Page 42 of Lies Beneath Secrets

“Some of us girls get together every Sunday for a sort of a girls day, if you’d like to join us,” Siena says. “The guys get their party, then we get our relax day.” I don’t have the chance to tell her I would be happy to join before Con answers for me.

“No, she’s not a member,” he all but growls at Siena, causing her face to ashen.

“Oh. I’m sorry, Con. I didn’t mean anything by that. I was just being friendly.” She offers me a sad smile before taking off back to her bartending.

“That was rude,” I say and stand, holding my glass. “What if I wanted to go with her?”

“You aren’t a member yet,” Con says before stalking back over to the table.

I follow him, wondering what the hell his problem is. I thought the whole reason I’m stuck here now is because I’m a member of the club. “Care to explain what you mean by that?”

“You still need to initiate.” He takes a drink from his glass. “Siena,” he points toward the bar, “she had a boyfriend who liked to beat the hell out of her on occasion. She tried to leave, and he nearly killed her. So, she came to us.” I’m confused by his story. What does Siena’s crappy boyfriend have to do with initiation? “If you want the club’s protection, you need to become a member. To do that, you earn trust. For her, we picked up the ex, tied him to a chair, and had her put a bullet in his head. All while we witnessed. I suppose that’s a leverage of some kind. But after that, you’re in. No leaving. The club needs something done? You bet your ass you’re getting shit done.”

“That doesn’t seem so bad.” I shrug.

“You say that now until you get told to do something you don’t want to do. You have a stubborn streak, Lauren. I’ve been a witness to it already a time or two,” Con argues.

“I’ve been told I’m a little hardheaded but really, how bad could it be? As long as you don’t order me to go around killing puppies or something, I think things will be fine.”

“You truly are one of a kind.” Con chuckles, shaking his head.

“So I’ve heard,” I say, rolling my eyes, “So, I get to pick who I want dead?”

“In a sense. Why? Who do you have in mind?” He seems amused until I speak again.

“The person who kidnaped me and brought me here.” I pause and look at Con. “Eli.”

CHAPTERFORTY

Con

“Eli.” His name echoes around in my head, then I glance over at Knox who has the same confused expression on his face.

“Eli is the one who took you?” I thought that Len would have been the one to grab her. “Did he say anything to you?” She shakes her head.

“I don’t remember. It happened really fast.”

“How do you know it was him?” Knox asks her.

“Because I saw his reflection in the glass,” she says, then explains more. “He came up behind me when I was going inside my apartment building. Slammed my head against the glass door, then he came up behind me and stuck a needle in my neck. I saw his face clearly in the reflection of the door.”

“Why the fuck would he be taking you then handing you over to King?” My brows furrow, looking over at Knox. “What do you think?”

“I was unaware of his connection to King. Thought he was more with the Flatliners, but if King is involved with anyone in the PD, it would be that slimy fuck.”

“What’s a Flatliner?” Lauren asks, pulling my attention away from Knox.

“It’s a gang with strong cartel connections. They traffic everything from guns to people, and their biggest haul lately is fentanyl. They get it into the country using the docks on Lake Michigan.” I leave out the part where we’ve been helping them with their shipments. We can save that for another time.

“I’ve heard of an uptick in overdoses in this county,” she says. We know full well of it too, which is what Boe was working on before he was murdered. Getting that shit out of here for good. Even if it is just for our town. “You think Eli is involved in all of that?” I nod my answer. “If you had said that to me before, I would have disagreed but now? I can see it.”

“We need to stop talking about all of this here,” Knox says, standing up from the table. “Let’s get a game going.” He’s right. There’s no telling who might be listening.

“I’m going over to the bar, I think. I’d like to get to know Siena. You know, since I’m going to be a member of this club and all.” She tips her head to the right, challenging me. As much as I don’t want her to leave my side, I decide to give in, knowing full well that if she has any chance at making it here, she’ll need to know more than what I’m willing to tell her.

“You just might be the death of me, baby.” I lean down and give her a long kiss, drawing her tongue in deep before nipping lightly at her bottom lip. “One game, then I’m bringing you back to the room and fucking this mouth of yours,” I whisper against her lips before walking away.

CHAPTERFORTY-ONE

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