Depressed that she’d lower herself to staying with a man who ruined other people’s lives so he could buy himself the rest of the town, she planted her hands on her hips and faced him. “How could you?”
“Tori.” He growled. “You have no fu — ”
“There’s a lot of things I could forgive Rain, but that’s not one of them. You might think you’re dealing with adults and giving adults something to ease … whatever they’re trying to escape or seek, but kids end up doing drugs. Kids! People die every day for that habit.” She closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them, she couldn’t look at him. “How could I be so stupid not to see the truth?”
It was all because he was willing to give her everything she was afraid to dream about on her own, and he forced her to let go of the past when she was with him. She looked away from the hurt, away from the truth. She was falling in love with him, and she couldn’t stop.
“You know what?” His keys jingled. “Take them. Drive back to the bar, load up your shack, and go.”
The cold, defeated voice punched her in the stomach. She grabbed the keys from him, whirled around, pushed through the door, and ran across the parking lot. She moved faster to outrun the pain of Rain letting her go. That was what she’d wanted.
She’d asked every day since he claimed her as his woman to allow her to leave Pitman, to leave him, to leave the terror that came with depending on someone else and taking the chance she’d end up hurting him. And she had hurt him. Not only breaking her heart in the process, but spilling every dark secret she hid inside. Her father was right. The blood that flowed in her veins corrupted everything she touched, and she would do anything to keep Rain safe.
She forced the gas pedal down. The truck roared to life, and she pulled out of the parking lot. Driving on instinct, she could only think about saving Rain. The knowledge he dealt drugs to afford a grand lifestyle in his riverside mansion and all the business he could buy up bothered her.
What a fool. She’d failed, and made a huge mistake. Rain had felt her out the moment he met her. She could pretend to be classy. In bed, she could fake being sexy, but he was right, she was whacked. She knew better than to fall in love. Love was for other people.
She should’ve been happy settling with helping others find love. For years, it gave her enough to know she was making a difference by deflecting the bad she could do to others. The Baldwin sickness still lived inside her. It caused her dad to kill her mom, try to kill her, and then to kill himself as she lay under the kitchen table, watching what happened when you loved someone. She would not allow her presence in Rain’s life to end up getting him killed.
And he’d die if she stayed. Sanchez had warned her several times. Rain had told her what was happening. The problems had escalated, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
The truck tires squealed around the corner. She bounced in the seat as she hit the speed bump meant to slow traffic into Cactus Cove’s parking lot, and came to a stop beside her truck. She jumped out and slammed the driver’s side door.
Remembering she’d left her purse with her keys inside Rain’s office in the bar, she jogged across the gravel lot. She ignored the crowd inside, and weaved her way through the room to the hallway.
“Tori, wait,” Taylor called.
She stopped.
Taylor put her arm around her waist. “Hang on a minute. I want you to meet someone. Are you in a hurry?”
“Yeah.” She pressed her hand on her chest. “Sorry. I have to get out of here.”
“Whoa. What happened?” Taylor grabbed her shoulders. “You’re crying. Where’s Rain?”
The muscles around her heart squeezed, and she swallowed the lump rising in her throat. “Listen, Taylor. I don’t have time to talk, but I’m leaving. Can you get one of the guys — maybe Jedman or Ronny — to help me hook up the shack to my truck? It’s important, and I want to get out on the highway in the next half hour.”
“Let me call Rain.” Tori pulled her phone out of her pocket.
She grabbed her wrist. “No. Please.”
“Okay.” Tori glanced behind her, then grabbed hold of Tori and dragged her down the hallway. “We’re going to talk. Now.”
“There’s no time.” She walked into the room, spotted her purse on the desk where she’d left it, and picked it up. “I’m leaving. Rain knows, and he’s fine with it.”
“That’s not true.” Taylor appeared shocked. “You two are perfect together. He wants you to be with him.”
“Maybe before today, but I found out the truth.” She unzipped the side pouch and extracted the keys to her truck. Taylor wouldn’t understand the real reason why she had to run, so Tori gave her what she could understand. “I can’t stay. Not even you can expect me to stay with a man who deals drugs and has no conscience about all the people he’s hurting.”
“What are you talking about? Rain would be the last person to hurt someone, unless it was a Lagsturns.”
“Exactly.” She blew out her breath. “I’m sorry. I really like you, but it’s bad enough that I’m putting Rain in danger. I don’t want to stay and watch him kill himself over doing something illegal.”
“Illegal?” Taylor frowned. “Rain doesn’t deal with drugs. He won’t allow drugs anywhere on the streets in Pitnam or with anybody who wears Bantorus leather. Why do you think he’s running himself ragged keeping everyone on guard? It’s because he cares about the community, and he doesn’t want the Lagsturns to bring their dirtiness into our town and to our people.”
She shook her head. “He told me the truth. You don’t have to cover for him. He bought all his businesses with drug money.”
Taylor’s mouth opened and she stepped back. “Oh, shit, girl.”
“See? I told you.” She held out her purse and shook it. “You all can cover for him if you want, but I know the truth.”
“You don’t know anything.” Taylor moved over and shut the door. “Listen up and listen well.”
“I don’t have time,” she said.
“You’ll make time.” Taylor planted herself in front of the exit and held up one finger. “For one, Rain does not deal, sell, snort, push, blow, or shoot drugs. Bantorus riders have a no drugs policy we all sign. That doesn’t count alcohol or cigarettes, so don’t even go there.”
“Fine. Then he transports.” She sniffed. “I’m not going to argue with you. It also doesn’t change anything.”
“Oh, yes it does. Rain bought the bar with the money he earned from reward money bringing down one of the biggest drug rings to hit the west coast. He sunk most of the money into the bar.” Taylor glared and her voice grew higher in pitch. “Then he worked his ass off making Cactus Cove something special. It’s headquarters for all of us. He built cabins in the back, so a lot of us who’ve never had a home, have somewhere to sleep with a roof over our head.”
The air in the room pressed in on her. She frowned. “Reward money?”
“Close your mouth. You’ve got me mad, and you’re going to hear everything I have to say whether you like it or not.” She took a deep breath and continued. “When he saw he was making a profit with the bar, he bought the hotel for practically nothing when it went into foreclosure. A few years later, he bought Shift’s Garage. He worked hard, he expected the best, and in return, he’s made himself successful. And, no one — not even you — will put Rain down. He’s family. Even more, he’s my friend. So either you pack your shit and hit the road, or you get on your knees and thank the good Lord it was Rain who claimed you as his woman, because I’ll tell you, there are plenty of women who won’t slander his good name who’d like to be warming his bed. Got it?”
All she could do was nod.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rain pushed himself off the outside wall of Shift’s Garage when Torque rode into the parking lot bringing him his Harley, so he could go talk to Tori. Rain approached the bike, waited for Torque to put the kickstand down and hop off.
“You have four men on her?” Rain asked.
“Yeah, boss. I also took the distributor cap off her truck like you asked me to do.” Torque unzipped his jacket. “She can’t leave even if she wanted to.”
He moved in front of Torque and slid onto his motorcycle. Despite his anger, he had no plan to walk away from his promise.
“Boss? Something bad is going on with her.”
“Yeah.” He wrapped his fingers around the handlebar and looked Torque in the eye. “She’s reliving a nightmare, probably the worst thing a person could live through.”
Slade flinched. “You won’t send her away, will you?”
“Never. That’s my woman. It’s my job to look after her. I screwed up today thinking she understood things she had no idea about, and it hurt her. She’s seen many things I’d never wish on another person, and she’s carried those wounds around since she was a kid. When she hurts, even a little, her first instinct is to run away from the hurt. Now she’s doubting me, and that doesn’t make me feel good about my part in what I’ve done. I could’ve stopped her from hurting, and that’s on me. I need to go make it right and man up.”
Rain started the engine. He held up two fingers as he rode around Torque and headed toward the road. He’d realized exactly when Tori made assumptions about his life and rather than defend himself, he’d reacted the way he did around most people. He didn’t give a shit what people thought of him. They could say anything they wanted. But, Tori knew him. Had he done anything to make her doubt him?
A drug dealer? He sped through town. She’d slipped right back to thinking things out for herself, assuming she knew what he meant and not giving him a chance to set her straight.
Maybe if he let her stew in her anger long enough to realize how incredibly stupid her preconceived stereotypes about him and all bikers were wrong. He’d never even thought she’d take him for dealing drugs.
All the time they’d spent together, hanging around the other riders, and growing close, meant the world to him. When in hell would he have the time to deal drugs for a living when he had a motorcycle club to run?
What hurt him worse was that she believed he’d allow her to walk away. Well, she had some hard truth coming her way when he arrived at the bar. He’d given his word to her that he wouldn’t allow her to run away, and his word was law. It was time she learned he never went back on his word.
He rode into the parking lot of Cactus Cove, aware that Tori’s truck and the Coffee Shack remained in the same spots as when he’d left the bar. He relaxed, able to admit that the thought of coming back and finding her gone had worried him. In the space of time he’d gotten to know her, he’d come to count on her being with him. The quirky way she acted when they were alone endeared her to him.
She stood up for her friends she’d made in town and brightened everyone’s day. Hell, he’d seen regulars to the bar now break routine and make it into her shack for a chance to talk with her. He couldn’t believe it was for the coffee. They could get that anywhere, including the bar.
As always, a group of riders sat parked on their motorcycles in the lot. He lifted his chin, acknowledging them. Then he strolled inside Cactus Cove.
Laughter drifted toward him. He studied the crowd surrounding the bar and knew without a doubt Tori held them all enthralled with her giving nature and goofiness. He’d seen it happen over and over when they were around the others. What he couldn’t understand was the change in emotions.
When she’d left him, she’d acted as if he’d ripped her heart out and left her bleeding. Now she was laughing with the Bantorus members?
The crowd shifted, and he caught sight of Tori. She stood in the middle of the group with Grace clasped in front of her. Her arms hung around his manager’s neck. The stern jowls on Gladys disappeared with the smile on her face. Tori slithered her body along the older woman’s rather plump side in what he could only guess was a dance.
He studied her, not understanding what was going on. He stood here thinking she was broken up and angry with him for hurting her, and she was … dancing.
“If you can teach these yahoos how to dance, Tori, we’ll never get a break. There’re five men for every woman in the club.” Taylor grabbed Slade’s hand and twirled under his arm.
“Dammit, woman, get a hold of yourself.” Slade pulled his arm away, but Taylor moved in close and shimmied against his thigh.
Slade stared up at the ceiling, but Rain noticed he stayed in place, letting the girls have their fun. He wiped his hand across his mouth. If Tori had her hand in this, he wouldn’t be surprised to find out Taylor and Slade hooked up after today. They’d eyed each other for weeks, pussyfooting around each other. All they needed was a bit of Tori’s good intentions to get them started.
“Hey, boss,” shouted Bruce.
He nodded, keeping his eyes on Tori. She’d whirled around and connected with his gaze. An emotion he couldn’t recognize flitted over her features, and she moved away from Gladys and stood behind Ronny out of view.
He wasn’t going to allow her to hide from him. If she wanted to throw attitude around about him having her rig tampered with or spread rumors about him dealing drugs, then they could have it out right now.
“Babe?” He motioned for Ronny to step away.
Tori stood with her hands locked around her elbows and rubbing her lips together. He tilted his head, searching for some reason why she went back to not trusting him. But none came.
Sometime between her voluntarily agreeing to stay with him and convincing her he wasn’t in a throwaway relationship with her, she’d wormed her way into his heart and planted her claws in him. He slipped his hands into his front pockets and leaned against the barstool.
“You’ve got about five minutes to get over your snit, because I’m going home and you will be on the back of my bike with me,” he said.
Her eyes rounded. “Snit?”
He ignored her look. “You’re either in or out, but you’re not running. I made you a promise, and my word is solid. I also told you from day one to trust me. You’ve been pushing me every time I turn around, not taking my word, listening to the doubts in your head, and losing yourself in the past. I’d really like to know why you’d jump to conclusions and shut me out when I could’ve explained what happened at the garage with one sentence. So, you get your head sorted in five minutes, babe. Then we’re getting out of here and going home.”