Snake Charmer (Diamondbacks Motorcycle Club Book 2) (4 page)

CHAPTER EIGHT

It was a day like any other when Alan finally snapped. Eve told herself that it had most likely only been a matter of time. She told herself she should have seen it coming. And yet she was incredulous as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. There was a bruise on her right cheekbone, and it was getting redder and angrier by the minute.

She had refused him one more time. She didn’t make up any lie or excuse this time. She told him the closest thing to the truth: she needed some time alone. She needed a night to herself. She had pushed him away for the umpteenth time, and Alan had finally snapped.

“WHO IS HE?” he had all but roared.

She told him, again, there was no one.

“STOP LYING TO ME!” Alan had screamed, and he had struck her. A full-on, backhanded slap to her face. Then, he had stormed out of her apartment.

Now, Eve stared at her reflection in the mirror, completely unable to make sense of it. How did she get into this? How could she let things get so out of hand? Tears welled unbidden in her eyes, but she bit her lip and swallowed past the lump in her throat, and she refused to let them fall. She was
not
going to cry because of the likes of Alan.

One thing was certain, she was never going to let him do this to her again. He would never lay a hand on her again, violently or otherwise. This was it. She was going to leave him. She was going to—

And that’s when she realized, Alan had the keys to her place. The doorman knew him. He had complete access to her building, to her home. To her.

Fear twisted in her belly, and her mind started working frantically, looking for the next step to take. She couldn’t go to her parents. She couldn’t bring herself to tell them what happened. Not only did her father adore Alan, but she had given them enough of a scare when she had disappeared for almost a month.

A thought struck her then. The Diamondbacks. Lind. She would be safe with them. She felt dizzy and nauseous from the nerves at the prospect, but the more she thought about it the more it made sense. If anything, Lind could probably advise her on what to do, how to handle the situation. If he didn’t know about violence, then who else could she go to?

Eve took a deep, calming breath. She needed her wits about her for this. She gave her battered reflection one last look, then she turned off the light to the bathroom mirror. She walked to the living room and picked up her phone from the coffee table. She sat down heavily on the couch, but she sprung back to her feet the minute the beeping sound of the line came to her ear. Before she knew it, she was pacing.

“’lo?”

Eve’s heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t even a full word, but just hearing the sound of Lind’s voice was enough to almost have those tears that she barely had under control overwhelm her. She bit back a sob and took a deep, shaking breath.

“Lind?”

There was a pause. “What?” Another pause. “Who’s this?”

Eve’s heart broke. Could he really not recognize her? “It’s Eve,” she said quietly, incredulous that she even had to clarify. “Eve Robinson.”

There was dead silence on the other end of the line for so long that Eve even pulled the phone away from her ear for a moment and checked whether the connection was still there. It was.

“Lind?” she called again. “Are you there?”

He gave a low chuckle. “Sorta.”

Eve frowned. Something was off. She hadn’t noticed right away due to the wave of emotion at hearing his voice, but something was definitely not right. He didn’t sound like Lind—at least, not like the Lind she had known for that brief, intense month. His voice sounded rough, and not the kind of sexy rough that had been able to send shivers down her spine. It was a ragged sort of rough, the kind of sound that tells you that the person it’s coming from is broken.

“Are you ok?” she asked, her stomach twisting for entirely different reasons than the initial excitement at hearing from him.

“I’m perfect, sweet cheeks.”

He was drawling. Eve checked her watch. It was 2:45 in the afternoon.

“Are you drunk?”

He laughed fully this time, and the sound chilled her to her bones. “Maybe. What’s it to you?” Before Eve could recover from her shock and think of what to say, he went on. “What is it that you need?”

“Some help,” Eve said after a moment’s hesitation. Was he even in any condition to help her, or anyone else—like himself—for that matter?

“With what?”

“Alan. My fiancé. He—”

“Sorry, sweetheart,” Lind cut her off abruptly. Despite the use of the word “sweetheart,” his tone was icy. “You’ll have to deal with your relationship issues by yourself. I ain’t no Doctor Phil.”

The next sound Eve heard was that of the call being disconnected. She stood in her living room with the phone still stuck to her ear for quite some time. She was dumbfounded. She was used to other people letting her down, but she never thought Lind would be one of those people.

CHAPTER NINE

He hung up before she could say anything else. Before she could persuade him. Before he got sucked further into it. The anger that had bubbled to the surface before mounted up to a fury, and he sat up and threw the phone across the room with all the strength he had. He watched in satisfaction as it hit the wall and smashed into pieces.

How dare she?
Lind thought again, fuming. How fucking dare she call him up and ask him for help to fix her relationship? Didn’t she know how hard he was having it? Didn’t she know that the only reason he was rarely—if ever—sober was so as he wouldn’t have to think about her? So that he wouldn’t have to feel?

He was feeling it all now, and he hated it. Hearing her voice brought it all back. His love for her and his pain at having lost her rushed back and conquered it all—the daze brought on by the drugs, the sluggishness brought on by alcohol. He was
being
again, for the first time after four months, three weeks—two weeks? Whatever. He was feeling again, and he did not like it one bit. He had to put a stop to it, and he had to do it quickly.

It was funny, he thought as he got out of bed and stumbled over to the bathroom and then into the shower, how his self-destructive nature always came through for him, saving him from the pain of life. People always condemned a self-destructive nature, but Lind thought it was the salvation of men. It certainly was
his
salvation.

He let the hot water run down his back and let his mind drift and his thoughts wander. They always seemed to wander back to Eve, and he hated that. He still could not believe her phone call. He had longed to hear her voice again for however long it had been since he had last heard it. However, when he had pictured it, she would talk to him about them. About what they could have together. About their bodies and what they did to each other. She did
not
talk to him about another man. She did
not
ask him to fix her love life for her.

Lind’s closed his fists tightly and took a few deep breaths, trying to keep a renewed surge of anger under control.

How dare she? How fucking dare she?

CHAPTER TEN

Alec Moore rubbed his temples with slow, circular movements that were supposed to soothe his headache but really didn’t. He was tired, worried, and incredibly cranky. The others were steering clear of him today, and he didn’t blame them. In fact, he was very grateful; the last thing he wanted at the moment was to deal with people.
Any
people. He wished he could hole up somewhere and not emerge for a while.

The twins had kept him up all night. He didn’t know how Linda did it. She said they were quieter during the day, but Alec had not had the chance to see them on their best behavior yet. He had been so busy with the club lately that he was barely spending any time at home, which was another reason he was fiercely mad at his best friend. Lind’s absence was taking a toll on the Diamondbacks. They all used to rely on him, and his not being around threw them. It threw Alec, too. He missed being able to count on his best friend, and he also missed the Viper. Handling club business without his second in command was proving to be a very tough task.

But there really seemed to be no other option. Lind’s behavior had gotten so intolerable that he had been forced to kick him out of his room at the club’s headquarters and send him to fuck his whores and drink himself into a stupor elsewhere. He did appear from time to time, but it was always a short visit and he was never the Lind they all knew. The others were getting more and more restless, and Alec wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to play for time and stop them from voting Lind out of the club.

There was a knock at the door and Alec suppressed a groan. He wished he could pretend he wasn’t in, but everyone had seen him come in earlier that afternoon.

“Come in,” he called out in spite of his strongest wishes.

Lucas poked his head in. “Are you busy, boss?”

Alec shook his head and motioned for the youngest member of their gang to walk in.

Lucas stepped into the small office and closed the door behind him. Twenty-four years old, he was taller than most of the men in the club. He was a fidgety kind of lad, due more to an excess of energy than to any nervousness. During an operation, Lucas had proven to possess nerves of steel. He was one of the very few members of the MC that Alec trusted with his life. The kid had potential, and Alec had all intentions to make sure he would climb the ladder.

“What is it, Lucas?” he asked.

Without waiting for an invitation, Lucas settled himself on the chair on the other side of the table that Alec used as his desk.

“I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.”

Shocker,
Alec thought bitterly. He was beginning to think there were no other kind of news in the world.

“What?” he asked again.

“I’ve got some insights from the Cobra,” Lucas began, lighting himself a cigarette in the process. “Apparently Gary Merchant is out for revenge.”

Alec frowned. “Revenge on whom? And for what?”

“Lind,” Lucas said, entirely unsurprisingly. “And that girl, the one who used to work there. He blames them for what happened to him.”

“Shit.” Alec blew out a long breath.

He had not seen this coming, but in retrospect he probably should have. Some of his guys had gotten ahead of themselves after the attack on them at the Cobra, back when they all still thought Gary Merchant was behind it. Long story short, the nightclub had been ransacked and shots had been fired, one of which hit Merchant in the lower back, condemning him to a wheelchair. Alec had taken care of the hotheads, but apparently Merchant was not satisfied. He should have known that something like that would fill a man with anger and resentment until his hate exploded.

“What do we know?”

Lucas shrugged. “Not much yet,” he admitted. “Just that Merchant is putting things in motion. I think we should keep a close watch on Lind.”

“On the girl, too.”

Lucas stared at him in surprise.

“What?” Alec all but barked.

“Nothing,” Lucas said quickly.

Alec knew exactly what. There was a time when he wouldn’t have bothered to put an outsider under the club’s protection. But that was before the birth of his children. Their arrival had softened his nature, and he was still trying to decide whether that was a good thing.

“Get the others and update them,” he ordered. “Get on it with Lind. I’ll handle the girl.”

Lucas nodded and stood to take his leave.

“And Lucas?” Alec called out when the kid was at the door. Lucas turned around. “Good job.”

Lucas gave him a huge, pleased grin and walked out of the room.

Alec sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair. He allowed himself a few moments to gather his thoughts, then he grabbed the phone and dialed the number.

She picked up on the third ring.

“Hello?” She sounded tentative, on guard. Could Merchant have made some sort of move already?

“Hello, Eve,” Alec said smoothly.

There was a pause. “Who is this?”

“It’s Alec. Alec Moore.”

Another pause. “The leader of the Diamondbacks?”

“That’s the one.”

“How the hell did you get this number? I’ve changed it after…well, you know.”

Oh, Alec knew. After all, it had been him that they were shooting at.

“You were on my payroll for a while, sweetheart,” he said. “I keep track.”

“I want you to leave me alone.” Eve’s voice was stronger now, angrier.

Alec smiled. He liked fierce women. “It’s not my intention to harm you or stalk you,” he said.

“Then, what do you want?” she demanded. “Is this about Lind?”

Alec refrained from rolling his eyes. Clearly, her mind was on Lind as much as Lind’s was on hers. He wondered if he was doing the right thing, bringing her where Lind was. The two of them being in close proximity might not be the brightest idea. But what other option did he have? Sure, he could just leave her to fend for herself, but then Lind would never forgive him.

“It’s not about Lind, per se,” Alec said. “It’s about you.”

There was a moment’s hesitation from the other end of the line. “What about me?” Her confusion was so palpable Alec could almost touch it.

He took a deep breath, already regretting his actions. “You’re in danger.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your friend, Gary Merchant,” Alec clarified. “Apparently, he’s out for blood. Yours, specifically.”

“Why would Gary be after me? I’ve never done him any harm.”

“Apparently, he got into his head that if you and Lind had figured out earlier that he had nothing to do with the Cartel shooting at us, he wouldn’t be in a wheelchair.”

“A wheelchair? What the hell are you on about? What happened?”

Clearly, she had no idea of what went down. Perfect. Alec rubbed his forehead with his thumb and forefinger.

“Never mind,” he said. “I’ll fill you in once you’re here.”

“Excuse me?” she said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yes, you are. I’ll send someone over to your place to pick you up. You’ll stay with us until this blows over and the danger is passed.”

“I’ve heard that before…”

“Listen,” Alec snapped, “Lind would have my hide if anything happened to you—”

“Lind doesn’t give a fuck about what happens to me.”

Alec froze. He had not expected
that
. “What are you talking about? Of course he does.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Eve said. “I called him earlier today. He hung up on me.”

Fuck.
How could Lind not even get this one right? He sighed heavily. “It’s not his fault,” he began.
The hell it isn’t.
“Lind is…uh…well, he’s not exactly himself right now.”

“He was drunk.”

The pure disgust in her voice almost had him laugh.

“How do you think we handle our issues, princess? With a massage and a trip to the sauna?” he teased. “Listen, sweetheart, I really don’t have time for this. I’ll send two men over to your place in one hour. You either go with them, or you let Merchant put a bullet in your pretty head. Your choice.”

That said, he hung up. He scowled fiercely, as if she were right there and he could glare holes into her. How dare she refuse his help? How dare she question him?

He had one more phone call to make. He took a deep breath, summoning all his patience, and hit speed dial. He was almost ready to give up when Lind finally picked up.

“What?” he barked, his voice rough and raspy.

Alan clenched his jaw in anger and then willed himself to speak calmly. “Get your ass over to the headquarters.
Now
.” Well, at least he
tried
to sound calm.

“No, thanks.”

“Lind!” Alec roared into the phone. “This concerns you directly.”

“Are you guys finally voting me out?”

“I wish,” Alec said. “Really, I do. I’m fed up with your attitude. But unfortunately that will have to wait. Someone’s looking for you.”

“Who? Eve?”

Alec frowned. What the hell had happened during that phone call, he wondered? “No,” he said. “Merchant.”

“Merchant? Gary Merchant?”

“Yes.”

“What does he want?”

“Your head on a plate, from what I’ve been told,” Alec said. “Along with Eve’s.”

There was a brief pause. “Why Eve?” Lind growled. He sounded almost sober for the first time in a long time.

“He blames the two of you for what happened to him.”

“How was it our fault?”

“I guess he thinks you should’ve figured out sooner that he was not involved with the Cartel,” Alec said. It really didn’t take a genius to figure out the motifs behind Merchant’s anger. “Now seriously, get your ass over here. We’d best keep an eye on the both of you.”

Lind hesitated. “Eve, too?”

“Yes. I’m sending two of our guys to pick her up. She’ll be a lot safer here.”

“You’re bringing her to the club’s headquarters?”

“Do you know of any safer place?” Alec retorted.

“I guess not,” Lind said after a moment. “But in that case, I’m not coming.”

Alec remained speechless for a few moments, completely taken aback. He had
not
been expecting that. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I can’t see her, Alec,” Lind said, his voice actually shaking.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Alec exploded. “Are you kidding me?”

“I’ll be fine,” Lind said. “You know I can take care of myself.”

“Actually, over the past few months you’ve demonstrated quite the opposite.”

“Whatever. I’m not coming.”

“Fine,” Alec snapped. “Then stay there and get yourself killed, see if I give a fuck.”