Jerk: Delinquent Rebels MC (14 page)

“I’m good here.”

“Van,” the man beside him muttered, and finally an air of seriousness blanketed the conversation. Sighing, Van drummed his fingers on the table before finally shooting her a quick look. It was hard to decipher, but April figured she’d just let him do whatever he needed to in that moment.

He sidled out of the booth, gesturing to the staircase across the bar. “We can talk in my office.”

Without a word, the men followed him away, not once bothering to address April. She sat there in silence once he’d left, still unable to shake the queasy feeling in her stomach. It wasn’t the alcohol. No, while the drinks had tasted as delicious as they always did, April had asked Van some time ago not to make any of them super strong. She might want to let loose after all this wedding stress, but she wasn’t interested in getting embarrassingly drunk at Van’s work again either.

However, the longer she waited at the table alone, the more she wished there was just a smidgen more booze in her drink. If there was, maybe then she wouldn’t have felt so worried about Van. A few of his staff watched the trio disappear, and once they were gone, they flocked together and started whispering. April took a deep breath. No one bothered to look her way, so she knew this had to be a big deal.

Thankfully, Van wasn’t gone for long. She was practically licking the spinach dip bowl clean in an effort to distract herself by the time he returned—alone. Behind him, his sketchy visitors headed for the door, not bothering to grab a drink for wasting Van’s time.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, as he made himself comfort on the opposite side of the booth. His eyebrows furrowed down, as did the corners of his mouth, and he carried with him this uncomfortable persona that set her on edge. She’d seen Van angry, annoyed, aroused, thrilled, cheeky… but never had she seen this side of him before. To her, he was her protector, her big warm body to snuggle up to at night. It was unnerving to see him, well, unnerved.

“My dad has a job for me,” he told her, and she bit back a comment about deducing as much from the previous conversation. He took a long swig of his beer, then he shook his head and cleared his throat. “He divides his motorcycle club into two factions. There are the good guys with expensive bikes who like to hang around our lodge for the social aspect of it. They’re the ones who ride in parades, pose with puppies, help rebuild people’s homes after disasters… You know, upstanding guys who just like bikes.”

She nodded, a little guilty still that she initially lumped all motorcycle enthusiasts into the “gang” lifestyle. “Sure. Of course.”

“But then there are the guys like Will and Teddy there,” Van continued, his expression darkening. “I distanced myself from that side of the club for a long time. I mean, the guys who pose with puppies do a lot of good PR for Dad, but these guys… These are the guys who get the gritty shit done. They’re the reason my dad made a fortune when I was a kid. Drug deals, smuggling… Whatever he needed done, these guys did it.”

“Jesus Christ,” she muttered under her breath, leaning forward and taking his hand. How could she let someone as pure and sweet as her mom marry an awful guy like James.

“He’s pulled back on the… under the table shit these days,” Van told her, as if sensing her concern. “Your mom really knocked him right, I guess. But sometimes… there’s a deal too good to refuse.”

She pursed her lips, desperate to argue against that statement, but then thought better of it. “Right.”

“He needs me and a few guys to make a delivery,” Van said, as he grabbed his beer then set it down without taking a sip. “Really simple. Just paperwork for an old buddy of his.”

“Can’t he just mail it then?” Her voice was laced with skepticism, but she tried her best to at least
look
supportive. “I mean…”

“The documents probably don’t have totally legal stuff on them, I don’t know.” He rolled his eyes. “At least it isn’t drugs. I won’t touch drugs. Teddy says Dad explained it all to the transport group at the meeting they had tonight, but he won’t go forward unless I tag along. You know, make sure things get where they’re supposed to be. I guess he doesn’t trust everyone involved.”

And how could
he
trust James?! April took a few deep breaths, calming herself, otherwise she’d lunge across the table and shake him. None of this felt right—not one bit.

“He says the pay will be enough for me to keep fixing up the bar,” Van muttered. “No loans, no dipping into savings. I don’t want to, but… Teddy made him sound really insistent that I be in on this.”

“Well, maybe you should talk to your dad directly,” she suggested, sounding a little forced. Van gave her a once over, then smiled, reaching across the table and taking both of her hands in his.

“Don’t look so stressed, sweetheart.” He laughed in that carefree way that always made her feel better—though it wasn’t quite working this time. “Everything’s going to be fine. I used to do these kinds of things all the time. Make deliveries, I mean. It sounds like a day trip. Nothing crazy. Deliver some papers, get the pay, drive home. Don’t sweat it.”

He brushed the hair away from her face, head cocked to the side, then asked if she wanted another drink.

“Yeah,” she replied, pulling her hands away and setting them on her lap. Something still didn’t sit right with her, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it. So, rather than air her concerns, she kept silent, figuring it would be easier to wait until he’d talked with James to talk him out of this. “Make it a double this time, please.”

Van winked, as he slid out of the booth. “Anything for my best gal.”

She offered a small laugh, knowing that’s what he wanted from her, but as soon as his back turned, her smile fell flat and her face tinged with sadness.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

A gentle summer rain showered the window, little droplets of water rolling down the panes. April watched from the middle of the bed on her side, an arm tucked under her pillow, as some of the droplets raced, going this way and that, all the while reaching the same destination—and then disappearing.

She nibbled her lower lip, her eyes heavy, longing to drift closed, but her mind was to awake to sleep. Soft gray light trickled in from said window, bathing the master suite in Van’s cottage in the comforting aura of a rainy morning. On any other day, she would have lounged in bed with Van for as long as they could, wrapped in his arms, her head on his chest, listening to the soothing sounds of the outdoors. Sometimes she could even hear the trees rustling, their fat trunks unmoved by the gale, but the leaves making a stormy symphony of their own.

It wasn’t a surprise to her that she got little to no sleep last night. After all, she’d spent the last couple of days waiting for Van to call off his little job that his dad had bestowed upon him, only to discover last night that he’d be leaving early in the morning to get everything done. It all sounded so simple: drive for a bit, meet the client, deliver the paperwork, get paid, and go home. If anyone else had offered it to him, April would have encouraged him to do it the second he learned about it. After all, the pay was, supposedly, worth a job that required triple the effort of this one.

But it was one of James Palmer’s jobs. Van seemed to understand that his dad had a shifty side to him, but he was probably too close to the situation to sense when the old man might be fucking him over. Of course, April had no proof James was doing anything of the sort—nothing but a gut instinct that screamed for both of them to pack their things and head for the hills.

She said none of this, of course. April had decided that expressing her concerns might only cause them to fight, and she wanted to look supportive of whatever work Van did—that’s what girlfriends were supposed to do, right?

They’d fallen into bed early this morning, both exhausted, sweaty, and satisfied from vigorous screwing that left her a little sore. She’d enjoyed herself, yes, but in a way it was like they were coming together for the last time. Similar to how she’d felt when she tried to leave Van all those weeks ago, thinking that was the best and only option, April found herself wrapped up in more emotion than she wanted. She held him like she never wanted to let him go, and even now, as she lay alone in the bed, she wished he was back beside her.

He’d climbed out of bed only a few hours after they’d collapsed into it. While she’d tossed and turned, too alert mentally to get much sleep at all, Van had snored the whole time, one arm thrown protectively across her as he slept. April, meanwhile, just couldn’t shake the sickly feeling that settled over her.

He puttered around the bathroom, clearly trying hard to be quiet but failing miserably. April grinned when he dropped something and cursed, the door partially closed to obscure the light. She’d listened to him shower, the sounds of water pummeling the tile floor combined with the soft rain on the window. It should have been relaxing. She had no other responsibilities for the day. In fact, she should have drifted back to sleep with ease.

Instead, she lay awake, listening to him getting ready, all the while practicing the speech she’d said over and over again in her head about him not going. Send someone else. Surely James Palmer trusted more people in the world than just his son. From what she understood, Van had a cousin who operated on the sketchier side of the motorcycle club too; why couldn’t he go?

She closed her eyes slowly and sighed. There was no stopping any of it now. Van had agreed to go, and he didn’t strike her as the kind to go back on his word.

She must have fallen asleep at some point, because when the bed dipped downward as Van settled on the edge, she opened her eyes with a startled gasp, surprised to see him beside her. Van looked momentarily alarmed, and then he smiled, smoothing his hand over her cheek and pushing her bedhead hair back.

“Hey, beautiful lady,” he greeted softly. Outside, the rain had started to pour harder, and as she listened, goosebumps erupted across her skin as a chill shot through her body. “Did I wake you up?”

She shook her head, slumping back down onto the pillows. “No… I don’t think I actually ever fell asleep.”

“You were sleeping when I came out of the bathroom,” he told her with a chuckle, running his hand over her leg. “Your mouth was open and everything. I think I even see a bit of drool…”

Rolling her eyes, April wiped at her mouth then sighed. “Ha ha.”

“No, I’m serious,” he teased. “You’re a big drooler. I don’t think you even realize just how much saliva you produce when you sleep.”

April threw her hands up dramatically, smiling. “Great. Now I’m just that disgusting girl you sleep next to—“

“Who makes me very happy,” he interjected, crawling across the bed so that he could cuddle her. She let out a happy sigh this time, wishing they could stay there forever. Van pressed a kiss to her cheek and then said, “But I don’t think my girl is very happy. Is everything okay?”

She shifted around so that she could see his face in the soft lighting. Outside, thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance.

“Are you sure you should be driving in this?” she asked, her own subtle attempt at reining him in. Van shrugged.

“Just a bit of water,” he told her. “The documents are in a waterproof container, so I’m not worried.”

“I mean, is it safe?” she stressed with the hope that he might be able to read between the lines. “I mean, is this job safe for you to do… out in the rain?”

He gave her a hard look, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. “What are you getting at?”

“I just… I mean…” Fumbling over her words, she sat up too, inching back so that she could settle against the headrest. “This whole thing doesn’t sound fishy to you?”

He blinked at her. “No.”

“But your dad—“

“Wouldn’t have asked me if he wasn’t desperate,” he said, a sharpness to his tone that made her frown. “He knows I don’t do this kind of shit anymore,
especially
after we started dating. If he’s saying he won’t go through with it unless I’m there, it’s pretty important.”

“But—“

“It’s just dropping off some papers, April.” Looking away, Van climbed off the bed and went for his leather jacket. She watched him get ready in silence, her knees brought up to her chest, arms around them. “I mean, are you trying to say my dad… What are you trying to say?”

She nibbled her lower lip when he rounded back to face her, his features shadowed with the window behind him.

“Nothing,” she said finally, figuring this was a fight they ought to save for another day. Maybe she was just being paranoid. Even though James never missed out on an opportunity to throw her a dirty look when no one else was paying attention, he loved his kid. He wouldn’t do anything to get Van in trouble. She shook her head, inhaling slowly before letting out the deep breath as Van watched her. “I guess I’m just… nervous about you going on the road. You haven’t done anything like this while we’ve been dating, and I guess it scares me. Plus, the storm sounds bad.”

“It’ll blow over,” he told her, snatching a baseball cap off his bookshelf and setting it on his head. “Storms always pass. It’ll be nothing but clear skies by noon, mark my words.”

“I wasn’t aware you had a degree in meteorology.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, sweetheart,” he told her, crawling back across the bed now and pausing just a few inches from her face. “I’ll be happy to show you… a little bit at a time.”

April scoffed, her body tingling at their closeness. “Such a typical man.”

“I’m all man, baby,” he crooned, oozing cheesiness as April giggled. He then leaned in and gave her a quick peck, smiling when he pulled away. “I’ll see you tonight.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Tonight.”

She couldn’t leave it at that, however, and before he got too far away, April scrambled across the bed and dragged him back in for a longer, much more satisfying kiss. Lips parted and hands everywhere, April arched her body against his, almost succeeding in dragging him straight back to bed with her. Unfortunately, Van had built up a little resistance to her kind of teasing and eventually managed to untangle himself from her as she pouted.

“I see your tricks, little girl,” he told her, slapping her bare thigh playfully before hopping out of range of her retaliatory smack. “Can’t be late. Gotta go.”

“I know.”

They shared one final kiss, short and sweet, before he headed out into the main portion of the cottage. She listened to him get his boots on, grab his keys and helmet, and then disappear into the storm.

Wrapping a blanket around her, April hurried to the window to watch him go, unable to stop herself from smiling as he ran along the tree line to avoid the rain. One moment he was there, dressed all in black for a day of shady deeds, and the next he was just… gone, vanishing into the fog and water. Lightning lit up the sky—though it was quite a few long seconds before the thunder followed; the storm was far from Cascade Falls, it seemed.

And soon, Van would be too.

She licked her lips, chilled beside the thin window panes, and then let her gaze drift over to the main house. For all she knew, her mom might have been in there, asleep next to James. The thought made her stomach turn for a whole slew of reasons, and she tried not to focus on it.

In fact, she had to turn away from the house completely. The windows seemed too dark, like big, ominous black eyes watching her. To say it unnerved her would be an understatement, but April all but fell back into bed, exhaustion finally hitting her. As sleep claimed her, April’s final thought was that she hoped she’d wake up worry-free.

A childish hope, yes, but she hoped it all the same.