Breaking The Biker (The Biker Series) - An MC Gold Vipers Motorcycle Club Biker Romance Novel (11 page)

When I picked up Joanna, she was nervous as all hell.

“I’m sorry it took so long to get here,” I said, watching her put the seatbelt on.

“It’s fine. Let’s get out of here,” she replied, looking around nervously.

“Don’t you think that nurse is going to find you missing and call Phillip?”

“I put some pillows under the blanket. Hopefully, she won’t figure it out for several hours.”

“How far away is your cabin?” I asked, pulling out of the parking lot.

“Only two hours. We’ll need to take the I-80 West. It’s in Waterloo.”

“Okay,” I replied.

“That’s right, you’ve never been there.”

“No,” I replied, not surprised now that I knew how much of an asshole Phillip really was.

As if reading my mind, she smiled. “Don’t take it personally. He never allowed anyone there, and Lord knows how many times I asked to invite you and Billy. He’s not much of a people person.”

“He’s a snob,” I said.

She laughed grimly. “Yes. He certainly is. I used to think it was kind of cute, if you can believe it.”

“Cute?” I repeated, frowning. “What’s cute about thinking you’re better than everyone else?”

Joanna sat back in the chair and stared into the distance. “You’re right. It’s not. I guess I was so enamored by him when we first met that I excused everything. Now, I’d love to back over him with his new Bentley.”

“I thought you two had a great relationship,” I said, turning onto the highway.

She tapped her fingers on the door. “So did I. The last few months, however, he’s been a bear to live with. I’m not sure if it was Mark’s death or the fact that we weren’t able to conceive our own child, that’s made him so intolerable. He’s been spending so much time alone at the cabin, that I thought maybe he was having an affair. Now I know what he’s been up to, I’d almost prefer the cheating. No offense. I want Billy to be alive, but knowing that Phillip did something like this… it’s horrifying, to say the least.”

“You’ve got that right. He’s going to prison, if what you say is true.” Although, as far as I was concerned, Phillip deserved much worse.

“I know. Hell, I know more than anyone,” she mumbled.

“When you saw Billy, at the cabin, was there anyone else besides Phillip staying there?”

“I imagine there was, although I didn’t see anyone at the time. Someone has to be staying with Billy while Phillip is back in town.”

“Speaking of which, what did he say when you confronted him about it?”

“He told me that the boy in the cabin was the housekeeper’s son.”

“You have a housekeeper for your cabin?” I asked incredulously.

“Believe me, it was news to my ears, too. He claims that he hired one because the place was getting dusty and needed a good cleaning.”

“Are you sure it
wasn’t
the housekeeper’s kid?” I asked, wondering if we were on a wild goose chase.

“I’m positive. I know what I saw and it was your son,” she replied firmly.

“But, you saw him from outside, right?”

She looked over at me and smiled. “You’d have made a great lawyer.”

“I doubt it. My judgement of people is pretty shitty these days.”

“I’m certain that it was Billy. I got a good look inside and there’s no doubt in my mind of who it was playing Legos.”

“Okay,” I said, wanting to believe it, but frightened that I’d be getting my hopes up for nothing. “I just hope that Phillip didn’t move him to another location.”

“I hope not, too. After he told me about the housekeeper’s kid, I pretended to believe him. I don’t know if I fooled him or not, though.”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

“I guess so.”

***

Both of us were quiet for much of the ride. After a while, she fell asleep and it wasn’t until we entered Waterloo that I tapped her on the shoulder.

“Oh,” she said, blinking. “We’re here already.”

“Yeah,” I replied, my stomach a ball of knots now that our destination was in reach. I could barely concentrate on the driving. All I could think about was finding Billy alive and ripping Phillip’s head off if I did.

Joanna sat up straight. “Okay, you’re going to want to stay on this road for about two more miles. When you get to Wild Prairie Road, you’ll take a right.”

“Okay,” I replied, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

She frowned. “Do you want me to drive?”

“Actually, that might be a good idea,” I said, pulling over to the side of the road. “You know the area anyway.”

We got out and switched sides.

“What if Phillip is there?” I asked, grabbing my purse from the backseat. I still had the gun hidden inside “When I spoke to him earlier, he said he was at the hospital, but he could have been lying.”

“All I know is that he had two operations scheduled today. That’s what he said, anyway,” she replied.

I pulled the handgun out of my purse.

“Jesus, what are you doing with that thing?” she exclaimed.

“You said so yourself – Phillip was dangerous,” I replied, checking the chamber.

“Do you have a permit for that?”

I looked at her and raised my eyebrows. “Really?”

“Sorry. It’s the lawyer in me.”

“This gun isn’t registered to me. I don’t have a permit. If we end up shooting the bastard, in self-defense of course, I’ll tell the police that we found the gun in the cabin. Just back my story.”

She nodded. “God, this is crazy.”

Something told me that it was going to get much crazier…

After not hearing from Raptor for two hours, I decided to call him. For some reason, I couldn’t get Raina out of my mind and was curious as to what she was up to and if she’d met up with Cole. “What’s going on?”

“We’re in Waterloo, Iowa,” he said.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“She hasn’t spotted you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay. Call me back when you know something more.”

“Okay.”

I hung up the phone and decided to take a drive over to Griffin’s to check on things. When I arrived, Cheeks was there, managing the bar.

“Hey, hot stuff,” she said, happy to see me. “Want a beer?”

“No, I’m not staying,” I replied, looking toward the stage. It was Happy Hour and the place was packed. “New stripper?”

“Yeah. Don’t you recognize her?”

“No,” I replied.

“Try looking at her face,” she said with a smirk.

I tore my eyes away from her tits, which were on the smaller size but damn perky. “She looks familiar,” I said, looking at her profile. The girl had long, dark brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and pink, glossy lips. She reminded me a little of Raina, only not quite as sexy.

“It’s my niece. Layla.”

My eyes widened. “What? Your niece? Isn’t she underage?”

“She was three years ago,” said Cheeks, “which was the last time you saw her. She just turned twenty-one last week.”

“She’s filled out nicely,” I replied, remembering the way I’d been checking her out the last time I’d seen her. Now that she was legal and working in my bar, I thought I’d have been more stoked about getting down her pants. But surprisingly, she wasn’t doing anything other than making me think of Raina.

“She has a major crush you,” said Cheeks, nodding toward Layla. “Be warned.”

“You’re warning me?” I asked, chuckling. “Shouldn’t you be warning her about me?”

“If I had, she’d be in your bed before her next dance.”

“I’m sure she’s a real nice girl, but you know me, Cheeks,” I said, grabbing her ass. “I like my women with more meat on their bones.”

She smiled in pleasure and grabbed my crotch. “And you already know how I feel about your meat, big guy.”

I leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Actually, I don’t think I
do
remember. You have some extra time to remind me?”

As if on cue, a large group of guys entered the bar. She groaned. “How about a raincheck?”

“No problem,” I said, adjusting myself. “If the customers are happy, they spend more money, which,” I smiled, “makes the owner happy. Go make some money, darlin’.”

She winked and walked over to serve the newcomers.

I glanced at Layla, who was finishing up her school-girl routine, and went into the back to use the bathroom. When I was finished, I headed toward the business office.

“Hi, Tank,” said a voice behind me.

I turned around and found Layla standing there, wearing a pink bra and matching G-string. She was holding a handful of money in one hand and a red plaid skirt in the other.

“Hi, Layla,” I answered, her perfume or body-spray scent filling the hallway. It reminded me of cotton candy.

She smiled. “I wasn’t sure if you remembered me.”

“Of course I do, darlin’,” I replied, smiling. “How could I forget?”

Layla walked toward me. “I’m so sorry to hear about your dad.”

“Thanks.”

With a sympathetic look, she threw her arms around my waist and hugged me. “I hope you catch that person who did it,” she said, resting her cheek against my chest.

I awkwardly patted Layla on the back. “I’m working on it.”

“He was such a sweet guy.”

“I wasn’t aware that you knew him all that well.”

“I didn’t. But, my aunt said he was one of the nicest guys she’d ever met.”

“Nice?” I repeated, smiling. “He’d roll over in his grave if he heard the word being used to describe him.”

Layla, who was still holding onto me, pressed her body into mine. “So, I saw you watching me on stage,” she murmured. “It turned me on.”

“Watching you is part of my job, sweetheart,” I said, grabbing her right hand, which was moving dangerously close to my zipper. “I have to make sure you’re doing yours.”

“Was I?”

“Definitely.”

“Did it turn you on?”

I didn’t reply.

She looked up at me, a wicked expression on her face. “I think it did. One thing is for certain, you turned me on,” she said, sliding her other hand over my bulge. “So does what’s trying to get out. Are you circumcised?”

Torn between taking her back to the office and fucking the shit out of her or running like hell, I clenched my jaw and brushed her hand away. “Stop, Layla…”

“But why? Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting to get together with you?” she pouted, now rubbing her chest against the front of my cut.

I groaned. As horny as she was making me, I knew it would be wrong to bang the girl. Especially since her aunt and I were sometimes fuck-buddies. “Listen, sweetness, I’m flattered. I am. But, now that I own this place, I need to keep my relationships platonic with the girls working here,” I lied.

Her face fell. “Seriously?”

I wasn’t about to tell her about Cheeks. “Yes. Sorry, darlin’.”

Sighing, Layla stepped back and then bent down to pick up some of the dollars she’d dropped. “Fine, but you don’t know what you’re missing.”

Watching her tight little ass bending down to pick up the bills made what I was missing abundantly clear. Not trusting myself to say ‘no’ again, I turned and began heading toward the office. “I’m sure you’re right, but business is business. By the way, keep up the good work,” I called back to her.

“Thanks,” she answered, still glowering.

My cell phone buzzed as soon as I walked into the office. When I saw that it was Tail, I answered quickly. “What’s up?”

“Some shit is going down.”

“Talk to me,” I said, closing my door.

“We followed Raina and her friend to this cabin in Waterloo and they disappeared inside. Shortly after, we heard gunfire.

I swore. “Where’s Raptor?”

“He’s checking it out. Told me to call you.”

“Okay. Go help Raptor. I’m heading your way.”

He gave me quick directions. After we hung up, I grabbed my keys and rushed out of the bar.