Aidan (Devil's Stepbrothers MC)(28)

"I won't stoop to your level, but I want you out of my life. I want you  out of my sight and I'm giving you this one last reprieve. Leave before  my family gets here. This is the only way I'm going to believe that this  night hasn't made me into the death machine that you are." She turned  back to her suitcase where she finished throwing her clothes and items  in with haste.



"Lorna?" He didn't even know what he could say to her, but he didn't want to leave it like this.



"Don't make me sorry I didn't let my family clear up this mess. I want  to be a decent human being …  that's all I ever wanted. Even though I came  from shitty stock, I thought that I could make a good defense for  nature over nurture and be the rose that broke through the garbage to  bloom and be fruitful, but I can see that science is right and the fruit  doesn't fall far from the tree. I'm shit too. Thanks for helping me  find that out. I probably should be grateful, but I just am not."



He stood there for a few more minutes hoping that something brilliant  that would make her see that she was wrong about herself. She was one of  the best women he'd ever met who always saw the best of everyone. She  didn't look like she was going to be believing anything he had to say.  Was it odd that she'd want to be away from him? No, but he'd hoped she'd  sleep on it and be able to hear his side of things first thing in the  morning. This would probably be the last time he saw her, and he was  pissed about that, but things happened, and he knew that it didn't  matter how he felt about things. If someone didn't want you around, they  were going to make sure you knew about it.         

     



 



"They should be pulling up any minute. You need to think very carefully  about the next move you make here. My family doesn't like you for  whatever they presume you did to make me change and pick a stranger over  family, but now that Lucca is dead, the time for talking is over.  Capishe?" She didn't even look at him with that drawn out rationale for  why he needed to stop standing there and get going, but it didn't feel  over. His intuition could be wrong when it wanted to be, he guessed.



He walked over to get the rest of his clothes and threw them on. "I know  you're not in the mood to hear me, but if ever you want to know what  happened tonight I'll be willing to tell you. No one else, but you. I  will." He scribbled down the phone number he kept at his home and hoped  that one day soon she would call it. Placing it in her purse, he closed  it and walked out the door. He wasn't going to beg anyone to be there  for him or to trust him. He knew no one thought he was trustworthy, and  he knew the end result of trying to force something that wasn't meant to  be. It had been like a television show while he was with her …  friendly …   inviting …  unreal, and he loved each and every minute of it. He wasn't  sure he deserved all that he was getting when he was with her, but  damned if he was going to turn it down.



Taking the steps quickly he threw his duffle bag over his shoulder and  went over to his bike. It didn't take long to strap everything up and be  ready to go. Unfortunately, he didn't want to go. He looked up to the  window where their room had been hoping to see something …  a shadow of  her frantically packing or her in the window flipping him the bird, but  what he did see made him wish he'd been denied anything. There was a  shadow that he could make out, and it was of her crouched down on the  floor. It looked like she was crying so hard that her body was wracked  with heaving sobs. Fuck.



He couldn't leave her like that. There had to be a way he could stand  around and make sure she got picked up. He wheeled his bike to the other  side of the house behind a wall where he couldn't be seen from the  road. It didn't take long for the troops to come rolling in, and they  came in like there was a war to be fought. Most of the men stayed in the  cars but what looked like a father and a few other guys got out.



The door opened, and Lorna walked out of the house like she was a regal  princess. He could see the dirty look her father was giving her, but  since nothing was done, Aidan would have to be comfortable with the fact  that she was safe with people who loved her …  minus Lucca.



It didn't take long for them all to let the lead car back out and the  others follow suit, and he knew he should be counting his lucky stars  that no one saw him and that he didn't try to take off when he was going  to …  he would have ran right into them on the road, and he wouldn't have  to worry about getting another chance at her or anything else. His  chances would be done and so would he.



Waiting a few more minutes, he pulled out of the place where his bike  was hidden and started his bike. With one last look up at the place that  had been his residence and dream life, he took off into the night  trying not to think about what was going on with Lorna.





CHAPTER FIFTEEN




"Well, look who made it back," Maverick, the leader of the mercenary  motorcycle group The Devil's Stepbrothers, and technically Aidan's boss  said when he walked in the door.



Aidan had gotten home last night but had waited for the next day to come  in and talk to Maverick. He didn't know what kind of reception he'd  receive, but the happy go lucky one didn't even make it on the top 10  lists of how this was going to play out.



"I wanted to talk to you about what happened on the last job," Aidan said as he looked around at the few men around them.



"Come with me," The large Hispanic man lead them to his office and  directed him to sit in the seat across from the large presidential  chair. He leaned back in the chair and looked at Aidan so long he  wondered if the man was going to gather the information just by looking  at him. "I heard it was a cluster fuck down there, but the job got  completed, and there is a fat reward for you."



"A reward?" Aidan didn't think he deserved any type of reward for what he'd done.



"Yeah. I guess no one told you, but the man who wanted Lucca dead was  getting impatient since it seemed like the person we sent down there was  having a change of heart when it came to completing the mission. So you  get your regular pay for completing the mission and an extra $50,000  bonus."         

     



 



Aidan couldn't even believe what he was hearing. It seemed wrong to even  think about taking money for something that had ruined his life with an  angel.



"I didn't kill either of them. I don't deserve that bonus or the pay."  Aidan argued and found it hard to keep seated, but in the end, he did  just that. He was known for his patience and calm, so this damn  fidgeting was going to have to go.



"I heard they both shot each other." Maverick watched Aidan like a bird  of prey and with all that had happened, Aidan had nothing to hide.



"Right." Aidan hoped the man was getting the gist of what was going on  because he really didn't want to talk about this right now, but that is  why he had come in today instead of getting into his bed and sleeping  for a good long while. "I was down there so long trying to get them to  resolve their issues. Crowbar came out of nowhere, and they shot each  other."



"Look, dude. I've known you for a long while, and I really wanted this  to be your thing, but it's not. There are plenty of jobs to do with the  club, and you need to look into one of them. It's not saying you're not  tough or able, but you are a lover. You think it's your problem, but I  think that's just you. Stop fighting it."



"So you're saying I should just fuck for a living?" Aidan thought this was the strangest conversation he'd ever had.



"No. I'm saying maybe you could do surveillance or fact checking or  hell …  watch over the money, but the killing part isn't for you."



Aidan was somewhat happy that he wasn't being asked to leave. He'd been  with the group so long it was like he didn't know where else he'd go,  but there was something relieved that he wasn't going to be going back  to the streets in the same capacity. He wanted to share that news with  someone but he knew the someone he wanted to share with didn't want  anything to do with him.



"Why am I getting the money when I didn't do the job?" Aidan was confused about that part.



"Well, someone did the job and since you were the only one standing that  makes the money yours …  did you not want it?" The man leaned up in his  chair like he was getting ready to call the little men to take him to  the mental health unit.



"I didn't say I wouldn't take it …  I just wondered why I was receiving it."



"This has been a tough assignment, but it was lucrative to the company.  Take a few days off and rest, but we'll see you after that, and I'll  figure out where to start you."



Maverick had a way of dismissing you even though he didn't say the words.