Resurrection (The Lone Riders MC Series Book 3) (13 page)

‘OK,’ Mia whispered, wrenching her hand free of Kip’s grasp. ‘OK. I’ll listen to her.’ She walked over to the table, her eyes fixed firmly on the woman sitting there.

‘Are you… are you Mia?’ Carrie asked, watching as Mia sat down opposite her. Kip pulled out the chair to her right, placing himself between the two women.

Mia nodded, clasping her hands together in front of her.

‘I’m Carrie. I used to be engaged to Ben.’

Mia said nothing to that, just kept her eyes fixed on Carrie. She seemed an odd choice for Ben – biker Ben, that is. An odd choice for him to have gone for back in his Dark Angel days. But it was only when Mia noticed the tattoos poking out from the cuffs of her shirt that she realized this woman may have undergone some kind of change over the years. It was possible she’d left one life behind and found a completely new one. Was Ben the reason for that?

‘Look, your brother he… he asked me to come talk to you. Said you needed to hear what I had to say.’

‘My brother needs to keep his nose out of my business.’ Mia’s tone was cold, which was slightly unfair on Carrie. It wasn’t
her
fault she was here. She’d obviously been coerced into it by Kip. ‘I’m sorry,’ Mia sighed, realizing Carrie wasn’t to blame for this. ‘I know you’re only here to try and help me, but… Ben isn’t like that.’

‘Jesus, Mia.’ Kip threw back his head, his tone exasperated. ‘Are you really so fucking naïve? After everything you’ve been through?’

She shot him a look which told him in no uncertain terms to back off. But he was having one of it.

‘You’re blinded by love, for Christ’s sake,’ he went on, his eyes blazing as they stared right at her. ‘Or by something you
think
is love…’

‘Don’t fucking patronize me, Kip, because I really don’t need that.’

‘Look, if this is a bad time…’ Carrie said, pushing her chair back.

‘No. It’s not a bad time,’ Kip said, desperate to save this situation before it got completely out of hand.

‘That’s not your fucking decision to make,’ Mia hissed, glaring at Kip.

‘Grow the fuck up, Mia, and stop acting like some lovesick teenager who won’t have a wrong word said about the prick she’s seeing because she
thinks
she fucking loves him…’

‘This is what he did to me.’

Both Mia and Kip turned to look at the photo Carrie had slid across the table. Kip picked it up first, staring at it for a few seconds before handing it to Mia.

‘You need to look at this.’

She took it from him, staring down at the image in her hands, and within seconds she felt the nausea start to rise. ‘Ben did this?’ Mia couldn’t tear her eyes away from the photograph of Carrie’s neck, the bruises and red marks that decorated her skin all-too familiar.

‘He didn’t always go for such obvious places,’ Carrie said, her voice low but steady. ‘Usually he kept it to my upper arms, y’know, ‘cause they could be hidden. Never went for the face, not in the beginning, anyway. And he didn’t always use physical violence. Sometimes his words hurt far more than any twist of the wrist or punch to the stomach.’

‘I can’t do this…’ Mia whispered, throwing the photograph down on the table and pushing her chair back. ‘I’m… I just…’ She looked at Kip, not knowing what she was feeling now. Anger, pain, fear… she didn’t know. She just knew she’d heard enough.

‘Mia, please,’ Kip pleaded, standing up and reaching out for her, but she backed away, shaking her head.

‘You’ve made your point.’ She looked back at Carrie. ‘I’m sorry, for what happened to you. I really am sorry, because no one –
no one
– deserves that.’

‘Men like Ben, I’m not sure they can change.’ Carrie’s voice was quiet, but there was a hardened tone there that Mia couldn’t miss. ‘I mean, he’s gone back, hasn’t he? Back to the life.’

‘He just… he…’ Mia didn’t know what to say. The words wouldn’t come out. It was almost like her brain was shutting down, yet, at the same time, refusing to let her ignore this.

‘He did that to me,’ Carrie continued, holding the photograph out again before sliding it back into her pocket. ‘And that was only the start. Ben Salter will never really exist, Mia. Because Benjamin Almeda will never really disappear.’

Mia looked up at Kip, still not knowing what to say. She just felt numb. Like the shutters had come down and everything had gone dark.

‘He may not have done anything yet, Mia,’ Kip began. ‘But you’ve only been together a few weeks. Right now, that man is still a stranger, you have to remember that.’

‘It took months before he started displaying any aggressive behaviour towards me, Mia.’

Once again she looked over at Carrie, a woman who’d been through everything
she’d
suffered at the hands of Lennie, and she’d got out. And hadn’t
she
– Mia – got out, too? Shot the man who’d put her through so much shit, and walked away from that crap? It just tore her apart to think that the man she’d thought could protect her from men like Lennie; he was one of those men himself. Could he really have changed? Was it worth the risk to find out?

‘And now he’s back in the Dark Angels…’ Kip continued, until Carrie cut him off.

‘He’s back in the Dark Angels?’ It was the first time she’d let her voice falter so badly.

Kip looked at her. ‘For a reason, Carrie. We needed him to…’

She shook her head, grabbing her jacket from the back of the chair, fixing Mia with a look that turned her blood to ice. ‘Walk away, Mia. Please. Don’t give him a chance, don’t believe he can change because if he’s… Just walk away.’

Mia watched as Carrie almost ran from the café, her head spinning with it all. This was unreal. This wasn’t happening.

‘I need to see him…’

‘No, Mia. You can’t…’ Kip gently grabbed her arm, stopping her from doing something rash, something stupid. ‘You can’t. Let him go. Please. Just let him go.’

Was it that easy? Closing her eyes for a second she remembered the last time she’d seen him; how happy he’d made her feel. And then she remembered Lennie, and how it had been with him in the beginning, how happy
he’d
once made her feel, too. Until he’d changed, just like that. Once she’d become his, everything had changed.

‘Mia?’

Kip’s eyes were almost pleading with her as she stared up into them. And a part of her wished beyond anything that they weren’t related, that he wasn’t her brother, because Kip Hart – he was the kind of man she should be with. He was a kind man, tough when he needed to be, but never one to disrespect any of the women who hung out at the club. No one had a bad word to say about Kip. But she couldn’t have him.

‘Come on,’ Mia said, taking his hand as a wave of calm resignation washed over her. ‘I need a drink.’

Seventeen

‘This is making me nervous.’ Coby paced the floor of the chapel, stopping only to look out of the window now and again. ‘It’s like the calm before the fucking storm.’ He turned to face Kip, who was perched on the edge of the meeting table, a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. ‘And where the hell is Ben? He been in touch with
you
? ‘Cause he sure as hell hasn’t contacted me. I tell you, Kip, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.’

‘I told you this whole fucked-up scenario had the ability to go belly up. He’s turned against us, gone back to the Dark Angels, for real. That’s his heritage, Coby.’ Kip stood up, turning around to stub out his cigarette. ‘Sending him back there, it was always gonna be risky. Maybe that’s why he was so reluctant.’ He fixed Coby with an “I-told-you-so” look. ‘Because he knew, deep down inside, that if he was to get too close, he wouldn’t be able to walk away.’

Coby’s stare narrowed. ‘I don’t appreciate being told I was wrong, Kip. I was desperate, OK? And Ben, he was our only hope…’

‘No, Coby, he wasn’t. We couldn’t trust him, not really. I mean, all that time he was our lawyer, how do we know he hasn’t been passing on information…’

Coby slammed his fist down hard on the table, his eyes blazing. ‘
Enough!
This is bullshit, Kip. It’s getting us fucking nowhere.’

Kip remained calm. Getting Coby rattled was never a good idea, so maybe he had to take the reins here. Calm the situation. ‘Look, why don’t I ask around, see what I can find out?

‘Aye,’ Coby sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. ‘Just, be careful, OK? Eyes and ears open at all times, you got that? Something’s happening, Kip. I just have no idea what, and no idea when…
Shit!
This is fucking crazy!’

‘Let’s kick back a bit tonight, huh?’

Coby looked at him, frowning slightly.

‘A party.’ Kip grinned. ‘And I don’t mean some pre-wedding family get-together. Let’s have a club party, y’know, like back in the day. Before old ladies starting getting in the way of our fun.’

Coby’s face started to crack a slow smile. ‘Now you’re talking, kiddo!’

‘Leave it with me, OK? I’ll get Luca on the case. I’m sure he’ll be quite willing to get a good crowd together. And no Lexi, all right? Cat won’t be coming ‘cause she’s visiting her mum in
Burbank
until Wednesday. And I’m sure there isn’t a brother out there who’d say no to a night away from their women.’

Coby walked over to Kip, giving his back a friendly slap. ‘I knew there was a reason I’d made you my V.P.’

‘Hey, it’s nothing. Any excuse, huh?’

‘Aye… Go on. Get out of here. And check we’ve got enough alcohol behind that bar for tonight. I’m in the mood to make it a late one.’

He waited until Kip was out the door before he wandered back over to the window, staring out at the compound, listening to the sound of engines revving coming from the garage, the noise of construction work going on out back as the new buildings continued to take shape, new ventures that could only strengthen the Lone Riders’ portfolio of legitimate businesses. He had this club back on the right track, they were almost there – almost working on a level where the trust and the belief that he and his brothers; the women who helped make this place what it was, they were almost at that point where the town could start looking to them once more as a source of safety and support. He could only hope that whatever was about to happen next; he could only hope and pray that whatever that was didn’t wreck everything because, right now, hope was all he had.

***

Ben was edgy. She hadn’t sounded her usual self when he’d called her and asked her to come here, to their place. And that bothered him.

Sinking to the ground he leaned back against his bike, drawing his legs up, resting his elbows on his knees as he fiddled with the leather bands around his wrist. The sun was too hot, and he could feel the sweat on the back of his neck, but that’s what you got for coming out early afternoon in the middle of a heat wave.

He turned his head as he heard a bike roar across the old railway yard, and he quickly pulled himself to his feet. It was her. He recognized her red Harley Roadster.

She swung the bike around a little way back from him, killing the engine dead but she didn’t get off straightaway, and he watched as she sat there, her fingers gripping the handlebars tightly, her head slightly bowed.

‘Mia?’

He started to walk towards her, but then stopped as she finally removed her helmet and climbed off the bike, slowly raising her head until her eyes met his.

‘You lied to me.’ Her voice was quiet, but the harshness in her tone shot a warning signal right through him. ‘You knew what I’d been through with Lennie, you knew all of that, and you didn’t tell me.’

He was confused, this completely unexpected barrage knocking him slightly off-kilter. ‘What the hell’s going on…?’

‘Carrie. You never told me about Carrie.’

He kept his eyes locked with hers, trying hard to keep his composure because this couldn’t be happening. How the hell did she know about Carrie? ‘I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it was important.’

Her laugh echoed around the deserted yard; a harsh, dead-to-the-ear sound. ‘You didn’t
think
it was important?’ She walked over to him, her eyes never leaving his. ‘You beat her. You verbally abused her…’

‘Is that what she told you?’

She stared at him, right into his eyes and he’d never seen a look so cold, on anyone, let alone a woman. ‘Are you telling me she’s lying? That she made it all up? Are you telling me she doctored the photograph she showed me?’

‘Photographs are only proof
something
happened, Mia. They aren’t proof that
I
was the one who did whatever it was she’s claiming I did. I wasn’t the only brother she slept with…’

‘You’re really gonna stand there and do this, huh? To me?’

‘Please, Mia…’ He reached out to take her hand but she pulled it away, although her eyes still refused to leave his.

‘Did you hurt her, Ben?’ Her voice, although still quiet, was consumed by a dark, almost flat tone.

‘Mia, please…’

‘Did you hurt her?’

Ben bowed his head, breathing in deeply.

She laughed, a quick, humorless laugh. ‘You can’t even look at me.’

He slowly raised his gaze, his eyes once more locking with hers. ‘I love you…’

‘No,’ she whispered, shaking her head, backing away from him. ‘No. Don’t say that. Don’t you
dare
say that…’

‘I’m not that man anymore, Mia. What happened with Carrie… It was a mistake…’

‘A mistake?’ She let out another short, sharp laugh. ‘Jesus, Ben…’

He moved towards her, but the look she gave him stopped him dead in his tracks. It was like an invisible barrier had just shot up between them. ‘It was all part of a past I’m not proud of. What I did to her, I regret it so much…’

‘I’m sure you do. I’m sure men like you pull that line out so often it just rolls off the tongue after a while, but I’m not listening. I’m not taking that risk.’

‘I’ve changed, Mia…’

‘Really?’

‘Please… baby, I’m begging you…’

She straddled her bike, pulling her helmet back on and kick-starting the engine, killing the conversation dead. ‘Begging is such an unattractive trait, Ben.’ She threw him one last stare, her eyes cold as ice, before she sped off.

‘
Shit!
’ Ben almost screamed the word out, a fierce frustration washing over him, enveloping him. All this crap, it was hitting him too fast, coming at him from all angles and any control he still had over anything, he felt as though it was being ripped away from him at every turn. And most of it – all the shit with his father, the Lone Riders, Sol; he could handle that. He could deal with all of that in a heartbeat, but losing Mia – she’d been the one thing he’d known could keep him from going back. She could have saved him. He’d never intended to lose her, despite everything Sol was ordering him to do. Walking away hadn’t been something he’d planned on doing. So losing her, that was the killer. That was the trigger. That was something that changed everything…