Dead Souls MC (Complete Series #1-5), page 7
I bet she was headstrong like that in bed, too.
“Miss Williams?” I asked.
I heard her stop walking as I craned my head back to see her.
“I take family seriously. If it ain’t important to the case, I won’t tell you about them. Get used to that,” I said.
Then Monroe turned on her heels and was out the door in a flash.
10
Monroe
I sat on the balcony of my apartment, overlooking the town of Redding. The sun was beginning to set and I’d long forgotten about the pictures in my lap. I tilted my glass of wine to my lips as the sun drenched my skin in a hot, dry heat I’d come to love. My mind kept running through the meeting with Knox. I knew he was withholding information, but I didn’t know what about. I didn’t like the fact that he was hiding from me. I didn't like the fact that he was treating me as if I was some kind of common criminal. I was there to help him, and he didn’t give a damn that I was.
All he cared about was some idiotic reputation.
I closed my eyes and swallowed my wine as my mind drifted back to him. I could see his ocean blue eyes staring at me with that cheeky little grin on his cheeks. His brown hair was slicked back, but loose. Falling into his face and lending a boyish charm to his rugged features. The hair on his face had grown out, showcasing a stubble that made me smile.
I chastised myself for smiling as I opened my eyes.
In any other world-- and with any other man-- his confidence would’ve been alluring. I was a strong woman with very loud opinions, and most men couldn’t handle that. They either found me intimidating or too boisterous, which meant only a louder and more confident man could handle what I had to offer. I’d dated once during college. A man most people hated. He was cocky and arrogant and would always pick a fight simply to showcase how smart he was.
But I loved it.
I loved him, even though I knew he was going to break my heart.
He was a playboy, and I got that. I knew his reputation for turning over women. It seemed he had a new girl every semester, but when he chose me I couldn’t say ‘yes’ fast enough. He walked with his head held high and he always knew what he wanted. He was never afraid to take it and I was never afraid to give it to him. He showed me that being a powerhouse woman didn’t mean I had to sacrifice what I wanted in bed. Just because I was dominant in the courtroom didn’t mean I also had to dominate in my romantic life.
He made the decisions on where we ate and when, and I loved it. He would surprise me with gifts and whisk me away on weekend retreats. The spontaneity he brought to my life made my law degree easier to obtain. That semester was the only semester I could remember not struggling in my classes.
But just like every other girl, a new semester turned over and I was tossed to the side. My heart was broken and I was stuck picking up the pieces to try and glue it back together.
Then I tried filling the rest of the gaping holes with as many classes as I could take.
That man taught me a lot. Despite how badly I had been hurt by our breakup, he showed me I could have the best of both worlds. I could be a powerful woman and still be treated the way I wanted to be. He showed me that it wasn’t a disgrace to my feminist attitudes to want to be treated by a man if that was the choice I made for my life. My femininity was all I wanted it to be. That was the point. I could be loud and outspoken in my career and still come home and enjoy the dozen roses a man picked out for me before he pinned me against a wall and made me moan his name.
I could have both of those worlds if I chose them for myself.
I bet Knox could pin my entire body to a wall.
I shook the thought from my head as I threw back the rest of my wine. The last thing I needed was to harbor feelings for some man in a jumpsuit. It didn’t matter that he had confidence and it didn’t matter that he was stubborn in all the ways I enjoyed. It didn’t matter that I enjoyed how loyal he was to his friends or how hellbent he was on protecting his family. He was my client and I was his lawyer, and that was the extent of our relationship.
Though I got the feeling he wasn’t going to accept that.
I couldn’t get the deal he had made with me out of my mind. What kind of client made a deal to get to know their lawyer better? Most clients I’d come into contact with during my education were only worried about saving their own ass or cutting deals for less jail time. None of them had ever been concerned with getting to know their lawyer.
But Knox had been.
And I liked that.
The sunset over the horizon was beautiful. The cool night time air was descending onto Redding as I gathered up the pictures off my lap. Every time I turned around, Rose was sending me more information on this case. And the more I looked at it, the more I knew we’d be able to prove Knox’s innocence. I could see why it was taking the prosecution so long to turn over the evidence, though. They were probably seeing the pattern we were. With each piece of evidence they studied and claimed for themselves, it was another piece they would have to hand over. And if they were keeping track of patterns, they knew how bad this looked for them.
They knew they were handing over Knox’s innocence to us.
I was supposed to take the weekend off to clear my head about this case, but all I could think about was Knox. Every time I had a silent moment, he would pop into my head. Sometimes I would wonder how he was doing and sometimes I would simply see his eyes. Other times I could draw the details of his lips in my mind’s eyes, and other times I was envisioning what he might look like beneath his orange jumpsuit.
But every time it happened, I beat myself up for it.
I couldn’t think like this about my client, and yet… I couldn't stop it. What did that mean? Did that mean I had feelings for him? I couldn't have feelings for a man like Knox. He was a criminal who ran with a notorious biker gang. What the hell kind of woman did that make me? And it wasn’t like he was out of jail yet. It wasn’t like he was roaming the streets with his bike between his legs and a jacket thrown along his shoulders.
He was still in jail, for fuck’s sake.
I was harboring feelings for a man in fucking jail.
“Shit,” I said as I went back inside. “This can’t be happening.”
I tried to think of something else. Anything else. Lying. I had to think about the fact that Knox was lying to me. Or at least withholding information. That would make me not like him. That would put us back on neutral footing. I couldn’t have feelings for someone who withheld information from me. I couldn’t build a relationship with someone like that.
If you can’t trust him now, you’ll never trust him as your boyfriend, Monroe.
Boyfriend? Now my mind thought he was my boyfriend? I groaned as I tossed my wine glass into the sink. Was it possible for me to have feelings like this for someone like him? I was more confused than I’d ever felt in my entire life. I had to do something to get him out of my mind. Maybe a night out in Redding to explore would do me some good.
Yes. A night out. That was what I needed.
I slipped into my room and changed into a decent outfit. A pair of light wash jeans to accent the swell of my hips and a tight shirt to tuck into my pants. I picked out a crimson belt to match the crimson tank top I had on, then I grabbed a brown jacket and threw it over my shoulders. I slipped my feet into my casual brown flats and stuck some sparkling earrings in my ears, surveying myself in the mirror. I removed the clip from my hair and allowed it to tumble down my back before putting it into a half ponytail. My strawberry blonde hair framed my face and fell between my shoulder blades, sliding against the brown jacket I had covering my shoulders.
A splash of makeup to draw out my emerald eyes was all I would need before I was ready to go.
I grabbed my purse and stuck my phone in my back pocket. I had no idea if Redding even had a nightlife, but if all else failed I could get some food somewhere. I turned off all the lights in my apartment and locked the door behind me, then I strode to my car.
I didn’t even get in it before my cell phone vibrated against my body.
“This is Monroe Williams.”
“This Knox’s lawyer?”
“Yes this is. With whom am I speaking?” I asked.
“This is Officer Morris. I’m calling on behalf of Knox.”
“What’s happened? Is my client okay?” I asked.
“I’m afraid not,” the officer said.
“Is that all you're going to tell me, or do I have to subpoena it out of you?”
I slid into my car and cranked it up before I skidded out of my parking space.
“Knox has been beaten pretty badly. He’s in the infirmary now, but he’s unconscious.”
“I want all of the footage from the cameras today to be sent to Rose Lowen of Lowen & Scott,” I said as I pulled out onto the road.
“Ma’am, we can’t-”
“If you make me get a subpoena, so help me God I will bring up charges on you for obstruction of justice. One of your inmates has been beaten so badly he’s out in your infirmary. Send my firm what we need or I’ll have you arrested,” I said.
“I’ll move it up the chain of command.”
“If it takes more than two hours to get that footage, I’ll be rolling Mrs. Lowen out of her bed tonight. We’ll see how far she gets with you,” I said.
Then I hung up the call, tossed the phone into the passenger’s seat, and sped all the way to the jail.
11
Knox
I couldn’t get my last meeting with Monroe out of my mind. I understood why she needed to know everything, but I wasn’t going to put my daughter at risk. Everything about my personal life had been kept secret and separate from the crew for a fucking reason. And I wasn’t gonna start blabbing all that shit to someone I didn’t know because she thought she needed to know my entire damn world. My mother didn’t have shit to do with this and neither did Canyon, and I wasn’t gonna start spilling my world just because some lawyer with a tight ass wanted me to.
Hell, Blaze was never supposed to know about Canyon, and somehow he did? How the hell had he found out about her? Someone was running their damn mouth about things they didn’t need to be talking about, that was how. Yet I was trapped in this fucking jail for shit I didn’t do because the government wanted to dangle me as fuckin’ bait.
But they had another thing coming.
I wasn’t about to roll over on my damn club. Especially when they were trying to pin some kind of murder on my head.
It made me angry that Blaze had known about Canyon. It made me angry that he thought he could make a joke like that about her and get away with it. That man deserved to die. I knew he wasn’t dead when I left him, but I’d kill him in a fucking heartbeat if he was still alive. He didn’t get to talk about my damn daughter that way and get away with it. Men in my world had died for less. Much less.
And he was knocking on death’s door with that information.
And if he knew, who was to say the entire group of Saddles didn’t know? For all I knew, the moment Blaze found out he started rattling off his big ass mouth to his friends to try and get initiated quicker. Show how big his dick was. Show off the kind of information he could get on rival club. It meant there was a chance the entire damn club knew about Canyon.
I wasn’t the only one who needed protection.
My family needed protection, too.
“Knox? That you?” Diesel asked.
“You got someone else callinh you from county?” I asked.
“It’s been two days. I still can’t fucking get the police to cooperate with us. I was about to send Grave there to see you,” he said.
“Don’t bother. They’re making this hard. Look, have you talked to Miss Williams lately?” I asked.
“That new lawyer? No. But I have talked with Rose. She filled me in on what they’re trying to do to you. We’re gonna get you out of there, Knox. You gotta keep hanging on.”
“Have you talked to Diego yet?” I asked. “Because the heat’s rising in this place and it doesn’t look good.”
“The talks are going slow, but I’m putting pressure on him. I should have something in place for you by tomorrow morning. Can you hold tight for one more night?”
“I can do that. Been putting together some things that’ll help me defend myself if necessary.”
“Let’s not say that too loud,” he said. “But I got you.”
“Can you do me a favor?”
“Anything you need just say the word,” he said.
“If Blaze knew about Canyon, there’s a good chance he spilled that shit to his club. Which means the entire fucking Black Saddles could know about her.”
“I can go back and check on them if you want me to,” he said. “But there’s something you should know.”
“What? What’s happened?” I asked.
“You know Brewer’s got police contacts everywhere because he’s a fucking crazy man, right?”
“Yeah?”
“He told me this morning that the Anderson police department have been regularly checking up on your family. Every day, making sure they’re okay.”
“What?” I asked. “Has something happened?”
“No, nothing’s happened. Brewer did say that one of the officers mentioned the department owing a favor or something like that. You know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think our new lawyer girl pulled strings and got the police department to check in on them.”
“Why do you think that?” I asked.
“Because there are regularly-logged reports on how they’re doing. Daily reports. Everything is by the books.”
“I’m not gonna even ask how you guys got ahold of that shit,” I said.
“I can take a ride out there tonight to check on them, but they’ve got officers regularly dropping in on them, according to Brewer. And you can thank Rock for tapping into their technology and getting those daily logs.”
“I owe you guys some shit when I get outta here,” I said.
“Look, family’s family. Whether they run with us or not. I’m still trying to figure out how the fuck some asshole in another club figured out about your family. I’m not getting much headway on that. The more I dig, the more I’m worried someone in our club talked.”
“I’d love to ask you why you feel that way, but I’m getting nasty looks from people,” I said.
“That’s fine. It’ll give me time to confirm suspicions. In the meantime, get through the night. I’ll know something from Diego tomorrow morning and then you should have some protection in there.”
“Thanks, Diesel. Talk to ya later.”
I hung up the phone and the guard yanked me off to the side. Fuck. I really wanted to bash every single one of their fucking heads in. The guard gripped me with a strength that would’ve signed his death warrant had we not been in jail, and I gritted my teeth as we started walking.
But instead of takin’ a right, we took a left.
“Where we going?” I asked. “Do I have a meeting today?”
The guard continued to drag me down the hallway before he tossed me into a room. I knew I wouldn't be seeing Monroe this quickly after our last meeting, and that put me on guard. I turned around and the man at the door grinned at me, then he walked away and left me there by myself.
“Hey! What the hell’s going on!?” I asked.
I heard footsteps coming down the hallway and I braced myself. I didn’t know what the fuck was coming, but it wasn’t gonna be good. I saw three heads pop up with angry glares on their faces, then the door busted open and I was tackled.
I threw punches in all directions trying to get those assholes off me. I recognized their faces as I tried to break their noses. Blood was flying and punches were landing in my back. It felt like I couldn’t breathe as blood trickled its way up my throat.
“You think you was gonna get away with it?”
“With killing one of our own?”
“You ain’t shit in here, Knox.”
“You’re a pussy in chains.”
I got one of them in a headlock as my body tried to get to the door. If I could get out into the hallway, I could make a run for the nearest guard. If they would even fucking help me at this point. I whipped my fist around and cracked someone’s jaw, smiling when I heard it crunch.
But it wasn’t enough, and soon I was overwhelmed.
A fist came down into my temple and all I saw was black. I could feel the pain wafting through my body as my knees hit the floor. Another fist cracked me against my temple and it made me nauseous.
Then, a cold enveloped my body.
When I came to, I could hear monitors beeping. The smell of disinfectant was strong and my body felt like it was on fire. I opened my bruised eyes and looked around the room, taking in the I.V. bag that was pouring into my hand.
Shit. I’d been overrun with Black Saddle fuckbags.
The guards were corrupt. I knew that from the beginning. But I didn’t know they’d throw me to the dogs like that. I had to talk to Diesel. Or my lawyer. Someone who would listen to me. The Black Saddles had control of this prison. Or at least had a few of the guards in their pockets. No amount of protection would keep me alive with shit like that.
Not even protection from the Latin Cobras.
I heard someone groan and the lightness of the voice fluttered against my ears. I turned my head and saw a chair come into view, and in it a woman was resting. I didn’t recognize her at first, but she sure as hell was beautiful. Her jeans were tight against her hips and her dark red tank top squeezed against her body. She had on a brown jacket that framed the breadth of her shoulders and fell open right at her tits. Hell, whoever that woman was had a wonderful fucking rack. A rack I’d let my tongue get lose in any day of the week.
But It wasn’t until I took in the beautiful strawberry blonde hair flowing down the woman’s body that I figured out who it was.
