Under Fire (Winged Enemy MC Romance) (16 page)

“Wait, so when did you figure it out? Did you get our voicemail?”

He shook his head. “I don’t have any reception out here. Neither do you, I bet.” I patted my pockets sheepishly and handed Kat her phone back, useless as it was with no charge. “I was almost certain last night, and then after the night attack on you I was positive. Zach had left the headquarters to go home only half an hour before then, and he wasn’t anywhere to be found afterward. He told me that he had been sleeping, but there were enough coincidences that I was sure enough to take him out here and force a confession from him today.”

Jed shook his head slowly. “If he had killed you before I took care of him… I was so angry at myself for sitting on it for the night. My caution almost got you killed.”

I reached up and put a finger on his lips. “Shh, it’s OK, baby. I’m OK, and you’re OK, and that’s all that matters. We don’t need anything else.” I found myself drawn into his compelling dark eyes. “I love you.”

It felt right. I expected the judgmental back of my mind to scream at me that it was too soon to be talking like that, but the nagging voice of self-doubt was silent.

Jed’s hand came up to cup my cheek and he kissed me tenderly. “I love you, too.”

We looked into each other’s eyes

A throat cleared behind us. I had forgotten about Kat.
Is she in love with Jed too? This is awkward, but I don’t think we can avoid finally clearing the air between us.

I backed a couple steps away from Jed and turned to Kat. “You know, Kat, I can get past the fact that you almost killed me-”

“What?” Jed asked. He looked between us, bewildered. “You almost killed Leslie?”

I shushed him. “We’ll explain in a bit. I thought she was the killer, as I told you, and she thought I was the killer. We ended up almost killing each other over it. Anyways, Kat, as I was saying, I can get past that, since I know exactly where you were coming from. What I can’t get past, however, is if you think that you are going to take Jed back. I love him, he’s mine, and I’m not willing to share.”

Her mouth dropped. I felt like a queen at how aggressively I took charge of the situation.
Let’s see her try and win Jed over. I won’t let her try to worm her way back in, and I won’t go away without a fight!

She tried speaking a couple times, but words wouldn’t come out.

A hearty guffaw from Jed startled me. “Oh Leslie, I wouldn’t worry about that.”

I rounded on him. “What do you mean? Ever since she’s gotten back you two have been tighter than tight, laughing and joking and spending far too much time together. I don’t know what you two got up to, and I don’t want to know, Jed. I forgive you for whatever it was, but just know that from now on, you’re mine and I’m yours, and that’s the way it’s going to be unless you kick me out of this town.”

Jed grinned as I started speaking, and I got angry as his smile got wider and wider until he started laughing, unable to help himself.

“And what exactly is so funny?”

Kat cleared her voice again - a quiet, innocuous sound that I would have found endearing if I wasn’t so annoyed at that moment.

“Um, Leslie? Jed’s saying that we aren’t going to get back together. In fact, that’s not even on the radar. Furthest thing, really.”

“What do you mean? You two get along so well, and I mean I saw you hugging outside Tim’s house and then ride off together.”

Kat’s face fell.

“Actually,” Jed said, “Tim was Kat’s uncle. She was really close to him growing up ever since her parents passed away.”

I felt as though I had been punched in the gut. No wonder Jed had been so angry when I had spent the better part of ten minutes accusing Kat while her uncle’s body was still warm.

It would have been nice if he had seen fit to tell me that!

“I’m so sorry,” I said. I didn’t know what else to say.

“It’s OK,” she replied. “I’ve managed to process it now. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it, but I think the worst is past. Jed really helped me get through it.”

“Kat and I aren’t in danger of hooking up though, Leslie. I mean, it’s not really something that she would be interested in.”

I felt entirely out of the loop. My brain was so fried from the events of the last few days that I couldn’t make simple connections anymore.

Kat finally bailed me out. “I’m a lesbian,” she said.

“Oh.” I reeled. “A lesbian? But… I mean, that’s great, but…” It didn’t make any sense to me. How could any woman see Jed and not want a piece of him? He was such a powerful, handsome, amazing creature. And Kat dated him for years, they were even close to getting engaged, she knew what he was capable of in the sack!

She nodded. “You know, if I were to pick between the two of you, I think I’d rather spend the night with you, Leslie.” She looked at me shyly.

Whoa. I didn’t see that one coming.
I was flattered, flustered, and didn’t know what to say.

Jed took my arm gently. “It’s the reason that we broke up back when we did. Between that and Frank not letting her join the gang, she left town rather than stay here.”

My world was shattered. All of the preconceptions - misconceptions - I had been walking around with for the past three days were wrong, and now I needed to recalibrate.

I hit Jed on the arm as hard as I could with my good hand. “Lesbian? Are you fucking kidding me? And you couldn’t have told me? How hard would it have been to say: Oh, Leslie, here’s Kat. She’s completely cool and gorgeous and everything, but no worries, she doesn’t like dick.”

Jed shrugged. “I didn’t think about it. I guess I probably should have said something.”

Fucking men. They never know when five words will save a world of misunderstanding. Why can’t they understand women just a little better?

I shook my head. “Honestly, Jed, I can’t believe you would let me just think that she was a huge threat to our relationship. Can’t you see how pretty she is?”

It was Kat’s turn to blush. “Aw, thanks Leslie. I thought Jed had told you, I’m sorry I caused you so much grief. And then the incidents started happening…”

The mood dampened a little. There was still a lot of aftermath that we had to deal with. The trust in the club would be severely damaged after one of their own caused such mayhem, no matter how new of a member. Zach had practically grown up inside the gang.

We stood there, the three of us, in a comfortable silence.

“We should probably be getting back,” Jed said. “I called Nathan at the hospital and let him know what my plans were. I wanted someone to be able to coordinate things if it turned out that I let Zach get the upper hand on me.

I rolled my eyes. “And you couldn’t have told us? Jed, what the hell?”

“I couldn’t do that,” he said. “I knew that either of you would come after me if I did, and I couldn’t risk Zach growing suspicious or you getting hurt. I thought you’d be more than safe together.” He scratched his chin. “I didn’t really think that you might try to kill each other.”

Kat and I shared a look.

Oh yes, I think we’re going to be pretty great friends now that all this is behind us.

I nibbled on my fingernail as I looked on. The DEA tech worked away under my watchful gaze.

“How long does this usually take?” Kat asked.

“It really depends on the safe, sometimes it takes a lot longer than others. We should be just about there.”

Jed paced across the small width of the office.

The big safe that I had discovered had sat there for two weeks while we sorted out the damages from Zach’s murderous spree and waited for the safe guy to come out to the town. In the meantime we had shared rampant speculation on what was inside.

Kat was of the firm opinion that it would just be money and valuables. I was banking on there being information that would lead us to Frank’s partners in crime. The big dogs that were the ultimate goal of my undercover sting.

Jed had remained silent. He would have the best guess having been closest to Frank for the longest time, but he refused to comment, no matter how Kat and I had cajoled him.

The two of us got along fantastically ever since our heart to heart out in the field. As different as we were, it pulled us closer together. We were able to teach each other new things that we’d never had access to before, and the one thing we shared in common was a love of learning.

I’d even let Kat start to teach me how to ride a motorcycle, although I’d sworn her to secrecy and hadn’t let Jed know yet. I wanted to surprise him. The look on his face would be priceless.

“Here we go,” said the tech. I took my hand from my mouth and Jed turned around on the spot.

All three of us subconsciously leaned forward as the tech, well versed in the showmanship of safe-cracking, gave the wheel one last spin and flung the door wide.

Silence.

“Well, shit. That’s something, isn’t it?”

~~~

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Olivia Ruin is a long-time writer and new author who dreamed of making her living through her craft. Only in her twenties, she chooses to believe that she writes with wisdom beyond her years, although she admits that it is likely just wishful thinking.

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