Calming the Riot Read online

  ***

  If Liar didn’t know any better, he’d swear Volt took abnormal pleasure from rapping the gavel when the meeting came to order. The so-called power-nap might have been a bad idea, all Liar knew for sure was that he woke up with a raging headache.

  Volt summarized what happened last night, and the men at the table all seemed tense.

  Roll shifted in his chair. “Now, I stuck around and spoke to Andrea.”

  “Why the fuck’d you do that?” Vamp asked.

  Roll shot him a displeased look. “I don’t trust Leventon, but my gut was screamin’ at me that something else about that whole situation was wrong.”

  “Leventon’s got to be out for blood,” Razor said from across the table. “He wasn’t above havin’ his daughter carryin’ out dirty work for him back in March. For all we know, Andrea’s the new bitch in his pocket to do somethin’ similar.”

  Conflicting emotions burned in Liar’s chest. He hated the idea of anyone calling Andrea a bitch, but Razor’s words also brought him a strange sense of relief. He got away from this woman before she could use him or his club to help a fucker like Leventon.

  “She’s no bitch,” Roll put in. “I watched her. She told me the same thing she told Liar, but there was no waver in her convictions.”

  “Lotta women will say whatever needs to be said to get their way,” Cal said.

  Roll looked to Cal and Volt. “It occur to anyone at this table that maybe she’s a fuckin’ pawn in a larger chess game in play?”

  “This ain’t a fuckin’ game of chess, Roll,” Blood replied.

  Volt leaned back in his chair at the head of the table. “I’ve known Andi longer than anyone in this room. But I agree with Razor. Leventon’s out for blood, there’s no question about that. The question is who’s the target. Is it Razor, is it all of us, or is it my wife who’s due to have a baby in five weeks? That ain’t somethin’ any of us are gonna fuck around with. That said, I’m gonna pay a visit to Andrea. Get the lay of the land, but also to make it clear she will not be in contact with my wife under any circumstances.”

  Roll’s face twisted with anger, but the big man kept it under wraps. He must have felt Liar watching him because he looked up and glared.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Andrea

  Janie had left my place around seven o’clock Saturday night. I called Jackie but got her voicemail. I left her a message to call me when she had a chance. After a quick shower, I put on fresh pajamas, brushed my teeth and went straight to bed.

  The sun was coming in through my blinds when I woke up Sunday morning. The dull ache in my heart was still nagging me, but I ignored it as I set out to get some green tea.

  I was trying not to feel too sorry for myself when there was a knock at my door. Stupidly, I got my hopes up that it might be Liar dropping by to apologize. My hopes were dashed when through the peephole I spied Volt at the door. Grand.

  I opened the door, and I could practically see Volt’s ill-will coming at me. It made me want to cry, but I was either cried out or dehydrated, and I didn’t care which. I was just grateful I could keep my composure. “Would you like to come in, Volt?”

  “For a moment,” he said and stepped past me into my tiny foyer.

  I closed the door, and he turned to me. “Saw you called Jackie last night, but she’d gone to bed. Don’t do that again.”

  My eyes bulged, and my head reared back as though he slapped me. “Why?” I whispered.

  “You’re chummy enough with Leventon for him to kiss both your cheeks, you damn sure know why.”

  This was too much, and I was calling bullshit. “I damn sure don’t know why. Friday night was the most Mr. Allen said—”

  “It’s Allen Leventon, Andrea. The fuckin’ least you could do is not try to pull that wool over my eyes.”

  “What-the-fuck-ever! That night was the first time the man said more than five goddamn words to me. I had no clue who the hell he was until your men rolled up.”

  He gave me an assessing gaze, and I thought he might relent and go back to the Volt I used to know, but then he shook his head. “My wife’s due in five weeks. You stay the fuck away from her and my child. I don’t know what’s goin’ on, but nobody will be a threat to my family. No matter how long I’ve known them, or not known them as the case seems to be.”

  With that parting shot, he moved past me like I was filth, opened the front door and slammed it behind him. Turned out I wasn’t dehydrated or cried out after all because immediately tears fell.

  ***

  I didn’t know what to do with myself after Volt left, but I knew I couldn’t possibly stay inside my apartment. There were way too many memories there, not only of Liar and me but especially of Jackie and me. With Janie’s declaration that being eco-friendly went out the door when one was heartbroken in mind, I got into my Honda CR-V and started driving. Even that didn’t bring me any relief, and after a quick visit to the McDonald’s drive-thru, I went to my office.

  It should’ve been my day off, but I figured I’d get a jump on pulling documentation for my taxes. As I went through my filing cabinet, I couldn’t decide who I hated more, Liar or Allen Leventon. Truth be told, I didn’t have it in me to hate Liar. It sucked that I was losing him, but it especially sucked that I was losing Jackie too. I had thought of her as a sister I never had, and that hurt even worse than losing Liar. My door clanged open while I was holding a fresh tissue to my tear-stained face. Mallory and Frankie sauntered into the room, and it was all I could do not to roll my eyes.

  Speaking while upset was never flattering, but life wasn’t giving me much choice these days. I gave the women a droll look. “No need to say it. Volt said everything that needed to be said. I’ll stay away from you. If you need a referral, I’d suggest checking out Yelp. The woman I normally recommend shut down this year and moved to Vegas.”

  To my utter surprise, Mallory came forward and propped a hip on my desk. “Nope. See, Cal and Vamp don’t know we’re here. Fact is, I’ve had a couple of dealings with Leventon. I’m with Roll on this shit. Somethin’ isn’t right, and my gut says he knew what the fuck he was doin’ that night.”

  I stood up in an effort to be eye to eye with them. “Well, I don’t know what you’re gonna be able to do about any of this. I told Roll what happened. He seemed to believe me. I tried to tell it to Volt, but he shut me down and treated me like I was beneath him. This whole thing’s ridiculous.”

  Frankie’s head tilted back and forth slowly for a moment. “You’re right, and you’re wrong. You want to hear Mallory’s story first or mine? The way I see it, if you had the history behind this asshole, you’d see it’s ridiculous, but also why the brothers are in hyper-protective mode.”

  By the time Frankie and Mallory told me their tales and a little bit of what happened to Neil not two months prior, I had a much better understanding of why Liar freaked out so badly Friday night. It didn’t make it right for him to keep me from explaining, but I could see his standpoint better.

  Mallory grabbed a pen and one of my business cards from the desk. Then she scrawled something on the back of it. “I want you to know you’re not alone in this, Andrea. My number and Frankie’s is on the back of the card. Cal doesn’t like me talkin’ to you, then tough. From what you’ve told us, you are a pawn in Leventon’s fucked-up game playing.”

  Liar

  It wasn’t unusual for brothers’ women to meet them at the clubhouse in the evenings, so it didn’t surprise Liar to find Frankie and Mallory sitting at the bar on a Monday night. He was sitting next to Frankie, and Roll was a seat away from him on his right side. He was happy Cal and Vamp weren’t there because being around love made him nauseous. Earlier that day, Patch and Liar were putting in a new gas tank on the Trans-Am, and Cathy had stopped by to see Patch. The two of them weren’t overt about things, but it still made his stomach roil.

  He sighed as he tried to block those images out of his mind. Movement to his right caught his attention,
and he saw Roll was backing away from the bar. “You know, I’m sorry about what’s happened between you and Andrea.”

  His body stiffened at the mention of her name, but Roll ignored Liar’s reaction and kept speaking. “You don’t want her back in your life, that’s your call. Don’t let our disagreement about her and Leventon become an issue between us. Ain’t fuckin’ worth that shit.”

  Liar knew Roll was right. The man could think Leventon was up to no good and that Andrea was ignorant to the man’s ways, but no way was Liar letting her back into his life. That shouldn’t come between him and one of his brothers. He lifted his chin at Roll in affirmation.

  Roll shot a glance between Mallory and Frankie. “Ladies. Would love to shoot the shit, but Trixie seems to be dealin’ with somethin’ and won’t open up to me. Not cool, so I’m gonna haul ass down to Green Cove to get her to talk, come hell or high water.”

  As Roll stalked away, Liar heard Frankie mutter, “About fucking time.”

  Liar shot her a look. “I hear you right?”

  “Ya damn sure did. Because he needed to pull his thumb outta his ass like, oh, I don’t know, five months ago or more.”

  Mallory suggested, “Cut him some slack. Some people need bigger wake-up calls.”

  Frankie whipped her head to Mallory. “Wake up calls? That man needed a freakin’ shovel to the head to wake his ass up. Hate to say it, but after the baby shower, I’m pretty damn sure he waited too damn long.”

  Mallory frowned but nodded.

  The scraping sound of the stool next to Liar startled him, and he jerked his head to the right. His cousin was perched on the stool. “I cannot believe the Biloxi chapter came in here to party Friday night and your dumb ass didn’t…”

  Beast trailed off because the look Liar gave him should have scorched his skin. His cousin shook his head at Liar. “Jesus, man. Least you could’ve done was go to the condo like I recommended last night.”

  Turned out, Grandmere had one last surprise up her sleeve. She’d insisted both grandsons be at the will reading because she left her condo to them both. His dad and Uncle Delmas were left with sums of money, but with both of them living in Mississippi, she thought putting the property in the hands of her grandsons was a better plan. As soon as they left the lawyer’s office, Liar had told Beast to take the condo for himself. His cousin refused, but Liar could be just as stubborn.

  Liar took a pull of scotch from his rocks glass. “Told you twice now. I ain’t goin’ down there. Too fresh and it won’t do shit to help me.”

  None of that was a lie. Liar was already struggling to get Gran’s last words out of his head. The superstitious side of him figured he jinxed the thing with Andrea just by telling Gran about her. Yet, he couldn’t believe she knew something was different about him at Thanksgiving. The notion of being in Gran’s space made his gut clench. No way would he be able to get away from Gran’s directive to ‘hang on’ to Andrea. He desperately wished he could talk to Gran about Andrea’s deception. There was no telling what she would have said. It was another reminder to Liar that when he needed someone the most, they were gone.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Andrea

  One month later…

  I woke up and realized it was my first Monday off during the new year. My holidays had sucked huge. Perhaps, if I had known Thanksgiving was going to be the last holiday I would spend with Jackie and her crew, I might have made an effort to memorize it or just savor the enjoyment of it. Janie hadn’t been able to get away from Trent on Christmas or New Year’s Eve. She had to switch lawyers due to some legal bullshit. She was eager to get away from her self-absorbed husband. I could have gone to spend time with my mother in Vero Beach, but I didn’t need her third degree. It would have brought on a level of mothering I could not have tolerated.

  Speaking of mothering, Mallory, Frankie, and Tennille had dropped by my office two days ago before I closed up. Jackie had given birth to a little girl early Friday morning. I was over the moon for Jackie, and I was thrilled these three women thought to drop by so I would be in the know. The only problem was, it was another blow to my heart. I knew I couldn’t go by the hospital to visit, and I wouldn’t be able to share my happiness with Jackie. Making matters worse, for my heart, Frankie and Neil pulled up pictures of themselves holding little Simone and pictures of Henry and Jackie with Simone. Tears shimmered in my eyes, but I pasted a huge smile on my face in order to pass them off as tears of happiness.

  Getting out of bed, I was also reminded that today marked a month since I last saw Liar. My heart still hurt, and I tried to console myself with the clichéd notion that time would heal it, but I had little faith in that idea. Rather than wallow in a pity party, I dressed in jeans and my warmest sweater because the temperature was supposed to be in the twenties this morning. Seeing as the last year was done, I was going to do what I could to get my accounting affairs in order for Justine, my soon-to-be new CPA.

  Normally, I didn’t care much for cold weather. If ever there was a time when I drove my CR-V routinely, it was during our brief cold snaps. However, given my mood, I decided a walk to my office in the damp wintry cold would be good for me.

  I walked up to my office door with keys in hand. With the key in the lock, I turned it, but it was too easy, and I knew the door was already unlocked. I was fishing in my back pocket for my cell and turning on my heel to leave, when a tall, lanky man strode up to me. His eyes were dark, his jaw was scruffy and not in a fashionable way. I couldn’t tell what his hair looked like because he was wearing a black and white knit cap with a puff of yarn strings on top. The edge of the hat on his forehead read “Prank.”

  In a low and mean voice, he said, “Let’s head inside. Allen’s got plans for you.”

  He had a hand to my hip, when I heard footsteps approaching, and Tyler’s voice called out, “Hey, Andrea! How’s it go—”

  Tyler stopped mid-stride and mid-sentence when he caught sight of Prank and me. “Who the hell are you?” Tyler asked.

  What happened next was a blur. Tyler was yanked forward, slammed face-first against the outside wall, and I noticed a gun in the man’s hand. He used the gun to cold cock Tyler on the back of the head. Tyler’s body slid down the side of the building, and then I was shoved inside my office.

  “Who are you? No, what do you want?” I asked.

  An ugly smile split his lips. “I’m Prank. Gonna give Liar a nice present.”

  I snorted. “He really won’t care. Thinks I’m tied up with Allen Leventon and I haven’t seen Liar in a month, so your plan won’t work.”

  A light came into Prank’s eyes that made me ill-at-ease. “Nobody told me you’re mouthy.”

  My door to the inner massage studio opened, and I saw Leventon enter my office from the corner of my eye. He wasn’t two steps into the room, and the slimy feeling hit me.

  Looking at Prank, he said, “Why the hell would I? She’s a means to an end.”

  My eyes skittered back to Leventon, and I saw he was wearing a hunter green Lacoste sweater with wheat colored dress pants and brown loafers.

  His attention came to me. “Now, you took my daughter’s man and caused my little girl plenty of heartache. Time to return the favor to you and Vamp.”

  What the hell was this guy on about? My eyes slid to Prank, and I saw he looked confused also.

  “This ain’t—” he started to say, but Leventon cut him off.

  “You are not in charge. I am. Furthermore, ‘ain’t’ is not a word, Geoff.”

  My chest heaved as shock and laughter warred within me at hearing this man’s first name, but I knew this was not the time to give into laughter, even if it might be hysteria induced.

  Prank’s eyes narrowed at Leventon. “Whatever, old man. She said she ain’t seen her man in a month. You sure about what you’re doin’?”

  “Yes, and that will be the last time you question me, Geoff. She had the audacity to hit my daughter with a casted arm. It’s time all of these peo
ple pay, and the Riot MC too. I left too much in the hands of your club, and you all failed miserably. Time is of the essence. I believe I’m being followed though I haven’t seen anyone trailing me.”

  Frankie’s story a couple of weeks back came to me and then I remembered when Vamp was in my home to pick up Frankie. He had mentioned us not being ‘doppelgangers,’ but apparently Allen Leventon seemed to think we were. Well, at least Frankie wasn’t tied up in this sorry mess now.

  I turned to Leventon, intending to let him know how wrong he was, but he nodded to Prank, who had moved directly behind me. I heard a strange crackling sound, and then everything went blank.

  Roll

  Roll hefted his body off his bike and was relieved at not seeing Andrea’s old CR-V in the office parking lot. Then a vague recollection of someone saying she was so earth-loving she would walk places hit him. It was cold as fuck that morning, and he couldn’t imagine anyone smart walking in this bitter weather.

  All hints of relief left him when he turned into the alcove of office doors and saw a middle-aged, but out of shape man lying on the ground near the wall. He checked the man’s pulse, found he had one, and barged through Andrea’s office door. It was open, and he prayed he found her in the middle of a client session. The inner office was empty, he threw the other door open, and the massage studio was empty also.

  “Fuck,” he hissed.

  He pulled his cell from his back pocket and called Yak. There was not a crazier motherfucker on the planet than Yak. He had no verbal filter, nothing fazed him, and he lived for cheap thrills and getting rises of any kind out of women.