12 | Addison
“I’m guessing you and Cade made up?” Serenity winks as I wipe a glass at the club bar, putting it away.
“What makes you think that?”
Her brows go up and she grins. “Honey, you’re walking like you’ve been slammed in the vagina by a truck.”
I snort, then burst out laughing as Goat, who is sitting at the end of the bar, turns and gives us both a look.
“You fuckin’ women,” he mutters.
Giggling, Serenity passes me another glass, leaning in close. “So, he’s over it?”
“He’s over it, for now at least,” I say back.
After I had Skye, I could have stopped working at the club, but I like being here. She can be here with me for a few hours each day, and we have a room set up for the kids if they need to rest. I try not to bring her here if it’s too crazy, or they’re partying, but during the day when it’s quiet and they’re off riding or doing whatever business they’re doing, I don’t mind it.
She goes to daycare a few days a week, and on those days I work longer.
Jackson pays me good, and I’m not about to complain.
Besides, I can walk from here to his house if I need a break, and Serenity is always happy to take Skye.
Today she’s helping me, because Ava had a long night teething and she needed to get out of the house. I think Serenity struggles being at home sometimes, her spirit, though quiet and peaceful, also has a wild streak and part of me thinks she’s more than a little ready to take on the world. She seems destined for great things.
I do wonder sometimes if one day, the age gap between her and my dad might bother her.
I wouldn’t dare say it, though, because I know she loves him more than life.
“Well, I’m glad, you two are like the OG. You can’t fight, if you’re both fighting then the rest of us are toast.”
I laugh, pouring another beer for Goat and sliding it across the bar. It’s not the only thing I do here, I clean and keep the fridge stocked. I’m basically a biker bitch, but I don’t mind. I love it here. “Come on now, you can’t base your world on Cade and me, lord knows I’m going to stuff up a million times more yet.”
She laughs. “You do have that stubborn streak. Speaking of, did he take the bait?”
She’s leaning in a little closer now, so Goat can’t hear.
“I don’t honestly know, he didn’t say a word about the information I left out, but I could tell it had been moved. I’m going to speak to Darth’s sister again today, she said she has a little more information that might help.”
Serenity frowns. “Cade will flip if he finds out.”
I give her a big, albeit fake, smile. “It’s just information. It can’t hurt ...”
“Addison, you are going to get your ass kicked.”
Tossing my hair over my shoulder, I give her a real smile now. “Well, luckily for me, I like it.”
As I say that Spike and Muff walk into the bar, Spike’s knuckles still bloody from last night. God only knows what trouble they got themselves into.
“Hey, bestie.” I wave to Spike. “Hey, Muff!”
“Precious,” Spike murmurs.
“Princess, how are you?” Muff grins.
Yeah.
I do love being here.
“Fantastic. My man is happy with me again, so the world is once again right.” I grin.
“God knows the poor man has to have some patience when it comes to you,” Muff murmurs, grinning.
“Hey now, I’m an angel.”
Spike snorts.
I shoot him a look. “Excuse me, sir, but you’re no walk in the park.”
He winks at me.
“Well, whatever it is you’ve got your man thinkin’ about, he’s distracted as fuck.”
My brows go up. “Is that so?”
Serenity takes my arm, shooting Spike a look. “Do not encourage her, Spike. She’s already gotten herself into enough trouble.”
My phone rings from my purse—wondering if it’s Cade, I move away and get it, picking it up to see Charlie’s number flashing across the screen. Guilt crushes me, mostly because he hasn’t spoken to me since he tried to kiss me and I do want to clear the air. Even if it’s highly unlikely I’ll ever see him again, I don’t want to leave things on a bad note.
Answering the phone, I step out of the room.
“I was starting to think you’d never talk to me again,” I say, my voice soft.
“I’m an idiot,” he murmurs. “I’m sorry, Addison. I acted like a fool. I know you’re taken, I should have never crossed that boundary. It won’t happen again, I swear it.”
Charlie is a man of his word, so I believe him.
“It’s all forgotten. How are you?”
“I’m calling to tell you something I found out last night. You’ve got me invested in this case, and I can’t stop digging. From what I can work out, when Clara came out of those woods all bloodied and battered, it was because she was trying to retrieve something that her and Darth had stolen. She got caught, but managed to escape, then the two of them were never seen again.”
I press my lips together.
I promised Cade I wouldn’t look into this any further.
Dammit.
Just one question. Just one.
“Do you know what it was they stole?”
“I’ve found some reports from other people we’ve locked up, traced it back, and I think that someone was stashing stuff out there, weapons, jewels, money and they found out where it was. My guess, they were trying to steal it and make a run for it, but it went south. Just a handful of those jewels and they’d be set for life.”
Swallowing my million questions, I force myself not to ask them. “It’s not sounding good for them, is it?”
“Not if they got caught.”
Charlie goes quiet, then murmurs, “Marshall is a fuckin’ bad man. He has half this police force workin’ for him.”
“It really isn’t looking good then.” I sigh. “Thanks for helping me with this, Charlie, I really appreciate it.”
“Any time. If I find anything else, I’ll let you know.”
Hanging up the phone, I fight every urge inside me to go out into those woods and search. If there is something out there, something big, it could lead me to the people who last saw Clara. The club could find that location, of that I’m sure, but they’ll never help me. Not unless I can get Cade to agree.
Do I push the matter?
Is it worth the risk?
I don’t know.
~*~*~*~*~
“CAN WE TALK?”
Cade is underneath a car that is jacked up. The guys buy old cars, fix them, and flip them, just another way they make money outside of all the illegal shit they do. They’re not selling humans though, that’s a plus, right? Just drugs, probably weapons, I don’t know, and I don’t care to know. I never thought they were saints.
Sliding out from beneath the car, Cade looks up at me, grease smudged on his face, his hair messy, his shirt unbuttoned showing his bare chest. Well damn, I just forgot what I came here to talk about. Right now, I want to get down onto the ground and climb him like a damned tree. Fuck he looks good. Biting my lip, I try to focus my thoughts on the task at hand.
“Did you come here to fuck me with your eyes, sugar, or do you have a question?”
God, why does his voice have to be so husky?
“Why do you have to roll out of there looking like that?”
He grins, sitting up, his abs flexing and tightening as he does.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Glancing around, I see nobody is in here, and I can’t help myself. I drop to my knees and crawl toward him. When I reach him, I press my mouth to his, kissing him until my body is aching.
“Baby,” he murmurs, “I’d love to fuck you right now, but I’m busy.”
“It’ll just take a minute,” I whisper, biting his lower lip. “I can make it quick.”
He growls, his hands sliding to my hips and hauling me onto his lap. “You make it so fuckin’ hard to say no.”
Grinning, I reach down between us and undo his jeans, freeing his cock. Then, I lift my dress around my waist, slide my panties to the side and sink down onto him. He’s already hard, and as he fills me, I moan with utter delight. I don’t know what it is, but lately I just can’t get enough of him. His smell, his body, his face, everything about him drives me wild.
Hand on my lower back, he growls as he rocks me, hard and fast. I swirl my hips, riding him, my fingers tangled in his hair, my mouth on his, as I fuck him deep. His growls of pleasure against my lips are enough to send me over the edge, and just the mere sight of him is enough to make my orgasm so intense I’m forced to pull my mouth from his as a moan of pleasure tears out of my throat.
He cums with me, his cock jerking inside my body, and fuck, I want to go again.
I want to stay on his lap all day, but I know he has things to do.
Pulling back, I smile at him as he reaches up and swipes a line of grease off my cheek. “You’re insatiable,” he growls.
“You make me that way.”
Kissing him once more, I climb off his lap and adjust my dress. He does his jeans up, not once having moved from his spot on the little roller he is sitting on that slides beneath the car. Crossing his arms, he watches me, and I know he’s waiting for me to ask what it is I came here for.
“Go on,” he murmurs. “Tell me what you came to say, you’ve softened the blow.”
I bite my tongue for a minute, and then blurt, “I know who Clara and Darth were working for.”
His eyes flash, and he lays down on the roller and goes back under the car.
Fuck.
“Cade, I know you said to stop looking, and I have, but I can’t help but think about the information I already received. It’s eating at me. I can’t just forget about it. Please. Just hear me out, let me tell you what I know, and if you don’t want to take it further, I’ll respect that.”
He pauses, and even though I can’t see his face, I know he’s thinking about it.
He rolls back out, just enough to look at me. “Who?”
A little hope sparks inside me.
“His name is Marshall. That’s all I know. He was running the show. I heard from Darth’s sister that she thinks they stole something from him, turns out they did. They found where he was stashing his goods, somewhere out in the woods, and Clara tried to steal it ... They haven’t been seen since.”
Cade’s eyes flare with the kind of rage I’ve never seen. “Marshall?”
I nod, terrified by his expression.
He rolls all the way out, pushing up to his feet. Then he launches his wrench across the room, and it smashes into the wall. A roar of frustration leaves his chest, and I take a step back.
“Cade?”
His eyes dart to mine. “Fuckin’ Marshall.”
My heart skips a beat. “You ... you know him?”
Fists clenched, Cade grinds out, “I found out who they were working for. I wanted him to release them, considerin’ she wouldn’t stop on her own. Went to him, he had me do some jobs for him, dangerous ones, and we made a deal. He’d never touch her again, and he’d release them.”
Shaking my head, I try to wrap my brain around what he’s saying. “If he released them, then where are they?”
Cade looks away, and I can see he’s not telling me something. He knows more about this than he’s letting on.
“You’re not telling me everything,” I say. “You want me to stay out of it, to be on your side, but you’re not being honest with me.”
His eyes dart to mine, furious and cold. “I knew they were goin’ to steal from him, and I did nothing to stop it. I was so fuckin’ angry that I let her do it ...”
My eyes widen, and I press a hand to my chest. “What? You didn’t even try to stop her?”
“She made her fuckin’ choice, Addison. I tried to get Marshall off her back, and he was willing to let them go but her and her greedy fuckin’ man couldn’t stop themselves, they thought they could steal and get enough to go live some amazing life together. I overheard them talkin’ about their plan one day when I went around to try and talk to her one last time, and I knew it didn’t matter what I did, she was goin’ to get herself so tangled in that world that she’d never get out.”
“She could be dead because of that decision, Cade. She could be gone, because you chose not to help her,” I gasp, my body reeling with shock.
He steps closer to me. “You, out of all people, know what it’s like to help someone, over and over, even when that person is toxic and eventually, one day, you just fuckin’ give up. Do not judge me, Addison, when you let your mother die on the ground in front of you.”
I slap him.
It comes from somewhere deep in my soul.
The anger that I feel right now at his comment makes me want to scream.
I did watch my mother die, but my mother allowed me to be raped, beaten, tormented and treated like a dog my entire life. Yes, Cade’s sister was selfish, but she didn’t fucking put him through that. The fact that he’d use my past against me hurts more than anything he could ever say or do.
My eyes burn with unshed tears.
“Fuck, sugar,” he begins, but I put a hand up.
“How dare you,” I whisper, my voice barely there. “You have no right. My situation is entirely different, and you know it. Yes, Clara was selfish, but she was engulfed with trauma. She thought Darth was her happy ending. You can’t blame her for that, but to justify your actions by using mine, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
His eyes are filled with regret, but my emotions are too heightened to care.
“I didn’t mean that. You know I didn’t fuckin’ mean it.”
“Yet you said it,” I say, shaking my head. “I’m done playing by your rules. If you don’t want to help her, fine, I’ll go back to doing it myself. I wanted to give you the chance to work with me, to free yourself from a past that still haunts you, but rather than admit it and help, you’d rather throw my past in my face. You have issues that run deep, and if you’re not willing to let me in, then I’m done here.”
Turning, I walk away, my body aching from the sex, my heart broken from his comment and my mind slowly shutting down, just the way it is accustomed to.
It hurts.
It all fucking hurts.