Chapter Twenty-Three

Cross

What the fuck?

I’d left the clubhouse and headed straight to Moon’s house even though Max and Golden Boy, plus their wives, had assured me that she wasn’t at home. She wasn’t but maybe she had been. Sometime between Max leaving and my arrival, someone had been here. I found the door kicked open. And more, they were looking for something.

Moon’s house was never disorganized. Sure there were always signs of life such as Beau’s backpack hanging on the back of a dining chair they never used or one of Moon’s many colorful scarves draped over whatever piece of furniture was nearest. Now her place was a fucking mess. Ransacked was the only word to describe it. Desk drawers were pulled out and papers were dumped everywhere. The brightly colored loveseat had slashes on each cushion, a clear sign that someone was looking for something. Guilt bubbled in my gut at what this mess could possibly mean.

It had to be Roadkill. I didn’t know how or why, but somehow, they found out about me and Moon. It was the only thing that made sense and it fucking pissed me off. If they had her and Beau, fuck me. If they harmed one hair on their head, I’d make sure none of them lived to regret it. I tried to call Moon for the fourth or fifth time and again it went straight to voicemail.

Goddammit.

Dropping down on the sofa with my head in my hands, I let the feeling of failure settle over me. Again. It was a sick feeling of déjà vu, me leaving my woman to an unknown danger while I handled shit for the Reckless Bastards. Not that I regretted the club, because I didn’t. I’d taken on being President, and I’d carried out that role to the best of my ability. It was my job, my responsibility to keep my club members and their families safe.

And now it looked like Moon was paying the price for it. Maybe even Beau, too. That thought make me sick to my stomach and I knew I had to get the fuck out of there and find them.

Closing the door behind me, I practically ran from Moon’s house and jumped on my bike, racing through every fucking street in Mayhem in search of Moon’s sporty green Subaru. It was nowhere to be found and that only compounded my anger. And my guilt. If I hadn’t been trying to put some distance between us, she would have known she needed to be more careful.

Dammit! Fuck!

Moon was strong-willed and independent, used to dominating her whole world without any input from anyone else. She was one of the strongest women I’d ever met, hell that I’d ever known and now I might have lost her. Her car wasn’t in Mayhem and two hours later I had confirmation she wasn’t in Vegas either, at least her car wasn’t. “Fuuuuuck!”

The phone rang and I tapped the Bluetooth inside my helmet. “Yeah?”

“Cross it’s Jana. Moon just called and said some biker is chasing her. She doesn’t want to go home and she refuses to come here.”

“What? Why?” I knew it was a dick move to pull back without any explanation, but would she rather be in danger than accept my help? That was bullshit.

“Because,” Jana sighed. “She said you have enough to deal with right now.”

Aw, fuck. “Shit. I’m on my way back to the clubhouse. See if you can get her on the phone for me. And Jana?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for letting me know.”

“Of course. I know Max would want to know if it was me.” Her words were cryptic but with her voice bouncing around inside my helmet I could hear the smile in her words.

“He damn well better since you’re his wife and the mother of his kids.” While Moon and I were just having fun. A lot of fun in the sack and if I was being honest, outside of it too.

I continued, “Moon is a really nice woman with a cute kid and I hate that she’s mixed up in this shit because of us.”

“Okaaay. If that’s the lie you’re still telling yourself, sure Cross.” Without waiting for me to respond, which likely would have been with a few choice swear words, Jana ended the call and as soon as I could I turned my bike around, hit the throttle and headed back to the clubhouse. Feeling like an impotent fuck because I couldn’t help Moon.

Jana didn’t know what she was talking about. Moon wasn’t serious about me, she couldn’t be. She had a kid to look after and didn’t need this kind of drama in her life. There may have been a time or two when I looked at her and saw more, but that was my own fucking selfishness. I wanted Moon and the more time I spent with her, the more I wanted her. Wanted to do more than fuck her. Hell, I even enjoyed those weird breathing exercises, if for no other reason than we got to sit close and her sexy, earthy scent managed to dig deep into my brain and take up residence.

Thinking about the woman had conjured her up, or maybe Jana had told her to call me because there she was on my phone.

“Hey Moon, where are you?”

“Uhm, I’m at home,” she said hesitantly.

“Shit. I wish you would have answered your phone. I saw your house. I’ll have some guys take care of it but not tonight. Are you okay?”

“I’m not really sure, Cross. But I need you to come to my house. Please?”

“Is everything all right?” I asked, taking a left at the next light that would take me right back to Moon. Whatever she needed, I’d be there. “Is Beau okay?”

“Cross, I’ll tell you everything when you get here. Drive safely and stay calm.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her maternal tone. No matter how shaken she was by the mess in her house and whoever had been fucking following her, she was always the boss of her world.

And that fucking turned me on more than anything.

“See you soon.” The call ended before I could ask her about who was following her and I went as fast as I could until I pulled up to her house, noting all the lights were on. The door was closed as much as it could be considering it had been kicked in. I reached behind me, pulled my piece from my waistband. and pushed the door open.

“Moon?” I called out, gun at the ready.

“In here,” she called, her voice calm but there was a tremor of unease that had me moving deeper into the house. The first fucking thing I saw was some blond asshole picking up trash and shoving it into a big black trash bag. I curled my finger around the trigger. This wasn’t going to end well.

“Who the fuck are you?” My eyes darted around the room until I saw Moon safe and unharmed. “What’s going on?”

“Calm, remember? And put that thing away in my house.”

I wanted to shake the woman. How in the hell was I supposed to remain calm with some strange asshole in her house?

“I am calm,” I told her and spotted a black leather kutte draped over the arm of the big sofa. I lowered my piece but kept it in my hand. “Now help me stay calm by telling my why you have one of the Sons of Sin inside your house.”

She sighed and stepped between us, one hand on my chest to keep me from killing the mother fucker. “Cross, calm. Beau had a bad attack and he’s upstairs sleeping.”

“Another attack?” I slid my piece back into the waistband of my jeans. If she was calm after all this, I’d be calm as well. “Shit, how is he doing? What did the doctor say?”

Her smile was warm and affectionate, so was the caress of her hand from my chest down to my belt. “Later. This is Cordell, I mean Ripcord. Sorry,” she flashed the man an apologetic grin.

“Yeah, I saw the kutte. Was he the asshole chasing you?”

She nodded but Ripcord spoke up. “I was and it was a misunderstanding.”

“Then make me understand it.” I knew I was coming across as an asshole, but I didn’t give a shit, not now. I would break this mother fucker in two if he’d hurt Moon.

“Boys. Settle down. I have a sleeping son upstairs, so use your inside voices and have a seat.” Moon motioned to the dining room table and smiled at Ripcord. “Thank you for helping clean up the mess.”

I snorted at her sincere gratitude. “Are you that sure he wasn’t the cause of it? Because a lot of this shit doesn’t add up.”

Ripcord sighed. “I did do it, which is why I helped clean up this mess. And Moon has already accepted my apology,” he said defiantly. “I was looking for information on my little sister.”

“Why in the fuck would—” Moon’s hand on my shoulder stopped my tirade cold. She smiled at me and honestly, what the fuck could I do but shut the fuck up and stare at that beautiful smile. Even slightly tousled and rumpled in her yellow outfit that showed off her shoulders and a beautiful hummingbird tattoo, she was a vision.

“After talking with Cordell,” she said and took a seat beside me and dropped a hand on top of mine, “some things have become clear, mainly that you two have a common enemy.”

I glanced at Ripcord and this time without judgment, I could see concern and fear written all over his face. Still, I didn’t know too many of the Sons of Sin members personally, since most of them were from up North, so I would reserve judgment until I did. “Yeah, who?”

“Who else?” she asked with a roll of her eyes. “Roadkill.” Her gaze seared through me, begging me to stay calm and listen. When I nodded my agreement, she stood and went to the head of the table staring at each of us. “Cordell has a sister and she’s been missing for almost a full year, Cross. She’s fifteen.”

“Fuck.” I stared at Ripcord who looked ready to rip someone’s head off.

“Yeah,” Moon sighed and sent a sympathetic look to the angry man across from me. “Cordell spotted her on a website for those in search of companionship from girls of a certain age. The website is run by Roadkill and Cordell thought, mistakenly, that Craig was a friend of mine because he saw him in my shop.”

Ripcord nodded. “And I ransacked her place thinking I could find evidence of this underage bullshit. That’s not some shit they’d keep at the clubhouse.”

I snorted. “Not that you have a chance in hell of getting inside the Roadkill clubhouse.”

“Not yet, anyway. I’m working on it.” He turned to Moon. “I really am sorry about messing up your shit, but I was desperate.”

She waved him off. “You can replace the furniture but right now we need to focus. You both have a common enemy. Maybe a little teamwork is in order?”

I let my shoulders fall in resignation. I didn’t love the idea of bringing more people into the storm that was my life right now but I appreciated—more than she could know—that she thought of me when she heard his story. “Shit.”

“Yeah. What problems are you having with Roadkill?” Ripcord looked at me intently, waiting for me to spill my secrets.

I looked at Moon, who shrugged. “This is your story to tell, not mine.”

“So fucking reasonable,” I grumbled while she laughed easily. With great reluctance, I filled him in on some of the problems with Roadkill and the whole goddamn city. “It’s always something these days with the city, trying to shut down our businesses. And Roadkill, they’re just a fucking pain.”

I told him all about Vigo working with the feds because any MC worth their fucking salt would have rules against snitching. His eyes went wide when I mentioned the political corruption.

“Damn, man. Where’s Vigo now?”

“Dead.” That was all he needed to know.

“Good.” Ripcord gave a short nod of respect, which I returned. I couldn’t blame a man for doing what he had to do to find his kid sister, especially if his story was true.

“Better than good,” Moon said with a loud clap. “I’m happy to have facilitated this meeting but I need you to go so I can scrub this place and keep an eye on my son.”

Both of us stood, feeling bad to have kept her occupied when she clearly had other shit on her mind.

“I’ll take these to the cans.” Ripcord held four bags with an expectant look on his face.

“Side of the house,” I said at the same time Moon did. I turned to Moon with a look of my own. “Busy day?”

She grinned. “You could say that.”

I wanted to ask more but Ripcord’s boots were loud as fuck on the steps and I pulled back. Moon stepped around me so she stood between us, always the damn peacemaker.

“Sorry to scare you. I appreciate you trying to help, for real.” I reached for my piece when he dug into his pocket but it was just a wad of cash. Ripcord pulled off a few bills, at least three grand from what I could tell. “For furniture and cleaning,” he grinned and waved before heading back toward the door.

“Good luck finding your sister, Cordell.”

He froze and sent her a sad smile. “Yeah, thanks.”

“You have somewhere I can get in touch with you?” I still didn’t know if this guy and his MC were full of shit but Moon was right. If Roadkill was their enemy, we had common ground.

“Yeah. SoS Auto Restoration.” With a final nod, he was gone.

Moon sighed as she turned to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Sorry to worry you.”

“I’m sorry Beau had another attack.” I let my arms wrap around her body, rubbing one hand up and down her back before dropping a kiss on top of her head. “How are you holding up?”

She sighed and leaned further into me with a moan. “Better now that he is, but still shaken.”

“Sorry to add to it sweetheart, but we’re on lockdown which means that you and little man are coming with me. No arguments.” I inhaled her deep floral scent, closing my eyes and counted down the seconds until she pulled away and rattled off a dozen reasons why she couldn’t—or wouldn’t—come with me.

She did pull back and tired light green eyes looked up into mine, searching for an answer I was pretty sure I didn’t have. “Okay. Do you think you can put some shoes on Beau while I pack an overnight bag?”

I nodded, relieved and worried by how easily she agreed. But I’d deal with that once I was sure they were safe. “No problem, but you might want to make it a few nights.”

She froze but nodded, deciding once again not to argue. “How bad is it?”

“Pretty fucking bad. We just found out some shit and once it gets out, no one who means anything to us will be safe.” We both silently chose to ignore the importance of that comment. For now.

“What’s wrong, Cross?”

I cupped her face and looked deep into her eyes, so light green they were almost eerie. “I thought I failed you too when I stood in here earlier.”

Moon’s soft hands went to my face, tilting me down until I looked her right in those bossy green eyes. “You didn’t fail anyone. Don’t even think that, Cross, especially not now. You need all the confidence you can muster for this fight and I can’t be the only one of us who believes in you. But,” she raised up on her toes and pressed soft pink lips against mine. It was soft and too damn short. “If you want, when this is all over, I’ll tell you what a dick you were. Okay?”

A laugh bubbled out of me but I couldn’t respond because her belief in me was humbling. Empowering. This time I held Moon close and kissed her for so long I lost track of time and place, and what we both should’ve been doing. The taste of her, the scent of her and the way she submitted to my kiss, had me drunk with power.

Eventually I pulled back with a reluctant grin. “I’m holding you to that.” After another kiss that was too damn short, we both sprang into action.