Page 58 of Wanting More
She didn't even realize she was talking until she heard the sound of her voice. "On that phone call from my mom, she said…" Realizing what she was about to say, Sapphire paused.
The smooth space between Joel's dark gold brows furrowed.
The grip on her shoulder tightened, pressing her tighter into Hayden's firm body, and she felt him speak next to her, his deep voice sending tiny little tremors through their connected bodies. "She said what?"
Sapphire licked her lips. "That you two were in a gang. Is that true?"
She felt Hayden stiffen against her, and she turned in his arm and looked up at him. His metal grey eyes flicked a glance over her head, and she knew both men were coming to a silent decision.
Hayden inhaled, forcing her to ride the heavy rise of his chest and back down again as he exhaled. Using her free arm, she reached out and placed a hand against his chest with the intention of adjusting herself a little so that her full weight wasn't pressed against him, but she paused. He was incredibly hard, she noted in pure feminine wonder. Momentarily dazed, she let her hand feel the glorious curve of his pectoral muscles beneath her palm. It was amazing that the human body could transform into this carved work of art under the right training.
Joel's hand on her thigh tightened, bringing her back from her thoughts. Sapphire quickly adjusted herself a little straighter in her seat but couldn’t go far. Hayden's heavy arm over her shoulder banded her in place.
"Yeah. We used to be," Joel admitted, and she could hear the reluctance in his voice.
"But we got to get out with our lives when everything went bust," Hayden replied next to her.
Intrigued and surprised they were actually talking about this, Sapphire shifted and turned in her seat until she was sitting completely backward on the deep couch. With her legs folded and crossed, she looked eagerly at both men as she now faced them completely. "Bust?" she urged.
Hayden smirked at her new position. "The sheriff's department hired a new sheriff and a bunch of new deputies, and they decided to clean house as their first directive in Holter."
"The Owens brothers?" she asked, thinking of the muscled-up law enforcement Julie lusted after.
"Yeah, mostly cousins actually," Joel pointed out. "But yeah, that’s them."
Sapphire thought about what they were saying. If the sheriff and his deputies were a part of the bust on the gang, did they know Hayden and Joel were a part of said gang? They visited the café nearly every day. "Do they know…that you two were…"
Joel let out a laugh that flashed his dimples against his golden scruff. Reaching forward, he refilled his shot glass. God, why wouldn't he just go and put on a shirt? "Oh yeah, they know. We helped them make the bust. We were more than ready to get out."
Making sure not to focus on his chest, Sapphire looked to Hayden. "And that was the French gang, right?" she confirmed. "Julie told me when I first got here when I wouldn’t move in with you that Holter used to be dangerous and had a gang."
Hayden nodded gravely. "Yeah. LeBlanc…that's what it was called."
Sapphire could see the discomfort in his stormy eyes. Hayden didn't like talking about his past. Grateful he was being so open with her, Sapphire reached out for his hand and held it in hers. Satisfaction warmed her at the sight of his relaxing expression.
LeBlanc. She mentally repeated the word. It sounded so fancy for a biker gang. She didn't know much about gangs, and she knew even less about biker gangs. Unfortunately for her, she was one of the rare people who had never seen the popular TV dramas about biker gangs. Who knew it would have turned out to be helpful?
"Did you…do a lot of awful stuff during that time?"
Both men were quiet.
Hayden looked away from her and out toward the windows, and Joel sank even deeper into the plush cushions of the couch as he stared at the empty glass in his hand. The little tumbler seemed so fragile in his long fingers. Hands that had no doubt did things they weren't proud of. Regret singed in her chest. That was a stupid question. Of course, they had done things. It was a gang! A gang so infamous it had prompted Julie to give her that worried look on their first meeting. That even the sheriff's department looked like SWAT with their tactical-looking uniforms instead of the normal beige one’s small-town sheriffs always seemed to wear in the movies. To bring upon this heavy silence that pulsed on either side of her, Sapphire knew it had to have been bad.
She opened her mouth to say something when Hayden spoke up first.
Hayden's voice was rough and anguished as he brought his gaze to hers and held it. The regret twisted in her chest like a knife.
"We were young and desperate. At first, it felt like a family. People who would have your back at the worst of times and there to celebrate with you at the best of times."
"Until you realized that feeling was there by design," Joel murmured as he reached for the bottle and poured the liquid into Hayden's glass sitting on the table before topping his off as well.
"It wasn't overnight. The older ones were clever with it, showing us the darker side of things slowly, making us do more and more dangerous tasks over time. Until it wasn't just the threat of being kicked out of the family, it was the threat of taking everything you loved and cared about apart in front of your eyes."
"They had just been waiting to see our true weaknesses. What they could use to hold us hostage," Joel bit out.
"It was worse for Vic," Hayden rasped as he stared up at the ceiling. "He had family in Holter, and they knew it. Any show of rebellion, any sign he wasn't loyal, and we all knew where they would go."
Sapphire closed her eyes and tried not to imagine what exactly would have happened with those carried out threats. "That sounds like a nightmare," she breathed.
