Revolution (The Lone Riders MC Series Book 1) (23 page)

Twenty-Four

‘Shit! This weather isn’t fucking helping!’ Coby muttered, squinting to get a good look at the road outside as the rain pelted down on to the windshield, the wipers working overtime to try and clear his vision.

They were driving in convoy back from the port, the containers of guns now safely stored in the back of three of the trucks whilst two back-up vehicles followed behind, with another one out in front – driven by Tay – leading the way to the warehouse. And that was the vehicle Coby was trying to get back in his line of sight. But the weather was making everything twice as difficult.

‘You see it yet?’ Jesse asked, sitting back in the seat beside Coby, his feet up on the dashboard whilst two of Emilio’s guys kept the guns company in the back.

Since they’d left the port everything seemed to be going according to plan – apart from the weather. But Coby still wasn’t totally at ease, not yet. And he wouldn’t be until he was back at the clubhouse, with Lexi in his arms. Until he was kissing her, making love to her; losing himself inside her, counting down the days until he finally met his boy. The son he should have met a long time ago. The son he should have faced up to instead of leaving her to deal with it all on her own. Why the hell had he waited this long? Why hadn’t he fought for her and his boy sooner? What the fuck had he been so scared of?

‘Coby?’

Jesse’s voice shook Coby back to reality and he blinked rapidly, trying to get his focus back. Shit! And there was him accusing
Tay
of losing it. ‘Yeah, hang on… there they are!’ He finally caught sight of the lead truck’s tail lights. ‘Jesus Christ, this frigging weather! When was the last time it rained like this round here?’

Jesse shrugged, biting the top off a bottle of beer, spitting it out on to the floor.

Coby looked at him. ‘You sure you want to be doing that?’

Jesse returned his look, taking a long drink from the bottle. ‘It’s chilling me out.’

‘For Christ’s sake…’

‘Do you love her?’

Coby waited a beat before giving any kind of reply. ‘What are we doing here, Jesse?’

‘Do you love her? Lexi. Do you love her?’

Coby found his fingers gripping the steering wheel tighter as more rain whipped down on to the windshield, obscuring his vision for another few seconds until the blades of the wipers cleared it, albeit briefly. ‘You want to do this
now
?’

‘Do you love her, Cobe? It’s a fucking simple question.’

Coby reached out with his right hand, quickly grabbing the beer from Jesse’s grip, tossing it out of the window, only just hearing the sound of glass shattering before the window closed again.

‘Hey! What the fuck are you doing, man?’ Jesse objected.

‘Shut your mouth, sit down, and grow up,’ Coby hissed, breathing an inner sigh of relief as the truck in front of them indicated its intention to turn off and start heading towards the warehouse. So far so good.

‘You haven’t answered my question,’ Jesse persisted.

‘You
really
want to do this now?’ Coby was doing his best to keep his eyes on the road, make sure the truck in front stayed in sight. He didn’t need this shit from Jesse.

‘Something just doesn’t feel right, about you and Lex. I mean, falling in love, it’s a gradual thing, it doesn’t just
happen.
It took years for me to realize I felt that way about her.’

Coby stayed silent for a second or two as he carefully followed the lead vehicle up the narrow dirt track that led to the warehouse. ‘Aye,’ he said quietly, pulling up behind
Tay
’s truck, sitting back in his seat, still holding tightly on to the steering wheel. ‘Me too.’

Jesse looked at him, frowning. ‘Huh? What are you talking about? Are you… are you saying you…? Did you…? Was something going on with you two
before
she left
Paradise
?’

Coby hung his head, closing his eyes, breathing in deeply, his hands gripping the wheel tighter.

‘How can it have taken you years to know you loved her when…’

‘This is not happening here,’ Coby hissed, fixing Jesse with a look so cold Jesse actually shifted back in his seat. ‘Get out. Come on. We’ve got work to do.’

‘What’s going on, Cobe?’

‘Right now, we are trying to make sure this night ends with every one of us back at that clubhouse in one fucking piece. Everything else can wait. Now get out. Move it!’

They both jumped down from the rig, pulling their hats down further over their heads as the rain continued to pelt down.

‘Everything okay?’ Coby asked as
Tay
approached, Kel just behind him.

Tay
nodded. ‘All seems to be in order. Want to let Emilio’s guys out of the truck and start loading these crates into the warehouse? Jesse, go help Kip and the others. Kel, make sure the Hilton crew know what we’re doing. Coby and I can handle things here.’

Coby and Tay walked around the back of the truck,
Tay
signalling to the others to start unloading, too.

‘Still got a bad feeling about this?’
Tay
asked as they slid open the back of the truck, allowing the two Cabos to finally jump out.

Coby didn’t reply. His attention was focused on Emilio’s men as they checked the other two trucks first before heading over to the warehouse.

‘Coby?’
Tay
looked at his VP, whose his eyes were still fixed firmly on the Cabos.

‘We need to get out of here,’ Coby said quietly, his voice calm and measured.

Tay
frowned, confusion sweeping over him. ‘Huh? What are you…?’

‘Now!’ Coby watched as the doors to the warehouse flew open and a line of bodies stepped forward, guns raised. ‘Jesus Christ…’

‘What the…?’
Tay
gasped, immediately drawing his weapon.

The sound of gun fire now joined the pelting rain as shots rang out into the otherwise peaceful night, lighting up the dark sky like some perverse kind of firework display as every Lone Rider reached for their guns, firing back as fast as their fingers would let them.

‘We’ve been fucking double crossed!’ Coby yelled, jumping up into the back of the truck, prising the lid off one of the crates as fast as he could, the pain that was shooting through his hands not even registering as his fingers clawed desperately in an attempt to free them some back-up. ‘The Cabos and the Ravens were working together on this all the time. It was a fucking set-up, Tay.’

‘To take us out?’
Tay
yelled back, peering out from behind the truck, firing off more rounds as the rain continued to pelt down.

‘Oh, now you fucking get it!’ Coby shouted. ‘Is everyone doing okay out there?’

‘As far as I can see…’

Coby finally threw the lid aside, grabbing an armful of rifles from out of the crate and throwing them to
Tay
. ‘Get these out there, quickly! Come on! Jesus,
Tay
, I told you I had a bad feeling about this.’

‘Now’s not the time to start, Cobe. Are these loaded?’

Coby took one of the rifles, aimed it high and fired out a shot that pierced the noise that already surrounded them. ‘Aye.’ He continued to throw more guns at Tay, who did his best to get them to the rest of the guys as the shooting continued, the air heavy with smoke and the sickening sound of bullets hitting flesh, bodies dropping to the sodden ground like broken dolls.

‘Jesse’s down!’ Kel yelled over.

‘Fuck!’ Coby jumped down from the back of the truck, walking out into the crossfire, shooting off rounds indiscriminately at those who dared face him. All he could see was a red mist of anger, a veil of determination that none of these bastards were going to take from him a future he was within reach of now. This club, they weren’t going to bring it down, he wouldn’t let them do that.

‘For Christ’s sake, Coby!’

Coby ignored the shouts, the warnings, instead continuing to walk further towards what was left of the Cabos and Ravens crews. The Riders had obviously done a good job with what little firepower they’d originally had with them because they now outnumbered the bastards who’d set them up.

‘Coby!’ Kip yelled as Emilio faced off with the Lone Riders VP, guns raised, eyes meeting eyes as every other crew member lowered their weapons, watching as those two men alone took the lead. ‘Take it easy, man.’

Coby had had enough now. The violence, the killing; the lies and the secrets and the stupid games they’d all been playing for far too long. He’d had enough.

‘I can’t believe you fell for this,’ Emilio sneered, his gun still raised, pointing straight at Coby’s forehead.

‘You want us gone?’ Coby asked, his own gun matching the position of his opponent’s. ‘Because, I’m assuming that’s what all this shit tonight is about. But what I’m not getting is, what kind of threat
were
we exactly? We didn’t want your filthy gun business anymore. We didn’t want anything of yours. So why go to all this trouble? Why waste your time? Why lose men because of it?’

‘Your President, he disrespected us. He stole from us. And that stealing, it resulted in three of my best men dying. Gunned down by our pissed off Mexican contact. I lost a lot of face, a lot of respect, and
Tay
always knew the day would come when some kind of payback would have to be called in. I just had no idea how naïve he would turn out to be.’

Coby chuckled, smiling a twisted smile, standing his ground, even though his heart was beating out of his chest. ‘He lost his focus, you got that right. So it’s a good job I still had mine.’

‘What good will that do you now?’

‘You don’t seem all that bothered about the men lying dead around you.’

‘These men, they are fighters, martyrs to our cause. They knew the risks coming here tonight could bring. As, I’m sure, did your own men.’

‘Well, as much as I’d like to stand here all night chatting with you, I think we need to finish this up, don’t you? Because I’ve got one hell of a hot old lady back home whose legs I am aching to get between. And this crap is just getting in the way.’

‘Coby…’
Tay
warned.

‘Leave it,
Tay
,’ Coby threw back.

It was Emilio’s turn to chuckle, a slightly sinister edge to his laugh, but his hand remained steady, the gun still aimed at Coby’s forehead. ‘That’s exactly what I came here to do, amigo. Finish this.’

‘Coby…’
Tay
repeated, his voice just audible above the now slightly less heavy rain.

‘Go see to Jesse.’ Coby’s voice was icy calm.

‘You don’t have to…’

‘Just do as I say, for Christ’s sake!’ Coby turned his head, only briefly, to look at
Tay
. A momentary lapse of otherwise rock-steady concentration, the gun shot hanging in the air like the sickest of sounds…

Twenty-Five

Lexi leant over the pool table, pulling the cue back slowly, totally focused as she finally pushed the cue forward, potting the ball hard and fast.

‘I haven’t lost it!’ She grinned, laying the cue down and picking up her beer.

‘Your daddy been teaching you, huh?’ Angie smiled, joining her daughter at the pool table.

‘Hey, I guess I just inherited his talent.’

‘So good to see you weren’t wasting your time over there.’ Angie looked at Lexi. ‘What
did
you do when you were over in
England
, honey?’

‘Helped Dad out at the garage, customized my first ever Harley, got pregnant…’ She shrugged. ‘You know, the usual.’

‘I’m being serious here, darlin’. I missed so much of your life, and I know I said I didn’t really want to talk about the past but… I missed so much…’

Lexi turned to face her mum. ‘And whose fault was that?’

Angie turned away, part of her wishing she hadn’t brought any of this up, but it still hurt to think of all those years she’d missed. All that time she could have spent with her daughter had she not been so insistent that club culture be carried out. A big mistake. But Lexi was right. It was
her
fault.

‘Oh, Jesus… who let
her
in?’ Lexi sighed.

Angie turned to face the door of the clubhouse. ‘She has friends here, sweetheart. She was a part of this club for a lot of years. She’s still welcome.’

‘Even if she can’t stand me?’

Angie smiled, squeezing her daughter’s shoulder. ‘Come on. You can handle Deena Lopez. When did somebody not liking you make
you
lose any sleep?’

‘Never.’ Lexi returned her mum’s smile.

‘Just keep your hands to yourself though, baby, okay? We got enough to be dealing with tonight without it kicking off in here, too.’

‘Who said anything about me kicking off? I can behave myself.’ Lexi winked at Angie as she walked off towards the bar. ‘I promise.’

‘Yeah,’ Angie muttered under her breath. ‘Sure you can.’

Lexi slid up on to the bar, resting her biker boot-clad feet on a stool as she watched Deena say hello to a few of the old ladies who’d turned up tonight. And for a brief moment she let herself remember the sight of Deena’s perfect, rounded, naked ass high in the air as she’d buried her head between the thighs of a beautiful red-head. A sight that had led to Lexi and Coby fucking hard in a cupboard just off set. A memory Lexi had replayed many a time over the past couple of days – both the sex with Coby, and the sight of Deena going down on another woman. Shit! What was going
on
here?

‘Hello.’

Her voice made Lexi’s head shoot up, her eyes immediately meeting Deena’s. ‘Hello.’ Lexi smiled. She wasn’t sure how warm or welcoming it had come across, though. She wasn’t feeling particularly sincere, although, at the same time, she still didn’t know exactly what it was she should hold against this woman. It wasn’t like she was any kind of competition. And she really couldn’t be bothered with the crap. There was enough of that going down as it was.

‘Heard anything back from the boys yet?’ Deena asked, sitting down on a stool next to the one Lexi had her feet on.

‘I’m sorry. Does this actually concern you?’

‘Considering I’m back with Jesse now, yes. I think it does.’

‘Oh. Okay.’ Lexi took a long swig of beer before handing the bottle to Deena. ‘Didn’t know you guys were back together. When did
that
happen?’

‘When you were all over at The Candy Cave the other day. He saw me do my stuff, and decided he wanted that action all to himself again.’

‘Except, he’ll never get that action all to himself, will he?’ Lexi muttered.

‘I’m sorry?’ Deena frowned, handing Lexi back her beer.

‘You’re a porn actress, Deena. People watch you fuck, it’s what you do. There’s not one inch of you that’s private. But I’m assuming Jesse’s okay with that?’

‘He’s okay with a lot of things, honey. Been a while since you spent your days hanging round here, remember?’

‘Yeah.’ Lexi drained the last of her beer. ‘Tell me about it.’

‘I still don’t like you all that much,’ Deena continued, turning around on her stool, resting her elbow on the bar and her chin in her hand as she looked up at Lexi. ‘But, to be honest, I’m not really sure why. I mean, it’s not like you’re a threat or anything.’

‘Ditto.’

‘Maybe we could even try and be friends.’

Lexi couldn’t help a loud and almost manic laugh from escaping. ‘Friends?’

‘What’s so funny about that?’ Deena asked, allowing a confused expression to cloud her pretty face.

‘Nothing, really,’ Lexi sighed, clasping her hands together between her knees. ‘I’m just not seeing us meeting for coffee or having girly nights in, that’s all.’ She looked at Deena, her eyes staring straight at her. ‘So, you’re not gonna try and get Coby between those undoubtedly beautiful legs of yours, then? Like you threatened before.’

The confusion disappeared from Deena’s face, to be replaced by a mildly seductive smile. ‘No. I’m not. But I might try my luck with
you
.’

Lexi was about to hit straight back with something that might just have called the pretty porn star’s bluff, but the sound of trucks pulling up outside in the compound distracted everybody.

‘They’re back!’ Angie shouted, running over to the clubhouse entrance just as the doors were kicked open and Kel and Kip barged in with Jesse.

‘He’s been shot,’ Kip gasped, out of breath after carrying his friend from the truck.

‘Get him down on the couch, over there. Come on,’ Kel said, taking the weight of Jesse from Kip, his arms cradling their injured brother.

‘Oh, Jesus… why didn’t you get him to a hospital?’ Angie cried, crouching down beside Jesse as Kel laid him on the couch at the back of the clubhouse.

‘You know the drill, babe.’ Kel shot Angie a look and she bowed her head. ‘Anyway, we don’t think it’s gone too deep. He isn’t bleeding out too much. Probably just grazed the skin. Go get the medical bag from the chapel, go on.’

‘He took one in the shoulder,’ Kip said, sinking to the floor, resting his back against the couch, pulling off his hat and pushing both hands through his hair. ‘Hit his head when he fell to the ground. That’s why he’s out cold.’

Lexi felt a wave of fear so big crash over her that she almost couldn’t catch her breath, but as quickly as that fear had hit her, it dissipated, to be replaced with something she could only describe as a the biggest shot of adrenalin as she heard another truck pull up outside.

Moving as fast as her legs would allow she ran out of the clubhouse, outside into the rain, stopping by the entrance, closing her eyes briefly until she heard the door of one of the rigs slam shut. Opening her eyes, she watched as
Tay
jumped down, watched as Cain and Luca, Blake and the others all piled out of their vehicles. All of them battered and bruised and soaking wet, dirty and tired, but alive.

‘Coby?’ she whispered, running over to
Tay
, letting him pull her into his arms, hugging him tight. ‘Where’s Coby?’ Her heart was beating so hard and so fast, so loud she could hear it above the sound of the pouring rain.

‘Hey, baby…’

She pulled back slightly, looking from
Tay
to the others, watching as they walked with bowed heads back inside, to safety. ‘Where’s Coby?’ she repeated.

Tay
also bowed his head, closing his eyes for a second, leaning back against the side of the truck. ‘It’s all my fault, Lex. Baby, I’m sorry…’

‘Where is he,
Tay
?’

‘I’m here, kid.’

She swung around, not knowing whether the sound of his voice was just a dream or whether he was real, and it wasn’t until she saw him standing there, her tall, brave, Scottish soldier, that she could finally believe he was alive. ‘Coby…’ She couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down her face as she ran to him, his arms falling around her, enveloping her in the tightest of hugs, his mouth falling on to hers, kissing her like his life depended on it. And she clung on, holding on to him, never wanting to let him go because some of those things she’d feared would happen tonight – it obviously hadn’t gone to plan. She could only thank whatever God there was up there that Coby had come out of it in one piece. And hope that he would make sure Jesse was afforded the same privilege. ‘For a second there…’

‘I know, baby, I know. But I’m okay, I’m fine.’

She looked up at him. His face was dirty, spattered with mud and faint spots of blood – she could only assume that the rain had washed off most of the rest of it. His clothes were soaking, bloodstained, and filthy, and just looking at the state of him terrified her. The fear seeped through into her bones, it was so strong.

‘Things just got… they got complicated.’ Coby looked over at
Tay
, who held his VP’s gaze. ‘But I think we’re all gonna be okay. We sent out a message tonight. A message a lot of people won’t forget easily.’

She didn’t want to know the details. She didn’t care. Not tonight, anyway. Not right now.

‘Christ knows how Jesse was the only one of ours to get hit, because it got fucking crazy out there, but…’ Coby’s eyes were back on her, his head cocked slightly. ‘Where is he? Jesse?’

‘He’s… he’s inside. Kel’s treating him. Kip said he took a bullet to the shoulder.’

‘Yeah… big pussy knocked himself out when he hit the ground. Made it all look worse than it really was.’

Lexi didn’t miss the quick smile that passed between her stepfather and Coby. What kind of shit had gone down tonight?

‘He’s gonna be okay?’ Lexi asked, still holding on to Coby. She wanted to hold on to him forever, never let him out of her sight. But she knew she could never do that. So she was going to make the most of holding on to him now.

‘He’s gonna be fine. Kel’ll have that bullet out by the time we get inside and the big idiot’ll be sitting up swigging a beer like it was nothing but a splinter. Won’t let no shoulder injury stop him from drinking, huh?’

She tried to smile, but she was failing to see the humour in this situation. She wasn’t as immune to it as much as the men were.

‘I’d better go see Angie,’
Tay
sighed, pulling off his hat and shoving it into his back pocket. ‘See what shit she’s got ready to throw at me.’ He walked over to Lexi and Coby, squeezing Lexi’s waist, kissing her quickly. ‘Your man here, he’s a hero. And your boy, he should be very proud of his daddy. See you inside, sweetheart.’

‘Yeah. We won’t be long.’ She looked up at Coby, reaching up to run her fingers over his scarred cheek. ‘What did you do?’

His hand covered hers, squeezing it tight, bringing it up to his lips and kissing it quickly. ‘I made sure we stay safe, baby. That’s what I did.’

She closed her eyes, leaning forward so their foreheads touched, his hand still clinging tightly on to hers.

‘I need you so badly right now, Lexi. And I don’t care that it’s raining or that I’m covered in some dead bastard’s blood, I don’t fucking care. All I care about is you.’

‘It’s freezing out here,’ she whispered.

‘I don’t care. I really don’t.’ He slowly unzipped her shorts, pushing them down her legs, his mouth on hers, kissing her hard and deep. ‘I don’t fucking care.’

He lifted her up, her legs wrapping around his waist as he carried her over to one of the tables outside the clubhouse, the ones covered by the huge overhanging canopy, offering them both some shelter as he sat down on the bench, Lexi straddling him, their mouths still together.

It felt slightly weird, a little twisted, even, having sex under these circumstances. But just knowing he was alive and back where he belonged was enough for Lexi to know she was going to do it anyway. She was beginning to think she’d do anything for this man so deep were the feelings she had for him now. So deep and confusing and real.

‘I love you so much, kid,’ he murmured, his lips now covering her neck in tiny, feather-light kisses as he gently lifted her up, just a touch, before pulling her back down, slipping inside of her so easily she couldn’t stop a long moan from escaping. She was getting her shot of something safe and strong, that toxic poison she was addicted to now. She could feel it spreading out within her with every rotation of her hips, its warmth and its blinding power taking over everything. ‘I love you so much.’

Her fingers slid between his on her thighs as she continued to move against him, pushing down on to him, finding that rhythm, picking up pace, both of them hitting that hard-fought-for climax together, clinging on to each other as their bodies bucked and jerked. ‘It’s okay, baby,’ she whispered, her mouth resting against his as she felt him explode inside her, his relief almost palpable as he continued his release long after hers had subsided. ‘It’s okay.’

When he’d finished, he went almost limp in her arms and she held him against her, letting him catch his breath, pull himself together. Whatever had gone down tonight, he’d needed whatever this had been. He’d needed some kind of outlet. Some kind of release.