Train's Clash (The Last Riders Book 9) (27 page)

T
rain opened his blurry eyes
, barely dodging the swinging kitchen door he had just pushed open.

“Have you seen…?” He cut himself off, his grouchy mood mildly improving.

Going to the coffee pot, he poured himself a cup of coffee before sitting down next to Killyama at the kitchen table.

“Why didn’t you wake me up? I could have eaten with you.”

She finished a bite of her toast before she answered him. “I was going to bring you a plate in bed.”

His sour disposition vanished in a second. “Damn, I wish I had known.”

“Sorry about your luck. You want me to make you a plate?” She didn’t look anxious to get up, buttering another piece of toast.

“No, I’ll do it. Thanks, anyway.”

“No problem.” She shrugged, eating her toast.

Train was fixing himself a plate when he realized they were alone.

“Who cooked breakfast?”

“Dude, do you see anyone here but me and you?” Indignant, she got up to pour herself another glass of orange juice.

He shook his head. “No, I’m just surprised.”

“Why, that I cook or that I beat the other bitches out of bed?”

“Both, I suppose. You even made pancakes.” He placed a stack on his plate, smothering it in butter and syrup. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was still my birthday.”

“Hell no. I don’t have time for another present. I’m meeting T.A. in an hour.”

Train sat down to dig into his pancakes. He wished he had taken the time to heat up the syrup, then they would have been perfect.

Train cut off another bite of his pancakes. “You could borrow a T-shirt from me. Or, if you had woken me up, I could have borrowed some clothes for you to wear.”

“Why wake anyone else up? Doesn’t my outfit look as good this morning as it did last night?”

“Yes, but it must have been hard to cook in it,” he tried explaining.

Her acerbic reply had him wishing he had just kept his mouth shut.

“A woman always suffers when she tries to do something nice for her man and he doesn’t appreciate it.”

He stopped talking, giving his food all of his attention.

Rider came in, giving him a reprieve from Killyama who was watching him eat every bite as she leaned lazily against the counter with her arms crossed in front of her.

“What’s for breakfast?” Rider asked, staring curiously down at his plate, missing the tension between the two of them.

“Pancakes and bacon,” Killyama told him. “Sit down, and I’ll make you a plate.”

Train eyed Rider over his bite of pancakes. He had sat down and was happily watching Killyama make him a plate. Frowning, he saw her microwave the syrup before pouring it over his large stack.

“There you go. You want coffee or juice?” Her sweet voice had Train’s hair rising on the back of his neck.

“Both. I’ll—”

She put a hand on Rider’s shoulder. “You go ahead and eat while it’s still hot.”

Train chewed off a piece of his crispy bacon, seeing Rider’s gloating expression. The brother was knocking on Heaven’s door, and Train was going to answer it if Rider wasn’t careful.

Killyama went behind the counter to load the dishes with the pans she used to make breakfast as the kitchen gradually filled and the members piled up their plates.

Viper, Shade, and Cash sat down at the table with him, while the rest of the members went to the dining room to find a seat.

The men ate as their wives were drawn into a conversation with Killyama while making their plates. When they didn’t come to the table where the men had saved them a seat, the men tried to eavesdrop on their conversation, but their low discussion was hard to hear.

“Rider, go see what they’re talking about?” Viper encouraged, staring at Winter, who held Aisha, not making any attempt to join him.

“I’m eating. Make Train. It’s his fault Killyama is here and they’re listening to her.”

Train started to get up, but then sat back down at Viper’s glare and Killyama asking him if he wanted anything.

“I was going to get another cup of coffee.”

“I’ll get that for you,” Lily offered.

The men’s table went silent as Lily refilled his cup, bringing it to him and then hurrying back to where the women were talking.

“Why didn’t you ask Lily what they’re talking about?” Train whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Shade.

“Because I’m clearly the only one at this table who has a dick, and I’m not worried about what they’re talking about.”

When Killyama said something to Rachel and Winter that had them arguing, Lily hushed them. Four pairs of eyes turned to the table where they were sitting before resuming what they were talking about with lowered voices.

“This is bad.” Cash was the closest to the counter, but his back was turned to it. He leaned back in his chair until it only had two legs on the floor, trying to overhear the conversation.

“Can you hear anything?”

“I thought you weren’t worried?” Train asked Shade.

“I’m not. I’m just curious.”

“Then walk your curious ass behind the kitchen counter and see what they’re talking about,” Viper snapped.

Rider started to get up. “Jesus, I’ll do it.”

“You need anything, Rider?” Killyama asked irritably.

“Uh … Is there any bacon left?”

“No, it’s all gone.”

“Never mind, then.”

Train and the rest of the men at the table blasted Rider with a look, causing him to hide behind his coffee cup.

“Killyama, I thought you were supposed to meet T.A.?”

Train didn’t know which brother kicked him under the table, but it hurt like a motherfucker.

“She texted to tell me she’s running late. Finish your breakfast.”

Killyama’s sharp response had him scooting his chair backward from the table, out of range from another kick.

“Yes, ma’am.” Train found it hard to choke down his late bite.

“I’ll give you another ten percent of the company if you break up with her. I’ll even let you pick which woman you want here. You like Dawn? She hasn’t been here in a while.” Viper’s cajoling voice dropped to a whisper as the women finally started toward their husband’s sides.

“I’ll give you my truck. I know how much you want it.” Cash barely managed to stop from falling backward as Rachel moved by him to take a seat.

Train nearly jumped out of his chair when Killyama placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I have to go.”

He was conscious of the brothers listening to every word.

“I get off at four. Am I going to see you tonight?”

Viper’s and Cash’s scowls had him wishing he had texted her that question after she left.

“Nope. T.A., Crazy Bitch, and I are spending the night in Berea, Ohio. We have tickets for the first two days of the Cleveland Brown’s training camp. A few of the players are looking forward to seeing us again. They’re going to introduce us to some of the rookies. One of the players offered to pay for our hotel room tonight. It might be a couple of days before I see you again. We won’t back for three days. Could be longer if we can score another ticket for the third day of training.”

Train frowned.

When she started to move away, he caught her hand. “Aren’t you going to give me a kiss before you leave?”

Laughing, she patted him on the back. “You’re so cute when you’re being silly.”

She started toward the swinging door before changing her mind and going to the counter. All of the men’s eyes watched her as Killyama picked up a brightly colored pink box, and then went to the refrigerator to take out a plastic container, stacking it on the pink box. Closing the fridge with her hip, she then opened a drawer, pulling out his six-pack beer cozy, dangling it from her pinky.

“I almost forgot my stuff,” she said, beaming proudly that she hadn’t forgotten her pilfered items.

“Is that the rest of my birthday cake and the pork chop casserole Stori saved me for lunch?” He didn’t mention the cozy, knowing he would never see it again.

“Yes, you have a problem with that?” Glaring at him, she stopped by his chair.

“No.” If he hadn’t felt the heavy metal of the skull and crossbones buckle on his belt, he would have been tempted to make sure it was still there.

“Good. I volunteered to bring a snack for the road trip. This will be enough for the three of us. If Sex Piston and Fat Louise were going, we’d have had to make a pit stop.”

“Why aren’t they going?” Thankfully, it was Lily who asked the question he was too afraid to voice.

“It’s only the single ladies today.” Her cell phone started shouting, “
Answer the phone
.” “Gotta go. You all have a great day. Have some fun! You all look like a bunch of sour pusses in the morning. Too much partying will make you old before your time.”

Killyama left without telling him good-bye, her phone now shouting obscenities from the club room.

The silence around the kitchen was so loud it could be cut with the butter knife Shade was holding.

“Brother, I’ll give you the pick of my motorcycles,” Rider offered.

Train thought over Rider’s vast collection. Collectors had hounded him to sell two of the them. He might have just received an offer too good to refuse.

Ignoring Rider’s offer, he met Shade’s eyes. The man knew what he wanted. Hell, it was what all the men wanted. And it didn’t take Shade long to get Lily to confess that Killyama had told Rachel and Winter they needed to find new replacements for their husbands; saying, if Train couldn’t handle Killyama, he didn’t have a shot in hell in taking care of three women if anything went wrong.

“Who did she suggest?” Viper questioned Lily so aggressively that Shade placed an arm over her shoulder.

Lily paled, trying to roll her eyes toward Rachel and Winter to answer for her. When they remained curiously mute, Lily answered for them.

“Moon.”

“Why Moon? She didn’t mention me?” Rider’s fork dropped to his plate.

“She said the whole idea of having replacements was to have a man who could help you in need, not to be saddled with or one who would need caring for.”

“Did she happen to mention who she wanted? Because, Train, as much I consider you a brother, I—”

“She doesn’t want you, Cash. She wants Shade. Killyama asked if it was okay with me,” Lily told them.

Shade’s emotionless façade nearly broke when Lily continued.

“She said, if she had to see anyone naked, she could deal with it being Shade because she wanted to know if your … if you …”

“I know what she wants to know,” Shade answered grimly. “Brother …”

“I already know.” None of the brothers would step up to fill his shoes if something happened to him. The way it was going, she wasn’t even going to swing enough votes to become a Last Rider.

* * *

B
y the time
he was seated at his workstation, he was tired and cranky, and he had a splitting headache that was turning into a migraine. He was furious at Killyama for her behavior.

He had only been working for thirty minutes before Crash called him.

“Where is she?” Train knew she wasn’t heading to the Brown’s training camp, but he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“She’s heading toward Knoxville with Hammer and Jonas. I’ll call you when I know more.”

Train texted Jewell, telling her he was going to take the day off. He needed some sleep if he was going to tail Killyama for a couple of days, which was why she had lied to him about being gone for three days. That meant the fugitive she was tracking was one they anticipated being difficult to find. Train would meet up with Crash and send him back to Treepoint.

The next time she stayed the night at the club, he was going to sneak into her phone and put a tracer on it. It would save him and Crash a lot of effort.

When Jewell gave him the okay, he went to his room, getting the much needed sleep he needed, knowing it was going to be a while before he would be able to again.

* * *

I
t was almost
midnight when he pulled into the Waffle Stop across from the hotel Killyama, Hammer, and Jonas were staying in.

Train sat down in a booth facing the hotel. Ordering a black coffee, he gave Crash his attention.