EXILE
During the ride to Little Rock, I had planned to stick to Tallulah’s side until she was back home. What a crock of shit! I couldn’t even remain at her side while we were at the hospital.
I stood alone in the lobby for far too long. A part of me insisted I storm into the treatment area and ensure Tallulah was safe. I didn’t care about her ex-husband or her cop uncle. She wasn’t safe unless I had eyes on her.
“You’re like a sad dog waiting for his owner to return,” Zodiac said as he strutted into the lobby. “Someone’s got a crush, I see.”
“Don’t start. You’ve been ridiculously horny about Clint Reed’s sister.”
Smirking, Zodiac only shrugged. “Her name is Elle, and I intend to fuck her. Nothing will stop that from happening, but you don’t see me standing outside her house, whimpering to be let inside.”
“Fuck off.”
Zodiac’s cocky expression shifted into a warm smile. “That Tallulah is a pretty one, for sure. But you need to give it up for now. We should be focused on the Void, not what your dick desires.”
I nearly told him that my interest wasn’t dick related. Despite my edgy need for Tallulah Reed, I was smart enough to know sharing my feelings with Zodiac would be opening myself up to ridicule. Zodiac frowned upon romantic attachments within the club.
Rather than defend myself, I asked, “Do you think the Void would send people here?”
“Maybe. They swung hard by grabbing the Crimson Guard’s lawyer. They wouldn’t do that if they weren’t ready to get dirty.”
“Is she safe here or back in Little Memphis?”
“Is anyone safe anywhere?” Zodiac replied unhelpfully.
“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this.”
“True. Your heart’s gotten ticklish, like a woman’s. You’d be smart to give me space until your balls are juiced up again.”
Zodiac waited to see if I would take the bait and complain. When I only glared at him, he strutted back outside.
My gaze flashed to the ground, where Tallulah’s bloody footprints remained. She never complained about the pain. There was something cold about her. I ought to forget about the woman. Instead, I wanted to be the guy who thawed her icy heart.
I considered talking my way into the treatment area.
I didn’t like her back there with her ex-husband.
What if he used the situation to get back with her?
I couldn’t remember the details I read about him, besides how he rode with the LM Jokers.
Since Zodiac wasn’t interested in the other club, I hadn’t done as much research on them.
Before I could bully my way into the treatment area, Tallulah’s people hurried through the lobby doors.
Clint Reed entered first, looking like a mix of his parents.
The guy’s large build was hidden under a long-sleeved black shirt and faded blue jeans.
He wasn’t wearing his club vest. His brown hair was windblown, and his tanned face relaxed.
He hid his stress well. Nothing in his blue eyes would imply he was upset about anything.
Tallulah’s father, Pax Reed, entered next.
His shoulder-length hair and unruly beard were gray.
His icy blue eyes were hyper-aggressive, as if he were ready to kill the next person who spoke to him.
Pax still carried himself like a dangerous biker, even if he was comfortably retired and living the high life in his private community.
Pax Reed switched off his wild-eyed hostility when his wife joined him. Bebe looked so much like Tallulah. I literally held my breath when I saw the dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty. She’d clearly been crying recently but offered a smile once Pax wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Clint didn’t waste time talking to the receptionist. He walked to me and gave a head nod.
“Any word on the abductors’ identities?”
“Does it matter? They were hired guns.”
“The Void’s hiring these people from somewhere. They sent two teams to take Lula. The first was a decoy team to test her defenses. We’re getting IDs on them. The second team left a few of their people behind, so we’re tracking down their info, too.”
“Zodiac might have grabbed IDs from the safe house, but I was focused on your cousin.”
Pax’s light blue eyes gave me a quick once-over before he nodded. “You got our girl out of there.”
“Thank you,” Bebe said, making intense eye contact and really selling her gratitude.
I got a little weak-kneed with Bebe focused on me. Her beauty was so similar to Tallulah’s, derailing my brain and killing my ability to censor myself.
“She goes by Lula?”
Pax immediately answered, “I prefer Tallulah.”
“Lula is what she prefers,” Bebe corrected.
The two of them shared a scowl before hugging. Clint didn’t react to his uncle and aunt. He only had eyes for me.
“They wanted Lula alive,” he told me. “What do you think they hoped to learn from her?”
“Where your money is hidden and the bodies are buried.”
Clint nodded, but he was a tough man to read. His face tended to seem overly calm, even when I knew he must be bothered.
“Thank you again,” Bebe said as she and Pax were waved back to the treatment area by Devin.
I wanted to follow them. A part of me felt like I had a right to shove my way into Lula’s life and plant my ass squarely in the middle of it.
But I wasn’t a man prone to giving in to his whims. I didn’t know Lula. We weren’t friends. If I hadn’t walked through that door to untie her, one of the other guys would have. I wasn’t her hero. She wasn’t my reward.
Clint studied me. “If Lula is safe to travel, we’re taking her home immediately.”
“I hope you’ll do a better job of protecting her this time around.”
“Cher and Stevie killed seven of those assholes.”
“Are those sisters alive?” I asked, recalling Lula’s concern.
Refusing to reveal himself to me, he only replied, “Yes. Lula is, too, thanks to you and your club.”
That was the closest I would get to a heartfelt moment with Clint Reed. He checked his phone and frowned at me.
“We’ll be leaving in twenty minutes. Will your club escort us to the nearby airport?”
“They might try to grab her again,” I said, mostly to keep from blurting out how I wanted to take Lula home with me.
“We know. That’s why we want to learn what we can about their hired guns. If there’s a pattern to who they’re sending, we might be able to take the fight to the Void and keep them away from our families.”
I heard Clint’s unspoken meaning. Lula and my sister would never be safe until the Void was destroyed.
I tried to keep my mind on business while I spoke with Zodiac and York. Our guys were growing restless from playing bodyguards on a quiet night with no threats.
“It’s a long war,” Zodiac told me when I frowned at the hospital. “It started before Nova took a bullet. We’ve been fighting these guys for a while. You should be glad they’re taking shots at our allies instead of us.”
I scowled at Zodiac, who only smiled. He was always poking at people, making them second-guess themselves and distrust him.
Zodiac didn’t believe in comfort. His life had started with a long line of foster homes and stints with distant family.
Even after he took over our club and became president, he refused to buy a comfortable place to live, instead bunking in a small apartment above our clubhouse.
“Comfort makes men weak, slow, and in need of replacing,” he had told me more than once.
I wasn’t like Zodiac. I had mostly grown up with comfort just out of reach but close enough to touch. I always believed that if the stars aligned, I’d find the peace I was deprived of as a kid.
Following Lula back to Little Memphis might offer me that comfort. My heart demanded I take what I needed. My brain kept me solidly in check when a white SUV drove away with Lula to the airport. I followed on my motorcycle, allowing the steady rumble of my club’s bikes to keep me grounded.
I was the VP of the Black Rainbow Motorcycle Club.
My life wasn’t my own. I had responsibilities to the men riding with me and to my sister and nieces back home.
I worked hard to claim the comfort I currently possessed.
To keep it, I’d need to passively watch Lula disappear in a chopper back to her hometown.