Ride Hard (7 page)

She couldn’t believe this was happening. Gabby longed to explain. Although she wanted to keep this matter private, it looked as if she didn’t have a choice. She should tell them everything, but a furious glance from Nick told her to keep her mouth shut.

“If that’s the way, I quit this club.”

“About time,” said Matt. “You’re no longer welcome.”

“That’s not your decision,” said Ronald. Hope flared in Gabby’s heart. Would he give Nick a chance to explain? Ronald and Nick shared a good relationship. If Ronald talked nicely, Nick would probably come clean. Of course, he was doing this to protect Gabby. But she didn’t want him to be kicked out of the club due to her issues. It was better to tell them everything. Sure, they wouldn’t be happy that Nick and Gabby contacted the police, but as long as they knew that it had nothing to do with Hell Brigade, things would quiet down. She didn’t want Nick to be out of the club because of her.

If that happened, Nick would die.

These were his men, his friends. He wouldn’t be able to live without them. His whole life revolved around the club and its activities. He’d put himself in danger many times because of them. How could they accuse him of being a snitch?

Surely, this was a mistake. And Nick would sort it out. But Nick picked up his helmet and wore it. “Let’s get out of here, Gabby.”

“But…” she started to say, flabbergasted by the speed with which everything was happening.

“If that’s the way you want it, you’re going to get your wish,” said Ronald. “I don’t want to see either of you here again. Matt, we need to change the plan and the location. This asshole has already told the police everything.”

Matt cracked his knuckles. The sound was ominous. “I’ll manage everything. And if I ever see you again…” he pointed his finger at Nick again. “I will bash the life out of you.”

Nick’s laughter was mirthless. The rage that coiled and looped through his veins was almost palpable. “You can try, but it might not go the way you’ve planned. Gabby, get on the bike. Tell Willow to pack her stuff. We’ll collect it later.”

Gabby didn’t know what to say or do. Should she try to dissuade him from making such a radical move? Maybe she should tell them why they went to the police station. She opened her mouth, but seeing Nick’s furious gaze, she closed it again. He never ever behaved in such an abrupt manner before. Matt’s rude accusations really must have pissed him off.

But he was making a terrible mistake.

Hell Brigade’s clubhouse was his real home. It was the one place, the one set of friends, who were a constant in his life. Without them, he wouldn’t be able to survive. He needed them as much as he required air to breathe.

She longed to say all those things to him, but Gabby didn’t want to embarrass him in front of Ronald and Matt. It might be a better idea to calm him down at home and then get him to talk to Ronald. Quietly, she sat on the bike. As Nick took his place and they veered off towards his home, Gabby cast one last glance back at the clubhouse.

Was this the last time she would ever see the place?

It was as much her home as Nick’s, and she couldn’t bear the idea of not being a part of the wonderful lives of all these people. Dread filled her as she turned her head, rested it on Nick’s back, and waited for the next scene to unfold.

CHAPTER SEVEN

A day after the incident, Nick and Gabby still hadn’t recovered from it. Nick’s hand caressed Gabby’s back as he contemplated all that transpired. Being kicked out of Hell Brigade was a novel experience. And even though he wasn’t as bent out of shape about it as Gabby was, his heart ached with pain. Without his buddies, he felt like half a man.

“Everything will be ok,” he assured her.

“But…”

“Listen Gabby, I know you’re upset, but it’s not what it looks like,” he said.

“What does this look like to you? To me, it seems the end of a life,” she muttered as she stood and walked towards the kitchen. “And we still haven’t picked up my stuff from there. Maybe I should go down and talk to Willow. She will explain to Ronald.”

He sighed as he picked up the paper. Shit! Maybe he should’ve thought through this when he involved Gabby in it. But she was the lynch pin of this mess. Matt’s hatred for her was known to all. He’d been waiting for an opportunity like this for months and Nick basically handed it to him on a platter.

The doorbell rang. Gabby opened it even as she muttered under her breath. Her mouth gaped as Ronald and Matt sauntered in. “Looking cozy, dude!” said Matt.

Nick sighed. Now he was in for a world of pain. “What happened?”

“It went exactly as you envisioned?” said Ronald with a satisfied grin. “Gabby dear, you look a little flustered.”

Nick wasn’t in the mood to exchange pleasantries. “Who was it?”

“Bryan,” said Matt.

Nick ground his teeth together. Anger simmered in his stomach. “What the hell? He is Martin’s cousin. Why the hell did he snitch?”

“Apparently, he was pissed off with Martin over a poker game. He set them up, and then seeing that he got a healthy reward, he got greedy.”

“Shit!” Nick banged his hand on the table. “I’m going to kill that guy.”

“You and me both,” said Matt as he cracked his knuckles. “Wasted so much time and effort chasing him all over the town. If you hadn’t come up with this scheme, we might have been in the dark forever.”

He was going right now to pound over the man who cost two of their men to stay in jail for three months and forced them to stop their business for weeks. It was Nick’s idea to give Ronald an excuse to throw out Nick. He suspected three men, but wasn’t sure which one of them was the snitch. This was the only plan he could come up with to ferret out the weasel. Once Nick was out, Ronald recruited the same three men that he suspected and put loyal men over their trails. The game was over in a matter of hours.

He wanted the details. “How did it play out?”

“As you instructed, I let the men follow each of them. Mike was on Bryan, and he saw him go to a public booth to call the police.” Ronald sneered. “He must’ve thought that he was in the clear since you were hung out to dry and that’s why he set up a meeting at a bar. He gave them the time, date, and location that we fed him and of course, they got there today afternoon and waited like idiots for something that wasn’t going to happen.”

He couldn’t wait to give the guy a good whack. “Where is he now?”

“If he listened to me, he would be running out of the town right now,” said Ronald as he picked up an apple from the basket that sat on the counter. “May I?”

Gabby was listening to the whole conversation with disbelief. She nodded. “Sure, go ahead. You guys planned this? So it was a…fake fight?”

“Of course it was,” said Ronald. He turned to Nick. “You didn’t tell her?” 

He didn’t tell her because he didn’t want Matt to come up with more excuses to threaten Gabby in case anything went wrong with this plan, but that wasn’t what concerned him right now. “What? You told him to go away. Why?”

“Because I didn’t want you two to bang him over and then end up in jail,” said Ronald in a calm voice. “Violence is never an answer. Now, this is over. We’ve ferreted out the snitch. Things are back to normal. Take a day off tomorrow and we’ll begin operations later. And Matt, I don’t want to hear any more bickering in the clubhouse or out of it. If you’re a part of us, you accept the whole lot, or else you go take a hike.”

Matt bit his bottom lip. “I suppose I owe you an apology, Gabby.”

“What?” She sputtered. “I…”

“It was easy to suspect you than to think that one of us betrayed us. I apologize.”

Gabby looked as if a truck had hit her. She swallowed, gazed from Nick’s face to Matt’s, and then sighed. “It’s alright.”

Matt thrust out his hand. “Friends?”

She took his hand, shook it. “Friends.”

When Matt swept her in a hug, the look of surprise on her face was priceless. She squirmed and he let her go. “Alright, dude! See you.”

Nick waved them off. Gabby closed the door behind them. She turned towards him, slowly. “So that fight was not real?”

He cleared his throat. Maybe not telling her wasn’t the best move but he didn’t have a choice. Once and for all, he wanted her to get out of Matt’s radar of suspicion. Now, everyone knew that she didn’t have anything to do with the police and no one would look at her as if she were guilty. He hated to put her in that position, but it worked exactly as he envisioned.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Even though I wanted to tell you, I couldn’t. It was a secret.”

“You?” She pointed a finger at him. Rage flowed over her usually calm face. “You allowed me to think that you were thrown out of the club because of me?”

“It was only for one day.” He jumped to dodge the apple she threw at him. “Hey! Violence is not the answer. Didn’t you hear Ronald spout that nonsense?”

“I’m going to kill you.” She stalked him, picked up a cushion from the couch and lobbed it at him. “You’re a dead man.”

Nick laughed as she tried to catch him. He didn’t have a clue as to what she planned to do once she got hold of him, but it was amusing to see the look on her face. For the first time, she wasn’t the controlled and calm Gabby who always presented a tranquil façade. This was the real her; the person who wasn’t afraid to show her emotions. And he fucking loved it.

When the shoe she threw at him hit him square on the head, he stopped laughing. “Hey!” he protested. The second shoe hit him on the leg. “I’ve had enough.”

He lunged across, caught her around the middle, and spun her in the air. “You devil!”

“You’re the devil,” she announced as she tried to get out of his hold. He spun her harder until she started to laugh. “Alright, alright. I’m sorry. Let me go.”

Gently, he put her down and kissed her. It was soft and slow, easy and passionate. As his lips devoured hers, she allowed him to deepen the kiss. When his tongue dove inside her mouth, tasting and exploring with a wild abandon, nothing else seemed to exist except for the taste and scent of her. Her body fit right next to his, perfect and comfortable. He wanted this moment to last forever. Her fingers slipped through his silky hair and she held on as he swept his tongue over her gums. Their lips were fused together for a long time and then they broke apart.

“I should’ve told you, but I wanted to wipe the slate clean. Now, no one will ever suspect you. I would be pissed if you held something back from me.” His hand caressed her back. “So I know how you feel but there wasn’t another way to do this.”

He felt her shoulder stiffen and then she relaxed. Resting her head on his shoulder, she gripped his arm. “It’s ok. You did the right thing. Hell Brigade is your home, my home, and we shouldn’t betray them even for each other.”

“As always, your words of wisdom humble me,” he muttered.

She punched him on the arm. “Stop making a joke out of this.”

“Sorry.” He snatched another kiss before she could move away. “Now come on, let’s plan the hell out of that party. It’s day after tomorrow.”

She sighed. There was no end to the preparation that needed to be done. After the fight, she expected that it all came to an end, but now it was obvious that the party was still on. “Let me call Willow and tell her that we’re still having that party.”

She picked up her call and was about to make a call when another number flashed on the screen. “Who is it?”

“I…” Her heart raced. Surely, this was the same number from which Joseph called her last time. “It’s Tasha.”

The doorbell rang and as he went to answer it, she hurried into the bedroom and picked up the call. “Who is this?”

“You bitch,” he said in a nasty voice. “I’m going to kill you.”

Her heart stopped. Fear careened through her veins as she struggled to take a breath. “What are you talking about?”

“You talked to the police. Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

How the hell did he find out so quickly? Maybe the police officer who was on his take found out about the investigation and informed him? Damn them to hell. She’d thought that the police would protect her, but instead, they were the ones who gave her away. “I didn’t…”

“You’re a dead girl,” he announced in a voice that was mired in rage. “When I get my hands on you, I will make your end so painful that you will be begging me to kill you.”

“No, I…”

He hung up before she could say anything. Gabby stared at the phone as she sat on the bed. What the hell was she supposed to do now? Her life was in danger before. She’d thought that with the police’s aid, she would be safer, but now she was in bigger mess. Joseph was a vengeful man. He would never forgive her. His determination to capture her must have doubled. Now, if he caught her, he would make her life a living hell and her death a painful torture. She couldn’t afford to be at his mercy.

“What did Tasha say?” said Nick as he came in, carrying a box. “I got the delivery today.”

“What delivery?” She tried to wipe her face clean of all emotions. He mustn’t know. If he found out, Nick would be determined to protect her, and he may get hurt. She didn’t want to involve him in this cesspool that was her life. There was only one option left, and that was to make good her escape before Joseph came over to claim her life.

She would have to run away.

There was simply no other solution.

Her heart swelled with the pain of her decision, and yet, she couldn’t afford to change her mind.

“I ordered a new phone, remember? Actually, this is a gift for you.”

She accepted the box that he thrust towards her. Yes, he’d been talking about a new phone, a smart phone. “What? For me? Why?”

“It’s a coming home present.” He laughed but she could see that he really wanted her to like this present. “I know that you’re anxious about moving in. I thought about getting you something that would be useful in the house, but my mother always said that a man who gifted a woman a kitchen appliance deserved to be whacked on the head with it. A phone is personal, and it would make it easier for you to connect with the girls on Facebook and whatever else you guys do.”

Touched as she was by his generosity, Gabby felt horrible about accepting the gift moments after she’d made the decision to move away. He didn’t deserve that but the truth was that if she stayed, he would get involved in her mess, and it might not be safe for him. Joseph was now pissed. He would kill anyone who tried to stand between her and him, and Nick would certainly try to do that.

There was no other option.

She had to do it, to save her own life, and to protect him also.

“I…” She cleared her throat as tried to think about the right words. “This is too much. You shouldn’t have.”

He sat beside her. “Open it. You’ll like it, I think. It’s got a lot of features. The camera is supposed to be very good, and they have got a lot of other apps. I remember you talking about it with Willow. You both seemed to love this model.”