Chapter 6
Chapter Six
A Side of Metal
L inc was a man now. A fully grown man. He had always been tall, but he had been a little bit lean as a teenager.
Now as Nova stared at him, she saw muscle. Thick, hearty, earned muscle. Tattoos on his skin. The same deep, intense look in his dark eyes. The kind of eyes that could scare anyone yet they never for a second ever once scared Nova.
Linc was taller too. At least three inches taller. A man. All man.
She then looked at the leather cut hugging his built frame. She thought about when Linc got his first cut. He never had to go through the prospect stage like others. Linc had been born into the outlaw world. His destiny laid out before him. Was there ever an option for something else? That was something neither Linc nor Nova could know.
Linc’s hand felt harder, stronger. The once soft hands of a young man who cared for Nova were now the toughened hands of a biker. An outlaw. The hands of a killer. Nova pulled her hand away from Linc’s as she thought about that.
Realizing, assuming, yet somehow just knowing that Linc’s hands had killed. There was no doubt about it. Nobody rose up to the level of VP without blood and souls on their hands and minds. Even that…
Vice President. Nova marveled for a second. She remembered all those nights on the back of Linc’s motorcycle. When he’d find a spot to pull over so they could kiss (and more) and he’d tell her stories of the future. Him with the gavel. Him making decisions. Him ruling the outlaw world and not just in a criminal sense either. Linc had ideas at eighteen that scared the hell out of Nova. And turned her on.
“You showed up,” Nova whispered, breaking the melting ice between them.
“Not going to break a promise to you, Nova,” Linc said.
Right then and there Nova felt her knees tremble. Not to mention a familiar heat tickling up her inner thighs.
That quick?
Nova begged herself not to blush.
“Can we sit and talk?” Nova asked.
“Of course, darling.”
Darling…
Nova swallowed hard and sat down. A waitress came right over and the first thing she did was touch Linc’s shoulder. And not in some casual way. This was a touch. Almost like a grab. Nova watched the waitress’s fingers moving toward Linc’s back.
Red-hot barbs of jealousy stung Nova. A more sensible part of her brain kicked in, asking her if she really thought even for a second that Linc hadn’t been with any other women? He’s a damn outlaw. He’s probably fucked someone this morning before coming to meet me for breakfast…
“Nell, this is Nova,” Linc said. “My first love. Other than my motorcycle. And my dick.”
Nell giggled like a girl desperate for attention.
“You sure did like playing with your dick,” Nova said, wanting to step right over Nell and take her foothold.
Instantly Nova understood why sometimes women went insane over guys and fought.
“Double talls,” Linc said to Nell. “Coffee. Chocolate times two.”
“Anything for you, sweetie,” Nell said.
She looked at Nova and smiled, then walked away.
“Did you order for me?” Nova asked.
“Tall stack of pancakes,” Linc said. “Comes with bacon. You’re already drinking coffee. And don’t tell me for a second you’re now one of those who refuses to drink milk. Especially chocolate milk.”
You always knew how I liked breakfast.
Nova wanted to speak those words. Before she could, Linc pulled himself from the booth.
“Stay here, darling, I’ll be right back. Have to talk to someone.”
Just like that, Linc hurried toward the door and was outside the diner. Nova watched as some man in tattered clothes, scratching at his right elbow took one look at Linc and started to run off. Linc caught up in a second and kicked the man in the butt. Literally.
The man fell to the ground and Linc proceeded to stomp on the man’s back, working up to his head. Linc paused as the man pleaded. Linc grabbed the man’s right arm and twisted it.
“Refill and some advice to you?”
Nova turned her head and Nell stood at the table.
“Sure,” Nova said.
Nell leaned forward and filled Nova’s coffee cup. Nell’s boobs poured out of the top of her shirt, which was kind of unavoidable since Nell had some acreage on her chest. Nova felt completely insecure with what now seemed like boring old C ’s.
“Looks worse than it is out there,” Nell said.
“I haven’t seen him in a long time,” Nova caught herself confessing. “Last time was…”
Nell grinned. “They all change. And they never stop. I feel like women grow older and wiser. We become ourselves. We appreciate ourselves even though we are taught by society to hate ourselves. But men? They can’t settle. They’re always on the move. On the hunt.”
“He’s beating the crap out of that man,” Nova said. Her voice felt empty, saddened. “The guy looks homeless. He can’t defend himself. Is that a fair fight?”
Nell leaned down again. Hello, boobs.
“That man is a junkie,” Nell whispered. “That man broke into my uncle’s store and stole money. That man followed one of the waitresses here home and tried to do stuff to her. That man can’t keep a needle out of his arm. Linc and the others? They don’t tolerate that. They make the laws. They make the rules. And they serve up their own version of justice. You either get it or you don’t. Like I said, looks worse than it is. I mean, once you know…”
Nell walked away.
Linc returned a few seconds later, stopping at the counter for a towel, handed to him by Nell. Linc cleaned himself up the best he could and returned to the booth. His eyes were darker now. Meaner. Evil enough that for a second Nova felt unsure of Linc.
Nova waited for Linc to talk about what just occurred. She actually wanted to hear what he had to say. She wanted to hear his version of things and know that her first crush, love, her first everything was an outlaw with some kind of boundary and not just a total psycho.
“Nick show up yet?” Linc asked, bypassing any attempt at a conversation about him beating up that guy outside.
“No.”
“And you have no idea where he could be?”
Nova shook her head. She picked the handle on the coffee mug in front of her.
“You have to give me something here, Nova,” Linc said. “Before we attempt to get into this.”
“What does that mean?” Nova asked.
Nell came to the table carrying a tray.
Pancakes, bacon, chocolate milk, and some coffee for Linc.
“Miguel always cooks your food first,” Nell said.
“Good man back there,” Linc said. “You and him…”
“You’re playing matchmaker now?” Nell flirted.
Nova felt like throwing hot coffee in Nell’s face.
“We’re in the middle of talking,” Linc said to Nell.
He was always so bold. Right to the point. Always in someone’s face, both good and bad. Nell blushed and walked away.
“Eat and talk,” Linc said as a command and not a question.
Nova smothered her pancakes with butter and coated them with syrup. Linc took the container from her and covered his and then added more to hers.
“Linc,” Nova said.
“I know how you like it, darling,” he said with a half smirk. “Make them sticky and sopping.”
Nova tilted her head.
“Now, the opposite of enjoyment,” he said. “Your brother.”
“Tell me about it,” Nova said. “And you know how my mother is with him.”
“Nicky never does anything wrong.”
“Exactly. She’s drinking worse than ever too, Linc. She’s so panicked.”
“No cops, huh?”
“I don’t know. You were the first person I thought of for something like this. I mean, I… I don’t know how this works, Linc.” Nova suddenly felt wildly nervous. Like she was about to sell her soul to the Devil. “Do I pay you?”
“Pay me? With what? Money?”
“Yes. Do I hire you? Or is this…”
“What? You want me to find your brother for free? You won’t call the police because you’re afraid where they’ll find him. Which means you’re thinking something.”
“I’m just scared of what’s happening with him. I don’t know if he’s… dead…”
“And what happens when I find him?”
“Linc, I don’t know.”
“Seems like you should have your shit in order before calling for help, Nova.”
He’s cold. He’s dark and he’s cold. This man is not the boy I once knew…
Nova’s chin quivered. Linc reached across table. His thumb stroked her jaw for a second and then he touched her hand.
“Nova, it’s not the same. I’m not the Linc you knew. If we go down this road… it isn’t just about me. It’s about the club. You’re going to deal with the MC. There are rules. It’s a whole other kind of life. But if you need something like this done, we can do it. We can find Nick. Alive or dead.”
Nova blinked a few times. Linc went back to eating. He ate fast. He ate with large bites. He drank the chocolate milk with one gulp. It left behind a milk mustache.
Just as Nova dared herself to reach across and wipe it away, she say a police officer enter the diner. The officer turned and walked right toward the booth. Nova’s back stiffened. Is he looking for me? About Nick?
“Cop is here, Linc,” Nova whispered.
Linc turned his head. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Right now?”
The police officer stood right at the table and leaned down a little. “Make a scene and I’ll embarrass you, Lincoln. Stand up and put your hands behind your back and it stays quiet.”
“You’re arresting him?” Nova asked. “For what?”
“Who the hell are you, sweetheart? His lawyer?”
“Don’t talk to her like that, asshole,” Linc said as he stood up.
He towered over the police officer. Linc flexed his jaw, turned around and put his hands behind his back. Nova couldn’t believe her eyes. She figured this must have been because of Linc beating up that homeless looking man in broad daylight.
“Do you know where the clubhouse is, darling?” Linc asked.
Nova nodded. She remembered.
“Go there and ask for Slade. Tell him who you are and that I sent you. And then wait for me.”
The police officer pulled at Linc’s wrists and then guided the way out of the diner. Nova sat there with her jaw almost ready to hit the table. She had visions in her head of the outlaw life… but this…
Nell came over to the table. “You okay?”
“Not really,” Nova whispered. “Can I have the check?”
“Oh, sweetie, SOFRAW doesn’t pay when they come here. Ever.”
Nell smiled and walked away. Beating up a junkie. Getting arrested. Not paying restaurant tabs.
All of this in the span of a quick breakfast. Which led to an intense question in Nova’s mind.
Just how far, deep and dangerous would she be willing to go with Linc…?