Chapter Fourteen

During the week after Slade visited, everything went to shit.

 

Robyn felt like life had secretly transitioned into a shitty after-school drama. Two days after Slade left, Avon got word from the MC that a tax lawsuit had been lodged against them. The city claimed they hadn’t paid their taxes for the past five years, which Avon reassured her was bullshit. Even still, while the MC was under investigation, all their assets were frozen.

 

No more money, for who knew how long.

 

Avon was a mess, even though she could tell he was trying to keep his shit together. He’d officially transitioned to sharing her bed after their unhinged sexcapade the week before, and she could tell that he was barely sleeping anymore. Tossing and turning like this might help him solve his problems.

 

She knew he wasn’t sleeping because she wasn’t either. His worries seeped out into her. A worrying sign. Did that mean she cared about him? That thought was a little scary too. She didn’t want to get attached to him, still. Even though every part of her body cried out for Avon to stay near her for as long as possible, somewhere deep inside, she was resigned to losing him. Like he might just quietly disappear, or decide that he didn’t want to stick around for the baby anymore.

 

The only good thing that week had been the fact that Matt started school, and he seemed to be loving it. He went for half-days only. Avon took him in and picked him up on his motorcycle. That, at least, was keeping him sane.

 

When she got home from work on Wednesday, Avon was on the phone in the living room, his palm pressed against the wall as he looked out the window. He didn’t seem to notice that she’d come in.

 

“And you’re fucking sure?”

 

Her stomach sunk at his tone. This couldn’t be good news.

 

“Jesus Christ.” Avon sighed, followed by a long, tense silence.

 

She set her purse down gingerly on the kitchen island, grimacing as she awaited some inkling of the news.

 

“Did you call the cops or not?”

 

Robyn chewed on her lip, unable to wait any longer. She went into the living room, crossing her arms as she stood by the windows.

 

Avon glanced over at her, his expression softening. “Viper. Hold on.” Avon pulled the phone away from his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Hey, babe.”

 

“Is everything okay?”

 

He shook his head, pressing the speakerphone button. He tossed the phone aside. “Viper, I’ve got you on speakerphone. Robyn, meet Viper. My VP. Acting president of the Chained Kings.”

 

“Hello, pretty lady.”

 

Robyn cracked a grin, but it faded quickly. “Nice to meet you, Viper. What’s going on?”

 

“Just a little bomb threat.”

 

Robyn’s eyes widened as she looked to Avon for confirmation. “Are you fucking serious?”

 

“Came in about twenty minutes ago. Debating calling a bomb squad,” Viper said.

 

Avon’s jaw flexed as he stared out the window. In a low voice, he said, “I should be there right now.”

 

Robyn’s stomach sank, but this time from sadness. She hadn’t realized that it might be difficult for Avon to be away from his MC for so long. Even as he considered leaving it behind… it still must have been a strange transition for him. From ‘MC President’ to ‘Stay-at-Home Dad’. She didn’t imagine many men would make the transition so willingly, either.

 

“I don’t imagine any of you know how to disarm a bomb?” Robyn asked.

 

“Cutie does,” Avon said.

 

“Cutie?”

 

“He’s one of the brothers,” Avon clarified.

 

“Yeahhh, he spent some time in the army.” Viper’s voice crackled a little over the line. “But I dunno, he’s out of practice. One wrong move and BAM.”

 

“Exactly.”

 

Matt came out in the living room then, holding a stack of books. Robyn noticed first and said brightly, “Hey, buddy!”

 

Avon took the phone call off speakerphone and pressed it to his face again.

 

Robyn steered Matt away from the living room by his shoulders. “I just got home. How was school today?”

 

Matt shrugged. “It was nice.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“We talked about alpacas,” he said in a quiet voice.

 

“That sounds awesome.” She led him to the stool at the kitchen island before rummaging through cabinets. “Have you had a snack? Are you hungry? Let me make you something.”

 

As she whipped up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, she kept one ear tuned in to the conversation in the living room, trying to tease out information from the low tones coming from Avon.

 

When Avon came into the kitchen a few moments later, the scowl on his face didn’t look promising.

 

“So,” she said, still trying to sound bright, “did your friend figure out their… car problems?”

 

Avon sent her a hesitant look before glancing down at Matt. “Sort of. Uh… I guess he’s gonna call the police to see if they can come and… give him a tow.”

 

She nodded, slapping together the loaded slices of bread. She served the sandwich on a plate, sliding it across the island. “And they think it’ll be okay? The car, I mean.”

 

Avon pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know. If the engine blows…” He sighed.

 

“But you guys have… insurance.” She frowned. The doublespeak was getting away from her. “Or something. I mean your friend does. Right?”

 

He sent her a flat look.

 

“Okay. So no insurance.” She licked some peanut butter off her thumb before storing all the ingredients again. “When will you know if the police fixed the engine?”

 

Matt creased a brow as he chewed. “Why do the police fix the engine? I thought police helped people, not fix cars.”

 

Robyn forced a laugh. Shit. Even the kid was seeing through her stupid cover. “Yes, that’s what I meant. Did I say police? I meant the mechanic. You’re a good listener, Matt.” Precisely why speaking in code was necessary. If she could keep it together, that was.

 

“He’ll call later.” Avon looked as low as she’d ever seen him as he started pacing around the living room.

 

She went out to intersect him, speaking in a low voice. “Listen. Go there if you need to. We can stay here; we’ll be fine.”

 

“Doesn’t this seem a little coincidental?” he hissed out. “We start looking into Keenan, he starts looking into us, and then I get a tax lien and a bomb threat in one week?”

 

The thought chilled Robyn, but she didn’t know what to say to reassure him. All of this was over her head. She’d never been involved in something like this before. And if the shitty after-school dramas had anything to say about it, she’d be the first to be shot.

 

“I’m not going there,” Avon said after a minute. “I can’t. I don’t want to leave Matt.”

 

“We’ll be fine,” she insisted.

 

“No.” He shook his head, his face creased with a determination she’d never seen before. A look Robyn knew better than to question. “If this really is Keenan behind the scenes, he could be waiting for me to do exactly that. I’m not leaving Matt’s side again.”

 

Keenan behind the scenes. Luring Avon out with a bomb threat. It sounded ridiculous. Too ridiculous to be real. “You honestly think he’s trying to scoop him up or something? Come on. This is probably coincidental.”

 

Avon let out a humorless laugh. “Honey, you don’t know the half of what life is like on my side of the tracks.”

 

Indignation zipped through her, but it was tempered with humility. He was right. She didn’t come from an MC. She didn’t have secret cop liaisons who were willing to do double time. She didn’t have a goddam secret language used by her friends and family.

 

Avon did come from a different world. And he knew far better than she did.

 

“Then what do we do now?”

 

Avon’s jaw flexed as he watched her, and she could tell she wasn’t gonna like what he had to say next. “We wait for the other shoe to drop. Because it’s coming.”

 

It didn’t take long for Avon’s premonition to come true. Later that night, Viper called back and said that the police had shown up and the bomb threat was real, but the bomb itself was a fake. They’d found it in the dumpster behind the MC, but it had no reactive agent inside. It was like a display version of a bomb.

 

They’d both sighed with relief, but then Lisa called.

 

“Robyn.” Her voice sounded hushed, like she was trying not to be overheard. “Can you hear me?”

 

“Yeah. What’s up?”

 

“Listen. I think something is going on.” There was some rustling in the background. “I was followed home from work tonight, and maybe last night.”

 

“Oh.” Robyn frowned, signaling for Avon. He looked up from the school papers he was reviewing with Matt at the island. “Did anything happen?”

 

“Well, I thought when I left work last night that I had seen someone following me home. Like, the whole way home. And then this evening, a different car did the same thing. And now he’s parked out front. Has been for hours. And just a few minutes ago… I got a creepy phone call.”

 

Robyn’s stomach jolted her to her feet. This week was turning out to be really bad. “Oh God. Have you called the police or anything?”

 

At that, Avon scooped up Matt’s papers and took him into the bedroom. Robyn walked into the living room just to be sure he wouldn’t overhear anything on her end.

 

“No. I’m not sure what to say. Do I have enough to report? I mean, what if this is all unrelated?”

 

Robyn’s lips thinned to a straight line as she stared out the window of her apartment, searching the parking lot for anything unusual. First Avon’s MC is targeted, now the head of her social work agency was being followed. This all seemed too convenient to be unrelated.

 

“I would call the police,” Robyn said, trying to keep her voice calm. Even though she wanted to spill all the details about the other things going on, it didn’t seem wise. Because, like Lisa, she didn’t know how things were truly connected. If they were connected. It was better to stay quiet and confer with Avon instead of unnecessarily alarming Lisa. “Just tell them exactly what happened, that you feel threatened, and let them handle it. It needs to go on the record.”

 

“Okay. I will.”

 

“Do you have anywhere else to stay tonight?”

 

Lisa laughed. “Do you think it’s worth it? They’ll just follow me there, too.”

 

Robyn groaned. “I hate this. I hate that this is happening to you. Let me know if you want to come here.”

 

“But if I really am being followed, for whatever reason, I wouldn’t want to risk Matt’s safety,” Lisa said.

 

Robyn drew the curtains of her window shut, suddenly feeling too visible, like anyone could spy on her, see into her private world.

 

At least Avon made her feel some semblance of safety. Her personal bodyguard. She had no doubt the man would take down any intruder with his bare hands. Hell, he’d probably killed someone before. The thought resonated strangely through her. It wasn’t all bad, either.

 

She and Lisa hung up just as Avon came out into the living room. He tucked some of his hair behind his ear. He hadn’t cut it since he’d shown up in her life again, and now it was at the length where it could just fit behind his ear. She smiled despite the bad news, her chest tightening for a moment.

 

“What happened?”

 

“Lisa’s being followed.” She pocketed her phone. “It started yesterday and happened again today. Plus, she got a weird phone call.”

 

“Your boss Lisa?”

 

Robyn nodded. “Sounds pretty suspicious, right?”

 

“Yeah.” Avon’s eyes went to the window. “Why’d you shut the curtains?”

 

“Call me paranoid, I guess.” Robyn sunk into the couch, her mind churning over the conversation with Lisa. “Hey, have you ever killed anyone?”

 

Avon’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

 

Robyn fingered the leather seam of the armrest, shrugging. “Just curious.”

 

He was quiet for so long that she thought he wasn’t going to answer her. Then he sat down beside her on the couch. “Would it matter if I had?”

 

She sighed, running her palm over his knee, up his thigh. When he was near, it was impossible not to touch him. And that impulse was concerning – made her think that when this was all over, she might not be able to continue without Avon at her side. “I don’t know. I mean you said it yourself. You come from a different world.”

 

“I do.” His rough fingers laced through hers. “And I have.”

 

Her stomach knotted, but the truth didn’t settle as heavily as she might have imagined. Maybe a month ago, she would have turned him away and never looked back. But now, things were different. Way different.

 

She nodded, searching his face. “Nice of you to be truthful when Matt’s custody is still up in the air.”

 

Avon looked hesitant. “Should I have lied?”

 

“No. I won’t hold that against you.” She smiled. “It’s too late for that.”

 

Avon sunk back onto the couch beside her, scooping her into his arms. “You mean you’re starting to like Avon finally? Could it be true?”

 

She giggled as he tickled her armpits. But the teasing turned into a warm, long hug, and she relished the solidness of his body beneath her. The warmth that seemed to erase all the worries and wonders of real life.

 

“I’ve always liked you,” she said into his chest. “I just know that I shouldn’t.”

 

He snorted. “And why’s that?”

 

“Like you said. We come from different worlds.”

 

“Yeah, but we’re the same species.” He brought her hand up to his lips, kissed each knuckle in turn. “And that’s the only thing that matters.”