concerns.” His face was so straight, hard, unyielding. This was a side of Lynx I didn’t see every day, the one that was trained to fight and kill. Maybe I should have been scared of him like this, but I couldn’t make myself. I felt safe with him. He would never hurt me or let anyone else do so.
“I get it.” I did. Trey had made his bed. All I wanted were answers to why he had done what he did. What happened after that wasn’t on my shoulders. I learned from Wrestler McMann that everyone had their own problems, demons, and I only had to battle mine. I couldn’t take on theirs, especially when I was working so hard on mine.
Lynx softened a bit and leaned down to kiss me. Then he opened the truck door, and I jumped in.
He wasn’t kidding about Trey being taped up. His hands were bound with silver duct tape behind his back, and his knees were bent up and taped together around his ankles with a piece of tape over his lips. He also had a pretty nice shiner on his right eye.
“Hi, Trey,” I said calmly, though on the inside, I was scared as hell for so many reasons I couldn’t count them all.
He mumbled something unrecognizable before I turned in my seat and buckled my belt.
We drove for hours on the pitch dark back roads. I didn’t ask where Lynx was taking us. I trusted him and didn’t think letting Trey hear anything he wasn’t supposed to would bode well for us.
As we pulled up to a shack of a house, I instantly had a chill race up my spine. It looked like one of those places they made horror films out of. The paint was worn and falling off, the dangling shutters hung by maybe a nail or screw, and the roof looked partially caved in. There was no way anyone lived there.
When Lynx put the truck in park, the unease coursed through my veins. I almost felt like I was on one of those crime scene shows and a bunch of cameras would jump out at me at any time.
“No one’s in there. It’ll just be the three of us,” Lynx said, resting his hand on my thigh, obviously sensing my nerves going aflame.
Giving him a soft smirk, I placed my hand on top of his, giving it a squeeze. “What do we do?”
I might have lived on the streets for a year and done some questionable things, but taking a man covered in duct tape into a scary as hell house was something I had never done, especially when I just wanted to ask him questions and find out why. Nevertheless, I trusted Lynx, so whatever was about to go down, I would follow his lead, wherever that might go.
“First, get out of the truck.”
I giggled and immediately wiped my features clean. I should not be laughing at a time like this, but Lynx had a way of making me feel at ease during anything, even this.
“Right.” I opened the door and jumped down, the chill from the night making my skin prickle.
Lynx came around the truck and opened the door to the back where Trey was, grabbing him by the ankle and pulling him out. Trey plummeted to the ground and cried out from the fall. His eyes were locked on Lynx’s angry ones.
Trey began shaking his head back and forth, mumbling something through the tape. Lynx gave Trey a kick to the side, and I jumped. This was definitely not the Lynx I knew. This was darker, sinister, demanding, and it probably made me a sicko, but seeing him so strong over Trey was a huge turn on.
“Gotta carry the fucker,” Lynx said, picking Trey up around the waist and walking to the door. “Babe?” he called out.
I hightailed it to the door.
“It’s open.”
I turned the handle, and the door creaked open as if it hadn’t been opened in hundreds of years. I searched the wall for a switch as Lynx brushed by me. A loud thud then sounded right before Trey’s groans.
Locating the switch, I flipped it. Nothing. I tried again. Nothing. We were lucky the moonlight was flowing in, lighting up the room in a soft glow. Still, I wanted lights. I wanted to see what was going on. I didn’t like the unknown.
“Babe.”
I looked to Lynx.
“Over there.” He pointed to a rotted old chest that had a lantern sitting on the top. “Here,” he called out before tossing me a box of matches. Luckily, my reflexes were pretty good, and I caught them with ease.
I lit the match and then touched it to the wick, bringing the lantern to life. The space was something I would have stayed in when I was living on the streets. The plastered walls were falling down, and the hardwood floors looked so tattered I was glad to have shoes on. I inhaled the smell of mold or mildew. It must have been coming from the only sitting spot in the room, a dirty, stained couch. It was funny, because back in the day, I would have loved to have something as dirty as a couch to lie on instead of crawling under the viaduct to sleep. It was strange how life changed.
“All right,” Lynx said, tearing off the tape from Trey’s mouth as he continued to lie on the floor.
A yelp of pain streamed from his lips at the yank. Lynx then kicked his taped up legs, only for Trey to let out another sound.
I stood back, taking it all in and trusting Lynx.
“What the fuck, man?” Trey barked out with more balls than I thought he should have considering the menacing, murderous look on Lynx’s face. Most men would cower in a corner. Hell, if I didn’t know Lynx, I would.
Anger pulsed from every angle of Lynx’s body, and his jaw ticked before he said, “The fuck is, you told Reign here shit that wasn’t true. That shit caused problems. Now you’re gonna tell us why the fuck you lead her to Devin.”
My heart clenched at the mention of Devin, but I didn’t let it show. I wanted answers. I deserved them.
“Fuck off. Do you know who I work for?” Trey antagonized Lynx, which I thought was a really, really bad move.
Two kicks to the gut had my hands instantly coming around my stomach, like that would protect me from the blows, as if they were really happening to me.
“I know exactly who the fuck you work for, asshole. Unlike you, I get my information right the first time.” Lynx picked Trey up by the arm and threw him to the couch. It was amazing the strength Lynx had. “Also unlike you, I talk to people. I know a lot.” Lynx’s eyes glared into Trey’s.
I wondered who this man worked for and if we were going to be in trouble because of it. I knew how the streets worked, and blowback occurred all the time. I didn’t want that for Lynx and me. I wanted to know why Trey had done what he did, but not at the cost of us getting in trouble from big players.
“Fuck off,” Trey repeated before Lynx slapped him across the mouth. Trey spat blood out onto the floor. “He’s going to take you out, motherfucker,” he chided.
“Oh, yeah? Okay, then tell us the information, and we’ll all get out of here.” Lynx surprised me by changing tactics as quick as a shark.
“Why?”
I stepped in, finally finding my voice. “Because I want to know why you would tell me about Devin when I asked you about Drew.”
Trey’s eyes swept up and down my jean and hoodie covered body. “It’s a shame you cover that tight ass up.”
The punch to Trey’s jaw was a surprise to both me and him.
Trey spit on the floor and moved his jaw from side to side. “Motherfucker, once I’m untied, you are fucking done,” he threatened, but Lynx ignored him.
“Tell me!” I yelled a bit more loudly than needed, but the tension between the two men was reaching epic proportions, and I needed it to be done.
Trey’s lip curled in a way that made my skin crawl. “Babe, why do you think I come into that fucking bar?”
I shrugged.
“To look at that sweet ass and those amazing tits.”
Lynx went to punch him, but I called out, “Wait,” and Lynx held back. “Continue.”
Trey chuckled. “I knew that pussy had to be good. You’ve got this one whipped with it.”
There was no stopping Lynx this time as every muscle in his body tightened to the point he looked as if he were going to explode. He laid into Trey, kicking and punching while Trey heaved for breath.
Lynx grabbed Trey by the throat, squeezing hard, and Trey’s face began to turn purple. He said nothing, so Lynx let Trey go with a gasp of air.
“Fuck,” Trey choked out, his voice raspy.
“So you wanted a piece of me.” I cut through the fog, trying to get to the damn point.
“Fuck, yeah. Every motherfucker in that bar does. Except, you don’t give it out. When you came to me, I saw an opportunity. I searched for the Drew kid and found the brother. He looked just like the picture you showed me, so I used it to my advantage.”
My stomach plummeted. “To your advantage?”
“Sure, you go to Devin, thinking he’s Drew; he rejects you; and I’m there to pick up the pieces. Easy.” Even with blood dripping from his face, he didn’t seem afraid.
Rage burned through my veins like molten lava. I clenched my fingers and swore there was static in my ears. “You mean to tell me, you gave me that load of shit so you could fuck me!” I charged him, getting a few good licks in before Lynx grabbed me around my stomach and held me back. “Let me go!” I demanded, still kicking and screaming. I was sick and tired of people thinking they could use me for sex. I wasn’t a fucking toy.
A red haze filmed over my eyes. I wanted to annihilate Trey, let him feel what it was like to be used. My kicks and thrashings became more forceful as I allowed the anger to take me over.
“Babe.” Lynx’s lips came to my temple. I felt his soft touch, and it somehow penetrated through the haze, settling me as he set my feet on the ground, my breaths still coming in hard pants.
I wanted to claw Trey’s eyes out. He had no idea what his shit had started, and only so he could fuck me! And I was the one who had been in the hospital? He should have been there. He was so fucking delusional.
“I would have never fucked a limped dick piece of shit like you!” I yelled at him.
He brushed his face against his shirt, smearing the blood from his cut lip. “Kitten has claws.” He chuckled. Yes, chuckled.
My body went taut, and I again tried to get out of Lynx’s grasp, but he didn’t allow it.
“Babe, let’s get this shit done,” Lynx told me in my ear.
I knew he was right. I wanted this over with. The past couldn’t be changed, but the future could.
I nodded, stopping the fight.
“You would have fucked me, because that would have been my marker. You’d have had to. If not, I’d have taken it from you.”
It was Lynx turn to stiffen at my back. Everything at that point happened so damn fast it made my head spin. One moment, Lynx was behind me, and the next, he was on Trey, beating the ever-loving shit out of him. Trey was trying to shield his face, but not doing a very good job.
The rumble of a motorcycle came from outside.
Shit, someone was there. Who the hell could be there? Were these the ones coming to get Trey?
I rushed over to Lynx. “Lynx,” I said calmly to get his attention yet didn’t get anywhere. I screamed his name, breaking through whatever fog he had been under as he pummeled Trey who was bleeding out of multiple cuts and starting to bruise. “Someone’s here.”
He stopped and listened then moved away from Trey.
“Calvary’s here.” Mystery seeped from his words.
As the motorcycle noise got closer, I noted it wasn’t just one but several. Lynx was so calm with this, while I was sucking it up, feeling my body begin to tremble. Lynx wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He wasn’t even heaving breaths from hitting the hell out of Trey. Wow.
“What’s going on?” Trey’s words came out muffled because of the blows to his jaw.
Lynx gave me a squeeze. “Well, asshole, it seems you fucked with the wrong people who, in exchange for things being settled with your boss, get you.”
The hair on the back of my neck stood, and my imagination ran wild with what they were going to do to Trey. I shouldn’t care—he was an asshole—but I couldn’t help myself.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Trey asked.
“The Ravage MC. You fucked with them, and now they get to fuck with you.”
I watched as every drop of color leaked from Trey’s face, and his mouth snapped shut. It made me think these guys weren’t good guys.
“You see, they get a clean slate with your boss, and you get six feet under after they do whatever it is they do to ya.”
“Fuck,” Trey bit out. “Man, don’t give me to them,” he pled.
“Too late.” Lynx paused. “Besides, you pretty much said you were going to rape my girl, and on top of that, all the shit you’ve put her through already; so I’d never let you live to see another day. If it weren’t them, it would be me. After we hand you off, we are washed clean of your filth.” That sounded good—not the never let you live part, but the being clean of him. I wanted that.
The motorcycles sounded like they were right outside the door as Lynx pulled me with him to the front door. The bikes stopped and the lights went out.
Six. There were six of them, each swinging their legs over their bikes and taking their helmets off.
As they walked up, my heart seized. They were big and didn’t hide the guns attached to their bodies. The one who led the pack had salt and pepper hair slicked back and a very long beard of the same color. He oozed power and confidence. Hell, they all did, just like Lynx.
“Pops.” Lynx held out his hand as the man walked up and shook it firmly.
“Lynx,” he said, looking around the space and taking everything in. He was thinking so much I could almost see the wheels turning in his head. His eyes came to me. “Hey.” He lifted his chin then looked at Lynx. “Your girl?”
Lynx smiled. “Hell, yeah.”
“Damn, all the pretty ones are already taken.” Pops’ lip tipped up. The joking camaraderie helped with my nerves, but then his eyes swung to the couch. “There’s that piece of shit.” Pops walked farther into the room as the other guys started piling in.
One with long, blond hair braided down his back, wearing a red, white, and blue bandana, scanned me, taking in every curve. “Damn, sweetheart.”
A flutter went in my belly, not at him calling me that, just at having the male attention. I had stayed clear of it for so long I wasn’t used to it.
A beefy hand came down on the man’s shoulder, and when the man stepped into the light, I gasped. This one … He was mean, mean to the core. Looking at him, the hair on my arms stood to attention while a prickle came up my spine.
“Dagger, leave the girl alone.”
“Come on, Rhys, I’m not fucking dead.”
In walked a man with brownish-blond hair to his shoulders and a beard trimmed short to his face. “Nah, not dead, but if you chase any tail, Mearna will string you up by your balls.”
The bandana man, Dagger, laughed. “Still getting used to that shit, brother.” He shook his head, moving farther into the room.
Next came two men who were exactly identical. No shit. Same blond hair, cut exactly the same; same eyes; same sculpted facial features; same black shirt, jeans, and a leather vest thing. They were mirror images of each other. I couldn’t help staring.
“Lynx,” one said, lifting up his chin.
“Buzz.” Lynx nodded. “Breaker.”
“Long time, man.” They all three shook hands.
“Yeah.” Lynx was quiet for a moment, like he was lost in another time. “Shit’s been crazy.”
“You been doing okay?” the man named Buzz—what kind of a name was that?—asked.
Lynx gave me a squeeze. “Better than I’ve been in a long-ass time.”
“Good, brother.”
Breaker didn’t say anything, just lifted his chin and then was gone.
Broad shoulders came to the door, and I had to look up. Sapphire eyes stared back at me. Even with the lack of light, his eyes glittered. His light, caramel hair looked as if he’d run his fingers through it many, many times, and he, too, had a beard cut short. Maybe it was a prerequisite—must have beard to be in bike club—or something.
“Cruz,” Lynx greeted.
“Lynx, you’ve got some of our trash, I hear.”
“Yep, we’re done with him.”
Cruz’s face lit up in a wicked grin that put me on edge. “Play time.” He clapped his hands together with a loud smack before walking toward the other men.
Lynx asked, “Pops, we good here?”
Pops turned slightly. “Fucking great. We’ve got this.” He then turned around in what felt like a dismissal.
“Come on, babe.” Lynx pulled me from the house and into the truck.
I didn’t look back. I didn’t want to know what those guys were going to do to Trey.
I hoped I never crossed paths with them when they were pissed at me.
***
“What’s wrong?”
I had thought Lynx was asleep, so I was being quiet not to disturb him, but I was wrong.
“Just can’t sleep.” I hadn’t been sleeping well since our talk with Trey, and that had been four nights before. It wasn’t Drew who haunted my thoughts anymore. No, it was Trey, and that scared the shit out of me.
“Babe, what did we talk about? No lies. Talk.”
I sighed deeply. “I keep having dreams of Trey coming to claim his marker.”
Lynx stilled. I could almost hear his teeth grinding in the back of his mouth. “I swear to you that motherfucker will never touch you. Ever.”
I believed him, but that didn’t stop my mind from conjuring up different scenarios in my head. It was creepy as hell.
“I know.”
“Nah, babe. He’s gone. A memory. What he did fucking pisses me off, but it’s done. We know why now; we have our answers. Now we move on.”
I burrowed deeper into his warmth, loving the way his hot body made me so warm.
“Yeah,” I breathed out, snuggling into him.