Chapter 5
Lynch
“Was that her?”
“Who?”
“The girl?” Widow asked. “Was that her?”
I grabbed a putty blade from the table and then went back to work on the bathroom drywall as I answered, “No idea who you’re talking about, brother.”
“Oh, come on. You know better than to try that innocent bullshit with me,” Widow snapped. “She was the girl from the other night, wasn’t she?”
“A lot of girls pass through here, brother.” I knew exactly who he was talking about, but I couldn’t help but fuck with him.
Widow was so easily roused, and I was feeling better since the cut on my head had healed.
Country, Rafe, and Jagger were all ears as I glanced back over to Widow and goaded, “You’re gonna have to be more specific. ”
“The girl that was sitting in the back of the fucking cop car! How’s that for specific?”
“Yeah, that’s pretty specific.”
“So, it was her.” Without giving me a chance to reply, he barked, “What the hell was she doing here, and why was she asking for you by name?”
“I don’t know what to tell ya, brother.” I gave him a nonchalant shrug. “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated?” Widow’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell did you do?”
“Nothing. Really. It was no big deal.”
“What. Did. You. Do?” Widow pushed.
It was clear he wasn’t going to let it go, so I gave him a quick rundown of everything that had happened. I’d barely finished telling him about bailing the girls out when Country interrupted me, “Whoa, hold up. You’re telling me those girls jumped off a rooftop in downtown Nashville?”
“Yeah.”
“They just jumped off,” he repeated. “Like the shit you see in movies and stuff?”
“Yeah, brother. That’s what I’m saying.”
“Holy shit.” An amazed smile crossed his face as he mumbled, “That’s badass.”
“Trouble is what it is, and the last thing any of us needs is more trouble.” Widow shook his head and grumbled, “I told ya to let it go.”
“I just helped them out,” I replied defensively. “It was no big deal.”
“It’s clearly a big deal to her,” Jagger interjected. “Otherwise, she wouldn’t have shown up here tonight.”
Jagger wasn’t one to voice his opinion without considering it first. It was a lesson he’d learned while he was locked up over a crime he had every right to commit. He was a good guy, through and through, and when he spoke, we tended to listen—including Widow.
“Yep, he’s got a point there. Says a lot that she showed up here.” Widow stepped over to me as he warned, “You better be careful, brother. You don’t know anything about this girl.”
“Yeah, well, you didn’t know anything about Frankie when you got tangled up with her either.”
“That was different.” Widow crossed his arms with a scowl. “Frankie wasn’t sitting in the back of a cop car when we met.”
“Technically, we didn’t meet until I bailed her out.”
Rafe gave me a nudge and chuckled. “You’re not helping your case here, brother.”
“I know. I’m just saying.”
“Yeah, and I’m just saying you might end up with more than you bargained for with this girl, and the club already has enough to deal with.” He motioned his hand towards the unfinished bathroom wall. “Right now, we can’t afford to be distracted by unnecessary bullshit.”
Without saying anything more, Widow turned and went back to work. We all followed suit, and the room fell silent. I felt an immediate shift in mood as we finished installing the drywall. Everyone’s intense focus was no surprise.
From one delay to the next, all of us were feeling the pressure to get the rooms back in working order.
Due to insurance company issues and all the red tape with the city contractor, the construction company hadn’t been able to start when we’d hoped, so the exterior wall repair was just now completed.
We were under the gun, so all the brothers pitched in to help finish the interior. Space was limited, so we each took eight- to-ten-hour shifts, busting our asses to get as much done as possible in a short amount of time.
Everyone was running on empty, and still not knowing who’d planted the explosive device in our bathroom didn’t help matters.
Menace had gone over the camera footage a hundred times but saw nothing that seemed out of the norm. It could’ve been anyone from a rival MC looking to start some trouble, a local gang striking up a war, to some nut job trying to make a statement against strip clubs.
Since we had no idea who we were up against, Viper put the club on high alert—which didn’t leave any of us with a good feeling. We’d been under attack many times before but in the past, we’d usually had some indication of who we were dealing with early on.
Preparing a plan of retaliation at this point was an impossibility, so we only had one choice—to wait.
I hated fucking waiting.
We all did.
I thought our conversation about Raelyn was done until Rafe leaned over to me and asked, “So, what else has this chick gotten into?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like what other shit has she done?” He cocked his eyebrow and snickered. “I don’t figure she just up and decided to jump off the roof of a building. You gotta work up to that shit.”
“Yeah, I get the feeling she’s done some pretty crazy stuff and plans on doing more.”
“Oh, yeah?” He stared off into the distance and murmured, “I got some shit like that I’ve always wanted to do but never got around to it.”
“Like what?”
We spent the next couple of hours passing the time by sharing all the things we’d like to do and places to see, which made the time seem to fly by.
I hadn’t even realized how long we’d been at it until Sophie came walking into the bar.
She was dressed for work, and she sounded flustered as she rushed over to Jagger.
“Hey, babe. Sorry I’m running so late, but it’s been a crazy morning. ”
“Everything okay?” Jagger asked with concern.
She let out a breath. “Not exactly.”
“What’s going on?”
“Well, apparently, the client I’ve been working with ran into a problem at the prison last night.” She shook her head, frustrated. “He had some kind of altercation with another inmate.”
“It happens, babe. More than you might think.”
“I know, but it doesn’t say much about all the work I’ve been doing with him over the last few months.”
Sophie was an anger management therapist and terrific at her job--which was one of the reasons why Menace had hired her to work with Jagger. Menace thought she would be Jagger’s ticket to an early parole hearing, and he was right.
Jagger got his hearing.
And he also got the girl.
Jagger stepped over to Sophie and slipped his arm around her waist. “Sometimes fighting with other inmates is the only way you can survive in that place.”
“I get that, I really do, but I still feel like I failed him somehow.” She glanced down at her watch, then said, “We better get going. I have an appointment in thirty.”
“You got it.” Jagger turned to us. “I’m out. See ya when I see ya.”
Jagger led her out, and it wasn’t long before Shotgun and Axel showed up for their shift, so Country and I wasted no time cleaning up our work area. When we finally walked out to the parking lot, it was already the following morning.
After a quick goodbye, I got on my Harley and turned the key. The engine roared to life. That sound alone made the tension from my long, torturous night start to subside.
It was just me, my bike, and the wide-open road winding out before me.
The early morning air whipped around me as I pulled out onto the highway and started towards home. I inhaled a deep breath and took in my surroundings. I’d always thought Nashville was a beautiful city, especially early in the morning before the traffic took over.
I twisted the throttle back, and with the wind whipping around me, it felt as if I was the only man on earth.
Hell, I couldn’t think of any better therapy.
By the time I made it home, my mind had cleared, and I was ready to get some much-needed rest. I went inside and took a hot shower, then collapsed on my bed and closed my eyes, praying I’d fall right to sleep.
That didn’t happen.
Not by a long shot.
And I had Raelyn to thank for that. As soon as I closed my eyes, I saw her beautiful eyes staring back at me, and suddenly, I wasn’t so tired anymore. I don’t know what it was about this chick, but she’d gotten under my skin—and she’d done it without even trying.
I knew when I saw her in the back of that cop car that there was something different about her—which was one of the reasons why I’d decided to bail her and her friend out of jail. I hoped it would give me an opportunity to get to know her, and it worked like a fucking charm.
When Raelyn showed up at Stilettos, my day was made. After meeting with her at DJ’s, I realized she wasn’t just easy on the eyes, but she was smart, spontaneous, courageous, and easy to talk to.
And damn, the woman could kiss.
There was no doubt about it. She wasn’t like any woman I’d ever known before, completely out of my league, and I had no idea what the hell she was doing in that bar with me.
And I didn’t care.
Win, lose, or draw, I was going to take my shot.
I finally dozed off, and it felt like I’d just closed my eyes when my alarm went off. I rolled over with a groan, thinking I might sleep a bit longer, but then remembered I only had an hour before meeting up with Raelyn. I pulled myself out of bed and took a quick shower.
After I got dressed, I got on my bike and headed over to the restaurant. I’d offered to pick her up, but she insisted on meeting me there. I didn’t mind, figuring she had her reasons. Besides, the restaurant was just a few blocks from my place.
When I pulled up, I found Raelyn waiting for me by the front door, and she looked even more beautiful than she had the night before.
She was wearing a short skirt and black boots with a graphic t-shirt and denim jacket, and one side of her hair was pulled back, drawing even more attention to those beautiful blue eyes of hers.
I got off my bike, and as soon as she spotted me coming towards her, she smiled and said, “Hey there, Mr. Good Samaritan. How are you making it tonight?”
“Better now.” I stepped towards her. “How about you?”
“I can’t complain.” She motioned her head towards the front door. “You ready to get your butt kicked in some skee-ball?”
Raelyn had suggested that we try one of the bars known for having a ton of adult games, and while I was a little apprehensive, seeing that smile on her face quickly made me realize that we’d made the right choice.
I chuckled as I asked, “I hate to break it to ya, doll, but there’s only one butt that’s gonna get kicked in skee-ball, and it ain’t gonna be mine. ”
“Oh, we’ll see about that.”
She winked at me, then walked over and waited for me to open the door. Once I’d opened it, she gave me a sexy little smirk, then stepped inside. I shook my head as I followed her up to the front counter. After I purchased two game cards, I offered one to Raelyn and said, “Let’s do this.”
“You got it.” As we started towards the games, Raelyn looked up at me with an excited look on her face. “Hoops or skee-ball?”
“Ahh, we gotta try hoops first.”
She nodded, then led me to the back of the room where “Nothin’ But Net” basketball games were lined up against the wall. She rushed up to one of the open games, then waved me over. “Let’s see what ya got, big guy.”
“Prepare to be amazed.” My confidence was soaring as I stepped into position and grabbed a ball.
As soon as the bell went off, I started shooting one after another, and I missed every single time.
I was starting to get frustrated. It didn’t help matters that I could feel Raelyn’s eyes on me, watching me grimace every time the basketball bounced off the rim.
Thankfully, I finally made one and found my rhythm.
After that, I did decent, but not as well as I’d hoped.
I glanced over at her with a slight smile and said, “Needed a chance to warm up.”
“Mm-hmm.” She leaned down and swiped her game card, then grabbed a ball and waited for the bell.
The second it rang, she took her shot, and unlike mine, the ball went straight through the net—so did the next, and every single one after.
When she finished with her last shot, she turned back to me with a proud smirk.
“You wanna go again or should we move on to skee-ball?”
“Are you kidding me?” I leaned down and swiped my card. “We’re not going anywhere.”
This time I did much better, but nowhere close to as good as Raelyn had done. She gave me a consoling pat on the bicep. “Ah, there ya go. That was a little better.”
“You fuckin’ with me?”
“Maybe just a little.” She withdrew her hand from my arm and placed it innocently on her chest as she teased me. “But I’ll stop if it’s too much for you to handle.”
“Baby, I can handle anything you wanna throw at me.” A light blush crept across her face as I let my eyes skirt over her and added, “And I mean anything.”