Untitled Book 2 (23 page)

He continues to play with my hair, soothing me while I rant at him.

“If I told you the plan, you wouldn't have let me go ahead with it,”
he says, not sounding sorry in the least. “I'd rather ask for forgiveness than permission.”

“Tell me what you did.”

He cringes a little, so I brace for the worst, knowing I wasn't going to like the words that come out of his mouth.

“Your house was under surveillance. They knew you'd have to come back eventually, so instead of chasing you, they were just being patient,” he starts to explain. “Irish and Tracker scoped out your house last week so we knew what we were dealing with. They also set up the explosives. I needed them to see you arrive with me, because after it blew up, I want everyone to think that you were in the house.”

“You're faking my death?” I ask, eyes widening.

“Faking your death and killing those bastards at the same time. Two birds, one stone.”

“They'll check for a body,” I say, knowing it isn't that easy.

“There will be a body,” Vinnie says quietly. “Don't worry, it's all taken care of.”

I open my mouth and close it. Wait, what?

“Vinnie—”

“You don't want to know, Shay. Trust me,” he says, warning in his tone.

I gulp and rest my head on his lap, my head suddenly hurting. Where did he get a woman's body from? Holy shit. I think he's right, I probably don't want to know.

“Where's Sin?”

“Riding in front of us,” Vinnie replies, now rubbing my back. “Go to sleep if you want, we have a few hours left.”

“What about your SUV?” I ask him.

“Rake drove it back while we were all still in the house. Don't worry, everything is fine, Shay. No loose ends.”

No loose ends? How can he even say that? Men died, in my house, from explosives they set up. Sure, those men wanted to kill me, but still. And a woman's body is in there, pretending to be mine, her bones probably burned to charcoal. How long was she dead before they placed her body in the house? Was she there when I was there? Vinnie is right—I don't want to know. I push it all from my mind and try to focus on the good things. The men are all safe, no one I care about was hurt, and although I'm a little traumatized from the ride in Irish's trunk, I'm okay too.

I close my eyes and let myself fall asleep, knowing that I am safe in Vinnie's arms.

*  *  *

Shayla Anderson's body was found among the rubble, along with the bodies of . . .

I listen to the news lady talk about me and my dead body, then turn to see everyone watching me, maybe checking for my reaction.

“So . . . I'm dead,” I blurt out, not knowing what else to say. It's been three days since everything happened, and I'm still not sure how to process it, it all feels so surreal, like something that would happen in a movie—but this is my life.

“No, you're safe,” Vinnie says, tugging on my ponytail. “It looks like they're confident it's you and aren't bothering with dental checks, which saves us from more bribery.”

Bribery?

I look at Faye, who just gives me the thumbs-up.

“How do we know they won't come back to the clubhouse?” I ask Vinnie.

“Because the men who did that are dead,” Sin answers as he hands Faye a drink. “We identified them; Tracker found them. They were two of the men who blew up in the house. And now that you're dead, the Kings will want to lie low to minimize their involvement. You're safe now.”

I study Vinnie's face, but it shows nothing. Was he the mastermind behind the ruthlessness of the plan? Did it even matter? He did it to protect me, and no innocent people were harmed. Or is that just me making excuses and justifying it?

I lived in a world with only shades of gray, and now I was leading into blackness, but I still don't know if I'd change anything. I rest my head on Vinnie's chest and watch the news as they talk about my father and the other men who died. I listen to Vinnie's heartbeat in one ear, the news of the men's death in the other, and I know in this moment that I don't care how many men died, as long as everyone in this room's heart still beats.

Especially Vinnie's.

*  *  *

Talon almost doesn't recognize me with my lighter, shorter hair. Tina cut it in a blunt, shoulder-length bob, and I'm in love with it.

“Nice to see you alive and well,” he says, pulling me in for a warm hug. “You look amazing, baby cuz.”

“Thanks, Talon,” I say as he takes the seat next to me at Rift.

“How have you been?”

“Good,” I say, enjoying just being in his presence. “Does this mean you're going to see me more often now, instead of being MIA?”

“Sorry,” he says, green eyes gentling. “I was looking out for you from the sidelines. I knew Vinnie was taking good care of you.” He looks down at my almost empty glass. “Can I get you another drink?”

“No, I'm good.”

“I'm going to take all the money out of your accounts for you,” he tells me, ordering a drink from the bartender. “Luckily your father took precautions and gave us both access to the shell company accounts. I'll open a new account with a fake name, or I'll send it to Vinnie's account.”

“I guess he put both of us on there in case one of us ended up dead,” I say, bitterness lacing my tone. I sigh.

“I don't want all of it,” I tell him. “Just enough for a house and to keep me going until I get a job, you can give the rest to charity.”

His eyebrows rise. “You want only one mil?”

My eyes widen. “Is that how much a house is these days? I don't need that much.”

“I'm not sending you anything less than that,” he grumbles, looking unhappy about it. “You choose the charities you want me to put the money into, and I'll handle it.”

I tilt my head to the side and say, “Actually, give some to the Wind Dragons too. They can do whatever they want with it.”

Talon suddenly looks amused. “They have plenty of money, but if you insist.”

“I do.”

“Consider it done,” he says, sipping on his drink.

“How come you didn't have to pay?” I ask.

“I have a tab here,” he explains, glancing around the bar. “Where is Vinnie anyway? I thought he'd be loitering around you.”

“He's in the VIP room, thought he'd let us catch up,” I say, smirking. “Not like he can't see us through the cameras anyway.”

Talon looks toward the cameras and gives them the finger.

“Mature,” I chide, my twitching lip contesting my words. “I think we should plan to catch up every other week at least. Anna tells me the two of you are close.”

He rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, we are. She'll take good care of you. I know you didn't know the story about her father, and you had enough on your plate. Plus it was better for you that you went in without knowing my history with everyone. Not everyone loves me as much as you do, Shayla.”

“Trust me, I know,” I tease, resting my hand on his arm. “Did you sort out the shit going on in your club?”

“Working on it,” he says, grimacing.

“You sure you're all right though?” I ask, squeezing his arm before letting go. “We could always fake your death. That seems to be the way to get out of things these days.”

He barks out a laugh. “My problems aren't that big, Shayla. Nothing I can't handle, just need some time to figure out a few things, you know?”

I study my cousin. He's handsome, funny and kind, and also very intelligent, much more so than the average person, although you probably wouldn't guess that about him. In fact, in primary school, he was put in all the classes for gifted children. The thing about Talon though is that his mind is usually working overtime, and that's not always a good thing. He
analyzes everything, and he sees things in an almost clinical way. He loves—yes, I know he loves me—but I've never seen him love a woman. Although he seems stressed out, he does seem a little lighter for some reason. I wonder if maybe he met someone.

“You know I'm always here for you if you need me,” I say softly. “You helped save me, now let me save you for once.”

“I'm the man here, Shayla,” he gently reprimands. “It's my job to protect you. It's your job to be happy and annoy the shit out of that man of yours.”

“Sexist pig,” I grumble, rolling my eyes. “Some things never change, do they, Talon?”

“You tell me,” he says, putting his hand over his chest. “You ended up with a Wind Dragon. What? None of the Wild Men were good enough for you?”

“You didn't let any of your men even breathe in my direction,” I say, eyes narrowing to slits. “I remember you told Ranger off for even looking at me for more than a few seconds. Quite a jump from that to letting another biker from another MC watch over me, don't you think?”

Vinnie told me that he thinks Talon set us up on purpose, so that Vinnie and his club would protect me. I wouldn't put it past him. And while I should be angry at his meddling and his schemes, I can't be, because without it I wouldn't have Vinnie.

“Desperate times, baby cuz, desperate times.”

He smirks into his drink.

“I'll bet,” I reply, shaking my head at him. “Your scheming really knows no bounds, does it?”

“I do what I have to, Shayla, to protect the ones I love. There aren't many of them, so I have to keep you all safe.”

“Are you seeing anyone?” I blurt out, voicing the feeling I have about him.

He grins and asks, “Why do you ask?”

“Why don't you answer?”

“Nosy,” he says, lip twitching.

“I'm going to take that as a yes,” I say, about to bombard him with questions when he says, “I'll tell you everything soon, all right? Just not now. Today is about you.”

So he
is
dating someone.

Who?

I want to ask, but I decide to wait and let him tell me when he's ready.

I change the subject, lightening the mood. “Want to do a shot?”

We share a grin.

W
ITH
all the drama over for now, we decide to lay low for a little while, as the last thing we need is someone to recognize Shay after her photo was shown all over the media when they spoke of her death.

“What if someone's watching the clubhouse?” she asks, looking between Tracker and me. “Does that mean I can never leave or go out the front? I'll be stuck in here forever.” She pauses, arching her brow at me. “Someone will have to dig a secret tunnel for me.”

“Is she always this dramatic?” Tracker asks, not looking away from the TV.

“Yes,” I reply at the same time she says, “No.”

“Sound like an old married couple already,” Tracker says, opening a can of beer. Lana walks into the room and sits down next to him.

“Can we watch something else?” she asks, taking Tracker's beer from him, helping herself to a sip, and then making a face.
Rake, Arrow, and Anna walk in next, all squeezing in on the couches. Anna sits on Arrow's lap.

“You can change it,” Tracker says.

“Lana, put Netflix on,” Anna calls out.

“Okay, but I'm not choosing what we watch,” Lana says, grabbing the remote. “It's too much pressure.”

“Pressure?” Rake asks, sounding amused. “Choosing something to watch is too much pressure? But writing bestselling novels isn't?”

“Yes.”

I catch Shay mouthing something to Anna.

“What are the two of you scheming?” I ask.

Everyone's heads turn to them. Anna looks at me and says, “We're bored. Can we take Shay to Rift to have a few drinks and a dance? She's never been at night before—that's pretty sad.”

I reply with one word: “No.”

“What if we all go?” Lana suggests, ever the peacemaker. “Nothing can go wrong, surely. Close the place to the public if you have to, we haven't been out in ages!”

“Since when are you such a diva?” Tracker asks her, chuckling.

“Since Shay looks all sad and bored and hasn't done anything fun, and Irish threw her in the trunk of his car, and her house was blown up, and she has to pretend to be dead,” Lana says, ticking each off on her fingers.

I look at all the men, seeing what they thought.

“We can't close it tonight, but we could close it tomorrow if you want to have your own party there,” Arrow says, looking to me. “Your call though, Vinnie. Your woman.”

Shay looks up at me, pouting.

“Yeah, all right, if we're closing the club, then there's no harm. We have to be careful getting you there though. I know you changed your hair but just to be safe. I'd rather not have faked your death in vain.” Shay smiles widely and does a little happy dance.

“So cool that you can shut down a club just so we can have a little fun,” she says, blowing kisses to Anna and Lana.