Chapter 22 #2
“I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. You’re hot, Lil. There is no way if you offered it to him on a silver platter he’d turn you down.”
“I don’t need you to stroke my ego, Midas. I know how to work what I got. It’s just tiring sometimes. And honestly, it’s nice not to have to worry about that kinda thing when we spend so much time alone.”
“So neither of you has caught feelings?”
“Not for each other, no.”
I close my mouth. Kruger might not be on her radar, but someone is. Before I can ask, she leans forward. “I spoke to Legs the other day.”
I tense, wondering if this is the part where she tells me she’s seeing someone. “She okay?”
“Hard to tell over a short phone call, but I think so. At least until I pissed her off, and she hung up on me.”
“I can’t imagine you pissing anyone off, let alone Legs. You guys were tight.”
“Were being the operative word. It’s not like with the others. She’s not ghosting me, she’s just busy. We both are. I just miss her.”
“Me too,” I admit.
“So, are you gonna do anything about it?”
I look at her. I haven’t told anyone about my plans because I don’t have them one hundred percent finalized yet, but if there is anyone here who cares about Legs as much as I do, it’s Lil.
“Yeah, Lil, I’m gonna do something about it.”
Her mouth drops open in shock, clearly not expecting that answer. “Holy crap, seriously?”
I nod, my lips quirking at her surprise. “I love her.”
“Well, duh.”
I crack up, laughing at her response.
“Oh, come on, we all knew. The only one in denial was you. I hope this plan of yours is a good one. You hurt her, Midas. She’s gonna make you work for it.”
“And she should. I’m willing to put in the effort to show her I mean it.”
“And the baby.”
I shrug. “The truth is, it doesn’t really matter who the father is. It’s Legs’s baby. It’d be impossible for me to see a tiny version of her and not fall head over heels in love.”
“Dammit, why couldn’t you have figured this all out before?”
“I needed to lose her to realize how much I loved her.”
“They do say absence makes the heart grow fonder. I never really understood how that worked, but I guess in this case, it’s true.”
I sigh. “You have no idea. I feel like she took every ounce of sanity with her when she left.”
“It’s cute you think you were sane before.”
I glare at her as she chuckles.
“She drives me crazy in the best and worst possible ways. It’s never going to be smooth sailing for us.
It’s always going to be stormy skies and rough waters threatening to pull us under.
We’re too explosive for it to be anything else.
But I’ll hold her up whether she thinks she needs it or not.
I’ll never let my shit drag her down. She’s my air, my chance to prove I’m—”
“Worthy,” she finishes for me when I snap my mouth shut before I give too much away. Lil looks at me with understanding, as if she knows exactly how I feel because she feels it, too.
She reaches over and gives my wrist a squeeze.
“I get it. You’re a big, manly biker. You don’t talk about feelings and shit, but if you’re ever gonna stand a chance with Legs, you have no choice but to strip yourself emotionally bare.
She deserves that. And, side note, you can’t expect her to reveal the parts of her to you that she keeps guarded if you don’t do the same. ”
“I know. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna find it easy.”
“If it were easy, she wouldn’t be the woman for you.”
“I can’t argue with that now, can I?”
She grins before looking over my shoulder. I see her cheeks flush before she dips her head.
I look to see what caused that reaction and see Powers heading our way.
Interesting. I never would have pegged these two together.
Then again, it makes sense. Powers wasn’t here when everything went down with Lil.
He never knew the old version, has never looked at her with pity or remorse, and to be honest, he’s never let her down.
He is, however, a prospect, which means Lil’s off-limits to him until he passes his probationary period.
I narrow my eyes on him, wondering if he’s been breaking the rules, but he doesn’t show an ounce of guilt on his face when he approaches.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t show any interest in Lil either.
I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
“Hey, Midas. Lil, Dice sent me up because you’re not answering your phone. Someone just dropped off a bunch of donations for the shelter.”
She looks up at him and frowns. “Who?”
“That I don’t know. I’ve only just got here myself.”
She looks at me, her face pale.
“Lil?”
“I’m not expecting any donations, Midas. Anyone who would give me stuff lives here and would have brought it to me directly. An outsider, even if they knew I worked at the shelter, would have just dropped them off instead of driving out here.”
I jump from my seat, getting what she’s saying. “Powers, you’re with me. Lil, let the others know to stay the fuck away from the front gate.”
“Be careful.”
I nod and tear out of the saloon with Powers on my heels, ignoring everyone else. Lil will fill them in.
“You think this could be a bomb?” It’s a valid question, even though we had his dog Lucy sweep the place and find nothing. We’re right to be cautious.
“I’m thinking I’d be an idiot to ignore it.”
“Fuck, I should have brought Lucy.”
“You didn’t exactly fucking know this would happen.”
We run through the warehouse holding the bikes and see Dice standing next to a black sack.
“Dice!” I yell, making him whip his head around. He frowns when he sees us, but jogs over.
“What’s up?”
“The bag. Who dropped it off?”
“Don’t know. It was outside the gates when I got here, with a note pinned to it with Lil’s name on it, saying it was a donation.”
“What do you mean, left outside the gate? Where were you?”
“Shift change. I just took over from Hoops.”
“Shit, right. Okay, get back and stay out of the way while we check it out.”
“What’s going on?” he asks Powers, who is eying the bag.
“Bomb threat,” he answers, stepping forward.
“I’ll do it,” I tell him, not wanting to risk anyone else. He shakes his head. Right now, he’s not just a prospect. He’s the expert.
“It’s gotta be me. If it is a bomb, I’m the only one who can defuse it.”
I scrub my hand down my face, but don’t argue. “Don’t take any unnecessary risks.”
“There’s always a risk when you play with bombs, Midas. But I know what I’m doing.”
“I’m not the expert here, but the bag is light as fuck. I questioned what the hell they were donating. Again, I know shit-all about bombs, but I expected it to be heavy,” Dice adds.
“You’d be surprised. I could make a bomb out of a wristwatch,” Powers replies.
“Shit, I did not need to know that.”
“Get to safety, Dice,” I tell him, but he shakes his head.
“All due respect, Midas. You won’t leave Powers, and I won’t leave you. You’re my president right now, which means you’re my priority.”
“And yet you’ll ignore my command?”
“Legs will kill me if something happens to you.”
I close my mouth, unable to argue with that.
He doesn’t gloat. He focuses his attention on Powers. We watch from the edge of the warehouse as he slowly approaches the bag, keeping his movements smooth and even. It feels like the world holds a collective breath.
He bends down, pulls out a pocket knife, and gently cuts through the polyethylene. We watch silently, not wanting to distract him when he looks over his shoulder with a frown. “You got a flashlight?”
I shake my head, but Dice holds up his keys with a small flashlight attached. “Want me to bring it over?”
“Yeah, just go slow. I don’t think this is a bomb, but I want to get a better look just to be sure.”
I fist my hands at my side and let him pass, praying to fuck I’m not about to get two prospects killed.
When Dice reaches him, he holds the flashlight out to Powers, who takes it and shines it into the bag through the wide slit he made.
It feels like it takes him forever to search it before he looks up at me and shakes his head. “Not sure what the fuck it is, but it’s not a bomb.”
I let out a relieved sigh. “Dice, run to the saloon and tell them it was a false alarm. They’ll be losing their minds.”
“On it,” he answers, taking his keys from Powers before he jogs through the warehouse. I crouch next to Powers. “Alright, let’s take a look.”
“You don’t think this could be a chemical attack, do you?”
“You mean like Anthrax? I think if it is, we’re fucked either way.”
He snorts and unties the top of the bag, holding it wide open for me to look at.
It takes me a second for my brain to understand exactly what it is I’m seeing. Dead dandelions. Bunches and bunches of them. I feel something cold move through me.
“What the fuck?” Powers asks.
“They’re dandelions.”
“I can see that, but what the fuck are they doing here?” They’re not a donation, but a message.
Except I have no idea what it’s supposed to mean.
My heart beats faster as it processes all the possible outcomes.
This is clearly about Legs. Whoever brought these here is telling me they not only know about Legs, they know what I’ve been sending her.
“Tip it out. Make sure there is nothing else inside, then get rid of it.”
I stand up, step inside the hut, and hit the open latch for the gates before walking back over to Powers.
My stomach revolts when I see hidden at the bottom of the bag are half a dozen pairs of Legs’s panties.
I’ve torn enough off her to recognize them.
Those dandelions aren’t a copy of the ones I sent Legs, they are the ones I sent her.
This asshole has been going through her trash.
I flashback to the night I took a pair of her panties from the laundry room, and wonder if that’s how he got his hand on them too.
I know just how easy it was to take them. Why didn’t I think about this then?
“I have somewhere I’ve gotta be. I don’t have time to explain yet. Tell Kruger I’ll be back as soon as possible,” I order before running for my truck. I yank my cut off and throw it on the seat next to the vase before heading out.
I push the truck hard, going twenty over the limit, as my head spins in a million different directions, none of which are good.