Unlawfully Yours (Lawless MC #1)

39

Myles is still sound asleep beside me when I wake up the next morning to my phone buzzing on the bedside table beside my head. I rub my eyes that are still heavy after a restless night’s sleep.

I quickly pull on my jeans and a t-shirt before slipping out of the room and answering the call.

“Ryan.”

“Hey, sorry to call so early but I thought you’d wanna know as soon as possible. We’ve got some information about what happened with Maddie, but you’re not gonna like it.”

My heart sinks into my stomach as dread seeps in. “What is it?” I ask, inhaling deeply to brace myself for what he’s about to say next.

“It seems your car had been tampered with prior to the accident. There was a clean cut through your brake line.”

“Are you serious?”

“Afraid so. It was most likely caused by a knife.”

“But couldn’t that just be as a result of the crash?” It’s the rational part of my brain that has me asking that, the part that searches for other reasons and explanations despite my heart already knowing the truth.

I’m clutching at straws and I know it.

“It’s possible, but with the positioning of the break and how clean it was, everything points to it being deliberate,” Ryan tells me.

Oh. My. God.

“I’m sorry, Colorado,” he adds.

“Maddie didn’t run the red light, she had no brakes to stop…” My heart breaks even more than it already has. She must have been terrified in her last moments.

“Do you have any idea who would do this? Whoever it is, they wanted you hurt, Allie, if not dead.”

A cold shiver snakes its way up my spine.

Someone tried to kill me.

I reach out to steady myself against the wall, the room around me beginning to spin and my knees threatening to buckle out from under me.

There is only one person I can think of who is capable of this, who would have more reason than anyone to want me dead. Someone who has the connections and resources to make it happen.

“No,” I lie, my hand tightening around my phone. “No idea.”

“Allie. If you know something, you know you can tell me, right? If you’re in danger, w—”

“I’m fine, Ry,” I cut him off. “Thank you for telling me. I’ve gotta go.” I end the call before he has the chance to respond.

My heart thumps heavily in my chest as my mind races. If Maddie’s death had simply been an accident, in time I could have made peace with that, but it was no accident.

She was killed, and it could quite easily have been me in that driving seat instead of her. It should’ve been me, at least then Maddie would still be alive.

Vaughn or Tobias—possibly even both—are responsible for my friend’s death, though I’m leaning towards the former. If he’s tight with Tobias, he could’ve quite easily enlisted his help. I know it in my heart and it’s that fact that has a burning rage unlike anything I’ve ever experienced vibrating through my body. The kind of rage that clouds your judgement and makes you do foolish things, kind of like what I’m about to do now.

I don’t return to Myles’ room. Instead, I slip on my shoes before swiping the keys to Myles’ truck from the table and head to the front door.

My hand hesitates on the handle as I peer over my shoulder, my gaze drifting upstairs to where the man I’ve fallen so hard and fast for still sleeps, blissfully unaware of where I’m about to go and what I’m about to do.

I could wake him up right now and tell him what’s happened. But he’d stop me. He’d force me to stay here while he handled The Cobras and possibly get himself and his guys killed in the process.

No .

No one else I care about gets hurt.

No one else dies, especially at the hands of a Cobra.

No one else dies because of me .

This is my fight.

This is something I have to do on my own.

And this ends now.

I pull up outside The Cobras’ compound, my heart pumping so fast I feel like I’m seconds away from having a heart attack.

I’ve never been a spontaneous person, known to make rash decisions. Everything I do is planned and calculated, down to the finest detail, but not today. I have no idea what I’ll be faced with when I go in there, and whether or not I’ll make it out, but the way I’m feeling right now, I don’t care.

Feeling for the gun I picked up from my house before coming here, I tuck it safely into the waistband of my jeans, concealing it beneath my shirt as I exit the truck.

As soon as I step inside the clubhouse, someone grabs me from behind. “Get your fucking hands off me!” I shout, doing my best to free myself from their grasp.

“Let her go, she’s fine.”

The hands that were on me moments ago fall away and I look up to where the voice came from, recognising the face staring back at me.

Tobias Grimes.

My uncle.

He’s tall and muscular, his short hair is greying and his dark brown eyes are narrowed in curiosity as they sweeps over me.

My eyes scan around the room. The Cobras clubhouse is dull, clearly lacking from a feminine touch. The air is stale, the atmosphere cold and uninviting, much like the dozen or so men who occupy it. I’m outnumbered and way out of my depth, but I do my best to ignore the quiver in my belly and the way my skin prickles under the intense scrutiny of their gazes.

“Allison, at long last we finally meet.” If I didn’t know better, the wide smile on Tobias’ face could almost be genuine.

“I didn’t come here for a family reunion.”

“Nonetheless, it’s a surprise to see you.”

“Surprised to see me alive?” I ask, my eyes flicking briefly to where Vaughn is standing. Gone is his Lawless kutte and in it’s place, one that belongs to a Cobra. The colour has all but drained from his face, almost as if he’s seen a ghost.

“I’m afraid I don’t follow,” Tobias says.

“Don’t insult my intelligence. I know you were involved somehow.”

He holds up his hands in surrender. “Allison, I swear I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

What if he really doesn’t know?

“Seems your new protégé isn’t as loyal as you first thought, Uncle .” My eyes drift over to Vaughn. “Yesterday, when you cut the brake line in my car hoping to kill me? You killed an innocent woman instead, a local teacher. My friend . She didn’t have any brakes to slow her down at a stop light when a truck ploughed into her, killing her instantly.”

I close the distance between us until we’re almost nose to nose, well, I would be if I was several inches taller, but you catch my drift. The whooshing sound in my ears is deafening as my heart pounds in my chest.

“She was an innocent woman! And you murdered her all because of your petty vendetta against me. You know, it’s almost funny, a man like yourself feeling so threatened by me that you try to have me killed.”

He shoves me hard as I stumble backwards. “Get the fuck away from me, bitch .”

“Is this true, Venom?” Tobias asks.

Vaughn’s eyes narrow in on mine, pure hatred is all I see staring back at me. “The little bitch deserved it,” he spits as one corner of his mouth ticks up. “I should’ve killed you when I had the chance weeks ag—” He doesn’t get chance to finish his sentence before Tobias slams his fist into his face and he collapses to his knees.

“Take him downstairs, I’ll deal with him later,” Tobias orders and I watch as two of his guys drag Vaughn away.

Tobias turns towards me. “I’m sorry we had to meet like this, Allison. But at last, you’re here now, where you belong. With your family.”

“Family?” I scoff. “You ripped away my family when you shot my father when I was seven years old.”

His face hardens. “Your father poisoned my sister against our family, stole my chance to see my niece grow up. My father was too weak, too loving of his darling daughter that he allowed her to shack up with our enemy. Thomas Strong had it coming to him.”

“My father was a good man. A better man than you could ever hope to be. It was you that day wasn’t it? That rode past as my dad lay dying in my arms?”

“Had to make sure he was really dead,” he replies casually, like killing someone is the most normal thing in the world.

“You bastard. You make out like you’re all about family and yet you had no thought for mine when you stripped me of my parents. What happened to my mom by the way? Did you murder her too? You know what, fuck you and your little gang of bullies. I’m leaving.” I turn for the door. I can’t stand to be here a second longer. I’ve finally met my uncle, and it’s reaffirmed my belief that the man is the purest form of evil there is and I want no part of his life or his club.

“You seem to be under the impression you’re walking out of here, Allison,” Tobias calls after me.

“You seem to be under the impression you can stop me,” I toss back over my shoulder, just as two huge burly bodies block my path, cutting off the exit.

“Get out of my way,” I tell them, but they don’t budge. Their eyes rake over me from head to toe, like they’re eyeing up their next meal and I fight off a shiver.

A flicker of panic grips me. They won’t let me leave here. What if I can’t get out? Will Myles work out where I am?

Fuck .

I shouldn’t have come here.

I dig out my gun from my waistband and hold it up in front of me. “Move out of my way!” I repeat louder, flipping the safety off my gun.

When neither of them move a muscle, I crack the smaller one around the face with the butt of my gun, kneeing the other in the junk before shoving him away. I move for the door, only to be wrenched backwards by my hair as my gun is ripped from my grasp.

My arms are wrenched behind my back as two large hands bind my wrists and I fight against their hold.

My phone and car keys are plucked from my pockets and handed over to Tobias.

Tobias scrubs a hand through his beard. “This would go a lot smoother if you just accepted this, Allison. This is where you belong. This is where your family is, to name just one reason.”

“You could list a million reasons and I would still give you the same answer. I’d rather burn in hell.” I tug my arms but the hands around my wrists tighten painfully.

“And if your mother was one of those reasons?”

I stop struggling. “What about my mother?”

“What if I told you you could see her. She’s here. Alive and well.”

“Why should I believe a single word that leaves your mouth?”

He looks to one of his men and gives him a nod before he disappears down the corridor. A couple of minutes pass before the guy returns followed by a woman, her arm in his iron grip and my heart slams to a stop in my chest.

The first thing I notice is her hair, it’s the same colour as mine only a little longer in length. Her face is one that’s stared back at me for years in photographs, though the years haven’t been kind to her, small wrinkles etch into her face that still holds so much beauty, though her eyes are heavy and weary. I’m guessing by the faded bruises on her arms they’re not the only things that haven’t been kind to her.

“Mom?” the words are barely a whisper on my lips.

Her eyes collide with mine and instantly widen in recognition.

“Allison,” she breathes out as a tear slips free. She starts towards me, but she’s wrenched back by the guy who has her arm in his death grip. He stares down at her and I’m almost sure I see her flinch.

“Look at us, all of my family under one roof, just as it should be,” Tobias says.

“Go fuck yourself, Tobias. We may share blood, but we will never be family, you got that?”

“We’ll see,” he grins. My phone buzzes in his hand and he glances down. “Oh look, your boyfriend is calling.” He turns my phone around so I can see Myles’ name lighting up the screen. “Myles must be wondering where you are, I’m guessing you left out the part where you came to see me.”

“You sure about that?”

He shrugs. “I was always going to come for you at some point, Allison. You’re Myles’ Achilles heel, his love , it was inevitable you would be his downfall. That boy cares far too much. You coming here played right into my hands, made my job a whole lot easier and you didn’t even know it.”

Shit .

He’s going to use me to get to Myles.

“Drew, take them to one of the rooms out back,” Tobias orders.

The guy called Drew hesitates. He must only be in his early twenties. Roughly six foot, dark messy brown hair that’s almost black in this light. There’s something familiar about his face that I can’t put my finger on, like I’ve seen it before somewhere.

“ Drew , I said take your mother and your sister out back and keep them there, don’t make me ask you again.”

“What?”

Oh my God…

I have a brother?

He strides across the room towards me, his features becoming so much clearer and it’s then that I see him.

Dad .

I see my dad in him.

Tears prickle my eyes. “You’re my brother?”

He swallows hard, doing everything he can to avoid meeting my eyes directly. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles before taking my arm and leading me towards my mom where he does the same to her.

There’s no point in fighting. Even if I was to break away from Drew’s hold, there’s no way I’m getting past Tobias and his goons in one piece, and besides, I couldn’t leave my mom behind.

“Drew. Son, don’t do this,” my mom pleads as he leads us down a narrow corridor.

“I’m just following orders,” he says robotically.

We stop at a door at the end of the hall. He twists the door handle and ushers us inside a bedroom.

“You’re okay with this?” I ask him where he hovers by the door. “You’re happy for him to hold me here against my will? I’m your sister, you’re family .”

“The club is my family.” There are no feelings behind his words at all.

“Tell that to your face. You might think you believe that but your face says different. Drew, I know we don’t know each other, and I’d love nothing more than to change that, but I can already see you are nothing like the men out there. There’s kindness in your eyes. Whatever Tobias has planned for me isn’t going to be good. Help me. Help us . Please, Drew.”

There’s a flicker of something in his face as his brow furrows in a deep-set frown. Guilt, maybe? Confusion? He’s warring with himself, torn between his real family and the patch he shares with his club.

“I’m sorry,” is all he mutters before he closes the door, the lock clicking into place as his footsteps gradually fade away.

I turn to the woman behind me, still not entirely sure this is actually happening.

My mom’s here.

She’s alive .

My feet are on the move before my brain catches up and I crash into her, wrapping my arms around her so tight I might even strangle her.

Twenty years of missing her and grieving a woman I could barely remember comes rushing to the surface, and I can’t hold back the flow of tears that leak from my eyes.

“Mom,” I cry into her shoulder as her arms go around me. “ Momma .”

“My beautiful girl.” She squeezes me, stroking my hair soothingly as she always did when I was little.

“How is this happening? I thought you were dead. All these years I…”

She pulls away to look at me, swiping the tears from my face with her thumbs. “It’s a long story, but it seems we have time.”