Tangled in a Web of Lies (11 page)

In the end, there were three more dead bodies tied to kitchen chairs in the dining room. They lit the place on fire before taking off.

Odin knew that this would mean a war, at least until they could arrange a sit down with Gabriel’s boss, Antonio Lara. The men that had escaped, as well as the rest of the Kings here in Santa Monica would be out for revenge, especially the man who’d watched Odin gun down his brother.

As soon as the house was ablaze, the men took off on their bikes. While the majority of the mess was done, the day was still long from being over. Felix called Sheriff Winston, to inform him about the fire. Winston was one of a few law enforcement officials that the Bandits had in their pocket. As long as he was kept informed as to what was going on, he tried to help them cover their tracks, and keep their business out of the hands of local police. Of course, he was paid handsomely.

Micah made the call back home to let everyone know the club was on lock down until this shit got settled. Odin made the special request for Shannon to go pick up Lila, and make sure that she was safe. For the next few nights, it looked like all the members and their families would be camping out at the Club house, the Main house, or Micah’s. Each place was secure, and well accustomed to housing everyone in times like these. When shit got stirred, no one could be too careful. It had been almost two years since something like this had happened.

Odin used a bandana to try and wipe the blood off his hands. Two men dead by his hand in one day, it should shock him but it didn’t. In his eyes, he was protecting his brothers, his club and his family. For the first time, he had a woman to go home to who understood what he did. If there was blood under his nails, or brains in his boots when he got home, there’d be no questions or judgments. That’s what made the killing today especially easy.

***

Odin never came home Sunday. I stayed till about 8:00 in the evening, and finally broke down and drove his Camero home. I saw on the news that night, the Ink Spot and Billy O’s Bar had been shot up. Surely, that had something to do with where Odin was. I fell asleep on my couch watching the news.

Early Monday morning, there’s a pounding on my door that sounds urgent. I get up in a hurry and rush to open it, hoping that it’s Odin. But it’s Shannon. She looks stressed, although she hides it well with her choice of hair and makeup. Outside I can see Nathan and one of the prospects that I don’t know on their bikes, parked behind her Escalade.

“Is Odin okay?” My heart sinks to my stomach, fearing that she is here to give me bad news.

“Yea he’s okay. We’re on lock down though, Micah called, said to round everyone up.”

I feel immediate relief, knowing Odin is alright. But lockdown means everyone has to abandon their lives, and camp out with the club. It happened once when I was with Jaime, we stayed at the club house. It was fun in a way, like when an earthquake hits during school, and everyone hides under their desks, waiting for what could be a disaster. Scary, but exciting.

This time however, isn’t fun. I’m worried about Odin, and there is no way in hell I’m going to camp out at the club house with Rick!

“I can’t go with you. I have to work. Besides, no one even knows where I live, or that I’m with Odin. I’ll be fine,” I try to assure her.

Shannon stares at me like I must be joking.

“Listen Doll, Odin has a lot on his plate today, he doesn’t need any added stress. He called, and asked me to come pick you up and take you back to our place. If you had any idea what went down this morning, you wouldn’t be giving me a hard time. Now come on, I got shit to do,” Shannon says sternly.

God damn it! She’s right, I have to go or Odin will freak. I sigh, and reluctantly give in, rolling my eyes.

“I’ll call in. Let me grab my shit,” I say in defeat.

Shannon waits in her SUV while I hurry to pack some clothes and my laptop in my suitcase. I toss my hand gun into my purse, just in case, before locking up the apartment. As soon as I get into the Escalade, Shannon takes off. I call Daniel to see if he can cover my shift.

“Can you tell me what happened his morning?” I ask Shannon once I’ve hung up the phone.

“Shoot out between our boys and the Kings. Nikko got shot, Odin I guess took a knife to the arm, rest of them are a little banged up but everyone made it out okay. We have to lay low till they can get this figured out.”

“Jesus! Is Nikko going to be okay?”

“I’m sure he’ll pull through,” Shannon says sarcastically, like Nikko is a big boy who can take care of himself. I roll my eyes, and pull out my phone to text Odin.

{Please tell me you’re okay…}-Lila.

“Can I trust you, Lila?” Shannon asks, startling me.

“What do you mean?”

“Can I trust you to take care of my boy? Do whatever it takes to protect him, and the club? Can I trust you to tell me the truth?” she asks

“Of course,” I tell her.

“You know, Odin’s really worried about you,” she glances at me for a moment, but I have a hard time looking back at her.

“I know,” I say under my breath. I keep my gaze on the side mirror, watching Nathan and the prospect on our tail.

“You want to tell me what’s going on with you two?”

I sigh.
What the hell do I tell her?

“I love him. I feel like shit for leaving. We’re trying to work it out. It’s just like you said, there’s a lot of things playing against us.”

“You got some personal shit going on you wanna talk about?” I take a deep breath. I don’t know if Odin said something to her, or she’s just being overly intuitive. Either way, I don’t want to talk about it.

“Yea I do, and not really. No offense.”

Shannon nods in understanding. “Just don’t let whatever that shit is hurt my boy,” she says. I look her in the eye and nod. That’s exactly what I’m trying to do, not let my personal shit bleed all over Odin.

We make a stop at the grocery store, and load up on food for the full house we’ll be having for who knows how long. It dawns on me that Kelli will be on lock down too, at the club house. Knowing that she’s still new at the Hospital, I hope that this won’t become a huge issue for her. It’s a major drawback of being part of the club. Club shit always comes first, no matter how inconvenient. I shoot her a quick text.

{You on lockdown?}- Lila. As we are standing in line at the store I get a response.

{Yep. Rick is here. Where you staying?}- Kelli

{Micah and Shannon’s. You missing work?}- Lila

{Lucky! And yes, hoping I don’t get fired.}- Kelli.

“Hey Shannon? I hate to ask, but, is there anyway Kelli could stay with us too?” I ask as Nathan and the prospect load our groceries into the back of the Escalade.

“Yea. We have room. Is she already at the club house, we can stop and pick her up.”

I was hoping to avoid the club house, but I can’t really say no now. I call Kelli to see if she wants to stay with us. She’s more than happy to be locked down with us instead of stuck at the club house.

Thankfully, Kelli is waiting outside by the gate, and the only people I see are Jeff and Casey, who wave politely as Kelli climbs in the back of the Escalade. At least now that I have my best friend Kelli with me, lockdown won’t suck so much.

I’ve never been to Shannon’s house before. It’s a fortress, metal security gate all the way around. She punches a security code in the gate, and we drive down toward the house. It’s all decorated for Halloween, which reminds me that my favorite holiday is just around the corner.

“This place is huge!” Kelli is gaping as she stares out her window, repeating my thoughts exactly.

“Husband’s in construction. We built it from the ground up,” Shannon brags. She walks us through the garden up to the side entrance that leads to her kitchen. Nathan and the Prospect, who introduced himself as Thomas, help us in with all the bags.

Shannon’s kitchen alone is bigger than most of my condo. Keila is in the living room with Cassy, Shannon’s daughter, and Ashley, sipping back pink drinks and giggling at the TV. I notice that Ashley is holding a juice box instead, and from the looks of her used to be flat belly, she’s pregnant.

Shannon tells all of us what she can about the shit that went down between the Kings and our boys. She says they are due home tonight, and she gives us the speech about feeding them well, and easing their minds before they have to ride out again tomorrow. Keila shows me the way to Odin’s room. I’m not sure why but I hadn’t expected him to have his own room in Shannon’s house. When I see the girls in bondage posters on the walls, I can totally imagine him living here.

I drop all my stuff inside, and take a minute to sprawl out on his bed. I pull my phone out, delighted to find a message from him.

{I’m good. Miss you}- Odin.

{Miss U 2. Come home safe. Love the posters in your roo
m
}-Lila, I text him back. He must be busy, because he doesn’t respond again.

Then I call the clinic to set myself up an appointment to get a new birth control rod implanted in my arm. They have only a small opening for tomorrow morning, otherwise I have to wait till next week. I go ahead and take the appointment for tomorrow, hoping to ditch the whole “pull out” method sooner than later. Odin has been really good about it, but I hate it. With any luck, I’ll be able to make my morning appointment.

As it gets later, Shannon starts putting together a BBQ and we all pitch in. Kelli seems to be enjoying herself in the kitchen with the rest of the old ladies. I join in on making macaroni salad and passing a joint around the kitchen. In a way, being here with the wives and girlfriends feels more like home than any place I’ve ever known. I can’t wait for Odin to get back. I need to see him in one piece, but I’m not alone. Every woman here is waiting on the same thing. Except for Cassy, her husband isn’t in the club.

Still, I feel like we are all sisters in a way. Being here, putting together a feast for the men. I feel like I am once again part of the family that I have been missing so much since I left Santa Monica. Five weeks away seems like eternity.

Finally the boys come home. I wait patiently while Odin trails in behind Micah and Cole. The first thing he does is pick me up off the couch and kiss the hell out of me.

“You owe me a day’s pay, trouble maker!” I joke with him teasingly.

“I’m the one who wanted you to quit and live off me anyways, remember?”

I choose to ignore him. I like having a job, something Odin never could understand. He wanted me to depend on him, I wanted my own independence, we never really agreed on it, but we don’t waste any time arguing about it now.

Once everyone is settled around the table, we dig into the feast that us girls worked all day preparing. We all stare wide eyed while the guys brag about the brawl they were in.

We stay up late, drinking beer and laughing like we are all here for fun, and not because our club is at odds with the Kings. But when Odin finally takes me to bed, I get a little reminder that this isn’t something to be taken lightly.

We stand in his room, taking our clothes off so we can shower together.

“What am I supposed to do about work tomorrow?” I ask foolishly. I should know what his response will be.

“Call in.”

“You’re going to get me fired,” I snap.

“You think I give a fuck about your stupid job?” As the words leave his mouth, I feel my blood begin to boil. How dare he call my job stupid!

“I give a fuck!”

“Do you have any idea what I did today?” Odin raises his voice, making me feel small.

“No,” I say, folding my arms in front of me.

“You wanna hear some truth? Yesterday, a gun war broke out between us and the Kings. I almost got fucking stabbed, and Nikko took a bullet to the ribs. I shot a man and killed him, but I let his brother get away. How pissed off do you think that brother is right now? How badly do you think he wants to hurt me, and my family?” The way he says it makes me feel stupid. Suddenly my job seems irrelevant.

“I’m sorry.” I’m not used to getting to know all these details, and I don’t really know how to process them.

“I’m not!” Odin says with a serious look in his eye. He’s naked as he walks toward me. “The guy had a gun to Cole’s back. I would have shot him a thousand times over again. But if anything happened to you, I’d be more than fucking sorry!” he says, gently holding my head in his hand as he gazes down at me. “So until I put a bullet in the runaway brother’s head, I’m gonna do everything in my power to protect you. And if that means quitting your job, and staying here, then I’m sorry, but that’s what you have to do,” he says solemnly.

I don’t know if it’s his words, or the way he says them, or the way he palms my head in his hand, but I melt and give in.

“Okay.” Even if it sucks, I know he’s right and I know he only wants me to be safe. He leans down to kiss me, and helps me finish taking my pants off. I follow him into the bathroom attached to his room, and he starts running a shower. As soon as the water is warm, he opens the shower door for me and I step in. There’s a big white bandage on his arm, covering a stab wound. I wonder how bad it is.

Odin comes in behind me, rinsing the sweat and blood from the day away. As I look at him, I can see all the scars up both his arms. I wonder how many are self inflicted, and how many are from fights. I take a bar of soap, and wash his body, smiling inwardly as his cock begins to bob between us. He is the sexiest thing I have ever put my hands on. The bar of soap ripples over each muscle in his stomach, before moving down to wash the package between his legs. He lays his arms around my shoulders, a low growl escaping him as I wash his balls, and cup his erection in my hand. He takes the bar of soap away from me, and then I’m left stoking him with my soapy hand. With the bar, he washes over my back, firmly gripping my ass in his free hand.

Then he lathers his hands in soap and sets the bar back down. His hands move to my breasts, massaging the bubbles into them while I gently move my hand up his length. He leans down and his lips press into mine, his tongue finding refuge in my mouth. I close my eyes, feeling him in my hands. His fingers move up and down my sides and finally one reaches between my legs, and one long finger strokes between my lips, catching my clit.

“Mmm,” I hum against his lips, feeling my knees weaken as he massages gently between my thighs. I grip his cock tighter in my hand, rubbing up and down. His fingers dips inside me, then pull out, coating everything in their wake with my slickness.

Odin shifts our feet slightly, so that my back is against the shower wall, and the water sprays our sides. He takes both my hands, and hoists them over my head, pinning me to the wall by my wrists. I stare up at him, begging for him to fuck me with my eyes.

His body presses up against me, and I lift my right leg, wrapping it around his waist. He bends at the knees, so his erection pokes between my thighs. Pinning me to the wall with his hips, he straightens his legs, and my ass slides up the shower wall a few inches, leaving me on one tip toe. I move my hips, helping him line up with my entrance while his hands still hold mine above my head.