LULA
My siblings brought me home and stuck close during the police interview. Sabrina double-checked the safe room located in the back of my closet. Rowdy examined my security cameras. Vanessa inspected my car for any potential tracking device.
Eventually, my sisters and brother grew restless. The Crimson Guard had been attacked. They wanted to ride around town, talk to snitches, and round up info. After claiming I wanted a nap, I watched my siblings head out.
Dillon was next door with Bebe and the foster kids. She worked better with other people, always wanting to prove herself. There was no glory in acing an assignment if no one was around to applaud.
Rather than take a nap, I walked outside to my back patio and admired the serene lake.
Living so close to my parents might have seemed bizarre for a grown woman, but I liked knowing they were close.
Deep inside, under my tough bitch, Blair Witch armor, I was still a little girl scared of the boogeyman crawling out of the closet.
Right now, I felt like the monsters won. Cher might never be herself again. Stevie’s identity was linked to her sister. They were permanently damaged because someone went through them to get to me.
“It’s not my fault,” I muttered to myself. “I didn’t make those men attack us.”
The words were the stone-cold truth. I hadn’t done anything wrong. No one blamed me, but I got away with cuts and bruises while the sisters were forever changed.
Reclining on a lounge chair, I replayed everything from yesterday. I lingered on the sight of the dead man in the safehouse’s hallway. I chose to put all the blame on him. He’d orchestrated the suffering. Now, he was dead.
Did his death set the world right? No, but I still recalled the frozen look of fear on his dead face. It was a small thing compared to so much suffering, but I chose to focus on something positive.
Restless, I considered working, but my head was in the wrong space to do anything productive.
I glanced at my parents’ house. Though staying close to my people made sense, I didn’t get up from the lounge chair.
After a while, I heard a motorcycle ride up to my driveway and assumed one of my siblings had returned.
However, this person knocked rather than use the code to unlock the door.
Immediately paranoid, I grabbed my phone to check for messages from the security detail located at each entrance to the Sleepy Eye Community.
I also gripped the Springfield Armory Hellcat my parents bought me a few years ago as a birthday gift.
My house was designed with plenty of windows to take advantage of the beautiful view and natural light.
Right now, I wished I had been more guarded with my choices.
The person at the front door could see me approaching if I didn’t slink along the walls.
I tried to catch sight of them before they did me.
I considered running for my safe room and calling for help. Before I ducked down the hallway toward my bedroom, I spotted Exile glancing through the door’s sidelight. My panic quickly flipped to curiosity.
Shoving my phone into the back pocket of my jeans, I walked to the door and opened it to find a grumpy cowboy biker on the other side.
Exile’s scowl faded, leaving behind a faint smile. “I wasn’t sure you were home.”
His gaze flashed to the gun in my hand. I leaned against the door and wondered about his appearance here. I glanced outside to find no other members of the Black Rainbow.
“Ride up here alone?”
“It’s not a business visit.”
“Come for your beer already?”
Feeling sheepish, Exile rubbed at the back of his neck and shrugged. “I was curious if you got home safe.”
“Well, I did, so I guess you can ride back to Louisiana, then,” I said and opened the door wider. “Or we could get my beer offer out of the way.”
Unsure if my teasing was playful, Exile worked up another scowl. “If you’re busy, I can come back.”
“Won’t be long before my dad shows up to give you grief. I think it’d be best to get a little liquor courage in you before that happens.”
Stepping into my house, Exile ducked as if worried about his hat. I could tell he was considering whether to remove it.
“My brother wears hats inside. No law against it,” I said and shut the door. “I only have Hefeweizen. Can you tolerate wheat beer?”
“Can’t say I’ve ever had any.”
“I started drinking Ayinger Br?uweisse to piss off my dad, but he grew to like the taste. Mostly because he enjoys anything with a banana flavor.”
Exile was clearly unsure about his visit. My house intimidated him. My beer was weird. I hadn’t put down my gun yet. He couldn’t hide how rattled he felt.
Resting my pistol on the counter, I opened the fridge and grabbed two bottles. When I handed him one, I let our gazes hold until his unease defused.
Imagining us skipping the drinks and moving this conversation to the bedroom, I said more to myself than him, “You and I won’t be able to talk long.”
“Is your daughter here?”
“No,” I replied, breaking free from my dirty thoughts and walking to the family room, where I settled onto the couch and rested my feet on the leather cushions. “She’s next door with my parents.”
Exile didn’t know where to sit his fine ass, so I gestured toward the other end of the couch. We’d be close enough to enjoy the view, yet far enough apart to avoid getting frisky.
“Did you really ride hundreds of miles to check on me?” I asked and cracked open the beer. “Seems like you could have texted and saved yourself the effort.”
“I wanted to see you were okay with my own eyes.”
“Fair enough.”
“Are you okay?” he asked, glancing down at my slipper-clad feet.
“I’m a little sore, but nothing serious. That’s the physical side. Mentally, I’ve been spiraling a little since seeing Cher and Stevie at the hospital.”
“How are they doing?”
“Stevie was shot several times but should recover. Cher was shot, broke a dozen bones, and cracked her skull. She might never be the same.”
Exile rested his hat on the table and sighed. “I’m sorry. There’s only so much a person can do when ambushed like you were.”
“They killed the first team just fine, but I froze up. If I hadn’t panicked, they might be okay.”
“Or they might be dead. No way to know every end to every scenario once you start tugging on a what-if thread.”
“True, but I still feel guilty,” I said as my chest grew heavy with grief. “They’re collateral damage and doing the real suffering. I was the target yet walked away mostly unscathed.”
“You don’t have to explain your guilt to me,” Exile muttered as his jaw clenched. “My sister nearly died because of who I ride with. Can you imagine explaining that shit to her little girls? They just wanted their mom to come home. The guilt nearly ate right through me.”
Studying Exile’s handsome, scowling face, I asked, “Why do you think they targeted your sister?”
“Because Zodiac has no one to target. His only family is a foster mom who calls him ‘bitch’ all the time. Caren and Zodiac once had a drag-out fight in the street. No one’s going to take a shot at her to upset him.”
“And you’re close to your sister?”
“She’s my best friend,” he said instantly and then flinched like maybe he was sharing too much or coming off as weak. “She lives at my house. Well, it was supposed to be her place, and I planned to move out. That just never happened.”
“You don’t have to get squirrely over loving your family,” I said, grinning at how he looked embarrassed. “I live next door to my parents.”
Exile gave me a sheepish grin and finally tried the beer. I saw him working through his feelings about the drink.
Shrugging, he murmured, “Kinda fruity.”
“Like I told Pax, beer doesn’t have to taste like piss.”
Exile chuckled, making his handsome face extra inviting. I sighed wistfully and wished we had met under different circumstances. If I weren’t weighed down with guilt, I’d already be straddling him on the other end of the couch.
“I shouldn’t be here,” Exile said, frowning at his words. “I don’t know why I couldn’t stay away.”
“I’m a ruthless woman with a chip on her shoulder,” I said, and he scowled harder. “But I feel weak right now, so I’m glad you showed up.”
Exile’s scowl broke piece by piece as he considered my words. I knew plenty of guys like him. They went out of their way to avoid embarrassing themselves. Coming here couldn’t have been easy for Exile.
“Soon, maybe in only a minute or two, my dad will show up and act like you’re a fucking loser. He’ll thank you for saving me in one breath and make fun of your hat in the next. We won’t have a moment alone again for a while. With that said, I hope you’ll stick around town for a bit longer.”
“Zodiac’s going to think I’ve lost my mind.”
“No, he understands I’m hot,” I replied, winning a grin from Exile. “You just tell him how you want to fuck me, and I’ll tell people how I want to fuck you. We’ll make it seem uncomplicated, even if this thing between us might not be simple.”
Exile studied me and nodded. “No beer would ever be a deal breaker, but I would have probably thought less of you if this beer sucked,” he explained and took a long draw on the bottle.
Swallowing, he gave me a little grin. “But it’s like you, I guess.
Nothing I considered before, but deeply inviting. ”
Sharing his grin, I poked his leg with my foot and let myself wonder if this thing between us could stick.