Page 26 of Break Away (Riot MC Next Generation #2)
Chapter sixteen
Put Me to the Test
Rafferty
“I knew we should have ridden the bike over here, Rafferty. I’m way too full to walk all the way back.”
We were holding hands and walking back to my place after stuffing ourselves silly at Okinawa.
I swung our hands up higher. “You’ll be fine, woman. We only got two and a half blocks to go. Think of it this way, it gives your food time to digest.”
She leaned her shoulder into mine. “Whatever. Maybe you can give me a piggy-back ride.”
I laughed. “Don’t be a wimp. You can hack it, Lex. Think about something else.”
She glanced up at me with a half-pout. “Fine. Who else is prospecting with you?”
It struck me that with her being in Gainesville, there was quite a bit going on here that she didn’t know about.
“There’s five of us. I’m not sure one guy is going to make it, but Killian, Ryan—”
“Wait! Ry and Kill… from Biloxi?” she asked, excitement and confusion in her tone.
“Yeah,” I asked, fighting against unfounded jealousy at her reaction.
“When did that happen?”
I glanced at her. “End of January. Mickayla moved out here for school.”
“She did?”
“Yeah.”
Her head tilted. “I feel like I’ve been out of it. Why wouldn’t Jasmine or Gabby tell me this?”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure they know since they don’t care about prospects until they earn their patches.”
Her lips twisted and she nodded. “That makes sense now that you mention it. Nobody mentions word one about prospects until they’re members.”
“Very true.”
“So there are three legacies, right now?”
We turned and walked up the flagstone path to the front porch. I let us into the house and locked the door behind us, tossing my keys in a bowl next to the door. “Four. Bobby just got his bike and started prospecting after Mother’s Day.”
She closed her eyes for a beat. “Bet that upset Aunt Jackie.”
I shook my head. “Not from what he or Volt says about it. Then again, I think Volt’s looking forward to giving his son the shit jobs prospects get.”
Her teeth grazed her upper lip. “They’re going to hold my crap against you, aren’t they?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “It could go either way. Right now, I doubt it. But I don’t care.”
Her eyes went wide. “Might mean Kill or Ry patch in before you.”
I bent and pulled off my boots, setting them beside the couch. “I don’t care if the brothers patch them in before me.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Really? Do you have a fever? You’re almost as competitive as I am.”
I shot her a half-grin. “Yes, really. An older brother has taken Kill and Ry under his wing and they’re putting their all into a bar he just opened on the Westside near I-10 and State Route 23.”
Her eyes locked with mine. “There’s nothing around there right now.”
I nodded. “That’s true… for now. Lark chose a location in a small strip mall with a corner store at Halseema. There are people who live around there, and he seems to be in tune with what they want in a neighborhood bar.”
Lark was a transfer to Jacksonville from the Memphis chapter. He had the air of a loner. None of the other brothers had that kind of demeanor, but they all accepted Lark with open arms. I figured he had a past and it wasn’t any of my business.
An impressed expression crossed her face. “Oh. Well, I hope it does well.”
I grinned and sat down on the couch. “We can go there Saturday night. They’re soft launching tonight and tomorrow. I’m sure Mickayla would love to see you.”
She smiled and settled in next to me. “What’s the name of the bar?”
I huffed out a chuckle. “On a Lark.”
She laughed. “That’s… That’s actually a kick-ass name even if it seems a little over the top.”
My brows furrowed. “You don’t like Lark much.”
She took a deep breath. “I never said that. I’ve only been around him maybe three times. He just seems different. Like he has a past.”
My brows shot up and I pulled her closer. “All the brothers do. Even you and I do — though we’re just getting started.”
From the far-away look in her eyes, I knew she was considering my words. She slid her hands up to my shoulders. “What was it like being with the Devil Lancers?”
I felt her body go stiff at the pointed look I gave her. “Not the same as Jacksonville… and not for me.”
Her eyes narrowed a touch. “That’s a bullshit answer.”
“No, I’m being diplomatic.”
“Why wasn’t it for you?”
I ran a hand up and down her back. “They break the law… every day.”
“Ah. So you’re—”
My chin dipped so that an inch separated our noses. “Lex, I’ll do anything to protect you and my brothers. Even if it means serving time. But I’d rather stay on the right side of the law when I can. The Lancers don’t share that view - or they didn’t when I was there with Steel.”
She nodded and I saw her fight back a worried expression.
“Are you thinking about Simone?” I asked.
Ever so slowly she wobbled her head. “Yeah, I can’t help it. Though Mom made it clear a long time ago that if I grew up to marry a biker, I had to trust the man in my life to make the right choices. Simone knew that too, and I’ve never seen a man more devoted to her.”
“That’s true. Steel would never put her in jeopardy.”
“Right.”
“Is that worry the reason you were so against the MC life?”
She twisted her lips to the side. “It’s a lot of trust. Even if I know you or Dad is doing the wrong thing for the right reason, courts rarely see it that way.”
I wrapped an arm around her waist. “You can trust me, Lex.”
Her hazel gaze made me still. “Yeah. I know I can. Are you going to tell me what really happened with Brantley? Beast said I don’t have anything to worry about, but I’m not buying that.”
I shifted us so we were lying on the couch and she was on top of me. “You’re determined to put me to the test.”
She narrowed an eye at me. “What are you talking about?”
“Told you I’d share with you as long as it didn’t incriminate you, and now you’re putting me to the test.”
She put her hand on my pec, then rested her chin on top of her hand with a shameless smile. “Well… I’m guessing he told you that someone gave Ines a hard time outside the gym, but you three were there for an awful long time.”
I gathered her hair in my free hand and watched it fall through my fingers.
“Yeah. We were trying to get a grip on the whole crypto thing. She had an ATM card to convert the crypto to cash. Brantley claims he was looking for that on Monday, but couldn’t find it where Ines said she’d leave it.
We had him call her parents to find out if it was still in her wallet. ”
Her eyes went wide. “Are you kidding me? She just passed away.”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t like we could trust Brantley to let us know later. Plus, Beast is damned good at concocting a cover story.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Anyway, our guess is that Ines was stockpiling cash and hid it in your room.”
She leaned up. “Ines wouldn’t do that.”
I stroked her back and waited out her anger.
When she settled back on me, I said, “If she thought someone was on to her, there’s no telling what she’d have done.
It’s pretty clear Brantley doesn’t think fast on his feet.
Tobias isn’t much better since he has no problem spending the cash and doesn’t think about high-ticket items raising questions. ”
With a heavy sigh, she laid her head on my chest.
We were quiet for a long while.
“I hate that this shit’s going down,” I muttered.
“You and me both,” she murmured.
“Can I ask you something before we watch TV?”
“Sure.”
“Are you determined to get your degree from UF?”
Her body went limp with her sigh. “Shoulda known you’d ask that.”
“It can wait.”
She leaned up. “I wouldn’t say I’m determined to stay at UF. I’ll check into transferring while I’m here, but I’m signed up for summer classes starting next week. Fall registration happens soon at UF. I’m guessing JU’s registration is similar.”
“It might be different.”
“If I make the switch, I’ll need to find a place close to campus since Mandarin traffic is horrible.”
“Lex,” I said, my voice laced with meaning.
“What?”
“Are you forgetting something?”
“What do you mean?”
I stared at her and let the silence build. “Me. You can stay with me .”
“Then we’d be…”
“Living together,” I supplied.
Her head bobbed up like a gentle wave of understanding hit her. “Doesn’t that seem soon?”
I laughed out loud. “We wasted five years on high school bullshit. No, it isn’t too fucking soon. We’ve loved each other for years. Why in the hell would we wait?”
“Um…,” she drawled.
If I wasn’t mistaken, she sounded afraid.
She rubbed at her chest. “You’re sure you want to stay here?”
I sat up. “I’m sure you’re the one. Do you have doubts?”
“You can’t abandon me again.” Her eyes went wide, then she whispered, “Why did I go and blurt that out?”
My instincts said she wanted to bolt, and I wrapped my arms around her. “Lex, I never abandoned you.”
She pulled in my hold and I loosened it a touch. “You were gone for over a year - nobody said anything. Then you were back and hanging with the Devil Lancers.”
I shook my head. “I never left town. I tried to figure out my life. See a way out of the MC world since that’s what you wanted.”
Her head reared back. “Like I knew anything at eighteen!”
“It’s only four years ago. Do we know anything now?”
She chuckled ruefully. “Mom and Dad would say no, but I damn sure know more now than I did then.”
I nodded. “Okay, then what’s the issue here? Your jackass ex-boyfriend said I broke your heart. Had no idea what the hell he was talking about… I’m guessing this is tied to it.”
She sighed and stood. “Yes. You just… the way our parents are friends and our worlds are so intertwined, you ghosting me… Hell, you didn’t even ghost me. I had to be around you, but not be around you. That hurt… No, it killed.”
Mid-way through what she said, she’d started pacing. I stood in front of her. “You’re right. It killed because it fucking killed me too, Lex. Probably worse.”
She scoffed. “As if.”