Chapter 10
Lena
It’s maddening being stuck in the house with Rex, especially given the fact that he always has that hangdog look about him, as if I’m the one who broke his heart, not the other way around.
The other guys have been great, and I won’t lie, I’ve fantasized about them all, especially after what Cole told me about them sharing.
The problem is, I don’t want to be fantasizing about them, especially not Rex.
Hell, I know I shouldn’t be fantasizing about them.
Rough and ready bikers who are twice my age and into god knows what kind of stuff aren’t exactly the kind of guys you should be dating.
I wonder what Big Joe will make of them. I suppose the fact that they saved his life will work in their favor; I’ll be forever grateful to them for that. Discovering that Big Joe is going to make it, that Zeke didn’t kill him like I thought, was the biggest relief.
After a week of close proximity with the man who broke my heart and his dangerously attractive, flirty friends, my nerves are shot. The only silver lining is that it’s distracted me from the reason why I’m stuck in the farmhouse in the first place, because a vindictive man wants me dead.
I know it’s still not safe, and that it probably makes me a bad mom, leaving my daughter in the care of two men I’ve only known a week, but I need to get out of the house before I lose my mind. I have to let off some steam.
The clubhouse is exactly as I remember, with some familiar faces who smile at me politely, curiosity dancing across their faces as they wonder where they recognize me from.
I’ve changed in the three years since I was here last. My figure is fuller, my thighs are thicker, and my stomach is more rounded from motherhood.
My hair is longer, I’m not platinum blonde anymore, but a more subtle version.
I wear less makeup, I’m the same person, but a more muted, mature version.
At twenty-two, I should be partying and making all the mistakes you make in your twenties, but motherhood has changed me.
You can’t go out all night partying with a toddler in tow.
However, tonight I’m determined to let my hair down a bit and live a little.
I smile to myself as I notice Rex’s jealous expression as Cole places a hand on my waist to gently move me out of the way of a drunken club member about to bump into me.
Perhaps having him come tonight won’t be such a bad thing after all. Maybe I can get a little payback?
We head to the bar and order drinks. The crowd parts like the sea as the guys walk through, with people greeting Cole and Rex with deference.
If I thought Rex was a big deal around here, then Cole is next level.
Everyone tries to speak to him, to get a scrap of that intense focus.
He politely but firmly rebuffs them, informing them he’s out tonight with me and Rex.
At the busy bar, Cole only needs to nod his head at the barmaid for beers and chasers to appear almost immediately.
“Cheers,” I say, holding his shot up.
“What are we drinking to?” Cole asks.
“To forgetting the bullshit and having fun,” I declare.
“I’ll drink to that,” Rex chimes in. I hope he doesn’t think I’m referring to his bullshit. I can’t just forget how he lied to me, how he manipulated me.
I ignore Rex, looking at Cole as he smiles in that slow, seductive way of his. “Fuck the Iron Vultures,” he thunders, downing his shot and slamming it on the bar.
We echo him, as do several other men, who loudly declare their hatred for the rival club.
“You wanna go sit?” Rex suggests, pointing to the booth that I used to think of as ours.
“No, let’s shoot some pool,” I suggest.
“Sure,” the guys agree, and we head over to the pool table.
The group playing immediately confirms that we can take the table once they’ve finished, and one of the club girls happily volunteers to be Rex’s partner in a doubles game against Cole and me.
I’m a hopeless pool player, but the last thing I want to do is sit next to Rex in that booth and be reminded of what we had, or rather what I thought we had.
Or of the last day I saw him, when he left me here to rush off to his wife, and I was humiliated to find out the truth from a club bunny who relished in telling me.
At least she helped me leave, and as soon as I could, I sent the money back to her.
She didn’t get in touch, though. Why would she?
“Is Mary Beth in tonight?” I ask, looking around to see if I can spot her. “Or Amanda?” I add, feeling guilty that I left without ever saying goodbye to my new friend. I imagine neither woman would be delighted to see me back here.
“Amanda might be in later, Tank’s here already, so she’ll probably come drag his drunken ass home later,” Cole replies.
“Why would you ask about Mary Beth?” Rex asks, looking at me with a strange, intense expression.
Does he know she’s the one who told me that he’s married? Does he blame her for my leaving?
“Why wouldn’t I ask about people I met?” I retort.
“She’ll no doubt come in tonight, she usually does. Especially if she gets wind that Rex is here,” Cole says, answering my question and earning a glower from Rex.
The other team finishes their game, and we’re distracted by playing ours. Rex and Cole are both good players, even Starla, the club bunny, is pretty adept, which makes my poor efforts at hitting the ball anywhere remotely close to the hole even more pitiful.
“Come here, let me show you,” Cole says, coming to stand close behind me and showing me how to handle the cue and aim properly.
I try to listen to what he’s telling me, but all I can think of is his hand on mine, his body so close that it occasionally touches me, driving me wild.
Thoughts of him bending me over this table and fucking me on it flood my mind, and I flush pink.
From the look on Rex’s face, he can tell exactly the effect Cole’s proximity is having on me, and he hates it, which only makes me respond more.
There’s a mean, vengeful part of me that wants to hurt him the way he hurt me, and I can’t stop myself from flirting and pushing myself closer to Cole, asking for help when I no longer need it.
Starla notices my tactic and tries it on Rex herself.
He’s initially uninterested, gruffly telling her what to do.
But the more Cole makes me laugh, or he sees me placing a hand on Cole’s chest as we speak, the more he seems to try to get a rise from me by flirting back with Starla, much to her delight.
To my frustration, it works. When I see the beautiful, petite yet curvy woman pressing herself against Rex, I can’t help the green-eyed monster that rises within me.
It becomes almost a competition as Rex and I continue to try to make the other jealous.
I try to convince myself that I’m not using Cole, that I actually enjoy flirting with him and I am attracted to him.
That I’m not just doing it to make Rex jealous.
After playing pool and taking one too many shots, a live band comes on, and we move to the dance floor to watch them.
Starla follows close behind Rex, not seeming to mind that he ignores her when he thinks I’m not looking.
I ignore them and talk to Cole, needing to get close so I can shout over the music.
We dance, and I find myself increasingly more attracted to him.
There’s something on a chemical, base level that draws me to him like a moth to a flame.
However, I felt that way about Rex and learned my lesson the hard way.
Still, it would be too messy getting involved with Rex’s best friend. I can’t do it, for that reason and many others.
However, later in the night, when I look over to see Starla with her legs wrapped around Rex’s waist, kissing him passionately, I forget all of that.
I throw caution to the wind and I kiss Cole.
Initially, he’s surprised, and he doesn’t immediately respond, but when my tongue flicks out exploratorily, he gives in and kisses me back.
He’s a good kisser, and when I press myself close to him, I can feel that he’s as turned on as I am, his cock growing hard in his pants.
However, he pulls away earlier than I want, and when I look up into his eyes, I see hurt in them.
He knows that I only kissed him because of Rex and Starla.
“Don’t ever use me like that again,” he says quietly. “I want you, but not like that.”
Shame floods me, and I open my mouth to speak. But before I can say anything, we’re interrupted.
“Well, well, well, look who came crawling back.” I turn to see the familiar woman standing behind me.
“Hello, Mary Beth,” I reply.
She looks at Cole and me, still huddled close, and sneers. “Seems you’ve upgraded. Only the best for you, hey?”
“Watch it,” Cole growls in warning.
Mary Beth holds her hands up in surrender. “I’m just teasing. Me and Lena are old friends. We confided in each other, helped each other out. Didn’t we, Lena?”
“Friends would be a stretch,” I reply bluntly, fed up with her bitchiness.
She pouts mockingly. “Whatever.” She turns to look at Cole and says, “I’m surprised you allowed her back.
It was bad enough when Rex fell for her tricks and let the enemy’s old lady and spy into his bed.
Now you’ve let her back in without even questioning where she’s been these past three years—or whose child her little brat is. ”
“You’re a liar,” I blurt out, shocked she would accuse me of such things when she’s the one who helped me leave.
I’m also horrified that she’s claiming Mia is Zeke’s child, confirming my worst fears.
Part of me wants to blurt out that she’s Rex’s just to wipe that smug look off her face and the look of concern on the guys’ faces, but I hold back.
Now is not the time. Telling him now might make me sound more guilty.
After all, I told Rex that she’s someone else’s.
“Am I?” she taunts, looking at Cole. “Let me guess, she’s back here running from Zeke, again. How stupid can you all be? Are you men really thinking with your dicks only? Don’t you see how convenient this all is? She’s a goddamned spy for the Iron Vultures!”
Several people look over and begin whispering among themselves, judging me.
What she’s saying sounds plausible. These people don’t know me other than my connection to the Iron Vultures and Zeke’s obsession with me.
They have no reason to trust me. But when Rex and Cole look at me with doubt in their eyes, I fear that the only people protecting me from Zeke may now believe I don’t need their protection at all; that I’m actually the enemy.
“Mary Beth, come with me, you too, Rex. Tank, Joel, please take Lena into the back and keep an eye on her,” Cole says, sounding every bit the stern president whom people should obey without question.
“You can’t be serious, Cole? You know she’s lying. Rex?” I plead, feeling humiliated and hurt that they would believe I could betray and manipulate them.
“It’s nothing personal, Lena, just that now Mary Beth has made the allegation, we need to investigate it thoroughly. It’s a grave claim.”
“Don’t I get to defend myself?” I demand.
“Of course, after we’ve spoken with Mary Beth, we’ll talk to you. In the meantime, I promise you’ll be perfectly safe with Tank and Joel,” Cole calmly assures me.
“But being watched like a prisoner who might flee at any second,” I sullenly retort.
Cole shrugs, unwilling to budge on his decision.
“Please, Lena, just go with them.”
“Fine,” I snap, following the two men without looking at Rex or Cole again.
I feel as if my world is crumbling around me.
What if they believe Mary Beth’s lies? What will happen to me?
To Mia? They’re the only people protecting us from Zeke and the Iron Vultures.
Without them, all hope is lost. I can only hope that they would at least help us get far away from here, that they wouldn’t turf us out without the means to flee.
Without them, we’re as helpless as newborn chicks.
Mary Beth is the cuckoo who’s pushed me from my nest.
I try to hold my head high and ignore the stares as they lead me into a small room in the back of the club. Hot tears of anger and shame sting at the corner of my eyes, but I force them down; I will not let these people see me cry.
I try to tell myself that it will be okay, that Cole and Rex will see through her lies. Still, the longer I wait in that room with my two polite but distant and cautious guards, the louder the little voice in my head gets that’s telling me things are about to go from bad to really fucking bad.