Texas Tornado (Freebirds Book 5) (21 page)

I’m scared of walking out of this room, and never feeling the rest of my whole life, the way I feel when I’m with you.

-Dirty Dancing

Shiloh

“From what I’ve been told, Lyle was a gentle soul. He loved life, and lived it to the fullest. Now he’s home, where nothing will ever hurt him again. He’ll forever be remembered, and loved.” Reverend Justice preached solemnly.

My heart felt lighter today. It’d been a week since Lyle had passed. Originally, the state was going to bury Lyle and his mother together, side by side, in the plot awarded by the state in a cemetery on the outskirts of Jefferson, where they’d lived. Sadly, Nadia’s parents decided to bury her in their family plot, sans Lyle, and didn’t tell anyone of the service until after it was finished.

Throughout the entire process, James remained a rock. He held me through my crying jags. Offered help, suggestions, and his ear for me to rant about the injustices of it all. What he didn’t offer was judgment. He wasn’t mad that I’d taken off without him. Concerned for my safety, yes. Upset? No.

He’d shown up at the hospital an hour after me. I smiled at the Root Beer he’d offered me, and took it with silent thanks. He’d sat with me for around seventeen hours, only leaving for bathroom breaks and phone calls to Janie. At two in the afternoon the next day, Lyle took his final breath.

The nurse had been correct. The alarms all shrieked their warnings, scaring me half to death. Sadly, they weren’t able to bring him back, even after multiple measures to do so, as per state regulations.

Then commenced the drama, which led us to now. Lyle being buried in the tiny little coffin, in the tiny little hole. Alone.

He wasn’t sent away from this earth alone, however. The entirety of Sam’s Free Family, my coworkers who’d been on the case, my father, my brother, and the entire damn Dixie Wardens Motorcycle Club showed. Which surprised and shocked me. I’d never been a part of The Dixie Wardens Motorcycle Club. Although they were aware of me, they didn’t know my relation to my father and Sebastian. Well...they didn’t used to be.

They did now.

They also treated me like gold. Like I was someone precious to them, even though I’d met them all of three times before this last week.

My father had given me a little more insight on the why’s and how’s of his life. I’d had so many of the questions answered that have always lurked in the back of my mind, that it made me admire him all the more for doing what he’d done. After seeing child abuse at its finest, I respected a man that could forgo a relationship with his children in deference to their safety. Many parents I’ve come to see in my years on the job hadn’t, and those children had suffered all the more for it.

Lillian walked up to me as the last shovelful of dirt was placed in the whole. She was dressed in a black calf length dress, with pearls in her ears and around her neck. Her hair was in a beautiful up do that showed she’d really put some effort into looking her best.

For Lyle.

Which made me unbelievably happy to know that people cared.

“He had quite a gathering show to send him off. I’m pleased.” She said with a fond smile sent my way.

No condemnation about the sixty bikers dressed in leather vests. Each vest had a wraith like woman dominating the back of each with flaming eyes. Which, quite frankly, surprised the crap out of me. The woman came off as a proper, prim older woman. Never would I have thought she’d be accepting. However, she’d been gracious and kind to each and every one of them.

She laughed when she saw the confusion on my face at that comment. “I could give you a lesson in biker culture if you’d like. I was married to the love of my life, Jeffery, for thirty years before he died. And, each one of those years, he belonged to a motorcycle club very much similar to your own. I loved every minute of it, too.”

The only intelligent thing that came out of my mouth was, “Wow.”

She smiled, and then turned to examine the grave. There was no headstone yet, but the office had started a fund, and would be providing one for Lyle soon.

“Try to have a good rest of the weekend, dear. We’ll be seeing you soon. James.” She smiled warmly at the man who’d just wrapped an arm around my stomach before turning on her heel and walking to her Buick.

“Did you hear what she just said?” I asked.

“About the motorcycle club?” James queried.

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“I’ve come across quite a few bikers in my life. The ones that belong to clubs are all normal people. I know that they come in all shapes and sizes. All walks of life. Even ones that drive Buicks when they’re seventy, and help kids get out of dangerous situations.” He supplied.

“Let’s go. Janie’s with my dad, and I don’t want her to learn any new bad language.” I admonished.

“Hey,” he said holding up his hands. “I don’t mean for her to learn those words. She doesn’t hear them from me. I know better.”

***

“But,” I said trying to change James, my dad, Sam, and Sebastian’s mind. “I don’t need to be babysat. I want to sleep in my own bed. Not on the couch.”

My father was currently residing at the Allen homestead, as was Sebastian and Johnny. The only room that was open was James’ mother’s room, and I sure as hell wasn’t sleeping in there. That’s just weird.

“Shiloh June Mackenzie, stop arguing. There are some fucked up men in this world, and I sure as fuck don’t want them getting their sick, sadistic hands on you. It’d kill me. Please stop arguing and sleep on the couch.” My father, the traitorous bastard, pleaded.

He knew I’d listen to him. In my twenty-seven years of life, I can count on two hands the number of times I’d been told what to do from my dad. Each one of those times, my life was in danger. This last time was with Zander. He’d told me to stop seeing him, that he wasn’t a good man, and I hadn’t listened. Having experienced my father’s intuition, I knew he wasn’t just telling me this for no reason. Which was why he was the one to tell me to stop arguing. If Sebastian had done it, he knew what I would’ve said. It begins with a ‘fuck,’ and ends with an ‘off.’

“Fine. Don’t expect me to be happy about it, though.”

“When have you ever done something you didn’t like in twenty six years?” Sebastian muttered under his breath.

“Twenty seven.” I stomped my foot for emphasis.

Sebastian looked startled, and then remorseful. Yeah, that’s right. Sebastian, the one person who never forgets anything, forgot my birthday.

He looked incredibly remorseful. “I’m sorry, ‘Loh. I can’t believe I forgot.”

“That’s okay,” I shrugged.

Everyone else in the room wore a guilty expression as well. James, Cheyenne, and Sam all sat on the couch watching the show. Waiting for the inevitable to happen. Which it did, and now I was on that couch for a fourth night in a row. Hooray.

I was currently standing in the middle of the room while everybody else had seats. Sebastian and I’d been arguing about bodyguards. Then it’d degraded down to ‘You’re not staying in that piece of shit place by yourself.’ Not to mention that they still weren’t happy that I’d left when someone was trying to kill my father, and would use anyone and anything to make that happen.

“Have a seat, Shiloh. We need to go over some things before you start work on Monday.” My father asked.

Left with no other choice, because if I tried to run, they’d probably tackle me to the ground before I even cleared the landing, I did as ordered. Turning on my heels, I stalked towards James side of the couch, and plopped down in the gap between him and Sam.

Both men grunted at the force of my body hitting them, but I wiggled until I was snugly between each of them. “Please, let me move over.” Sam said dryly.

“Thanks.” I smiled at him.

James’ arm went around my shoulder and pulled me closer into his body. Sam’s eyes went hard for a few seconds, but it was gone quickly. I looked away from Sam’s face to my father and raised my eyebrows.

“Zander,” I tensed at the mention of his name. “What did you tell him when you were together?”

My lips thinned, and I pinned them between my upper and lower teeth to keep in the expletive that wanted to pour out of my mouth about him. I would’ve sounded like I had Tourette’s if I’d let it slip. However, I composed myself before asking him to clarify the question.

“I told him a lot of things. How about you give me an example of what you think I told him?” I asked.

What I was hoping was that they didn’t ask me about
that
night. I’d managed to keep the details from everyone, even Sebastian, the almighty know-it-all. They already thought I was a fucked up mess, there was no reason to confirm it.

“Anything significant. Anything about your brothers, or me.” My father explained.

“I’m not sure what you wanted me to tell them. I didn’t even know about Sam. But Zander was my boyfriend, and I did tell him things. Like the fact that I could possibly have another brother. I would never intentionally share anything that would put anyone in danger if I could help it, though.” I said completely confused.

Why would what I told him matter? I couldn’t explain the relationship I had with my father. My brother was a soldier. That’s what I always told everyone, because there wasn’t anything else
to
tell. There wasn’t anything to tell about Sam because I’d never even met him before in my life at that moment in time.

“Just tell her!” Cheyenne exclaimed from the other side of Sam.

My father sighed. “Around the time you started digging about Sam, I was in the middle of a deal with one of the largest motorcycle clubs in the country. Glen Larson, the president, mentioned a brother, but it wasn’t until last night at a meeting of the minds that it finally clicked on who the brother was.”

“Well, who the hell was it?” I sighed exasperatingly.

“Zander.” James rumbled.

His chest vibrated with that deep rumbling sound he did when he was unhappy. My eyes closed, and a wave of embarrassment washed through me. God, I am such a fuck-up.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered, devastated.

“He went by all our defenses.” Sebastian said soothingly.

His attempt to exonerate me from my mistakes only upset me more.

“Yeah, but did you let him into your life? Into your bed?” I snapped.

“No. But you also aren’t the one involved in dangerous shit like dad and I am. It’s not your job to worry about whether someone will use you to get back at us. That’s our job, since we’re the reasons they’re doing it in the first fucking place.” Sebastian snapped back.

James’ breath had stopped moving rhythmically at my mention of letting Zander in my bed, and it was then I noticed the clenched fist above his knee, and then the placement of my elbow. Digging in deep where he’d been shot not even a week ago.

“Shit!” I exclaimed and moved myself further away from him.

He hauled me back until I was practically sitting in his lap. “You weren’t hurting me.”

“Well something was!”

I didn’t have time to think when the next moment I found his mouth against mine. His tongue in my mouth, teasing me with short shallow strokes. His large hands holding my head still.

The couch rising from displaced weight made me disentangle my mouth from James’, and then my face flamed when I saw everyone watching the show, and Sam standing on the opposite side of the room from where he was only moments before.

“It’s like nails against a chalkboard to hear about you being with another man. It rubs me the wrong way, and I don’t want to talk about this anymore. However, if you value your privacy, you won’t bring it up in public again. Next time I won’t stop at just a kiss.” James said against my lips again before giving me a quick kiss, and moving me back to the couch next to him.

Clearing my throat, I felt the heat rise in my cheeks, but I told them everything I knew about him. Well, almost everything. My pulsed raced a little when I thought about what I was holding back, but outwardly, I was a rock.

“You’re not telling us something.” James whispered into my ear.

Shock poured through me. How the hell would he know I didn’t tell everything? I wasn’t fidgeting. Nor was I sweating. How could he possibly know? Then he ringed my wrist tighter, and I realized that two of his large, blunt fingers ran over the beat of my pulse at the base of my wrist.

Busted.

Sam’s eyes followed James’ movement, and then read the look of surprise on my face. “What else?”

The man’s body language reading abilities were just uncanny.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with what you’re asking.” I clipped.

“Shiloh,” Sam sighed.

“It won’t do you any good. She wouldn’t tell me anything either.” Sebastian muttered and then took a sip of his beer.

“Alright. We’ll talk about this more in the morning. It’s fifteen until midnight. Let’s sleep on it.” My father said as he stood up gingerly and made his way to the back of the house where he was staying.

We all watched him go. None of us moved.

“Does anyone else think it’s weird to have him around?” I finally broke the silence.

“Fuckin’ nuts.” Sebastian and Sam agreed at the same time.

“Well aren’t y’all cute.” I said sarcastically.

Cheyenne snickered from across the couch, but quickly covered up the lapse in judgment with the palm of her hand.

“Sebastian,” Cheyenne asked as Sam handed her her sweatshirt and pulled it over her head.

“Yeah?” Sebastian raised his eyebrows.

I took a sip of James’ coke that was on the floor between our feet, and promptly spewed it everywhere with Cheyenne’s question.

She pursed her lips. “What’s your middle name?”

Sebastian’s head whipped around and glared at me.

“What?” I asked innocently.

I might have mentioned to Cheyenne that we all had matching themes for middle names, but that was only because I was emotionally compromised with Lyle’s death, and I needed something happy to lift my spirits.

I did
not
tell her what his middle name was, though. I wouldn’t go that far. Sebastian may not kick my ass, or harm me in any way, but the man knew how to hold a mean grudge.