Page 8 of His Flawed Ride (Sons of Lost Souls MC #16)

Chapter Six

Leo

W hy can’t I let this go? A question I ask myself repeatedly.

The paranoia is intensifying each day and nothing I tell myself is taking the building pressure off.

I can’t remember the last time I held down a conversation without Nora invading my mind, her watching as Grim tortured the shit out of her ex.

Why the fuck did I let her stay and then shoot her ex with Grim at her back.

I let myself into my house and the place is quiet. Though that’s what I want on a good day, with that bitch taking up residence in my head, I’ve come to hate the quiet.

I dump my keys, smokes, and phone on the kitchen table, and find Holly nursing Roman in the living room.

I lean over her chair and kiss my wife and then stroke my son’s head.

“Where’s Rayna?”

“She’s over at Nina’s with Seb.”

She’s been spending more and more time over at the McCarthy’s, and though they’re her family, I’m left wondering if it’s the baby driving her away.

Reading my face, Holly, tells me, “She’s having fun with her cousin while her baby brother is being boring. He sleeps, eats, and then sleeps some more. She’s fine.”

This is one of the things I love most about her. She can read me like a book. It’s not good out on the streets, but in my home with the woman I married, I love it.

“When he’s bigger, and he’s on the move, and she’s able to interact with him, it’ll be different. I promise.”

I grab myself the orange juice from the fridge while she burps Roman and settles him in his bassinette.

Holly comes up behind me and winds her arms around my waist, pressing the side of her face to my back.

“You’re worrying about more than Rayna. Do you want to talk about it?”

Again, she knows me too well, but she’s grown closer to Nora over the last year. I can’t talk to her about the regret of allowing Nora to watch her ex die when the end result can be never taken back.

“I don’t wanna talk.”

Gripping onto her hand, I pull her around me and bring us chest to chest. I cup my hand over her cheek and slide my other hand around the back of the neck.

I pull her against me and claim her mouth.

Without breaking the kiss, I push her back until she’s up against the wall and I lift her legs and enjoy how tightly she wraps them around my waist.

My phone rings and it couldn’t be worser timing. Especially when I see who’s calling.

Lowering Holly down onto her feet, I answer, “What the fuck do you want, Sherrif?”

“Just giving you a heads up, Harry Stuart’s family have reported him as a missing person.”

After all this time? Yet, I say, “Who gives a fuck?”

I hang up and slide my phone back into my pocket. In the few seconds I was on the phone, Holly has wandered off and is glued to her phone.

“Nora’s on her way. Her mom died and she’s coming back for the funeral.”

Fuck. This isn’t what I want to hear. With his family on the hunt, how’s Nora going to cope if she runs into them? I knew something was going to come back and fuck us in the ass. I rub my chest to ward off the pain bouncing around.

“Leo, what’s going on?”

I can’t tell her shit. Not because I don’t trust her, but because I don’t want to put her in any type of position.

“Nothing, I’m just tired.” Which isn’t a complete lie.

“I need to go. I’ll see you later.” I kiss her on my way out and inhale deeply once I’m outside.

A part of me thinks having Nora where I can see her is a good thing, I can finally relax.

But the other part, the bigger part, is wanting to put her in the ground.

If I eliminate her, I eliminate this fucking anxiety.

Bringing up Grim’s number, I call him.

“What’s up, Prez?”

“I heard you’re on your way to Willow’s Peak for Nora’s mother’s funeral.”

“Yeah, I was gonna call when we were near.”

“Giving you a heads up, Harry’s family have officially filed him as missing.”

The line goes quiet, and I check the connection is still live. “Yo, you still there?”

“Yeah.” He clears his throat. “Thanks. We’re a couple of days out, I’ll let Nora know so she isn’t blindsided.”

“How do you think she’s gonna act? Is it gonna be a problem?”

My heart pounds in my chest waiting for his answer.

“She’ll be fine. It won’t be a problem.”

I end the call feeling no more assured than I did when I stepped out of the house.

Digging my keys out of my pocket, I ignore everyone as I head to my bike. The ride into town fails to soothe me and by the time I pull up outside Mason’s house, I’m more on edge than ever.

He must hear me arrive as he opens the door before I have the chance to knock.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, worry clearly etched onto his face.

“I need to talk to you.”

He steps back and I enter his home. “Aspen and the babies are sleeping, we’ll talk out the back.”

I light a cigarette when we’re on the back deck and I lean against the rail.

“If something’s happened that I need to know, I’d rather you just get it over with. I’m running on two hours sleep in the last two days and…”

“Brother, it’s not what you’re thinking. Harry’s family has filed a missing report, and Nora is on her way back to town for a funeral.”

“What do you need?”

“I need you to watch her like a fuckin’ hawk until Grim’s driving her back to the mountain.”

“Do you think this missing report is gonna spook her?”

“I have no fuckin’ idea, hence why I want you on her.”

He leans back in his chair and lights a cigarette. “Sure. What do I do if it looks like she’s gonna talk?”

I stare at him, and he stares back. “Whatever you need to in order to keep her quiet.”

“Are you saying…”

“I’m saying… do whatever you need to keep her quiet.”

“Prez… I mean, don’t get me wrong I couldn’t give a shit, but what about Grim?”

“If it comes down to it, Grim should’ve picked a better suited old lady.”

Mason shrugs and then from somewhere in the house, the babies wail. He’s up and out of his chair, flicking his cigarette into the ashtray can.

“You’ve got a couple of days before they get here, get some sleep. I’m relying on you to make sure you don’t miss anything.”

“I’ve got it.” His assurance soothes me. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why the fuck did you let her stay? Her knowing we killed him is vastly fuckin’ different from her witnessing it.”

“I’ve been asking myself this for months. Trust me though, it won’t be something I’ll allow ever again.”

Lessons have to be learned, and this is a lesson I’ve well and truly fucking learned.

I plan on heading back to the club when I spot the sheriff’s cruiser parked at the diner. Making a split decision, I turn and park in the parking lot. Killing my engine, I light a cigarette, and fuck what people say about it not being good for you, it’s helping to keep my calm.

I inhale each puff deeply until my lungs burn and the cigarette has burned down to the butt. Swinging my leg over my bike, I head into the diner and sit at the counter, three stools up from the sheriff.

After ordering a coffee, I keep my voice low with no one close enough to hear, “Make this missing report disappear.”

She sips her coffee and then tells me, “I’m working on it, but his family are persistent.”

“I don’t care how you do it, get it done.”

“Is there a particular reason why you’re so concerned about this?”

Keeping my sights straight ahead, I say, “Is there a particular fuckin’ reason you think I’d answer that?”

She’s not stupid, she was the one who dropped him off at the club.

“It’d help.”

“You’re the sheriff, you don’t need my help. Make the report disappear.”

Tossing cash on the counter, I leave my coffee half drunken and leave. If the sheriff doesn’t make this go away, I’ll have to do it myself.

I find myself stopping by the cemetery on my way back to the club. Leaving my bike by the entrance, I walk around to India’s grave. Fresh flowers have been recently laid by her headstone, and I smile at the most recent picture of Rayna.

“She’s getting big, huh?” I say, reaching for my smokes. “She’s addicted to her phone these days, which I’m sure she hasn’t told you. How did that happen? Our daughter old enough to work a phone.”

I light a cigarette and continue, “I’m sorry I haven’t been by in a while.

You know how it is at the club, there’s always something kicking off.

” I draw on the cigarette and admit, “I’ve done something stupid again.

I allowed someone to see something and now regret consumes me. I don’t know how to clear my head.”

Grinding the cigarette out under my boot, I crouch down and tell her, “The only thing I haven’t messed up is our daughter. Everything’s good with Holly but I’m starting to feel like I’m living on borrowed time until I mess that up.”

I cringe hearing myself. I don’t hear her anymore and I don’t know why I’m moaning at her grave. I normally only tell her about Rayna and the good times.

“I’ll stop by another time when I’m not so on edge.”

The ride home offers little reprieve from the Nora invasion, and I ignore the brothers and then my dad and lock myself in the house.

“You weren’t gone long,” Holly says, on her phone.

“I only had a couple of errands to run and then I stopped by India’s grave.”

“Were the flowers still there?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

“Good. I worried the storm the other night would’ve blown them away. Rayna picked them special this time. She liked the pink petals.”

Another reason I love this woman so much. She’s not threatened by India. There is never a flicker of jealousy when she’s mentioned.

“They were still there, as well as Rayna’s photo.”

She looks up from her pile of laundry and narrows her eyes. “Are you sure you’re doing okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m gonna grab a shower then I’ll make us some lunch.”

“Sounds good.”

I climb the stairs grateful to be out of her sight. I don’t want my shit affecting her and my home in any which way.