Chapter Twenty-Three
Lauren
“Max?”
I gasped as soon as I reached the bottom of the stairs and saw the bandage on the back of Max’s head. He had a cut on his lip as well, and bandaged fists. And a slight limp.
It was definitely not the state I expected to see him return in.
“What the hell happened?” I asked as I approached him, wanting to take a closer look at his injuries.
Jake placed a hand on his lip and frowned. “I’d like to know as well.”
Max glanced at me and gave a sheepish grin as he scratched his head. “I fell off a ladder while I was installing one of the cameras in the driveway.”
Jake grunted. “Like hell.”
Max slapped Jake’s back. “You remember that ladder Wade was supposed to fix? I thought he did, but I guess he didn’t. You know, that wooden ladder I used when I tried to get a cat off our roof once?”
Jake raised an eyebrow. “A cat?”
“Yeah. That neighbor’s cat with the red collar. Little devil.”
Jake nodded. “Oh. That cat.” Then he frowned again. “Didn’t I tell you that ladder was broken?”
Max’s eyebrows furrowed. “You did?”
Jake sighed. “Well, I guess we’ve all had a lot of stuff on our minds lately. But hey, at least you’re still in one piece.”
He patted Max on the shoulder. Max shrugged.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”
Maybe, but I wasn’t convinced he had an accident, nor did I miss that meaningful side glance Max gave Jake.
Something else had happened. I just knew it.
I crossed my arms over my chest and cleared my throat. “And what about that cut on your lip? Did that happen when you fell? And your fists? Did you crash into a window?”
“Yeah, do tell.” Jake narrowed his eyes at Max. “You didn’t break my house, did you?”
“I sparred with Wade,” Max answered. “Before I had the accident of course. My muscles were probably still aching, so I wasn’t able to fall as gracefully as I wanted.”
Really? I still didn’t believe it.
“Anyway, I’ll go rest now,” Max said. “I’m a bit tired.”
That I could believe.
He turned to Jake. “Help a man up the stairs, will you?”
“Sure.” Jake placed Max’s arm around his shoulder. “Hold on tight.”
I stepped aside, watching them go up the stairs.
“Would you like me to get you something?” I asked. “Anything?”
Regardless of how Max got hurt, I was still worried about him after all, and I wanted to help take care of him.
“Not now,” he answered. “But maybe have dinner with me tonight in my room?”
“Sure.”
I glanced at the door. “Wade didn’t come with you?”
I would have thought if Max was injured, Wade would have brought him home.
“No,” Max answered. “He’s a little busy at the moment.”
Was that why he hadn’t been replying to my messages? But busy with what?
“Don’t worry. I’m sure he’s thinking about you,” Max told me.
I blushed. “I wasn’t…”
“I was when I was away, but I knew you weren’t alone.” He looked at Jake. “So, what have the two of you been up to while I was gone?”
“Nothing much,” Jake answered.
I saw his cheeks burn, though, and I felt mine do the same as I remembered what we did to keep busy the past few days.
Nothing much except kissing and cuddling in front of the fire. Or getting all wrapped up in each other in bed.
Max seemed to know it, grinning. “Well, I’m glad the two of you were able to loosen up and unwind, maybe release some pent-up tension.”
I felt myself blush harder, so I looked away.
“Don’t worry,” Max said. “You don’t need to tell me all the details.”
I heard them take another step then stop.
“Wait a sec,” Jake said. “You didn’t install cameras in every room here, did you?”
My heart stopped. I hadn’t thought of that either.
Max grinned wider. “It’s all good. I promise I’m the only one who has access to the camera footage, and I’ll delete all the film from the indoor cameras from the last few days.”
So, he did install cameras in every room. Wait. Even my bedroom?
Jake gritted his teeth. “Why, you…”
“Or should I delete the footage from the outdoor cameras, too, like the footage in the garden?”
Jake drew a deep breath and exhaled. I could tell he was feeling embarrassed, but he was trying to act cool. It was quite cute, actually.
“Just the indoor stuff,” he said.
Max nodded. “Gotcha.”
“And don’t you dare watch it,” Jake warned.
Max put a hand up. “I won’t. I swear.”
He glanced at me as if making the same promise to me. I didn’t really care if he watched, though, as long as he was the only one. The thought of it even excited me a little.
But it wasn’t enough to take my mind off the issue at hand.
I was letting Max go because he was injured, but I was still determined to find out what had really happened to him.
I let the two of them go up the stairs ahead, pretending to go somewhere else while, in fact, I was hiding beneath the staircase. Then I quietly followed them upstairs. I stalked down the hall, and after they entered Max’s room, I quickly but silently sprinted forward to slip my foot in so that the door would be left slightly open and I could hear whatever they talked about.
Surely, now that it was just the two of them, there was no need to hold back any information.
“You can drop the act now,” Jake said, echoing my thoughts. “I know you can walk.”
“Yeah, my leg’s fine,” Max said. “But I really did get stitches on the back of my head and my knuckles still hurt.”
“Yeah, yeah. So, what really happened?”
Max drew a deep breath. “The Devils know who I am, probably because Clyde Roarke told them.”
I covered my mouth to stifle a gasp. Clyde was working with the Devils? Jake had suspected it, but I still couldn’t believe it was true.
My jaw clenched as anger rose in my chest. That Clyde. He just had to pull everyone into the muck with him, didn’t he?
“The Devils challenged me to a dirt race,” Max explained. “They said if I won, they’d leave Black Storm and Lauren alone, but if I lost, then they’d set the time and place for an all-out war. I thought I could protect Lauren and Black Storm so I accepted the challenge, but looking back, I should have known it was a trap.”
I heard him groan in frustration.
“Fuck. I should have known better.”
“What happened at the race?” Jake asked.
“I won,” Max answered. “But the Devils never had any intention of keeping up their end of the bargain. After the race, they picked a fight. It was an all-out brawl between the Devils and Black Storm.”
Oh no. Did that mean the members of Black Storm got hurt?
“Both sides suffered damage,” Max went on. “Harry is in the hospital. So are Gus and Tom. Many more were hurt.”
Including Max. They all got hurt because of me.
The thought made me want to bang my head against the wall in frustration, but I tried to calm myself down. I still wanted to hear the rest of the story, after all.
“And you didn’t think to call me right after it happened?” Jake asked, frustration also in his voice. “You didn’t think to tell me about the race? Wait. You sent me away on purpose, didn’t you?”
“I needed someone to protect Lauren in case Clyde made a move on her while I was away,” Max explained.
“You mean while you put your life at risk.” I heard Jake’s slap his hand down hard on something. “You could have died, Max.”
“I already told you. I wanted to keep Black Storm and Lauren safe.” I could hear Max’s frustration as well. “I didn’t know Clyde was involved. I didn’t understand what I was up against. But now I know. Clyde picked a fight with me. I’m not going to let him get away with it.”
“No!” Jake said firmly. “You don’t get to decide that. You don’t get to do everything. This involves all of us, all of Black Storm. We’re all in it now.”
Right. I got them all involved in this mess. Not just Jake, Max and Wade, but the people they cared about.
Just then, a phone rang.
“What?” I heard Max ask as soon as the ringing stopped. Then there was a pause, which made me wonder what Max was hearing.
What was the call all about?
“Fuck,” Max muttered, making me even more curious, then, after another pause, he said. “I’ll take care of it.”
I heard a phone clatter afterward then another curse.
“What’s wrong?” Jake asked.
“That was Irina,” Max said. “She said she was just informed that there’s a clip of me going around the internet. Someone took a video of the fight at the dirt track and they’re spreading it around. My face is in it.”
“A video?”
Oh, fuck.
“I’m guessing this is part of Roarke’s plan,” Max said. “I should have known he’d be the kind of guy who gets a thrill from watching other people get their hands dirty for him.”
As Max spoke, I took out my phone and did a quick search on the video. Sure enough, everyone was already talking about it, some people labeling the mystery CEO of Xosmo as a biker thug and others saying he wasn’t at all fit to head a Fortune 500 company. There was even an article from a few seconds ago saying that the stock of Xosmo was already dropping.
“Isn’t that bad for your reputation?” Jake asked. “For your company?”
“Irina and I will handle it,” Max said. “She’s on her way here right now so we can discuss it. In the meantime, I have to make some calls.”
As I heard footsteps approach the door, I quickly left, hiding behind a shelf. When the coast was clear, I slipped into my room. For a moment, I just leaned on the door I had shut behind me, in disbelief over everything that was happening. Just this morning, I had a beautiful breakfast in bed with Jake, and now this? While he and I were lost in our own happy bubble, Max nearly died. And now, Max was in even bigger trouble?
It was all because of me.
Yes, Clyde was the bad guy here, but if not for me, Max would never have had to deal with him. Clyde would never have pulled off all this shit to bring him down. And Black Storm would be okay. Jake’s chosen family would all still be drinking at Billie’s and riding like the wind without any cares in the world.
I buried my face in my hands as I slid to the floor, pain gripping my chest. I was about to start sobbing when my phone rang. When I saw the unknown number on the screen, I hesitated to answer the call, but I wondered if it might be Irina, so I answered.
“Hello?” I spoke softly.
“My sweet Lauren. How I’ve missed you.”
The sound of the voice at the other end of the line sent a shudder down my spine.
It was Clyde. There was no mistaking it. I blocked his number, but he must be using someone else’s phone. I should have changed my number. I should have thrown my old phone away. I was careless, and so I was paying the price. I didn’t have to prolong my suffering, though.
“Well, I haven’t, and I don’t want to talk to you ever again,” I told Clyde, surprising myself with my own courage to find the words to defy him when back when we were together, I never did. “Goodbye.”
I was about to hang up when he spoke again.
“By the way, how’s that friend of yours who got shot?”
I froze. What friend?
“I’ll hang up for now,” Clyde said. “But if you want the people around you to be safe, you’ll call me back and do what I say.”
Then he hung up, leaving his words still floating around in my head.
If I want the people around me to be safe? What else was he planning? And who got shot?
A knock on the door jolted me out of my thoughts, making me jump. I dropped my phone, in fact. It landed on the carpet.
“Lauren?” It was Jake’s voice filled with concern.
“I’m changing,” I lied as I picked up my phone, not feeling ready to face him. “What is it?”
“I’m leaving,” he said. “Wade called, so I have to go back and take care of some stuff.”
He was leaving already? Was it because of all the stuff that happened with Black Storm? Wait. Jake said Wade called him even though he had been ignoring me. Did something happen to Wade?
I felt the blood drain from my face as Clyde’s question echoed in my head. Did Wade get shot?
I opened the door. “Is something wrong?”
“No. Everything’s fine,” Jake answered with a grin as he scratched his head. “I mean considering all that’s happened.”
I didn’t buy it. I knew Jake well enough by now to know that he was hiding something from me right this minute, just as I knew Max was hiding something earlier.
“Anyway, I have to go.” He gave me a quick hug and started walking off. “Take care of yourself, okay?”
I nodded. “You too.”
I watched him leave then went back inside my room and sat on my bed. I was even more worried now, my guilt weighing heavily on my chest.
First, Max. Now, Wade? Did that mean Jake would be next? What if someone tried to kill him while he was making his way back?
I couldn’t bear that thought, nor of the thought of any of them getting more hurt than they already were. I couldn’t just stay here while the lives of the men I loved were in danger. I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing.
I had to do something. There was one thing I could do.
I didn’t want to, but I had no choice. I started this mess. I had to end it before irreparable damage could be done.
With trembling fingers, I called the number that had just called mine. As soon as I heard Clyde speak, I swallowed, holding back tears as I steeled my resolve and my voice.
“Stay the hell away from them. I’ll do whatever you want.”