Page 39 of Lies Beneath Secrets (Skeleton Crew #1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Lauren

Con doesn’t respond to my question. Instead, he just opens up the door and leads me out toward the bar. I do my best to keep my head up while on the inside, I’m screaming.

“Stay by my side. You don’t need to talk to anyone if you don’t want to,” Con instructs as he opens the door for the both of us to walk inside. The music grows louder with the pull of the door, but the chatter inside stops as if someone has just flicked a switch. So many eyes stare our way; many of them have already seen me naked.

“Is it too late for King to just put a bullet in my head now?” I mutter, getting a cold glare from Con in return.

“Not a fucking chance,” he growls and pulls me on through the doors and over to a table. “Siena, Bottle of Ard,” he shouts and pulls out a chair for me to sit. I take a seat and slowly, the talking around the room starts back up again.

“Two glasses?” A tall and very thin woman comes to the table with a bottle of what I’m guessing Con yelled out for. She must be Siena. Her long, blond ponytail sways back and forth with the motions of her placing the glasses on the table.

“Yeah, leave the bottle,” Con tells her as she pours the amber liquid.

“In a mood tonight, I see,” she says, then looks over to me. “I’m Siena.” She gives me a warm smile. “I’m glad the clothes fit.”

“Oh, these are yours? Thank you,” I say. “I’m Lauren.”

“You must be the reason Con hasn’t come around as much.” I glance over to Con, who’s concentrating on the pour of the bottle as if he’s pretending not to hear Siena’s comment.

“Well, I couldn’t tell you if that’s true or not. Personally, I just found out this place even existed twenty-four hours ago.” Con still ignores the interaction, sliding one of the glasses across the table to me. It doesn’t have as much in it as his does. That may need to change if I’m going to get through this night.

“Communication is key to a relationship, Con,” Siena scolds playfully, then smiles at me. “If you need anything else, let me know. The other girls here aren’t as welcoming to newcomers.”I watch as she walks away. Reaching down I tug a little on the shorts I’m wearing. They cover the burn, but just barely.

“You don’t need to hide that anymore,” Con tells me before taking a sip from his glass.

“Not sure that’s a habit I can break. Piper didn’t even know about this,” I admit, realizing now that my best friend probably has no idea where I am. “Oh my gosh,” I groan.

“What?” Con asks.

“Piper, she is probably wondering where the hell I am. Has she come looking for me?” I glance up at Con. He doesn’t get a chance to answer before Knox takes a seat between us.

“That fucking friend of yours?” He grabs the bottle sitting on the table and helps himself, pouring into his own glass. “She tried to kick my ass.”

“What?” I gasp. “When?” The thought of her doing harm of any kind is out of character for her. She can’t even kill a spider. She will, however, re-home them to outside.

“She came to your apartment while I was packing up your shit,” Knox starts and gets a glare from Con.

“What do you mean, packing up my shit?” Knox looks between the two of us, then shrugs.

“I packed up some of your things and brought them to my place. It will be there when you can leave.” I shoot daggers in Con’s direction. “Which reminds me.” He reaches into his vest and takes out a picture. “Thought you would want this back.” I stare at the photo for a moment, wondering how Knox ended up with it.

“Where did you find this?” I pick it up, looking over the faces of my mother, Leah, and me.

“In your apartment.” He shrugs. I open my mouth to argue that it was never in my apartment, rather in my mother’s, until I flip it over and notice numbers scribbled on the back of it. They look long enough that they could be bank account numbers. Those were definitely not there before.

“Thank you for returning it.” I keep my gaze down and pocket the picture, doing my best not to give away how confused I am. Forcing away the curiosity of the photo I get back to the conversation we were having. “What did you tell Piper?” I ask, forgoing the words I’d like to say regarding having my shit packed and moved to Knox’s house.

“That I would have her call you when you had a chance.”

“And how am I supposed to call her? You know, now that I’m a prisoner.” I look pointedly at Con now, who’s taking another drink from his glass. He doesn’t even try to correct my statement.

“That part isn’t on me,” Knox says as he pulls something else out of the leather vest he’s wearing. It’s only then to I really look at it. Con is wearing a similar one but his doesn’t say vice president on it. I watch him for a moment as he produces a small black box. It clicks open, and he pulls out a cigar.

“Where did my phone go?” I ask Con after a beat of silence at the table.

“Not sure, but I’ll get you a new one,” he tells me and now, Knox is laughing.

“Don’t have this old bastard get you a phone. You should have seen the one he had before you met.” Knox cackles a bit more before Con reaches over and punches him in the arm.

“Fucker,” Con grumbles. “I’ll have Sienna grab one for you.”

“Okay.” I look over to the bar where Siena is. “Have you slept with her?” I blurt out, getting Knox to laugh and answer for him.

“No one has slept with that pistol.” He raises his glass in her direction. “Not for a lack of trying though.”

“He’s not speaking for me on the trying part,” Con says, speaking up. “I’ve been with the other ones though.” He points to a corner of the room where three women sit with some of the men. “Once or twice. Long before I met you.” His honesty about it shocks me a little, and I find myself respecting the fact he told me instead of me finding out about it later. Like finding out he’s part of a biker gang. Or club as he put it.

“Thank you for the honesty.” I decide then to take a sip from the glass Con offered me when we sat down and instantly regret it. The liquid burns and causes me to cough.

“You okay?” Con asks, coming closer and putting his hand on my back.

“This stuff is not for me,” I say, coughing a little more. Con’s face softens a little, then he takes the glass from my hand. “I’m getting a vodka,” I state, then stand. Almost instantly, Con grips my arm. It isn’t hard, but it isn’t soft either.

“I said stay by me.” I look down at where he’s holding me.

“I’ll be right there.” I point with my free hand to the bar, then look back at his face. His beard has come in so much, and he looks nothing like the man I first met months ago in the diner. I’ll admit that his now-rugged look suits him more than the ‘clean-shaven guy next door’ image he maintained in the beginning. Then, something suddenly dawns on me.

“Did you keep your beard shaved to make yourself seem more approachable?” I narrow my eyes at him, and Knox fills the space again with more laughter.

“Busted,” Knox jeers. Con must decide to leave this argument alone because he lets go of my arm.

“I’ll be back,” I state and turn toward the bar again. I draw in a deep breath before beginning the short walk over to the bar that might as well be miles away for how long it seems to take me to get there. My skin prickles with the feeling of every eye on me. I do my best to keep my eyes trained on the bar stool I’m going to sit on. Before I reach it though, someone sits down right in that very spot. They lean back and watch me walk over. I don’t recognize them at all, but I’m sure they recognize me.

“Allow me,” he says when I get closer. He pulls out the barstool next to him for me to sit. Not wanting to back down, I take the offered seat. “I’m Pace,” he tells me, extending his hand. I don’t take it. Instead, I turn my body away from him.

“Lauren.”

“Yep,” he says. “What will you have, Lauren? Siena!” he calls out.

“Vodka, neat.”

“We only have one kind here, and I’m afraid it isn’t the good kind,” Siena tells me, pulling out the bottle with a brand I’m not familiar with on the label.

“Not like my day could get any better anyway.” I shrug and take the glass. Sipping the liquid slowly, I decide that it will have to do.

“Straight vodka and a complete badass. Where did Con find you?” Siena asks with a smile.

“Other end of King’s gun,” I say and take another sip. I expect her to be a little shocked; instead, she throws back her head and laughs.

“I’m going to love having you here.” She winks at me, then walks away.

“She’s our newest member. Besides you that is,” Pace says. I had actually forgotten he was there.

“I didn’t think motorcycle clubs had female members.” I don’t know much about clubs, but I’ve never heard of one with women as members. How does that even work?

“Hell yeah. Women can be crafty. They’re untaped resources.” Pace looks over at Siena, who has come back over by us.

“It’s going to stay untapped too,” she jokes, getting a laugh from Pace.

“You’ll give in one day. No way you can resist me forever.” I watch their exchange and notice the way Siena looks his way. I hate to break it to her, but he might be right.

“Get your drink?” Con’s voice comes from behind, vibrating all the way through me. I turn slightly and hold up my now almost empty glass in answer. “I see you met Pace.”

“Somewhat,” I respond, getting a wink from Pace.

“Seeing her up close and now talking to her, I’m beginning to understand.” I’m about to ask what Pace means by beginning to understand, but Siena takes that moment to top off my glass.

“Some of us girls get together every Sunday for a sort of a girls day, if you’d like to join us,” Siena says. “The guys get their party, then we get our relax day.” I don’t have the chance to tell her I would be happy to join before Con answers for me.

“No, she’s not a member,” he all but growls at Siena, causing her face to ashen.

“Oh. I’m sorry, Con. I didn’t mean anything by that. I was just being friendly.” She offers me a sad smile before taking off back to her bartending.

“That was rude,” I say and stand, holding my glass. “What if I wanted to go with her?”

“You aren’t a member yet,” Con says before stalking back over to the table.

I follow him, wondering what the hell his problem is. I thought the whole reason I’m stuck here now is because I’m a member of the club. “Care to explain what you mean by that?”

“You still need to initiate.” He takes a drink from his glass. “Siena,” he points toward the bar, “she had a boyfriend who liked to beat the hell out of her on occasion. She tried to leave, and he nearly killed her. So, she came to us.” I’m confused by his story. What does Siena’s crappy boyfriend have to do with initiation? “If you want the club’s protection, you need to become a member. To do that, you earn trust. For her, we picked up the ex, tied him to a chair, and had her put a bullet in his head. All while we witnessed. I suppose that’s a leverage of some kind. But after that, you’re in. No leaving. The club needs something done? You bet your ass you’re getting shit done.”

“That doesn’t seem so bad.” I shrug.

“You say that now until you get told to do something you don’t want to do. You have a stubborn streak, Lauren. I’ve been a witness to it already a time or two,” Con argues.

“I’ve been told I’m a little hardheaded but really, how bad could it be? As long as you don’t order me to go around killing puppies or something, I think things will be fine.”

“You truly are one of a kind.” Con chuckles, shaking his head.

“So I’ve heard,” I say, rolling my eyes, “So, I get to pick who I want dead?”

“In a sense. Why? Who do you have in mind?” He seems amused until I speak again.

“The person who kidnaped me and brought me here.” I pause and look at Con. “Eli.”