Unlawfully Yours (Lawless MC #1)

18

“What the fuck are you doing, man?” Venom asks as Allie disappears down the corridor, the taste of her mouth still lingering on my tongue.

“Nothing.”

His eyes narrow. “Don’t give me that.”

“My life beyond the club, doesn’t involve you or the rest of the guys.”

“Actually it does. Your affair or whatever the fuck is going on with her affects all of us. She’s the enemy. A fucking cop for crying out loud. For all we know she could be worming her way into your life to bring our whole fucking club down.”

I shake my head. “She wouldn’t do that.”

“Oh yeah? You know her well enough do you? When’s her birthday? What’s her favourite fucking flower? Where was she born? Is she close to her parents? I bet you don’t know any of that shit, do you?”

I say nothing.

He scoffs, my answer written across my face. “You’re gonna be the end of us, and you can’t even see it. And it’s all because of her.” With that, he tears off down the corridor, leaving me staring at the patch on the back of his jacket.

Is he right? Am I playing with fire by entertaining this feeling inside me whenever I’m around Allie? Am I putting us at risk?

Problem is, I don’t know how to stay away from her. Sure, she infuriates the ever loving fuck out of me but it only adds to the attraction I feel for her. She gets under my skin. And I hate to admit it, but Venom is right. I know nothing about this woman and it never occurred to me before. And that’s just it, I want to know everything I can about her, I just have to hope she lets me.

To clear my head, I decide to go for ride, and after saying goodbye to Kit, leaving him to play games on his phone, I leave the hospital building, only to come to an abrupt halt when I see someone sitting on my bike.

Tobias fucking Grimes .

“Fancy seeing you here, Lawson.” I can’t put into words how much I hate this prick, and just the sound of his voice pisses me off.

“Get the fuck off my bike and away from this hospital, Grimes,” I grumble. I don’t want him anywhere near my son.

“See, I don’t think I will. Mercy General falls on the border between Stillwater and Hillcrest, so I have as much right to be here as you do.”

“What the fuck are you even doing here?” It’s not just a coincidence he turns up here just days after my son is almost killed.

“Heard about your kid. That’s… Phew , that’s rough. Wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help.”

“Best thing you can do to help me is fuck off and stay out of my way.”

He holds his palms up. “I’m here purely out the goodness of my heart, I swear.” The smile on his face tells me the complete opposite.

“There is no goodness in your heart, Grimes. None at all and we both fucking know it.”

“How is your kid? Recovering I hope.” There’s no sincerity in his voice.

I cross my arms over my chest and humour him for a second. “He’s doing just fine, thanks for the concern.”

“Glad to hear it, could’ve been a lot worse. Gotta sting though, right? Not being able to protect your son in your own town.” There’s flicker of excitement in his eyes, like he’s gunning for a fight.

“What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“Just that it must worry you how easy it was for someone to get to him on a busy day in the middle of the week.”

“Sounds like you’ve put a lot of thought into this. It’s almost like you planned it.”

“You accusing me of somethin’?”

“You admitting something? Why else would you show up here other than to gloat? Truth is shooting a kid is something you’d do, and let’s face it, you have a liking for drive-by shootings don’t you?”

He grins. “You Lawless assholes always did hold a grudge, I see some things never change. Thomas Strong was a long time ago, you need to move on already.”

“Don’t fucking say his name!” I spit.

The day Thomas Strong was gunned down in the street was a day that a part of Lawless died along with him. He was the beating heart of the club, and it was the fear of Grimes’ wrath that had Strong and his family running for their lives, only they didn’t get very far.

“Strong was revenge for tearing my family apart, Kit was a warning of what’s to come.”

And there it is…

I lunge for him, my hand closing around his throat. “You son of a bitch!”

He laughs. “What you gonna do, Lawson? Kill me in the hospital parking lot? Awful lot of witnesses.”

“Never seemed to stop you.”

“Whoa! Back off, both of you!” Venom appears out of nowhere, cutting in between us and forcing us apart.

“I swear to god I will kill you for what you’ve done to my son,” I snarl.

“That a threat?” he grins.

“Call it a promise, you piece of shit.” I spit on the ground at his feet.

Grimes smirks. “Looking forward to it.”

The cocky son of a bitch.

Venom pins him with his eyes, his palm still flat against his chest. “What the fuck do you want, Grimes?”

“You know exactly what I want. What I’ve wanted all along.” Grimes returns his eyes to me, his unspoken words hanging heavily in the air.

My town. My club .

He wants to take everything from me, and a couple of days ago, he almost took my son.

“You’ve had twenty years to get rid of us, so why now?”

“Let’s just say you have something else I want, but I’ll let you figure that out on your own.”

His gaze flicks to Venom for a split second before he backs away, a smirk curling his lips.

“You better watch your back, Lawson,” he calls over his shoulder as he heads towards where his bike is parked up, “might find a knife sticking out of it one of these days.”

What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

“What now, Prez?” Venom asks, his eyes glued to Tobias’ back as he retreats across the lot.

“Call everyone to the clubhouse. Now.”

All the guys are sat at the table when Venom and I arrive at the clubhouse.

“Is Kit okay, Prez?” Jack asks from the other end of the table as the rest of my crew await my answer.

“A lot better. Thanks, J. Though, he’d be perfect if it weren’t for the bullet hole in his fucking shoulder.”

This is the first time I’ve been back to the clubhouse since before my son was shot, and up until now, I’ve managed to suppress the anger that is stewing inside me for the sake of my son, the last thing he needs is any more added stress.

“It was The Cobras. Their President’s not-so-subtle hint confirmed it earlier.”

“You saw Grimes?” Jett’s head snaps to me.

I nod. “The prick was waiting by my bike outside the hospital. Pretty much admitted he was the one behind it.”

“ Fuck .”

“I hope that means we’re gonna do something about that it.” I’m surprised there isn’t steam billowing from Kill’s ears as he sits further down the table.

“Damn right we are.”

“Grimes have any family?” Alex asks.

“Don’t think so. His dad’s dead, as far as I know he has no children and aside from Amelia, he has no other siblings that we know of.”

I don’t miss the twinge of pain on Ray’s face at the mention of Amelia. She was like a sister to him and he loved her dearly, and the memories pain him even now two decades on. Amelia was Grimes’ half-sister on his dad’s side who happened to fall in love with one of our founding members, Thomas Strong, and after Grimes had him gunned down in the street, she disappeared without a trace. Their daughter was sent away for her safety, where she is we have no idea, that’s what Tom and Amelia wanted. I only hope she’s alive, flourishing somewhere living a happy life. Tom never wanted this life for her, for any of them, and in the end it was the one thing that tore them apart.

“The Cobras only care about themselves, they don’t let things like love and family get in the way,” Jett says.

“The only thing they care about is money and power, the only way we’re getting to them is hitting them in the pocket and bringing their whole fucking club to the ground.”

“But to do that we need a shit-ton of dirt on them,” Alex says.

“Think we could get someone on the inside? Get close to Grimes?” Killian suggests.

I shake my head. “It’s too risky. One wrong move and he could be onto us. Besides, he knows all of us. Who the fuck would we send in?”

“I’ll do it,” Venom announces. “I’ll go in.”

“He knows you’re on my right hand, he’s not just gonna welcome you with open arms,” I point out.

“Then I’m gonna have to get my poker face on, aren’t I?” He smirks. “Trust me, Prez. I got this. Whatever these pricks have going on, we can intercept and bring the fuckers down.”

“Whether we get someone on the inside or not, someone still needs to pay for what happened to my son. I’m done sitting around. I want blood.” I’ve done my best to avoid it, but after what they did to my son, I no longer care. The tightrope between good and bad is narrow, and Kit is the last person I care about to be touched by those assholes.

“What have you got in mind, brother?” Jett asks.

“Where’s that rat-faced junkie VP incarcerated?” I ask.

“Apparently he’s over in Red Hook Pen awaiting trial after not making bail,” Cruiser informs us.

“Think we can make him disappear?” Killian asks.

“Oh, I’m counting on it,” I reply. “Ray, your friend still one of the guards at the prison?” Ray was incarcerated there for a short time, and managed to befriend one of the guards during his time there.

“He’s still there, owes me a favour too. Do you want me to call it in?”

I nod. “It needs to be discreet. We can’t have any blow back.”

“What about Sheriff Walker?” Alex asks.

“Let me handle Walker,” I say.

“Grimes will know it was us, brother.”

“With any luck. Tobias Grimes wanted a war, well he’s got himself one.”