Train's Clash (The Last Riders Book 9) (12 page)

C
rash raised
his eyes from his cards. “Who was that?”

Train set his cell phone down on the kitchen table. “Shade.”

“What did he want?”

“He didn’t say. He was acting weird.”

“Shade weird or weird-weird?”

“I don’t know. I can’t explain it. Call him back and ask him.” Using the tip of his cards, he shoved his cell phone toward Crash.

“I was just asking.” He shifted in his seat as if Shade would yell at him from the phone.

Jewell folded her cards, stretching as she rose. “I have to get to bed. I need to try to get a couple of hours sleep before work.”

“See you in the morning.” Train dropped another twenty in the pot.

“Why don’t you come with me? You haven’t slept in three nights.”

“I’m not tired.”

“Suit yourself. Crash, make sure you shower before work; you reek. That pizza you ordered had enough garlic on it to make a vampire comatose.”

“Want to give me a goodnight kiss?”

“Hell no. Besides, it’s morning.” Jewell shoved away from Crash when he jokingly tried to pull her down onto his lap. Dodging him, she escaped out of the kitchen.

Train showed his cards, pulling the pile of cash toward him.

Crash grunted, leaning back in his chair. “I’m all in, brother. Then I’m going to bed.”

“You don’t want to play another game?”

“You have all my money.”

Train took out his wallet and precisely tucked the bills inside. “I can give you a loan if you need it?”

“No thanks. I’ll borrow some money from Razer if I need it. He doesn’t charge interest.” Crash left, complaining about having to take another shower.

Train made a fresh pot of coffee, glad he hadn’t eaten a slice of the bizarre pizza Crash loved to order. It had five different meats and enough garlic to kill a horse, with jalapenos, onions, and pineapple on top. It always made his eyes water when Crash would carry the pizza box into the room.

He was cramming the box in the trash outside of the kitchen door when Razer stepped out of his house, heading toward him.

“Crash ordered pizza again?”

“He lives on that stuff.” Train held the door for him as they made their way inside. “I told him he was a heart attack waiting to happen, but he says the garlic keeps him healthy.” Train picked up his coffee cup as Razer poured himself one. “What has you up so early? You don’t have to be at work for another couple of hours.”

“Beth will be getting Noah and Chance ready for pre-school in an hour. I didn’t want the boys to see me sleeping on the couch.”

“You slept on the couch?”

“Beth and I got into a fight when I told her not to talk to Sex Piston and her crew anymore.”

“I can imagine how that went.”

“Like a ton of the bricks. She threatened to hurt me when I fell asleep.”

Train made them breakfast, and they were fixing their plates when Viper showed up. His face was haggard as he poured his coffee.

“I’d ask how your night went, but I can see that for myself.” Train offered him a piece of toast.

Viper shook his head, sitting down at the table with them.

“I take it Winter didn’t take your order any better than Beth did?” Razer bit into a piece of crispy bacon.

“Do you know how hard it is to live with two women who are mad at you?”

Train and Razer stared at him like he had lost his mind as Stori and Ember came in, arguing over which of them would cook breakfast and who would do the laundry.

“When Winter stopped yelling at me and locked me out of the bedroom, Aunt Shay let me have it. I should have stuck to my plan about building Aunt Shay her own house instead of building a two-story to give us our space. Now I’m stuck with two women who refuse to fix me a meal.”

“I wouldn’t eat it if she does. Winter can have a mean streak when she gets mad,” Train advised. “Did Shade call you last night? He was acting strange.”

“He called me an hour ago. What do you mean by strange?”

“He didn’t tell me why he called. What did he say to you?”

“He said he thinks he found a way to get Sasha out of trouble. He’ll call back tonight with more info.”

“That sounds good, right?”

“Let’s hope so. I feel like I dropped the ball on this one,” Viper said.

“You didn’t. I did. I wanted to punch myself in the face when Jewell told me about Killyama giving me that black eye.”

“I knew they were trouble the minute I walked into the Pink Slipper.” Razer stood up to refill the men’s coffee.

“I knew we weren’t getting rid of them when Winter invited them to our wedding.”

“If you three are all done feeling sorry for yourselves, can I wash your dishes?” Stori asked with her hands on her hips. “I need to get to work, and I want to start the dishwasher.”

Train helped Stori carry the dishes to the sink as the club members filed in to eat.

“Shade’s probably the only one who had a good night’s sleep, being away from Lily. Lucky called to tell me he was sleeping at the church, and Rachel spent the night at her brother’s house.” Viper stood up. The coffee had revived him, but he still looked exhausted.

“Which one?” Train asked as they headed toward the factory.

“Tate’s.”

“At least it wasn’t Greer’s. He wouldn’t let Cash live it down.”

“I’m sure he knows by now. The problem is, the women keep dragging everyone into our lives. I’m standing firm on this one. The wives need to know I mean business this time.”

The three men angrily turned around as Stori and Ember, who had walked out behind them, listening, started laughing.

“Seriously, those women have you by the balls. What about Diamond? You can’t expect her to stay away from her own sister.” Stori hastily wiped her laughter from her face.

“I don’t know. Why not? They fight off and on with one another. Knox said they once went two years without talking.”

“That’s because they were mad at each other, not because a man told them to.”

“I’m the president of The Last Riders, and the women are all part of the club, for better or worse. When they married into the club, they became my responsibility, and having anything to do with that underhanded bitch is detrimental to us all.”

“I don’t remember that part of the wedding vows.” Skeptically, Stori stared at the two married in the group.

“It was implied,” Train spoke up, agreeing with Viper.

“I agree,” Razer backed up his president.

“I don’t think the women will agree, but what do I know? I just thought I would give you a woman’s opinion.” Stori linked her arm with Train’s. “Can you talk Jewell into letting me get off early? I want to make pork chop casserole for dinner. I know how much you like it.”

Train smiled down at her. She was like a breath of fresh air. Killyama had used him to achieve her own ends, but Stori didn’t want anything from him, only to make him happy. She catered to all the men in the club and was one of the few women who didn’t argue with the other female members. She was the opposite of Killyama, and exactly what he needed right now.

“I’ll see what I can do.” He was supposed to get off at three. He would ask Jewell if he could work until four so Stori could get off.

* * *

B
y afternoon
, Train felt as bad as Viper had that morning. When Stori left, giving him a hug, he regretted offering to let her off early. The three sleepless nights had taken their toll on him. He had finally succeeded in driving himself to exhaustion.

The delivery truck had to be loaded with Cash’s help. When they were done, he went back inside the factory to see most of the workers had left. Cash had already gone up to the clubhouse, and Jewell was about to leave.

“A package came for you,” she told him. “I laid it on your workstation. Lock up when you leave.”

“Will do.”

Curious, Train picked up the small package. He had seen the UPS arrive when he was loading the truck, but he had thought it was for the factory. He never received packages. He had no family, all of his friends lived at the clubhouse, and he hadn’t ordered anything.

He took out his pocketknife, running it across the top of the box. Closing his knife, he opened the package, finding another box inside.

Lifting the lid, he stared down in astonishment. Wrapped in tissue paper was a brand new black wallet with a chain attached.

Train touched it, feeling the buttery soft leather in his hand as he ran his thumb over the Navy insignia at one corner.

The expensive wallet was something he would have never bought for himself. He would think it was a mistake and that Jewell had gotten the name of whom it was meant for wrong, except the wallet was engraved with his nickname across the top.

He searched for the invoice to see who had sent it, or if there was a card he had missed, but there wasn’t anything. Then he took out his phone to search the company found on the return address on the main box, wanting to see if they could tell him who had sent it. However, they were closed. He would have to call back tomorrow.

Maybe Sasha had ordered it. She was always ordering something, but he didn’t think so. Usually, he or Rider gave her their credit cards when they wanted to splurge on the women. He couldn’t see any of the brothers buying the wallet for him, either.

Train locked up the factory before heading into the clubhouse. The brothers were already in the living room, relaxing and waiting for dinner.

“What do you have there?” Cash held on to his pool stick as Crash took his turn.

“Someone sent me a wallet.” Train lifted the lid of the box so that Cash and Crash could see.

“Nice. Who sent it?” Crash lifted the wallet so the others could get a look.

“I don’t know. There wasn’t an invoice or a card.”

“You have a secret admirer you haven’t told us about?” Viper lifted it out of Crash’s hands.

“No. Maybe Sasha bought it for me. It’s not like I can ask her right now.”

“Nope,” Crash denied that belief. “I keep an eye on the credit card statements. No one bought a wallet.”

Train didn’t know who would have done it then. He scoured his mind. The only person outside of the club who could have possibly ordered it for him was unlikely. Killyama didn’t seem the type of woman to give gifts. The bitch wouldn’t give him the time of day, much less buy him a wallet. But if she had, Train didn’t want it.

Seeing the stares of the brothers, he could tell they were thinking it was from her, too.

Going to the trashcan beside the bar, he threw the box inside.

“Don’t throw it away. If you don’t want it, I’ll take it.” Cash strode to the trashcan, taking it out. “I can give it to Greer for his birthday.”

Train snatched it back from Cash. He had overreacted. He would keep it until he found out who sent it. If it was Killyama, he would give it back to her. Greer Porter wasn’t getting it.

“I changed my mind. Willa could have sent it to me.” Train hadn’t considered Willa before, but she liked giving presents out, so did Lily. Until he knew for sure, he would put it in his dresser.

“If you change your mind again, let me know. Greer’s birthday is next week.”

“You give Greer a wallet with my name, you’re practically begging Rachel to divorce you.”

“I don’t know why. It’s not like Greer can spell.” Cash laughed as he went back to the pool table.

“Greer might not be able to, but Rachel can.”

“Dinner’s ready!” Stori poked her head around the kitchen door to yell. Seeing Train, she came further into the room as the brothers nearly ran him down to get into the kitchen. “I saved you a big pork chop, and I put plenty of potatoes on it, just the way you like.”

Stori eagerly anticipated his praise for fixing his favorite meal. However, fatigue hit him and what appetite he’d had disappeared. The thought of spending the next hour gushing over how good the food was soured his stomach.

“Go ahead. I need to take a shower and get some sleep. Save my plate, and I’ll reheat it when I wake up.”

Stori’s face fell in disappointment. “Want me to join you? I snacked while I was cooking. I can—”

Train shook his head. “There’s no need for you to wait around for me to wake. Go keep Cash company. He’s probably missing Rachel.”

“Okay. Call me when you wake up, and I’ll warm the food for you.”

Nodding, he then went upstairs, trying to shake off the thought that Killyama had sent the wallet. Was it her way of saying she was sorry? Or had she ordered it before she had decided to bust Sasha? Either way, he placed it in his dresser before he showered, so he wouldn’t see it.

Train let the cold water run down his head, wetting his long hair. He needed to cut it. He liked to keep the length to his shoulders, but slicking it back, he realized it was down his back.

Naked, he stepped out of the shower then searched through the drawers until he found his scissors. Pulling his hair back, he braided it. Then he cut it at the length he wanted, dropping the end into the trash. Going back inside the shower, he finished washing off.

Wrapping a towel around his waist, he went to his bedroom, closing and locking the door before turning the light off and lying down on the empty bed. The silence struck him. Usually, one or more of the women stayed in his room at night. Well, they had before he had been an idiot and talked to Killyama that night at Rosie’s.