Chapter 25
RAFE
Last night was hands down the best night of my life.
I stood in front of the club’s big bay windows and crossed my arms.
The Christmas tree glowed beside me.
I’d been tempted to yank the plug from the wall to end the ridiculous sheen of lights.
Thoughts of Noelle stopped me.
She’d been incredible last night.
Every night.
Spending time with her reminded me why humanity deserved a chance.
She had every reason to distrust us, to hate us, based on the stories spread around town about us.
Yet she chose to trust us.
Not just trust us but sleep with us.
Having sex with her put a smile on my face, but sleeping in the same bed with her, Ash, and Rafe brought a warmth to my chest that I hadn’t experienced since Colt was born.
My little brother had been my only reason for living for a long time.
He gave me purpose and when I started the Steel Vipers, I’d hoped he wouldn’t follow in my footsteps.
He was the reason I stuck to the straight and narrow… relatively speaking.
“Hi.” Noelle danced her way down the stairs in a pair of black jeans, a red turtleneck, and black biker boots.
God, this woman.
She twisted up my insides.
I’d put up a Christmas tree for her.
I tried to scowl, but she pranced over and planted a kiss on my cheek that took me by surprise.
I dropped my hands to her hips and kissed her full on the lips.
A sudden stiffness that had entered her body relaxed by degrees as I held her there, kissing her slowly and thoroughly.
I grinned and raised my head. “Hi.”
“Well. Um. Wow.” She fanned her face with one hand.
“That’s some greeting. We should do that more often.” She patted my chest, her grin widening to a full smile that crinkled her eyes.
“I have a few hours.” I tipped my head toward the stairs.
A blush reddened her cheeks, and she held both hands in the air while walking backward to the hall closet. “Would if I could, but I need to run out for a bit.”
“Really?” Curiosity and uncertainty spiked my pulse. “You didn’t mention any errands.”
Her lips puckered in a familiar way. “Rafe, you’re running a motorcycle club, a Christmas toy drive, and who knows what else I have no idea about. I’m just heading to the office for a bit. My editor wants to meet with me.”
The way she said it, the strange curl to her lip and the way she said editor like it tasted foul, raised my suspicious nature.
“How is the next piece coming?” I’d read her first article with a critical eye.
The club needed a certain amount of exposure, but not at the cost of putting us in danger.
She raised one shoulder, her other hand reaching into the closet.
“It’s fine. I like the first one better, but you know how things are with the news.
The more sensationalized, the better.” She took out her long overcoat and flung it over her shoulders.
“I wish you’d give me more information to print.
I have so many great stories from your crew. ”
“No.” I left it at that, my resolve and tone absolute.
She paused in the process of pulling her hair free from the back of her coat.
Her collar stood up, framing her face as she frowned. “Okay. Guess that answers my next question.”
“What’s that?” I couldn’t help it.
She made me so damned curious, I barely managed to restrain myself from interrogating her.
She finished with her hair and worked her way up the coat buttons, fastening them one by one.
“My plan was to find some people who can help me enhance the stories. You’ve read and approved my rough draft, but I can guarantee that my editor will think it’s too dry. He’ll demand I make changes.”
“Sensationalize.” I hated that word.
I’d heard it more in the last few weeks than in my whole life. “I still need to approve whatever changes you make.”
I couldn’t risk her emotions coming through the pages.
Trust was the one thing I gave to Ash and Bishop and no one else.
A prickle of unease lifted the hair on the back of my neck.
I ignored it but focused on Noelle.
She finished the buttons and slung a small bag over her shoulder. “Of course.”
Was it me or did she sound too… perky?
I couldn’t put my finger on why the strange sensation appeared.
My lack of ability to trust, probably.
Too bad.
But she didn’t need to know that.
I walked her to the door, doing my best not to show my suspiciousness, and kissed her cheek before closing the door and moving to stand by the Christmas tree.
Arms crossed, I stared at the shiny glass ornaments on the tree and drummed my fingers on my upper arms.
Should I follow her?
No. I couldn’t today.
Neither could Ash or Bishop.
I caught my scowling reflection in one of the gold ornaments.
Colt stood behind me, making faces.
He stuck his thumbs in his ears and waved them back and forth while sticking out his tongue.
“I see you.” I bit back a laugh when he dropped his hands like they’d caught fire.
Should I send someone to follow Noelle?
The thought of following her knotted my gut. It was the kind of thing a stalker would do.
I wasn’t a stalker, but I sure as hell needed to know what she was up to.
I’d spent too long trusting my instincts to ignore when they screamed at me.
I wanted to trust her, and this was the best way to prove that she was trustworthy.
Colt appeared by my side, arms crossed in a mockery of my stance.
He tapped a red ornament, causing it to sway back and forth. “You’re awfully moody today.”
“As opposed to any other day?”
He snorted and clapped a hand to my shoulder. “True. So. What’s on the agenda today?”
He offered me the perfect segue into my request.
I checked that we were alone.
Colt’s eyebrows raised, and I shushed him with a glare. “I want you to follow Noelle. Without her knowing. I need to know where she goes and who she talks to. If you can get close enough to overhear, even better. But don’t let her see you.”
“Follow Noelle?” His eyebrows rose high enough to wrinkle his forehead. “Why?”
“Because that’s what I need you to do today.” I nudged him toward the door. “Better hurry. She’s already left. She headed toward town, but I don’t know where she’s going other than to see her editor.”
If she proved true to her word today, I could lower my guard.
“I meant, why can’t you follow her?” Colt was the one person who wasn’t afraid to challenge me.
Growing up as brothers meant he’d seen all my awkward phases.
The same way I’d seen his.
I rolled my shoulders.
A stiff feeling locked in place on the back of my neck.
No amount of movement was going to get rid of it.
What I needed was for Noelle to be telling the truth and for my meeting to go well.
I pushed Colt toward the door. “Go on. Call me if you have any problems.”
Colt muttered but obeyed.
As soon as the door closed behind him, I spun on my heel and headed into the back room.
Ash and Bishop fell in behind me. Bishop cracked his knuckles. “Brass is here. Looks bothered.”
Great.
The tight feeling intensified.
Brass was the code name for one of the main guys higher up in our club.
I might be the perceived leader, but they pulled the strings.
We wouldn’t be where we were today without them.
“Love a good logistics meeting.” Ash’s sarcasm brought out a laugh from Bishop.
He slugged Bishop on the arm but left me alone. “I could really use a few more hours with Noelle.”
“You’ll have to wait. She’s gone to run errands.” I anticipated the questions before they came and held up a hand to stop them. “That’s all I know. We have bigger problems to deal with.”
I let the threat hang and twisted the knob on the heavy oak door.
It opened with a light groan, and the three of us stepped through.
Brass stood on the far side of the room, the remaining higher-ranking members of the club spread throughout the room.
Testosterone put a rank stench in the air, and Bishop tensed beside me.
He hated these meetings.
One wrong word, a move in my direction, and to hell with the men.
He didn’t give a fuck what they thought. And he’d been more than happy to tell them so on multiple occasions.
“Rafe.” Brass hooked his thumbs in his vest pockets.
The patches spread across the vest depicted his entire history in the club.
Dark gray stubble covered his jaw, and piercing blue eyes demanded respect.
I’d learned a lot from the man through the years. “Brass.” I motioned for Ash and Bishop to back off and sit down.
Both men did so without hesitation.
They wouldn’t dare show an ounce of disrespect in front of these men.
I ignored everyone else in the room.
I knew who they were, could identify them by sight from my peripheral vision.
“Is everything in place for the run?” Brass sat, and everyone else followed.
I nodded and laced my fingers together in my lap. “As ready as it can be. There are always variables, but we’ve done our best to plan for every contingency.”
As always.
Brass always asked this question.
I was prepared for it and for his response.
“Good. Less than a week left.” He made a show of stretching his arms behind his head and locking his hands together.
The power stance might intimidate anyone else. Not me.
“What about the police?” Brass continued down the line of questions exactly as I expected.
Ash shifted in his chair but kept quiet.
“They won’t be an issue.”
They were up our asses about a lot of shit, but there was no way they had a clue what we were up to at the end of the week.