Chapter 20

LACEY

Hades was more than just a pub. The place was still being remodeled but it was more than adequate for a motorcycle club. There were some rooms in the back of the clubhouse where I assumed most of the club members stayed. The bedroom was small with a bed and a small dresser but not much else inside of it. I stayed near the window and looked out onto the barren streets of Old Town.

I couldn’t shake the thoughts of what just happened out of my head. Ezra got into another brawl with some bikers and the only reason things didn’t end up any worse was because the police showed up. There was something else looming over the horizon and the fact that I didn’t know how things were going to play out twisted my stomach. All of this was nothing like I’d ever been through before.

I jerked my head when I heard the door open. The usually magnanimous Ezra looked different than before. His tie was gone and the top button on his shirt was undone. There was some bruising near his eye with some blood next to it.

He sighed a deep breath as he tossed his jacket onto the bed.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

He smiled softly at me.

“You care about what happens to me?”

“Just because I’m angry about you not telling me the truth doesn’t mean I want you to be hurt.”

“Right… Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. No, I’m… I’m fine…”

He sighed a deep breath and put his head down. His hands on his hips, he started pacing back and forth.

“Sebastian knows a lot of people in this town,” he said. “He’s got some cash, too, so he can pay the right people to get the information he needs.”

“Information?”

“His name is Daniel Ellis. Him and his crew are the Desert Rebels. A nomad motorcycle club. They’re not from Ivory.”

“What are they doing here?”

“Modern day raiders. Pillaging the towns they come across. They just so happened to come to Ivory when you and I arrived.”

“What does that have to do with you though?”

“That’s what Sebastian and the others are still trying to figure out.”

He walked up to me and put a hand to my cheek. I looked up into his eyes, trying desperately not to get lost in them.

“How are you feeling?” he said. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I said as I looked away.

I turned my back to him completely and crossed my arms as I looked back out the window.

“You know you don’t have to do that,” he said.

“Do what?”

“Put on that act. Anybody, man or woman, would be distraught after witnessing what you just did. Shit’s not comfortable knowing that there’s some biker gang following you.”

“What do I have to worry about when I’ve got another biker gang watching my back?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. The way he smiled made it hard for me to stay mad at him. But it would take more than a charming smile for me to forgive him completely.

“What about your friend?” he said. “What was her name again?”

“Madeline. She’ll be fine. She’s been living in the city for a long time. She knows how to take care of herself. A place like Ivory can’t do much to her.”

“She’s a good friend, huh?”

“The best. She’s been with me through it all. She was with me when I was at my lowest. She was there when I…”

I swallowed thinking about the memories that came back to me. I closed my eyes to collect myself.

“When you what?” he asked.

I have to tell him…

I knew I couldn’t keep it from him. Even if he didn’t need to know, there was something inside of me that wanted him to know. Despite every reason I had to walk away, I still couldn’t do it. Idiocy kept pushing me back toward him. Or maybe it was something else. Whatever it was, I was glad that he was still here with me.

“I came to Ivory because I needed a fresh start,” I said.

“A fresh start? A fresh start from what?”

“It’s… It’s a long story.”

Ezra took a seat on the edge of the bed.

“I’ve got all night.”

“Right…”

I wrestled with my fingers, a sudden nervous anticipation washing over me. I looked down at the ground as I started to pace back and forth.

“I was an only child,” I said. “My parents were always pushing me to succeed. They loved me more than anything because I was their only kid. They always told me how proud they were of me. They told me how I was going to go on and do great things.

“I was a straight-A student in high school. I spent all my time studying and reading and writing and doing everything I could. No matter how hard I worked, there was always some test or exam or paper waiting for me on the horizon. By the time I got to college, I was so burned out. The stress of it all. It was too much for 18-year-old me to handle.”

“There’s no shame in that,” he said. “It’s a lot to expect out of an 18-year-old.”

“Try telling my parents that. They were always reminding me how great I was. I was working so hard but it got to the point that I didn’t even care about how well I did. All I was doing was trying to satisfy my parents.”

I swallowed hard and shook my head.

“I was only one year into college when it became too much for me to handle,” I said. “I started hanging around the wrong crowd. A group of other kids telling me that there was a way to relieve my stress. I figured ‘why not?’ A little weed never hurt anybody. But not me. I spent my whole life so focused that when I got a taste of something that made me feel so carefree, it just spiraled out of control.

“Smoking was just the start. I moved to pills. I started injecting stuff and…”

I closed my eyes as the memories came back to me completely.

“Lacey, you don’t have to—”

“I dropped out of college,” I said. “I let my parents down because I wanted to chase some stupid high!”

I shook my head, getting rid of the worst memories I had. I coughed to clear my throat. Ezra remained sitting on the bed. He wasn’t blinking.

“I ended up in the city somehow,” I said. “Too embarrassed to go back to my parents and tell them the truth. Told them that I’d found a living in the city and I was gonna make something of myself. The truth I was just struggling to survive.

“One night, the girl I usually got high with… We were in the alley. I poked the needle in my arm and passed it to her. I’ll never forget the look in her eyes. So dead. So lifeless. She wasn’t even alive. Just a slave. Even when she smiled, her eyes were still soulless. That’s when I realized I had to do something.”

“What did you do?”

“What could I do? Do you know what it’s like to fight a craving? Do you know what it’s like, feeling like you’ll die if you don’t get that next hit?”

“You did something though. You wouldn’t be here now if you didn’t.”

“I did something,” I sighed. “I got lucky.”

“You got lucky?”

“I was in the alley behind some restaurant, digging through the garbage for scraps. Some lady saw what I was doing. She offered me something to eat. I said I didn’t have any money to pay her. She told me I could work it off. So I worked.”

“That’s how you got your start?”

I nodded.

“I washed dishes. I mopped. I scrubbed toilets. She gave me all of the food I wanted and more. But I wasn’t doing it for the food.”

“The drugs…”

“Whenever I got a craving, I’d stuff myself with more food. I’d shoved some broccoli into my mouth. A plateful of fries. A whole sandwich to fill my stomach up to the point that I wanted to burst. But it worked. I was so full that getting high was the last thing on my mind. Eventually, I’d worked so hard that I ended up on the line in one of the nicer restaurants in the city.”

I smiled as I thought about it.

“Madeline worked at the restaurant, too. She would always make fun of me when she’d see me eating. But she stopped when I told her why I did it… We’ve been good friends ever since…”

I trailed my fingers along the tattoo on my arms.

“The scars aren’t visible anymore,” I said. “It took awhile but there’s enough ink that I can’t see them.”

“Lacey…”

I looked back up at Ezra. Despite how strong and confident he always appeared, the sympathy in his eyes was unmistakable. It was the Ezra that I wanted to see. The man that I wanted to believe wasn’t so completely callous or a complete liar.

“This is important to me,” I replied. “I ruined my life over some drugs. If you came here to Ivory to peddle the same shit that almost killed me, then I can’t be anywhere near you.”

He got up from the bed and put his hands on my arms. His grip was firm but comforting and secure at the same time. I looked up into his blue eyes and the man I needed to see was still there.

“I made a mistake,” he said. “I’m sorry. I… I should’ve told you from the beginning. But I never lied to you about who I am or what I was. I’ll lay all my cards out on the table now.”

“What else is there for you to tell me? I know who you are.”

“Not entirely. I never brought it up because I didn’t think it mattered. Now, I think it does.”

My heart skipped a beat. I feared the worst. I clenched my jaw as Ezra spoke.

“My father is Eugene Grant. My mother is Kate Harper. She’s the daughter of Ruben Harper. My grandfather. He was a Devil here in Ivory. A long time ago back before when things were different.”

I sighed in relief.

“There’s worse things you could’ve told me,” I said, smiling slightly. “Why did you tell me that?”

“Because I’m gonna get to the bottom of this. With Sebastian and the rest of the club, I’ll figure this out. It’s… It’s in my blood. I want you to know that I won’t rest until you’re completely safe. I brought all of this trouble on you. Even if you walk away after it’s all over, I’ll fix everything.”

He leaned forward slowly.

I can’t…

Doubts continued to swirl around in my head but I couldn’t stop myself. I closed my eyes and let my face drift forward. My lips met his. His tongue slid into my mouth and a relief washed over me that made me forget about everything going on, even for just a second.

Lacey…

My senses came back to me and I pulled away. His hands dropped from my arms, not forcing me to continue.

“It’s been a long night,” I said. “I was drinking a lot with Maddie. I… I should probably get some sleep.”

“You’re safe here. The whole club is watching your back.”

“I know.”

I moved onto the bed, too tired to undress or make myself more comfortable. Ezra stood at the doorway for a moment. I smiled softly at him before my eyes closed on their own. The last vision I had before I drifted off to sleep was him. There was a determination in his eyes that told me he would get to the bottom of this. Now all that was left was for him to do it.