Page 10 of Exile & Lula
That was the closest I would get to a heartfelt moment with Clint Reed. He checked his phone and frowned at me.
“We’ll be leaving in twenty minutes. Will your club escort us to the nearby airport?”
“They might try to grab her again,” I said, mostly to keep from blurting out how I wanted to take Lula home with me.
“We know. That’s why we want to learn what we can about their hired guns. If there’s a pattern to who they’re sending, we might be able to take the fight to the Void and keep them away from our families.”
I heard Clint’s unspoken meaning. Lula and my sister would never be safe until the Void was destroyed.
I tried to keep my mind on business while I spoke with Zodiac and York. Our guys were growing restless from playing bodyguards on a quiet night with no threats.
“It’s a long war,” Zodiac told me when I frowned at the hospital. “It started before Nova took a bullet. We’ve beenfighting these guys for a while. You should be glad they’re taking shots at our allies instead of us.”
I scowled at Zodiac, who only smiled. He was always poking at people, making them second-guess themselves and distrust him. Zodiac didn’t believe in comfort. His life had started with a long line of foster homes and stints with distant family. Even after he took over our club and became president, he refused to buy a comfortable place to live, instead bunking in a small apartment above our clubhouse.
“Comfort makes men weak, slow, and in need of replacing,” he had told me more than once.
I wasn’t like Zodiac. I had mostly grown up with comfort just out of reach but close enough to touch. I always believed that if the stars aligned, I’d find the peace I was deprived of as a kid.
Following Lula back to Little Memphis might offer me that comfort. My heart demanded I take what I needed. My brain kept me solidly in check when a white SUV drove away with Lula to the airport. I followed on my motorcycle, allowing the steady rumble of my club’s bikes to keep me grounded.
I was the VP of the Black Rainbow Motorcycle Club. My life wasn’t my own. I had responsibilities to the men riding with me and to my sister and nieces back home. I worked hard to claim the comfort I currently possessed. To keep it, I’d need to passively watch Lula disappear in a chopper back to her hometown.
LULA
Jarred was itching to lecture me about what happened today. Devin’s presence kept my ex-husband’s mouth shut. As Jarred cleaned my feet, I called our daughter.
“I’m banged up but okay,” I told Dillon.
“You’ll be home soon. If you’re lying, I’ll know. You'd best tell me the truth now when I have time to process it.”
“I’m not lying,” I said, smiling at her lawyer-like reasoning. “My feet are scraped up.”
“Why?”
“I lost my shoes in the parking garage.”
“Did they torture you?”
“No, I was dragged over rough ground and hurt the bottom of my feet. I’m also a little bruised in other places. Nothing’s broken. Like you pointed out, you’ll see me soon and will sniff out if I’m lying.”
“I will,” Dillon said, sounding younger suddenly. “Are you really okay?”
“Yes. Physically, anyway. Mentally, I’ll need to hide at the house and watch fun movies to help me feel better.”
“I’ll make the popcorn,” Dillon said, and I noticed her voice crack.
Jarred and I shared a worried look before I promised our daughter that I would be home soon.
“Your parents are here,” Devin told me as if sensing I needed a distraction.
Pax and Bebe soon sandwiched my body, refusing to let go.
“You are okay,” Pax insisted, sounding angry.
“So are you,” I growled back at him.
Smiling at me, he stroked my head and then did the same to my teary-eyed mom.
