Page 53 of Rock

Jackson chuckled. “Oh, the irony.”

Lyla looked back and forth between them. “Someone want to fill me in?”

Jackson started laughing. Within seconds, he bent at the waist and set his palms on his knees while he laughed even harder.

Lyla stared at both of them with raised brows. The rest of the guys simply waited with equally curious expressions.

Jackson smirked as he turned his attention back to Lyla. “Mom and Dad thought Rock was a bad influence on me.”

“Yeah, so?” She’d known that. Her parents had tolerated Rock. They weren’t mean people, but they struggled to look past the tattoos and the motorcycle and the leather. They never said a word, but they often pursed their lips. It was obvious they were leery.

Jackson shrugged. “So, I had weed. I smoked pot from time to time. I hid it from Mom and Dad.” He nodded toward Rock. “This dude was too straight-laced for weed. He didn’t approve, so I didn’t mix my smoking habit with Rock.”

Rock shook his head slowly.

Lyla started giggling. “That’s hilarious.”

“Did you ever finally smoke a doobie, man?” Jackson asked.

Rock rolled his eyes. “Yes. How about we get back to the subject at hand? Where’s the hiding place?”

“And who else knew about it?” Steele asked.

Jackson froze, his face sobering. Finally, he slapped his forehead. “I know who attacked you.”

Lyla’s mouth dropped open. How the hell was that possible?

“Carl Houseman.”

Lyla frowned. She recognized the name, but it took her a few seconds to remember who it was. “Carl? That sleazy guy with the stringy blond hair who sometimes came over?” She stopped talking abruptly when she suddenly put several pieces of the puzzle together. “His parents were the last people renting this house.”

Jackson nodded. “Yep. They were good people. They didn’t have a great relationship with Carl. I bet he was using the house to stash his shit, and then they inconveniently ended their lease and moved out.”

“I vaguely remember Carl,” Rock said. “I’ll call the police and let them know our suspicions.”

“So…” Kade added, “If he was keeping something in this house, where is it now?”

They all looked at each other. That was the million-dollar question.

One thing was for sure: Lyla was not going to hide her relationship with Rock from her brother. She’d been standing apart from Rock for several minutes now, and she didn’t like it.

She moved into Rock’s side, wrapped her arms around his middle, and kissed him on the lips before turning to face Jackson. “There’s one more thing you need to know.”

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

Rock glanced over at his Little girl every few seconds as he drove toward the clubhouse. It had been a long day, and it was still light out. They’d gone home for a bit to trade the bike for the car. Rock was afraid it would be too chilly later tonight to bring his Little girl home on the bike. “You okay, Little one?”

She was chewing on her bottom lip, but she released it and sighed. “Yeah. I think so. Still trying to wrap my head around everything. I can’t believe my brother had a secret hiding place for marijuana behind the vent in his bedroom.”

Rock reached over and clasped her hand.

She jerked her gaze toward him. “I also can’t believe you didn’t smoke pot back then.”

He chuckled. “I wasn’t much of a rule breaker. No one believed that about me. It’s hard for people to look past the tattoos and leather.”

“Including my parents.”

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