Chapter Twenty-Eight
“No,” Lucky said. “Fuck no. What the hell is she doing here?” This could not be happening. Kori was here. In Crystal Rock. Was Savage with her? Was this one last screw you before they rode off into the sunset of wedded bliss? And why did she have to look so goddamn beautiful? Why was her long platinum hair up in that high ponytail he loved to grip as he pulled her head back for his mouth.
“Well, if my guess is right,” Shiv said, disgust thick in his voice. “She’s here for the same reason you are. Have a seat, Lucky. I take it you two need no introduction.”
Kori’s face flashed fire-engine-red and she averted her gaze as she shook her head. None of what Shiv said made any sense except for the part about them knowing each other.
Kori knew nothing about Rebel and Savage’s business. And it would remain that way until the day she died if they had their say. Unless of course she’d stumbled upon something by accident. Still, it was hard to believe she’d betray her new fiancé like this.
Lucky moved around the table and took the empty seat next to Shiv. No way could he stand sitting next to Kori. Being in such proximity to the woman who cut out his heart, smelling her, possibly brushing against her…
Well it was a terrible idea.
Unfortunately, the alternative put him directly across from her and staring into her…bruised face? What the fuck? Anger surged, swift and fierce. He shot up from his chair and ignored the clatter as it tipped and clanked to the ground. With both palms flat on the table, he leaned forward and scowled at Kori. “He do that to you?”
“What?” The bruise almost disappeared, swallowed up by the intense red blush that still suffused her cheeks. A neatly manicured hand covered her cheek. “I’m fine. No big deal. It’s nothing for you to worry about.” Her gaze darted around the room as the color in her face deepened.
It was then Striker’s smirk registered. Christ, he was acting like a jealous moron. They’d be on his ass about that later, for sure. Kori was right. Her wellbeing wasn’t any of his damn business. Her life, her choices. He righted the downed chair and returned to it. “Looks like you made the wrong decision, huh?” The little dig felt good until he saw the light in her eyes dim to nothing and she seemed to shrink into the chair.
Shit. He may be angrier at her than he’d ever been with anyone, but that didn’t mean she deserved an abusive relationship. No woman deserved that shit. Jester and Striker both frowned at him, adding to the guilt.
“If you’re done with the outbursts, Lucky, I’ll get right to the point.” Shiv tapped ash off the end of his cigar. “Kori claims Rebel and Savage are selling drugs.”
She knew? How? How the hell had she found out? He kept his ears open to Shiv, but stared at Kori.
“She claims to have seen the drugs as well as a man possibly killed.”
There was a very good chance Lucky’s heart stopped beating. “What did he look like?” he whispered.
“What? Oh, um, the man they…uh, well,” she grimaced. “It was a little hard to see exactly what he looked like because his face was…bad. But he was thin, unhealthy thin. Brown hair, kinda stringy. And—”
Guilt slammed into him and Lucky held up a hand. “That’s enough. It’s Robbie.” Jesus, Robbie, why couldn’t you just keep your damn mouth shut?
Shiv slammed a hand on the table. “It is enough. Enough bullshit. Start talking, Lucky. Now.”
There was a chance this conversation wouldn’t go well for him. Striker and Shiv would be well within their rights to kick his ass for withholding what he discovered for so long. “A little over two months ago I was leaving the clubhouse late and overheard Savage and Rebel discussing drug sales. They’ve been working with the Grimms down here in AZ. They’re fed up with Casper. Apparently, things have been shitty since Snake disappeared, so I guess they’d been at it for a while.”
He ran a hand across the back of his neck. The muscles at the base of his skull were tightening by the second and a monster of a headache loomed not far in the distance. “I wanted to gather more information before making a decision on what to do. Then Kori showed up. She was living with Rebel, got engaged to Savage. She was an innocent about to be caught in a colossal clusterfuck, so I held off.”
What he didn’t say was that he fell ass over tea kettle for her and that was the real reason he didn’t want her in the crossfire.
“What the fuck is Rebel thinking?” Jester leaned back in his chair and crossed his massive arms over his even more colossal chest. That was not a man Lucky ever wanted to do battle against.
“Money.” Kori answered before Lucky had the chance. “Money and power.” She shook her head. “I haven’t known him very long, but that much is obvious.”
“This why you patched over, Lucky?” Striker asked.
Kori’s expression was somber, filled with regret and pain. It just made Lucky’s ire flare. How dare she be depressed about his leaving? She’d lost the right to give a shit. “One of the reasons,” he said, not shifting his focus from her.
“You ever planning on bringing this to my attention?” Shiv’s question was asked around the stogie between his lips.
“Today, if you can believe it. When I first got here we were dealing with all the shit down at the border and with Acer’s old man. Plus, I hadn’t figured out a way to keep Kori out of it. But I heard from a contact that Robbie was most likely dead. Things are heating up and something needs to be done soon.”
“Goddammit. I cannot believe this shit.” Shiv crushed the end of his cigar into the metal table. “Anyone else want to shit on this day? Anybody an undercover cop? Maybe my wife’s fucking around on me? I have to go out of town. Two days max. Can’t be avoided. Sick fucking mother-in-law. I’m calling church for the second I roll back into town. We’ll figure this shit out then.”
The men in the room nodded and voiced their understanding.
“All right. Everyone get the fuck out. I need to think about all this. Don’t leave town, Kori.”
“I, uh…I have plane tickets to—”
“Good,” Shiv said. “If anyone goes looking, that will throw them off your trail. This is gonna get ugly. Least we owe you for bringing it to our attention is some protection. Plus, you may know details that can help us. But not a word of this to anyone. Especially not any ol’ ladies you might get tight with.”
She looked like she wanted to argue, but nodded instead. “All right. I’ll stick around for a while. And I know how it works. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
Fanfuckingtastic. Now he’d have to go to sleep tonight knowing Kori was close by. The sickest part of the whole thing was how much he still wanted her. Even now, with nerves and frustration coursing through him, he was semi hard just because she was in the same room. He stood from the table and followed the others out into the bar area. Time for a drink.
Kori hovered off to the side, staring at her phone, probably searching for a hotel. Good luck with that.
“Hey, Kori.” Striker held a beer out to her. “Don’t bother looking for a hotel. You won’t find one in town, and everything within fifty miles is shit. You’re more than welcome to stay with my wife and me.”
She’d removed the ponytail and her hair flowed down well past her shoulders. Lucky wouldn’t admit it, but he was glad she wouldn’t have to stay in any of the crappy no-tell motels out of town. She shifted her eyes in his direction before looking back to Striker. “Well, um, thank you. Your wife won’t mind?”
“She won’t mind at all. In fact, I’m sure she’ll be thrilled. She has a few days off work and I couldn’t clear my schedule so I know she’d love some company during the day.”
“Okay, ah, I guess…thank you.” Kori smiled at him but it didn’t reach her eyes. Her glassy eyes appeared ready to spill over any second. The bruise on her face was all the more striking when viewed next to her pale hair. “Sorry, I’m not usually a bumbling idiot. This is all just a little overwhelming.”
Lucky had the overpowering urge to yank her into his arms and kiss her until the sorrow and apprehension flowed out of her. And that pissed him off. Made him over the top, irrationally angry. Weeks of loneliness, irritation, betrayal, and resentment, not to mention sexual frustration, threatened to blow the top of his head straight off. And Kori was the perfect target.
“I’m starting to see your pattern, Kori.”
Her eyes widened but she remained silent.
“A few weeks with one guy. A few weeks with Savage. You draw a guy in for a while, have your fun, then screw him over good, huh?”
“Hey, Lucky, tone it down, brother. The man fuckin’ hit her. You going crazy?” Jester narrowed his eyes and took a step closer to Lucky, his size often a deterrent to poor behavior.
She drew her bottom lip between her teeth and shook her head. “Lucky, maybe we can talk later. Privately.”
“Nah, I’d rather do this now. It’s too bad for you this time around, though. Striker’s married. You’d have easy access staying at his house and all, but he and his ol’ lady are pretty damn tight, so it’s not really worth your trouble.”
Kori gasped. “I would never.” She turned to Striker. “Striker, I’m so sorry. We have some personal…issues. I would never—Jesus, Lucky. I would never.”
It was as if he was disassociated from his body. His brain heard what an asshole he was being, but that didn’t seem to matter to his mouth. Anger flowed through his veins in a deluge of fury. The dam had broken and he was on a roll. Rational thoughts be damned.
He shrugged. “Don’t worry. There are plenty of guys here who’d be willing to fuck you. Probably a few who would even ask you to move in with them.”
The strangled sound that came from her barely registered as he geared up to spew more bitterness in her direction. “But, you should know—”
“Enough!” Striker yelled. “Lucky, shut your mouth up, right now.” He turned to a crying Kori. “Honey, why don’t you go out and wait by your car. I won’t be five minutes then you can follow me to my house. I’ll call my wife, Lila, on the way so she’s ready for us.”
“Thank you,” she whispered before she slunk outside, head down, quiet sniffles the only sound she made.
“Okay,” Striker continued when was out of earshot. “I think we all get that you have some kind of ugly history with her, but what the fuck, man? I’m not sure what happened, but public humiliation isn’t usually the best way to solve your problems.”
Shit. He hadn’t lost control of his tempter like that in years. Now that Striker cut through the rage, shame crept in. Kori hadn’t deserved that. She’d risked a lot to come here and the contusion on her face spoke of how she hadn’t had an easy few weeks. “I’m sorry, brother.”
“It’s not me you need to apologize to, brother. Get your shit together.”
Lucky nodded. That’s exactly what he’d do. He put his drink on the bar. Day drinking, finished. Pity party, over. Anger…well, he’d be working on that one.
And now he owed Kori a whopper of an apology.
Perfect. Whenever he was in her presence, he was torn between the desire to fuck her and the desire to scream at her.
Apologizing should be as much fun as a severe case of road rash.