Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Flying Pepperoni
L inc sat in prayer alone with a beer. Waiting for Nova to get ready made him smile. Taking way too long. The door opened and Cyrus stepped in.
“Want company?”
“It’s your table, Prez ,” Linc said.
Cyrus shut the door and took his seat at the head of the table.
“How’s our girl?” Cyrus asked.
“She’s okay. She won’t leave here. I’m taking her out in a minute for something to eat. We both need it.”
“That’s good. What does she know?”
“What she needs to.”
“Linc…”
“Christ, Cyrus, is that why you’re sitting here? You want to crawl up my ass? What are you asking? You think I’m the rat? You think she’s the rat?”
“Come on, Linc. Stop. Don’t get so goddamn emotional. I’m asking questions to make sure the stories work.”
“She knows enough,” Linc said. “The house was cleaned out. Basement scrubbed. Then set on fire. All she knows about the body was that it’s gone. She doesn’t ask questions, Cyrus. She’s smart. She understands this life.”
“Good. Don’t take it the wrong way, Linc. I’m on edge. I’m glad Nova is safe. I’m glad we found her brother. How is he?”
“Nick is actually in rehab,” Linc said. “Her mother is a mess, but whatever. Right?”
“Hope the kid can stay clean. But, hey, look around you. Empty table. Just us. And yet I can smell it. I can feel it.”
“The rat.”
“The rat,” Cyrus repeated.
“We’ll figure it out, Prez . It’s going to take a minute. We’re going to have move slow and smart.”
“You know, if Johnny were around…”
Linc laughed. “Shit. He’d have us all chained up right now.”
“The man was nuts, but smart. He built this thing.”
“What about Warren? Custer? We can also pull them in for their advice.”
“I’ve thought about it,” Cyrus said. “They’d offer up the old way. And you know them. They’d get angry and drunk and it would implode.”
“Fuck,” Linc said. “What if it’s one of the deecee s?”
“You don’t think that for a second. You just don’t want Nova getting jealous and explosive and getting into fights.”
Cyrus stood up and grinned. Linc stood up too. The two men hugged for a second.
“We’ll get this worked out, Linc,” Cyrus said. “Storms never end around here.”
“Cost of our life, Prez . When we figure out who the rat is, we take the right steps.”
“Always. It’s a vote. Then we handle punishment. Before that, you go get that woman you love and take her out for a romantic dinner and remind yourself how it all feels.”
Nothing seemed better to Linc than having Nova on the back of his motorcycle, cruising through town, feeling invincible.
“This is romantic to you, darling?” Linc asked as Nova pulled a cheesy slice of pizza from the rest of the pie.
“You’re in jeans and a leather cut,” Nova said. “I’m in a hoodie. Where else would we go?”
Linc laughed.
“This is perfect, Linc,” Nova said. “The best pizza in town and you.”
Linc went in for his third slice of pizza. He watched Nova fold her slice in half and eat. She hated when he watched her eat. That was a perfect reason to do it.
In reality, Linc couldn’t look away. He’d lost out on years with the woman he loved. Years he could never get back. Now he didn’t want to waste a second. Especially after Nova getting kidnapped.
Halfway through eating her slice of pizza, Nova stopped, wiped her mouth, and tilted her head.
“What?” Linc asked.
“Stop staring.”
“Never.”
Nova reached for the half of the pizza covered in warm, greasy pepperoni. She plucked a piece off the pizza and flung it at Linc. It hit his plate. Linc picked up the pepperoni.
“Don’t do it,” Nova warned.
Linc tilted his head back and dropped the pepperoni into his mouth. He licked his lips and stared at Nova. Intensely. Intently. With passion. With hunger.
She stared back the same. She bit her bottom lip. Her eyes then made a strange motion. A flickering for a split second. Like someone had shined a light in her eyes. Then her eyes moved.
Linc turned his head at that exact moment and saw the bright lights outside the pizza place. He jumped up, ran around the table and flipped it on its side just as the front window exploded with a barrage of bullets.
There were screams and thuds and the horrible sound of bullets hitting glasses and pieces of the bar and the walls. Lights shattered, half the place doing dim and dark in seconds.
Linc hovered over Nova, staring down into her eyes. He felt the thick table jumping, pushing at him. All he could do was wait and hope a bullet didn’t tear through the table into his back, then into an organ.
Nova’s eyes were wide with fear. Wide with acceptance too. She knew this was the life. It was never going to end…
Her heart knew all along that outlaws didn’t get happy endings. They got happy moments surrounded in violence.
As fast as the shooting started, it was over. Linc kicked back, knocking the table out of the way. He looked around and saw a couple bodies on the floor. The poor bartender leaning over the bar. Gone. The waitress who brought them their pizza was on the floor, her white shirt blossomed with red stains that was not pizza sauce.
Linc’s phone started to ring. It was Slade calling.
“Lockdown!” Slade roared when Linc answered the call.
“Slade, Alvin’s got shot up. It’s a fucking mess here.”
“Are you and Nova okay?” Slade asked.
“Yeah.”
“Monte is missing,” Slade said.
“What?”
“Linc, shit is falling apart all around us.”
“I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
“We’re sending Virus and Dolph to protect you. Hang tight.”
The call went dead. Linc looked down at Nova. She had heard everything Slade said. She saw the look in Linc’s eyes. In her man’s eyes. In her outlaw’s eyes.
She thought about the tattoo on her leg. Linc’s initials. What it meant. These were the times when the men needed the women the most. Sucking their cocks and fucking them… yeah, that was one thing.
But to be there during the hard times. The violent times. The scary times. To put your life on the line for the life that they lived…
Nova took a deep breath, reached up and touched Linc’s face. She nodded to her outlaw. Were things okay right now? No. Would things be okay? Who the fuck knew…
“You saved me again, Linc,” Nova whispered.
“I always will, darling. We have to get out of here and back to the clubhouse. I don’t want you to look around though. It’s not good. Stare into my eyes and stand up. Pretend we’re teenagers and I just snuck into your bedroom.”
Nova nodded. She did just that. Linc helped Nova to her feet. People were yelling, crying, groaning in pain. Nova heard the logical part of her brain asking questions.
How could you want this?
How could you live like this?
Nova looked up at Linc. It just made sense. Was one look from Linc worth it? Was one kiss from Linc worth it? Was the flicker of his tongue against her nipples worth it? Was the tip of his tongue dancing against Nova’s clit worth it?
Was being in constant danger and dying at any second worth it?
Nova took a deep breath, shut her eyes, and answered all the questions her mind had thrown at her.
YES… it was all worth it.