Page 64 of Rebel

“I know you have a kind heart, ladybug. But you can’t take that shit at face value after he committed crimes against you and your family. Junkies always lie, it’s in their nature.”

She leaned over the table and lowered her voice. “Once you hear his story, I think you’ll understand where he’s coming from, I believe him.”

I frowned, “Unless you’ve got to be somewhere, we’ve got an hour of visitation. Why don’t you give me a brief rundown on what he said.”

“Well, believe it not, Richie and I were very close at one time, when we were kids.”

I listened carefully as she told me all about his shitty stepfather, depressed mother who ended up in a psychiatric hospital, and his disabled sister who may or may not be dead. Truthfully, I felt like we had ended up with more questions than answers but since Eric had taken an interest in the guy, I was willing to give him some grace. To my mind, nothing I heard from my sweet Lacey was justification for him to be sneaking around and breaking into people’s homes. But I could bide my time until I got released, and deal with him myself.

I then gave her the rundown on how we found her cousin and tried to impress upon her how close he came to dying when he overdosed. I wouldn’t have made the choice to take him out of the hospital even though he was stable, simply because he was at high risk of using drugs again and sitting on him twenty-four-seven would keep me from doing other important things I needed to do, like earning a living so I could support my grandmother.

Our hour flew by, and it took every ounce of self-restraint I had to refrain from taking her into my arms and kissing those gorgeous lips of hers. Seeing her walk out the door was a sharp reminder that I was no longer free to come and go as I pleased. Feeling like I was being pent up in a cage had always been atrigger for me. So, instead of pacing and getting myself worked up, I tried to calm the fuck down and read the book she had bought for me.

***

At the time of our arrest, I had been expecting them to cut us loose relatively fast. But, because of the aforementioned hotshot prosecuting attorney, it didn’t work out quite like we expected. Like I had told Lacey, the opportunity to send several bikers to the pen on drug charges had proven too irresistible for her to pass up. Prosecutor Victoria Anderson came up with a long list of charges that sounded fairly impressive. Unfortunately, by that time I’d already been in what passed for their local jail for three days, the maximum time they could hold a person without adjudicating them, and none of this was funny anymore. Truth be told, I was super pissed about being held when there was zero proof that I had done anything to warrant being arrested.

Thankfully, the judge saw right through her and ended up cutting us all loose. Storm was the only one successfully adjudicated and his bail was set at fifty thousand dollars. The club had scrounged up money for his bail and he didn’t even have to go through a bail bondsman.

Walking out of that jail and getting to see my freshly unimpounded ride was the best sight I could have hoped to see. In the grand scheme of things, three days was no time at all. I couldn’t wait to get on the road to see my Lacey. I’d been daydreaming about having her in my arms again the whole time I spent in the slammer.

When we pulled into the clubhouse compound, the women came running out to meet us like they sometimes do. I’d always envied my club brothers with beautiful wives and old ladies whowanted them badly enough to come outside the building when they pulled into the parking lot. So seeing my Lacey running behind Zoe and Grace filled my heart with joy and my chest with pride.

I was barely off my bike when she flung herself into my arms. “I can’t believe you’re finally here! It feels like it’s been more than three days.”

“Yeah, I hated being in lockup. I’ve been looking forward to finally having you all to myself again,” I told her with a smile as I pulled her into my arms. “Tonight it’s just gonna be me and you.”

She gazed up at me, “The old ladies have prepared a welcome home party. I’m sure you don’t want to miss that.”

I leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Fuck the welcome home party. The only thing I’m interested in is spending some time with my woman. Once I get my Lacey fix, I might come back down and party. We’ll just have to see.”

“I’m down for one-on-one time, she said breathlessly. “We can always go to your room here. It’s just like you left it.”

“Good, there should be a property cut in there for you. I want to see you in it, that’s if you don’t still think wearing my property cut is ownerish.”

Her hands flew up to cover her mouth, and she playfully responded. “Perish the thought. That was the old me.” Removing her hands, she gestured down her body. “This is the new and improved me.”

“You don’t say?” I eyed her curves with the eyes of a man who was good at visualizing his woman without clothing. Lacey’s naked form was all I wanted to feast my eyes on forever and ever.

She nodded, “I know I’m supposed to say something clever right about now, but my brain is too frazzled after finally getting you back to think of witty responses.”

I wrapped my arm around her as we walked into the clubhouse. I told her, “I don’t care about whether you can come up with cool shit to say. You’re a loyal woman with a good heart, and that’s more than enough for me.”

She glanced up at me with a smile still tugging at the corners of her mouth. “I guess I can forget about making myself all pretty for you, right?”

“What do you mean by that? You’re beautiful and I would advise you not to mess with perfection.”

“Alright, you asked for it. No more shaving my legs, weekly facials, or following the latest fashion trends. From here on out, it’s just going to be plain old Lacey.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “You think I care about any of that shit?”

“I’m one hundred percent sure you want a nice looking old lady,” she responded brightly.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked down into her lovely face. “It’s almost like you don’t know me at all.” Picking her up, I tossed her gently over my shoulder, “I’d still want you if you were as hairy as a cat and wore pajamas all the time. That would be fine by me.”

That comment got a snort of laughter from her.

I slapped her on the ass playfully and asked, “Why aren’t you kicking and screaming for me to put you down? I didn’t think you liked primitive dominance displays, particularly where everyone could see.”

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