Retribution (The Lone Riders MC Series Book 2) (18 page)

‘What’s going on?’ she asked, leaning back against the pool table.

‘Nothing,’ Coby replied, his eyes still locked with Ben’s. ‘I was just telling Ben what we need him to do. And now he knows.’

Lexi narrowed her eyes as she watched the now-silent exchange between the two men, more than aware that it had involved Kip, too. She hadn’t missed the state of her brother as she’d passed him leaving the clubhouse. But she knew better than to ask too many questions. Coby seemed to have it under control.

‘Is he all right?’ Her eyes followed Ben as he walked away, his head down slightly, his hands in his pockets.

‘He’s fine,’ Coby sighed, slipping his arms around her waist, leaning over to nuzzle her neck. ‘But I am as tense as hell. Your old man needs some loving from his old lady, that’s the only thing that’s gonna fix that.’

She smiled, running her thumb lightly over his mouth before kissing it slowly. ‘Sex isn’t the answer to everything you know.’

‘I never said it was, darlin’. But it sure as hell helps.’

She laughed, despite the dark and dangerous atmosphere that still surrounded them, something that unsettled her, especially when there were kids around. And when one of those kids was hers, that unsettled her even more. ‘What’s going on with Ben?’

‘There’s nothing going on with Ben. Everything’s fine.’ Coby said, loosening her shirt and sliding his hand inside her bra, squeezing her breast.

‘Come on, Coby. I’m not stupid. One minute he’s our lawyer, dressed in a suit and tie, all business-like and professional, and the next I’m seeing all those tattoos and…’

‘He used to be a biker, darlin’. You know that.’ He’d freed her breast from the confines of its bra, bending his head to suck on her nipple.

‘Yes, I know he used to be a biker, but… Coby, come
on
, baby. Here? Seriously?’

He lowered his hands down to her bottom, pushing her against him, his tongue tracing the outline of her nipple as he continued to suck on her breast.

‘Jesus!’ she sighed, but her attempts to wriggle free were nothing but a token gesture to let him know she wasn’t completely happy with what he was doing. Or where he was doing it. ‘The way Ben’s acting… his behaviour… Look, something just doesn’t feel right…’

‘Aye, well,
this
feels right,’ Coby murmured, moving his mouth up over her cleavage, brushing her collarbone and neck until it rested on hers. ‘
You
feel right.’

‘That’s your hard-on talking, soldier.’

‘You should listen to it,’ he whispered, kissing her deep, his thumb flicking over her exposed nipple, causing Lexi to groan quietly, the sound muffled by his mouth resting against hers.

‘Okay, Mister President. You win.’

‘Don’t I always, darlin’.’ He grinned at her, watching as she quickly pushed her breast back inside her shirt. ‘Don’t I always.’

Twenty-Two

‘Jesus! What the fuck happened to
you
?’ Charlie reached out to gently touch his son’s newly-stitched cheek.

‘Had a run-in with the law,’ Kip replied dryly, pushing his dad’s hand away.

‘And the law won, by the looks of it.’ Charlie smirked. ‘You not gonna tell me I should see the other guy?’

‘He’s over there,’ Kip sighed, jerking his head in the direction of Ben, who was over by the garage talking to Miller, one of the Newcastle Lone Riders. ‘Knock yourself out.’ He hauled himself up off the wall and climbed on to his bike, signalling to Luca to let him know he was ready to go.

Charlie looked over towards Ben, shielding his eyes from the bright afternoon sun. ‘Was this anything to do with…?’ But Kip had roared off out of the compound, Luca hot on his heels, before Charlie could finish the question. ‘… Mia,’ he sighed, knowing only too well what the answer was.

‘Back so soon?’

Charlie swung around to see Angie standing behind him. ‘Still looking good, sweetheart.’ He winked, but she didn’t even crack a smile.

‘What’s going on, Charlie?’

He held out his hands in a gesture of innocence, widening his eyes as he looked at her. ‘You know why I’m here, Angie. I’m here to help Mia.’

‘You don’t need to be here, not with Bear and the boys over from
England
. There’s something else. Lexi’s acting all shifty, her and Kip are fighting…’

‘Are they? I thought he’d gained those new battle scars from a run-in with our friendly lawyer-turned-bad-boy?’

Angie frowned. ‘He did.’

‘Why’s he fighting with Lexi?’

‘I don’t know, Charlie. Nobody’s telling me anything.’

‘Well, maybe that’s because there’s nothing you need to know. Where’s Coby?’

‘Inside… Charlie! Don’t walk away from me…’

He turned back to face her, his expression more serious now. ‘Don’t push this, Angie. When there’s something you need to know, I’ll tell you.’ Because she
would
need to know. But there were others who needed to know first.

‘Jesus…
Charlie
!’

He walked off into the clubhouse, stopping by the bar to grab a beer from Red, flipping the cap off the bottle and taking a long drink. ‘I bloody needed that.’ He gave a long, satisfied sigh before taking a second, smaller drink. ‘Coby around?’

‘He’s out back,’ Red replied, jerking his head in the direction of the apartment.

‘Is he busy?’

‘He’s with Lexi.’

Charlie couldn’t help smiling. ‘Is he now. And my grandson? Is he about?’

‘Callie’s with him outside, Sir. She’s been looking after him.’

Charlie looked at the young man behind the bar, his messed-up, short dark hair, tough features and myriad of tattoos almost at odds with his soft-spoken southern accent. ‘Quit with the “Sir” crap, kiddo. I don’t go in for all that. So…’ Charlie took another drink of beer, ‘… how long you been a Prospect here?’

‘A little over a year now.’

‘Any closer to being patched in?’

‘That ain’t really up to me to predict.’

Charlie watched Red as he busied himself behind the bar, washing glasses and stacking bottles. ‘You’re not Californian born and bred, I take it. Not with that accent. I’m guessing you come from somewhere close to my ex-wife’s neck of the woods, am I right?’

‘
Kentucky
, Sir… Sorry. Force of habit, I guess.’

Charlie smiled, trying his best to put the young Prospect at ease. ‘
Kentucky
, huh? So, what brought you here?’

Red shrugged, grabbing a handful of empty bottles from the counter and throwing them in a bin behind the bar. ‘My momma passed when I was a teenager, and my daddy, well, I ain’t seen hide nor hair of him since I was three years old. I guess I just fell in with the wrong crowd, got myself into so much trouble that staying in
Kentucky
wasn’t really an option no more.’

‘You always ridden?’

Red nodded. ‘Had a bike since I was – well, I shouldn’ta been riding it, but no one was around to stop me, so…’ He shrugged again. ‘I just wanted to leave a lot of shit behind. This place gave me the chance to do that.’

Charlie liked the vibe this kid gave off. He’d advise Coby to patch him in as soon as possible.

The sound of a door opening down the corridor made Charlie swing around on his stool, and he smiled as Coby and Lexi emerged from the apartment, arms wrapped around each other, not even trying to hide what they’d obviously just been doing.

‘Hey, kids!’ Charlie grinned, but that grin was soon wiped away when he saw the expression on Lexi’s face harden. ‘You told her?’ He directed that question at Coby, who tried to grab Lexi’s hand but she pulled it away.

‘What could I do, Charlie? I had no choice.’

‘There’s always a choice, Coby… Lexi, sweetheart…’

‘Don’t “sweetheart” me. I can’t believe you… After everything we’ve been through, you keep a secret like
that
…’

‘Okay, okay. Not here, all right?’ He stood up, grabbing her hand. ‘Somewhere more private.’ He looked at Coby. ‘You coming? You need to hear this, too.’

‘What about Mum?’ Lexi asked.

‘Angie can wait. Come on.’

Closing the apartment door behind them, Charlie let go of Lexi’s hand and sat down on the edge of the bed, bowing his head and breathing in deep.

‘Well?’ Lexi’s tone carried more than a hint of impatience, which was completely understandable, given what she now knew.

Charlie looked up at his daughter, Coby standing beside her, both of them with arms folded, waiting to hear what he had to say. ‘Mia’s mum… she was…’ He took another deep breath, standing up and pacing the floor. Somehow it felt easier to talk about this if he was moving. ‘She was the old lady of my then-V.P., Vic
Langley
.’

‘You had an affair with your Vice President’s old lady?’ The irony dripped from Lexi’s laugh. ‘And yet
I
was banished for…’

‘This isn’t
about
you, Lexi.’ Charlie’s voice was hard, his expression even harder. ‘And I’m not gonna stand here and go over old ground, that’s all done now. We’ve moved on. You want to know about Mia? Then listen, okay?’

Lexi’s expression matched her father’s, with an added touch of defiance.

‘Okay,’ Charlie sighed, raking a hand through his hair as he resumed the pacing. ‘It was wrong, we both knew that, me more than anyone. Because I knew what the consequences would be if anyone found out, but we couldn’t help ourselves…’

Lexi couldn’t stop another laugh from escaping, cut short by another look from Charlie.

‘When Freya got pregnant… that was when we had to make a decision. I wanted to end it, wanted her to convince Vic the baby was his because, at the time, that seemed like the best thing to do, for everyone. But she didn’t want that. She wanted to leave Vic, wanted me to leave Angie. She wanted us to come clean, tell everyone what had happened; set up home together and live happily ever after. But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t give up everything I’d worked so hard for. I couldn’t walk away from my family. I couldn’t walk away from this club…’

‘Did you love her?’ Lexi asked, her voice now calm and quiet.

Charlie looked at her, a brief smile flickering across his face. ‘Yeah. Yeah, I did. At least, I think I did. But I loved your mum too, Lexi. Things were just… They were complicated. I loved the club, yes, but I loved my family more. Freya and I going public – it would have destroyed both, and back then… I finally managed to persuade her that ending what we had, it really was for the best.’ He bowed his head again, sighing heavily, but he quickly composed himself. ‘Vic always thought the baby was his because Freya she – she never gave him any reason to think otherwise, but… in the end she couldn’t take the guilt.’ He looked up, but not at Lexi or Coby. Instead he looked out of the small window by the bed, memories he’d hoped would fade suddenly crashing to the fore. ‘She told Vic everything, just days after Mia was born.’

Lexi’s eyes widened as she watched her father talk, Coby’s hand slipping into hers, squeezing it tight.

‘And he killed her. A single gunshot to the head. Just like that. As though she were nothing to him any more. He shot her, then turned the gun on himself.’

‘Oh, Jesus,’ Lexi gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

‘He couldn’t live with the betrayal,’ Charlie went on, his eyes back down on the floor.

‘And what about
your
guilt?’ Lexi asked, her voice barely audible.

Charlie finally met her gaze. ‘I didn’t know she was gonna tell him. If I had… I didn’t know.’

‘Where was Mia when it happened?’ Lexi’s voice was still quiet, her hand gripping tightly on to Coby’s.

 
‘She was at the clubhouse. Freya had asked Angie to look after her, because she knew… she knew that when she told Vic the truth he was gonna kick off. She just had no idea how badly he was gonna take it.’

Lexi looked at Coby, shaking her head as he squeezed her hand again.

‘I had a duty to look after her,’ Charlie carried on, his eyes focused on the window again. ‘To make sure she was okay, and Elliot and
Tracy
… They were desperate to take her in. They couldn’t have kids of their own, so…’ He pushed a hand through his hair, still staring out of the window. ‘I’d known them forever, knew what good people they were; loyal to the club, and to each other…’

‘I take it Mia knows she’s adopted?’ Coby said.

Charlie nodded. ‘Yes, she does. She’s always known that.’

‘She thinks her birth parents – she thinks they were killed during a run-in with a rival MC,’ Lexi said quietly. ‘She has no idea their death was really murder-suicide.’

‘Lexi, sweetheart…’

‘No, Dad. That’s exactly what it was – a murder-suicide. Jesus, she was just days old! And you… you just let it all happen. Everything.
You
could have taken her in, brought her up as your own because that’s exactly what she is. She’s your fucking daughter, and you let someone else bring her up! And even when… even when
they
died… Jesus, Dad! Mia went through so much shit and you just stood by and… Why didn’t you
do
something?’

‘Lexi, darlin’…’

‘No, Coby. I need to know why he didn’t
do
something.’ She kept her eyes fixed on her father as she spoke. ‘I need to know why you couldn’t tell Mum, why you couldn’t face up to the fact Mia was yours. Don’t you think she deserved –
deserves
– to know that? To know who her real father is?’

‘I did my best to make sure she was okay, Lexi. I always made sure she was looked after, that she had everything she needed…’

‘But you kept her at arm’s length.’

‘Elliot and Tracy were far better parents to her than I could ever have been…’

‘You did fine with me and Kip.’ Lexi’s voice had developed a harshness to it now. A cold edge. ‘Are you saying that second best was okay for us?’

 
‘Jesus Christ, Lexi, grow up. Of course I’m not saying that. I just… None of us needed the upheaval the truth would have caused. You and Kip were happy, and so was Mia. You know how happy she was as a child, Lex. She loved Elliot and Tracy so much, and they adored her. They fucking worshipped that kid. She was their little miracle; the child they never thought they’d have.’

‘And that helped ease your guilt, did it?’

‘That’s not fair, sweetheart.’

Lexi said nothing for a few seconds, her eyes dropping to the floor. ‘But you loved her, right?’ She raised her gaze to meet her father’s. ‘You always loved her?’

‘Of course I did. Don’t ever think I don’t love that girl, because I did. I
do
. She’s my flesh and blood…’ He stopped talking, turning his head away from Lexi. ‘The truth couldn’t come out, Lexi. Not at the time.’

‘You put this club before your own daughter,’ Lexi whispered, pulling her hand away from Coby’s.

‘It would have wrecked so many lives, including Mia’s. All I wanted was for her to be safe and happy, and she was. I kept her close enough to know that.’

‘But she isn’t safe now, is she?’

‘Lexi…’ Coby sighed, trying to take her hand again but she pulled it away.

‘No, darlin’. She isn’t safe now. And maybe I should have done more, but… None of us had any idea Lennie Rose would…’

‘She needs to know. The truth. Everyone needs to know the truth.’

Charlie threw back his head, a long, heavy sigh escaping. ‘I know.’

‘So go tell her.’

‘Jesus, Lexi, this isn’t something you just blurt out.’

Lexi leaned back against the wall, her eyes fixed on her father. ‘So, I’ve still got to keep this to myself, huh?’

‘For now, yes. Baby, I will tell her. I promise. I will tell Kip, and your Mum, that’s why I’m over here. To try and put right all the shit I’ve messed up. But I need to work out how I’m gonna do that first, okay?’