Page 29 of Karma
“He said she was,” Lucas says. “The girl in the warehouse was never meant to die. The plan was to get closer to Mom.”
“He’s been biding his time. This is his plan, Colt.”
Venom steps further into the kitchen. “Keep me back from runs, Colt. We’ll double protection, and I’ll take up residence here. That motherfucker won’t make it past the goddamn driveway.”
Shaking her head, Lex says, “You have a wife at home, Venom.”
“A wife I wouldn’t have without you,” he says. “I wouldn’t make it if anything happened to her, but there are a lot of us who won’t make it if something happens to you. This guy is crazy, and you need a crazy motherfucker to counter him.”
The men work out a plan, and Lex just looks around at the men promising to keep her safe. She doesn’t have the heart to tell them it won’t do any good. Phillip is not only determined but capable. He’ll get to her because he wants to, and there’s nothing any of them can do to stop him.
Chapter Ten
Griffin’s Beach
Felicity
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Felicity asks as she parks outside the hotel.
“What? You think having a brother who wants to murder me is something new for me?” Lex asks from the passenger seat.
Sarcastic humor becomes her default coping mechanism. Ky told her how Lex threw up after the encounter with Phillip in her house, and it’s obvious this entire situation weighs on her. More than she wants to let on, but Felicity sees through her facade. Lex is tough. She’s always had to be, but there’s fear buried beneath it.
They made the plan to wait for Emme to get off work and follow her home to have the conversation that needs to be had. Marnie, finally able to move around after being shot, helped them learn Emme’s work schedule.
“Does Marnie know what she helped us with?” Felicity asks.
“Yep. I was honest with her, and she didn’t even hesitate. They were friendly when she worked at the bar, and I think she’s a good fit for the club,” Lex says, resting her head on the headrest as they wait.
Looking at her blonde friend, Felicity sighs. “Lex, talk to me.”
“This feels normal. This is something I know, and I can control things.”
“I know. But I see the wheels turning in your head. You’re not yourself. Not like I know you to be, and it’s because I know you. Really know you. Please don’t try to bullshit me.”
Never looking at her, Lex sighs. “The past, what… two years have felt like total chaos. I mean, first, we lose Lane. My brother hates me because I was asked by a dying woman to let her die, and I did. He’ll hate me even more than he did before for the rest of my life.”
Lane’s death to cancer had been hard. She asked Lex to be her medical power of attorney because she knew Zane wasn’t strong enough to carry out her wishes, and it took its toll on Lex. Felicity had no idea what was going on, and she was on the outs with the club at the time. Realizing she had no idea Lane was even sick still bothers Felicity. So much time was wasted.
“Then we have Brock and Beckett going rogue and getting locked up in prison. They were supposed to be thrown in there and left to die. Hell, Brock got stabbed for it, and it was because a powerful man wanted Shannon.”
Shannon Walters knew Beckett Cohen long before he joined the Drifters. She’d gone through rough times, and she struggled to stay above water, which is how she landed herself into hotwater not once but twice. The last time created quite a bit of trouble for the club, but at least it all had a happy ending. The powerful villain was slayed, and the princes and princesses found their happily ever afters.
My God, I read too many children’s books to my grandkids.
“Then we had a serial killer terrorizing the town, and we thought we stopped him. But he wasn’t. He was really my long-lost half-brother who kills women who look like me and men who look like Zane.”
“Yeah, that kind of sucks.”
This earns Felicity a small chuckle. “And don’t even get me started on the whole Autumn thing. I haven’t really begun to process that.”
That one bugs Felicity, too. Autumn Sims was one of the original three friends before the guys were old enough to patch into the club. The three girls were inseparable until Lex moved to Arizona. The decades of history make her betrayal hurt even more.
If she’s honest, Felicity has to admit that this betrayal hurts worse than learning Ky lost his virginity to her dead sister and kept it a secret for almost twenty years. That hurt her, and only her. What Autumn did had the potential to hurt her entire family. Her husband, her son, and her grandchildren.
“I don’t know how you did it,” she says. “I don’t think I could have pulled the trigger on Autumn.”
“I didn’t,” Lex says, her voice quiet.
